Mad Like A Hatter

For the month of October, Stitch 'N' Bitch are holding an exhibition in the gallery at the Wonders of Wynyard. The theme is Mad Hatter's Tea Party and it promises to be all sorts of craftacular brilliance.

I haven't mentioned it before now, because I left my entry until the last minute to do. The. Last. Minute. I finished it today (started it yesterday), and the exhibition is being installed on Monday. I hoped that if I didn't mention it, nobody would notice the tardiness *peers around suspiciously*

I've made a few little top hats, similar to the hat that I made for the March Made With Love. The original intention was to make a plethora of hats (man, I love the word plethora) and have them arranged on a cupcake stand.

Original idea: fail. It turns out that I didn't have a spare week to make a dozen hats. So, I just ended up making three, and hoping, again, that nobody notices the difference.

To see other madly-inspired projects, go here and here. Oh, and here. And check this out while you're at it.

Flagged

A couple of weeks ago I made some bunting as a custom order for a friend of mine. Her friend is having a bubba, and she wanted something for the room of the new little kidlet.

It was great to get back into the scrappy swing of things - I haven't done anything like this for a while.

And before we proceed, I apologise for the quality of the photos. It was late. I was fatigued. The lighting was not ample. I wasn't appropriately attired. The moon was in the wrong phase.

It has nothing to do with my photography skills. No-thing.

The Creative Mind

After some thorough (questionable), thought-provoking (REALLY questionable) self-analysis (narcissism), I have come to the conclusion that the creative mind (or this one, at least) has a few different easily-distinguishable stages that it goes through on a regular basis. There are gray, in-between areas, but these are the more common moments.

Now, get comfy people. Dr Trixie is here to help.

Stage 1: Unmotivated, and guilty. This stage involves a lot of self-recrimination, because you have TIME to do things. A valuable commodity, time can be rare. And having time to do something, well. That's about as frequent as the whole blue moon, pig-flying phenomenon. But you don't feel like doing anything. Either you just can't be bothered, or your head is emptier than... something really empty. Cue the guilt.

Stage 2: Over-motivated. You have ideas. You have hundreds of ideas. And ALL OF THEM WILL BE AWESOME. But there comes the problem - what do you do first? You may go to start one project, and then realise that something else would be more timely to make. So you start that. And think about the other equally timely project you could be working on. And you work yourself into a state of stillness and confusion, simply because there are so many things to start, and you are only one person. Is the world really ready for that much awesomeness?

Stage 3: Creative on crack. This is the most productive of the three stages, because the ideas are there. The motivation is there. You might even have time to get things done. Everything somehow magically aligns, and you are fuelling yourself with caffeine (or your addiction of choice) and crafting like a person possessed.

After a few weeks of swinging between Stage 1 and Stage 2, I hit Stage 3 the other day. And it was good. So good.

I'm going back to Sydney in a week, and I had a list of projects that I wanted to get finished before I went. I had my doubts as to whether I'd even finish the first project I was working on before I went.

After seeing a rad scarf in Frankie magazine, I thought, I can make that. So I picked up a crochet hook, pretended that I knew what I was doing, and started a scarf.

Then the crack stage kicked in. I finished the scarf. I altered a dress. I made a new handbag. I altered another dress. I bought wool to start making another scarf. I drank a lot of coffee.

And soon, I was sitting amidst the debris of fabric scraps, stray pieces of cotton, and machinery, looking at my broken overlocker needle, and dizzily wondering what the hell had just happened.

Stage 3, my friends. She is a hard but fair task-mistress.

With Legs Aquiver

Style Crush

Ramona from Scott Pilgrim VS The World. I watched this movie for the first time the other day, and got a few giggles, but the main high point for me was being introduced to the style of Ramona Flowers. And now I realise where I've been going wrong all of these years. Now on my shopping list: awesome boots, awesome tights, and an awesome sweater. Don't worry - I'm all over it.

Blog Crush(es)

The other day whilst doing some blog-hopping (a time consuming sport, characterised by procrastination and numerous cups of coffee) I came across the wonder that is The Beetle Shack. A bit crafty, a lot arty, funny, warm and a member of the cutest damn family you'll ever see, Emily is pretty awesome.

And of course, from her blog I hopped on over to Tim Coulson. Tim is a photographer over on the mainland, and his photography is just incredible. Not only that, but he's a fab writer too. He does the sweetest family photos. It just makes me want to steal a child and a man, so that I can have rad family portraits like that.

Artist Crush

Again, a result of site/blog-hopping. I stumbled across the ridiculously talented Courtney Brims. A Brisbane-girl, she holds more talent than it is surely healthy to. I've fallen head over heels for her artworks, and bought a set of her greeting cards so that I can hang them on my wall. My favourite artwork involves a rabbit, a flower, and a teacup. Honestly, is there any other way to combine so much coolness in one spot??

{Images from Courtney Brims}

Fictional Character Crush

Because every well-adjusted person gets a crush on a fictional character. Jon Marshall from the Nick Earls' novel Perfect Skin is just.... dreamy. Well-written, he's got a dry sense of humour, he's intelligent, he's complex (but not ridiculously so), and best of all - he looks however I want him to.

