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

my creative space

Images in King George Square Brisbane, taken during the 'Saviors of the lost arts' craft market on Tuesday.
What an amazing week to be a crafter in Brisbane...(find out more in my last post below)

Behind the scenes of a mums' craft stall apart from the endless crochet there can be; crying babies, phone calls made to try and organise emergency care of sick children....and countless cups of coffee/tea. At the end of it all upon reflection the best part of attending markets is you! All you lovely gracious people who stop in and tell me you love my work and have been waiting for the chance to meet me, to buy my things and to talk craft. It's so very gratifying.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
xkate
p.s link away to creative land via the amazing kootoyoo's Kirsty at http://www.kootoyoo.com/

p.p.s-how to handle someone ripping of your ideas? Have discovered a whole 'suitcase' worth of idea and product thievery going on and need some guidance about approaching this upsetting situation??

markets/events this week

Busy, busy, busy week ahead! If you are in Brisbane get out your diary and start checking!
The saviours of the lost arts...craft market is happening on Tuesday in King George square, Brisbane-10-4.

Lots of beautiful hand crafted items will be on display and for sale as part of this exciting series of craft events-I am sharing a stall with Sam of Biddy Bags so pop along for a chat with us, to see what's on offer or to have a cup of tea with us.


On Monday I will be part of a group of crafters who will be sharing a little of our experience of turning craft hobbying into a business, this is another saviours of the lost arts event.
It is a small and informal workshop being held at the Bleeding Heart cafe. Go to this link to find out more...www.bleedingheart.com.au/?p=250


Also on Sunday as part of the Hays Inlet Festival
http://www.prca.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=47
a lovely collective of crafty women have organised an up cycled fashion parade.
My accessories will be available at a stall in the market running all day and will be featured alongside a diverse and stunning range of clothing made from vintage and recycled fabrics during the parade; on from 1-1.30.

All these events are such a great opportunities to come together and celebrate the fun and dynamic styles of up cycled and eco friendly fashion and traditional and diverse craft and I am really excited to be part of all this...
xkate

my creative space

Good morning all! So nice to be here again.

Here's some things on my mind and in my hands.
Big scarves whilst lovely and restful to make are not always stimulating creatively.

I am enjoying the unexpected and free path the crochet nests are taking me onto...

Linen, glass beads, old metals, roughened woods, vintage buttons....

wrapping linen thread around the key worked well, really securely attached.

I need to find some more old keys.

And wrapping felt around this twig was the right thing for this one.

They just looked so lost without something to be placed on.

For more creative spaces go to
www.kootoyoo.com

xKate

craft city

Wonderful things are happening in the craft community of Brisbane right now.
Today I went along to one of many workshops being hosted by Bleeding Heart cafe as part of the 'Saviours of the lost arts...craft workshops' This is a series of free workshops covering all kinds of crafty goodness. Crochet, tatting, knitting, gem work, stained glass making, craft and business, fabric dyeing, etc, etc. I am a big fan of Bleeding heart cafe, I am partly biased because they stock things made by me, like this bag down here...But I would love them anyway! They are a profit for purpose business with their fingers in so many pies I won't try and list them-just go to their site to learn more about them and also to see the Saviours of the lost arts craft workshop programme...
http://www.bleedingheart.com.au/?p=250
Today's workshop was about Internet and crafting(hello, hello) and was really informative and also informal-I love learning in comfy spaces, with lovely women, don't you?

Also happening in Brisvegas this week is this the Lovely thing makers craft market...Friday night from 5.30 til 8pm at Avid reader bookstore. As usual it's free, takes place in the courtyard with music and lovely food and wine by donation and has a great atmosphere...

xKate

my random creative space

This is an all over the place post about an all the place week...
I shall try and lure you all in with some vintage buckle imagery-ooh baby...

And now to reveal the rest...
I was told, by my youngest and his visiting friend 'hey mum we are going to look at my books' -reading together, how lovely, I thought...

I should have been skeptical of anyone wearing a hat like this, huh?

He does have quite the creative streak...before one of his cardboard box houses got tossed I stopped to photograph this genie he decorated it with...cute...I might just appropriate it for some embroidery.

This is the view my kids have had of me the last couple days while they are both at home with colds.
I am unsuccessfully trying to force them to rest, hands on hips, trying not to laugh. Also note wool and hook, slipping in a few stitches as I cook dinner.

Where ever I can I am stealing time to build up stock for 3 markets ahead. I have my fingers crossed it will be bitterly cold at each event and that this pile will be snapped up and wrapped around chilly necks...

Thanks for visiting,
for more creative spaces (that are a hell of a lot more stimulating than mine) head to...
www.kootoyoo.com
xKate

my creative space

I have a project coming up in a couple months where I shall be guiding others in their knitting. Pause for incredulous laughter.
So gamely picked up the sticks after 5 years (from where they had been hurled most likely in a fit of frustration) to find it is not as difficult as I remembered...is 2 months enough time to get me skilled up?
Why, oh why could it not be crochet workshops!!!

Onto happier things-my latest whimsical art piece.
A gumball machine($2 from oppy) filled with hundreds of vintage buttons(probably $5 from various sources.) The joy it gives me to see those buttons swirl in glass top...priceless!

Happy crafting and living, xkate
p.s here for more http://www.kootoyoo.com/