Sunny Sunday

Bec and her Little Miss popped in for a crafty playdate thisafternoon.

We had a wonderful time drinking cups of tea and eating home made (by Little Miss) raspberry bundt cake with double cream.... mmmmm


I dragged out all of my vintage self covering buttons kits and Bec made these cute little animal buttons for me.

 
I gave Little Miss her new brooch which she loved, and then decided to make a few more in random colours.

I also managed to do quite a bit of cutting to whip up some Gadget Pouches and Sunnies/Specs Pouches...

including some beautiful new Kokka fabrics that I bought at The Retromummy Shop last week.

....and in super exciting breaking news, Liz emailed to let me know that she spotted one of my brooches in The Age - M Magazine today in an article about Dear Gladys. I didn't buy The Age today - did anyone else see it?

Dear Gladys,

I've been busting to tell this little secret for an entire week now.

There was little bit of a hint yesterday... 

I've been hiding away for the last week, searching through the stash looking for vintage loveliness, cutting fabric, and stitching it together to create some wonderful new pieces that I delivered to a shop thismorning.

I now have my first ever retail stockist in Melbourne - Dear Gladys,

Can you tell that I'm just ever so slightly super excited?

Dear Gladys, is a Vintage and Contemporary Boutique which stocks beautiful and unique clothing and accessories.
 

All profits from Dear Gladys, support Fitted for Work.
You can find the shop at 296 High St, Northcote.

You can also find a brand new batch of brooches in pretty summertime colours....
 

Just in time for a spot of Christmas Shopping!

Re-stocked Part 2

I was getting a bit worried after last weeks effort by Australia Post, but my little package of brooches finally arrived at Handmade Heaven.

Pop in and see Liesa to pick one up!

Quiet

I've been unusually quiet the last few days - I think I need a rest and re-charge. Battling with my wireless internet just adds to my woes. I live in an area that was a farm with cow paddocks about four years ago, until it was morphed into suburbia.

It seems that I'm in a blackspot that was due for a wireless network upgrade this year (which is nearly over) - my mobile phone reception is crappy here too. It's making it really difficult to comment on all my fave crafty blogs.

I'm still trying to be productive, spending any spare couch time stitching brooches. It's actually quite relaxing, as I can't just sit still and watch telly. I'm hoping to get a large collection finished as I have six markets between now and christmas.

So I guess it's time to get off the computer and get back on the couch.... I think I need a cup of tea and a biccie first.

My creative space

In my creative space at the moment..... a brooch production line.

I have brooches in various stages of production strewn everywhere around the house. Wherever I sit, there's a pile to be stitched. I even have a blister on my thumb from the needle!

I'm also experimenting with flywire - I don't know if this is heading anywhere just yet, I'll just have to wait and see.

In other strange news, I sent a small parcel of brooches to Handmade Heaven on Monday afternoon, and of course, I put my return address on the bottom of the box. Tuesday was a public holiday in Melbourne. On Wednesday, I opened up my mailbox to find that Australia Post had mailed my own parcel back to me. What the????

More creativity abounds over here....

Butterfly or Butterflop?

I've been tinkering around with the idea of making some butterfly brooches for quite a while now. I had a little bit of spare time Saturday afternoon (after a big sleep in), and this is what I came up with.

I'm not quite sure if the size is appropriate. I need to make them large enough to easily disguise the brooch finding at the back, but I need some more opinions.

Do you think the size is too large, and would you wear it?

Newsflash 2 - Georgie Love

Well I thought my week couldn't possibly get any better.....
But, you can now find my flower brooches over at Georgie Love....

I think I need a Bex and a good lie down after all the excitement!

Blogtoberfest Day 3: Kiddie Craft

I had some friends pop in for a visit thisafternoon and the kiddies were very excited and wanted to make something as soon as they walked in the door.

I promised that I'd put a photo on the blog.

Purple felt flower brooch by Sian
Blue felt flower brooch by Jack

I gave them both some extra supplies to take home so that they could make a doily brooch each.

What fun!

Blogtoberfest Day 3: Waste Not Want Not

I have to confess.... I definitely have the hoarding gene.

I keep every bit of useable scrap that I possibly can - I have containers and shoeboxes and baskets full of various bits and pieces that I've collected.

So what to do with the little scrappy bits of jumper that I cut off to enlarge the armholes of my felted vest (see those bits that were constricting the bloodflow to my arms)?

They're now lovely turquoise felted wool brooches (with a little bit of crazy stitching thrown in for good measure).

Blogtoberfest Day 1: My Creative Space

In my creative space today:

It's a brooch making frenzy - there's various bits and pieces in all different stages of production all over my work bench. It's a little bit dreary thismorning so I had to use the flash...
I'm adding some new Spring colours for a bit of cheeriness.

I found the buttons on the plate on the left at the oppy last week - a big bag for $1.50 so I was quite pleased.

Also in my creative space, is this wonderful prize that I won last week. Cathie from Melbourne Epicure sent me this lovely little girls apron with a rolling pin and cookie cutters - look how cute the cutters are: there's a mumma, papa, little miss and little mister.

These are heading for my handmade christmas basket. I've been collecting little bits and pieces all year so that when the time arrives, hopefully I won't be in a mad rush trying to make things for everyone!

