Shakedown, the week that was!

One of the highlights for me, in all the end of year procedures, has been receiving Little P's work books and art.

The above story is one on my favourites from her work book.

A little story about Freddy and Minnie, who eat too much spaghetti, which makes Minnie sick.

Very cute hat she's drawn on Minnie.

Just lately she's been saying she'd like to be a Milliner when she grows up, and has been making hats of all descriptions!

In love with her elephant painting, crayon and water colour, herself riding on top.

She's had such a brilliant start to her schooling, blessed with a teacher who really understands and appreciates her, she's kind to her students, and accepts difference in people readily.

Her Kindy teacher has enriched her life, and nurtured her natural love of learning.

We've been very lucky.

On the home front ......

Some gorgeous vintage orange and pink (my favourite combo) from the Oppy today.

Relaxing in the garden with a 'Judy Moody' book! lots of days like this ahead over the next month or so!

A week in early December.....

Christmas tree up, only half filled it this year, as we're driving North for the big day.

Little P turned 6

Cleaned my lady-cave, cause cleanliness is next to craftiness!

Big D turned 42!

Made a couple of summer frocks for me.

End of year dance concert.

Looking resplendent with ballet bun!

Made 'To Look Crafty'

There's something on my mind today. And it's big, oh yes it is. I've noticed the hand-made trend gathering momentum over the past few years, which is great, when it is really hand-made.

Now, there's a company here in Sydney fronted by 2 women who are directly copying hand-made kids clothes and softies, having them mass produced in factories (ie. sweat shops) and flogging them off with a huge mark up. Big dollars, zero creative input.

This company has set up a blog with a cutsie name, and are even doing hand-made markets, so they are setting up directly beside all the crafters who put their heart and soul into their work. They have deals with big stores though, and one of the women owns a few kids shops here in Sydney. Unethical businesses like these are not uncommon I'm sure, but I really feel for the genuine makers, these people are being blown out of the water by the 'big guns' not only by them getting a strong hold in the market, but by ripping of their work and creativity. Now I don't have any objection to people having stuff 'made out' when it's their own designs, but having other peoples ideas mass produced is a whole new ball game.

Just because it has a 'hand-made' aesthetic doesn't mean it is, it's a case of buyer beware, if you like the hand-made look, then BUY genuine hand-made items. You can run a business and have ethics, just look at Pip from 'Meet Me at Mikes' what she doesn't know about craft, isn't worth knowing. And she supports the hand-made community by producing books, and pointing out amazingly clever people on her blog. As a person who creates and makes things, I'm becoming cagey about showing them off on my blog, I hate the idea of people getting hold of my ideas and producing them without any regard for how they are actually being made. Simply, if it's mass produced in a sweat shop, it isn't 'one-off' or unique.

On a positive, there are lots of great hand-maidens out there, and if you are looking for genuine hand-made gifts or clothes for little one's this Christmas, here's a few to be going on with:

Grandy and Baa - amazing applique pinni's

Bad Skirt - beautiful soft toys

Loz and Dinny - gorgeous girl's dresses

Dorothy Bills - yummy, cushions, quilts and bags

Rivetkitty - great softies and kids clothes

Beccasaurus - clothes, quilts etc

And of course there's always Mikes, a great place to start if you are new to hand-made.

Edit!! Oh my, I can't believe I forgot to add Curlypops above! One of my favourite ever bags was hand made by this clever crafter!

It's Almost Summer

It's starting to get balmy in Sydney, and as the mercury climbs, the countdown till Christmas starts in earnest. Things have been really busy around here, hence the lack of blogging. I'm going to start making some decorations for the tree soon, and end of year gifts, so more posts are on the way ... soon...

Too Cool For Pool

A recent find at the Oppy, not one but two 1960's Paris Cafe prints.

I haven't cleaned them up yet, but will do and hang them as soon as I can find

an appropriate spot on a wall. I'm just a little bit in love with these prints,

any excuse to bring more kitch into the house!

Big D likes them, cause he's a big old Francophile,

so I didn't get the face, or the ambivalence with these,

thumbs up, wee wee!

