Screen Printing at home

So I have been planning to try my hand at screen printing for a while. A few months ago I indulged in some retail therapy and bought the screen and squeegee and a pot of Permaset paint.  Its been sitting on my desk ever since and I've been desperate to find some time to give it a go.

During the last few weeks I choose a design. I traced it on to a cardboard manilla folder and using a craft knife, carefully cut out the design.

This weekend, and a few U-tube video’s later, I thought I might give it a go.

Using masking tape I attached the design to the flat side of the screen. I masking taped the rest of the screen to prevent any paint getting though.

I then turned the screen and placed on a piece of calico.

At this point you have: flat surface – fabric – stencil – screen.

 

And then for the paint application:  

• I dolloped some paint along the top seciton of the screen,
• took the squeegee,
• swipe down, up, down, and
• carefully peeled the screen away.

 Just like that – there’s paint on the fabric. How nifty!

I was delighted with the outcome.  I made three of the same and let them dry.

 

.... and then it all went wrong.  
 

The aim is to let it air dry and then 'heat cure' the paint (as per the intructions of the jar). You can use an iron or the oven. Here’s today’s lesson folks – if using the oven, do not assume that all is well.  Do not walk away and start some other chore or get distracted. When it says on the jar: 2-3 minutes, that is all!  Not 3-4 0r 4-5.  Only a short spell.  It may be that you need a lower temperature. Because otherwise .... lo and behold, your fabric will burn!

Yes, the lovely designs now have a browned aesthetic and indeed smell somewhat of caramel. You have to laugh.

Might go for the iron next time.

Paper decorations

In a blatant display of idea poaching, some easy and effective decorations were spied. “We can make those!” we cried. “Perfect for Christmas” we cried.

I had some old decorative paper lying around so choose a cream-ish paper and a Victorian red type design. I used a press to make the circles and then glued alternative designs together so they were double sided. Then a line of stitching and Bob’s ya uncle.

(Just in the interests of full disclosure – it did occur to me later that gluing the whole sheets together and then pressing out the circles might have been a more time efficient way to go – but perhaps the card would have been too thick ... yeah.)

Success and failure

As suspected - I didn't make it beyond Day 4.

I did finish the bag though - I quite like it.  Its definitely a winter bag.

Hunger drives productivity

Well, the country has been all a flutter with success after a gruelling and not particularly enjoyable rugby final last weekend. Yay for the win.

Having been enjoying and partaking in the celebrations for the past few weeks, we decided that after the final we would try a bit of a cleanse diet to rid our bodies of the evil residues of beer, chipppies, and pies. It seemed sensible at the time....... I'm not so sure now. This is because:
1.) I'm hungry.
2.) Whilst this was sold to me by the other half as some structured medically-sound eating plan, on reflection it seems remarkably like a silly fad diet.
3.) I'm hungry.
4.) Life isn't fun when one can only eat fruit and veges and crappy soup.
5.) I'm hungry.

We are up to Day 4 or 7 days. I suspect I will not make it through.

To distract myself I have been trying out a new bag pattern. Its based on a pattern seen here at Warehouse Fabrics. I've made a few tinkers but I wanted to see what the outcome was before I kicked off making a few. I think the shape it probably a little small for my liking but I will wait and see how it turns out and then amend. I have a bit of an odd-bod ensemble of fabrics for this one - this lovely woolie tweed which has a cute wintery feel - coupled with a blue satin fabric. These are both pretty tough wearing fabrics so should stand up to some punishment. Not sure if this will look good or a disaster, but I'll pop a photo up when I'm done.

Girls natter rugby

Whilst I've never been a sports nut, and I never thought I'd get absorbed in a sporting tournament, the Rugby World Cup has been such fun.  The spirit of the whole thing has gripped the country and the most unlikely of us have jumped on the band wagon.  This becomes apparent when you're sitting having coffee with a group of girls and we are jabbering about the rugby rather than the usual topics.  The flags in all the shops, on every car, the support at every level, and the visitors from around the world has been excellent.

I've been lucky enough to be given tickets to a few games through work and the spectacle has been awesome (as we flew up to Auckland for one of the semi-finals last weekend I realised the cost of our flights would have paid for the plastering in the hallway ... but you only live once right?).  I am struck as the teams run out onto the pitch to the deep roar of the Maori horn how gladiatorial the whole thing is.  We should all be wearing sheets and have laurels on our head as we roar for our teams and watch the spectacle.

