Wednesday, March 21, 2012

missing fishes


I spotted this sign as I walked home from the gym today.  I'm still trying to figure out if its serious, or someone's idea of a joke (I removed the ph# from the pic).  Fish generally don't go awol.  In any case the fish have great names.  Especially Dwayne. 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

stitching up a treat: part two

GG's embroidery is coming along in leaps and bounds.  The space that I have left to embroider has shrunk very rapidly.  I challenged myself to add another motif- and perhaps on the tail end of making a felt cupcake, I decided to embroider a cupcake on felt.  This time I decided to keep it simple and not spend time embroidering a detailed fill.  My only concern is that the icing looks a little like pink poop (GG will probably pick up on this and find it hilarious). I also added some Trendy Triangles.  Because triangles are the new Diagonal Lines (I was using diagonal lines a lot as fillers on E's embroidery.  Very circa 2005) .  But really, it was nice working with a simple graphic element for a change- sometimes I get embroidery envy of those who can do simple but artfully composed work.  But most of all I liked working with the bright colours- I made a beeline for a clean bright turquoise, mustard yellow, coral pink and purpley blue.
At the moment I working on the fill for the sky, gradually increasing the intensity of the colour so that it is a decent shade of sky-blue.  I 'm wanting to tie up some loose ends and make sure that I have some of the bigger components completed before I move onto my next major motif- Fly the Border Collie, which will take up the majority of the space left on my fabric.  It will also take some thought in terms of composition and will challenge my (minimal) dog-drawing skills.  


Readers- I need your help..!  I added this rainbow thread butterfly at the beginning of the year, trying to replicate the success I had with the one on E's embroidery.  However this one has come out looking a little fugly and messy, so I think that it needs a little TLC to help realise its full potential.  So I'm open to suggestions as to how I can improve it.  At the moment my thoughts are to whip-stitch around the teardrop bits in single-colour thread, add more metallic thread to the lower wing, and to add a French Knot eye.  Hopefully that would work somehow...


Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend!

Monday, March 12, 2012

signs



I'm loving all the old cast-iron signs that adorn the entrance to apartment blocks around here.  I really like the effort that goes into the typography.  You do see so much of the little details when you are walking around your neighbourhood. 


Earlier this week, in my plan to settle into Melbourne I went along to the famous Brown Owls (hope the link works), which I was hoping would be a little like Lucky Penny.  It was and it wasn't.  Even though it was the same kind of set up as Lucky Penny I didn't really feel any sense of belonging, or ownership there- obviously because I was new, but also perhaps a little because I've realized that I'm just not super comfortable crafting in public places. I'll keep my crafting at home, in front of the TV like it always has been.  So my next step in Getting a Social Life is going to book club.  Book club!  I'm hoping that it is a little more successful for me. 


 Today is a public holiday, so while I'm relaxing at the moment I do plan to get moving- go to the gym, clean my apartment and do some crafting.  I've had one of those really hectic weeks that involve long hours (work conference), so a long weekend is super welcome.  Unfortunately like a holiday or even a regular weekend I can feel it coming to an end very quickly!  I have some updates on my embroidery that I would love to show you- with some hope, later today.

Friday, February 17, 2012

stitching up a treat



Sometimes, you just need to craft something simple.  Sometime ago, I had brought felt donut and cupcake magnet kits from Daiso, the Japanese two-dollar shop.  Now my love of Daiso and its craft kits has been well documented, but has not stepped into kawaii territory- until now.




These two kits are ridiculously simple, quick and cute- talk about instant craft gratification!  My favourite has to be the chocolate-iced donut- simply because it is so donut-y.  And they look fab on the fridge! Cupcake cross stitch via Stitch'd Ink (also instant craft-gratification..!)
Hope that you have a lovely weekend.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

St. Kilda Festival


Today I went to the St. Kilda Festival.  Along with the rain and many hippy types. St. Kilda is the seasie suburb of Melbourne- I hadn't seen the sea since sometime in January,  so I was a little excited about that.  There was live bands, nausea inducing amusement park rides, trashy market stalls and food stalls (the best bit).  Look at how dark those clouds are!  It only got worse, believe me.  I was kind of relieved to get home, make a cup of chai (with honey and golden syrup in it..). I've got a little project on the go which I am happy to continue with, and hope to complete tonight.