Sneak peek week! Day two....

Oh dear.  This is a project that has certainly run overtime.  Do you recall the Pania screenprint I did for my upholstery course late last year?  And this beautiful chair frame that I restored? Well the whole project ground to a halt in the move from New Zealand to Australia. More to the point, to get the chair frame here, I had to destroy it!

I'm not sure I have the carpentry skills to put it back together, and I'm also (still!) not sure that I'm happy with the screenprint, but I am determined to get this project moving again this weekend.  Stay tuned....

Welcome to sneak peek week! Day one....

Yes, get excited readers - it's sneak peek week! Each day I'll be letting you know about a project I'm working on. I figure it'll help give me a shove to get on with completing them, and also show you that I haven't been as lazy as my recent blog posts may sugest.

Does that plate look familiar? Of course it does! It's one of the 6 plates in my "Pleased to meat you" range (it's a telephone call - get it? He he). Since releasing the range late last year, I've learnt a lot more about the ceramic decal technique (and have had some great feedback - thank you!) and have decided to re-release the range, with the inclusion of 2 brand new designs! I'm drawing them up at the moment so stay tuned. Having relocated, I need to find a new ceramic supplier and kiln access so this is a more long term project, but one I'm very excited about. Dont' be surprised if there's more ceramics related sneak peeks this week....

(psst! - that's the Skinny LaMinx teatowel I won!).

Busy, busy....

Well my, oh my.  What a hectic week it's been.  Not in a fun way - in a work way.  As in, the boring day job kind of work.  Alas, that has left little time for the sunday project....

But fret not!  The sunday prject has a very exciting week coming up! Enjoy your weekend and come back on Monday for what's going to be a bumper week.  I'm excited!

I'll leave you with the fantastic work from The Runny Bunny's etsy shop.  I covet the beautiful figurines in the hybrids range, such as Matilda Marrie above. They are so creepily beautiful.  Have a great weekend everyone.  I look forward to your visit next week....

Sculptures by the sea....

Sculptures by the Sea is an annual exhibition held at Cottesloe Beach on the west coast of Australia.  It's also held at Bondi later in the year (November) and also in Denmark (June). I'm a fan of large scale contemporary sculpture so look forward to it each year when I'm in Perth.  A sensible blogger would've told you about this before it finished yesterday.  Apologies!  

I went on Sunday and, whilst I was impressed by much of the work, I preferred the event in previous years, but that's just down to my personal tastes.  You can check out photos from over the years on the website under the gallery section and on flickr.

Paper cuts and clarification....

Let me start by saying the above is definitely not my work!  Those of you who frequent design sites will have seen this brilliant work on friday over at design*sponge, but I couldn't help sharing it regardless. This paper cut is by Bovey Lee.  As beautiful as the bird is, I love the wire. I have a facination with geometry and repetition (which explains why I survive my day job).

After cutting all those flowers last week, I can only imagine how numb and sore her fingers must get! Speaking of those flowers, it seems I may have piqued the curiosity of some of you.  'The day' is a wedding, but not mine.  It's my friend Elly's wedding (you may recall her from last year's postcard swap) and I've been helping prepare by cutting flowers.  I'm hoping that she'll let me show you some of the beautiful day, so stay tuned - it's only a month away!

Paper flowers....

Numb fingers from folding and cutting, but they will look so lovely on the day....

Apologies and new finds....

Apologies for the shortage of posts this week - I have been busy though - honest!  Sure, the day job steals my days, but my evenings have been spent cutting up flowers from tracing paper. They are very beautiful, and worth the numb fingers I now have as a result.  I'll be sure to show them off tomorrow.

I have managed to do a bit of blog hopping and have come across some lovely new discoveries. Now, these may not be new to you, but I thought they might be worth sharing, just in case you have some spare time on the weekend.

When skies are grey - I first saw When Skies Are Grey's work in a Design for Mankind giveaway. When I stumbled across her blog I was so happy to have found her.  There's a great mix of posts and she also lead me to....

Camilla Engman - I particularly love her quaint drawings of little characters and this photoshoot.

2 or 3 things i know - not many words, just beautiful photos and great links. I got lost for ages....

Well that should keep you happy for now.  I'll be back with more regular posting in the coming days.  Promise....

Thank you ladies....

Goodness gracious me.  I'm having quite the run of luck with blog competitions.  Last week I was lucky enough to win myself a copy of Mankind Mag from Design for Mankind.  What a brilliant prize!  I've really enjoyed the content, and particularly loved the interview with Ladybird, a wonderful artist who creates secret miniature worlds in strange little nooks and crannies (such as above).  I struggled with chosing an image of her work to share with you - they're all so fantastic!  Be sure to check them out.

