The Wrap

Tinniegirl on the left and CurlyPops on the right

It was another lovely day in the country at the Buninyong Makers Market yesterday. It's a really easy drive from Melbourne, so I was there in no time!

I always find it really difficult to take nice photos inside town halls.... so these are a little bit blurry. The rest of my photos were unusable.

Thes lovely photos above of my crafty goodies are courtesy of Marilyn and her new camera

Annie was directly across from us

Cathy, Sel and I spent the entire day chatting, drinking coffee, and eating cupcakes (which seems to be our modus operandi on market days).

We had lots of lovely visitors including Linda from Heartfire at Home, Jan from Little Red Hen, Marilyn from Missy Mao Mao, and Michelle from Minyip who had purchased one of my Tulip Pouches from The CurlyPops Shop a couple of weeks ago.

Mel even dropped in to say hello on her way to Ballarat.

The market finished at 2PM, so we popped into the little cafe next door to the town hall, and had some scumptious lunch.

Sel and I even managed to find a garage sale on the way home... but my goodies are still in the car, so I'll have to play show and tell at a later date!

A Market and a Meme

First things first today - I'll be heading off to the Buninyong Makers Market very very soon... thank goodness I have a couple of drive-thru coffee options on the way. I usually stay in Clunes the night before, so that I don't have to get up quite so early, but today I'm heading there straight from Melbourne.

The market is in the most beautiful town hall, right in the centre of town, from 10AM - 2PM, so please come and visit, and say hello.

Second things....eeeerrrrr second!

Chunkychooky has a little meme to play along with which looked like fun:


4 things that I always carry:

1. Phone (always always always)
2. Purse
3. Tissues
4. Lip Balm

4 things that are in my bedroom:

1. Bed
2. Television
3. Nana's arm chair
4. Houdini's bed

4 things that I would like to do, but haven't done yet:

1. Take a month long holiday to Europe
2. Take a design course
3. Get a tattoo
4. Travel around Australia

4 things that you don't know about me:

1. I used to be really good at sports (and still have a box full of trophies stuffed in a cupboard)
2. I had a shetland pony named Chloe
3. I have a new freelance writing job
4. I love maths 

4 things I often wonder:

1. The obvious - WHY?
2. The next most obvious - WHEN?
3. What would my life had been like if?
4. If I'll ever ride a bike again?

Oh, and I completely forgot to draw a giveaway winner lastnight, so stay tuned later tonight instead!

Animation Friday - Put On a Happy Face

New badges available at the Buninyong Market tomorrow!

I love this song....

Gray skies are gonna clear up,

Put on a happy face;

Brush off the clouds and cheer up,

Put on a happy face.

Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy,

It's not your style;

You'll look so good that you'll be glad

Ya' decide to smile!

Pick out a pleasant outlook,

Stick out that noble chin;

Wipe off that "full of doubt" look,

Slap on a happy grin!

And spread sunshine all over the place,

Just put on a happy face!

Put on a happy face

Put on a happy face

And if you're feeling cross and bitterish

Don't sit and whine

Think of banana split and licorice

And you'll feel fine

I knew a girl so glooming

She'd never laugh or sing

She wouldn't listen to me

Now she's a mean old thing

So spread sunshine all over the place

Just put on a happy face

So, put on a happy face

The home of Animation Friday....

My Creative Space

It's all about the packing today.

I'm heading to the Buninyong Makers Market this Saturday, so I'm re-jigging the way that I pack things for the umpteenth time.

I've been using a big trolley suitcase, but it's really heavy even before I pack anything in it. I've resorted to buying myself some new plastic containers, and I'm going to stack them on a trolley and occy strap them to hold them in place.... well, that's the plan anyway!

I've also been playing around with some new display items for my stall. Fingers crossed it all looks good!

The home of My Creative Space....

Frocktober

After Saturday's magnificent oppy find, I came home and felt the tinglings of op shop regret....

You know the feeling.... you picked something up, turned it over, felt the fabric, checked the price, pondered... and then hung it back on the rack...

I was sooooo happy when I returned on Monday to find them both still hanging there....  'twas meant to be.

Behind the Scenes

It may not seem like it at the moment, but there's been plenty of crafty things happening behind the scenes at Curlypops HQ.

Like this super gorgeous camera bag commissioned by Carissa.

