in readiness

Friday night in:

Sewing: pouches for the upcoming Found in Alphington market.  (Next Wednesday night, between 6-9pm, 3 Adam Street Alphington - details in the post below) These are one of a kind pouches, sewn using remnants of Ink and Spindle fabrics and vintage kimono wool.

Drinking: Coopers

Listening:

Oh.  It's a wild life I lead.

my creative space

Next Wednesday night, I have a stall at a new market called Found in Alphington.  So in preparation, I'm wrapping a bunch of soaps to take along. I'm using old knitting patterns that I've collected over the years.  I know I'll never actually knit from them!  That's a skill I've never quite grasped...  So, today is a day of cut, wrap and fasten with lovely Japanese tape.

More creative spaces here.

EDIT: have just got a copy of the market flier... if you're in the area, come check it out.  It looks to be a nice little market.

to tread gently

I was reading this post yesterday, and it got me to thinking: what is it that I do that lowers my environmental impact?  I do the sorts of things that most people I know do, standard stuff.  I choose not to buy over packaged items.  I shop locally, avoiding the big supermarkets where possible.  I make my own clothes.  I bake.  I garden, growing my own veges as much as I can (realistically this is mostly a warmer weather thing...).  Lots of 'environmental' ways of living are ingrained into who I am, and how we live as a family.  This is just a start.  I know I have a long way to go, especially in lessening my dependence on my car.

One positive thing that came to mind was soap.  It's a small thing, but I make my own soap.  I haven't bought soap in over two years.  I know what goes into my soap, and what doesn't.  No palm oil or petrochemicals or other synthetics, for a start.  To fragrance my soaps, I use essential oils and spices from my cupboard.  The water I use is often a tea I have steeped with herbs grown in my garden.  Above, you can see rosemary from my garden, and calendula petals gathered from my mothers garden.  It's lovely, local and home made.  And that has to be a significant start along the path to treading lightly, right?

in bloom, again

Today I snuck down the side alley next to Olive Grove and took some pictures of the skirt I blogged yesterday.  It's still kind of windy today, but for a brief moment the wind played nicely.  Such a perfect day today, warm and full of promise.  Too nice to be inside.  My garden is calling.

in bloom

It seems the seasons are turning.  Ever so slightly, I can feel the weather shifting.  I'm spying trees blossoming, and jasmine vines slowly filling with flowers.  Is it too early to hope for spring?

This is a new design I drew last week, and now have on screen.  After a mammoth week of sewing last week, these have now landed at the Olive Grove: a-line skirts in a lightweight charcoal denim with a deep scoop pocket, and a red screen-printed 'in bloom' motif to one side.

(I'll have more pictures up later in the week - it has been near to impossible to take decent pictures- so windy today!)