Thank you Natascha!

I receieved a PDF file of Natascha's Christmas Gift Tags yesterday and they are just so gorgeous. I first fell in love with Natascha's work when I saw her Red Riding Hood Shadow Box and now I make the trip across to Natascha S.Rosenberg's blog daily. She is an absolute delight and her Flickr pages never fail to inspire! Have a look at the collages in her shop too. I just love them. Thanks again Natascha.

Things I have made.

I'm very excited I just learnt a new trick with this mosaic maker from Flickr Toys. Here are some of the things I've made recenlty. You can take a closer look here.

Liana Kabel

On a recent trip to Queensland I was lucky enough to meet Liana Kabel at the MOB (Museum of Brisbane) Shop. Liana has been awarded the CREATIVE SPARKS GRANT from the Brisbane City Council and Arts Queensland to create and promote and new range of contemporary jewellery. Liana's father was a jeweller and mother..a Tupperware Lady. A lot of her pieces are made from Tupperware and the colours are just fantastic. Take a look at her shop and pick yourself up one for Christmas..I did! If you're as fascinated as me by Liana's work check out her Flickr page.

Hercynia Silva

Jarrah Dining Table, by Michael Conole

Hercynia Silva is a great new store located at 656 Smith Street, Clifton Hill. It's just opened and its owners are Michael Conole a wood carver and Viveka de Costa and artist and Graphic Designer. Their store is a sanctuary for all things wooden as Hercynia Silva refers to the endless forest that blocked the advance of the Romans into Germania! You can visit the store by catching the 86 tram from Bourke St or visit the website here.

Project Runway

This is my absolute favorite reality TV show at the moment. Project Runway screens on Foxtel (Arena) on Sunday's and then again on Tuesday's. It's basically a fashion design-off / knock out competition. Beginning with 15 unknown designers competing to win $100,000 and a chance to show at the NYC Fashion Week. They are all set new design challenges each episode (tonight they've been given little dogs of different breeds and they have to design a dress for the person the imagine owns the pooch). Their deadlines are about a day and a half to create the most amazing outfits under the pump to have them on the models and on the runway for judging. Phew!

Christmas, Martha style.

I just finished making these Martha Stewart Holiday Card Ornaments. It's a little time consuming but a great way to use those beautiful cards which are too good to throw away. The hardest part for me was working out the equilateral triangle.... and my first attempt looked somewhat like a spacecraft rather than a ball. To take a look at my other balls click here. For those of you wanting to give it go here is a link to help you figure out the triangle.

This softie was made by Andrea at our Miss Woolly Craft night. Clever, and she even whipped me up a little brooch. Thanks again Andrea, I love it.

Crochet Blanket

Looking for a great colourful project to occupy yourself with? Head over to Bella Dia for this excellent tutorial. If you're up for more projects stay tuned for the first Miss Woolly tutorial next week!

Big Creatures that go tick-tock!

Lovely Liz of Betty Jo Designs sent Miss Woolly this gorgeous postcard and zine for the super cute shop Pusycat Black. Betty Jo also has a window installation on there right now featuring...'Big Creatures that go tick-tock!' It is totally craftalicious so head on down to Pussycat Black, 3 Edward Street, Brunswick to check it out. The store also stocks a number of other emerging Melbourne based artists such as Rhizome, Bul, Dot & Herbey, Beserk......and more. We love local. Hip hip hooray.

Handpainted Wallpapers

Continuing the wallpaper theme here is the work of Johanna Basford.

Sally Campbell Textiles

Sally Campbell's Home Textiles exhibition opens tonight at KAZARI, in Prahran. Sally has combined her love of textiles and travel to create this range of textiles out of India. The items avilable to purchase will comprise one-off tablecloths, cushion covers, sheer curtains, and hand woven quilts, crafted by artisans throughout India, from Rajasthan, to Bengal and Bangladesh. The hand dyeing and kantha stitching make this a must see! Just look at the colours produced by those vegetagle dyes. Ahhhh, it makes me want to experiment right now.
The exhibition runs from 17th Nov until 1 Dec.

I just found this tutorial on dyeing wool...although, it doesn't use vegetable dye, it does look like a great summer time process. Eliza and I could lie back on our sun lounges (?) with a couple of Pina Colada's while the wool dries and admire our craftmanship. Now there's an idea. That's summer sorted!

P.S. I'm overdue on a Japanses themed post so I'd just like to mention that Ziguzagu at the KAZARI warehouse currently have a sale on Japanese fabrics. They have at least 500 rolls of kimono fabric in a "dazzling array of designs" and more than 2000 vintage kimono in various textiles and different "price points". he, he..I love marketing and I also love a bit of Real Estate jargon...."well appointed"... "of generous proportions"....For some reason those things really make me happy. Bye.

Vintage Wallpaper

5qm is just the best site for vintage wallpaper. Their range is just endless and so inspirational. They even have pages of vintage photo wallpaper murals.

