Drumroll please..... The Hottie Cover Challenge Winner

The Winners Trophy (photo courtesy of Open Drawer)

Well golly gosh, it's been an astounding Hottie Challenge exhibition at Open Drawer Art Textiles and Learning Centre, and the time has come to announce the winners of the public vote.

 Voting Money Boxes - Photo courtesy - Beky from Pivotal Xpressions

For those of you who didn't have a chance to visit the exhibition in person, this is how the 'favourite hottie' voting system worked.

Each hottie had a number with a corresponding money box (pictured above).

The hottie that received the most money in the corresponding numbered money box over the entire exhibition would be the winner of the grand trophy (and much adulation and fanfare)

This voting was completely separate from the money raised from the actual sale of the hotties.

So without further ado, I'm very happy to announce that the amount of money raised just from the moneyboxes was .......

$804.95

.....and now to the very fabulous winners

(photo courtesy of Open Drawer)

In 1st place (and the winner of the fabulous Hottie trophy) with a total of $46.20 was no.65 by Sue Dilley

(photo courtesy of Open Drawer)

In 2nd place (sheesh it was close) with a total of $45.50 was no.52 by Ro Owen from Fuzziteddybear

(photo courtesy of Open Drawer)

In 3rd place (and also really close) with a total of $40.30 was no.27 by Adele Donnison from Downunder Lass

All the SOLD hotties have now been taken down from display for collection by their new owners, but the fundraising effort is still continuing. 

You can head into Open Drawer Gallery until August 3rd (which is when their next exhibition begins) and buy any remaining Hottie for $25.

After that date, I'll collect any unsold Hotties from our Group Entry and auction them either here on the blog, or on my CurlyPops Facebook page..... and then we can tally up the amazing amount of money that we've raised together for The Margaret Pratt Foundation.

I am sooooo proud of our group effort. We should congratulate the winners and also give ourselves a huge pat on the back for a job well done!

Tumbleweeds

Photo Credit

Still nothing to see here.....

Gone Fishing

It's time for a little bloggy break.

I need to work on some more of my flights of fancy and take myself on some more adventures.

I'll be back soon... I promise

Cam xx

On Making Things and Flights of Fancy

I'm easily distracted. I like to flutter away on crafty flights of fancy. I like to just make whatever I feel like making.

At the moment, I feel like making Teatowel Handbags....

Not sure how long this little flight of fancy might last, but in the meantime, I'll just keep on fluttering.

PS - This one is in the shop.... but be quick, before I change my mind!

Shiny Happy Things

The custom envelope from my package

I'm a huge fan of Shiny Happy Art

Anna is an amazing talent and makes everything from original art, to cushions, and even custom murals!
Shiny Happy is a perfect name as all of Anna's designs make me smile.

I jumped at the chance to buy something from Anna's new range of printed teatowels featuring her art works, and just look at that cute pink Bless You Hanky. Irresistible!

Thankyou so much Anna..... now to start on a cunning tea towel transformation plan.

Hottie Press

Photo courtesy

A huge thanks to Miss G for alerting me to the Hottie Press in her local paper.

Just click on the link to read the article and view the little slideshow!

Featured Hottie Number 46..... Lost in Transit

Somewhere, someplace, far far away....

..... there's a postie with a penchant for vintage floral sheets....

......who now has very warm tootsies.....

Sadly, this beautiful hottie by Megan from The Byron Life never made it's way down the coast to the city.
All we have now, is this photo to remember it by.
Sigh... it was lovely.

Thankyou so much Megan. Bah humbug to you Australia Post.

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Two days to go peeps... just two days

Making a Spectacle

I have a little project from last year to show you today.

I was lucky enough to test some of the patterns while Nikki was writing her book You Sew Girl.

This is the spectacles pouch from page 73. It has a beginners rating and it's really quick and easy.

The wool felt makes it a perfect project for the younger novice sewers too. It's a fabulous blank canvas to embellish as you please (so of course, I made mine in pink with a floral motif).

