25 fun and crafty projects

You know, it's been so long that I can't even remember how I first met Pip. A stitchy night? A morning tea? I know our blogs were involved, way back when there were only a few craft bloggers around like Loobylu and Angry Chicken.

But I can definitely say that it's been an honour to be a part of Pip's new book, Meet Me at Mikes. I received my copy in the mail the other day and I was very impressed with how it was all pulled together. So many fantastic crafty projects and awesome photography to do them justice. Here's a few pics, including the 'Fabric Clock' project that I contributed:









Congrats Pip, you must be very proud.

studio upgrade

The last couple of days at work have been très fun, albeit tiring - Bee and I printed 100m of fabric in 2 days. But we wouldn't have been able to do it without our new toy:


Printing Birch in Deep red

Our new drying system! Built and installed by the very talented Like Butter (of course).


Printing Ginkgo in Teal

The new system is sooo good! It basically doubles our efficiency (or more) because we can hoist fabric off the table and keep printing without having to wait for the first run to dry.

And it looks so pretty, with the fabric hanging like that :)

We also had our first Open Studio yesterday. I had no idea what to expect, who might turn up and if they might buy things, but it went really well! Next time we'll be more equipped with more stock and maybe some tea and coffee and biscuits :)

Work = 1, Life = 0

Juggling work stuff and life stuff can sometimes be just plain hard (and I don't even have kids). I feel like post Stitches & Craft Show I'm only just slowly starting to get back on top of things, and still don't feel quite there. And before we know it well be off doing the Brisbane show at the end of April. And I've learnt the hard way that 5 weeks is a LOT less time than it sounds.

Still, it's good to be busy. Just need to make sure it's busy in a productive & efficient way, not a crazy trying to juggle everything kind of way.

Aaanyway, on that note, I've finally had a chance to update the shop with some post-show fabrics all new colourways!


Ginkgo in Olive & Teal


Bonsai in Snow


Acacia in Inky Blue


Bonsai in Robins Egg

... and more :)

If you're waiting for the return of some popular designs like Birch, don't worry they'll appear in the shop eventually - we're busy reprinting everything for Brissy but will make sure there's some extra for the shop!

a brief affair with fashion

Oh my gosh, I have to laugh. I just checked the Ink & Spindle blog and Bee had just posted some pics from the Refabricated fashion show we participated in the other night. Marcel took these shots from a prime location on the catwalk, and I totally got the giggles because the photos make our stuff look so much more pro that it felt like on the night!!

Here's a selection:


Wrens in Plum & denim skirt - designed by Lara


Ginkgo 50's style skirt - designed by Teegs


Acacia in Inky Blue & Grey denim skirt - designed by Lara


Lara, Teegs & Bee - having a well deserved drink at the 'Refabricated' salon show & exhibition (and looking a bit fancy!)


Ink & Spindle wall art

Nice work Marcel!

The show went well, but admittedly our stuff looked pretty plain in comparison to everyone else's because we just didn't have enough time to dedicate to it. And fashion really isn't our thing.

The best bit was getting to wear our skirts during the Stitches & Craft show and getting lots of lovely comments. So I think we might have to sell some skirt pattern kits!

Show's over

The show is over, and although I'm exhausted and relieved I definitely miss all the excitement and community-ness of it all.

I'm a little bit attached to my little show tokens, shown above. The scarf was made by one of the lovely ladies at Audrey & Maud (Louise, I think??) and I received it in the bloggers dinner swap. Couldn't have picked a more perfect gift for me - I'm often cold, and it is so soft and warm.

The Oobee is named Phoebee, and if you're one of the 3 people in the world who haven't seen one before, they're by the lovely Leslie of Onegirl who I finally got to meet in person after many years of stalking each others' blogs. I've spent so long coveting these little fellows and it finally occured to me that why don't I just go buy one for myself?! And then Leslie suggested a trade - even better!