Pssssst: Check out that schmick twist lock closure!

Every time I make one of these bags, I'm sad to say goodbye.... and I keep telling myself that I really should make one for my own camera!

 
I'm completely in love with the fuschia colourway of this Lara Cameron print.   I decided to preserve and make a feature of the selvedge on the rear zip pocket (I hope you like that bit Carissa).

I'm thinking that we might need to start an Ink and Spindle petition to bring back fuschia!

Inside the bag, there are two removable velcroed padded inserts, and a couple of extra padded inserts so that the bag can also be used for other purposes. There's nothing like a bit of multitasking.

Now it's all safely packed up in a nice big box and ready to head off into the wild blue yonder. I hope you like it Carissa.

She's Baaaaaaack!

Well, we're now well and truly over the half way hump of Blogtoberfest. How is everyone faring???

If you played along last year, you may remember the journey of SuperPops. I had a little creative competition where I asked everyone join in and create their own version of the character. I also managed to publicly humiliate myself on the www.  It was so much fun, that I now have an entire bloggy page dedicated just to SuperPops.

This weeks giveaway is following the SuperPops theme....

The prize will be a B2 size mailing box jam packed full of crafty goodness.

I'm making you work for it this week - to enter, just leave me a comment answering the following question:

If you had a superpower, what would it be, and why???

Just to keep it fair, I'll get my sister to pick the funniest entry as the winner - entries close Friday 22nd October at 8PM.

***Oh, and if you like SuperPops, you can find her in the shop!

Fleamarket Finds

I dragged myself out of bed nice and early yesterday morning, picked up my nephew, and headed off to the op shops.

One of the local community centres is having a little craft market in November, so I'm going to help him to make a few things so that he can have a stall. We were in search of supplies..... but our mission wasn't very successful on that front!

I did however, manage to find this lovely vintage jigsaw set. I'm guessing that it's from the 60's or 70's?

The home of Fleamarket Finds....

In my garage

This may not seem very exciting just yet, but it's all part of my grand plan....

It's taken a little while to sort out, but I'm finally beginning my mini renovation project. I think you have to actually live in a house for a while before you can decide on any major changes that need to be made.

In this big package are the new overhead cupboards for my craft space. They're just flatpack kitchen cupboards (much more cost effective than custom cabinetry). A friend is coming over this week to help me to put them together.

At last I can see a little progress.....

Whoops! I almost forgot...

Tagxedo - found via The Crafty Librarian

...to draw a winner of this weeks Blogtoberfest giveaway!

I usually have a handy dandy screenshot of the random number generator, but my photoshop trial has expired so I can't do it.




Anyhow, there were a total of 35 entries overall, and the winner is:


NUMBER 15 - It's Cass from Snailblazer - yippee!

Animation Friday - Impromptu Photo Shoot 2

Moo Moo and the Twins popped in for afternoon tea earlier in the week, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot.....

What one earth was I thinking?????

Animation Friday via My Poppet

My creative space

I don't have much to show in my creative space today...

I'm halfway through another custom camera bag, but the weather has been too dreary to even take any photos.  For this one, I'm going to use a brand new twist lock from Nikki's shop. I can't wait to try it out!

The bag is denim, with a Lara Cameron Birch Forest print in pink, that I bought before the days of Ink and Spindle.... it may be even classified as vintage by now.

In the meantime, I'm reworking my floral design, and waiting, waiting, waiting, on two more lots of fabric samples to arrive.... guess I'll just have to keep waiting.

The home of my creative space

Blogtoberfest Day 13 - The Self Portrait

I didn't even need to photoshop my head off - this photo is completely unedited. Hooray for my headless photography skills.

Do you think that it might be an omen that we're having a Blogtoberfest Self Portrait day on the 13th? Hope no-one is too superstitious!

Anyhow, on with today's story.....

I had a little shopping and afternoon tea adventure on Monday, so yesterday I decided to glam it up a bit and wear my new dress, my lovely bright red tights, my dorothy shoes (along with one of my brooches of course).

I decided in the afternoon that I needed a photo of my new dress, so I took a few self portraits right before the sky darkened and the storm hit..... and then I read Tinniegirls post about today being self portrait day - fortuitous no????

I thought I might share some self portraits that I have actually included on the blog over the years. I can at least have a laugh then....