'The Pool Dress'

This is my latest summer dress for little people.

Made with soft terry toweling and vintage voile print.

I made this one with terry that I had left over from my softies making

days, ergo the pink. I'm going to buy some other colours, thinking light aqua,

yellow and maybe a watermelon would be groovin. Fun and easy to make, perfect for throwing on

after a dip at the pool or a splash at the beach.

And a baby set, (singlet, dress, bloomers)

made for a friend whose little girl will be here

in a matter of weeks!

Halloween 09

Chocolate and devil horns.

Some of the group. (Big D as 'Meat Bomb, the deranged wrestler)! Meat Bomb make me laugh and laugh! Morticia.

Summer dress

My latest design for summer, (tucked into knickers! But at least model is wearing some!) Belt is held on with a button sewn at the back, button hole through the centre of belt - - works well, and no belt hoops needed.

You Might Be My Lucky Star.

I'm getting all 80's on yo arse!

A belted, boat-neck, shirt dress for the little one.

Made with vintage ornagey red cotton.

Looks fab on.

Term 4 started in NSW today.

Time has positively flown in this house I tell you!

Upcycling, it's the only cycling I do

Breathing life into some 60's tea-towels, mixed with an Ikea fabric.

Just Lately

This is our sage plant, I had no idea that sage had such pretty flowers!

They look like purple snap-dragons.

Really yummy with browned butter and gnocchi.

(The leaves, not the flowers).

And some crafting to show, a couple of long, flowy summer skirts for a Friend's daughter, part of a barter system that I have with a lovely girl who runs a gymnastic camp in the school hols. School holidays have been fun so far, lots of out and about, not enough time at home. Today we had a visit from this adorable lady and her little girl! One of the few people I know in real life who blogs, and we are virtually neighbours!!

After coffee and catch-up we popped into Vinnies,

Where I had the awful realisation that I hadn't

put knickers on Miss P, who was happily sitting amongst the

toys with her legs crossed, I hastily bought a pair of

pink shorts and slipped them on her, before heading

off for some sushi. I can't believe Little P didn't notice,

actually, she was too busy playing to even care!

Melbs...

Finches at Taronga Zoo

We are are just popping down to Melbs for the weekend.

Going to see my work in the window for Echo's Lost.

Curated by this wonderous girl: Page 63 of Your Manual

Also some of the usual fun stuff one does is Melbourne, like shopping and eating,

and seeing my Nieces, oooh, very excited about that!

These Finches remind me of us 3, the one at the top is so Big D,

he can sleep anywhere, which I'm quite envious of really.

Inside and Out

A corner of our dining room.

It's, um 'busy' I know.

I'm often found trawling and drooling through

interior design blogs and magazines, I'm no stylist,

so I'm not showing you this because I think it looks

'stylin'! It's just our space.

Now, when I'm trawling and drooling, I often

wonder where the speakers, cables and scales are?

Hidden away in smart-storage I imagine.

This is a halter dress I made for little P.

Vintage cotton, paisley print.

Accessories are model's own!

(yes, it's a piece of rope as a necklace)

A windy, orange kind of day

The view from our back door, at 7am this morning.

Sydneysiders awoke to a bright orange

sunrise this morning.

Surreal.

A massive, dust storm has blown in.

At 9am, I hosed my car off,

foolish, just made the red dust stick harder.

What do I know about dust settling?

I'm a city girl!

The Game of Life

Has there ever been a game more representative of our lives than snakes and ladders? Never mind swings and roundabouts, both those things are fun! The very way it moves, snaking around in decades, I'm somewhere in the middle of this board in real life, and I think I must have landed on a snake's tale today. I've been on a Spring-clean-bender, I was madly brushing away at the walls in the exterior laundry, when I looked up, and saw the most enormous red back spider above my head, near the light fitting. It's the biggest I've ever seen, actually it's the only one I've ever seen.

I downed tools instantly, and can't go back in there till the man of the house comes home and removes it, then hopefully, I'll jump back on a ladder and ride that thing all the way to the top, without encountering too much 'pugnacity' along the way!

