Yes please!

There's a workshop on offer by The People's Print at the V&A's approaching British 
Design Season... The Great British Floral digital workshop.
They are going to show those lucky attendees a combination of hand craft and digital
techniques to create a floral pattern and print it on fabric.









I'm trying to keep very neutral here but I'm positively burning with envy... 
I want to go! Unfortunately, I'm on the other side of the globe :(


If you happen to live nearby, you can register for the workshop by visiting 
this site... and if you go, can you take loads of pictures and show all the fab 
things you did.. please? 


I'd love to see :)


Found via 

Easter break

We've been on the road... away on a fabulous Easter break with some friends. 





Have you been to or heard of Girraween National Park? What an amazing place. 
It's a bit more than 3 hours drive from Brisbane, travelling south-west to Warwick 
and then South to the border of Queensland and New South Wales...

We had a ball, beginning with walks around Girraween National Park itself and
it's incredible landscape of bush and granite boulders...







I am usually such a city person... this is just to prove I was actually there ;)



We went on drives around the area to other walks, including Bald Rock
National Park in New South Wales.







The climb almost killed me but once at the top it was magnificent :)
This is at the top of the rock. It drops off at a (just) walkable slope, but from the
right angle it looks like a sheer drop.





The kids pretended to be falling off the 'edge'.







Fabulous friends made it even more of a fantastic time.





It was so clear and sunny all weekend and I took every opportunity to crochet
whenever we weren't exploring the environment.

What did you get up to? Hope you had a great Easter break too :)

Our Creative Spaces: Long time no see

I'm still frantically crocheting my cushion order... Sorry I haven't been around lately.
I have, however, found a brooch to show you that I came across while looking for 
some yarn in my craft room.


Hello old friend! I remember you...





I was planning a whole series of these brooches and they were put on hold in 
all this busy-ness. I will be making more, probably next month though. 


In the meantime, this one has come along at just the right moment for a friend's 
birthday :)





More creative spaces can be found here.

Tree Towels

I was just having a browse around the Finders Keepers blog and saw these little 
gems amongst their top picks for textiles... tree towels! Cute, don't you think?





They are by London-based graphic design duo, Pui Lee and Gemma Stanton, 
who produce goodies like these under the label Our Workshop. They have a 
graphic design business under the same label called Our Work and then a retail 
outlet called Our Shop.





Profits from their shop are put back into product development, which they call 
"a continual labour of love".





Well, I love them :)





They have many fab things in their shop... 
but the tree towels, you can find them here.

Comme des Crochet

Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo has just released a limited 
edition selection of crocheted jumpers...





Who ever said crochet isn't cool :)





Apparently, they can be found here. 





My source is the latest issue of Selvedge.

So cool

Does it get any cooler than this? 




Okay, so I'm obsessed with Mrs Eliot Books' chevron design...
but don't you think it's incredibly cool to have it on your phone too ? :)



Find them here.




p.s. this is just a skin, but you can get the hard cases too :)

Inspiration: Eleanor Pritchard

This is she... the very talented Eleanor Pritchard... have you seen her stunning 
weavings before? While I should really be crocheting, I've found myself mesmerised
by them lately.






It's strange that I haven't come across her work before seeing as she is so celebrated 
in her native Britain and far abroad... Anyway, now that I have (finally) I do admit to
being completely smitten :)






And, of course, when I saw her studio I just wanted to live there! Isn't it amazing?







I love that her work comprises of strong geometric shapes and basic patterning. 






There's a freshness to her designs... a kind of 'less is more' aesthetic carried 
by bold colour combinations that highlight the design rather than smother it.






And she loves making cushions too, so she must be alright ;)


You can read more about Eleanor Pritchard and see more of her work on her 
website and her blog.

The chosen one

Remember the quandary about the chevron designs?
Well, the client has made her choice... and the favourite won :)












So, I have another 3 to do and the design takes about a week each to complete. 
I just have to get back into mad-crochet mode again now!


I had a lovely weekend off. Hope you had a good one too :)

Our Creative Spaces: Finished Ripple Cushions

Apologies to everyone and anyone... I haven't been answering the phone, 
not looking at blogs (let alone commenting), forgetting promises, letting 
people down, working into the night... I cannot believe how long it has taken 
me to finish these cushions!






But finished they are!! So happy :)






Hope you've had a great week. You'll probably be seeing more of me now ;)
See more Creative Spaces here.

Smiling...

I'm busy working away still but this made me smile this morning...


 Hope it brightens up your day too :)

hello 45 :)

Another year, another number... I really like being in my 40s... 
they're going quickly though! Halfway to 90 people ;)


I'm off to lunch today with my mum, aunty and sister.
Hope you have a great day too! x

Our Creative Spaces: Finishing cushions

I'm playing along with the Our Creative Spaces meme again this week. 

To sign up or see other spaces visit here.

In my space this week, I've been finishing the ripple cushions. Actually, 

I'm a bit stressed at the moment because my machine is playing up... I take

my foot off the pedal and it won't stop  :( 

I'm investigating solutions... Meanwhile, this is literally my space...

I really like details and finishing touches that have a practical application 

but also work aesthetically. Linen tape, found here, binds the cushion seams

to shape and looks pretty cool too I think ;)

Hope you've had a wonderfully creative week ... and sewing machines that 

work well for you!

So in love :)

Look at what arrived in the post today! 





I love it so much and wasted no time putting an insert into this delectable 
creation and getting out my camera. Isn't it gorgeous?





It's the work of Mrs Eliot Books, otherwise known as Francesca. You can 
find her envelop store here and her fabulous blog here, where she designs 
other wonderful things like this...





Thanks Fran - I love it :)

Moment of reckoning...

So, the moment has come... I've finished the 'new-improved' chevron 
but now I really can't choose between them.


You remember the first one? I thought it looked like a football jersey 
and decided to try again...



Well, this is the 'try again' chevron... I think I prefer it, but it's not really 
up to me I guess. I'll let the buyer decide which design she likes. 
Which do you prefer?





It's been a tumultuous week full of teenage angst and drama in this 
household. I'm ready to slump in a heap ;) 
The Little One has her indoor hockey grand final tomorrow... I'm hoping 
to rally by then ;)


Hope you're having a lovely weekend!