But the best bit is the bottom - it has this very nifty expandable pleat so that it can fit even the chunkiest of blowfly sunnies!

Featured Hottie Number 45

Thisafternoons beautiful hottie was created by Mel from Sugarlemon.

Seeing those lovely hearts, and that binding up close has inspired me to want to try needle felting (or a bit of stabby action as it may be known).

I think the combination of a hottie + some stabby action might actually warm me up today - my tootsies are frozen!

Thankyou so much Mel!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Three days to go peeps... just three days

My Creative Space

Another slightly quiet week on the creative front, but the combination of cold weather and great TV (Hello Offspring.... and Team Patrick!) has meant plenty of time for hand stitching brooches while sitting on the couch.

I've popped a couple of the rainbow brooch/hairclips in the shop. They might just be the perfect accessory to brighten up your winter wardrobe!

The home of my creative space....

Featured Hottie Number 44

Tonights fabulous hottie is by Brianna (or B-Fab as we like to call her) from Rolling In Fabric

Brianna is a fantastic quilter... as you can see from her lovely patchwork hottie.

Stripey binding - swoon!

Thankyou so much Brianna.

It seems that I've made it to the end of the Hotties in the Flickr Group. If I haven't featured your hottie right here on the blog, please add it to the Flickr Group ASAP.

....and of course, if you haven't yet been to Open Drawer to see them in person, then quick sticks before the 24th!

Making Mending Fun (or at least trying to)....

I don't mind mending clothes, but some days it's completely mind numbing, boring, and snoozy.

I soldier on ahead, and think about the fact that it's great to be able to mend everyday clothes. I'd rather mend than just dispose of them when tiny little things go wrong. Especially when it comes to things like expensive school uniforms!

So on the weekend, when my sister delivered a pile of things to be mended for the nephews, I decided to have a little fun.

In the pile was:

2 pairs of grey school pants - holes to patch plus hems to be taken down.
1 pair of skinny jeans - missing button
2 pairs of tracky dacks - holes in one leg of each

With the mending of the school pants for a 12 year old, I was pretty limited. I made patches from grey wool suiting to repair the holes (which worked amazingly well... couldn't even notice) and took down the hems as low as they can go. Hopefully they'll last out the rest of the cold weather this term.

The skinny jeans for the 9 year old didn't have any scope for fun either. He would  have been devastated if I did anything to them!

Which only left Moo Moo's kinder trackie dacks....

Featured Hottie Number 43

It's a double hottie treat from me today....

This one is the entry for Cathy from Tinniegirl.

At the time of the challenge, she was moving house and all of her art supplies were packed up, making it impossible to create a hottie in time for the deadline.

I asked her to tell me her vision of what she'd planned to create for the challenge, so that I could take that vision and interpret it into a finished hottie on her behalf.

In Cathy's eloquent words.....

My vision was to create a set of ‘magic lungs’.  I thought the hottie template made an excellent shape to house a set of lungs so I was going to create a set of lungs and then I wanted to create all the bronchial tubes with some kind of gold so they looked all sparkly and magical.  I guess I was thinking about the esoteric nature of organs passing from one person to another, and feeling a sense of the magic of that.

 

Inspired by Jennie's thread sketching, I used my sparkly thread to create a set of 'magical lungs'. I really liked how the stitiching created texture on the piece of interfaced calico, so that it's sitting forward from the background.

For the background, I was completely stuck on creating a rainbow. It seemed to fit with the theme of 'starting afresh'.

I just hope that I did justice to Cathy's vision.

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Featured Hottie Number 42

Today's featured hottie is by............ well, I'm not going to tell you. I'm going to make you guess!

But, I can tell you that the lovely spotty fabric was courtesy of Tania from Myrtle and Eunice when she surprised me with An Ode to Houdini....

.... and those lovely cut-out flowers?

Photo courtesy of Liz's other blog - You Will Always Find Me

Well they were originally part of Liz's kitchen curtains.

What do you think?

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Featured Hottie Number 41

Todays lovely featured hottie is by Cathie from Melbourne Epicure.

