Quilt in progress

Aww you guys were all very sweet with your nice words about my simple quilt! As a result I was very inspired to keep on working on it today (sometimes when I should have been working). I got the whole top finished - yay!

Jenaveve asked if I could show some work-in-progress shots, so here they are:


Sewing together strips of squares. See the tiny, featherweight old machine I work on every day? I'm not sure how it will handle the quilting part but I reckon it sends a good message to the "oh but my tools aren't good enough!" style procrastinators out there ;)


Strips of squares laid out on the couch


Strips of squares after ironing the seams flat


Sewing the strips together - the squares actually lined up! Mostly...


Back of the quilt-top, seams ironed flat. I actually really like the colours here - all shades of natural/cream linen with bits of colour in between :)


Yay quilt top finished!


Experimenting with different backing and binding options...


Another option (hello... is that new fabric??? More on that tomorrow!)

And that's all so far! Don't be surprised if I totally run out of steam and there's no more updates for a few weeks ;)

craft project disappointment #2

I wish I had better photos to illustrate my point here, but...

Here is a picture of two table lamps, made from custom frames that I ordered in:



Which one do you think was made from special, expensive, adhesive backed card specifically designed for making lampshades?

Which one was made using plain white polyproylene?



It's hard to see here (taking photos of lighting is haaaard), but the one on the left glows a hideous orange colour, no matter what the fabric or bulb is. The one on the right is perfect. You'd be forgiven for thinking the perfect one was made with the fancy card. But oh no - that would be the ugly orange one.

I think I've had it up to my ears with H***works now. Not only are they badly located and the staff are often rude, but they also sell an expensive and inferior product. I spent $70 on this stuff only to find it was really crap.

Lesson learnt - stick to what you know works well, even if it is a bit more fiddly.

That all said, I'm really happy with how the good one turned out. Exactly how I pictured it in my mind. I'm going to make a few more to sell ... somewhere.

craft project disappointment #1

Yep, #1. I have had two big craft project disappointments this week, both due to supplies that just don't live up to their expectations. Here's the first:

Gocco printed twill tape:


I've had this plan for ages to gocco print or stamp some twill tape with cute designs to sell in my shop. I decided that gocco printing would give the best results, so I bought some gocco fabric stamp ink online.



So disappointing. For ink that's especially designed for the gocco and high mesh screens, it was way too runny and bled heaps, and impossible to get a consistent print. The same design printed with paper inks was crisp and perfect. It might not look so obvious in the pic, but here's the original illustration for comparison purposes:


Freshly made screen ink blocked and ready to go.

Any suggestions of what I might have been doing wrong? I tried both stamping and squeegeeing but no success :(

I think I might try again with a rubber stamp.

#2 to come soon...

little book & linen

Check out this gorgeous little book that Pete's mum made for me for Christmas. It reminds me of something straight out of a Japanese craft book - that sort of sweet, neutral & natural aesthetic that they've got going on lately:



The little thumbnails don't do it justice, so click to see a larger version and all the little handmade pieces inside (including "pilot Pete" as a little bub, hehe).

Kind of reminds me of this gorgeous Japanese linen site.

Speaking of, it looks like I'm back on the hunt to find another good supplier of linen/cotton linen. I love the linen I've been printing on recently, but my supplier has run out of the lighter, cream coloured one (used for Bulokku). It's really hard to find decent, natural looking linen. I want something with a nice slub in it and natural colouring... rather than all even, mass-produced looking and bleached/dyed. Hmm....

little japanese purse

Nothing beats the challenge of trying to decipher crazy sewing instructions that are completely in Japanese. Luckily there were lots of diagrams included in this kit, which I bought from a craft shop in Nagoya (Leslie might be able to get you one):


It was an interesting learning experience It looks pretty similar to the picture, but I didn't take in enough of the side seams so the mouth is actually too wide for the closure. It does funny things on the side when you try to close it.


