Fabric Giveaway

One of Jane's creations with some of her fabric scraps :)

The lovely Jane at Flaming Nora is having a fabric giveaway. 


Working as a costume maker for theatre and film, she has amassed a heap of fabric off-cuts 
in small and strange sizes, but sizes that would be perfect for craft projects.


The first 15 bundles, she will post free to anywhere and then she'll be putting them on Etsy. 
So waste not a moment, my friends! Get yea over to Flaming Nora's. 

Our Creative Spaces: Mag Hag

It's true... I do admit it... I'm a mag hag. I just love them. It's an expensive 
habit but worth it I think. Every so often, they pile up though and I need to 
sort out the keepers from the fluff. This is my current pile. 





My creative space this week has been all about organisation... sorting, 
shifting and throwing. It's taken me an age to go through these magazines. 
Some of them are automatic 'keepers' - fabulous resources that I don't think 
I'll ever be able to throw away. The others, I look through every single one 
to see if there's anything I want to keep.  I'm about half way there. I have a 
pile of clippings which I'll then sort into folders...


Hmm, starting to feel a bit OCD here ;) Hope you've had a wonderfully 
creative week. More creative spaces over here. 

Paris: new/old

The girls were so excited about Paris... recognising icons and linking in with 
history lessons made it such an informed part of the trip for them. Basically, 
it was all about the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa and the Palace of Versailles 
for them.

For us, it was seeing things anew through their eyes... I kept thinking how Paris 
is the ultimate postmodern city - the new sits so well amongst the old, and both 
are everywhere interacting in different ways.





As it happens, this very concept was being played out at the Palace of Versailles 
where they had an exhibition on 18th century fashion, showing original pieces 
juxtaposed with modern interpretations by the likes of Vivienne Westwood, 
Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garcons etc. 








It was heavenly. My fingers were itching to see how pieces had been constructed. 
I would have loved some displays showing how the patterns crossed over, but 
unfortunately, even lingering was a difficult exercise in these rooms... the long 
walk to the Grand Trianon where the exhibition was hosted meant that only the 
diehard fans attended... they were many and they were ferocious in their elbowing 
to get the best view! ;) This was the other exhibition where no photos were allowed, 
so the pictures above are borrowed from here.


We took plenty of photos around the rest of Versailles though... ;)





We covered a lot of ground whilst in Paris, mostly walking from one site to the next... 
but Versailles took up an entire day. It was massive, especially the grounds which 
were so breathtaking.





As much as I loved visiting the 18th century (particularly the fashion exhibition) I 
have to admit that my heart belongs to the 'modern' era, ie. 1905 - 1960... Hardly 
surprising then that favourite place in Paris was for me the Pompidou Centre.





I love this place... I love the building... I love the art... it is perfection :)
Kupka, Sonia Delaunay... all my favourites were there...





There was also some fabulous street art out and about too. I know it's quite an 
unpopular form of art, but I love it. It's often so clever. Again I admire how it works 
by playing the old off against the new.





Okay, I'm sure anyone who is still reading these posts is heartily tired of it all.
Thanks for bearing with me. I guess this blog is as much a journal for me as well as 
a place where I can show things I think you might like... So, travel posts are over. ;)


I'll leave you with a YouTube clip about the Versailles exhibition, 18th Century Back 
in Fashion:

Antwerpen

We had a very quick stay in Antwerp again this year. While the Mr was taking care 
of business, the girls and I walked around exploring...





I was so looking forward to going to the Solarshop and to the Museum of Fashion... 


Unfortunately, it was a Monday and, if you're planning a visit there, I can warn you 
ahead of time that none of the museums etc are open on a Monday :(


We did find a honey bear though :)





And we had a great time walking around. I popped in on a lovely friend to say hi...





... and we had loads of amazing chocolate! :) Paris tomorrow!

London (again)

I realised when I sat down to do this post that I'm not quite done with London yet. 
(Truth be told, I never will be!) It's that kind of place for me... when you think about 
where you feel most at home; where you've been happiest etc... 
Well, it's always London for me. So, apologies for going on, but here are some more... 
a new find and an old favourite.





Firstly, the new find... the Wellcome Institute on Euston Road... have you ever 
been here? It's an amazing place. I love their subtitle "a free destination for the 
incurably curious" :) When I was studying at Birkbeck I used to walk past it all the 
time without any idea of the treasures inside. It's a fascinating homage to science 
with fabulous exhibitions of the artefact kind and collaborations with artists.





Here's my gorgeous science nerds fascinated with a print out of the human genome... 
go figure, hmm? ;) Still, it wasn't just them... we actually went back there twice, there 
was so much to see.






So, what's the old favourite? This was the view I awoke to each morning... 





