Crafty Melbourne

Crafty Melbourne :) 

Free group creating in the city Monday's between 9/3/15 to 14/12/15. Shame work will prevent me attending it looks like fun. 

If you get the chance visit Federation square (still one of the ugliest architechture concived) for some crafty fun.

 

Bijoux Porcelain

I decided to do a couple of day courses at the  Centre for Adult Education (CAE) in Melbourne to explore some possible new hobbies. Some include photography with Terry Murphy, walking tours around the city and in this case some Bijoux pottery with Steven McClure. 

Bijoux Porcelain is Japanese Tissue Transfer decoration and is very straight forward and not at all difficult. You roll out your porcelain, cut your chosen shape and then wet down your chosen transfer paper onto the clay. And pretty much done. Unless you stick your transfer on upside down...which I did. But only once and in the end the design still showed up okay (it was the itty bitty rectangles you can see towards the bottom right of my picture.)

Definitely a nice day course to take for something a little different but still stress free. And at the end you have whatever you made to be turned into brooches, jewellery or decorations for yourself or for gifts. The class included a very brief history of porcelain, instructions about what to do and then we were let loose to do what we wanted with Steven watching on, giving tips and assistance as required. 

We could create as must as possible in out allotted time and the course fees were inclusive of all the materials we needed and the firing.

And behold my creations @@!

The buttons on the left are extreme rush jobs, I wanted to get as much out of the class as possible.They turned out okay though some of the button holes are a bit squished none are fully unusable.

My work and someone else’s; 

placed onto the firing tray ready to go in the kiln:

 

And a week later ready to be picked up.

I don't have a photo of mine (thought they looked much and much as the unfired pictures above just whiter) but here is some by other's in the class, really such a good idea for Christmas decorations. You can also make beads as shown below.

Treasure chest :)

So a while back I picked up a bag of miscellaneous world coins a the ANDA coin show. They're all relatively worthless but a bitta fun to sort though and look at all the difference denominations.

And what better to store treasure in than a treasure chest?

I brought (mostly) everything I needed to make my coins a treasure chest from Riot Art & Craft on a whim ages ago. It's all been living on the living-room table till inspiration struck. For some reason that was this weekend/Monday. 

Stuff I used:
An unfinished wooden treasure chest
Art Culture acrylic paints, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, and Burnt Umber
Random 3/4inch paint brush
Hemp rope (it calls itself 'rope' but it's really string)
< Red sparkly felt
Black felt + free cat fur
Craft glue
Mod Podge (water based sealer)
Copper Slug and Snail tape

First I painted the raw timber chest with Burnt Sienna all over except the straps. Then after that had soaked in and dried I painted a few random spots with Raw Sienna. I didn't really like the Raw Sienna colour and was pretty worried that I'd stuffed it at that point.  But the last layer of Burnt Umber evened it all out and finished it up well. Lucky!

I've never done much painting.  But this was relatively straight forward and enjoyable with nice results, I think I like messing around with acrylic paints. After the painting was done I sealed it with Mod Podge then filled the groves with string lengths of the hemp rope to add some definition and highlights.  I fixed each string lenght with some craft glue. 

I stuck a random bit of black felt on the inside of the lid of the chest with more of the craft glue. I didn't really measure it well or worry too much about the placement.  I'll live with the odd edges and rough positioning.  Then the red sparkly felt was used for the rest of the chest inside.  Also not measured particularly well. I love felt just for the abuse you can heap on it and still get a good outcome. 

The felt had actually been running around the living-room with the cats for almost 12 months so before I used it there was some cat de-furing to be done. It was nice to finally use the stuff. I originally brought it to make a Christmas gift for someone but she's managed to significantly annoy me (there are places you don't invite other peoples partners/boyfriends - a strip club is one such place.)

And moving on;

Lastly I used some copper tape I had left from gardening for the straps around the chest. The tape is basically a thin layer of adhesive copper. It was a rough start as can be seen in the finished product pictures. I put too much on one side several times but in the end product looks pretty good and I'm optimistic that once the copper tarnishes up it'll look rustic and blend in nicely. It's a fair bit too shiny at the moment.

And I only glued the chest lid down once. After I pried it reopen with a pair of little scissors I didn't have any further sticking issues. 

No progress pictures but here's my finished treasure chest. All that's left is to dig up my world coins and fill it (the bottom at least, it's a good excuse to buy some more next time I get the chance) 

Craft & Quilt Fair 2014

I had this last Friday off work. Conveniently this was the same weekend that the Craft and Quilt Fair was on at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

I got there after lunch and stayed till almost closing (5pm). Lot and lots of stuff to see. Unfortunately the later start meant I didn't really have time for much in the way of that talks or classes though I did briefly sit in on part of the one on hand dyeing fabric "Quick and Easy Hand Dyeing" with Joy White from Starr Laces and Ribbons which was interesting.  Made me want to make a mess with colour at the very least.

In the purchasing area I brought an expensive cross stitch chart I'll probably never do, a few small kits including the already completed babushka, a couple of new qsnaps, some no thread needles and a heaps of scissors - I like them and the deal was 4 for $10. I got 4 3.25inch and 4 4inch plus a cute pair at a different shop to attach a fob to in the near future. I've already given my brother a couple of the scissor, I'll give my sister some too and keep the rest safe for when I inevitably misplace the one I'm using at the moment. 

The shows website kind of sux's. You'd think they'd at least have a search function.

Something interesting at the show was 'The Sentinelles' (a display by Dijanne Cevaal).

The original piece was just the one large Sentinelle completed by Dijanne Cevaal. The smaller pieced were printed up and sold for individuals to decorate as they wanted.

The individual interpretations of the same basic design was an interesting concept. I'm not sure how much I liked them but they were very interesting and colourful.

