eggish

Easter Geometry by Dietlind Wolf

I had planned this past week to do some natural dyeing with some chicken eggs. We even blew out the eggs and have the shells sitting and waiting. 

Despite not having the time to get them made, the real reason was that the children weren't so interested and we don't exactly have the space in our home for endless decorations and such.

Easter to us is really chocolate day. Chocolate is a religion isn't it! 

These beautifully designed egg making crafts fit more within the art & design category than the usual crafting that happens at schools and such. So amazing. I think these are perfect for any time of year - perhaps for our Southern Hemisphere Spring when it comes around?

Here's my little round-up. You only have to jump onto Pinterest to find about a trillion more......

I follow Lisa on Instagram, and am always inspired by her work - her tutorials, photos and printables that she shares are so lovely. She also has a round up of some of her favourite eggish crafty finds on her blog.  

Chalkboard Eggs from The Red Thread

These chalkboard eggs, by Lisa from The Red Thread sure are cute and would be lovely as party table settings. I'm sure kids would have lots of fun with writing special messages on these.

Egg shell and macrame hangers by The Red Thread

Macrame is super hot right now. I think my mum would love that, she sure was a bit of a macrame queen in her days (and also was known to have worn a crochet itsy bitsy bikini!). But macrame is a bit more funked up and modern than it used to be. Check out this tutorial, again by Lisa.

Tablescape by Dietlind Wolf

These were made for Living at Home magazine. Oh where can I find that publication. WOW oh WOW! I needn't say anything more about this delicious amazing fantastical vibrant eggish tablescape. Imagine sitting down for a family Easter lunch to this.

Eggs the Design*Sponge way!

The sweetest little eggish necklace from Design*Sponge

You can count on Design*Sponge to take egg decorating to a whole other level. These are simply stunning! There are tutorials for these and more, so pop on over to do some making or simply be inspired.

If you'd like to try your hand at some naturally dyed eggs, use things like turmeric, red cabbage, onion skins or beetroot. Some vinegar or salt in the water helps the colour to be fast, but it'll be a soft faded type of dye. It's a lovely and very satisfying activity, simple to do in your kitchen.

It's all Pozible {Belinda Kemp :: Gretchenmist}

If you've been reading here for a while then you'll know about the amazing site called Pozible. Last year we launched our own Pozible campaign with the Hey Maker Pop-Up project. Many of you were along for the ride, and helped us out. And how cool was that!

We reached our goal, and successfully ran out project thanks to the support of many people helping out with lots of little bits. 

I'm really pleased to share with you another creative who is following her dreams, and raising funds through Pozible to make her project a reality. 

Belinda Kemp is a Melbourne artist who works in the most beautiful and emotional colour palette. Her paintings are evocative and thoughtful in a soft and subtle way - they don't force you, but softly guide you along a journey. 

Last year Belinda had some intense and big things happen in her life. One would say life-changing events. You can hear about it on her Pozible campaign. Needless to say, this alone is an inspiring and courageous story. To move through this by using her art work and painting is a special thing. 

Belinda's hope is to travel to Gotenburg, Sweden, this year, to attend a camp run by Camilla Engman, who is an artistic inspiration to many many creatives around this world.

My thoughts on sites like Pozible are, that we can all spare $10-$25 (or more) on little things that make a big difference to someone else. Give up take away coffee for a week, and donate to Belinda (or maybe one of the other interesting, thoughtful, creative, unique, strange, crazy dreams that people share on Pozible). For Belinda to access any of the funds already donated, she needs to reach her whole goal. Pozible is an all-or-nothing site. 

So, jump on over and have a look. There are some delicious rewards on offer, but come on - the best reward is the warm feeling you get by helping someone else achieve their dream. Sending someone off to explore somewhere on your behalf. Knowing you had a part to play in someone else's life is a bigger stronger and happier feeling that you might image.......

Check out Belinda's blog Gretchenmist here

Etsy shop here

And Pozible campaign here - where you can pledge your donation.

*all images from Belinda Kemp's blog and Pozible site. I've only included a few, as I want you to go off an have an explore for yourself of Belinda's works.

skies {and looking up}

A week of rain last week got us all down and mopey again. I think everyone in the Tweed Valley is affected by the rain the same way. All these years of wet and moss and mould and weather predictions that one friend joked could be the same for the next year.

So - seeing sunshine yesterday, and glorious blue skies today. It's enough to make us happy again. Anything's possible when the sky is blue and the only clouds we see are the pretty ones all coloured by the afternoon sun.

I love watching the morning shadows stretching into our yard.
This morning, while waiting for the school bus, the kids and I spotted spider web filled with dew, and fine early morning mist, and the sun slowly creeping over the mountains. And the birds were calling.

What a glorious start to the week. Winter is well and truely here.

