My Creative Space - Bunting Swap

My bunting for the bunting swap hosted by Squiggly Rainbow is finally on its way here and overseas! With all my focus on market preparation I am sorry to say this project got away from me, but I managed to finally finish it earlier this week. So if you are still waiting to get one it could be from me - mea culpa:)

For some reason this project was way harder than it should have been. No, not sewing the bunting, but coming up with the actual bunting design. I knew I wanted to share a little Australiana, but what?

And then the wattle tree across the street inspired me. I have some lovely wattle cotton fabric that has just been waiting to be used. I initially toyed with the idea of embellishing each bunting with wattle embroidery, but it became clear that would require a little more time than I had at my disposal. Instead, I went with pairing the fabric with two of my all time favs gingham and ric rack.

So here they all are before I sent them out. Simple, but I like them. I even made one for myself, as I am planning to make a bunting from all the ones I get in the swap. Not very original I know, but fun to have all that handmade love from so many people in one place:)

Here's hoping you are not as far behind in your creative space as I am in mine! For more lovely spaces you can visit here. Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space...

This week I have been focusing on making stock for my first market. I can't believe its just two weeks away (she says with a little bit of panic in her voice)! I don't know how people do this on a regular basis. Once a year seems enough for me:)

My strategy is to complete something everyday, but honestly the rest of life keeps getting in the way. You know all those silly commitments you make and those mundane things like getting the kids to and from school, making sure there is food in the house, clean clothes in the drawers, lunches and dinners on the table, clean dishes, a somewhat tidy house. Yeah, that stuff, getting in the way.

Another challenge I have found  is that I am not much of a mass producer; I tend to bore easily and am ready to move on to the next craft project after I make one of something. For me the fun is in figuring out how to make something. After I have done that, it's not quite so fun anymore. Sort of explains why I always have so many projects going at one time and why I don't work with just one medium!

That isn't to say I haven't accomplished anything - I have, just not as much as I would like. So I just need to keep reminding myself that it is all for a good cause. The market is being held at my children's school and will raise money for the school's art program (which, I must say is AWESOME).

So here's hoping there is no panicking in your creative space this week! For more lovely spaces you can visit here. Cyndy

PS in case you are wondering, it's the Ashby Primary School Art Show and Market Day, Saturday, November 5th from 10am-3pm. The school is located at 2 Lawton Ave, Geelong West. If you live in the area come along, it should be a great day. There is a fabulous art show featuring student art, about 25 stalls featuring handmade and vintage items and produce, as well as a cake stall, Indian food, BBQ, coffee and a few fun activities including giant slides and Harley rides! You can learn more at the events Facebook page or blog. Pin It

My Place & Yours

On my (very dusty) shelf:) To play along or see others you can visit here. Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space

Earlier this year I participated in the Hottie Challenge hosted by Cam at CurlyPops. The challenge was to make a hot water bottle cover to help raise funds for Margaret Pratt Foundation (Research for heart and Lung Transplants). I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to make for my cover - I could see it in my head. Unfortunately, at the time I couldn't find the material (kind and colour) that I could see in my head, so I had to come up with an alternative (don't worry I still love what I did, you can see it here:).

Fast forward to this past weekend. The children and I stopped at one of our regular op shops and guess what I found? The material (kind and colour) that I had seen in my head when I had envisioned my hot water bottle cover, so of course I bought it!

I think this grey colour is the perfect back drop for my wool embroidery. I love using wool embroidery to depict native flowers. I don't really need to make a hot water bottle cover, so I decided to make a pin cushion. I started with a flannel flower. I love how the flower turned out, not so happy about the placement on the material, which I unfortunately cut too small, so not much room for adjustment. I might have to come up with another use for this one (plus, think I need to take the words off, just did that to fill the space, but not happy with it).

I've started a second one, this time giving myself a little more wiggle room:) I am embroidering one of my all time favorites a red bottle brush. The tree by our fence is in full bloom right now and it's so vibrant. I also want to do one in hot pink. There is a hot pink bottle brush tree up the block in bloom that is gorgeous, I just need to get the right colour of wool.

So remember, good things come to those who wait:) Hope you are getting lots done in your creative space this week. To see more lovely creative spaces you can visit here. Cyndy Pin It

Op Shop Find

The littlest and I managed to stop at one of my favorite op shops earlier this week (on the way to Spotlight). The crafting gods must have been smiling down on me as I found 5, yes 5, brand new zippers at 20 cents each in just the right size and colour I had been planning to buy at Spotlight (that didn't stop me from going to Spotlight though:).

I also found a fabulous vintage Sydney linen tablecloth to add to my vintage tablecloth and tea towel collection. And of course a few doilies, because well, who can resist a good doily?

And don't worry, the littlest didn't go home empty handed - she found a Barbie Rapunzel book and a Madeline video:) Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space...

It's the second week of the school holidays and the demands have definitely caught up with me! Unfortunately, I haven't been as productive as I would like, especially in light of the fact that I have my first market coming up in less than a month!

I have, however, managed to work on a few note cards. In August I made some Sydney Favourite Places note cards for my partner in the Seaweed and Raine Sunshine in the Mail Swap (to see some of the other fabulous swap items made by the various participants you can visit here). I made them using a 1970's book written for children on New South Wales (NSW). I love the colours, the kitschy illustrations, and the facts about places in the book.

The book on NSW was one of a set, and yes, I managed to score one on each state:) How cool is that? This week I decided to make similar note cards to the NSW ones from the book on Victoria. It was actually quite hard; there are illustrations and facts on the front and back of each page so I could only pick one from each page. In some cases I went for colour (like the Moomba one), in other case I went for famous places (like the MCG one). Not surprisingly most of the places featured in the book were in Melbourne. There was one poor little page about Geelong, but the illustration was all gray and it talked about the industrial/port side of Geelong. Not terribly interesting card making material:(

Like the Sydney note card set, I love the way these have turned out so far. I still have a few more to make, but I have encountered the classic "running out of materials while in the middle of a project" problem and need to get some more card stock so that I can finish them off. As a result, this project will probably be in the "in progress" pile for a little while.

I hope you are getting more done in your creative space than I am this week! For more lovely spaces you can visit here. Cyndy

PS For all you footy fans I thought I would share some gratuitous pics from the parade yesterday in Geelong to celebrate our third Premiership in 5 years:)

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