It's fun to turn up to a game that NZ is not even in and pick a team to support.  I picked Wales for the Saturday semi-final and was devastated for them when they lost - it would seem that wearing red, cheering madly and waving leeks is not enough to ensure the win.  However, the All Blacks game was a triumph (no need to pick a team to support there).  I will be so very excited for NZ's team if they can win the final - they deserve the pressure of this very passionate and demanding rugby nation lifting, and to be able to relax and unwind without the proverbial monkey on their broad shoulder.  I shall be yelling my wee head off this weekend and hope that this time round cheering madly will generate the right result.  Go the ABs!

Teapots in town

I just love love love love my recent teapot purchases. How gorgeous are these enamel teapots?

I spied them at an online auction and fell in love - thank goodness there were only 3 for sale otherwise I'd have a whole room full.  I collected them from the vendor yesterday and am totally delighted.

They will look gorgeous with cut flowers but right now I just love them sitting there as a splash of colour and style. Hurray!

From naf-wolf to nifty-wellington: a framing revamp

I like to pick up nicely shaped picture frames from second hand shops because often with a lick of paint or a refurb, they will look good as new. It seems a terrible waste that they are just thrown out so it makes sense to use these no-longer-loved frames and make them loved once more.

One such frame I picked up at the recycle shop for $2. It was pretty hideous to be frank, grey frame and with terribly naf images of some American Indian wolf baying at the American Indian moon (apologies to the artist - its a subjective assessment). It had also received some water damage so the picture was going mouldy and icky inside. Even I had to wonder when I picked it up if this was my best investment.

I removed the picture and gave the frame the classic white paint treatment. I then got a sheet of cardboard to use as the mounting - using the mouldy version for a template so I knew it was spaced correctly - and cut out the squares for the pictures.

I faffed a bit on what to put in but I'm delighted with the choice. I had found a book called "Points of View" at a recent book fair. It was full of sketches of spots around New Zealand, cityscapes and country churches etc. The book was only $4 and I bought it with the intention of taking some of those pictures and putting them on the wall. (Sorry to all those purists - I did feel like a heathen destroying a book but there seemed little point having lovely pictures hidden away in a book on the shelf) .

There were 3 nice shots of Wellington (one of Oriental Bay, one of a Thorndon street, and one of the tug boat in the harbour). These were too ideal not to use. I have used an old bit of cardboard box to be the back of the frame and I still need to quickly restring the back so it hangs vertically rather than horizontally.

All in all I am totally delighted with the outcome. From a discarded frame and a discarded book, the result is just brilliant. I know exactly where this will go (once the wall plastered and painted of course).

Grow wee veges

As spring creeps closer and the days get longer it seemed appropriate to plant some veges and hope that they may sprout.  Now except for a few lettuces planted when we first moved in (thats them there) and years of owning low maintenance house plants, this is my first attempt at really growing anything substantial.

I have jumped in with both feet and only time will reveal the results. Currently I've planted one wee tomato (fearing it might be a bit cold I am going to keep one inside also), a capsicum, some broad beans, some peas, some silverbeet, spring onions, beetroot and a range of lettuces. Add to this a cape gooseberry and we are good to go. I love my wee garden boxes and I'm just hoping its not too cold at night for the little seedlings so they get to start growing.

I'm certainly no green thumb but keen-ness and positive vibes count for something, right?

Wallpaper Victories

We did it.

In true death-defying style we've finally completed the neck-breaking parts on the high walls above the stairwell.

Now I'm ok with heights, but there were a few moments that I can do without reliving. Balancing up a ladder that is itself balancing on a wooden beam, that is itself balancing on a window ledge was perhaps not the most pleasant experience. I was muttering through my teeth and making sure the stronger of the two of us held on to that ladder. But .... lets focus on the good bits! Its done and I feel we deserve a few victory laps of the hallway.

On to the plastering and then I'll be ready for another health and safety nightmare again for the painting portion.

My learnings on stripping that 70s wallpaper

In May I mentioned that we'd be redecorating our house. That was back in the glory days of wilful blindness when I thought painting over the wallpaper would be achievable and a quick and easy cosmetic change to revamp the internals of the home. Ah, I miss those days.

