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Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a comment for my blogiversay giveaway - I’m so sorry it took me this long to get organised!  I would like to announce that the winner of the vintage wallpaper pack is… Vicki from Turkey Feathers.  Please send me your address Vicki so I can mail your pack out to you.

 

Here are the “Pretty Paper Packs” that I made up - of course, one is off to Vicki and the others will be going to my market stall.  If you would like one, please let me know in the comments.  They are US$10.  They may also appear at my online store soon too.

Look at what my friend Jess made, after hearing some ideas at my recent Brindabella session on op shop refashioning:

 

She took an op shop singlet top and sewed up the bottom, then added trim and decorations and now she has a shopping bag!  The bag even folds up into the denim pocket!  Go Jess! 

Yep, it’s a catchup post. Sorry to have flaked out like that. Yes, yes I haven’t forgotten the competition. Sorry! It’s on the list and I’m getting to it, really.

So, what’s been happening? Well in the last week, I have been crying and yelling at the kids quite a lot. My husband travels away for work and he has been away Sun pm to late Fri night for the past three weeks, prior to that there were two weeks much-needed holidays at home and before that there has been Mon-Fri away for the last ELEVEN weeks in row. I tell you, the two weeks break seem like a million years ago.

I have just about had it and the poor kids miss their dad like crazy too. So, suffice to say I am trying to keep up with everything crafty as well. Not to mention the diet (aughh!) and a ban on shopping as I have overdone it lately - must have been using as my stress relief. Oh, and I came off my anti-depressants a few weeks ago too so I am keen to not slide back there.  Yes, everything all at once. Natch.

I have been keen to ramp the business up a bit (yes, bad timing I know but it’s giving me something else to focus on) and so I have arranged to have a cube at in.cube8r which is a shop/gallery in Melbourne that I mentioned recently. Just as soon as I receive and sign the paperwork, I will be sending a package with detailed instructions as to how I want my stuff displayed in my street-facing 40cm glass cube. As suggested by Isy, I have made up a cube to the right measurements out of card so that I can play around with how things look and how much will fit in comfortably.

It probably won’t end up anything like that but it’s a start. I have been doing a lot of hot-glue-gunning and sticking buttons to everything. In particular, hair clips and rings. I have also been making some brooches.

Not sure what else will go into the cube but I’m sure I’ll take another few photos as I get it sorted out.

I have also been making enquiries about doing some market stalls here in Canberra, particularly in the lead up to Christmas. The only decent handcrafted markets are Gorman House Markets on a Saturday and Old Bus Depot Markets on Sundays. I have had the go ahead from both and now I just need to decide what I want to do and how often.

One thing I keep finding is that both Old Bus Depot Markets and in.cube8r requested no beaded jewellery as there is just too much of it around right now. I even did up a lovely little display board - keen eyes may notice that these are some of the pieces that were put up onto my shop site a hundred years ago. They are still here so I will do a big sale soon I think. I haven’t done a whole lot of beading lately (mostly because the ones I had made weren’t selling) and it seems there isn’t much point in making beaded jewellery for sale right now. Pity about all the beads and findings and stuff I have sitting around. If you would like to buy any of these, let me know in the comments.

Emma insisted on being included in the photo taking session so here she is with a couple of lovely friends.

On Tuesday, there was a session at Brindabella on Bush Painting. Kristy did a great job of taking the class and we all went home with a great piece of art.

Kristy originally learnt this technique from Garry Holmes in her hometown of Lismore and she’s been painting ever since! I took photos of each step so here is a visual guide in case you would like to follow along.

First, we applied a line of blue along the top followed by a line of pink - both applied in turn with a wet brush to create a blended effect:

Next we put some yellow paint on one corner of the brush and black on the other corner and “splodged” some trees along the horizon, followed by a line underneath the trees:

Then we added some fields:

Below the fields, some pink followed by blue - again with a wet brush:

Some more “splodging” for bushes at the bottom of the (yellow) fields and some larger trees along the very bottom:

Nearly finished! A gnarled old tree on the banks of the river was next, done freehand with a thin brush:

Now we need to fill in the middle ground, so we added a few trees using white for the trunk and pink and yellow splodges for the leaves:

Using a thin brush and some white, we added a fence (mine is on the far left) and used a dark grey for some shading. One last thing - a bird on the foreground branch completes the scene:

And we’re all done! A not-too-bad bush painting. It seems a lot easier when it’s broken down like that, huh?

Still with painting, I found an AWESOME paint easel for the kids for just $5 from the local recycling centre. Of course, I then had to make art smocks for the kids - I just bought a couple of op shop shirts for $6 each and sewed them to fit, added a bit of trim and the kids are all ready to paint a masterpiece for themselves:

They were pretty happy!

Lots of concentrating, and then a big cheesy smile for the camera:

Great work, you two!

Oh yes, and I made a hat for Jack the other day too:

I still have to make him another one in school colours (plain navy blue) but I thought this would be good for weekend wear. He loved the tape measure fabric - I knew he would!

Oh, and in case you are wondering about the vintage wallpaper pack competition, I haven’t forgotten. I hope to get to it tomorrow, so until then feel free to leave a comment to enter.

Today is Blog Action Day and the theme for this year is the environment.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see so many people making small (or big) changes in their day-to-day lives and in their consumption choices. I am old enough to remember (as a child) when “greenies” were in the minority and much maligned. If only the world and it’s leaders had listened back then!

I have been making changes in my life on a more serious level over the last six months or so. Thanks to Wardrobe Refashion, I haven’t bought any new clothes for myself for over four months, and I have enjoyed it so much that I am going to make it an ongoing lifestyle choice. I love love LOVE to look down and notice that every single thing I am wearing (except for underwear and shoes) either came from the op shop (thrift store) or was made by me and my sewing machine.

I remember years and years ago, going second hand shopping meant avoiding the “smelly” old clothes and heading for books and toys only. Yes, there can be a musty smell in some of the shops, but either they have cleaned up or I simply don’t notice it these days because now I am more likely to make a beeline for the clothes first and then the fabric second. I have found some excellent “as new” clothing, Summer and Winter, and all of it cheap.

My 4 year old daughter has her entire Summer wardrobe sorted already (we are still in Spring here in Australia) and ALL of it is from the op shop. Clothes for my 6 year old and 15 year old sons are much harder to find but I pick up things when I see them.

My sister is happy to buy used toys for her child, but she still can’t get over the “old” and “musty” clothes idea and jokingly asks me if what I am wearing came from a dead person. She thinks that I could be wearing something from someone who was murdered, or even that I could be wearing a murderer’s clothes, for instance. My attitude is that it’s much more likely that I am wearing something that someone got too fat or skinny for, got sick of or simply didn’t like.

I like that I am reusing these perfectly good clothes and I like to think that I am doing my part to change things, just a little.

These photos show some of my recent (and favourite) finds - from skirts, pants, dresses, sweaters, fabric (old sheets) and even shoes. And look at it all, in near perfect condition - we all buy too much and throw too much away.

Sure, you’ll have to search hard to find the treasures in amongst the old daggy things but really, the thrill of the chase and the eventual finding of that special item is half the fun of thrift shopping! An added bonus is that you’ll be able to afford to wear things that you never normally would, or to try brands from shops that you wouldn’t normally step inside (because you would prefer chain stores prices to designer boutique prices).

I also find that I am experimenting with wearing new styles and new colours - all because I am spending less than $10 instead of more than $40. Suddenly, I have more options - just so long as you don’t mind a little searching. And remember the golden rule - just because it’s cheap (and second hand) doesn’t mean that you need it! Practice responsible consumption and think: do I really need this?