Afternoon Tea

It's back, they say. Good. Coffee can taste fine from a paper cup, on the run, but tea needs a good sit-down.

My new tea cup is so thin I can practically see through it! It's exactly the same as the ones my great-aunt used to have when I was little. I can't imagine letting kids drink from something so fragile, which proves that she was a much nicer lady than I am.

(The cushion will be in the shop tomorrow, once I've had time to take some listing-type shots.)

Lazier than the lazy girl

My old couch was a lovely pale green, but badly stained, appeared to have been in a flooded room at some point, and had been looked after by cat owners, so the arms were ripped and tattered. But it's so comfy, and I like the shape. Far too lazy to contemplate a full upholstery job myself, and also too lazy to deal with upholsterers who never phone back, and never arrive when they say they will, I've done a temporary fix!

First I painted it black with fabric paint and a big brush - it had to be black to cover the stains. Then I made paper patterns for the parts that needed patching, zigsagged the raw edges of the patches, and sewed them on by hand. And finally a bit of Lazy Girl Upholstery for the seat cushions.

Now all I need is a bit of sunshine streaming through that window. Oh, and maybe black wheels.

Local is so lekker!

Some of my ceramics in the latest issue of Fair Lady magazine, described as 'elegant and a little nostalgic' - very flattering, and exactly how I'd have hoped to describe them myself, were I any good with words. Fair Lady also has a website with, among other things, a food section with yummy recipes; in the midst of these, a lovely post about my book. Thank you!

Another local site, 2econdworld, recently posted a great round up of local crafters who sell on Etsy. It's great to find a local green blog, too.

And via Babazeka I found Life Less Plastic, which, while not local, is a great resource for anyone trying to cut down on plastic junk... I'd never thought, for instance, of taking my own produce bags to the supermarket, so that I don't have to use those flimsy plastic packets to buy loose vegetables. I found a link on there to a great article about how and why not to use shampoo (it's been about 2 months or more since I used shampoo, and I don't think I'll ever go back to it again).

Another hat

Another hat from a McHats pattern, this time modeled by the faithful Evangeline. Although scarred by a stint as a cyberpunk doll in the mid-90s, she's still the best model I could wish for.

This hat is, if possible, even easier than the last one, with ingenious darts at the crown. I'm leaning towards the pink ribbon as trim, but green rickrack is also a strong contender.

..and with the leftovers...

'Scuse the glum expression; photography is hard!

I bought some hat patterns from Etsy seller McHats a little while ago, and had just enough of the skirt fabric over to make this one. I walk a lot, so with summer coming sunhats will be useful. Because I wear glasses I don't have sunglasses, and hats come to the rescue with that too.

Check out her shop; not only does she have a range of hat patterns for sale, but she'll also make hats up for you. The patterns come with full instructions, and this one was really easy to make.

Crumple...

The local library sells old magazines, books, and sometimes patterns. Of a bunch of suit and coat patterns that I've lined up for trying out, this one seemed the easiest to start with. Easy being relative, of course - the patterns are in French and Dutch, and even then the instructions are as basic as they could be. Still, it was fun and I'm quite pleased with the result.


Cotton might not be the most sensible option for a skirt, particularly if you spend most of your working day sitting down. But it was quick - I only had to put the zip in twice (and now I know how to do an invisible zip, and how to machine stitch a hem!) I couldn't work out the size from the pattern, and it was much too big, so I took in the front panel by stitching the excess down to match the inserts. Which sort of worked!

The large advert for a seam ripper on the back of the pattern suggests that this kind of thing is a normal part of the process:

Billions of blinking badges

My head is spinning a bit from a day of figuring out shipping costs... I discovered (and there's no excuse for not having known this) that my local branch of Postnet charges a different shipping rate to a branch in town. Armed with this info, I phoned around, and found that all the branches I contacted have their own unique and different rates. It makes no sense to travel some distance to access a lower shipping rate, because that cancels out the saving.... so I've been juggling figures and conversion rates, squinting at awkwardly designed brochures (white on red - why?), and I think I've resolved things. Most of the rates in my shop stay pretty much the same, but I'm less likely to lose out on the deal than I have in the past. (And should I overquote on a shipping charge, rest assured that I'll refund you the difference immediately.)

I've listed some tiny little things, sets of button badges, in my shop.

Posters

poster by Doublenaught

50 Amazing Gig Posters collected together on Wellmedicated. Links to all the designers' sites, too - an awful lot of inspiring browsing to do this evening.

New towels

I hope you're not tired of photos of my house, because Irene from Bloesem asked me to take part in her Private Museum series, in which bloggers show off their favourite design pieces in their homes. Head on over here to see my stove in all it's glory! (And scroll down for more, there are some really lovely photos.)

My stove is showing off the new Vapour tea towel (above), in thick cotton hopsack, perfect for those times when people complain about their ice cream melting, or their beer being too warm.