In A Land Far, Far Away

"A land called Wynyard. We held a market. It was rad.


And they lived happily ever after.


The end."

Our June Made With Love Market Bazaar was last Saturday, and as always, it was a great day. The dress-up theme this month was Children's Storybook Characters. It was our eighth (!) Made With Love, and it just feels like we're growing in leaps and bounds. We're getting an incredible response from the community, and it's just the best feeling to be surrounded by so many crafty folks one day a month - I feel like I could burst from all the warm and fuzziness happening. But I won't - bursting is most unbecoming for a lady.

The other thing that has been great is to not only be a part of the markets, but to be part of the behind-the-scenes action. Yes, sometimes we get a bit cranky pants. Yes, sometimes we just want all of the admin work to go away. But really, it's just us networking with the aforementioned crafty folk, and you can't be cranky pants about that, can you?

It's also kind of novel to have to prepare yourself for a dress-up once a month. This month's preparation went something along these lines:

A month beforehand - Have idea to dress as Puss In Boots. Feel very smug with self that in order to dress as this character, I only need to buy ears and a tail.

2 weeks beforehand - Purchase ears and tail. Continue feeling smug with self.

4 days beforehand - Curse self for not thinking outfit through completely. All well and good to have ears, tail and boots, but general decency and social niceties require me to cover up the bits in between. Panic.

3 days beforehand - Call Mum late at night, requesting her to express post a shirt that I'm sure I left in a suitcase at her place. Or in the wardrobe. It's possibly in the set of drawers...

2 days beforehand - Curse stupid self.

Day of market - Sleep in. Realise have hit snooze button 3 too many times. Have shower. Realise that nose ring has fallen out during the night. Search bedding for nose ring. Curse stupid self. Find nose ring. Attempt to put back in nose. Have sneezing fit. Sit down for a minute to regain composure. Try again. Cue second sneezing fit. End up getting facial bling in. Hurriedly get dressed. Draw on crooked whiskers with liquid eyeliner. Run out door. Forget about attached tail when sitting in car. Awkward moment.

So, as you can see, being a marketing crafter is quite an involved business. It is not for the fainthearted.

And now that you've been educated, onto the photos...

Sweet Mia

Lorise from Clever Zebra Designs. Totally cute as Heidi.

Rock My Roll

This particular dress-up gave us great scope to make a lot of jokes, bad puns, and misquote things. And when I say we, I mean me. But you knew that.

Sandra from Grace of Autumn & Wendy

Lisa from Lisaloo

We ended up having a Red Riding Hood (Michelle - Rock My Roll), Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (Naomi, our awesome photo taker lady), Pippi Longstockings (Sandra - Grace of Autumn), Heidi (Lorise - Clever Zebra Designs), and the best surprise of all - a customer dressed as our fairy godmother. Bless her cotton magical socks.

Grace of Autumn goodies

Puss in Boots getting all swordy on Red Riding Hood

Naomi as Dorothy

To see more of the awesome shots that Naomi got, check out our facebook page. And a big thank you to Naomi for the photos, and everybody who supports our lovely little crafty day. We hope to see y'all next time!

Say Yes To Mediocrity

Last night I couldn’t get to sleep so, for the first time in years, I propped myself up in bed and drew. Drawing used to be one of my big hobbies – my fingers would itch to document things to paper, and whilst I wasn’t great at the whole shading thing, I gave it a damn good crack. I loved it, and it was a big part of me for a long time.

Last night I recaptured some of that feeling. I was excited about what I was doing, and was so lost in what I was doing that my face started hurting because I was doing my concentration face (it involves pouting) for so long. I acted like a pro with my pencil, I used my little paintbrush with a flourish, and I smudged things to my heart’s content.

Don’t get me wrong – it turned out pretty shit. I was never very good at drawing, and I’m rusty. I never had a chance of churning out a masterpiece. That’s not my point.

My point is – how often do we set out to do something, not because we’re good at it, or even when we know we’re pretty bad at it, but we do it just because we like it? It’s too easy to get caught up striving to be the best at what we do. There’s nothing wrong with that – there’s a lot to be said for ambition. But how about just every now and then, letting your hair down, and doing a dodgy job of something? Go bake that lopsided cake, do that DIY work that will fall apart in a week, and do a painting that doesn't actually resemble anything in particular, and love every moment of it.

PS. This blog post does not mean that I’m encouraging doily splat. I’m not. Stop it.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

When you want an 80's revival? The Made With Love gals of course. Yesterday we had our April market bazaar, and here's a sneaky peek of the fun we had (whilst dancing to David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper).

Allana in her prom best

Gorgeous paper flowers

Lisa going all Olivia Newton-John on us

Incredible Cambodian-made bags and accessories

From L-R: Madonna, Bold and the Beautiful, Kylie Mole

Claire, myself and Michelle

NEXT MARKET:
Saturday 14th May, 9am-1pm

45 Jackson Street,
Wynyard, TAS

Why Is A Raven Like A Writing Desk?