It since revealed itself that painting over wallpaper was not a viable solution and therefore it needed to be stripped and the gib skim plastered. 

Wow - just like when I was a kid .........

The first area to tackle has been the hallway. The wallpaper often generates cries of delight from people who say "ooohhh, we used to have this in the living room when I was a kid". Well that's all very nice people, and great for you, but its still the length and breadth of our winding hallway while your childhood living room has no doubt had a face lift since.

A few things have revealed themselves to me during this process.
- the glue used in the 70s was of exemplary quality
- this wallpaper was made to last
- it doesn't wanna come off.

Being DIY novices we read the blogs for wallpaper stripping which tell the same storey: (i) score the paper with a tiger claw do-dacky, (ii) put on stripper solution (iii) wait (iv) steam or just peel off. Safe to say, this is an optimistic version of events. Our version was a bit more like: (i) score that paper like its the last thing you'll ever do, until you think there's more holes than paper (ii) lash on super-strong stripper (iii) wait (iv) curse in frustration as you achieve millimetre by millimetre of peeling.

The lesson we have learn - and I share this in case there is some other poor soul out there trying to remove wallpaper of the same extraordinary quality as ours - is as follows:

1.) Use tweezers (crappy pair you don't want anymore) and find that little bit of peeling wallpaper. Catch hold and rip. Yes, this will only take the top patterned coat off - it is true - but it is this top coat that is making life a living hell. The paper will prefer either an up or a down ripping action but should come off in large strips. If you have previously been moving at snail's pace, this type of activity will be extremely satisfying. (It also means if you have a vague sense of silliness, you can save a piece of wallpaper for posterity. I shall be framing a piece in the hallway as a memorial to this work.)

2.) Now you are simply left with the under/backing paper. It is porous to allow the stripper to soak in and absorbs water well. We have attacked this by rolling on a stripper solution, leaving for a few minutes, and then going at it with a scrapper, armed with a spray bottle of stripper solution when it dries out. I won't pretend its not still a long process, but compared to the previous tear-inducing progress, we are rolling along. After 2 months of on/off efforts we are nearing the end.

An etsy pearler

Like many people, I receive those daily updates from etsy which are full of delightful thumbnails of people's craftiness. Being in NZ, I get my email about 3am in the morning and so it is sitting there when I come into the office. I always scroll through as I munch on my breakie.

Today's included a picture of this fantastic cushion by Yellow Bug Boutique. It made me laugh out loud and it certainly reflects how I have felt about my projects to date. Love it!

Toddling about

Made this sweet wee set for a friend.

The bib is backed with navy towelling and it makes it nice and thick and soft. It has a velcro catch and is simply overlocked together so is almost embarrassingly easy.

The rompers were a touch more difficult. However they are quite cute and hopefully will fit.

I love the fabric - its very sweet with the little turltes without being overly kid-like.

Landscapes

Sometimes you just have to appreciate the beauty that New Zealand allows us to live within. The last few weekends have been uncharacteristically sunny and pleasant (not just for Wellington, but for anywhere in winter). We have made no inroads on the wallpaper stripping as it just seems wrong to be inside on sunny winter days. Plenty of time for rain.

Last weekend we spent a lovely morning up Makara hill munching on bacon sandwiches and reading, and then this weekend we wandered round the coast to Red Rocks and made silly noises and daft conversation with the seals. (I love the way that each seem to have a personality and look at you like you're being very tiresome when you disturb them - which is probably true, but still funny).

Watching thugs looting the streets of Brixton - 2 minutes from where we used to live only a wee while ago - just underlines how very lucky we are. To be so far away from that kind of grey and desperate environment and to be immediately close to this type of landscape is just such a privilege and surely fixes the soul.

Open Studios - a treat

I treated myself to a new book. Another pearl by Lotta Jansdotter (she just keeps producing crackers). This one is called Open Studios.

Whilst it sometimes reads a little like a series of adverts for her similarly very talented and artful friends and acquaintances, the photos are really wonderful. It explores the working environments of these creatives and each page is just full of wonderful images. I found myself getting nose-to-nose with each page in a desperate attempt to get a little closer and further into the studio I was viewing. I have spent many a happy moment scanning each image a thousand times to take in every morsel of every shot.

