trevor the 2nd

Am having a nice weekend so far - slept in this morning after staying up late watching Blackadder and making this little guy:

I made some improvements to the last pattern and made him a little bigger too so it's easier to sew. Have a few final tweaks to do to the pattern and will also stop using calico for the faces as if you look closely this one looks like he's got a huge scar on his face - not attractive.

After my nice sleep-in my boyfriend & I went for lunch at my favourite cafe - it's got mosaic all over the floor and heaps of little paintings on the walls. I had toast with mushroom, avocado, tomato & spinach, yum.


Afterward I went to Darn Cheap Fabrics wanting to get some denim and some non calico face-fabric. They didn't have any of the denim I wanted (I might have to go to Spotlight, boo) but they did have some awesome new fabrics - I have bought some of the fabrics above for up to $27 per metre in other stores, but at Darn Cheap they're all $7.50 per metre - sweet! So I bought a lot for my theoretical quilt that I have been wanting to make for about a year but haven't actually started.

But definitely if you're along Glen Huntly Rd and pretty fabrics are your thing then check it out. Leave some for me though!

best friends forever

More illustration - Best Friends Forever clutch.



I know normally a fox & a rabbit wouldn't be best friends, but I was reading Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dhal and I thought, why not? My version of the book has illustrations by Tony Ross:


Normally I'm a bit fan of the Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake duo, but I think the illustrations in this version are perfect. And so inspired, after finishing reading the book, I set out to illustrate my own rabbit-fox friends forever team, and I think they're quite good.

And then just now, exciting! I was looking for a link for Fantastic Mr. Fox and I discovered a film version is being made! With George Clooney as Mr. Fox and Cate Blanchett as Mrs. Fox! Swoon!

some new totes

I haven't made any big totes for awhile, but here are 2 new ones.

I am taking these to 696 but as I'm really enjoying sitting inside & sewing while listening to the wind howling outside I'm sure I'll have some to sell in my store soon! I wrap myself in a little doona and have a little oil heater on and sew with my ipod on to drown out the sound of my noisy old sewing machine - occasionally I venture out to the kitchen to forage for food, but I have had some very good long sewing sessions these last few days.

albi the racist dragon

Last night's Flight of the Conchords episode? Genius. And Albi, what a cute little guy.

before & after


This is a quick little before & after I made to help me... obviously I'm not quite there yet!

trevor

My first attempt at a plushie rabbit was a disaster - the arms & legs were far too fat so I couldn't sew it all together - I would show a picture but it's too sad. I took a tip from other plushies I've seen around and made the arms & legs skinnier (check out these Sleepy Sams from theblackapple - they are some of my favourites!)



This one's name is Trevor, and I made him last night when I was meant to be sewing (instead I was watching an odd movie with Jon Heder in it - Moving McAllister - to be avoided). I think for a second attempt he's pretty good - I wanted to make him in my current style of little sketches as a boy-rabbit, I think he's ended up looking more like a rabbit than a boy-rabbit but it's all good. My pattern needs a bit of tweaking and I think I'm going to have to make them bigger next time. Trevor's only a cute 25cm from top of his ears to his toes. This is a sweet size, however it made turning out the arms, legs & ears a nightmare (lovely boyfriend Chris did most of it).


I'm also not too sure about the ears and face, but I adore Trevor just as he is so it's all okay.

gingko gingko

I really like Lara's gingko fabric, although I have pretty much run out now. I made one of my buddies a tote bag from it and I think it's lovely.

Gingko Patchwork Coinpurse at Dawanda.

I am a big procrastinator, but today I am going to try my darndest to sew as many of the coinpurses in that box as possible - there are about 15 all ready to finish, along with about 10 clutches and another 20 or so coinpurses parts that need to be patchworked or appliqued. I just need to sit there and do it!

girls & boys

Girl purses & boy purses - the boy purse is lined with fabric with a print of tadpoles in jars, I think it's apt.