     :: other lovely things from around ::
} my brother and his partner on the radio, talking about CSA
} fig and fauna - on such a pretty blog to look at, about life on a homesteading farm.
} Alex Falkiner - been so loving seeing her stitching work and colourful images on Instagram.
} Lotta's new exclusive collection - this top especially.
} and the sweet games my littlies were playing over the weekend - M dressed in her yellow tutu as Pikachu and A with a specially made Pokemon belt, as the trainer Ash.

new monkey-play (with easter eggs in pretty foils)

Can I tell you how sad I was to find out that Picnik was packing up it's pretty little rug and shooing away the ants. I relied on Picnic to make my blog headers and other little bits and pieces for online editing. Was easy, simple, quick and do-able with no long training videos or downloads.

So - it was with much excitement that I read on Kimono Reincarnate's blog about a new site called PicMonkey. I jumped straight on to have a try. EASY easy I tell you, and fun and so much excellent stuff there.

Currently there is no collage option, which is what I liked about Picnik, but they say coming soon. So I can wait.

Go check it out for yourself. These are some of the fun edits I did - the heart / arrow one being my favourite, probably because I don't generally go in for that myself though *heart* it when someone else does it....

le fleur

there's a lot of green around me, where i live. a lot. different sorts of greens. amazing greens.
there are also flowers, moss, mushrooms, leaves - oh leaves of endless colourful brightness to entice me and enchant me.

but sometimes. just sometimes.
i'd like to be able to slip into a beautiful florist shop. to stop and fill my head with the aroma of such a space.
and to stand and ponder and drift off on a little dream. as sometimes can happen, in fact perhaps has actually been known to happen, in a beautiful florist shop.

alas there are none near to where i live. and if i'm near to one - well it seems silly, or frivolous or just down right unfair to even enter and tease myself. so.... i don't.

but i have been dreaming of being able to bring home a crazily over-the-top bunch of gloriousness.deliciousness.splendiferousness...... oh yes i have. do you know that feeling?

instead, i'll try, just try, to fulfill a little of that hunger with some of these images. i'm pinning more as i find them. share some with me too, if you dare xxx

images used with kind kind thanks from:

1, 2 & 3 Saipua - so much goodness there! / 4 House on Hill Road /5 by me, taken at my friend's wedding last year, at dear sweet Kate's house / 6 Sweet Eventide / 7 Broadturn Farm / 8 Sonia Pell / 9 by me

and .....

there's some big big splotches of rain falling on our roof right now. right now.
the sun was up and shining this morning. but those grey smudgey clouds are there now.

i'm writing lists - both on paper, and in my head.
but really i'm thinking about what direction, where to go, where to push and pull, and move.
that sort of thing.

suddenly it's moved into march. well - how did that happen. the year stumbling, flying along.
suddenly i've got lots happening. and need to be using my diary and calendar and planner efficiently.
suddenly i'm busy with all sorts of things.

but really i'm being slow and thinking each thing as i'm doing it. i'm trying hard to do this, to remember to do this. to focus on the one thing in front of me. trying trying.

i didn't do any sewing today. but tomorrow i will. i'll make sure i do. i'll do some crochet perhaps - right now. well, after lunch, how about.

things i'm liking around the webosphere today -
ink & spindle's new colourway range. those shorts sure are good.good.good!
the outtakes from this fashion collection, seen on sang the bird's blog
this year, some good things to do and remember from le project d.amour's blog. found on  satsuma press.
all the new work that Tiel is doing lately. i'm seeing it on instagram, on pinterest. wishing for walls (a house!!) to put something up. 
Hugo's wonderful polar bear party. oh that cake! Kate, you're an inspiration.
Sandrine, you really are making me happy, making me smile. with your words, your images (oh those flowers from your garden!).

tell me, what are you liking today.....
* that's me looking happy, with a postage bag on my head (it was such a great pattern, i was trying to work out what i could make with it).

right now

the kids will be home from school momentarily.
my computer will run out of power momentarily.

right now the sun is shining hard. its pushed the clouds away and forced itself past the rain we've had. the cicadas are calling. they're booming. getting as much said as they can while the sun is warming them.

this pile of crochet circles is steadily growing. bit by bit I tie another one off my hook. I'm finishing all the strings as I go - I think it would be too much to do it all at the end. But then, that may happen too.

I'm making more crochet covered stones and rocks. mostly collected our creek. perhaps we'll visit the beach soon and collect some from there as well. there seems to be lots of stones along the beaches these days. I keep giving away all the crochet rocks. we barely have any left. and I keep planning on making more for giving away as well. I do love making them, and having them around the house - I'd so love a whole bowlful - that lovely wooden bowl we have. but I also love giving them away.

right now. that's how things are happening.
I'm loving ::
Kate's this week list - I wish mine was that delicious sounding.
Jacqui's wrong side.
Kristen's sweet coasters she made for a friend.
Leah's night romantic inky image.
Abby's sweet place and the light in her life.

