lilac wine

I don't tend to wear much purple - it was my favourite colour as a kid and I think I wore so much of it then that I'm still wary of it.


I've been half-heartedly going through my clothes and trying to get rid of some. It's ridiculous how much stuff I actually have, given that I only wear about 3 things (shorts, t-shirts and thongs in summer; jeans, long-sleeved tees and cowboy boot in winter). I came across this rad tutorial the other day that explains how to make kids' pants from old t-shirts, so I've been sorting through everything I don't wear anymore to make pants for my own little creepy-crawly (well, not so much creepy, but very, very crawly). I was about to cut up this old Bonds tee, but I loved the colour so much I stopped myself.


I bought a bunch of these tees last summer when I was heavily with child, and the thin cotton made them perfect for the 30-plus days. Now, of course, they're all stretched in the belly area, so I kind of hiked it up with a little badge to avoid the pouchy thing that was happening. Maybe I can take them in and get some more wear out of them? Or maybe they'll end up on Baboushka ;-)

(purple tee: Bonds
long-sleeved tee: also Bonds
badge: Milk Thieves
skirt: thrifted
boots: men's cowboys, eBay)

Point + Shoot

One of my favourite bloggers, Chantelle of the brilliant fat mum slim, has had the inspired idea to make a game she's called 'Point + Shoot'. This Sunday (6th December) is the day to take photos, many or just one, of whatever you happen to be doing that day, and then post about it on Monday. I'll be down at Jervis Bay, hanging out with Baboushka and my dad, sewing bags with my mum and hopefully getting some swimming lessons in.

I tried to get started on a similar, slightly more ambitious project a few months back. The plan was to take a photo every day, of anything at all, and post it up at my Flickr account. It was flawed from the beginning, as I was posting the photos in chunks (having the time each day to transfer photos from the camera, resize them and then upload them was not very realistic). Then our computer kicked the bucket, and all the photos I'd been taking so diligently each day are currently stored elsewhere. The idea of finding them and continuing with my little project gave me a bit of a brain hernia, so I abandoned it. Ah, blithe abandonement. Where would I be without you?


Anyhoo, back to whatever vague sort of post I was stringing together. Ah, yes. My ill-fated photo project and this weekend. I can actually make a not-so-tenuous link between the two! Above is one of my 'Photo-A-Day' photos of (a very small percentage of) the material I'll take with me to make into shoulder bags, using Amy Butler's 'Birdie Sling' pattern. I am eagerly excited to be finally making my way through the acres of material I've been amassing over the last year or so, while my mind has been bubbling away with sewing ideas that I haven't had time to realise. Never mind that I haven't touched a sewing machine since high school. I figure, the more hideous the result, the better the blog fodder ;-)

Yet another project to add to my list...

This is Michelle Jank. Sigh. She's just gorgeous, no?

And talented, too. In my quest to find lovely ladies who emulate my idea of 'Art-teacher Chic', she was one of the first few who popped into my head. Yep, sorry guys, but I have a feeling I'm going to go on about this idea (henceforth referred to as ATC) ad nauseum ;-)

Her clothes are lovely (anyone remember this amazing dress?), but it's her own personal style and her amazing jewellery that I adore the most.





I'm going to have a go at making a similar floral neck piece - this pink one is gorgeous, but I'm not a big pink-wearer, so I'm looking for flowers in greens and blues instead.


Isn't this one heavenly?



(First image from here; second two are from the Sart, and the last two from here)

Papier d'amour

Given that my attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish, I need to have many crafty pastimes on the go at any given time. Which means, of course, that they never get finished. But, uh, it's the thought that counts, right?

My current obsession is one I have rekindled - the ancient (?) art of collage. I've been buying books with rad, old-school pictures from the op-shop and tearing out the best pictures for this great, enduring kindergarten love (other kindergarten loves that have endured include colouring-in, spelling bees and juice).



Isn't that picture cool? I am toying with putting it in a frame for Baboushka's bedroom...although the dead moose is perhaps a little macabre for a 6-month-old...






Tearing pages out of books feels so naughty, but good naughty. I wonder if they will still let me be a librarian..?

On a crafty mission...

I've been feeling crafty lately, and, it being No-Buy July and all, of course I'm itching to start new projects. Which all invariably involve some sort of purchase. So first I pout, then make a cup of tea, and then have a think about the projects I currently have in the pipeline and that need finishing. And being the kind of person who tends to start things with vigour and then never finish them, I have plenty of half-finished little enterprises lying around.


Like this embroidery! My grandmother, who claims that she never would've gotten around to finishing it herself, gave me this tablecloth to finish. True to form, I started diligently back in January, as a way to pass the long, hot days while I waited for the imminent arrival of our little Baboushka. And as soon as she popped out, so did my motivation for anything arts and crafts.

Until now :-)

Bibs are not just for babies...

I've always adored big, outrageous necklaces (especially ons with with ribbon ties!) and I fell hard for Alber Elbaz's recent enamel and plexiglass confections for Lanvin:





A few months ago, one of my favourite bloggers, The Glamourai, wrote a diy post on making a bib necklace. Naturally, my brain shouted "Sign me up!" for this particular project. And, of course, it's all I can think about now that it's No-Buy July. Gargh!

Come August 1, I'll be in one of three places: either a) sprawled on the bed, sorting through old bits of vintage costume jewellery that I bought for the sheer cheapness but never wear, b) bottom firmly planted to this seat, browsing eBay for yet more cheap paste jewellery, or c) haunting op-shops in search of sparkly candy.

Watch this space ;-)

Pat's back!

Hurrah! My better half has returned from a week in New Zealand, what a lovely relief. Not least is the relief that he doesn't appear to have swine flu! I'm not one to buy into hype, but now that there's a wee baby in the house I'm discovering the world of maternal paranoia.

Anyway! To lessen my envy at his getting to go to lovely NZ without me (not that a week with only Babushka and I was not Awesome Girl Time), he got me a fabulous book - At Home: A Century of New Zealand Design, which I've been perusing oh so lightly while I wait until I have a cup of Earl Grey and good, quiet hour during which to devour it.
(the Mrkusich House)
(a Garth Chester chair)

Pat's stories of tiki torches in the workplace, rainy weather and a chain of vegetarian restaurants (how do we not have this in Australia?!) have only further ignited my curiosity and possible desire to move there. As has the recent discovery of a handful of great blogs from NZ:

Anemone
craftwerk
etsy-love
HOME New Zealand
hyena in petticoats
juniper
lily's make believe
ruby in the dust
So Tread Softly...
Swonderful
the design alphabet
world sweet world

So many crafty, talented New Zealanders! It's enough to make a girl want to up and emigrate, build a studio and spend the rest of my days painting and knitting and sewing and printing and embroidering... Although the creative juices aren't really flowing at the moment, these blogs are feeding that little part in the back of my brain that is storing ideas for when I finally have both time and brainpower to bust out and get my craft on. It'll be choice, bruh!