Thankyou Brissie, Thankyou Finders Keepers, Thankyou Yardage Design

Photo pinched from Anna

Well what a whirlwind of a weekend..... and in the blink of an eye it's all over!

I headed to Brissy on Friday and Nic organised a lovely dinner in the city with Jennie, Selina, Kylie, Steph and Anna. It was a great night - plenty of laughs and delicious food overlooking the river, with such great group of girls!

It was an early start on Saturday morning to get everything set up for Finders Keepers. I dragged around 50kgs of luggage to Brissy and Nic was the organiser extraordinaire, desigining and setting up my stall with her props. I could never have even imagined doing this without her help!

In extremely unfortunate timing, my phone decided to completely fritz itself, and so I have hardly any photos. All of these lovely photos are courtest of Nic.

My favourite part of the weekend was meeting so many lovely bloggers / crafters / instagrammers. Everyone was so welcoming and so helpful.

If there was a prize for the most colourful stall, I would have won hands down!

If there's anything you see that you like, most things are in the online shop, but I'm aiming to add more as the week goes by (I arrived home after midnight lastnight and had to go straight back to the day job thismorning so I haven't gotten around to that yet)..

 Thankyou to Helen from Brisstyle for this lovely photo of Nic and I (I may have been a bit delerious at the time)

I received so many lovely goodies - a brooch and a care package from Jennie, and a gorgeous pincushion and pins from Caroline. I also bought a couple of things and swapped a couple of things which I'll have to blog later on.

I have to give a huge shoutout and thankyou to Nic - she worked tirelessly all weekend and helped me with absolutely everything. Next time, I visit, it'll be a holiday and we can go and do something relaxing!

For all the Brissie peeps - make sure to visit Nic at the upcoming GOMA Christmas Design market

Finders Keepers

So what are you up to tonight and tomorrow?

Finders Keepers Melbourne is back again at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton....

I didn't get a stall at this one, but I'm heading along to help Nic on the Yardage Design Stall, so make sure you come along and say hi!

In other exciting news, I DID get a stall at Finders Keepers Brissy in November. Eeeeeep!

Today / Tonight

Today - Yardage Design Open Studio

Tonight - Made'n'Thornbury Market

My Creative Space - The Yardage Design Studio

Artwork by Geek Amour

I had a little bit of a creative adventure last week that I've been bursting to share. I just had to wait for a sneaky little surprise package to reach it's destination before I could spill the beans!

My cousin Iona and I headed to the Yardage Design Studio at Abbotsford Convent to partake in some fun screen printing.

Here's Nic preparing t-shirts for my nephews.

I've never had the chance to screen print before, and I'm quite sure that I asked about a billion questions (sorry Nic), but I learned sooooo much! 

Nic and Iona printing onto a t-shirt

..... and here's the finished result. Brilliant!

In perfect timing, the Abbotsford Convent is having an Open Day this Sunday, so you can go and visit the Yardage Design Studio too.

Nic will have her entire range available for purchase on the day - all the details are here.

More creative spaces

Then this one time... at craft camp

I was so completely chuffed when Nic from Yardage Design won the weekend getaway to The Retreat Woodend (she's a really good egg you know).

I was even more chuffed that even though I couldn't stay for the weekend, I was able to head down for a fun day out with some lovely crafty chicks (and Pam)!.

There were lots of different crafts happening, but I chose block printing.

Nic bought along all of the supplies that we needed, and showed us all the tips and tricks, before letting us loose with lino cutters and that stuff that's softer than lino but I can't remember the name of (sorry you can blame the lack of oxygen to the brain for my terrible memory).

Oh and just by the way.... I have NO idea what Nic was making. What was it again?

Put a group of crafty bloggers in a room together and it's always a crack up. There was much discussion about hair accessories and bacon. Not necessarily together. There was boasting and laughter about my Kirk Pengilly fangirl moment.

Afternoon tea. O.M.G. there are no words... Cathie made my two favourite things - her Banana Bread and Lemon Tart.

My moustaches. At one point I thought they looked more like seagulls, but I think I like them en masse like that.

Oh, and this is my finished floral panel.

Now I just need to heat set them with the ironing press and decide what to make.
This was heaps of fun and I'll definitely try it again.

Thanks so much for all the fun and laughter girls!

Bag Ladies Part 2

I still have more goodies to show and tell from last weeks ladies luncheon...

