Swapping Makes The World Go 'Round...

I don't mind a bit of a swap. As long as it's for the right kind of thing. And making a cathedral window quilt makes this swap perfect:

You can join in yourself, if you want, over at Red Headed Snip it
xxx

Thrifted Tuesday....

Is open for business over on Flickr......
Feel free to join up and share your Thrifty Finds.....
You can find the group Here.
xxx

Onwards and Upwards....

Hi Everybody,

Just a quick post today to say thankyou to everyone who has been in touch about the Big Name Change......

Your support and encouragement means the world to me, thankyou.

I've come up with a new name, googled it a thousand times, and I've lived with it for a week, and decided it's The One.
Now I'm setting everything up in the background, so that when I switch over, it will run as seamlessly as possible.

Hopefully I'll be all sorted out in the next couple of days.

I can't even begin to express my gratitute that my regular readers, and some new, warmly welcomed ones have taken the time to let me know that I have your support, and that the coincedence of the similar names was nobody's fault, and just One of Those Things.

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou.

I'll keep you all posted!

Cheers,

Leah xx

paper.string.cloth - open for business!

That's right.....my Etsy Shop is now open!

So get your arses in there and buy something!

I guess this is a bit of a test run..... if they don't sell, then I'll go back to being a bog-standard home based crafty person with no entrepreneurial aspirations. My niece and nephew will receive an armload of toys in the mail, and there'll be no hard feelings on any side.
If they do sell, I'll make some more from time to time, plus a few other things, and spend the money I make on fabric! Easy!

This isn't actually the Big Thing I wanted to share today, but the light was so shit this afternoon that I couldn't take any decent photos of the current project. Perhaps tomorrow?

until then....xxxx

Flickr Favourites

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. babies and teaparties (closeup), 4. ludmilla, 5. Away, 6. Handmade, 7. coffee + apron, 8. books, 9. w, 10. from THE SPACE IN BETWEEN, 11. astrid, are you coming over?, 12. i've got my party skirt

Still without partner and digital camera....*boo*, sorry about the unintentional blog break!
Both of my lovelies return tomorrow, so I should be back in action very soon....there's a new project in the works that I'm dying to share - though the Nongs have been suffering as a result....

But for now, other people's fabulous photos will have to do!

See you soon! xxx

ha!

This made me laugh out loud, over at Post Secret....

fantastic.
xxx

Fabric, and where to find it.....

I've had a couple of people ask me lately where I shop for fabric, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you....

Sourcing and buying fabric you like can be a little difficult, but perseverence does pay off in the end!
Patchworking or quilting fabrics are really popular amongst crafters, the 100% cotton fibre feels wonderful and is great to work with, the prints are many and varied, and it's easy to buy small amounts, stash it away, and figure out what to make from it later.

The main problem I have with quilting fabric is that I am VERY picky when it comes to pattern. I prefer bolder, brighter styles, have an aversion (in most cases) to floral, and despise pink. Many many many quilting fabrics don't fall into this category. Luckily though, there are some designers that favour bold prints, and the new generation of crafters are inspiring a greater variety of fabrics, rather than your traditional pinks, muddy colours, tiny florals and such.
One of my favourite designers, Denyse Schmidt, makes a gorgeous range of bright cotton prints with vintage influences that I really love. The fabrics are a little lighter in weight than I am used to, but the prints are GORGEOUS.

So, advice number one, find some designers you really like, and follow their collections. That being said, ONLY buy fabrics you love, or think you can love. There's no point buying a whole stack of Amy Butler prints if you hate the colourways. Buying designer fabric just because it's designer is just as absurd to me as spending the equivalent of a small house on a handbag just because it's a Vuitton. You might have fashionista cred, but your handbag will still be fucking ugly!

Tip number two: Buy Online. In Australia, the average price for quilting cotton is around 20 - 25 dollars a metre. Online, the same fabric sells for anywhere between US$5 - $20 a yard. In most cases, even including postage, exchange rate, and yards versus metres, The fabric I buy online ends up costing me about half the price it would if I bought it retail in Australia. This is a real pity for me, I would much prefer to go to the fabulous local quilting shop and buy up a storm, but the reality is, I just can't afford to.
Instead, I frequent a few select online fabric stores that come highly recommended by other crafters, and have always provided me with consistently good product and service. A few of my favourites?

