Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Market Time



I held a market stall at the Library Market in October, November and December.

As in previous years this was lots of work but also lots of fun.

I thoroughly enjoy the market days.
























I was so busy during this time I didn't take individual photo's of everything I made and just snapped a few shots of the stall on the day of the markets.


Monday, January 28, 2013

Charlie's Apron



Charlie, has seen me wearing my Market Apron
 and felt that she needed one to wear to work.


It had to have a pocket

 - initially I did forget this, but it was an easy fix.


Perfect



Monday, January 21, 2013

Mount Gambier Christmas Parade



2012 Mount Gambier Christmas Parade

'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

Again I co-ordinated the school float and this is how it panned out...


 Here I am as Lucy van Pelt

And here is my booth.




 

 
 The forlorn little fir tree

  

Snoopy - this is the costume I made for my #1 to wear
Looks pretty good - I think.


The Dog Kennel






 Children sat up here and sang like a choir...








Sadly no prizes this year, but I am happy that we were able to be involved in a wonderful community event.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Christmas Gift Stall - School



In December I ran a gift stall at the school my children attend, this is an opportunity for the children to independently purchase a special gift for a loved one or family member (should be both but not always!) and of course it is also an excellent fundraiser for the school.

It is fun seeing the children carefully selecting the perfect gift.

The following pics are samples of the some of the gifts that I made for the stall.







Everything I made sold, so I must be getting it right!


Monday, January 14, 2013

Bonbonnbiere



Lavender Sachets - Bonbonniere

A few months ago, a lovely couple visiting the Riddoch Art Galllery purchased one of my little Lavender Sachets and liked them so much they contacted me to see if I would make them as Bonbonniere for their Wedding in December...

My immediate thought ( and question ) was " How many"? - worried that the reply would be 300 or something crazy, but it was 80 and I felt this was achievable.

So I said YES...

We discussed image options and the couple decided they liked the original one they had purchased with vintage style glasses stamped on it and they would have 40 with that image and 40 with an artists paint brush on it. They kindly made this easy for me by organising and sending me the stamp that they would like me to use.






Funnily enough I discovered after some communication that the 'boy' grew up in Mt. Gambier and he was in fact a year above me at high school!

I enjoyed this challenge. Although mass production is boring it was also equally if not more satisfying to see the finished product and knowing that these were going to be part of someones 'Special Day' made it extra good.




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Rags to Riches



I entered this competition Rags to Riches.
The criteria was to make an outfit from the mystery bag of clothing and model your outfit at the 'Opening Night'
This was a fundraiser for the Old Courthouse Gallery which is part of the National Trust.

Here I am modeling.

Here are the items in my mystery bag...
A piece of each item was to be evident in your outfit.

 This lovely medium dark blue 100% polyester Pelaco blouse...

 A lace type collar - again 100% polyester

 A vintage Target Rib Knit Cardigan with a slight Lame look to it ( probably the polyester at work again)

 This Image brand Tartan viscose oversize shirt / jacket

100% cotton 3 tiered skirt with a paisley print around the bottom and bells on the tie.

At first look the skirt was the most promising item, but in the end I found it difficult to use.

I quite liked the Cardigan but it had badly lost its elasticity and was stained in a few places so again it was difficult to use.

I drew up loads of designs and came up with a few quite different ideas but I really wanted to be able to wear this myself ( not only on the 'Night' but regularly ) and I am about 20 years past wearing hot pants, so I focused on the tartan piece knowing that I would wear a Tartan tunic.

I was surprised to find that I could in fact create a dress ( to fit me )  from the shirt.
I kept trying to add bits of the other items to it but it just didn't enhance it at all an I finally decided to leave it plain and accessorize with the other pieces.
 
 

So the end result was a Tartan Tunic Dress - from the Tartan shirt / jacket
I used a piece of stretch lace that I had in my stash to make a shift dress with sleeves and a neckline with a bow from the Pelaco shirt.
The Cardigan became fingerless gloves and boot cuffs.
I made a hair piece using the collar from the tartan shirt, the lace collar and a flower from the red skirt.
I also lined my wooden briefcase handbag with the red and crocheted around the handle.

I did not win a prize but I am pretty pleased with my effort and had fun doing it.