Muddled

There's so much a happenin' at the moment, that I can't remember whether I'm Martha or Arthur! So many blogtoberfestians, and I'm quite sure that I haven't even made it through half the list yet.

I've forgotten what I've shown and what I've told.... maybe I tweeted it but didn't blog it?

Anyhow..... I decided amongst all the little critters and characters that I've been working on, that maybe I'd try a floral design. This is the blue version (there's also a yellow version but my photos were terrible). I'd really envisioned this in pink, orange and red, but I couldn't get red, so it just didn't work.

My sister told me that this one doesn't actually look like me. It could have been designed by anyone. It might be pretty but it might also be something you could just find at Spotlight.... and I tend to agree.

So I guess it's back to the drawing board - quite literally!

Yes I know it's only Blogtober but......

I told you already that I'm trying to be super-organised this year..... so I've designed some christmas cards, just in time for errrrrr Christmas! You may have caught a sneaky peek of the reindeer yesterday.

Pop into The CurlyPops Shop to snap some up, or just visit me at any of my upcoming markets, where you'll also find colour ranges that are not available online.

I promised a Blogtoberfest Giveaway today and I'm sticking with the card theme. Just leave me a comment and I'll draw a lucky winner this Friday night (October 15th) at 8PM AEDST. The winner will get to select their five favourite card designs/colours.

Good Luck!

Who you gonna call???

The Stash Busters!

I sooooo wish that I'd taken a before photo - I was completely out of control (again).
Now it's all neatly sorted into waddings and stuffings / cotton plains / cotton prints / furnishings / corduroy / flannelette / fluffy softie fabrics / teatowels / tablecloths and placemats, and then sorted by colour.

The girls helped me to go through one by one, and decide which ones to keep and which ones to add to the piff* pile.... and Bec even vaccumed to make sure that it looked extra spic and span once we'd finished!

We took a little lunchtime break where we enjoyed Liesl's beautiful chocolate cake....

Sorry about the terrible photography by me

.....and surprised Mel by celebrating her birthday (well she would have been surprised if she hadn't heard us whispering behind her back in the kitchen while we were lighting the candles)!

Oh, and in case you were wondering.... yes, that cupboard in the laundry should have sliding doors.

* Now I'm a little worried - piff is an aussie slang word which means 'throw away'..... but it seems that piff may mean something else entirely.

**PS - Pop on over and visit Mel and wish her a very happy birthday
***PPS - If you see me anywhere in vicinity of a fabric shop, please send me home.

The Art of Display

I've been thinking a lot about market displays lately. There's a real art to getting your stall looking just right.

I must admit that I'm really not very good at it at all. I chop and change for every single different market..... always tweaking, and hoping for the best.

I've picked up a few new/oppy items lately to help with my display, including this picture frame. I want to be able to display some of the illustrations from my greeting cards, while also demonstrating that the cards can be framed to create a piece of artwork.

Now I just need to work out how I'm going to make it sit up on my table.....

Sunshine and Manbags

It's such a beautiful morning, and I'm feeling all inspired. Let's hope it lasts!

I suddenly realised yesterday afternoon that it's my second eldest nephews birthday tomorrow, and I hadn't made him a pressie. We're having cake at lunchtime today, so there was a bit of a mad panic rush lastnight to whip something up.

Manbag to the rescue....

Blogtoberfest Giveaway Winner Week 1 + Animation Friday

The first winner today is ME because my internet is back to normal - phew!

I'm combining Animation Friday with the announcement of the lucky giveaway winner.  So for those that missed the process over the last couple of months, my animation shows the evolution of the Tulip Gadget Pouch.

For some reason today, some peeps can't actually see the giveaway list. I'm hoping that the problem is with blogger or Mr Linky, and all will be fixed by tomorrow.


Without further ado, I'm already over an hour late with the draw - there were 92 entries overall.

...... and the winner is number 72 - Kylie from A Little Red Dress

Thanks so much to everyone who entered - Kylie, can you please choose your favourite pouch (Tulip or Jungle) and email me your mailing address and I'll pop your prize in the mail.

I'll be adding a brand new giveaway on Monday, so stay tuned!

Finders Keepers Market

 

If you're looking for a crafty day out in Melbourne this weekend, then you should definitely pop into the very first Finders Keepers Market.

You can find some CurlyPops goodies on the Georgie Love stall!