My heart skipped a little beat when Nic from Yardage Design gave me this package which was wrapped up inside a white bag (top left) with Marimekko printed on it.

For me, this classic Unikko design by Maija Isola is my idea of heaven. It's simple, yet bold with an amazing burst of colour.

I'm so blown away that Nic bought it all the way back from Europe for me!

I am absolutely itching to get into working on some floral fabric designs and now I have the most perfect inspiration.

This little gift makes me chuckle.

If you haven't checked out Vic's range of Geek Amour Cards, then you should definitely check them out. I sooooo wish I had the quick witted sense of humour to think of these things!

Seriously, if you're a baconpalooza fan, then you need this card. If you're reading 50 shades of anything then you need this one, and I can't go past Labyrinth.

Thankyou ladies - you rock!

Bag Ladies... and Ladies Who Lunch

No Filter - No Photoshop - Just an iPhone Snap

I had a lovely lunch date today with Nic, Cathie and Vic, and I just had to share these snaps. 

No Filter - No Photoshop - Just an iPhone Snap

OK it may have been absolutely freezing as there was an icy cold wind blowing a gale, but the clouds and the view were just stunning.

Nic made us these absolutely gorgeous personalised Yardage Design Market Bags.

So of course, we had to take on the obligatory Instagram 'pose de jour'

I think that if there's enough pester power, Nic might add personalised hand printed bags to her repertoire.... what do you think?

I have more pressies to show, but I just haven't had a chance to take pics yet!

Like sands through the hourglass....

These are the days of our lampshades....

The Weekend Sneaky Peek...

Early Morning

Midday Sun

Late Afternoon Shade

Evening Glow

Go Granny Fabric by Me!
Lampshade Kit by Helen Rawlinson
Brilliant Idea from Nic at Yardage Design
Ridiculously Undersized Lamp Base direct from my garage.....

Obsession

Obsession: an emotional state in which someone or something is so important to you that you are always thinking about them, in a way that seems extreme to other people

When it comes to colour, I most definitely have an obsession.

So when Nic posed the 'fave colour combo' question on her Yardage Design FB page, for me, it was completely obvious.

But, can you imagine the surprise when I arrived home from my appointment at the Alfred last Thursday to find this package on my front doorstep?

Pink and Orange together are completely outside Nic's classic colour range.... and I know how hard it is for a designer to work outside a fave colour palette, which is why I'm even more appreciative of my very own custom colour Yardage Design teatowels.

Thankyou so much for the lovely surprise Nic - your timing was absolutely perfect!

Rewarding... whoops updated

Draw Pilgrim A3 Print - I bought a similar one in a pink/orange colourway

I've been working really hard lately.... saving my pennies for a rainy day.

Saving money to make sure that you can get through meagre times is a really good thing to do, but sometimes you also need to reward yourself, and have a bit of fun!

For me, rewarding myself has involved quite a bit of lovely handmade crafty shopping. So I'm going to play show and tell with all of the lovely things I've bought over the last few weeks.

Gaye Abandon - Tubeways Armies

I've been wanting a pair of these for years. When I popped in to visit at Open Drawer a couple of weeks ago, I spotted a beautiful pair in red and pink, with flowers stitched onto them, so I snapped them up in a jiffy!

Yardage Design - Screenprinted Teatowels

Nic from Yardage Design is having a sale this week, so I treated myself to another of her lovely teatowels (in the spice cannister print). It certainly won't be drying any dishes.... I'm going to hatch a crafty plan for it.

UPDATE! I almost forgot ..... I also bought myself this super warm and cosy Sheeps Clothing scarflette

Now I need to go and peruse the internet, and make my next crafty shopping wish list!

Spot the Difference (bad pun intended)

The lovely lady for whom I'm making the t-shirt quilt, also requested a couple of replacement covers for her Kitchenaid Mixer.

She already had the standard white Kitchenaid Cover (the one on the left), but wanted something in green tones.

I made myself a template, and whipped up a quick toile out of some scrap fabric.... and then had a little conundrum, because I really needed to test it out.

I remembered that when Nic from Yardage Design had blogged about her kitchen, she had a Kitchenaid Mixer on the bench...... so I popped the toile in the mail, and Nic tested it out for me - thankyou Nic, you're a gem!.

As you can see - with scrappy one sided fabric and no wadding, the toile was rather floppy, and it was just a little too long also.

After the testing phase, I got to work on the real thing.

I must say that I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.