Exhibition - Cat Rabbit

I am a big fan of CatRabbit and very excited that her exhibition will be opening here in Melbourne next week!

She makes the most amazing handmade creatures amongst other stuff and I hear on the blog grapevine that she has done a stopmotion animation with Isobel Knowles for this exhibition which is super exciting!

The opening is the 20th April at No Vacancy Gallery from 6-9pm and will be shown there till 8th May.

Make sure you check it out!

80's Flash Back - Part 3

This one gets a post all of it's own - She-ra Princess of Power.

I dedicate this to my oldest and one of my closest of friends Andrew, for all those happy memories as children playing with He-man and She-ra in the back yard!

80's Flashback - Part 2

more bits and pieces of things - where does it all disappear to?

80's Flashback - Part 1

As promised I am about to start an 80's flashback for you (and especially for my friend Thouraya as I know she will appreciate this!)

I found a tonne of my toys back home when we went recently - all in bits and pieces - why oh why did I not look after things better. I am now on a mission to rebuild my collections on ebay!

My Little Ponies above, Strawberry Shortcake below with more images to come as I sort them out. I hope this brings back as many memories for you as it did for me.

1st Wedding Anniversary = Paper - of Sorts

If you have read this blog before some of you would already know about my obsession with King of the Hill. I have always tried to track down some of the figures from the show but could never find any.

So I couldn't believe my eyes when for our 1st wedding anniversary - one of my gifts was a Peggy Hill original figure in the packaging still - incredible! Ponyo Blu-ray was the other gift for those interested.

I have been back home to my parents house and discovered all these old toys for Audrey.  Will have to share that in another post but lets just say it's a trip down 1980's lane - I only wish now that I had looked after all these things better there is so much missing!

New Work - Iris

I made this for a gift for my friends 30th - I can post it as I have finally sent it (sorry it's so late Katherine - Happy Birthday!). 

 

New Works

A few new works in the pipeline - one is a belated birthday gift for a friend and the other is for a grant application. Will post finished works soon. Very mysterious - I know....

New Work - Phryne Fisher Doll

I have been meaning to put up these images for a while but had to wait until my sisters birthday came as it was a gift for her. I made her this doll based on a character from a series of novels about Phryne Fisher - a female detective from the 1920's. Written by a lady from Melbourne by the name of Kerry Greenwood. Below are some details and process shots. 

Crochet Owl

One of the many things I have been meaning to post about but haven't had a chance lately.  My sister Emma has started doing crochet and i know this technique has a name but i can't remember it!  I love this owl it's gorgeous and wanted to share it with everyone - she is so clever we are complete opposites artistically - she can follow patterns and learn things like this so easily i would never be able to have the patience to figure it out!

Say Hello to Edith (or Edie for Short!)

Well I have finally finished my doll for Softies for Mirabel which is organised by Pip at Meet Me at Mikes. Softies for Mirabel is in its 4th year and is an event where heaps of arty/crafty types send in their handmade toys to be donated to children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental drug use.

More information on the Softies for Mirabel project can be found here or if you would like to donate directly to the Mirabel Foundation click here).

Also you can go to the Softies for Mirabel flickr group here to see some of the great creations already made for this year and years past.

Oh - and Edith was adapted from this pattern by Hop Skip Jump

It feels great to have finally made something new!

Now I need a new project.........

Doll Update

Well she's all sewn up and almost ready to go. I made her a cardy but it's a little tight so am going to stitch it on. all I need now is something for the hair and some shoes!

Softie for Mirabel

Every year Meet me at Mikes organises a fundraising event where lots of makers and sewers send in their soft toy creations which are donated to the children of the Mirabel foundation (more info on how to join in here).

Last years effort was pretty miserable and still not finished so this year I am determined to make and finish something to send in for a good cause.

Last night I was inspired to start my Softie for Mirable project and below are some of the process images. Thankfully my friend Thouraya sent me this pattern by Hop Skip Jump a while ago which i adapted a little bit because i'm not that good at following patterns so did a few bodgy things that are thankfully hidden under that clothing!

All she needs now is a cardy, something for the hair and some shoes!

Artist Inspiration - Milly Neimanis

I have finally hung up Loud Mouth Lemmy and Hot Pants Holly!

These guys were made by my mate Milly for her Honours final project when we were at uni together and I just love them. I still haven't convinced her to start a blog yet but maybe one day (just maybe) she will share her work with us!

From memory these guys were first machine knitted, felted then stitched together. Exploring ideas of relationships and love (well there was more to it then that but it's all I can remember).

Audrey's 1st Birthday Invitation

I made this little bird to go with our bride and groom for the wedding cake but it has ended up doubling as the bird in Audrey's birthday invitation's. Made the cake from fimo, with dolls house furniture and Cristina Rae paper as the wallpaper behind.

BOOM!!

My work space has exploded - look what happens when I try to clean. I think there is method to my messy madness that I shouldn't mess with. Things have gotten crazy busy around here - have returned to work 2 days a week so have even less time then before! Meanwhile we run out of Internet downloads while i am at home all week so no blog reading and inspiration all week - I was a little scared to open up google reader - was worse then i thought 1000+ blog posts to read - i think I need to cut back on the following here. Oh and I think my wisdom teeth have arrived - i am so scared to go to the dentist but this ache in my jaw is going to get the better of me soon.

I found this fox I had drawn and photocopied onto acetate for a project at RMIT that was going to go on a silk screen but never did. I decided to use it to decorate the house. The photo's are Polaroids from out trip overseas last year. I wanted to submit the photo to this great new flickr group Craft Fox started by Liz of Lino Forest but I don't think it is crafty enough. But you should check it out - some great foxy works there.

Here is a sneak preview of my latest work - a little tangerine something coming your way.

7 Inch Record Wedding Invitation

Finally after much anticipation and waiting for invitations to be delievered I can now share with you the finished product of our wedding invitations! Inspired by our love of music, we decided it would be cool to attempt to make a 7 inch album cover into a wedding invitation - little did we know how big the production would end up being but we had so much fun doing it. I initally made the birds for the top of the wedding cake, the bride was made of scraps from my wedding dress and some sample beaded fabric we didn't end up using. The groom was made from an old dress of mine. The wallpaper and floor were papers designed by Cristina Rae who has some beautiful work and an amazing shop in Collingwood. We decided to personalise the invitations by selecting out a variety of 7 inch records from our local record shop 8 Mile High in Thornbury and tried to send something that they might like to listen to.

Above is the back of the album cover showing the details of the wedding -we tried to make it look like the back of a record (Katherine if you are reading this - you can probably tell that I am using your invitation - but keeping it safe till you return xx). Below is an image showing the insert we produced for further information for guests.

This image below is where my inital inspiration came from for the album cover. I just loved this when I found it via the Style Me Pretty blog. It was taken by The Nichols a husband and wife wedding photography team that photographed the most beautiful photo's of the most beautiful wedding here.

(image source)

This is a shot of the album covers in production - I think I now have RSI!

Shot of the birds in their set (notice audrey in the frame behind them!)

Soon I will upload some more images to my folio here of more detailed images of the birds. I am also looking to use the set and birds to produce a wedding congratulations card for sale but will keep you posted about that.