applehead

to-ings and fro-ings....

Just before I headed off to north to Port Douglas and the Daintree, I somehow managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Melbourne ( I know, I'm doing it tough this month...)
Highlights ( and there were many!)

Violet and Rose Peg Apron- picture courtesy of the official Violet and Rose clothesline...

Meeting Jo from Violet and Rose and enjoying it every bit as much ( and possibly even more) than I had imagined. Now I just need to move Melbourne and Sydney a little closer so that I can drop around for a cup of tea and a catch up a little more often... the beautiful apron was part of a bag of goodies that Jo put together for me ( if you too want one to help you achieve that drop dead gorgeous look whilst hanging out the smalls, visit her blog. If you happen to be in Melbourne, pop into Meet me At Mikes to see this and more of her lovely work.This shop is full of craft blog goodness, and if you are lucky you will get to meet the most personable Pip!)

Finding this wonderful stack of old Japanese books hidden in a box under a rack of kimonos at Ziguzagu at Kazari Warehouse.

The covers were so perfectly old and weathered and then inside....

I haven't a clue what I will do with them but I just couldn't leave them behind.

The old obis below came from the same place. ( You might remember one of the obi's from last years trip took on a new life as this crochet roll. I so love using this roll.)

Going to the cinema not once but twice to see a foreign film... Paris, je T'aime  and Orchestra seats at the Cinema Nova, Carlton. I think that the cinnamon choctop that I had on the first evening was a large part of the reason for the second visit the following night!

Just a few of the memorable moments...there were way too many for just one post, so expect another some time soon...

 

 

four beauties...

I'm not sure why but all of a sudden I have had a flurry of orders for paper and wallpaper packs from the appleseed shop. Usually the orders are regular and steady and therefore easy to keep on top of. However I have suddenly found myself rather low on stock and have spent the last few evenings making up 'new' old packs.

I tend to get sidetracked when it comes to sorting through my box of old photos....and certain photos,like the one above never end up in the packs. They go into a special pile just for me - I'm not sure what for but there are some images that I just can't part with.This photo has nothing written on it so I'm not sure of where or when it was taken- it came in a box of old photos from the US that I 'won' on Ebay a while back.
I just love the beautiful hair with the flowers and the print on their dresses is amazing.

Oh, and the greatest thing about the recent influx of orders,( besides the obvious of course....) - I get to hit the op shops again to search for more old paper!  All hard work at this end......

bit fond of trees myself....

some ATC's I've been working on recently...

Tree series one....collage, pigment pen and water colour

Tree series two....collage ,pen and stamped text

Most of my ATC's can be found here......

all things paper

Found a copy of the September Marie Claire idees the other day.....as usually full of the most inspiring ideas and images. Been wondering what to do with one of these (mostly) old paper packs?

Well, how about this?

or these beauties...

I just loved these...

After seeing these pictures I was feeling a bit inspired and finally got around to putting these tags into the shop...

And the "new" vintage wallpaper has finally arrived....

poetry in a box.....

You might remember a matchbox swap that I was working on a few posts back...the idea was to make using any craft/art method something small enough to fit in a matchbox. Originally I had started on a tiny doll that I was going to paint...I decided  midway,that she needed legs which meant that she no longer fitted into the matchbox! So that little doll has been saved for some other purpose.
Luckily I had another idea brewing ( actually I think I added the legs on purpose so that I could start my new idea!)
While putting together some paper packs, I found a lovely poem by T.S Eliot called "New Hampshire". Inspired by this, I made a small illustrated accordion book and tiny embroidered tree. And they fit! ( the tree only just but it does fit!) I am really satisfied with the result - it is exactly as I imagined it to be.
The matchbox was covered using a page of text from an old Yates Garden guide titled "beginning a garden".

New Hampshire
by T.S Eliot

Children's voices in the orchard
Between the blossom- and the fruit time:
Golden head,crimson head,
Between the green tip and the root.
Black wing,brown wing, hover over;
Twenty years and the spring is over;
To-day grieves,tomorrow grieves,
Cover me over, light in leaves;
Golden head,black wing,
Cling,swing,
Spring,sing,
Swing up to the apple tree.

