meet me mondays-school hols- special guest

Welcome to 'meet me Mondays' where I am using my blog space to introduce some artists ...this week my featured artist is very close and dear to me!
So over to Luka...

This is so cool because it glows-I made the shapes stand up. I don't know how they did it(made it glow). It was in goma.

I love pretending and wombats are funny looking-a bit like koalas but they don't have such big ears. This one was made of stone-I look a bit like him, we are both not real wombats.

I am sculpting now with plasticine. This is the loch ness monster chasing a boat- nearby is a whale squirting another boat right up into the air! Plasticine is better than play dough. It's not sticky or gooey and you can put things into it without it mixing together.

.

I like bright colours, green is my favourite, when I look at it I feel peaceful...plants, grass and some snakes and frogs have green skin.

This funny drawing is from a very long time ago of a fairy wearing big boots.
Drawing is my most favourite thing of all to do. Mum sewed this picture after copying my drawing.

( traced onto some linen-great how to site
http://www.mothering.com/parenting/portrait-bookmarks-amanda-soule )

Keep scrolling down for a special drawing...if you want to, you can click on this picture and save it to print out...it's good for colouring and there's lots of space above so you can draw something else on it!Luka generously shared the thoughts behind his work with me -it's only through others that 'meet me on Mondays' can work, so if you'd like to be involved drop me a line...

xkate

fricking ace Friday...

Tripitaka wanted to go to the little market at Avid Friday...sorry mr puss!
dear friends who popped in-cheers all, you're so sweet...

on the way in my mum(on a visit to Brisbane) & I stopped in at the Textile art festival
...loved these details...


text, layering

wrapping, spiralling

texure, colour.
The 12 by 12 (http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/)
& elements (darling downs textiles group) quilt displays were fascinating.

I have to mention the most delightful Katie Noonan...
who performed at the Powerhouse this weekend with her new band,
Katie Noonan and the captains
I was so incredibly blessed & lucky to be included on the guest list
-thankyou!!-
blissful tears flowed while I was listening to her, she has one of the most movingly beautiful voices...
visit her myspace
http://www.myspace.com/katienoonan
(i recommend 'never know your luck')
xKate

my creative space

Regular readers might remember my up coming workshop induced knitting panic?
I was asked to work on a upcoming festival program teaching knitting-being a crochet/sewer this was a big exciting freaky challenge. So for a month or so I have been diligently and clumsily knitting most nights.

However in the first planning meeting I found out I can teach any kind of yarn work...I am glad for time of knitting though and found it much easier than remembered (maybe I just break rules with more confidence now??)

But anyway, since finding out the sticks have been "cast off"(pun! ark!)

here's my week long love affair with crochet...cue slow music and mood lighting...

custom dyed scarves drying over my curtain rod...

a mixed wool scarf stretched out on the hot pavers to dry...

such glorious weather for yarn dyeing this week...

Trip (short for Tripitaka) sneaks in everywhere so I may as well let him sneak into my blog...

Crochet scarf resting on a knitting book...irony? This book is amazing(the natural knitter)

large hat is made with Te Awa eco range and the small with woolganics.

Top of shot is another Te Awa eco yarn in a lovely pink colour and other shot is some hand dyed red yarn (lets call it "twilight red" ;o) it turned out much darker than planned...)


if interested in natural knitting the New Zealand Te Awa eco range is wonderful-
humanely farmed sheep, low or zero chemical residue in the wool then dyed with no heavy metal dyes...
also within Australia you can use woolganics organic yarns, which are incredibly soft and cozy.
happy creating everyone...
as always head along to...http://www.kootoyoo.com/ for more creative spaces
xkate

Meet me Monday

Welcome to my first ever 'meet me mondays' where I am giving over my blog space to introduce some artists to you...I get to combine my love of craft and community and for me it's a joy to approach people who I genuinely admire and pick their creative brains!!

My first lovely local 'meet me' craft maker is Chrissy. I am always fiddling with the cute as a button eco ring she swapped me for one of my brooches at the Avid market which she attends once monthly. I love her jewellery and her joyful way of recycling...so over to Chrissy...

"In my Community/Public Art work I love making art accessible and collaborating with people, and love working with kids.

Sharing creativity rocks my world, especially if it’s also environmentally friendly!

I LOVE scrounging around op-shops for beautiful fabrics and funky materials to upcycle into jewellery and whimsical mixed media artworks. I have a fabric fetish and love pushing the pedal to the metal on my trusty PFAFF sewing machine!!