I'd also never tried this sort of embroidery before, but it wasn't too hard. Happy with how the birdy turned out.


Oh my god have many of you tried fitting one of these little purse closures? They are sooooooooo hard and frustrating to work with!! I dented mine quite a bit trying to press the metal closed around the fabric. The kit came with some thin rope that you stitch along the top edge of the fabric before fitting. It helped, but it was still veeery fiddly. Any tips?

[coming up for air]

Man, i don't usually have super busy, stressful weeks, but this definitely was one. trying to get my fabric up in the shop within 48 hrs of receiving it probably wasn't the cleverest idea at such a time. but the response, again, was fantastic. i'm still really quite stunned at how quickly this stuff sells. it's always a surprise because I'm in it, not outside looking in - I can't really see things for how they are or how appealing they might be.

Check out this awesome post from Pip over at Meet Me at Mikes. All this 'real world' publicity for all the peeps in our little community - I'm so proud of yas all!

Tis funny, a few years ago it felt like all the artisans and crafters you saw at markets and in the paper were (somewhat intimidating), unknown people... and now it feels like we know them all and are all a part of our little community. Or maybe there's still heaps of people out there who I don't know, but because the community has expanded into this online world it doesn't feel so intimidating anymore. Hmm I'm probably not making much sense...

Meanwhile, here's a little contra job I did for my buddy Jeremy over at ImageScience. He needed a 1 year wedding anniversary present for his wife and the themes are clocks and paper. So he commissioned a birch forest clock!



It was fun to put together and it was nice to do something a bit different. Not too hard to make either. You can buy the clock parts from here, and I just got the design printed onto A3 paper and wrapped it (canvas style) around a few pieces of chipboard stuck together (A4 cut down to 21cm x 21cm ). The hole in the middle can be cut out with a cutting knife, or a drill I suppose, if you're careful.



Okay I'm off. Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

New website - yay!

Thank you everyone for the really lovely comments about the letterpress cards and the Japan trip! I wish that I could reply to everyone's comments so that people know that they're appreciated but time just slips away so quickly. I hate to think how many hours of the day I spend writing emails!

I wanted to write a blog post about the Japan trip but I really don't know what to say! It really was a fantastic experience, and very inspiring. I found I was more inspired by modern Japanese design (like what you'd find in craft books etc) than the traditional designs of washi paper and kimomos. The traditional designs have heavily influence my work in the past but maybe I'm moving on from that now. But anyway, the modern/cute/crafty stuff has inspired me so much that I've gone ahead and completely redesigned my website!


I've been obsessively working on it solidly for the last few days and am SO glad it's finally up. The redesign was much overdue!

Oh by the way - for Japan, I highly recommend Retro Mummy's guide to crafty shopping in Tokyo. I unfortunately forgot to print off her list before I left and subsequently didn't get to all the places on there - but it's a must have for anyone who plans to go!

Oh and if anyone wants to see our happy snaps of the trip, you can see them here. I uploaded them to Pete's flickr account because I wanted to keep mine just "crafty". Anyway they're not awesome photos, more just happy snaps, but good to have anyway :)

back!

Wow. what an amazing, exhausting experience. 2 weeks in a crazy, diverse country with sooo much to see, and not enough time to see it all. Throw some 30 degree+ humid weather and you end up with a very exhausted and somewhat overwhelmed Lara.

I'll need some more time to digest the whole experience but in a nutshell it was great - everything I hoped. I'll write some more thoughts later.

But of course, I'll leave you with some photos of what we all really want to see - the craft loot!


initial crafty puchases - fabric, trim, stamps, paper, purse handles and kit, minature pegs + spools, 'handmade zakka' book


further crafty puchases - cutesy japanese fabric, crafty books, cram cream tape, Shinzi Katoh cafe mug, cute little 'vault' storage stack

Bird Girls Can Fly

(well, maybe not this one, such tiny wings).