... the wonderful fabulous Tate Modern. I nipped in for a look around at odd times of 
the day and night in between our other commitments... it was heaven :) 





We had the added excitement of it being London Fashion Week when we were there. 
It did add to the fun of everything... fabulous young things in their eccentric outfits running 
around and about. We loved it :)

photo credit

Where's your 'special place'?

London + Powerful Making

Timber Wave Cromwell Rd installation by Amanda Levete Architects
Part of the London Design Festival.

There were two amazing exhibitions I saw whilst away where you were 
not allowed to take photos... and this was a great shame. One was in Paris 
and I'll come to that in a day or so. The other was in London at the V&A 
Museum entitled The Power of Making. It was breathtaking.

As you enter the V&A from the Cromwell Road entrance there's a large 
space to the left of the information desk where the bookshop used to be. 
Here, The Power of Making exhibition will be in situ until 2 January 2012 
– a free exhibition celebrating handmade and the presence of craft in 
modern life.





I'm sorry if this is text heavy but I just have to reproduce the exhibition's 
introduction:


Making is the most powerful way that we solve problems, express ideas 
and shape our world. What and how we make defines who we are, and 
communicates who we want to be. 
For many people, making is crucial for survival. For others, it is a chosen 
vocation: a way of thinking, inventing and innovating. And for some it is 
simply a delight to be able to shape a material and say 'I made that'. The 
power of making is that it fulfills each of these human needs and desires.
Those whose craft and ingenuity reach the very highest levels can create 
amazing things. But making is something everyone can do. The knowledge 
of how to make – both everyday objects and highly-skilled creations – is 
one of humanity's most precious resources.


Guest curator, Daniel Charny


Isn't that just fabulous? The exhibition leaflet listed a glossary of the skills 
and techniques employed in the pieces, including: 3D animation, 3D printing, 
airbrushing, annealing, baking, beading, blacksmithing, blocking, brazing, 
carving, cobbling, cordwaining, crocheting, cross stitch, drawing, drilling, 
dyeing, embroidery, etching, felting, glassblowing... and so many more.





It was so very inspiring. We were all blown away by the depth of imagination 
and ingenuity... and just when we started, reluctantly, to leave the space, we 
saw this lovely fella from one of our favourite movies. The handmade Mr Fox :)

photo credit 

There's a vimeo too for the exhibition. My favourite quote is from the 
flutemaker, Steven Wessel, when he says "Craft, or working with yours hands, 
is fundamental to being human". That just about sums it all up really :)




Power of Making from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Trippin'

We're back and life feels a bit surreal at the moment. It was soooo hot in 
Europe and we've returned to unseasonally cold and rainy weather here 
in Brisbane... what's happening with the world!? ;)





I'll post on some of the things I saw over the next couple of days, but just 
for now some funny photos. It was so much fun travelling with the girls. 





There's no such thing as a stand-in-front photo pose with these two. They 
were dancing and singing their way around the streets and catching us up 
in their enthusiasm.










Isn't it funny how when they're younger kids can make you feel so old but 
then later they can make you feel so young again? :)





Hope you've had a fabulous fortnight too.

Happy time :)

It's my guaranteed happy time of the year.... the time of year when I get 
to travel because of our business. This year, we'll be going here...





and then here...






and finally here (the work part but also a fun part!)...





We're taking the girls with us this year which I'm also really looking forward to. 
Quality time with the Mr and our girls :)


I'm still madly trying to get organised and have somehow lost some of my 'notes 
to self' of places to see. So, feel free to leave a comment saying "While you're 
there you really must visit..." Actually, please do! I'll be reading your comments 
until Sunday morning (Australian time).


 Thank you in advance and see you in a couple of weeks!


 à bientôt!


Photo credits: me :)

Our Creative Spaces - Crochet Couture in Progress

Okay, so the title is very misleading... The inspiration was crochet couture 
but I guess mine is simply crochet clothing item in progress ;)





Inspired by the amazing creations of Helen Rodel some months ago now, 
I began hooking away at a bubble cluster, adding a bit of track stitch here 
and there for relief.





The idea is to finish with one of those midriff over-smock 'knits'.





These are the stitches I've used...

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge

I'm going to crochet back and front together when I've got them to the same 
length and do a continuous row of the track stitch at the base I think.


It's falling off my shoulders at the moment so I'll have to do some more
track stitch at the top as well.

What's in your Creative Space today? See more here.

Inspiration: Helen Rodel

A few months ago now I saw this image on Evie's blog and discovered 
the amazing crochet couture of Helen Rodel.





Needless to say it was love at first sight...





So innovative and fun...











I knew I had to try it. Stay tuned for Creative Space tomorrow to see my 
crochet couture attempt in progress :)

There's a fabulous Vimeo clip of Rodel working on her collection here.
(For some reason, I can't get it to load here, sorry).


You can find her website here and Flickr photostream here.