What I really really loved was the display for the 5000 Poppies: a Tribute of Respect and Remembrance.

The aim is to have 5000 by Anzac Day 2015 and the Centenary Commemoration. If they even get close to that it'll look fairly epic. 

The pictures, taken with my phone, do not in anyway way do this display justice. So looking forward to the full display next year. 

There were also some new tea cosies by Loani Prior. Much cute - I'll have to get a move on with that learning to crochet thing. Maybe not to create tea cosies but I'd like to make a few granny square throws.

In respect for the photography policy in relation to the quilt display I won't post any of the personal pictures I took of the quilt showcase. While they can be used for personal use and I'm certainly not making any money off this blog and don't ever expect to it's probably better to error on the side of caution.

BUT the Brother quilt competition quilts had no such restrictions advised. While there were only a handful of wall hangings displayed I can say I particularly loved this one by Tajima Akemi of Japan. Colour, design and renewable energy :) what's not to love.

the end!

Secondhand Shops = much love

I love looking around secondhand shops. You never know what you'll find. I also conveniently live within walking distance of five.

This weekend I visited Savers - Greensborough (a suburb in Melbourne). Twice in fact.

Savers is a chain of secondhand goods mega stores in the US, Canada and Australia. They give a bit of their profits to charity but I'm pretty sure the company makes a fair bit considering all the stuff they sell is donated and I'm sceptical of how much (%wise) actually gets redistributed to those in need.

Their pricing of items also seems a little bipolar, some good stuff is reasonable but absolute rubbish will have ridiculous prices and some things you could get cheaper new at a normal shop. Just plain odd.

Will this stop me shopping there? No but it is something to keep in mind. It helps avoid the big spends on stuff I don't really need.

But on from the depressing and slightly bitter.

I won't go through all the stuffs I brought but please admire the little lace butterfly. He was a bit costly for what he is at $4 AUD but two days later I still don't regret it so I know I made the right decision.

He's much cute.

The Making Spot is closing *unhappy face*

The Making Spot website is closing.
This came as a shock to me though I suppose people who pay a bit more attention to the site might have had an idea?  I found the 'Winter wonderland' pattern on this site (see 1st July 2012 post) and for free too. It's the loss of a great resource.

So on the 11th/10th of September subscribers to the newsletter and visitors to the site were advised of the closing by the following message;

"Hello, we hope you've had a wonderful summer. Today we're sorry to announce that The Making Spot website is closing – Monday 30th September will be our last day online."

While more details would have been appreciated it's their prerogative I guess.

So getting my last lot of shopping in before the 30th of September. Lucky I have some already though magazine purchases. Though I'll still need to cull the list - have pretty much zero disposable income at the moment. :-(


***Edit:
okay $56 I did not have to spend :-( so after the cull;
the end purchases:

Made the most of the freebies:
Crochet;
*Flower power crochet
*Classic comfort

Cross Stitch;
*Pretty kitty
*Cute deer gadget cosy
*Funky fox
*Wish upon a star
*Oriental elegance
*Sweet motifs for all occasions
*Quick stitch Christmas
*Oriental beauty
*Into the wild

Knitting;
*Lazy days blanket
*Lime Queen tunic
*Cute as a kitten
*Quick Valentines gifts
*Cowl trio
*Classic lace scarf
*Damson Cowl
*Elwood had

Scrapbooking;
*Ship ahoy!

Sewing;
*learn the art of blackworking
*Strawberry sachet


And the money went to:
Crochet;
*Cherry blossom jacket

Cross Stitch;
*Nordic Noel
*Orchid dreams
*Fruit jar covers
*Honey bee gifts
*Thrift and save jars
*mice will play
*Stitch silhouette cameos
*Panda bamboo scene
*Three wise men
*Singing in the rain

Knitting;
*Pudding hat
*Red riding hood
*Winter wonderland cape

$30-
Still more than I should spend but I just can't get any less.
Hopefully I'll complete at least some of these in the future and they won't languish on my computer gathering metaphorical dust.

It's a good thing I'm not much interested in card making or scrapbooking or I'd be downloading till the 30th. And in the poor house.

***Edit2:
fruit loops, forgot to take into account the site was in GBP not AUD so $50- spent after all. I really need to make sure I do some if not all of the ones I spent money on now.

Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair 2013

Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair at Jeff's shed (The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre)

Yay a day off, and what better way to spend it than at the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair. It took me an hour to get past the first aisle. No photo's of the quilts on request of the artists I'm afraid - though by the time I got to that end of the show I was pretty exhausted.

Shopping stash aquired;
3x little scissors from the scissor man - boy is this stall popular (unfortunately used later in the day for unpicking some of my 'love is' sampler when I realised I was half a stitch out - cries.)

2x macaroon case kits from Patchwork Mariko Japan, adorable

and last but definitely not least
a neutral tone Alpacalicious - not your everyday granny-square crochet blanket kit by Prudence Mapstone. The colours are lovely and the wool (Frog Trade fair trade alpaca) is so soft. I want to crochet it for my dad. 
.
.
.
I shall not let the fact that I can't really crochet stand in my way. 

A highlight of the show was the display of creative tea cosies by Loani Prior (the writer of 'How Tea Cosies Changed the World.' Below are some of my favourites though it's a hard call. Now I really want some tea cosies. Both modern yet traditional all mixed up with an incredible splash of creativity.

 

Googly Eye Earrings

Googly eye earrings. Because everything is better with googly eyes.

Made from 3 sets of fuzzy earnings brought from a second hand salvos shop (pretty sure they've never been worn) 50c each - I saw them and went "you know what these need? Googly eyes." I was totally right.

So a pack of googly eyes and some craft glue later I give you the fuzzy monster earring sextuplets