Best in Show

My brooch from the sunday project arrived! Grab your own at her Etsy shop; there are only 3 left...

Remember spring?

This gorgeous little ray of spring sunshine arrived from the Northern hemisphere the other day. Thank you, Carina! It's just the thing for autumn coats and jackets.

Have a look at Carina's shop for an impressive range of beautifully made things.

Oh, um, of course ...

A big giant huge overwhelming wholesale order had me in a bit of a tizz, which made me stop and think, despite myself - run around in small enough circles for long enough, you'll eventually realise you're not really moving!

The thought of printing more than enough fabric, then cutting it up and sewing it, was debilitating... until it dawned on me: cut out the pieces first, be sure there are enough, and then print them. Duh! Suddenly the whole thing turned into quite a pleasure, working through little organised piles of stuff, rearranging them, putting things aside on the 'finished' pile. I played around with prints and colours, coming up with new ones too. I'm making enough for the order, and a few extra, so there'll be a shop update next week.

This article on how your brain comes up with good ideas sort of explains why panicking to the point of paralysis helps you think. And why panicking isn't really necessary.

Next Wednesday

Read more about what's on here. I haven't been yet, but plan to next week.

Gearrings

Another Etsy purchase! Earrings from Katafalk. They arrived beautifully wrapped.

Pencil cases

Surely one of the most useful things ever invented! Aside from wheels, paper, pencils, digital cameras, kettles, and that sort of thing.

Now in the shop (the pencil cases, I mean).

Giveaway alert!

Kim Gray is having a birthday competition, with some lovely prizes (including one of my little purses). If you live in South Africa, pop on over there to enter!

Precious

Ring and photo by The Glass Pingle

Slightly obsessed with this ring, from Etsy seller The Glass Pingle (via The Domestic Soundscape, in a roundabout way).

Purses

Some little purses for the shop.

I'm on 149 sales! It's ridiculously exciting that I've sold 149 things that I've cut and stitched and printed all by myself, and to celebrate I'm giving away badges (these, these, or these) with the next 5 sales. I'm not trying to bribe anyone to shop at my shop, I'm just.... yay!

If you do feel an urge to shop, and want some badges, let me know which ones when you place your order.

Smoking

That was our mountain yesterday. Luckily very few people were hurt, and no houses were destroyed, although several people had to be evacuated. We slept through the most dramatic part of the fire, completely oblivious.

(I've been sewing so much that when I wanted to hit the shift key just now, my foot searched under the desk for a pedal to press. Weird.)

Essentials

Doing some 'dooring' with a two-year old the other day, it was interesting to see how much, or how little, detail needed to be added to a picture before she recognised it. Adding a stalk to a blob turns it into an apple; gills are needed before a fish is a fish. Ears are the most important part of an animal's head. And in the case of a 'wa-wa', the exact shape of the ears determines whether it's a 'Heidi' or a 'Peanut' (or whatever your dogs happen to be called).

'Dooring' is a great way to remember what a splendid magic trick drawing actually is. And how good it can feel to be regarded as a magician! It's easy to forget.

Try to find a small accomplice for some 'dooring' soon, if you can.

Behold!

A press, found at Milnerton market yesterday! It's more a book press than a printing press, but by all accounts should work fine for printing. It's reassuringly covered in blobs and smears of old ink.


And just look at the label! All I need now is some Dryad leaflets to show me how to use it properly.

So alas, I don't think I'll be building my own press and sharing the recipe. But for anyone desperate for a press of their own, this and this kept me awake at night, plotting. Or you could buy one, from the successors of Dryad Handicrafts.

The next task is sourcing oil-based blockprinting or letterpress ink. Not so easy, but I'd prefer to buy it locally, instead of having to order from overseas.

Earrings

A recent purchase from PinkWaterFairy's Etsy shop.

Clickety-click!

New brooches in my shop, culled from vintage embroidered cloths. (Cutting them up becomes easier if I restrict myself to buying only stained cloths, and saving the unstained bits. Otherwise it's like cutting up books, and I just can't do it.)

And if you like this sort of thing, do have a look at Ruby in the Dust's shop! She's also having a giveaway on her blog, so pop over there to leave a comment, and perhaps win a pocket mirror.

Inspirations

Sometimes when I get stuck with a drawing I just start adding things from my immediate environment. That's how my dog ends up in so many drawings.... This angle seemed to work best for the illustration, but it left the big blank space of the cupboard. Till I filled it in with tea towels.

I've already added my sewing machine to the Skinny laMinx in my home Flickr group. I wonder if this one would fit in there too?

Holiday snaps

First, thanks for all the comments on my embossed notepad! The winner, picked by a random number generator, is Megan. I'll post the notepad off asap, Megan.

I spent the weekend in Stilbaai, which has a large online presence for such a small town! Judging by the number of people we saw carrying their pcs into the local repair shop on Monday morning, being an IT guy there must be pretty good.

Strange flowers pop out of the ground all over the place.

An olive grove just outside town, and a patched street. In Cape Town the street repairs are made in rigid blocks, but in Stilbaai they seem to simply pour dollops of tar on any holes. Much prettier. And bumpier.

A huge tree integrated into the landscaping of a new educational centre, and the lamp post where we cross the road to the beach. When I was a teenager going to Stilbaai every year for the summer holidays, this seemed like such a dismal view. Now I love it.

My dream house. Each room a separate dwelling, and all looking as if it's made of marzipan.

Want a notepad?

Obsessive embossing has taken hold! I bought some blank notepads a while ago, intending to print on them, but the covers are too glossy, so I did some embossing instead. If you'd like this one, leave a comment telling me... um, anything you'd like, really. I'll be away till Monday 9th, so I'll leave it open till then, and do a random draw on Monday evening.

I've been in negotiations with my favourite engineer about building a letterpress, with embossing in mind. I think it's just become a matter of urgency.

Ghost Leaves

Satisfyingly instant results. Dry embossing, with a cardboard stencil and a crochet hook. See Can't Stop Making Things for a how-to (via One Pretty Thing).

Inspiration

This book by Lena Corwin fell into my lap this weekend, and I spent all of Sunday, when it was too hot to move, lying on the couch reading it. It's every bit as good as I expected. The photos are beautiful, and the instructions are technical without being intimidating. I've learned a bunch of new things. But by far the most inspiring aspect is the cleanness of it all.... the in-progress shots that suggest an ordered studio, one project worked on at a time, without having to climb over things to reach a drying space. Clean clear surfaces, posing no danger of knocking the ink from the last unfinished project over the current one. I know this is probably all styling, and disorder is possibly lurking just out of sight, but it's inspiring nonetheless. That kind of tidiness speaks of clean, clear thought processes.



Go here to see some of the projects from the book.

Dragon Fruit

Possibly the most beautiful fruit in the world. I was jumping with excitement as it was cut open. I think I squealed when I saw the colour inside.

How terrible, then, that it tastes like soap....