I use loads of recycled/reclaimed materials...there’s an element of alchemy in turning junk into something beautiful...something really special about finding inspiration from discarded items ~ they’re usually so unique and individual. I also feel proud that I’m diverting waste through my artworks and eco-art workshops.

I’ve really honed in a few op-shops that are still run by charities, with true, old-school stock without the exorbitant prices. Gimme gimme good ol’ op-shops! Digging deep through shelves and drawers in an op-shop like this is heaven for me! I’m also a regular at Reverse Garbage in West End, Brisbane ~ always a treasure trove of wacky goodness!

The first time I create something...I love the rush of (the feeling of) being a kid again and running up to Mum saying ‘Look what I made!!’, except now hubby has to be the one to look all starry eyed at my newest arty adventure....when I create something and it becomes a range, my first eco-brooch, my first mixed-media artwork, or my first fabric eco-ring.

I’ve recently come across an AMAZING artist who goes by the name of Eve’s Little Earthlings. She makes fantastic tree-lookalike stuffies out of old wool jumpers, which she salvages from op-shops. Trees + recycled materials?! You had me at ‘hello’!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EvesLittleEarthlings

If I had 5 minutes of fame I’d spend it showing parents and kids how to make art using things they’d normally throw out. There’s SO much waste the average family can reduce by getting creative! And what a great way for parents to spend quality time with their kids.

decorated planter pots made out of recycled milk containers,

colourful wrapping paper using painted newspapers,

hand-made journals using recycled printed office paper,

flower mobiles using bottle tops and tin foil,

animals out of cardboard containers and carpet off-cuts."

Chrissy generously shared the thoughts behind her work with me -it's only through others that my intention to promote ethical creative business and positive interconnections between folk can be realised so if you'd like to be involved drop me a line... I hope you enjoy meeting me on Mondays to meet others!

http://chrissyforemanc.blogspot.com/

http://www.chrissyforemanc.com/

xkate

gifts...

I am having a lazy Saturday afternoon, will be having fish and chips for dinner and so presently am enjoying being home with not much to do...

my sons are over their colds n flus so this morning we headed out to a local fund raiser, a 2nd hand book sale held by a local education centre for children with autism. I will post up some of the adorable illustrations from some of the cute vintage books I scored soon. CUTE, I tell ya.

Over the past few months I have been winning and have randomly been gifted some wonderfully fun things ...from hilarious blogger and crafter Sarah, of cottonkiwi I won a delightful pink striped sock monkey-with the cutest rosette hairclip detail...she has the funniest sweetest blog...
http://www.cottonkiwi.blogspot.com/


I also got a W.A tea towel from flicketty splits at http://www.alltoileandnoreward.blogspot.com/
this really made me smile because of the quirky subject matter of souvenir tea towels and the dramatic arrangement of crocodile looking like he's going to eat a boab tree


and from someone who would think a blogspot was some kind of disease my dear old dad has been through his things and found some 50's bird collector cards and tins which he gathered up for me-bless! My mum and dad come up once a year to visit and enjoy some Qld warmth. I enjoy the warmth they bring to me and my boys too!
XKate

my creative space

Crochet is taking a back seat this week to knitting, as I prepare for some exciting workshops. Unfortunately I didn't realise black wool is impossible to photograph. It is not doing justice to the fact that this piece contains moss stitch, double cable, single cable and other random stitches...I am actually even enjoying it.

I will be very shortly working in West end for 6 weeks with a small group of women, who arrived here as refugees from Africa.
Our knitted textile efforts will be shared with many other groups across Brisbane to create something very exciting and special...more updates on this later.


This Autumn/winter craft has been taking over Brisbane in a big way, with projects like the Saviours of the lost arts, guerrilla knitting, suitcase markets and pop up markets...
Brisbane is getting it's craft on!


xKate

p.s- i might just sneak a crochet hook along to the workshops too...and to see more craft from all over the world head to http://www.kootoyoo.com/

cold and flu craft!