Superbuzzy specialises in japanese fabrics, notions, books and supplies, stocks a brilliant range of weird and wonderful bits and pieces, and every time you order something, they send you some Japanese lollies as well! The fabrics I used in my pincushion tutorial are both from Superbuzzy - Some of thier fabrics are a bit cutesy-poo for me, but they do stock some great bright, graphic prints as well.

Repro Depot sell a fantastic rance of vintage and retro themed fabric, buttons, patches, trim and notions. They always have something on sale, and unlike other stores, the sale bin usually has something good in it, rather than just the ugly fabric no-one wants to buy!

Another fabric store I love is Z and S Fabrics. They sell lots of my favourite designers, have a good turnaround on new fabrics, and a range that is so big, I can't even get my head around it.

I have purchased fabrics from all of these stores, and can personally recommend them. There are loads of others, feel free to look at them too, but I'm sticking to places I have actually bought fabric from for this post....

Tip Number Three - Don't forget the Op Shop. Thrifted fabric is brilliant. It's cheap, varied, compatible with re-use and re-cycle ethics, and usually of a nature that you will not find anywhere else. Keep an eye out in your favourite thrift shops, it's amazing how much fabric is out there if you look for it.
Depending on what it is that you make, don't forget to rummage through not only the fabric bin, but the sheets and linens, tea towels and blankets. Clothing can be cut up and made into other things, especially fabric heavy items like skirts, sarongs, shawls and dresses. Wool jumpers or sweaters can be felted in the washing machine with soap and hot water, and used to make other things. At the op shop, anything is possible. Learn to see the fabric, not the ugly outfit. Some of my favourite fabrics have been found in the op shop, and you'll usually get much larger amounts of fabric too!

Tip Number Four: Your bog-standard fabric shop. I still routinely drop into Lincraft and Spotlight, and never leave Ikea without at least a metre of fabric under my arm. These places are full of mass produced shit, but sometimes there's a gem in there that you'll die over.
On one of my last Spotlight visits I got 5 metres of lightweight linen for $2 a metre because it was old summer stock.
The fabric at Ikea is big and bright and bold, cheap as, and heavyweight cotton drill to boot. Perfect for furnishings and cushions, things you might get sick of in six months and want to change. There's no shame in a chain store, just remember to ONLY BUY FABRIC YOU ACTUALLY LIKE!!!!! Same rules apply as for designer - don't buy it just because it's cheap! Only buy it if you really like it or you know EXACTLY what you're going to use it for!

Well, that's it. The Mega Fabric Post!

My only last peice of advice is: don't be afraid to buy fabric, don't worry about what it was before, never mind if you don't know exactly what you're going to make out of it (as long as you love it, that is!), and when you get it home, don't be afraid to cut into it!

I hope that's been of some help to those of you who asked.....
xxx

Manifesto of Sorts....

If you ever wondered why people like us do what we do, you need to read this over at Poppalina.

Shula has somehow managed to encapsualte the absolute best parts of making things, sharing those things, and the wonderful interactions and random acts of love that ensue. Perfect. I don't think any of us could say it better.

I quote:

"People think Crafters are mad. Potty, whimsical and nutty, at best. Cracked, spooky and best avoided at worst. Maybe they're right. I know it takes a certain level of obsessiveness to see a project through to completion, and a demented level of fervour to start such an ambitious project in the first place. Crafting takes time, lots of time. And so much patience. Neither of which there's much room in the world for anymore."

"Crafters craft because they must. They are driven by a blind desire to create Gorgeous Things. Things that take time and patience and love. Original thoughts that come direct to you, from the heart."

"Crafters try to bring a little of the Divine into the real world, every time they make something. As a gospel singer might describe it, they sing it down, during the hours and hours of meditative work involved in each piece."


Go and read the whole thing, it'll make your day.

xxx

I'm as Warm as Warm Can Be......

Tonight? The fire is lit,the terrible Wednesday night television is on (Medium, anyone?), lots of tea, and this:

The Hand Warmers are coming along swimmingly....no pattern as usual, just making it up as I go along! They'll end up looking a bit mental, but then I'm a little mental, so I suppose that makes sense!

I also managed to invest in some good winter clothes today, a pair of yummy wooly leggings from Kookai in a charcoal grey, and I black hoodie from a teeny-bopper chainstore that I'm ashamed to mention....but I tell you, I'm much warmer (and far lees grumpy) today!

