To market, to market...

Although I regularly sold my things at craft markets in the UK, last Sunday at the Coogee Palace was my first Sydney market. It was a surreal experience, I stood at my table gazing at panoramic views of Coogee Beach and the shimmering sea whilst people bustled by with sandy feet. This was all in stark contrast to the rolling green country side and crisp cold winds of a British craft fair! Thank you to all those who came to visit and give a friendly smile, I needed it! The sun was shining and I was wilting, but I'm still really pleased I've taken the plunge. I'll definitely be selling my things at markets next year and will post dates in advance.

The Adventures of Wonk

This is officially my all time favourite Children's book. Wonk is a wonderful lovable Koala bear who lives with his owner Peter and the two of them are constantly getting themselves into trouble (of a very gentle kind!). The stories are beautifully written. There's something very special about the illustrations too and I can't quite decide why. They seem to evoke deep feelings of nostalgia somehow. It wasn't until recently I realised how odd it was that I should love the book so much as a child and then come to live in Australia for my own adventure...hmm, I sense a koala theme!

Corn Flake Packet Chair!

I made this chair from a cornflake packet, a shoulder pad (for the seat) and two of my husband's Bic razors! (much to his annoyance)

Some years ago I went back to college to study upholstery and my tutor asked me to present my design project in an 'interesting' way. I love a creative challenge and tackle them with military style determination. So, armed with a cornflakes packet a pair of scissors and a reel of Sellotape I was off.....one hour later I had the completed chair structure, but the beautifully carved and curved chair legs at the front of the model presented a real challenge. Whilst lying in the bath pondering over my options I caught sight of my husband's Bic razor and genius struck! I snapped the razor head off, moulded air drying clay around the handle and then painted it with brown acrylic paint. It looked perfect. Next challenge was the soft padded and upholstered seat, and again it occurred to me that the ideal shape would be a large 'Crystal Carrington' style shoulder pad covered in attractive fabric, trimmed with real upholstery gimp. Finally the design brief was all neatly written out on card, complete with illustrations and concealed neatly under the seat pad.

"Operation Chair. Mission complete. Over and out"

Gifts from the heart...

Over the years I've been the lucky recipient of some wonderful gifts from family and friends. Without doubt the most memorable and cherished have always been those that have been handmade, two of which are particularly special. One is an old wooden tea tray covered in magazine cutout images of cakes and deserts, in an alternative 'decoupage' style. It's unusual and curiously pleasing too.

The other is a hand painted and glazed tile depicting a couple gazing at each other whilst sipping wine. The tile is framed on a chunky square of 'found', solid wood that was then carved into the desired shape. Upon receiving these gifts I felt quite emotional and thankful for such kind thoughtful friends.

Japanese Tea Party

Towards the end of last year my last commission in the UK (before the big move to Australia) was for a Japanese client. She wanted a fully upholstered doll's house for her daughter to take back to Japan and asked if I could embroider the family name on the front so that they could keep it as an heirloom for generations to come. This was a very special project for me as we were also good friends and would soon be parting ways. We spent many coffee mornings together choosing fabrics whilst our children played and we discussed the design. At the end of the project she very kindly asked me over to a friend's house to share a real Japanese tea morning. I was enchanted by the careful presentation of the food and table. We had a delicious green tea cake with sweet aduki bean sauce and cream, it has a very delicate almost fragrant flavour with a light consistency similar to a souffle. I felt a little bashful at the thought of my very English tea and biscuits I had served at my house, and on one occasion I had baked a tray of flapjacks that had ended up as a heap of crumbs much to everyone's amusement!

What to do with all those crafty 'things'?

Dedicate one cupboard in the house, preferably near a table and call it the 'craft cupboard'. Make it easily accessible for the children so they can help themselves. Keep sharp things and paint out of reach in a separate place. Fill the cupboard with age appropriate stimulating crafty things. Colouring books, a ready supply of blank paper, sparkly shapes, stickers, glue stick, plastic boxes or shoe boxes full of old birthday cards, images cut out of magazines and colouring pens. Use interesting plastic jars for beads and ribbon. We store sewing, knitting and weaving kits in the craft cupboard too. Get them involved in packing things away into the craft cupboard after the activity (good luck with this one!) Periodically have a craft cupboard clear out and reorganise so things are easy to access. Try and keep seasonal items like Christmas glitter or Halloween stickers in a separate location and pop them in the cupboard as a surprise for the children to find.

I always smile when I see them excitedly delving in and helping themselves to the craft goodies. It's nice to know they have some creative freedom plus they can independently set themselves up with an activity without having to nag at me to provide the in-house entertainment!

Vinyl Coated Fabric

I'm really excited about the latest delivery of wipe-clean vinyl coated fabric I've had sent from the U.K. I had asked my family for the fabric as a Birthday present for me (that's my idea of a real treat!) There are some new designs and I can't wait to make up some more Craft Kit Bags and ABC Bags. I'll post photo's of the end results when they're finished, which should be very soon...

Reverse Garbage

We had great fun this morning rummaging around at Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. It's an enormous ware-house stuffed full of industrial discards, like empty plastic containers, wood off-cuts, cardboard, fabric samples, buttons, shiny paper, colorful shredded paper...the list goes on. It's great for cheap materials for creative projects, there's even a sculpture display showing some very interesting artwork that has been made out of 'rubbish'. I went with a friend and we spent most of the time opening up dusty boxes and peering inside. We both bought some gorgeous hessian coffee bean sacks ($1.50) for sack racing at children's parties. It's definitely an eclectic mix of new and old, good and not so good, but it's well worth a visit if you are in need of some inspiration and if (like us) you have a good sense of humour you'll have fun thinking up possible uses for some of the more unusual items!