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The completion of this skirt on Friday night gave me so much joy - for new and good reasons -
- it's the first time I felt confident enough to ignore (most) of the pattern (no offence Amy Butler - by I didn't want to do lining...)
- I actually fitted the skirt on myself - simple thing I know but I've 'trusted the pattern' too much in the past...
- I really liked the unfinished, fraying edges, deconstructed feel to it (would like to give up being 'precious' in all areas of my life!)

]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=233 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:23:01 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=232
I'm so glad I decided to do this workshop yesterday with dear friend S. It was so great to get a different perspective on recycling materials (although I was just getting used to cutting up jumpers!) and how you can combine materials - thanks to the incredible inspiration and encouragement from the 'fabulous Penny O'Neill'... I also love that she admits she's 64 - but looks so much younger because she isn't afraid to express herself through her clothes and hair.... There is always a lovely representation of women at these things that inspires me - women who love making things, looking at colour and texture and combining it in such individual ways - and they are stylish women - no matter their age....
Pictures above - Left - headband of Penny's I just had to have! My effort on the right (needs a little tweaking...)
Below is the scarf that needs completing...]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=232 Sat, 9 Aug 2008 19:50:15 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=231
These were fun to make from go to wo....Our holiday visit to Savers was very fruitful. I got some interesting jumpers there and cut them up to make these... Lumina Gallery took a few bangles of mine a couple of weeks ago - very exciting - and now I hope they might take some of these...

I had my first day off as part of my part time load today and it was really fun - visiting and catching up with friends - it's going to be my special day - I don't want to fill it with chores or busyness if I can help it. I would kind of like to try this 'portrait every day for 100 days' that I found on YouTube, and remembered that I used to do Self Portrait Challenge - maybe I will again...]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=231 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:03:22 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=230 Rose St Market on the weekend. I've been meaning to buy a KLEI pendant for so long and finally did. It's a lovely blue and white single pendant - you prob have to scroll down a lot to find it.... and I bought an exquisite felt brooch from Brid Bird - you can see some of her stuff at this etsy site - but I think the felt ones are quite new. Mine is imbued with the energy of Euan McGregor! She's a lovely, lively Irish girl with a story to tell!!!! Actually try her Blogspot which has some pics of the felt brooches....
]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=230 Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:57:12 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=229
So out of the messy pile of fabric we had yesterday - a dolly was born - Blossom (sitting next to older dolly Mia on the left). There's a few more variations to come! Oh! I forgot to say that this is the Miss Buttons pattern from Sew Your Own.]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=229 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:30:14 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=228 General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=228 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:28:19 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=227
Second day in (school holidays) - I am called to Centre Rd on an errand and pass beautiful patchwork shop called Amitie.... Find their $1 fabric bin and come home with a stash "to make dolls with Nim"... sample above... Also find Amy Butler pattern for skirt...*there are also FREE PATTERNS on her website.
...Next stop Spotlight 20% off sale - dress fabrics are a write off (queue too long!) so I buy furnishing fabric for my skirt....

Holidays day 1 - am feeling all enthusiastic and exhuberant so present boring dinner - dhal and rice like this, light a candle, and pretend we are out for dinner. (rice sandcastles only take a second and the kids love it)



Holidays - Day 1 - Decide to buy family games to play. Look for a good website that reviews family games and only find this one that is OK - (figure there's a market out there for this kind of thing) We end up buying Boggle for Nim which she's getting the hang of and 'Piranha Panic' for Romy which is a bit of fun - a game of chance and a little strategy.
]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=227 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 04:24:05 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=226

Here's the blue bubble scarf - I still want to make a longer one...


It's been a lousy Melbourne day outside - about 12C - and Nim and I got her Japanese dolls with paraphenalia into these display boxes this morning. She's pretty happy with how they look - yey! (My ploy to have less 'junk' on her dresser!)
]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=226 Sat, 17 May 2008 00:54:11 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=225 General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=225 Tue, 6 May 2008 01:17:14 -0700 http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=224
Visiting McClelland Gallery on a beautiful day to view the sculpture garden is always a winner - with me and the kids and extended family (thanks Ray & Danni). Both of the kids said 'boring' when I mentioned art/sculpture. But as soon as we got there - they ran down the grassy slopes, past the lake to find each new surprise hidden amongst the bush.



I know that this one by Anne Ross was probably one of Nim's favourites.



And there was something about this one by Shelly Kelly that I really liked. Such unusual materials for this setting and the juxtaposition of her image of nature with the one reflected in the top part was really interesting.



Finally, Nim managed to attract these grey 'butterflies' to her and was pretty excited about that... a very family friendly day...]]> General http://www.artsy-fartsy-mama.com/index.php?itemid=224 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:19:24 -0700