Today I made laksa paste & everything smells so good, I made up my own recipe so here's hoping it tastes nice. If it does I will care & share.


Why wouldn't you be wearing a mouse costume if you were that cute? The girl purse is available at Etsy.
I'm currently looking into holiday/mini-break spots - I'm thinking Daylesford but I think I want to stay somewhere very rustic-y with wooden walls and fireplaces and stuff. And of course nowhere too expensive. My boyfriend wants Wilsons Prom so we might go there instead as I think that's more rustic and less expensive than Daylesford.

andrew fulton

I have been a bit of a fan of Andrew Fulton's art for awhile...

The swashbuckliest print at Etsy - awesome, yes?

window shopping

How gorgeous are these?!
Polli Fan Earrings - available online from the Polli online store. Perfect!

For me it's just another day at work... home time in 1 hour and 27 minutes!

frog & garlic

Last night we went for a friends birthday to Wallah in Balaclava - I gave her one of these frog coinpurses. Hers was a bit different, I think the frog is one of my favourites. Wallah was good but I feel like every part of me exudes garlic-smell (even though I have brushed my teeth about 10 times).

Today I am in my little studio room with the heater on and SO many clothes and I'm still cold, but I'm having a fun time. I've realised I'm really bad at sticking to any one specific style of art, one day I might make 10 bags in a new style then a week later I'll be sick of them and move on to painting or something else. Which is fine, but it's hard to maintain a consistent range of items to sell. It's all good though. Time to go eat some parsley or whatever else will get rid of the garlic!

good idea part 2

So this is the good idea I mentioned yesterday:

I've been wanting to do some printing onto fabric for ages, and then yesterday I realised I could just sketch directly onto the fabric. I'm using this really excellent fineline type pen (I think the brand is Millenium) and then heat setting it with an iron, and it's actually waterproof (I soaked one in some water for awhile and it's all good). Some of them have painted bits too.

All the purses I'm doing are calico as I wanted a pale coloured fabric, but something that was a bit natural looking, and calico seemed a good option.

These two will be added to my Dawanda store.

good idea

Today I've just had a great crafty idea, you know when you just start making something and you don't know how you hadn't thought of it already?

Hopefully it works as planned and I will have nice things to show n tell tomorrow.

It's going to be a great crafternoon.

today is like...

Curly kale & lentil soup with sourdough bread.


It's also a bit like this picture. Kinda gloomy & rainy, but still nice.

Last night at our movie night we watched Strangers with Candy which I think is possibly just 2 hours of my life I'd like back.

nothing much

Nothing much major happening today - added some new stuff to Etsy & Dawanda, put some new photos on my flickr site (I realised I hadn't added anything since November last year), made a pastie for lunch.

Am off to a movie night at my buddy's house tonight, my contributions are pizzas and three of my top movies - Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Dynamite and finally Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (the awesome fabulous Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version, not the dodgy Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Gene Wilder version).

kittens & homes

I hope you're all having a nice long weekend (yay!!), I know I am. Yesterday I went to the Dandenongs with my boyfriend and had lunch at Ripe in Sassafras, then wandered next door to Soak which has yummy candles & moisturiser/soap type things. Then went for a walk in Sherbrooke Forest (I also did some embarassingly bad sketches, but I will blame their badness on the fog & subsequent low visibility). But really, it's so nice not to be working full time anymore (again). My poor little blog, amongst other things, suffered greatly.


Another one - I carry my home wherever I go.


Another Smug Kitten available at Dawanda. Come on, you know all cats are just a bit smug.

rabbit & mouse make friends

Who would have thought they could get along so well? So pleased with Gimp, so very pleased.


And another Grumpy Rabbit available at Dawanda.

gimp

Have been sketching a lot lately and have downloaded Gimp (ooh, sounds rude, but really it's just a design program) to help me finetune the sketches. Problem is, I don't know how to use Gimp at all, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Edit: Gimp is easy!