Lots of fellow bloggers are sick or their kids are sick. My kids are home (yet again) with another cold...

the main points for healing are-
lots of good fluids-clear broths, water, diluted juices. Spending some time in the sun.
Rest.
How to rest? Make yourself ignore the mess(it will keep) and find a project that requires you to sit...
while caring for my little ones I have been tackling some recycling projects.
I bought a 2nd hand lilac mohair cardigan. It had beautiful vintage buttons which I cut off. I have been un ravelling it apart and winding it into balls or as the knitters say 'frogging it '(rip it,rip, it, rip it)
This will make about 4 balls of yarn, so for $6 I got some beautiful yarn and buttons.
To find out how to do this yourself see this link
;http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-recycle-an-old-sweater-or-a-botched-one-i/

This is my cold relieving honey tea recipe-

2 tablespoons honey,
cup water,
juice of 2 lemons,
half teaspoon fresh ginger and some fresh mint...
in a small saucepan heat up water with honey to dissolve, remove from heat then add the juice, ginger, and mint and steep for a while. Strain for kids and serve up still warm.


Another good way to rest is to browse online...Jackie French's various websites make great reading.
She is a green gardening guru- her sites and books abound with recipes, insights into gardening and so much more besides.
She writes wonderful fiction stories as well and has written for earth garden magazine for years...aww, she even helps rehabilitate injured wombats back into the wild! I have to admit to being a big fan of her work....

Here's a couple of her recipes, word for word and taken from her website-
Last Resort Cold Cure
I have no evidence at all that this works - though taking three raw cloves of garlic (with food) while the cold or flu lasts may lessen its duration. Maybe it's chief advantage is that it's so horrible that you feel you HAVE to get well - just so you don't have to take this stuff.
3 cloves raw garlic, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of powdered cinnamon
6 drops Tabasco sauce
half a teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup hot water
Mix all ingredients. sip slowly (there is no way you can gulp this down.) Now go to bed. You'll need it. Be prepared for severe indigestion and long and painful burps.

Chicken Soup
Chicken soup may just- possibly- help the inflammation in colds and flu. Even if it doesn't, it makes you feel cherished- and the warm fluid does no harm either.
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock (Bought or home made)
juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon olive oil
Saute the garlic and onion in the oil till soft. Add stock; cook for ten minutes; add the lemon juice and serve.
Go here for more....
http://www.jackiefrench.com/
xkate

my creative space

Photography has been my medium of choice the past couple days...

using different settings on my camera and enjoying it sooo much.

It does help to have an new subject to play about with...

meet my new best friend.


He might even like yarn more than me.

happy crafting,
xKate
p.s for more creative spaces ...http://www.kootoyoo.com/

festival fun

What a fun, busy, amazing, intense week of crafting...did you go to the Avid reader market or to the Saviours of the lost arts workshops/market or the Hays Inlet festival? I attended all three!!

I had a wonderful time yesterday at the Hays Inlet festival. It was such glorious weather, the suitcase collective stall & parade came together beautifully.

Becs efforts organising the fashion parade and the stall fittings were inspiring and made our various eco friendly products look amazing.

Aside from my dash robin scarves, brooches and toys our stall and parade featured little brown dog cushions and upcycled wool and cotton clothing range, Chrissy Foremans jewellery,
go go girls vintage upcycled clothing, mumatopias range and more..

I hope we all gave visitors some ideas about what can be done with recycled/natural materials.

The sea breezes whipped up some strong gusts which added some wild hair action to the parade! Sam Jockal enthusiastically talked the crowd through the collection while Micheal Swifte d.j ed and the models looked stunning strutting down the catwalk in the upcycled outfits and accessories.

This morning I have been relaxing after all the work, playing about with a feature on my camera which lets me select one colour...mmm, red!

I have so many photos to sort through and lots of new things to list on made.it and esty,
so will tear myself away from Blogland and get onto it,
xKate

Hays Inlet festival

If you want to enjoy some fun in the winter sun, come along to the Hays Inlet Festival Family Fun day tomorrow. Its a wonderful local cooperatively organised festival.

There will be lots of fun activities for all ages-kite making workshops, art exhibitions, music by Dubmarine, an up cycled fashion show featuring pieces from a wide range of local Qld and Northern Nsw eco fashionistas & more.

Some of my accessories will be in the parade and I will also have a whole collection of goodies to purchase on the day too-lovely soft dash robin eco scarves and also some of my latest jewellery,

dash robin nest brooches featuring linen, beads and found objects including old metals, keys and driftwood.

Some of the talented people involved with the Hays Inlet festival upcycled fashion show include:
http://www.littlebrowndoggie.blogspot.com/
http://www.chrissyforemanc.com/
&
more.
So come along, have some fun and meet the locals...

xKate