A very pleasant treat.

Straight to the third bottom

I confess, I have successfully contributed to the size of my third arse in the space of just a few hours. I have always felt bad about wasting those pieces of fruit and vege that we buy and fail to eat. Having just thrown out some wrinkled soft old beetroot, I was loath to toss the bananas. Hence the banana loaf (c/o the Edmonds Cookbook).

I melted dark chocolate and butter to make the icing. I swear, it is so rich its to die for - and indeed may cause a heart attack after just one slice.

Yummo.

A new lease on life for that fav old t-shirt

I have a particular T-shirt that I have loved for quite some time. It has an image of a wee girl on it - that classic type of image that was always on writing paper sets ..... when I was growing up and receiving writing paper sets was the norm. Its got such a little girl charm about it.

However, in the last few years I wore it less and less. The length of the t-shirt meant it hovered just around my waist and this always made me nervous. Not only do I feel more comfortable in layers and lengthy tops, but its my theory that no one wants to see the midriff of those of us over-30 years old, unless you are in the bedroom, on the beach in togs, you survive on a diet of lentils and hours of yoga, or you are a belly dancer. So I wondered if I could hold on to my treasured t-shirt but give it a bit of a length-update to see if it was then still wearable in an over-30 type way.

I plonked for a somewhat slap-dash approach of adding a thick ribbing waistband at the bottom. I used the theory that the ribbing should be about 2/3 of the width of the distance you are sewing, and simply overlocked it to the base of the t-shit. It has added length and I've worn it all day. Yay- the t-shirt lives again. An excellent way to avoid having to survive on a diet of lentils and hours of yoga.

(Yip, I'm wearing my PJs in this photo)

Recovering that old bedside Lamp

Well, very excited about my first trial of recovering a lamp.

I can't remember where I got this lamp, its just been kicking around for ever and I pulled it out of some storage boxes when we returned to NZ. It had this textured red fabric which I had got very used, but was - at the end of the day - kinda ugly. So I thought it needed a new lease of life and would be a good practice run.

It currently sits by the bed so I was conscious that I wanted to cover it in a yellow, orange or red fabric to keep a warm glow to the light it emits (lets face it, who looks pretty in blue or green light?). That being said, I just couldn't help myself. I was given some fabric samples by a colleague at work and the blue one was simply crying out to be used. So whilst I may not look pretty in its glow, the lamp itself will look gorgeous. Such stunning fabric.

I didn't employ any smart and careful techniques with this. I just cut and yanked the existing fabric off the underneath roll - this one was laminated paper but could be plastic if purchased - (rembered to take the "before" shot mid-way through yanking) and then glued a line of fabric vertically to the paper shield, rolled the fabric around the lamp, glued another nicely folded-under vertical strip, tucked under to top and bottom, and glued to the metal circular surround.

What I would say in hindsight is have regard to which way you look at this lamp. For example, this one sits on a low table and therefore I will more often look "down" on it. A tall standing lamp in contrast, you are more likely to look "up" into. Make sure you have enough fabric at the top / bottom to produce a nice tidy edge when you fold the top / bottom into the middle of the lamp. If you need to prioritise one more than the other, then prioritise the most "looked at" side. I, of course, was cutting the height of the fabric a bit fine as this was a sample scrap, and then prioritised the wrong edge. The edge that looked tidier was at the bottom (prescribed by the metal framing), which never gets seen at all. The messier edge was at the top, and was looking a bit rough and ready. So, to tidy up the top and make it look a little less Craft101, I glued a thin piece of ribbon around the inside to hide the scrappy edges.

It won't win any prizes for the most masterful execution, but it looks so lovely sitting there.

I am now quite excited about making the change to a different light fitting in my sewing cave. I'll give you a before and after of that at some point because the current fitting has all that charm that our Purple Palace exudes and it really (really) has to go.

Only minimal productivity

Dear me, how the days just roll by. I cannot believe its July this week. What has happened?

I have accomplished so little in the sewing world since February, I am always feeling a touch guilty. There is a definite lack of focus. The weekends are taken up with weeding and clearing - and boy have we weeded and cleared - and as one sinks into the chair at the end of the day, groaning softly at Gardener's Back Pain (never before experienced) and covered in rose bush scratches, there is just no energy for creative spurts.
I have only managed two projects in the last wee while.

