my creative space: drypoint etching workshop

This week I was lucky enough to attend another drypoint etching workshop with Rochelle Summmerfield, the same one I did last month. I was so happy to get the opportunity to redo my little rain cloud design as I wasn't 100% happy with how they turned out. I re-etched my rain cloud design at home and then off I went to the workshop to do some printing... too  much fun!

:: dry point etching - redo drypoint etching of rain cloud

I did two prints on archival paper. I am so thrilled with how these dry point etchings turned out! I'm not sure which one I like best... the first one is a lot more defined, with cleaner lines, where as the second one, I deliberately left more ink on it to make it look a bit grungier!  I like them both... hmmm which one to frame???

:: rain cloud - light - paynes grey ink (26x26cm)

:: rain cloud - dark - paynes grey ink (26x26cm)

I also made another knitted bunny for little friend's birthday and I couldn't help myself, I had to make a little skirt too! I do enjoy making these funny knitted animals :)

:: a sweet little knitted bunny in a skirt

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

lost - broken - won - very excited

I have been having a pretty rough week... but there was some bright light at the end of the tunnel!

I lost my sunglasses and then my little man broke my back up pair of sunglasses too!!!

:: that's right... no sunglasses on the side table!!!

My favourite havaianas(flip flops) broke, while my little man was trying to wrestle me to the ground! Then the buckle strap broke on my brand new sandals! I am very glad these incidences happened at home... phew :)

:: broken!!!

And on top of that...  I've had a nasty migraine for the last 4 days which has turned me into a vampire... I can't go out during the day, which was probably a good thing because I had no shoes or sunglasses!!! :)

Not that I am complaining.. well maybe a little bit! But there is some bright light at the end of the tunnel!

I inherited this gorgeous little vintage patent red handbag from my mother in-law, which was originally owned by my partners grandma (dearest Nooni xxx)! I just love it!!!

:: love vintage bags!

And I won this amazing little giveaway from Dawn Tan - hand-made-love... I'm SO excited! I just love her watercolour prints and can't wait to hang them in my kitchen! Such a wonderful surprise after a couple of yucky days!

:: I won a giveaway Woo Hoo!!!
image source: hand-made-love

And... tonight I'm off to see one of my all time favourite bands... Duran Duran (at the Sydney Entertainment Centre) with a very dear friend...we saw them for the first time together, when we were screaming 16 year old teenages (quite a few years ago)! I just can't wait... it's going to be so much fun... Woo Hoo!!!

:: Duran Duran
- image source Sydney Entertainment Centre

I also got some new havaianas (flip flops) and some new sunglasses... because I cannot live with out these items!!

:: can't live with sunglasses and havaianas :)

So all is not so bad really :) Do you have weeks like this where things break, get lost or just go wrong!! It can be quite frustrating hey! I suppose it means I am safe from any of these sorts of mishaps for a while... at least I hope so :)

Hope you are all having a good week!

my creative space: Shibori... a new obsession

Last weekend, my fellow creative obsessed friend, Jo from bubala and I went to Dye-linquent Shibori workshop at the Powerhouse Museum, which was run by the lovely Pepa Martin and Karen Davis from Shibori... It was SO much fun!

I didn't really know much about Shibori before I went, but WOW was I impressed! Shibori is a Japanese term for compressing fabric to create a resist when dying... read more about Shibori here! It's a bit like tie-dye but so much more interesting and a has really involved process, we used indigo dye which is really amazing and has such a complexity of the colour!  Pepa and Karen took us through the whole process and a number Shibori techniques! They are so passionate about what they do and it really shows...  they are just so inspiring!

I managed to do two pieces in the short time we had... only 2 hours!

:: Shibori - using rulers
- indigo dye on cotton - 65cm x 100 cm

:: Shibori - using rulers

:: Shibori - gathering stitch and triangle block
- indigo dye on cotton voile - 40cm x 100cm

:: Shibori - gathering stitch

:: Shibori - triangle block

I loved the fact that you never really know what you are going to end up with when you pull a piece out of the indigo dye vat! I am so happy with how they turned out! I'll be making some cushions with my creations!