I want to start another poem in a box right away......

up ,up and away......

Well, the dolls have hopefully made it safely to Adelaide for Morphe II . Last night was spent designing and printing some promotional stickers( a few of them shown above) that will go into the mail tonight. Now I just have to finish a couple of toys that will be up for sale in the appleseed shop in the next week and then its back to the drawing board.
Literally.
I  haven't done an drawing for Ilustration Friday in months and really feel the need to do a bit of scribbling. This should get me in the right frame of mind to start my pages for the Design a calender swap, which I'm really looking forward to. Not to mention a few swaps that have been put on hold until the Morphe dolls were completed.

These are the tags that went with my submission - I found an old typewriter on Ebay and it was perfect for making these. I think that the old typewriter and I are going to have a long and happy relationship.

A few people have asked about the knitwear that two of the dolls are wearing...did I knit these tiny garments???No, indeed I did not! I felted two old holey jumpers and did a cut and sew- still fiddly but not as time consuming as knitting them would have been!
After making these largish size dolls, I had a hankering to do something on a tiny scale.A swap to make something art or crafty that fits into a matchbox was exactly what I after. I have almost finished a tiny cloth doll about 3.5cm tall...... she is based on the circled drawing  and still needs some arms and legs. After that I'm thinking of painting her and going from there.

Found some new bits and pieces to go into the (mostly) old paper packs .....and what to do with these old bits of paper? Here's one use for the sheet music...

And its been so exciting to see the paper packs popping up on blogs....here  and here for instance... quite a thrill indeed!

back from the beach...

Family,beautiful beach, amazing accommodation , enough sunshine to keep everyone happy and warm enough ( although on a few days only just!) to swim every day! What more could a girl want ( apart from another few days...?)

This is one of my favourite photos from our holiday north...on the beach at Salt Village ( just near Kingscliff), just before sunset with the wind picking up. I'm usually the one pointing the camera so there aren't too many shots of me with the girls.....

This is the beach that the apartment overlooked...it was so wonderful to lie in bed at night and listen to the surf. We let the girls stay up late a few evenings to watch the spectacular moonrise's- Charlotte, in particular enjoyed the chance to see the moon. Rose was just happy to have a few more hours of talking time!

Rose took this one of Damian and I in the car we hired to drive down to Byron bay and Bangelow for the day ..we went opted for a  fun little convertible car  rather than a  practical  family car since it was only for a short drive . Rose enjoyed the novelty of not having a roof but poor little Charlie was over it in the first ten minutes. Partly, I think because we made her wear a hat but mostly because she was a little thrown by the missing roof!

The markets were on in Byron so we spent a few pleasant hours wandering and drinking fresh lemonade. I found a stall selling hand spun hemp and bought a few ball to try crocheting with.

Luckily I just happened to have packed a crochet hook ( after all, what beach holiday is complete without one) and made a tiny basket, which is destined to become a pincushion....

We arrived back home to a wet and blustery Sydney...still, its lovely to be back home ( now that everything is unpacked and the monster load of washing is done!). I always miss my bed!

Now, time  to finish those toys for Morphe II .......

the Italians have landed...

a bit of print happiness today...the wallpaper from Italy has arrived!

and this!

and last but not least this one!

All of these can now be found in these updated packs ( complete now with a name and label)

And if you love vintage text have a look here.....

our morning dive...

Found this in one of the old and falling apart children's books that I have been using for my (mostly) old paper packs.
This one's a keeper!

finally done...

I did it! Took at bit longer than planned and I haven't put proper "buy" buttons on yet but its done! have a look here when you get a chance.....

Now I need some sleep.... but first some pics of lovely lovely packages that have turned up on my doorstep this week - I'll talk about them tomorrow when I'm awake and can do them justice...

lovely vintage buttons plus other wonderfuls...

and loads of great paper !

Goodnight!