The first was a top from the "Chic and Simple Sewing" book. Its the baby doll top. Not sure quite what happened here. I used the medium size but whilst it fits on the top half it simply balloons out from the boobs down - I mean there's 'flowing' and then there's just peculiar.

Clearly for this to be wearable it needs to be taken in significantly and perhaps given a tie for the back. A bit annoying really as I liked this fabric - I can handle when I stuff thing up the sewing myself but find it a bit more annoying when the pattern takes you to a place that you never expected.

However, before I do the alterations to try and save this top, I am going to see if a friend of mine who is pregnant wants this. Ballooning tops are fine for the woman with the beautiful stretching belly. I also finally did the overhaul on a chair that had been sitting around collecting dust for way too many months. I saw this at a seconds shop and picked it up for $3. It had terribly old gold fabric that had been mauled by a pet of some sort.

The fabric I used is the same design as I used on a seat last year, but different colours. The fabric is just lovely. I do tend to think that as the fabric is so strong the chair looks top heavy and you don't notice the lovely legs. Nevertheless, this will do nicely for a few dollars and the cost of the fabric (not cheap but lets pretend it was).

Right - what next?

A Fiesta of Wallpaper

So I promised some pictures of the wallpaper. This is after all why I will be muttering about decorating and painting for the next few months.

The walls are solid enough in the bedrooms but the wallpaper is questionable to say the least.

In some instances one might say its "vintage" and worthy of protection. That is of course easy for those to say who do not have to live within these walls.

To give a flavour to some of the more extreme wallpapers I attach the following photos for giggle value.

I challenge you not to snort.

Tenugui fabrics

When I was up in Napier recently I lucked upon a funny wee shop called Raku that sold all things Japanese.

I got quite excited about a selection of Tenugui they had there, pieces of cotton with various designs on them. These were by no means cheap but once I'd laid eyes on them I had to have one … or two or three.

I bought this fish design because I loved the idea of this in a cool aquatic room. I also thought it would look excellent as a light fitting around a simply circular shade.

I picked up the utensil one at the last minute. The thought of this in the sewing room was a must. Of course, this will be after the sewing room has been redecorated but planning for the future.

The Purple Palace

So the house we bought is a doer-upper. It is a hodgepodge of 70s' style. It comes with outer walls painted lilac, veneer doors throughout, textured glass feature windows, stained carpets (some with paisley designs), wallpaper that to a certain extent you have to take your hat off to, aluminium sliding doors and conservatory, tile ceilings, nasty curtains, astro-turf balcony …. well I could go on but you get my drift. (I shall post some wallpaper shots in due course - its worth it for a giggle.)

Boy o boy - we may have bitten off more than we can chew on this one. Whilst I'm keen to tinker and learn about DIY, my other half would rather chew his arm off. And given the scale of this, we can see weekends for the rest of our lives taken up with painting. Was this a prudent purchase? Only time will tell.

The parts which are nice are (i) the kitchen, (ii) the warmth (insulation is something we have sorely missed of late), (iii) the bath, and (iv) portions of the garden.
Hopefully the kitchen may encourage me to get back into doing some cooking. At this point I am painting the pantry shelves (which were a tad icky and freaked me out) so we still have bags of groceries all over the floor, but hopefully should do a final coat tonight and can put it all away in weekend. Then the cooking can begin.

In the garden, whilst there is a hell of a lot of weeding to do - and lets face it, gardening is a mystery to us - there is an adventure course out there. I spent a few hours in the weekend weeding the vege patches. We have some lovely raised garden beds for veges with really nice soil. - Oh God, is this a new moment in my life.? Am I actually commenting on having nice dirt? (I did get freaked out by a portion that had white stones and a tile laid out in the garden - and so I opted to leave that section in case I weeded up some dear loved family pet from the previous owner.) Anyway, I planted some lettuces and spinach that we'd been given as a house warming gift. Will be totally excited if we actually get a lettuce out of it. Grow lettuce, grow!

I'm back - with (flexible) goals

Well, its been a busy wee while. Clearly its been a long time since I posted anything. This is due firstly to spending the majority of my time organising our house purchase and move, and then more recently to the fact we cannot get a working internet connection at the new 'residence' (makes it sound grand right?).