:: my Shibori fresh out of the indigo dye vat
photo by Pepa Martin who kindly sent it to me...
she claims that she isn't a photographer :)

It was such a wonderful workshop! We had so much fun and we really wish we had more time to experiment! I haven't stopped thinking (and dreaming) about all the possibilities of Shibori... I can't wait to do some more! I think I may have a new little obsession :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: big screen

A few weeks ago I bought a bigger screen printing screen - 60cm x 50cm (my old ones are 40cm x 35cm), I have been itching to use it! Finally I got a chance this week... YAY! I wanted to redo a repeat pattern that I did 2 years ago when I did the screen printing course!

:: dot drop- repeat pattern 45cm x 45cm
- eight repeats of each colour

It's a bit wonky but pretty good for my first attempt! I have always loved the design! So I got too it...

:: dot drop - stencil cutting

:: dot drop - screen printing - lime

:: dot drop- washing up - big screen in little laundry sink

:: dot drop - repeat pattern - lime and grey 40cm x 55cm
- two repeats of each colour
(sorry bad lighting for photo - no sun)

I love, love, love my new big screen! It's great that I can get more done, bigger prints, using bigger stencils! I'm really pleased with how my dot drops print turned out though it is a bit patchy in places - I don't actually mind that really! When I use a smaller screens, I normally hold the screen down with one hand and screen print with the other... I need to find a way to hold the large screen down so I can screen print with both hand so that the ink is distributed more evenly! Any ideas out there?

Also, a big screen does make everything a little bit more of a challenge in my little kitchen and tiny laundry when screen printing and washing up! It only "just" fit's on my kitchen bench and in the laundry sink, and I'm having fun trying to find a place to store the bigger stencils! I'm sure I will sort it all out eventually! It's still lots of fun!

Now.... what to make out of my new fabric... I am thinking some little pouches :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: birthday cake... the disaster and the celebration

My little man turned 3 years old on the weekend... Woo Hoo!! It's been a very busy few weeks in the lead up to his birthday party which was on Saturday... a lot to organise... phew! My little man and I had heaps of fun making chocolate crackles, honey joys, apricot balls and of course, the birthday cake!

Oh my goodness....where do I start with the birthday cake... what a disaster... Arghhh! I had grand plans for making a dinosaur birthday cake like this one here! It all started off really well, until it came to icing the sides of the cake! Oh dear.... my poor little dinosaur cake was a such crumbly mess, that the icing just wouldn't stick to it! If only I had read the instructions thoroughly, I would have known that I had to freeze the cakes before cutting them into the shapes needed! I was a little bit sad/devastated but I had to laugh... it was quite funny... my poor little cake... oh dear!

:: my poor dinosaur cake disaster!

:: icing disaster!!! :(

After I had given in to the fact it was an unfixable disaster, I made another cake on that Friday afternoon... while in the middle of doing everything else too!! Lucky for me I already had a "Plan B" cake in my head! I successfully iced and decorated it on Friday night... Yay "Dinosaurs on a grassy hill" :)

:: dinosaurs on a grassy hill

:: dinosaurs on a grassy hill

 I am so pleased with how it turned out, and with no icing disaster! My little man loved his dinosaur cake so much, he got a little cross when he couldn't have the dinosaurs from the cake right away... so cute!

:: I want those dinosaurs... NOW! :)

My little man had the best time with all his little friends and favourite people at his party in the park, despite the pesky rain! We are really lucky that our park has a covered picnic area which is quite big so we could all keep out of the rain... not that the rain stopped any of the kids or adults from having fun :)

:: park + rain + bubbles + friends = fun!!!
(sorry no friends in photos - respecting their privacy)

:: Happy birthday my beautiful little man xxx

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: screen printing

I managed to find some time to do a spot of screen printing before my little man's birthday party preparation madness begins! A bit of calm before the storm, which is quite funny because it is very stormy here in Sydney at the moment! I am just little bit worried about it raining on our little party on Saturday! Fingers crossed it won't be a wash out! Yikes!

Back to screen printing! Gosh... it is so nice to do a bit of screen printing again... I just love it! I decided to screen print my "home sweet home" tea towel in some new colours (a gift for a friend). I had lots of fun mixing up some new colours, lime yellow and dusty grey... great colours together!

:: mixing colours and swatches

I went looking for my stencils and discovered I had lost the flower stencil and had to re-cut them out again... bummer!

:: stencil cutting

:: in progress

I am so do happy with how it turned out... bright and fresh! It's amazing what a change of colour can do to a design!

:: home sweet home tea towel - lime yellow and dusty grey

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...