It's back to normal life - sort of. We have a backlog of printing to do, and an exhibition to prepare for (starts tomorrow night!!). But after that, I'm looking forward to a much needed haircut and a massage.

loving the craft life

Last night I struggled fruitlessly to get to sleep and cultivated a nice cold for Saturday which was our busiest day at the show.

Whilst trying to sleep I seemed to assume the identity of a fat quarter - I was constantly folding and refolding in my head. It's crazy when a repetitive action can do weird stuff like that to your mind.

But in good news, the show has been AMAZING. On so many levels. Meeting awesome people. Getting great feedback. Catching up with other bloggers in person. Teaching workshops for the first time and getting over my nerves and just enjoying it.

And last but not least - good sales. It's all been so validating, which is the most awesome part. It puts me on such a high. All that hard work is paying off, and makes me feel like yes, we can indeed make a living from this.

I'm utterly exhausted, but I know I'm going to shed a few tears once the show is over - I'll really miss the atmosphere and being a part of something big.

Anyway no pics today, just wanted to share a bit of what's in my head right now.

Glass Etching workshop

I'm a bit belated posting about this, but I'm conducting some Glass Etching workshops at the Stitches and Craft show this week, and it would be great if you can come along to one!


Some examples of what you can make

Here's the details:

Glass Etching

Learn how to etch a simple design onto a glass or jar – recycle your jars to create something cute / modern / stylish ... and useful!

You can draw your own design in class or choose from some modern & cute designs we’ll have available on the day. You can also bring your own readymade artwork - it just needs to be simple enough to turn into a stencil which you will be cutting by hand (and around 10cm x 10cm in size or smaller).

Kit $27.00. 1 hour. Teens/Adults

Craft Lab 6 - Wednesday 9.30-10.30am
Craft Lab 6 - Thursday 11.30-am-12.30pm
Craft Lab 6 - Friday 9.30-10.30am
Craft Lab 6 - Saturday 11.30am-12.30pm
Craft Lab 6 - Sunday 9.30-10.30am

Book tickets via ticketek or at the door on the day :)

Day 1 at Stitches & Craft

Well, day one at the Stitches & Craft show is down and we're really happy with how it went. Here's a look at our stall, complete with the totally amazing tree which I had the honour of designing and Jem from Like Butter built for us!


Teegs in the midst of setup


Me arranging those scrap packs (selling fast!)

Needless to say, I'm totally in need of a good sleep. The last fortnight has involved a lot of late nights and eating dinner at the studio. And at night time in my head I'm cutting fabric into 45cm squares at 4am in the morning. I hope tonight I finally get a good night's sleep.

Hope to see you at the show sometime this week, and for those international readers, I'll be restocking the shop once it's over :)

fabric bundles

Oh my goaaawd I can't tell you how good it feels to have all my fabric scraps and bit and bobs finally packaged up into these cute little stacks:



They'll be a sort of 'show exclusive' at the Stitches and Craft show, and weighing in at 300 grams each they're going to be a total bargain at $30 each. The contents of each bundle are mostly great quality prints, they are just weird sizes (too small for mix packs or fat quarters) and discontinued prints that I still have lying around.

Really hope to see you at the show, for those who still aren't convinced, it's going to be a lot different to previous years, and should be totally awesome.

where I have been

I haven't been here at my blog very much of late, but I have been:

At the printing table, printing stacks of fabric:


A monument of hand printed textiles for Stitches & Craft

At the cutting table, folding fat quarters using Amy from Badskirt's awesome tute:


Fat quarters for Stitches & Craft - I'm having way too much fun making these, although I'm sure the shine will wear off in the next hour or so.

And finally, at the sewing machine, making skirts for our upcoming exhibition: Refabricated (go here for details!)


Denim skirt with Acacia in Inky Blue

Teatowel better late than never...

My very belated contribution to Leah's teatowel swap ... sent to the lovely Nanette of Rummage:



Things are still crazy hectic around here as we prepare for our upcoming exhibitions. Trying my hardest to stay calm. And breathe. And write lots of to do lists when I wake up at 2am.