Cathie also sent me some gorgeous doilies for my brooches, and some delicious homemade chocolate freckle hearts which I forgot to take a photo of before they magically disappeared (ok, I ate them.... I was hungry).

Now I'm off to check out all of the Blogtoberfesters!

A flowergarden

The flowers have been blooming at my place...... in all the colours of the rainbow.

If you're heading along to The Stitches and Craft Show in Sydney this week, then pop in to visit the Made It Stall (Stand No. 200), where you can see one of my flower brooches on display, along with lots of other lovely handmade creations.

A broochfest

There seems to be a little bit of a broochfest happening around crafty blogland, so here's my show and tell!

I try to co-ordinate a brooch to my outfit every day, even if I'm just schlepping about the house. Brooches just seem to make me happy.

• Top row - Beaded Heart and Flower Brooches by me
• 2nd Row - Aunty Mabels Handbag & Owl by Betty Jo - Wonderland and Chocolate by Sophie Isobel
• 3rd Row - Flower by Greenolive, Owl by Hokey, Vintage Diamante Cluster bought from second hand shop in Clunes, INXS badge from the 80's gifted to me from Steph.
• Bottom Row - Necklace / Badge Combo by Lauren Williams, 3 vintage floral & 1 Pippijoe fabric badge from Starashan.
• Cluster of badges on the right hand side made by me at Brown Owls last year.

Do you have a little bit of a brooch collecting obsession that you'd like to share?

Another Market

Even though I'm crazy busy at the moment, I've signed up for another market stall!

The Queen Victoria Womens Centre is having an Open Day on Saturday 22nd August 2009, and will be holding a craft market as part of the activities for the day. The market will run from 10 AM til 3.30 PM.


Taken from the QVWC Website:

The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre is a vibrant place and space known, valued and used by women to shape the world they want for themselves and for the women of the future.

The Centre is a hub for women’s issues, ideas and leadership across ages, cultures, interests and localities.

A place for women, by women - we work with women and women focused organisations to build their ability to achieve their objectives.

Established in 1994, the Centre’s heritage building is the sole remaining tower of the former Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital.

The Centre’s beautiful building is home to a range of women's organisations and offers venuesWomen's Gallery that enable the public to share and support this vibrant place for the women of our community.

I'll have lots of new brooches and handbags on offer, and I'm sharing a stall with Ann Marie from Crafty Girl With Ruffle, who will have be bringing along her fabulous Map 29 purses.

You can have your own favourite destination made up into a stylish purse!

Now, I'd better get back to the sewing machine..... pronto.

Mini Update

It's been a lovely quiet Sunday at my place.... just a little bit of sunshine streamed in today - just enough for some photos.

I've added a few more brooches to the shop. Lots of chocolate brown, perfect to brighten up your outfit for winter.

Taking notes

When a seriously talented and successful crafter gives tips, I listen.

I've been using paint cards and playing cards as backing for my brooches, and I was also considering using some 1970's recipe cards.

Liz just happened to mention a little tidbit about the busyness of the packaging taking the spotlight away from the actual product - and it was one of those lightbulb moments.

So, after a little bit of re-thinking, I ordered some very white and very plain postcards.

Now my next task is to tone down the look of my market stall..... could be difficult!

My Creative Space

In my creative space today:

- some flower petals drying on the left (working on some new colours - bright orange woohoo!)
- more experimentation with chopped up doilies and tablecloths (sorry nana).

I'm not quite sure where I'm heading with these just yet. At the moment, I'm going with the flow and waiting for inspiration to hit..... it's actually quite enjoyable, as there's no finished product in mind. They're all just sitting in piles, and I might play with them one day, and then leave them for a few days before I come back to them again.

I might just look at them today....

Check out many more beautiful creative spaces at Kootoyoo

PS - It's Liesl's birthday today!

Shop Update

I've added a few new brooches to The CurlyPops Shop....

...now it's back to sitting on the couch chopping up doilies (ooooh an exciting Saturday night)!

Time for a winner

It's officially time to pick a winner for the Sewn giveaway.

There were 69 comments.....

.....and the winner is number 15 - Cathie from Melbourne Epicure - what a small world!

If you email me your postal address, I will pop your brooch in the mail tomorrow.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered...what fun was had.

The lurgy seems to have made an unwelcome return, so things may be a little quiet in my neck of the woods this week.

Pretty Flower Garden

So, this is the closest thing you'll ever find to a flower garden if you come and visit my house.

Lots of pretty flower brooches ready for new homes - I've listed a few in the shop, so you can pop on over and buy one if you like them. If not, I can just keep admiring them on my pretty vintage floral plate on the kitchen bench.

Some extra information

I received quite a few questions about the doiley rings after my post yesterday, so I thought it would be easier to explain with some more photos.

I found two matching doileys at the oppy - the photo above is the doiley that hasn't been cut up yet. Each ring has a hard plastic centre, and I can't work out why there are the three extra rings at the top....

I separated each ring, but then I needed to colour them. I didn't have any fabric dye, so I've used watered down acrylic paint, waited for it to dry, and then applied a clear coat of water based varnish. Of course, this method would only be suitable for items that are not designed to be washed.

I hope that answers all of the questions!

Is anyone else having blogger problems at the moment? I can read all my favourite blogs in Google Reader but when I click over and try to comment, I keep getting the message - Internet explorer cannot open the site - operation aborted... gggrrrr