under the big top

The boys have been practicing for weeks for tonight.  We have been hearing about their school circus, what they are doing, how they have been practicing, and of course how excited they are.  Tonight has been the big night.  The school hall was filled with excited children dressed to the circus nines, and the proud faces of parents watching on.  It was the cutest thing, watching my little preppie do his tightrope act, and the bigger boy balancing his way through his act, and throwing a little pantomime in!  Both of them wore the results of my inability to throw fabric out- all manner of scraps were sewn together to create crazy clown pants.  Of course I have no photos... I was still sewing them at the last minute!

Are you a maker/designer?

For just over two years now, I have been part of the Olive Grove Studios, a retail collective on Sydney Road in Brunswick.  It's had it's highs and lows, but mostly it's been great.  I've learned so much, had the opportunity to trial what I make in a retail environment, and have met a lot of great people along the way.  We operate at the moment with eight members in our collective.  We share the rent on the shop space, and share working in the space to keep the shop open every day.  Which brings me to what this post is really about: at the moment, we are looking for three new members.

Do you live in Melbourne, and are a designer/maker?  Are you looking to expand (or start) a small business in craft/design/textiles/art/your chosen medium?  If you are, we'd love to hear from you.  Maybe you have a whole bunch of questions you'd like answered before you think any further.  You can call us on 9388 8006, email on olivegrovestudios@gmail.com, or drop by the shop: 159 Sydney Road Brunswick.  (Mon-Sat: 11-5pm and Sun: 12-4pm)

If this is not your cup of tea, that's ok.  Maybe you know someone you think would love to consider something like this?  Please let them know we're looking.  Thanks!

to market

Last week I headed off to the Camberwell Market in search of the elusive Button Lady.  I trawled the aisles, asked around at various stalls, and eventually discovered that she is out of action for a few weeks because of knee surgery.  It would seem I am not meant to have handmade wooden buttons.  The poor Button Lady!  And the maker of the wooden buttons I had been buying has had a stroke.  And my attempt at button making was in vain- they just didn't work.

In the closing minutes of the market, I found this jug.  I love it.  I have no idea exactly how old it is, but it's very sweet.  It measure in ounces, pints, cups and gills (?) - so now I'm set!  Bring on the old church ladies guild recipe books!  Have cup, will measure!

simple photography?

A couple of months ago, we spent the weekend with some friends who live at the base of Mt Buffalo.  A beautiful, beautiful place.  And of course I forgot to take my camera.  I took loads of photos with my iphone... at the time I thought they looked great, but once I got home and saw them on the computer, I decided otherwise.  So these photos have just sit in disgrace in a forgotten corner of my pictures folder!

However, tonight after cruising through some blogs, I've changed my mind.  I came across this post by Angela of Three Buttons.  She too has seen her iphone camera in a new light.  There's a lot you can do with this humble device, and in my case, a bit of tweaking with the 'soft focus' effect of Picasa!

The mushroom in these photos were amazing.  Our friends have lots of chestnut trees on their property, and under the base of some of them, there were rings upon rings of these magical beauties.

I'm loving this photo too.  My friend and I took leave of the menfolk for the day, and spent the day trawling through second hand stores.  For lunch we had the best fish and chips ever.  Mine was spice crusted salmon with hand cut chips and home made tartare.  To die for.  Especially when coupled with a cold coopers, on the banks of a mountain fed river.  Bliss.

Now, I'm back off to have a further look at some of the links Angela put up to iphontography.  I'm all inspired!

for the love of buttons

Earlier this week, I picked up a bag of gorgeous hand covered buttons.  I chose the fabrics from my stash, choosing mainly kimono silks and wools, some quilting fabrics and also some hand screen printed fabrics from Ink & Spindle.  Seeing the bag bulging with over 400 buttons was like stumbling across a huge bag of lollies as a child!  These beauties are set to adorn skirts and pants.  I can't wait to start using them!

By the way, if you have a bit of a button penchant and live in Melbourne, Buttonmania are having their annual sale, starting this coming Monday.  It's certainly worth checking out, sometimes you can come across some little vintage lovelies.  Buttons by the kilo... how good is that!

my creative space

It's time to dust the cobwebs from the blog, and blow away the dust bunnies.  I haven't been around here much- for ages.  And you know what, I miss my little corner of the blogosphere.  I miss poking about and seeing what all of you are up to, too. 

What better time to jump back on the blogging bandwagon than on a Thursday, creative show and tell day!  For a while now, Kirsty at Kootoyoo has been hosting a weekly meme where people play along, blogging about what is happening in their creative spaces.

This Thursday, I've been making cards.  Westgarth Books is now stocking my cards, so I made some up this morning to take over.  It was a lovely morning- a friend of mine reads to children there every couple of weeks, and afterwards we have a coffee.  Noice.

More creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

ghost trees

After screenprinting six skirt front pieces yesterday, they are now all sewn up.  I feel like I've been running on overdrive the past few weeks, but it's good.  I'm feeling productive, and I love seeing ideas come to fruition.  I'm loving that these skirts match the 'wrapt' top.  I love shades of black, grey and charcoal... I don't seem to do colour well!  These skirts (sizes XS-XXL) are making their way to Olive Grove tonight, so will be there to have a look at if you're in Brunswick tomorrow?  More of these tops will be in the shop too, once I have finished making their fasteners.  Ah yes, more sanding to come!  Joy.

my creative space

My creative space is a busy one today.  I have a few projects on the go.  I'm making a pair of pants, am working on finishing some 'wrapt' tops, and have also done some screen printing.  The prints are for some skirts- simple a-line skirts made from a lightweight charcoal denim.

More creative spaces over at Kootoyoo. Thanks for hosting Kirsty!