Then today I was drawn as the winner of Cicada Daydream's Summertime Sampler giveaway!  What great timing after my post yesterday about wanting to start a patchwork project.  I am really chuffed to have some more great fabrics to add to my small but growing collection.  Thank you so very much!  (Psst! - if you love these fabrics, you can purchase your own sample pack here!)

All this comes on top of winning a Skinny LaMinx teatowel a few weeks ago.  Now I don't just enter every competition around, only competitions where I love the prize on offer.  I am a bit worried that by sharing my winning strak with you I may bring it to an end.  i just can't help but wonder what it all means.  Or doesn't it mean anything? I have been known to overanalyse....

Ready and waiting....

I'm house-sitting my mum's place at the moment and have just raided her extensive fabric collection. I've decided to have a go at patchwork and am impatiently waiting for her to return so I can ask plenty of questions on how to get started. Sure, I could just cut up squares and get sewing, but I want to approach this project properly and learn something about the technique. I'm just not sure I can wait 5 more days....

And the winner is....

Jimmy, pictured above enjoying the beach today, is my family's 17 year old dog. His hearing is almost gone, as is his eyesight. His joints are a little stiff, but still serving him remarkably well. His attitude to life hasn't changed since he was a puppy. Nor have his nose and appetite. With these traits, he was able to select today's giveaway winner!

With 10 entrants in the competition, I thought a hands on approach to picking a random winner would be best. None of this fancy online number generator malarkey. So here's what I did - I tore up 10 pieces of paper and numbered them 1 to 10. I then scrunched each piece up and threw them all on the floor. I then called Jimmy over (very loudly of course) and he ate one of the pieces of paper (he eats everything except lemons and lettuce without salad dressing). Then, using my powers of deduction, the winner was determined....

Congratulations Jesse! Jimmy ate number 6, so as the 6th person to leave a comment, you win the Best in Show brooch of your choice! Please make your selection from my shop (more designs to be added in the coming days). And thanks to everyone for entering.

Thank you!

A big thank you to LinenMe for including one of my Best in Show brooches in their stripey etsy treaury which made it onto the etsy homepage!  There's still time to enter the giveaway to win the Best in Show brooch of your choice!  You can enter here!

Etsy shop update....

GRiD cushions now in the shop.  Only 2 remaining!

And don't forget to enter my blog giveaway - just scroll down to the next post!

Hoorah! Giveaway!....

I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath, and now the day has finally arrived - my etsy shop is back in business!  Well, the process has begun - more items will be listed over the next week.  The delay was recalculating postage costs - it was just such a boring concept that I kept putting it off.  Apologies.  Anyhoo, to get to the point, in celebration of this historic event I'm hosting a giveaway competition!  It's so easy to take part that you'd be completely mad not to. 

Here's what to do - 

Leave a comment on this post answering the following 2 questions:

1. Tell me something about you.

2. Tell me something about me (hint - if you're a bit stuck, you might like to take a look at my etsy bio!).  

You really should all enter - otherwise I'll feel like a bit of a nobody and I don't know that my ego could take it.  Winner will be drawn randomly on Saturday morning local time and will receive the Best in Show brooch of their choice from my shop.  These brooches have been featured on Creature Comforts and Inspired Goodness, plus of course, the etsy home page!  Open to everyone.  Good luck!

Home again, home again....

What a brilliant weekend. I don't yet have any photos to show you from the ceramics workshop I attended on Saturday, but I can at least tell you a bit about Perth Upmarket.

I managed to find the time to check out Perth Upmarket yesterday and wasn't disappointed. Firstly, the market is held in the beautiful town hall over 2 floors (above - photo by blacktulip). It's well laid out with a close to flawless selection of stalls. I'm not going to single out stall holders, as there was just too much to chose from! But for a list of participants, you can check out the market's retailers here.