Thanks so much for all the advice on places to shop and ways to keep warm, I'll definately be shopping for a hat soon, and if I can track myself down some yummy cashmere yarn, my chilly bones will be very grateful!

The Lovely Rhiannon was kind enough to provide me with a list of her favourite online shops, so I thought I would share the love....

For lush, lush, jewel toned ceramics,

Cul de Sac

For the cutest skirts you'll ever see....

Made With Love by Hannah

For the most amazing, hand made books,

Black Spot Books

For weird and wonderful printed t-shirts:

Owl Movement

Lovely, lovely, lovely clothes....(someone please buy me this as a present!)

Laura Dawson

Wonderful, kitsch, tapestry bags....

Mokka

Phew! That PayPal balance won't be safe for too much longer!

Simple Things....

Today I had a day off. No sewing, no working, no Op Shopping, just this:

Lots of cups of tea.....

Reading in bed......(I've read two books in two days.....once I get my nose in one, I can't seem to get it out....)

And crumpets with lots of honey......

It's been so long since I had a lazy day like this that I feel a little guilty....but I'm blaming it on the weather, which has turned bitterly cold, and makes going outside too much of a trauma for my poor, skinny bones.....!

In other news, I have joined two more new Flickr groups, and so should you!

Breakfast Sunday

and Thrifty Colour Themes

Tomorrow I will be out and about again.....in the meantime though, I'm getting back in front of the fire to toast my toes......

Thrifted Tuesday + Blog Crush.....

Woot! I finally have my car back (mind you, $800 later....), so today I could go out for a spot of op shopping......funny how taking just a week off sends me into withdrawal symptoms.....

Today's haul was nothing too flash, but satisfying nonetheless....

A few more vintage fabrics to add to the stash...

Including one pillowcase that is so cute it almost makes me want to vomit....

I don't normally do cutesy-poo....but I really wanted the yellow print to put into my quilt, Lord knows what to do with the mini lovers......

I also managed a good shoe day today, three pairs of brilliant, ludicrously bright 80's numbers, all too small for me, so heading to the Ebay Shop....

I also managed to find a very cute coat for my neice....which I haven't photographed yet, because I might do some embellishments, and that will be a post all of its own....

I also scored a few vintage dresses, also destined for Ebay....

And for my partner, who is irrepressibly English, a book to add to his collection....

So there you have it....Thrifted Tuesday!

Now onto more important matters......

After my Internet Frustration post the other day, I got so many gorgeous emails of encouragement on the being real issue, plus the swearing when I want to! I found out that lots of us pretend we are on a TV show like Martha Stewart or Jamie Oliver, pottering around the house performing to entirely imaginary audiences, and that all of us have that Authorial Voice (kudos to Shula for the term), and that we take photos of the good bits, leave out the messy bits when we can, but in the end, we are all fucking human after all.

I can't begin to say how nice it is to recieve letters of encouragement after taking a leap of faith on a post like that. Suddenly I understand why I so often read on the blogs of people I admire posts full of admiration and gratitude to thier readers for being supportive. I extend such grateful thanks to my tiny little readership, and consider myself a pig in shit for having made such lovely aquaintances. (notice the swearing.....oh how naturally it flows.....)

Anyway, so in spirit of this gratitude, I am devising a new topic. It's called Blog Crush, and this here, it's the first one.

So you know how you'll discover a new blog, and you feel so enamoured or connected to the person who writes it that suddenly they are on your favourites list, you're checking every day to see if they've posted yet, you get excited about their projects, their new curtains, their children, their problems? So much so that you feel weird leaving them comments in case you sound like a stalker? This my dears, is a Blog Crush. And I have decided to bare my Blog Crushes to the world, semi-regularly, to let some fabulous people on the net know that I think what they do is wonderful. In a friendly non-stalkery kind of way........

And the honour of first Blog Crush has to go to Manda, of TreeFall Design. I don't know how I found Manda's blog, but it was one of the first craft blogs I started reading, and her links list has led me to a whole world of creative brilliance.

She has an impossibly cute daughter, a husband who doesn't mind how much fabric she buys, and sometimes even shops for it with her....