I adore kids drawings (as evidenced by the amount of drawings plastered all over my fridge and attached to the curtain in my craft space).

This sweet embroidered version of one of Amelie's drawings is just divine.

Thankyou so much Cathie (and the original artiste too)!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Super Lola Nova

A few weeks ago, I spied a very cool Felty Cuffs Tutorial over at Lola Nova.

It's was like the planets had aligned and shooting stars were raining down..... because every Superhero (even the completely mad and foolish ones, who like to embarrass themselves in public) needs Superhero Cuffs to go with their Superhero Headband!

But, do you know what's even more special about these particular felty cuffs?

They were made by the actual Lola Nova. How cool is that? Answering my own question here... it's way cool!

This is the arty-type shot where my arm is slightly out of focus so that you don't notice that I really need to invest in some moisturiser!

The best bit is.... I will wear them - you do know that right?

Featured Hottie Number 40

Here's a gorgeous Hottie to brighten up your Sunday afternoon by Sandrine from Histoire de Soie

Of course, I loooooove the combination of red and orange together.... and there's also my soft spot for linen.

 

Thankyou so much Sandrine!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Featured Hottie Number 39

Soft and snuggly..... that's all I can think of when I see this lovely Hottie by Bron from Krafty Kuka.

This would be perfect for my date with the tv and the couch today!

Oh, and check out the little chilli, for a bit of extra hotness. Perfect!

Thanks so much Bron!

There's officially only one week left to go for the exhibition, so make sure you get your skates on and go and visit Open Drawer while you can!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Featured Hottie Number 38

Thisafternoons beautiful floral Hottie was created by Cath from Bungalow Babble. Cath and I virtually bumped into each other as we were both at Open Drawer on the Friday before the exhibition began, dropping of Hotties at the exact same time.

Thankyou so much Cath!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Featured Hottie Number 37

It's Hottie weekend on the blog..... I'm hoping that it might warm us all up. Brrrr!

There's a little over a week left to see the exhibition in real life, so make sure to pop into Open Drawer before the 24th July (but keep in mind that they're closed on Tuesdays).

This Super Fly Hottie was created by Sarah from The Trinity Street Loft. The little heart balloon girl chasing the guy is completely adorable!

Thanks so much Sarah!

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group

Escape the winter BLUES Sale

I know we're all a little bit sick of this freezing cold weather in Melbourne, so from now until Midnight Sunday night, you can add a little sunshine to your life from The CurlyPops Shop with a 20% discount.

Just add the discount code BLUES at the checkout to redeem.

Happy Shopping!

Chalk Filigree

Photo borrowed from Flowerpress Etsy Shop

Take one beautiful Flowerpress Chalk Filigree Teatowel

Fuse some nice heavy woven interfacing on the back....

Cut, sew, cut some more, sew some more, make some straps, a pocket, and an inner bag, and sew all together. Add a magnetic snap closure....

.... and what do you get?

A one-off personalised handbag for Susie's mum.

Hope she loves it!

My Creative Space

Mobile phone pic

This is as creative as it gets today.... I ended up stuck in a huge traffic jam thismorning. I really wish people would drive responsibly and STOP crashing!

Thisafternoon involves a bit of creative writing instead of crafting. I have an article deadline tomorrow, and of course, I've left it until the last minute.

But first I'm waiting for the builder to arrive to quote on my kitchen renovation, so I'm taking the opportunity to put my feet up, have a cup of tea, and watch a little bit of trash. Can you guess what that trash may be?

Real creative spaces here

Featured Hottie Number 36

I'd like to introduce you to Nanna tonight...

I'm so happy that Liesl was able to get back into some craftiness in perfect timing for the Hottie Challenge.

I had to tell her that Nanna actually reminds me of my Grandma who had those exact same cheeks.

Nanna is totally rocking the free motion embroidery!

.... oh, and look - she even has her very own knee blankie and hottie! Very wise on a chilly Melbourne evening Nanna.

The homepage of The Hottie Challenge - lots more in the Hottie Flickr Group and the Hottie Exhibition Group