My Creative Space - New Skills

My creative space this week is all about new skills. I'm two weeks into a silversmith course and have been learning how to saw metals. I'd never thought before about how jewellers actually constructed shapes but I'm slowly learning... it's a painstaking process of tiny saw cuts. Working with copper, of course... much better to trash 50 cents worth of copper than $25 worth of silver ;) I've been experimenting with different cuts - straight, curved etc. It's all still a bit shaky but the filing class this week gave me loads of hope for being able to smooth back my bumpy cuts :)

See more creative spaces at Kirsty's Kootoyoo.

Thank you :)

There have been some wonderful packages through our mail box this month. Big thanks to the lovely Tania from Myrtle & Eunice blog for her fabulous tea towel and cards. Tania has just opened a new shop. I've shamelessly borrowed her photo here ;)

Big thanks also to the wonderful Michelle from Blue Moss. Her jewellery is just magnificent - I wore this necklace four days running with wildly different outfits and it was amazing. So many people commented and asked where I'd bought it... See more of Michelle's work at her Etsy Store and her blog is a fabulous read too.

Gorgeous Kristina of Inaluxe has the most divine artworks which she sells as prints and cards. I bought these funky cards and some stickers (not shown, sorry) many many moons ago, and though I've thanked her via email I really have been remiss in not doing a show & tell. Kristina's lovely blog is here and she has an Etsy Store as well as a Made It shop.

And last, but so definitely not least... I won a prize on Jennie's fabulous blog A Little Vintage and these wonderful cards and brooches were my booty (not to forget they came wrapped in this fantastic vintage fabric too!) Jennie has an online store here.

Thank you for my fabulous pressies everyone! Love Handmade :)

Inspiration: Lina Peterson

More jewellery inspiration... Lina Peterson is the reason why I'm doing a silversmith course. Just look at her amazing work... for me, "inspiring" is just not descriptive enough for the realm of fabulous possibilities that her work opens in my imagination. I've been thinking for a while now of how I can take the brooches I make with felt or utilising crochet and somehow make them more as I see them in my mind. These come very close...

You can see more of her incredible pieces on her website. There's also a fantastic interview on the British Craft Council site with Lina where she describes her design process.

Inspiration: Isabelle Bonte

I've recently started a silversmith course and so I'm finding my attention is captured more and more by artists who utilise metals in interesting ways. The whimsical fine constructions of Isabelle Bonte are a real treat for the way she approaches her work but also for her inspirational application of paper to this process. Visit her website to see more of her fabulous work and (with the help of the translating facility) read some of her poetic artist statements. Just to share one of these:

Understanding of space

Always light the paper between the lines

Design of volumes and surfaces. The light and dark.

Light is vital, the line helps to define it.

A question of pace.

Do not say everything, create the key, and suggest the rest.

They really do add poignancy to her pieces, don't you think? I love it. Hope you've had a lovely weekend :)

found via

Halcyon Days :)

My little sister Belinda turns 40 this week and we've been looking over some old photos. This is my favourite - absolute favourite - photo from my childhood... my sister and I playing in the cubby house our dad made for us (we're the two blondies and that's our cousin Jodie on the right). I've been pondering over what it is that makes a particular pic our most favourite... is it the cubby house? Surely not those fluffy pink and red ribbons ;) Do you have a favourite photo from childhood? Is there a reason why it's special or does it somehow embody the spirit of childhood as a whole? ... just wondering :)

1975

1972

Little boxes

I love the idea of furniture constructed from cupboards, drawers and pieces of luggage. I guess it's the colour combinations that make them work so brilliantly, but I do like the concept of useful things being formed into a new useful thing :) The fabulous pieces above were designed by the Maarten de Ceulaer Design Studio. The Bedroom Closet installations will be on show at Design Basel in June and you can see more of their leather luggage designs on their website.

via famillesummerbelle

My Creative Space - Another Frock

It seems I'm obsessed with making frocks at the moment. This is the Swiss Cotton jacquard dress I started a couple of weeks ago now. I french-seamed the entire dress which was a fabulous learning experience... only problem is I didn't allow for the extra fabric this entails and it's now quite a bit too small for me to wear ;) If none of my friends want it I think I'll have a giveaway... stay tuned! There are many more creative spaces to be found at Kirsty's - visit Kootoyoo to see more or to play along yourself :)

Crafty weekend

Being part of the Commonwealth, we have a lovely little holiday every June called the Queen's Birthday holiday. I'm not sure why but it always comes as a surprise in this family - it's a nice little treat just before school holidays and it happened yesterday. So, what can you do with an extra day to your weekend? Well, my Big Girl and I did some crafting. I have a few projects on the run at the moment but I suddenly needed to do some embroidery... and the BG taught herself how to blanket stitch her pin cushion together. We had fun :) What did you get up to?

NYC dreaming :)

All photos by James + Karla Murray

I've just happened upon these amazing photos - all by James and Karla Murray - and by some freaky coincidence we've been chatting about New York all night... We've been over at my sister's home for dinner and she and her partner are going to NYC very soon. We'll be looking after their two gorgeous little boys who are 5 and 3 years old... it will certainly be a shock to our all-girl-child household! They are just wonderful kids, the cousins adore each other and it'll be school holidays, so I'm not worried... really ;)

My Creative Space - Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs

I'm playing along with Kirsty's My Creative Space meme today. Visit Kootoyoo to see more spaces or to join in yourself. A very different space from me today...

Since I've been working I've felt rather guilty for not being here as much for my girls, so I decided to make them some caramel popcorn as a treat (nothing like a dental bill to ease the pain of guilt!) We've all been loving it but my treat came when the Mr took his first bite and said "Oh wow! Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs!" Such a fabulous blast from the past for me because I was instantly transported back to childhood memories of this very special treat. Do they still sell them? I have no idea but it was great fun.

For any overseas readers, Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs were/are an Australian sweet from the 1970s, just caramel popcorn really but a childhood institution for me :) I used this site for the basic recipe (but I didn't put in any nuts). Have a lovely creative space day!

Bookish

I'm very excited about a new book purchase...

The Concise Dictionary of Dress

by Judith Clark and Adam Phillips. The book accompanied a breathtaking exhibition of the same name at the Victoria & Albert Museum's storage facility at Blythe House. Now, how did I find out about this wonderful event? Well, I follow a fabulous blog called Fashion is my Muse and the lovely Ingrid actually visited this exhibition and has written the most informative and thoughtful review of all she experienced there. I hope you can take the time to visit her... it truly is a wonderful feast for the mind and a delight to the eyes :)

Angel Anna

Finished dress modelled by the lovely Anna, as promised... I love how much it suits her! I do still have the dress as it needs a minor alteration to fit properly on the bodice (I'm sure perceptive eyes have noticed the problem!). I was very happy with the sleeves and how they sit at that flattering length... and the hem turned out a treat too. All in all, a good experiment in getting back to the sewing machine :)

p.s. Have a peek here to see what this very talented lady makes...

Line dancing

We have a new twig living with us now. He's partly yellow with sparkly crystals all over him.

He wasn't always yellow and crystallised... he got caught late last night when the street marker came through our back lane and ran straight over him.

I love how he's left his mark on the road :)

I Knit Brisbane!

Some more pics of the craftiest thing that's happened in Brisbane for many a year... 800 crafters from all over the city have wielded their needles and hooks for installations around the CBD. From the simple crocheted green heart popping up in the most unlikely places to the full-blown yarn-bombing of statues and public art, I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of my birthplace at the moment. Maybe it isn't so bad living here after all... ;)

More information and photos can be found here and here.