She makes beautiful collages and patchwork pillows and sometimes toys and things, which you can buy Here

But the best thing about Manda is that she is real, she writes about her life in a way that makes you feel included as a reader, and this, more than the fact that she makes fabulous cushions, is why I read her blog. One of the best bits of reading about the lives of other creative people is that you realise how similar we all are, whether it be a sudden hankering for all things yellow, or how we pull ourselves together after a fall, or the mini Martha Stewart in all our heads......

So thanks Manda, this one's for you.....

Cheers!

(I also should say that I totally stole the above pictures from Mandas blog.... so make sure you go visit and see them in context, and know that all copyright belongs to her......)

Internet Frustration.....

So I have been a subscriber to Bloglines for a little while now, and I have decided to abandon it. Not because it's not useful in being able to see when your favourite blogs have been updated ( and my favourites list is quite exhaustive), but I get annoyed at not being able to see the posts in the beauty the writers intended, including layout, colours, and how the post looks in relation to the layout of the blog itself, but also, COMMENTS!

Ok, maybe this is a newbie bloggy preoccupation, but I am holding bloglines personally responsible for the fact that people don't leave enough comments for each other. This may be due to the fact that, as a new blogger, whenever I get a comment I am left irrationally excited, quickly rushing over to the comment leavers' blog and wondering how on earth some fabulous knitter from Canada, or a crafty maven from San Fransisco possibly found me on the endless sea of the internet.

Is there some way of leaving comments from Bloglines that I don't know about? If not, I am still going to use it to check for updates, but I will insist on viewing the proper page to read said updates. So There. (end rant here)

On another note, I have been mulling over the need to find my true voice on this blog. For some reason, when I sit down to write a post, I slip into some other kind of weird alter ego where I am nice and polite and super excited about everything and I never swear or use any kind of witticism. Ever.

I also tend to use Americanisms like "thrifting" instead of "op shopping" (though I do like "thrifting" as a term in itself).
It may come as a slight surprise, dear readers, but I have actually spent most of my adult life writing and reading Art Theory, swearing like a fucking sailor, and chain smoking cigarettes. In my time, I have been a hardcore feminist, activist, punk, hippy, traveller, art student, painter, seamstress, cocktail waitress (don't ask.....or maybe do!!), bartender, writer of terrible typewritten poetry, and god knows what in between.

I think I just needed to get all of that out in the open, just so you don't think I'm some prissy little woman who sits at home embriodering her doilys. All power to you if you are a prissy woman, but it's just not me.

Hmmmm.... now this has turned into one of those posts you think twice about publishing, so I'm going to press that button before I chicken out.

Oh.... and the computer above shows Shim and Sons in all it's non-bloglines glory.
Cheers.

Covet Central.....

Today I am coveting fabrics....

This is Sandy Klop's American Jane....

Kokka Fabrics' Charcoal Pear....

ANYTHING by Etsuko Furuya....this is Blue Birds....

They can all be found at Purl, where I would spend all my money but the exchange rate and postage costs from the States are a tiny bit prohibitive......(not quite enough though, so I may be in danger next pay packet.......)

In the meantime, I have consoled myself by buying a few vintage kimono peices and a vintage war poster off the net, and as soon as they arrive, I'll be sure to show you!

There's also a work in progress, which I may unveil tomorrow.....see you then!

Breakfast.

Seems I have developed a bit of a habit of taking photos of my breakfast.....

Who knows why? Perhaps it's something to do with the combinations of the crockery I use.... Having a bit of a passion for vintage crockery, I love all my plates, cups and bowls dearly, for different reasons. Putting together different combinations is part of my breakfast ritual, and asking my partner which particular teacup he feels like today is one of the regular things we do....

But at least I know I'm not the only one with a penchant for photographing my breakfast.....

I recently discovered the blog of Jen, a photographer from Brooklyn in New York, who regularly photographs her breakfast, too! Her lush photos can be found on her blog: Simply Breakfast. Cute.

Fun Things To Do On The Internet. #2

Actually, sometimes this site isn't fun. Sometimes it's heartbreaking, or weird, or inspiring, and sometimes it's funny. It started as an art project where strangers were invited to send thier secrets in on a postcard, decorated however they wished. As it grew and grew, the artist behind the project, Frank Bryce, started posting them on the internet. New sectrets are posted every Sunday. Compelling reading!

Visit PostSecret to see this Sunday's secrets......

Fun Things To Do On The Internet.

Get your name in lights......(and possibly win the same for real...)

I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

I hearby call the end to a post-heavy day!