A Few Of My Favourite Things

Pin Cushion that was my Grandma's

Collection of Frankie magazines

Monster Threads Mouse Pad

I recently read an article in my favourite magazine, Frankie, about the nature of the things we covet and whether having 'stuff' adds or takes away from our enjoyment of life. It instantly had me thinking about the things I hold dear and whether they are worth my adoration or just simply 'baggage'. 

The author of the article, Megan Auman, discuses the way in which she believes the stuff in our lives helps us makes sense of our worlds and connects us to people, the past, present and future. She says, 'On a very basic level we need very little, but on an emotional level, we need things to enrich our lives. We need things to make us feel good. We need stuff that gives us tactile experiences. We need things that are beautiful. Beauty is a very important part of the world!'

Another important point Megan makes is to do with the way in which we spend our money these days. Too much of what we buy is disposable and of little value sentimentally. 

But we shouldn't feel guilty about the stuff we own that we build relationships with; that stuff that we can link to an important time in our life, or simply just the things that make us smile when we see them sitting next to us as we type (I'm looking at you, Mr Owl Pen Pot!)

The interior designer in me loves the simplicity of Scandinavian design. But as much as I admire minimalism, I just LOVE trinkets. I love going into op shops and coming across charming little figurines and novelty items, such as my thatched cottage tissue holder. It's part of who I am and everyone who knows me knows I'm a bit of a kitsch collector! 

I also believe that having items around your home that express something about you makes your space unique and a place where people will visit and see how much your home reflects you.

Here are some treasures, new and old, that share our little home here in Christchurch and add to my enjoyment of everyday life:

My Owl Pen Pot

Leather Sandals from Melbourne

Fox Eye Mask

Lace Tea Cup and Origami Elephant Ornament

Christchurch Ring (present from my Fiance for Christmas)

My Engagement Ring

2012 Makes Review

This may be coming a tad later than intended, but I keep  coming across these reviews on some of my favourite craft and sewing blogs and thought I could probably pull one of these together myself! The idea is to look through your photo catelogue of handmade stuff from the previous year and categorise them in some way.

Sometimes we artsy folk have a tendancy to focus on our unfinished projects (or UFO's to use the technical term!) We analyse how little time we've had to complete all those things we aspired to create and never got the means or energy to have a go at. That's why this sort of review is really useful. It shows you what you have achieved, puts a friendly arm around your shoulder and says, 'Don't be so hard on yourself'.

So here it comes, my review of everything (well, everything I managed to photograph) I made in 2012:

P.S It starts in April as it took us a wee while to get settled in our new home down under!

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

 
SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

Here I made Brendan a phone case, of which I have no pictures!

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

 
And a couple of other things I made for christmas presents that haven't been posted to their recipients yet so I will have to share with you another time :)

Glowing in the Night

Mr Bear received a few pretty special pressies for Christmas this year; I feel I've quite out-done myself! Amongst these were this set of pyjamas I made him using glow-in-the-dark solar system fabric. Very cool, right?

We recently got in a set of glow-in-the-dark fabrics at work and as I was rolling them onto bolts, my mind was racing over the best uses for it in fun adults clothing. At first I thought a skirt to wear on nights out would be pretty cool but there's not all that much nightlife here in Christchurch so I probably wouldn't have had much opportunity to wear it. And then I had a light bulb moment: pyjamas! I could immediately see Martin bouncing around in the dark singing 'I'm literally glowing!' It just had to be done.

 And, as you can see, he was pretty pleased with them!

Making Jewels

Last night I attended a resin jewellery workshop at work with my friend Gabby (same friend I went on the hoop class with; it's becoming a bit of a regular occurrence!) We learnt to make a bezel necklace and a set of earrings, lead by the fearless and ever so clever Vicki of Made By Me Beads.

We chose our settings at the start of the class from a selection of round and square pendants that were silver, brass or copper. We then sifted through baskets of assorted scrap-booking paper and selected our favourite patterns.

I found a piece with this Victorian looking couple on and another that featured heart shaped sections of map. 

Using a combination of sealant, diamond glaze and craft glue, we mounted these pictures onto our settings, popped the clear cabochon over the top and hey presto, we had a necklace and earrings set! Just like magic :)

These would make a very simple gift and could be easily posted. Just my kind of crafty present idea. Watch out all you female overseas rellies, resin jewellery could soon be winging its way to you via airmail!