I've also printed up sets of matching tea towels on a thinner hopsack. Steam, Vapour, and now Smoke - because accidents happen in even the best kitchens.


All these towels are now in my shop.

Lots of links

Big thanks to all the people who've linked to my blog or shop recently! I've discovered so many lovely new sites to browse.

Scoutie Girl finds fabulous things, and collects them all together for you to read about. More Ways to Waste Time is a great source of inspiration, not a waste of time at all. Cafe Cartolina shows off gorgeous textiles. Carina's Craftblog features beautiful mosaics of Etsy faves, as does Inkspot Workshop. Craftzine is of course indispensible reading. And via One Pretty Thing, an exhaustive round-up of amazing DIY ideas, I found La Fuji Mama and her instructions for making a furoshiki bag.

I had to make one myself immediately - I sewed together 4 vintage napkins, and tried it on different bag handles. One piece of cloth, 2 different bags! They hold quite a surprising amount of stuff, too.

Another example here, and more instructions here.

Studio Tour

Wow! Thanks for all the comments on my stamp pad tut - I'd hoped it would be useful. I discovered a ton of lovely blogs via the comments, too, once I'd finished painting and turned the pc back on. But more about that later. First, a tour of my lovely 'new' studio that I can't get enough of:

There are still a few things standing around waiting for usefulness, like a cd rack...


The tangle of wires under the desk still needs sorting out, my prized Jaime Hernandez print needs a frame repair before it can go back on the wall, and that table is really starting to look like it wants to be painted white too.


The thing in front of the fireplace is a handmade mutoscope - I'm putting together a bunch of posts relating to it's construction, before it's finally dismantled. It'll be a pity to get rid of it, but it's such a huge thing to store.

The trophy heads are papermache: transgenic trophies, made for a display about genetically modified foods. A fish with tomato genes, and a chicken with corn (I think the chicken genes are put into the corn, rather than the other way around, but I can't remember.)

The pictures are arranged the way they are because there were nails in the walls at those spots. I've lived in enough 100 year old houses in this area to be grateful that somebody managed to get a nail to stick, and I use what's there rather than trying to get any more in.

Above my desk, too high to play with, these faces:

They have led's in the eyes, and slotting the dangling objects into their brains causes the led's to light up and a buzzer to beep. (Made for the same show as the mutoscope - it was a complicated thing!)


A collage-y thing I made when a housemate found a box of letterpress blocks thrown out by the Temperance Society, who used to have offices in this neighbourhood. The flower photo is by another housemate, and commemorates the only flower we had in our garden that year.


My parents' old hi-fi. I'd love to have it working again. And the spice rack from my mom's kitchen that now holds all my drawing and cutting things.


It's actually looking quite minimalist, at least for me.


Apparently eccentric curtains. My window looks out onto a busy road, so I needed some privacy. But full net curtains really do cut out a lot of light. The window is very wide, so cafe-style curtains sagged horribly in the middle. Using the burglar bars and many many bulldog clips gives me a half curtain that still lets in light. It's a work in progress....


Finally, my pride and joy! A cobbled-together lampshade. One wire lampshade frame, a roll of blue nylon ribbon, and some fringing. When it gets dusty it will be quick work to undo the ribbon, wash it and weave it through again. The red blobby thing is something I found on the side of the road one rubbish day, and had to bring home.

Other updates

I've started updating both my shops, adding buttons and prints. But now I'm going to turn my pc off for a few hours, because I have to move it to prepare for .... Painting My Studio!!!! Just so you understand what a momentous occasion this will be, here's what the walls have looked like since I moved in.

It can't be postponed a second longer.

'Tech' update

Sometimes when you're printing tiny blocks (to make buttons, for instance) it's quicker to ink the blocks with a stamp pad rather than a foam brush or roller. I haven't been able to find any instructions for a home-made stamp pad to use with fabric paint, only commercial ones. So here's what I did:

Supplies - stamp; a flat plastic container, like a cd jewel case; fabric paint or silkscreen ink; spoon or knife; felt cut to fit into plastic container; table salt.


Put a dollop of ink into the plastic container.


Add a few grains of ordinary table salt to the ink. This will 'melt' the ink, making it runnier and able to soak into the felt. Proceed with caution; rather add salt a few times than too much at once. You can see in the picture how little I added. Wait a few moments for the salt to start working.

(This is a trick I learned years ago when painting tablecloths with silkscreen ink. I haven't been able to find any reference to it online, and I don't know the chemistry of it. The colour density of the ink doesn't seem to be affected, though if you're printing rather than painting you'll get a thinner coat of ink on your block. The fastness of the colour isn't affected either - the tablecloths have withstood years of washing. It seems to work with most makes of fabric paint or ink.)


Mix it around a bit to get all the ink melted. Clean the knife thoroughly, so as to not contaminate your other ink.


See? Drippy, but not too drippy.