*in total disclosure. That moment is over. I'm in another moment right now - at my dad's, with my computer charging, and the mosquitos eating me alive. I keep forgetting, ever forgetting that my moments slip away......... endlessly gone into some other place of non-memory/vague forget/sometimes retain. those moments.

credit

Last week I went to a talk / seminar on copyright. It was taken by someone from the Sydney National Art Gallery, who works with all the gallery's major artworks and keeps track of what is still in copyright, what's not, etc. Was an interesting talk. Unfortunately it was a bit too aim towards big industry / artists / galleries, etc; rather than hand crafted or smaller artists. She didn't talk very much about online 'stealing' or 'appropriation'.
There were a few questions from people about what could they do if they find out someone has used (stolen) their work. Surprisingly one person put his hand up and said he uses images from online and changes them slightly to turn them into print (he asked what the percentage rule was - something I've head numerous times over the past years, which really doesn't mean too much, I don't think).
There's been many, oh too too many, times I've noticed and heard people's work / ideas / intellectual property has been taken and reused by someone else.

I just found this site, called Link With Love. Isn't that a sweet little name, and what an excellent idea. With all these continually and rapidly growing sites where people repin or retweet or re.....somethingelse someone else's work, it gets hard finding the original source. I have many images I've lost the original for - oh, I dearly wish I still had them (I do try very had to keep track of all sources, but sometimes I can't find it try as hard as I can).
So, the next time you find something really lovely that you want to share with us all - please make sure you link it back to the original source. Cause I for one know that I will probably want to visit them to check out more beautiful they do - the photographer, model, stylist, designer, hair, make-up................

Isn't this poster so so so excellent. It's by Erin Loechner and Pia Jane Bikerk*, with font by Yvette van Boven.

*I still haven't got Pia's new book, have you? Is it as beautifully scrumptious as it looks........
** click on images to be taken to source; Erin + Pia.

lovely things today

it's raining again here. quiet and thoughtful mood. i have lots of things i want to post about - but no photos to share (camera isn't with me at the moment..), so instead i want to show you some beautiful images i am enjoying around the web today. {just a very small selection, mind you - there's always more over here, if you want....}

 {sweet crochet mushrooms, by Kate from Greedy For Colour.}

{glorious curtains + colours, from my collections of links - forgotten where, sorry}

{this beautiful bedroom scene, from Flora Douville}

{these peonies from House on Hill Road - they look like ballerina dresses. 

i so wish we could grow these here}

{this amazing, divine, dreamy scene from Tim Walker}

{this image from the soon-to-be released "Second Skin" by India Flint}

 {from Rummage. oh - no words to describe how this makes me feel}

*all images used with big thanks from the original sources.

things for {other} kids

Ari and I have been talking, for a short while (as I'm not too organised with the gift doing this year), about what he might want to give any of the kids from his class as little end of year treasures. Generally I'm not much in for having to give gifts to random (as in 23+) kids, especially as christmas gifts. But, I'm thinking of it more as the fact that he's had a great year at school, and they really are a lovely bunch of little kids (5-6yr olds), and that we're not going to be here next year.

I haven't been able to think of anything that a) doesn't cost a heap of money to buy/make b) doesn't take me hours and hours of thought and making process & c) isn't something that they'll either throw in a corner in their room, to become a pile of stuff.

We all know how those piles of stuff build up. 

And then, I came across this lovely tutorial. Quick, easy, colourful, I can use basically whatever fabrics I have in my stash, and make a whole stack in a few hours. This is perfect for little kids - they can store treasures, collecting cards, stones, or sweet little hankies. I am not a tissue person - in case you haven't guessed that aspect about me (one less wasted tissue, I think) - so I'll be searching for some (cheap) but pretty hankies to include in this pouches. I suppose I could sew up my own hankies; but what sort of fabric would I use?? 

If you have any other ideas of things I could make, instead, please let me know. I'm planning on bringing my sewing machine home from the studio, and will have to get these made over the next few days. As there is one week of school left. WOW - that's gone so quickly....

PS - it's raining again, here. Sylv + I have decided not to do the Southbank YDM today, as I really don't want my clothing range to get wet and damp in our soggy weather. There's no end to the rain anytime soon....

*images used with kind thanks from Sew Mama Sew & JCasa *handmade. Thanks Jennifer for this perfectly timed tutorial. And weather radar from Bureau of Meteorology.

{pincushions} fingers and houses in tea cups

Just a little bit of pincushion inspiration, for those of you part of my swap - and for those of you just wanting some sweet little inspiration this morning. these little pieces are so intricate and lovingly made - almost too good to use as a pincushion; but then again - isn't it just.so.good to use  and see beautiful things in your everyday life.

{cloudy and coldish on this last day of September. the sun was here this morning, shinning in my bedroom window, but has now disappeared behind a sky of mottled grey and dense and dark white}.

Finger pincushions from Victoria & Albert Museum shop. Found on Lobster and Swan.

A whole Town tea cup pincushions from Mimi K (flickr). Thanks Holly for sending me the link. 

*all images used with thanks from original source.