This is a slightly belated wrap-up of our March Made With Love Market Bazaar that was held on Saturday.

I’ve been struck down with a nasty version of the common cold, and yesterday I was sure that death was soon to come knocking at my door. I spent the day in bed, alternately coughing, cursing and whimpering, and just generally feeling very sorry for myself (in other words, woeing my boat).

I now realise that I may have been a tad hasty with the prediction of my untimely demise. It still sucked though.

Saturday was a great day, with a few less of our regular stallholders than usual, but a good vibe nonetheless. I got my hat finished in time for the dress-up theme (March Hare and the Mad Hatter), with only a couple of technical difficulties on the day (I think I pretty much ended up gluing the hat to my head). I looked a little less like the Mad Hatter, and a bit more like a deranged circus ringmaster than I’d hoped, but I think that people got the idea.

I also had the pleasure of taking care of Michelle’s stall this time, as she’s gone on a caravanning trip with the family (lucky gal). When I was unpacking her stuff, it was like a magic trick – every time I thought I’d grabbed the bulk of the stuff from the boxes, I’d find more. The woman is a machine.

Susie from Susie Lee Designs

Grace Of Autumn goodies

Myself, Allana and Wendy

Some little High Maintenance Hippy guys

Saward glass

Sandra looking gorgeous in her hat

End of day tally:
Amount of people that thought I was Michelle's sister - 2
Amount of people that thought I was a statue - 1

The next Made With Love Market Bazaar is on Saturday 9th April, and we'll be getting our 80's style on. Can anybody say Xanadu?

Working 9 To 5

I have so much news. So, so much news. I was going to break all of this up into separate posts, but the lazy in me scored the upper hand, so you’ll just have to deal with me talking crap for a little while. Or not read the whole blog post. Whatever.

First things first – I got a job. And no-one was more surprised than me. The job interview was one of those that you walk out of, as gracefully as you can, but on the inside you’re berating yourself, and your hand is itching to connect with your forehead. I didn’t think that I’d answered questions as well as I could, and I’d generally made a bit of a tool of myself. Afterwards, I considered doing a blog post about things to avoid in job interviews (What? You mean it’s been done before?!?), but I was too ashamed. Now, seeing as I actually somehow got the job, I have a few little tips.

I have long legs (yes, this is related… just keep reading). Don’t get me wrong. I like my legs – they’ve come in really handy for walking and stuff. However, they can become a troublesome thing on public transport, and when I sit at tables at cafes and restaurants and job interviews. There’s just not enough room under the table for me to sit comfortably. I spent the interview twitching and shifting, and trying to get comfortable – it didn’t work, but may have given the interview panel that I’d taken some illicit drugs.

Hand shaking. I am a hand shaker when the mood crosses me, and I know all of that stuff about how to shake hands, using the correct pressure, etc. The bit that I DIDN’T think through was the position of people in the room. I shook the hands of the first 2 members of the panel, and then realised that in order to shake the hand of the third, I would have to walk behind everybody and approach her from the back, which made things awkward for both of us. Upon the realization of my faux pas, I started walking in this hunkered down, crab crawl-type gait. I was thinking that it was probably one of the more unimpressive things that I’d ever done, but maybe they dug it. Who knows? The moral of this story is to think of placement. Location, location, location.

Secondly, the March Made With Love Market Bazaar is happening THIS WEEKEND! I’ve done so very little for it, but I know other people have actually been constructive. We ran a competition on our facebook page for this market, so that one of our followers could come up with the dress-up theme for it. We had some great entries, and the winner is “MARCH Hare, and The Mad Hatter”. We’re all a bit excited about the possibilities of this one. The winner will receive a vintage suitcase full of Made With Love goodies worth over $200. We’ll be running another competition in July, so if you’re interested in scoring some rad stuff, keep an eye on our facebook page.

I started making my hat for the market the other night at Stitch ‘N’ Bitch, and it seems to be going pretty well… Somehow I just guessed measurements and everything, and it seemed to come together. It made me realise that one of the most painful assignments from my TAFE days (making 3D letter using cardboard and glue and lots and lots of tabs) actually put me in good stead for making a top hat. Go figure.

Ridiculous TAFE assignment

I’ve been getting my papercraft on lately, and have done a scrapbooking layout for Allana, demonstrating how radtacular her fabric tape is. She’s made it from lovely vintage fabrics, and it’s self-adhesive so it’s really easy to use!

I’ve also made some cards for the markets.

And as of this week, I’m a fully fledged Tasmanian driver. I already had my Tassie driver’s license, and now I have the license plates to prove it. It was actually a bit of a sentimental moment when I took my ever so slightly crumpled New South Wales plate to swap over. But it’s the start of a new driving chapter. My car no longer gets egged on a regular basis, I’m not getting tailgated nearly as much, and she’s actually clean at the moment. Love it.

Quick update on online dating: Dear random toolbag, I am not here to stroke your ego. Please stop fishing for compliments, as I will shut you down in a heartbeat. Kind regards, Sarahla.