Hooping with Joy

I have another project to share today: another piece of embroidery hoop art. I haven't done one of these for a while but recently we had a class on at work, run by the very talented Kerry Anne, and I attended along with my friend Gabby to learn how to add fabric and texture to hoops and how to finish the back in a professional looking way.

I used a supplied drawing to trace onto my fabric, opting for an alternative perspective showing only the bottom half of the original drawing. We then cut out fabric pieces and ironed onto bonda-web, which was then fused on top of our design and stitched over using a simple back stitch.

I love the result and it's pretty addictive once you get into it! It's a good way to wind down at the end of a long day and can even be down in front of the telly!

Here in the bear household, it is our overall aim for 2013 to earn and save as much money as possible for our wedding and globe-trotting honeymoon next year. One way I'm contemplating achieving this is to produce embroidery artworks to sell online and potentially at work.

I've been doing a bit of research and gathering inspirational images to help me define my 'style'. Here a few that most closely resemble the effect I wish to accomplish...

Stephanie Kelly

 

Joetta Maue

Lucky Jackson

I've also started a Pinterest board to collect images of inspirational work from talented stitchers. Have a peek if you like.

Wardrobe Wednesday

Dress: Handmade by Me (Mako Mako)

Shoes: Bare Foot (sign of summer)

Hair: It's Too Hot To Be Bothered

It's been a few weeks, but WW is back after the festive period and this week I want to share with you my first experiment with the ever so popular Cambie dress pattern by Sewaholic. I came across this pattern on the Burda Style Forum and followed a link to the Sewaholic website. Tasia started her pattern company about a year ago to design wardrobe staples for the pear shaped woman. I just had to have a go at making this dress. It looked so flattering on every blogger who'd tested it!

I made this particular dress to wear on Christmas day and only just finished it the morning of the day we flew to Melbourne!

I made version A of the dress, which features a sweetheart necklace, slashed side pockets, extended cap sleeves and a slim A-line skirt. I opted for this over version B, which features a full gathered skirt, since the fabric I'd chosen was heavily patterned and I didn't want the finished garment to look too fussy.

This was my first attempt at an invisible zipper and, I have to say, it's not as tricky as I'd thought! Especially when you use Tasia's easy method to attach the zipper to the lining; no more tedious slip-stitching for me, that's for sure!

Recently, Tasia also posted a link to a blogger's page who'd made a reversible version of the dress and since then, I have been dreaming of countless beautiful pairings of cloth that would look incredible!

My current favourite combination is one my eye keeps wandering to whilst I'm at work.... 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my lovely readers! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the year ahead; I know I certainly am! 2012 was probably the biggest year of my life so it's going to be a very difficult one to top! I've done a lot of amazing things, met many lovely people and experienced a whole spectrum of different emotions.

Looking back over the last year has made me think about what the year ahead has install for me. One of the most exciting differences to 2012 will be that I will be planning my wedding this year! We also hope to move house again this year, so we'll be looking for somewhere to accomodate potential visitors and possibly have some more sewing/brewing space for our extra-curricular activites!

I usually shy away from the idea of 'reviewing' the past year and setting goals or resolutions for the coming 12 months. But this year I feel slightly different. Considering all the new changes in our life, I think it would be fitting to sum up the highlights of our journey and make some dreams for the year to come!

So, in the spirit of New Year's resolutions, here is my 'Year Review 2012'.

Five things I learnt about myself in 2012:

1. My favourite colour isn't orange but rather a shade of orange: peach.
2. I have an incurable love of the seaside, which is unchangeable no matter which shore I'm on.
3. I have an obsession with fabric and all things printed and woven.
4. I love bird watching.
5. I am stronger than I thought.

The things I've acheived this year:

• I've moved to the other side of the world!
• I've made lots of new friends, from all around the world: Germany, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, South Africa and America.
• I've found my passion in life and a sense of direction.
• I'm getting married to the man with whom I've shared all the highs and lows of the last five years!! 

Things I would like to achieve in 2013:

• Design and produce a business logo to sew into my handmade garments.
• Start designing and creating my first fabric range.
•  Learn how to screen print / knit clothes/ quilt and generally more crafting skills!
•  Get cracking on designs for embroidery hoop art and make some dollars from my ideas!
• Enjoy planning our wedding together and cherish every moment of this special time in our lives.

I better get a wriggle on then, hadn't I??