Put the felt on top, and let the ink soak through. (I tried this with a thin piece of foam, too, pouring the ink on and letting it soak in, but the coverage on the block wasn't as even as with felt.)


Stamp pad!

Dab the block gently onto the felt a few times.


Check that your block is properly inked, and print. (Sorry about the blurriness here, I was holding the block to reflect the light, and that one-handed camera thing is beyond me.)


It does take a little bit of practice to get a feel for how much ink you need on the block, so have some scrap fabric handy for test prints. Rinse the leftover paint out of the felt and let it dry for another day, and set the print as usual.

And another useful thing I figured out today (sheesh, what a day!) ...


To line up prints for repeats printed left to right and top to bottom, place the block for the first print, then fold the bottom edge of the fabric up as a guide for the rest of the row.

... and another one.

This beautiful block printed swatch arrived from Jewelweeds today. Have a look at her site and her Etsy shop to see what she makes with these lovely prints.

Yellow

photo by ebbenflo

I've suddenly fallen for yellow* in a big way, and this dress by new Cape Town-based Etsy seller ebbenflo has pushed me right into the deep end. It's made from an organic cotton and hemp blend, with silk trim. Look at the pockets! And the buttons! It would be mine already, but for the fact that I'm contemplating buying a certain machine ...

*I know, everyone said it was coming, but I couldn't get past memories of my mom's egg-yolk yellow kitchen in the 80s. Isn't it funny/scary how trends creep up on you?

Gold leaves

A new block, cut from rubbery linoleum substitute mounted on masonite. I printed a small piece to see how it worked, and I like it so much I think I'm going to keep it for myself, to make a bag - or perhaps even a hat! I'll be printing more for the shop soon.

It's like Christmas

There's a very swanky wedding coming up this weekend. At the last wedding I went to, an auntie scolded me for not wearing lipstick, and offered me hers! I thought perhaps for this one I could Do Better. So, my kit includes: lash paint and lip colour from Twink Beauty, in a beautiful Wren pouch that's big enough to hold my nifty collapsible brush/mirror too.

The Twink products are lovely. I'm too messy/untidy/lazy to be a very girly girl, and I've also spent a bit too much time on Skin Deep finding out about all the scary stuff that goes into miracle creams and everlasting make-up, so cosmetics are a novelty for me. These are just what I wanted: natural ingredients, and subtle enough that I don't feel 'made up'. (I bought an eye pencil from Zosimos Botanicals, too - also great!)

I don't know of anyone in South Africa selling similar cosmetics, and the ones I could find here are imported, but if you know of any, please let me know.

And then, this morning, this arrived:


From The Shopping Sherpa, who won a copy of my I Don't Like Chocolate book. YUM!!!!

Smokin'...!

For those of us who are a bit impatient in the kitchen, the Steam tea towel! I swiped the steam from this teacup and stenciled it onto thick cotton fabric.

So next time somebody complains about cold food, position your handy tea towel behind the plate, hold a rolling pin in your other hand in a casual, non-threatening way, and ask them to repeat themselves, please. No more complaints!

Check it out in my shop, with mitred corners, no less. (The towel, not the shop, obviously.)

More Thank Yous

More cake* (there's just a little bit left) to say thank you for all your comments on yesterday's post.

A whole lot more thank yous (some quite late - I'm sorry!) to all the people who've mentioned my prints recently:

Kim Gray
Hen's Teeth
Bettyjoy
and Holly from decor8 put together a fabulous slideshow of Etsy fabric sellers on Domino.

*The cake is from a recipe sent to me by a super-generous person! It's a chocolate ginger cake, with stout. Googling for recipes, I couldn't find it to link to, but similar recipes abound, although they are slightly more complicated than this version. I didn't have the right baking tin, so I made it in 2 loaf tins, which could account for the dent in the middle of each slice. Still tastes great, though.

I used good old Castle Milk Stout, instead of fancy imported dark beer. It's years since I had any, and my goodness, it's not a genteel drink! To think I could go through 6 or more bottles of this in an evening, once upon a time....

Thank you

This morning, midway between two long and precariously timed journeys, my phone was stolen out of my hand. The person I was talking to had to listen to shouts, cursing, and then I imagine a crash followed by dead silence. My first thought was to rush home and tell them I was fine. My second thought (which I acted on) was to rush after the thief, who was of course long gone. My third thought was to yell at the station security staff - this I did too. Then the train I'd been waiting for arrived, and the only thought I had was to jump on it and finish off what I'd started. I figured I'd phone when I got to my destination.

So while I sat fuming on the train, and congratulating myself a little bit that I was still going to Get Things Done, other people were scrabbling round frantically trying to find out where I was and whether I was alright.

I finally did let people know that I was fine, but not after they'd wasted tons of time and energy. Now I'm sitting here feeling quite shocked at how inconsiderate I was.

I'm also very grateful that I know people who care enough to rush around after me.

More about the cake later, but for now all I'll say is that it's delicious and you deserve a mountain of it.