I did come across one stall that was held by the owners of Pigeonhole - a shop in Perth I hadn't come across since returning here. Now I imagine that to participate in the market, the cool jewellery wares on the stall must've been made by the owners, but regardless, I did a bit of snooping (i.e. looked at their website and blog) and have found that the shop is a little treasure trove of goodies from around the world which I look forward to visiting one day this week. I see they have these great ceramic cups by Rob Brandt which I've admired for some time (and I'm sure you've all seen), so I'll finally be grabbing one (or 2) for myself.But what was lacking at the markets? Gifts and clothes for men! Ok, there were a couple of stalls catering for gents, but none of them had the right something special to buy for my Mr Stink. And what could he possibly have done to deserve a treat? Only surprise me with a helicopter lesson yesterday morning!! It's been a dream of mine to be a helicopter pilot for years and this was my first lesson. Alas, all it's done is whet my appetite! Anyone have a spare $70K AUD for me to get my license?....

To market, to market....

In keeping with the recent posts with a local flavour, those of you living in Perth should take a look at Perth Upmarket which is taking place at Perth Town Hall tomorrow from 10am to 4pm. To steal directly from the website, Perth Upmarket brings together Perth's talented artists, designers, stylists, craftspeople and gourmets all under one roof. The product mix is diverse ranging from handmade clothing, cupcakes, wall art, cards, homewares, jewellery to skin care products. The market will allow Perth shoppers who appreciate the handmade to connect with the talented creators.

Sounds good to me! See you there....

(The Print on Clay workshop I attended today was inspirational! More on that next week....)

Finally....

Laser decal on unglazed porcelain vessel by Elaine Bradley (Flickr link)

I've been waiting very patiently for tomorrow to arrive and now it's only one more sleep away. Tomorrow I'm spending the day doing a Print on Clay workshop at Perth Studio Potters and I'm very excited about it! And how did I come by this course? Our good friend Flickr. I'm a member of a ceramic decals group, which I joined after my experient with decals late last year where I followed this tutorial from Skinny LaMinx. You may recall that I had a few firing issues so I posted my photos in the hope of getting some feedback. Through the group I met Elaine Bradley, a very experienced ceramicist who has been a great source of information! In a freakish coincidence she lives here in Perth and is hosting tomorrow's workshop. I am excited to be getting some formal training as opposed to teaching myself which is what I resort to generally. Of all the things I tried my hand at last year, my plates were the most rewarding and I look forward to extending the range this year. Watch this space....

And have a great weekend!

Anyone for bacon?....

Does anyone recall the bacon cushion I had in my etsy shop late last year? (hint - there's a photo of it right in front of you).   Well it seems I may have started something!  Ok, I'm taking credit where absolutely none is due, but bear with me.  Shannon from Rabbit and the Duck sent me a link to another bacon cushion on etsy and I like it! 

It's by Diffraction Fiber and I love that it's abstract enough that on it's own it might not be recognisable as bacon at all.  Whilst on the bacon theme, I thought I'd take a look around etsy for other bacon themed products.  Now, I have to admit, a lot of what I found I would consider tack, but I also came across a few gems.  Take a look!

Bacon soap by Dirty Ass Soaps, bacon scarf by Bernice Sutherland, bacon bracelet by Diffraction.

Hmm, making me hungry.  But I'm a vegaquarian (a.k.a. a fish'n'chipocrite) so no bacon for me. Facon, anyone?

Walking in a William wonderland....

Apologies to those of you who have been awaiting the next installment of my tour of my favourite Perth shops.  Alas, my internet died on Friday afternoon and i'm only just up and running again. Today is the final installment in the tour but don't despair - I'll show you around some more in the future.

Today we're visiting William Street!  What's so great about William Street? - Well, I live on it for a start!  Keith + Lottie, who I mentioned on Wednesday, are also on William Street and are part of The William Street Collective Inc., a group which aims to both raise the profile of the existing industry and help encourage more like minded activities in the area.  As a result of such initiatives, this area of the city is a pretty exciting place to be.  And now I'd like to introduce you to another member of the William Street Collective - it's William Topp!

William Topp is a great little shop at the top of William Street (get it?!).  Finds from the 70's and 80's are mixed with modern offerings from Italy and Scandinavia, plus Australian made and designed furniture, homewares and jewellery (I stole that straight from their profile at the OnWilliam website).  What I particularly love are the big windows which I can peer into as I walk past on my way home from work (alas, too late for them to be open).  There's always something to catch my eye (including items from the fantastic Third Drawer Down who I mentioned last week).

I've concentrated on telling you about homeware stores (my weakness) in Perth but it would be a shame not to mention some great clothes boutiques around the place (well, on William Street, specifically).  If you're a local, be sure to take a stroll on William Street and look out for Lala Orange (who delve into homewares too!), Harry Highpants, Brave New World and Fi & Co (who now have a store in Fremantle too - opposite Remedy).

Right - time to clean up my studio and get back to creating!