My Creative Space - recycling!

First up, to be honest, I made this yesterday but I think it turned out so well I wanted to post about it today. I picked up a pile of sea glass on the holiday my husband proposed (4 years ago now!), and held on to it for sentimental reasons without having a clear idea what I was going to do with it. Then a year ago I stumbled across this blog post and knew it would be perfect and FINALLY I sat down yesterday and got it made.

I think it was quite successful? Makes me wish I had hoarded a lot more sea glass from my travels, is there any rubbish that is prettier then sea glass? I'm also a bit of a romantic so like to make up stories about where the glass came from, a pirate ship, a message in a bottle??

I was expecting this project to be quite fiddly, but it turned out really easy. I ended up using a copper based wire that was super malleable. I only have two concerns, one is that the end of the wire on each piece of glass is a little scratchy, I'm thinking of maybe dropping a little wax on the ends, anyone out there have any other suggestions? I'm also not sure how long it will last, I have never used this technique before so will just have to wear it continually to see how it lasts.

As always heaps more lovely creative spaces here!

Making me happy today...

is my lunch!

Homemade bread with Potato and garlic soup.

The soup was something I came up with when living in Alaska, having to cook for four men and suddenly realising no one had been to the supermarket in over a week. Literally all I could find was some old potato's (the ones that end up at the back of the pantry) and a few lonely gloves of garlic. So all you need to do when in a similar situation is boil some potato's and garlic in some chicken stock, puree this and then add some soy sauce and chilli powder (or I also think smoked paprika would be nice?). I then threw in some bacon and parsly. It makes for such an easy, filling and warming lunch.

Whats making you happy today?

When it all goes horribly wrong....

A few weeks ago my creative space was about this hat which I was feeling less then inspired about. I could tell it was going to be way to small for me, and I was loathe to undo it and redo it. As I think I have mentioned before I live in Sydney, and though it gets a bit nippy, I really do not need a warm wooly hat. So it sat in my wool pile for a few weeks, sending off waves of resentment, when I finally decided the thing to do would be to finish it and send it off to New Zealand to one of my nieces. Lovely plan you might say, plus it would be the first thing I have made for someone else, so with much excitement it came out of the wool pile...

And is a complete and total disaster, really my first major one in this journey of re-learning how to make things. It is SO small, as in it might just fit a baby, plus it has no give so I imagine it would cut off the circulation to the poor baby's head. It is a torture hat, nice.

I think perhaps this is due to my somewhat laissez-faire attitude to counting my stitches, that and I think I made the puff stitches way to tight. I found them really difficult, not technically but physically, this hat made my hands ache. Which perhaps should have been my first sign that things were not as they should be?

But, trying to look at the positives, apart from being way to small, it is still a nice looking hat. I may even try it again at some point, perhaps after I have done a little more research on tension... which seems to be how I finish a lot of posts. Perhaps I am being really slow at learning my lesson?

Sydney Biennale

It's not particularly crafty but if you are in Sydney at all during July can I please urge you to check out Cockatoo Island as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney. My husband and I went yesterday and it was amazing! My husband is not particularly interested in art, usually managing to stay in a museum for half an hour before total boredom sets in, but we happily spent four hours wandering around. There were many highlights, in particular Static No. 12 by Daniel Crooks, which was a stunningly beautiful video of a man doing Tai Chi, where due to some time delay in the video, the mans movements all blended into one. I also loved Kasbah by Kader Attia which is a replica of the rooftops of a shanty town, one that you can walk all over, it is really interactive and I think it would be a great way of starting a conversation with child about poverty in other parts of the world.

Then there was Inopportune:Stage One by Cai Guo-Qiang, a series of cars suspended in mid air, exploding.

Of course there were many, many other exhibits but I think a major part of the appeal was the setting. Cockatoo Island is basically a huge abandoned industrial space, in fact it used to be a shipbuilding yard and all the mechanics, buildings and structures remain. Most of the exhibits are in these enormous cavernous areas, and all the fixtures are rusting and falling apart. I would have been happy wandering around without all the art, that was just an added bonus. But all in all it was a perfect way to spend a day and even better, totally free!!

Sorry there are no photos, I stupidly did not take my camera (although, I think sometimes its nice to enjoy things without also thinking about them as a subject for photography).

My Creative Space...

involves a big pile of dress pieces that need tailor's tacks. Enough said I think ;-)

Lots of lovely creative spaces here!

Little beribboned pouch

I saw a lovely clutch, somewhere, can't for the life of me remember where, which had some ribbon detailing on it which just took my fancy. I figured I could probably make something similar, so here is my version.

Naturally, I didn't bother looking online for patterns and tips and just ploughed ahead, making it up as I went. I was not being too precise with this one as it really was just a trial run, and the fabric is stuff I picked up for $1 from my local op-shop so I didn't feel to compelled to make it perfect. In general I am pretty happy with it, although next time I make it I would be a tad more mathematical with the ribbon placement...

Oh and did I mention this is my first time putting a zip in a bag? Turns out it is much easier then in a dress! Although I did run into a little problem with the lining, attaching it to the zip before sewing it up, resulting in my seams being on the inside of the bag, instead of between the layers. I improvised with a bit of fabric, made like bias tape, but not actually bias tape as I did not cut it on the bias, sewn over the seams. I probably need to do a little research to see how the linings should actually be put in.

I think next time I will make pattern pieces out of tracing paper, so that all bits of fabric are the correct size. Even though I was measuring everything I found when it came to sewing it all together, none of the pieces actually fit...

So, to sum up, in hindsight I might have found it easier to make a more simple bag before jumping straight into this one, but it mostly worked and only took about an hour to make so I would be happy to whip up some more because after all, practise makes perfect, right??

My Creative Space

Today there will not be too much making going on as I am off to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I have no idea what to expect as this is my first Australian craft fair. The last "craft" fair I went to was in New Zealand and was more of a market place for candles and jam, and not too much crafting. I am hoping I will get some new ideas, and some more supplies, I would love to find some decent felt as I am yet to find any in the shops here.

Hopefully though I will find some time to put the finishing touches on this.

It is surprisingly cold here at the moment and in an attempt to keep our power bill down I am resorting to carrying around a hot water bottle. Was getting a little sick of the rubber though, so once this is finished it should be nice and cosy. I made up the design myself, but I think I would make a few changes to it if I were to do it again. That is a totally different post though!

Lots more creative spaces here.