Collingwood Children's Farm

Last week we headed off to the Collingwood Children's Farm with Tori and my hubby.

Things to consider when attending "The Farm" ...

• Family admitance is only $16 .. bargain
  
• 10am is when things start to happen ... eg. milking the cow
  
• Family Day is Saturday 9th January which involves free Pony rides between 10.30 and 2pm and lots of other things. Get there early to get parking.

Andreas and I are tickled pink that they also do Children's parties and other special things .. right here in the city!

Paintbox Quilt-a-long

The daughters new "big girl" bed has been ordered, so I should hurry up and finish that quilt that I started ages ago.

Timing being what it is, Oh Fransson is having another paint box quilt along. Make 8 quilt blocks a week, which turns out to be 4 colours a week and upload what you are doing to the flickr site.

For this quilt the goal is to use the quilt fat quarter stash that she got given for her first birthday and then some of the materials that I use for Konstant Kaos. Between the two stashes, I shouldn't have to go out and buy much until I get to the blocking and sashing part of the quilt.

On the topic of originality in the craft world

I stumbled across this article on a great new web site, Make and Meaning. Sister Dianne from CraftyPod Podcast writes some articles and so does Melbournian Pip from Meet me at Mikes. There are lots of interesting short and sharp articles, some of which are quite thought provoking.

new ideas?

I was reading this article "On the care and feeding of ideas" and it got me thinking. I generally keep a notebook with me where ever I go. I write down lyrics, ideas, to do lists and I tend to sketch a lot of ideas about what I want to make.

At the moment I am going through the design process for a new bag. I was rather pleased with the design of my market bag and so I want to try something a bit different. New features, new shapes. Something uniquely Konstant Kaos rather than someone else's idea with some ric rac sewn across the front of it. Being a practical person, I spent hours thinking about the "practical edge" that I am going to give this bag. Perhaps I should be doing some more random planning, as Emma Greenwood puts it.

stash

For me, it is quite important that I produce unique products. I keep a box with all my prototypes. I use and test every product I design and generally try to get someone else to also road test everything before hand. But sometimes at markets I take a look around and I think that perhaps I should hop on the bandwagon that I see so many others on. Find something hip and "now", buy the McCalls pattern and then mass produce it ...

inspiration

Pip writes an excellent article called "All my own work" where she talks about the grey line in crafting. Just because you can make it, doesn't mean you have the rights to sell it. Just because you buy the pattern, doesn't mean that you have the rights to mass produce it and on-sell it into shops. Just because you own the book, doesn't mean you can mass produce the images in it, and so on!

So where does this leave you? If you feel that someone has crossed that grey line copying a design of yours for profit, I would first familiarise yourself with IP Australia. Talk to the guys at Craft Victoria, become a member, support what they do, talk to one of their business development managers. If you are going down the path of challenging the IP of a product someone has produced, then a lawyer (yes a lawyer) will most likely ask you to "prove it". So keeping sketchbooks, blogs and prototypes is essential. And perhaps if your design so unique, trademark it, put a patent on it, protect it.

ready to be sewn

Someone at some point said that there is no new ideas in this world. But as a crafty community, we should be mindful that there is enough business to go around. So what, you had this idea to make a product and another crafter got there first ... respect that they got there first and use it as an opportunity to re-invent what you were working on.

Something I generally do when I am about to go "live" with a new product is I do a quick search just to make sure it isn't too much like someone else's product (etsy, madeit, general blog search). Even though I might have developed it myself, we are of the same crafty generation and sometimes ideas just collide.

Where does your creativity come from?

I stumbled across this while looking for another TED video. I need to watch myself when I go onto this site, as I get caught up in all the wonderful talks and find that several hours have disappeared!

Isaac Mizrahi on Fashion and Creativity
If you have never seen "The Fashion Show", hunt it up, it is a great fashion/creativity series and Isaac is the key judge. I just loved his description of where he gets his creativity from and what he does to facilitate it.




Click here if the video does not load up

Beautiful things

This post has nothing to do with craft ... well, I did create her, didn't I? (with a bit of help)

Picture slightly out of focus, so I made it sepia ...We had her hair up in Princess Leia buns all day yesterday and when she undid them, she was Shirley Temple!

Also took a few snaps in the garden today ...

Good to see my roses responding well to the dishwater they get given each day ...

Good to see the bee's enjoying themselves, rolling around in the little purple flowers, soaking up the pollen.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Somewhere in the depths of my inbox, I came across the comment by MissyMaoMao on my Thea and Sami post ... I had won an award! Very excited my first ever!

The deal with this award is that you have to spread the love around!

To keep it growing I have to follow 7 rules:
1) Copy the pretty picture and post it on your blog.
2) Thank the person that gave it to you and 3) link to their blog.
4) Write 7 things about yourself we don't know.
5) Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.
6) Link to those 7 other bloggers.
7) Notify your 7 bloggers.

So ...