Aha, finally something crafty to post about! I've been inspired by all the lovely softies and birds people have been making so I thought I'd give it a go myself!


I prototyped her out of paper and sticky-tape first which sort of worked. After I sewed her together I had to go back and make some little changes - shorten her body, narrow her neck, give her head some darts. It's still not how I pictured her but I'm happy enough.


(the tail is still a work in progress)

I stuffed her using some cotton wadding that I've had in my stash for ages - it's the stuff they use in making futons and Japanese floor cushions, and basically looks like raw cotton right off the bush. It even has the occasional twig in it. It's awesome to work with tho - much more pliable than synthetic stuff and you can make it dense in some spots and light and fluffy in others. You can get it from friendly futon manufacturers. I'm not sure what other people use to stuff their toys but I really like the cotton wadding...

Put to Good Use

I hope this doesn't come across as being self congratulatory or anything, but I just had to post about some of the gorgeous things the ladies out there have been making with my fabric. It is soooo great to see the things people have come up with, especially because I would never have thought to make them myself. It is so much more fun to just supply the materials and leave it up to the real crafty talent to do the rest :)


From top left to bottom right:
1. Sylvia Handbag by Justinamaria (sold, but perhaps she'll make more!)
2. des petits sacs en feutre (small felt bags) by Olivelse
3. Tweet Tweet Pillow by Tuttifruti
4. Marta Quilted Clutch Purse by Justinamaria
5. Bears by Kristen Doran
6. Wristlet in Riverstones by Allysonhill

Poor Failed Craft Project

Sitting on the couch yesterday watching the movie Russian Dolls (with all those gorgeous cosy parisian homes) I felt inspired to make something for our apartment. We have those kind of ugly light fittings that sit on the ceiling covered by an oyster shell thingy (oh how i'd love to have hanging lightbulbs that I could put funky lampshades on) so I decided to make a sort of lampshade thing that sits flush on the roof and covers/pretties it up a bit.

I spent about 7 hours working on this project up till 1am, always thinking "once it all comes together it'll hold it's shape better... it'll be okay". Well, the only way you learn these things is to try and fail.

Lesson learnt: If you want to make a lampshade you need a solid frame that can hold it's own weight. A frame made out of polyprop doesn't cut it. Behold:





Okay it might look _okay_ in these photos but in real life, hanging from my ceiling with the light on it looks like a saggy, unrefined mess. Maybe it's rescuable if I line the inside with some stiff wire? What bugs me most is wasting that kimono fabric - I might have to cut this fella up and rescue the pieces.

Freshly Blended Patterns

I just completed my first ever commissioned pattern design job! It was heaps of fun. Nicole from freshly blended needed some patterns to compliment her new brand, site and packaging, and in return she's making me one of her beautiful hand bound books. I'm very excited.





What is it about collaborating with someone from the craft world that feels so much more satisfying and enjoyable than collaborating with someone from the graphic design world? The reason struck me when I was writing an email to Nicole about this very topic, and I wonder why I never conciously registered it before. The graphic design world is male dominated. The craft world is female dominated. I'm making some massive generalisations here I know, but to me the graphic design world often has a hard edge and can be quite competitive. The fact that there is so much ephasis amongst 'top' design studios on winning design awards is a testament to this. On the flip side the craft world is soft and nurturing and encouraging, and has helped me to flourish creatively.

Thinking back on the contract jobs I've done in studios around Melbourne (admittedly not that many), only one place had another female creative. Crazy.

Anyway ... /rant. Hope everyone has a great weekend and doesn't become a puddle in the heat or an icecube in the snow.

P.S. - thanks to Jem from Imagescience for mentioning my blog and website in his newsletter!!

adventures with art clay

Looking back on my childhood, there was a distinct trend of me jumping from one crafty pursuit to the next to the next. Mum found this a great source of amusement and birthday/christmas present ideas. One minute it'd be china painting, the next candle making, then flower pressing then fimo modelling then bead looming then soft toy making and so on.