Christmas Bunting

I'm getting organised early because I know just how quickly Christmas creeps up once you get to this time of year. I've started by using all of my scrap pieces of fabric to make Christmas Bunting. It's so easy. I made a template out of newspaper then set about cutting, sewing and ironing... until I had a pile of flags like this.

The fun part is choosing the fabric sequences and which pieces to back another (it's also the time consuming part). Here's a shot of my first set. I'll post the rest, as I go, on Flickr.

Craft Victoria Silent Auction

Just in case you didn't know Craft Victoria are holding a Silent Auction featuring the work of over 120 artists all being professional members. Funds raised from the auction will go towards a series of grants offered to exhibiting artists to assist in the production of an exhibition catalogue. The auction runs from Thursday 23 November, the auction will culminate at 3pm on Saturday 2 December.

What a great way to invest in contemporary art and design.

Pieces of Eight

This is the work of jeweller Lucy Folk from her great exhibition 'Nibbles' currently being held at Pieces of Eight in Fitzroy. Like eg et al before it, Pieces of Eight is a great contemporary jewellery design stage and artist workshop that opened 1 year ago in December 2005. It's easy to get to both by car and tram as it is opposite the Edinburgh Gardens.

Lemon Cordial

I made my very first batch of cordial last week and I was so surprised at how easy it was. It's a great way to keep eveything homemade and control the sugar intake (or at least try to). The recipe I used was from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion. I must admit there was a lot of sugar but it was so easy and quick to make.

I also made Lemon Curd which is great on scones and toast. Yum!

Razz up your box with Bento TV

Jen, Eliza and myself have been sitting mesmerised watching how to make a hotdog into an octopus and boiled eggs in the shape of Hello Kitty . Bento TV is a daily blog video dedicated to the craft of bento recipes, bento box packing and .......bento tools. I hope you love it as much as we did.

In between episodes of Bento TV, I managed to finished off this baby quilt for Emilia. It is pieced together using vintage fabric (and I'm very please with how it turned out).

and......I also finished these tiny leather booties too.
now I'm itchy for a new project....

Redwork in Germany

I came across Redwork in Germany while I was doing my morning Flickr thing and now I'm totally enthralled. Take a look for yourselves here. This image is part of her Humpty Dumpty Series. I can't wait to see what's next. There is a wealth of information on the Redwork in Germany blog ..like free patterns, yahoo groups, a vast resource guide at Squidoo too. Such talent..how perfect are those stitches.

Here is a little shot of the cross stitch I finished off yesterday for little Tom.

Horse Talk

In light of today's Melbourne Cup festivities we thought it appropriate to drag out the fun with a little bit of toilet humor (this one goes out to you Polly). Instead of whipping a dead horse's backside, why not whip up one of these.

Mokum Textiles

Image from the G.P. & J Baker Range.

I have just been scouting around on the Mokum Textiles website looking at all of their inspiring fabrics. Mokum are a Sydney based company who distribute are large range of European fabrics, as well as designing their own range. They also have a show room at 624 Burwood Rd, East Hawthorn that you could visit.

Tamar Mogendorff

Look at these!!! If this doesn't make you want to take up making cute stuff I don't know what will! They are made from linens, wool, mohair wool, cotton, tweed... a bit of everything. Oh to be so talented!

Jocelyn Warner Wallpapers

I love a good wallpaper and this is from a range of great prints by British textile designer Jocelyn Warner.

Food for thought - Raspberry Sponge Cake Roll

Yum. Just like Granny used to make (or Sara Lee depending on who was feeding you). Just thought you'd all appreciate a weekend recipe to keep you occupied courtsey of the ever impressive Delicious Days.

Hoilday Ornament Swap

I've just signed up for the Hoilday Ornament Swap. I think it's such a great idea as I collect christmas ornaments and when you sign up you make 8 to send and you'll receive 8 in return! How exciting! Form all over the world too!

Find out more here.

Anna, is this acceptable?

I came across this while hunting around on the net for knitting patterns and it brought such a smile to my face that I thought I should share it with you all. 'The First Completely Knitted Wedding' by Cast-Off in the UK. The curator of this exhibition 'Ceremony' was none other than the bride herself, Freedie Robins. Everything at the wedding was knitted, from the cameras, to the dress and even the food. Take a look at Gallery 1 & Gallery 2 to appreciate the sheer magnitude. All the knitters and their friends were invited to attend the wedding.

On that note I thought you may like to get knitting your very first completely knitted Christmas with these free patterns, Mini Christmas Stocking, Christmas Tree Ornament and one for the lads a Beer Cozy.


But wait, there's more... this really is the BeDazzler of 'Haute Couture Knitting'. It'll make your day, really! Please scroll right to the bottom...because you get not 1 not 5 not 10 but 150!

Sukie 4 the world.

Sukie make these screenprinted cushions alond with tea towels, hankerchiefs, books and various commissioned pieces for a list comprising the likes of DKNY, Aveda and Ted Baker. Nice!

Also, I found these crafty desktop designs available for download from Forest Prints. It may even give you the inspration to create your own. She has a lovely shop too.