7 Things about me you don't know

1. I can tap dance. Started when I was about 5 and did it through to when I was about 18 and then I tried unsuccessfully to return to it during Uni and then during my first few years of teaching. Every once in a while I pop on a vinyl record and tap away for a song or two ... If you want to see me tap, buy me a martini!
   
2. I was born in Scotland, UK and came to Australia when I was three .
3. About 7 years ago I took lessons to learn how to play the piano. I learnt a few songs, bought a second hand piano and every once in a while sit down and have a tinkle with the songs that I still remember.
4. I fear being underwater
5. I fear large crowds
6. I love salt and vinegar crisps (not chips but crisps)
   
7. I have a strange way of saying "film", blame my Scottish upbringing for that one.
   

Choose 7 Bloggers to give the award to and link to them

1. Elizabeth from Oh Fransson
   This blog I guess inspired me to get started on this journey of crafting and blogging. Her creations were just beautiful and inspiring. I spend hours going through and tracing her journey before deciding to start my business. I love her paintbox quilt and hope to make it for my daughter one day.
2. Rashida from I heart linen
   Another inspirational blog which fired me up and got me up off my butt and in front of the sewing machine. She has just released a new book and probably won't have time to read the email that I send her, but her work is just lovely.
   
3. Beky from Pivotal Xpressions
   She is just starting off on her crafty journey, but hey, look at what she has achieved in a very short amount of time. Every time I see her market stall I am in awe of what she has created.
   
4. Jennie from Mrs Beckinsale
   Another craftey WAHM that part of the Northside Makers crowd. Jennie has a very analytical way of looking at things and you can see from reading her blog that she goes about her craft in a very methodical way. What she produces is inspiring to others.
   
5. Jay from Finki Handmade
   Jay needs to blog more about what she does! I was fortunate to share stall space with her at the washed out Northcote Kris Kringle Market, so had some real-life time to get to know her a bit better.
   
6. Melanie from Kimono Reincarnate
   Melanie makes the most exquisite things with old Kimono's. Not only have I enjoyed reading about her creative process, but also reading about how she copes with it all being a Mum.
   
7. Karen from House of Wilson
   A newby to the blogging world but Karen has shared so much in her short amount of time. Years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to join her in a costuming adventure for the Australian Costumiers Guild Ball. We collectively submitted a range of costumes based on the "devil and the seven deadly sins". Karen does the most beautiful costuming work, creative and meticulous in execution. I am looking foward to seeing what Karen does with her blog and crafty energies.
   

Shade Sail

My sewing a room is in the front of the house and it gets quite hot on days like today. I didn't want to spend $45 buying a shade sail, so I I figured, given that I have made bags, quilts and the occasional corset, that I could probably tackle a shade sail.

I bought one metre of shade sail material to make a sail for my front window. The material cost me $15 a metre from Bunnings, it was 180cm wide. I finished the edges in calico (hey, I am doing this on the cheap) with my new 2" bias maker that I found in Lincraft. If I could be bothered driving off to spotlight today, I would have bought some 2 " heading tape.

I double stitched all seams with polyester cotton. The shade sail was attached to a pine post which we scored from my parents.

The front sail has industrial D rings at $8 each from Bunnings, carebena's and D rings to adjust tension. But by the time I got to making the side of the house one, I was lazy and Andreas just screwed them into the house and post!

I cut the front one out of the material making a G string shape (if you can imagine that) and then for the side of the house one, I attached the offcuts together to make another sail. I probably should have trimmed it up a bit more, but it was late in the day and I was tired ....

When we were attaching the back shade, I noticed that one of my roses was in bloom and not singed by the heat.

The C word

I stumbled across this little gem via the Conceptual Metalsmithing web site.




Click here if the video does not start.

I'd love to see some advertising in Australia via Craft Victoria or Australian Arts ... the C word!

Flower Press Screen Printing

I love to support local designers, one that I stumbled across was Flowerpress.

She does a lovely Ric Rac inspired design that would just look fabulous in your next quilt. She has an etsy store with some lovely prints in it as well! I am waiting until she re-stocks in the new year before I place my order ...

Her blog is pretty interesting as well .. check her out!

Happy New Year

I guess I am pretty glad to be seeing the back of 2009. Lots of highs and an equal amount of lows. Hubby and I have ended the year in a flurry of activity, de-cluttering the house and either re-assigning or chucking out the crap that seems to accumulate where we don't want it to. In true Flylady terms ... hitting the hotspots.

I don't have many New Year's Resolutions except to keep balance in my life and to focus on what is dear to me. Make sure that I don't ignore my friends when I am in that crafty zone!

2010 finds me back in the classroom in a part-time capacity again (teaching 60% of the time); Year 12 Information Technology Applications, Year 9 Humanities and Year7/8 Body Mind Spirit (RE). That equals 4 days at the school per week and hopefully the equivalent of 2 days off a week.

My first Market appearance for the year will be the Northside Makers Market on February 6th. I am looking forward to keeping my etsy store upto date and to again, try to develop something new for each of my markets each month.

So I hope that you had a great New Year and to my fellow bloggers I look forward to reading your blog entries and sharing your crafty journey.