The one thing that I did manage to stick with for a considerable amount of time was ceramics. I think i did it for about 6 years. Too small and weak to handle the wheel I just did freeform modelling - mainly dragons and wizards and castles - all that stuff I was mad about at the time.

Anyway, it's become really obvious to me (and maybe to you too) that this trend has continued into my adult life, well in the last year at least. Drawing, painting, gocco printing, jewellery design, pattern design, bookbinding ... and now I've found a new one - silver clay modelling!

Has anyone else tried Art Clay Silver before? It is awesome. It's a type of modelling clay made up of silver particles that you mould into any shape and then fire on a gas stovetop. The result is 99.9% silver. Madness. I bought myself a starter kit from The Bead Co the other week and here's the development of my first piece:


The piece still in clay form. It was quite fiddly to model and I found that I had to keep wetting the clay so it wouldn't dry out when working with it - basically it was just like working with normal clay -similar consistency and drying behaviour.


Firing the piece on the gas burner (it's covered with a mesh cage in case it explodes)


The final piece, polished up (kinda). I can't take full credit for the shape though - it's partially based on a piece of jewellery I saw somewhere that's got stuck in my head. (edit: ahh, now I know where! it was Kyo Hashimoto's work!).

It'd be awesome to be able to keep dabbling in a range of crafts as my job. I think that's why I'm so reluctant to join a studio and be boxed into one role - web designer OR graphic designer OR textile designer OR OR OR. I can't imagine a studio job that would let me do all the things I love. And I don't see myself as being particularly good at one thing over all the others. Hence I'm still working from home on my own. Lonely business but very rewarding. I imagine that there are a lot of crafters out there who face this same problem. How have you tackled it?

Facts for the day:

If you're in Melbourne and looking for a filing cabinet, go past those outrageously priced office furniture stores and straight to Dallas Trading on Macaulay Rd, North Melb. We got an awesome solid metal ex-office one for only $80,and she aint half bad looking either. And she has wheels!

They have some other antiquey furniture numbers too, like these cute little nested tables we scored for $80 also!



Craft: magazine is awesome - arrived in the mail yesterday! I'm not sure if i'll actually make anything from this issue (although they do have a good screenprinting tute) ... but somehow just having it makes me feel more connected to this otherwise intangible online world.

Bad skin? Flaxseed oil! Well it's certainly working for me. I started taking it a few weeks ago and I can definately see differences. A smoother complexion and no little breakouts. I went through roaccutane crap-ness back in my teenage years so this. is. sooo. nice.

Meanwhile, keeping sane under work pressure with a bit more drawing practice. Nothing too speccy but it's fun to play around:

Sometimes you work on these really labour intensive projects that just don't end up working. Like these two prototypes below. I spent hours cutting little shapes out of poypropolyene, to find the end result just didn't make a good earring. Maybe the left hand one would work as a pendant with some darker coloured material.



The whole process can be pretty disappointing... but at least it's one step closer to finding an idea that works. If doing this stuff was super easy then I suppose more people would be doing it, and then it'd lose it's uniqueness and value. For that reason I kinda enjoy working on labour intensive stuff ... so long as I don't completely ruin my back working over the coffee table :)

Anyway there's lots of good to come with the bad. Firstly, the awesome Shannon has been helping me out heaps, suggesting I try to sell my patterns here and also offering to take some of my jewellery to sell at her sister's upcoming craft party. Thanks again Shannon!

Also I went on a bit of an impulse buying spree and bought these three prints from ashelyg's etsy shop:


Veeeeery much looking forward to receiving them in the post.
Aren't parcels great?

Meanwhile, I continued my purchasing spree by buying this design-nerdy hoodie from veer:


Ok, less spending and more doing - time to think up some new ideas that actually work this time. Wish me luck!