Don't forget my giveaway that ends tonight - I'll be back then. Fingers crossed that my internet speed resets sometime today. Make sure to check out all of the other fabulous Blogtoberfest giveaways on offer too
!

My Creative Space..... and I've been Throttled

I have four markets booked in between now and Christmas, so I'm desperately trying to be organised in advance this year. I have various little production lines in progress, strewn all over the place.

I'm not very good at production line sewing. I get bored quite easily and prefer to flit between projects instead..... which usually means that I end up with big piles of unfinished projects everywhere. Even after studying and working in manufacturing for so long, I just can't seem to take my own best advice when it comes to productivity and just in time manufacturing!

I've also managed to transform my work bench from a serene example of organisation  to complete and utter chaos in the space of a week.

Just to top it off, I received one of those horrible nasty emails yesterday morning:

This is an automatically generated email to advise you that you
have reached your peak download limit.
This means your peak service will be throttled to
128 kbps until 08/10/2010.

So it looks like I'm going to be very very quiet over the next couple of days, which is not very good in the first week of Blogtoberfest! 


The Home of My Creative Space

What day is it?

I don't seem to know what's going on around here. Somewhere between the beginning of Blogtoberfest and Daylight Savings, my brain has lost a day.

I have quite a few appointments this week, so here's hoping that I don't miss any!

It was such a glorious day yesterday, so in the afternoon I picked up Moo Moo from home, and took him for a drive to pick up his big brother from school, so that I could take them both to the skate park (my ulterior motive being that I could sit and draw in the sunshine and fresh air).

He was deliriously tired and yapped all the way to school and kept calling me Nan instead of Cam (he just spent last weekend at his Nan's house). Then poor little Moo Moo fell asleep in the car one minute before the school bell rang....... which meant that most of his scooter riding time at the skate park was spent snoring instead.

When I finally woke him up to go and play, I'd half finished my drawing. Luckily for me, Moo Moo (who is three) could correctly identify (even in his half asleep state) that I was trying to draw a turtle.... and next up, he wants a Lion???

Patience is a virtue

I keep telling myself that I have to wait until my fabric samples arrive before I can design any more....

It's not working!

The Psychedelic Snail in Technicolour Delight

I suddenly had a feeling of deja vu lastnight, when I remembered that I'd created a snail many moons ago.


After feeling a little naked yesterday.... Mr (or is that Ms - just how do you sex a snail?) Snail now exists in a psychedelic technicolour dream .

I missed animation Friday last week, so this is my belated contribution (snails are very slow after all).

*Yes, Snail greeting cards are on their way - I just couldn't resist printing them.

Psychedelic Snail

Did you know that Snails are the new Owls?

What else does a single girl do on a Saturday night, but crack open the sketch book and the fineliner pens and get drawing.

He may not be psychedelic yet...... but just wait until he has some much needed colour added.

It's such a beautiful day in Melbourne today. I'm heading to Brunswick for the final day of Home Is Where The Craft Is

There's a pop up craft market and there'll also be cupcakes - yum! Maybe I'll see you there?

The Owl and The Dragster

Are Owls still on trend? Penny was asking that question yesterday.

I'm hoping that they are, as this is my latest drawing that I've turned into a greeting card (and will soon turn into a fabric).

I also drew a Dragster this week...... I decided to give it a coloured background before colouring it in, and it ended up that I really liked the effect of leaving the dragster white. Design by accident!

These are also available as greeting cards at the moment, and will become fabrics very soon.

My latest lot of test swatches from Spoonflower have been shipped, so fingers crossed that they all work out so I can place a real order!

Happy Blogtoberfest Beginning

It's Blogtober the 1st, so I'm kicking off the festivities with a giveaway!

You know the drill - it's always really simple in these here parts - just leave a comment if you'd like to win one of my new gadget pouches (you can choose which design you prefer).

The pouch is approximately 13.5cm in height x 10cm in width. Flex Frame is 9cm wide. Pop on over to the shop for some more detailed photos.

I'll draw a winner at 8PM next Thursday 7th October.

Don't forget to check out all the giveaways over at my Blogtoberfest page (the link can also be found at the top left hand side of this page).

I'm heading out into the sunshine (yippee Melbourne) today, for a trip to Home is Where The Craft Is. There are only 3 days left to see all the crafty goodness on display so chop chop!