mogu for japan

Some of you may recognise this cute package as being decorated by Japanese artist Mogu Takahashi. Mogu is selling items in her Etsy store to help raise money for Japan. Profits raised go to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society.

mini break

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and for those celebrating ANZAC Day too, an extra long weekend! 

We managed a couple of days out of the city, back at my parents for some much needed Vitamin D! I've have recently found out I am deficient in Vitamin D so I will be getting as many sunny breaks as I can from now on.

I have no photographic evidence but just before we left I managed to make a batch of yummy chocolate chip cookies for gifts. The cookies were from the recipe printed on the super cute, Dawn Tan with Harvest Textiles tea towel I picked up recently. Needless to say they were a hit!

IOU

 image from here

A little while ago I signed up to receive updates on a project that was still in the making. The project was about creating unique and ethically handmade clothing from start to finish. This sounded wonderful I thought. I would really love to find out more. And guess what?! After two years in the making the wait is almost over. Later this month clothing label IOWEYOU will launch.

What makes this label so special? The IOU Project teams up artisans from India who hand weave fabric which is then supplied to artisans in Europe who hand make each individual garment. This process means that no two items of clothing will ever be the same. And even more wonderful the IOU Project endeavors to connect the creators with the wearers through a unique garment ID. They believe in creating responsibly, both ethically and environmentally. To find out more take a look at here and here. I'm really looking forward to see this company begin.

ta-da!

Ok so those of you who guessed a bike in my last post were so close. It was a unicycle! And without further ado please let me introduce you to, Christian the Unicyclist and Ivan the Strongman.

These two circus characters were a special custom request that came after my window display at Craft Victoria. This particular person asked so nicely that I couldn't resist plus I know that they will be joining a few more of the cast from the display. How nice will that be?!

nearly

Bits and pieces of a prototype for project that is now almost finished. Yay!

bow tie man

While in Myer and paying attention to what was actually inside the building (see post below) I spotted this distant relative of C-3PO looking rather dapper in a big red bow tie and crafty attire. I think he may have been trying to sell toasters.

city heights

If you are yet to visit the new Myer Melbourne be sure to check out some of the views. These were from the 5th and 6th floors. I especially love view of GPO from here! And how fantastic is the Art Deco Diamond House in the first pic?!

door stop

The top image is a picture on my pin-board and I can not remember for the life of me where it was from (sorry if you recognise it, please do let me know) it has always made me want to make a door stop inspired by it. Finally I did. And here are some process pics taken along the way. What are you making today?

Edit: Great spotting Sophie, thanks for the tip off. The image on my pinboard in pic one was in fact from the 3191 blog!

crafted by ayelet

 All images are from here and belong to Ayelet.
Thanks Ayelet for letting me share them.

Last week I received the loveliest email from fellow crafty lady, Ayelet who lives far away in Israel. Like myself Ayelet is a graphic designer with dreams of becoming a craft artist. Above are some of Ayelet's wonderful animal creations. I especially like the little joey in the mama's pouch and the clever use of maps as backdrops.

Ayelet's email was also a timely reminder why I started blogging. The week before I lost a hand-full of followers in a matter of days. I was terribly worried that I had offended or even worse bored some readers to the point of no longer following me. Oh no!! While this troubled me for a day or so I reminded myself that follower numbers was not why I kept a blog. It didn't matter if I had 10 or 500 followers as long as I was enjoying the process and documenting the things that I make and find that inspire me. Plus people need to spring clean their blog lists from time to time. Don't they? It just so happens a bunch of you were doing this during the same week. Oh well. 

So to hear from Ayelet who was feeling inspired by checking in to see what I was blogging about was exactly what it was all about for me. I was (and still am) inspired and motivated by SO many blogs, creative and otherwise and after years of lurking and getting inspired from others I felt like giving back, in some small way by starting my own. I wanted to join in and be part of the wonderful online community that I believe exists, especially in the world of crafty blogs! And I'm so glad that I did.

x

one year on

This time last year my brother and dad were in hospital. My dad became one kidney lighter and my brother one kidney heavier. We didn't know what the next 12 months would hold. Now we do and they have both done amazingly. Albeit my brothers days contain a cocktail of drugs and some uncertainty about the future (which we all have) but right now his health is kicking arse all over this time last year!

While reflecting on the past year I was also reminded of a project I did which you saw a peek of here. This is yet to see the light of day but I can finally share a bit more with you...

 

Have a wonderful week!

etsy seven

A collection of 7 Etsy favourites from the past week.

1. Morse Deluxe Blue Sewing Machine

2. Arthur Raccon Plushie

3. Apolo Vintage Alarm Clock

4. Wooden Train Vintage Pencil Case

5. 1930's Notebook

6. Pressed Tin from Holland

7.  Pink Rabbit Pin 

hello

More in progress. This guy and the one below should be finished this weekend. I will show you more once they are done. I hope you are having a fun and creative week. What are you working on at the moment?

hello face

A custom order in progress.

david band

 image from here

Through my day job I have been lucky enough to be introduced to the work of artist, David Band and even luckier to have had his, and his wife's design studio, Mahon and Band work on a range of products with us — the beautiful Bloom Organics.

Having fallen in love with David's artwork I am very excited to let you know that David's latest exhibition, Mile Mode starts today and is on until 28th April at Block Projects, Richmond, Melbourne. I can't wait to see this show in person and if you are in Melbourne too, I think you should take a peek! You won't be disappointed.