Green ribbons, tall mountains

 I've been experimenting with some new ribbons for my huia brooches and thought I'd try out some in my favourite colour, a mossy green (I have an embarrassing number of cardigans that colour).

 And I've been planning a painting of Mitre Peak, probably one of the most painted places in New Zealand, but after I visited Fiordland earlier in the year I thought I'd love to have a giant painting of it in my lounge.  I'm having a (legitimate) sick day off work with a cold, so I thought it was a good chance to steal some time and get started on it!

Xmas giveaway

Thought I'd have a bit of an Xmas giveaway and I've got two prize packs up for grabs.  They've each got an A4 digital print, a huia medal and a screenprinted badge...

 

 To enter, all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me how you like your tea or coffee (I like mine black with no sugar thanks) and I'll draw two winners next Friday.  And I'll post them anywhere in the world...good luck!

My Creative Space: Pinked

 I treated myself to a pair of pinking shears the other day and I've been having fun using them on fabric brooches.  I screenprinted some huia birds, sewed them to an old blanket strengthened with interfacing, pinked the edges and sandwiched some ribbon in between.  They've turned out quite military, I wonder what they could be medals for...

 I've also made some without ribbons - some round, some oval.  With their pinked edges they remind me of Shrewsbury biscuits!

Joining in with "My Creative Space" today over here.

Happy Thursday!

Multiplying

I made a whole lot more pouches with my huia printed fabric over the weekend and now I've got them in a couple of different sizes, and with different coloured zips.  

 Some have got red starry linings:

 And some have got beige spotty dotty linings:

And when I was making them I found a few dinosaur patches I'd made for some old pouches...I wonder if I have time to make a couple of dinosaur pouches before the Auckland Art and Craft Fair!

My creative space: huia pouch

The other night I sewed up my first pouch from my huia printed fabric and, after fixing an upside-down huia accident, here it is!

 This one's got a spotty dotty lining and some of the others are going to have red and white starry linings.

 And there are plenty more to make!

I'll be bringing some of these to the Auckland Art and Craft Fair and Kraftbomb, I'd better get back to the sewing machine!

Joining in with "My Creative Space" today over here.

Happy Thursday to you!

Patterned

I've been reading a book about making repeat patterns, and one of the exercises in it was to apply a pattern to a picture of a couch in Photoshop.  It occured to me last night that my real life couch looks like I've carried out that exercise on it after I did some more huia pattern printing yesterday.  The couch was already covered in granny square blankets!

The prints turned out better this time; I started out with a smoother, more lightweight fabric and they came out more clearly.

And now they're migrating to the rocking chair too!

My creative space: A cat among the...

 In my creative space today I've been testing out my new huia print silkscreen:

 The prints need a bit of troubleshooting, they're a bit blobby and uneven, but it's so exciting to see the pattern!  I might try it on a smoother fabric next.

 I'm going to print a whole lot of small pieces of fabric and make those into pouches a bit like these.

 And they seem to make a good cat seat. Someone will have black ink all over her tail!

How about you, what have you been making?

Joining in with "My Creative Space" today over here.

Happy Thursday!

My creative space: cabinets of curiosities

It's so easy to overlook things that are right on our doorsteps, isn't it?  I realised the other day that despite working just a few minutes walk from the museum, I had only visited it once in over a year.  So I decided to make an effort to go there more to draw, and I've started with drawing the huia.

I've spent a few lunchtimes drawing these slightly bedraggled beauties - and getting a few weird looks from people.  I think drawing in public is a good thing to practise though!

The cat guarded them for a while, sadly the opposite of what would have happened in the wild:

And now that they're fully inked they look like this:

and this:

Now I'm playing around with them in Photoshop, making them into a design to be printed on fabric.

 I think it'd be great to have some huia fabric to make into pouches and bags and bits and pieces.

So hopefully I'll use that treasure trove of inspiration more often - I might draw some exotic butterflies next!

Joining in with "my creative space" over here today.

Happy Thursday!

Birds of a feather

I drew these huia birds the other day as a birthday present for my dad.  The huia has always intrigued me...and sometimes I wish I had a huia tattoo.  I wonder what they were like before they became extinct?

My creative space: pouches

 

I've been meaning to make my camera a new case for aaaages, it deserves better than being schlepped around in the makeshift flimsy leopard print bag that has been its temporary home.  Now that I've finally learned how to make zippered pouches I've made it two.  To start with I made a canvas case with one of my huia patches on it.  It turned out too small but it'll be handy for keeping little trinkets in.  Then I used the canvas I had been printing with my stamps and made this one:

Here's the starry lining:

 I'm hoping to make cases for lots more things - I think it'd be a great project to use up all the pretty scraps I can't bear to throw out.  And I might even need to buy a rotary cutter!

 

How about you, what have you been making?  To see lots more creative spaces head on over to the "our creative spaces" blog.

Happy Thursday!

My creative space

In my creative space this week I've got a plethora of brooches that I've been printing and sewing frantically for the Auckland Art & Craft Fair this Saturday. This is the selection I'm going to be bringing along:

Here are the ones I've finished, all jumbled up on my pin board:

And here are some huia brooches, looking a bit more tidy:

There are plenty more still waiting for brooch backs!

Speaking of craft fairs, if you're in the Wairarapa or Wellington you should head along to Craft Country in Greytown this Saturday! I had a stall last year and it was a great day. You can find details, including profiles of the sellers here.

To see lots of other creative spaces head on over here, to the "our creative spaces" blog.

Happy Thursday!

100 and a giveaway

This is my hundredth post, wow that went fast! To celebrate, I thought I'd have a little giveaway and thought it'd be fitting to have a giveaway themed with something that has been extinct for over a hundred years (the last confirmed sighting was nearly 103 years ago, anyway). So I've got a huia-themed prize pack up for grabs, featuring two fabric brooches (with huias gocco printed onto calico, backed with wool felt and with a safety clasp on the back), a gocco print of a male and female huia (the female one has the long beak) and a calico feather patch. Unfortunately it's not a huia feather, it doesn't have the white tip, but let's not be pedantic.



To enter, all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me your favourite home hint. My favourite home hint is that if you are as partial to a cup of strong black coffee as I am, you probably have the problem of your white coffee cups getting stained brown inside. Just rub a bit of baking soda on the stains and give them a wash and they'll be good as new.

I'll post the prize pack anywhere in the world, and I'll draw a winner next Sunday. Good luck and thanks for reading!

His & Hers

I've been making some huias for the Auckland Art & Craft Fair. They started out like this:
I went to the museum to look at some they had there, and they looked a bit bedraggled and mangy (well they have been extinct since 1907) so I had to flesh these ones out a bit.

Now they look like this:
The male huia is the one with the shorter beak, the female has the longer one. They're gocco printed onto calico, reinforced with interfacing and have zigzagged edges. And I have a whole lot of them!

Righto, back to the sewing machine for me. I've got a big pile of zigzigging to finish!