Lemonade Award

So excited to have received this lemonade award from Eden Rose, it's always a surprise to discover people actually read my blog, I still get a thrill each time I receive a comment, or an award. I get so much joy writing and most of all, reading other peoples blogs. Indeed, the blogsphere has been, and continues to be a rich source of inspiration for me. My blog gives me the freedom to connect with people who get what I do, people who like 'to make' don't often get the chance to show off their creations in 'real life' or even to express themselves in such an open way. It's liberating in so many ways! The best part of all is realising that there are so many people who feel the same way about the journey, people who want to make a difference, and re-use and recycle, people who value love over money, and most importantly, like to share their every day lives in such an honest way! And so, I'm going to pass this award on to some sweet bloggers, whose journey's and stories I like to follow: Four Leaves Veronica Darling Blossom n Birds Marjory Jane Dorothy Bills Grandy and Baa Pass it on if you like girls! (Of course, there are so many bloggers from home and around the world who inspire me, make me laugh, and generally entertain me, see my blog list!!)

The Home Stretch...

Top of a quilt that I'm working on for a baby girl. It's more cot-size, than standard baby size, cause I think she'll get more use out of it that way. It's bright and colourful, which I know she likes. Don't get your ruler's out, you should know by now that I don't work to those kind of exacting standards with these things, I tend to just use fabrics that I like, and cut as I go.

I'm still 'embracing the wonk'!

This is the backing, I've used a vintage sheet, that has never been used, so it's crisp and really thick cotton, they don't make cotton like this anymore!

I've been making some nighties for my Little P,

she likes them 'stretchy' so I've been using

jersey, which I rarely work with, and I know why.

Hat's off to anyone who sews jersey in a factory for a living! Actually, hats off to anyone who sews anything in a factory for a living!

Artist at Work

Hard at it in Hyde Park on the weekend.

I love it when art goes mobile!

Fantastic!

Let a 5 year old girl loose with a few bucks to buy her Dad a pressie, and this is the result. It's magnetic, it's a thermometer, it's Australiana! Looks good next to 'kath', strangely appropriate.

Echos Lost Work

So, here is my finished work for 'Echo's Lost' - an exploration of memory, or the void that's left when memory fades. I've made 'pockets' connected by red thread from a central 'womb', there are 7 'pockets' to represent the various phases of a life cycle. The red thread represents the umbilical cord. To give you an indication of size, this piece is a mere 19cm x 19cm (that's the dimensions of the mat itself). The exhibition is part of the Melbourne Fringe festival 09, and I

m very excited to be involved, I like working to a theme, and particularly love seeing what all the other artist come up with as well.

We have no memory of our time inutero, and what follows are the memories that we make our own from there on in. I'm no expert on memory, I just have my own, and each phase of my life gets pushed further back, being replaced by a new one. Hmmm, it's an intriguing subject for sure, and the process has really made me think about memory. It's an emotional thing.

Love

More from Dottie Angel. I'm inspired by this woman on a daily basis.

Spotted

In Small online magazine.

In the Hall Way

Giving you a squiz at the hallway at the moment ... cherry blossom in Israeli 60's vase. 'Green Woman' by Simon Bates, bought in Byron Bay.

The picture above is my favourite, 'The Memory Maker' painted by my sister, and given to me for my birthday back in April.

I'm madly working away on my work for Omnific Assmebly show in September, funnily enough, the theme is memory, an exploration of memory, the void that's left when memory fades.

I'm doing a soft sculpture, quite small, smaller than the scale I usually work to. I'm nearly finished, just some placement stuff, and final stitchery. Pictures to follow on completion.

Spring in the City

We caught the ferry into the city and wandered around the MCA.

Then we had a picnic lunch, at Observatory Hill,

the sun is shining once more, this fills me with anticipation,

anything is possible again!

Little P has had a hair cut, a shoulder length bob.

She nagged and nagged, I'm a sucker for pony-tails,

but now that it's gone, I do really like it, and so easy to brush now.

Here's to sunny days, long flowing skirts, and ice-creams!

I hope it's sunny in your part of the world!