However, I have set myself a goal. One post a week and one new product a week. Perhaps optimistic given all that is going on but I feel like I haven't sat down with the sewing machine for a very long time.

I was up at a conference last week where we did a session on goal setting. Whilst others set goals about work or leaving work on time, I set goals about Threadbird and getting things back on track. I was comforted by the part of the session that recognised that people who set goals "relapse", that setting goals will not always mean that you never falter from that course, and that faltering is normal. So, I can falter in this goal but I may as well aim for it.

To that end - this is my post. No new product yet.

We bought it!

Well it wasn't too long ago that I was glum because a possible house purchase fell through. Well good news has been had - that sale is back up and running. There were a few issues with piling under the house but we have sorted those and the sale is back on. All going to plan we should be moving in 3 weeks. We will then be the proud owners of a lilac coloured seventies, brown carpet, floral wallpaper, naff curtained home in need of much love and affection. I suspect we will become overnight experts in wall treatments and weeding but it was bound to happen at some stage. The exciting part is we will have some space to move and some cupboards to store things. Giant leaps forwards.

My new cowl neck top

A few weeks ago a friend and I managed to wangle ourselves off to a Fashion Workshop lesson on copycat pattern making. Jen's Fashion Workshop does a number of workshops and lessons and does a great job of finding those subjects that those of us sitting at home quite want to know. I had been meaning to try and copy a grey top I bought in Paris years ago that is very plain but straddles casual, work and evening. I thought I might be able to manage it. This was a great impetus to finally get that top done. Jen teaches you in this how to copy tops and trousers from your existing favourite items. I sewed up this top using the pattern I made. Jen had taught us to measure the ajoining seams to make sure they match but I forgot once I got home and my only glitch was the sleeves - I didn't measure the arm hole compared to the top of the sleeves and the sleeves ended up being bigger. So I had to do a bit of emergency mid-sew gathering at the top of the sleeve but it looks ok. Plus I was quite fond of the length of the sleeves as is and didn't want them shorter so I just did a rolled hem on the sleeves and the neck rather than a proper turned up hem, which gives it a bit of a raw finish but I quite like it. Thanks Jen. I'd recommend Jen's courses to anyone and I hope to do another this term sometime.

New purse inners - so pretty........

Managed to squeeze in a trip last week to my favourite secret fabric stash shop. Lucked upon a range of fabric pieces that I thought were just gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact I simply couldn't decide which colour was best. I 'ummed' and 'ahhed' and ultimately did what any good woman would - bought the lot. So this is the basis for the next range of purses. These colours are so lovely and the material is slightly coated which makes it a durable inner for the purses.

I made a couple of the purses with this deep brown fabric I found for the outer and my new lovely fabric as inners. I haven't made the matching broaches yet but I really like the contrast of the woven outer with the slightly flashy metallic inner (the lushness doesn't come out in these photos at all). I'll try and get myself sorted to do the broaches this week and then pop them up on my Felt shop.

I also thought I might try a slightly bigger version of the purse. This was my first try which is a tiny bit wonky at the top fold over. Whislt a shame, the up-side is that it means I get to keep this one. I took it for a trial run over the weekend when we went out for dinner (ended up as drinks but was meant to be dinner). It fits nicely under your arm and holds a bit more than the other. I'm giving it the nod myself (but then I guess I am biased).

Blackberry Jam

During the market preliminaries in the weekend, we took a detour to pick some blackberries along the road side in Upper Hutt.
And it is with great delight that I present Vanessa's Jam Extraordinary - a wondrous array of berry flavours, delightfully set and presented perfectly in this jar. In all seriousness - I'm impressed. You'll be achieving your self-sustained lifestyle soon enough! And thanks for sharing.

Newtown Festival shivers

Well, I can't pretend it was everything I had dreamed it would be. When I woke up during the night to hear the rain pelting down on the roof, my wee heart sank. And on Sunday morning when the rain was flying sideways past my window I figured the stall was not happening. I waited and waited and about midday toddled down to my spot in the vain hope the rain would hold off.
And yes, it was arctic - a stark contrast to 2010 when it was sunny and glorious. One shouldn’t have to wear a winter coast and gloves in the first weekend of March. But I am SO PLEASED I turned up - even though it was just for a few hours. It was great to see what customers liked and I appreciated all the lovely comments from people. Thank you so much to those who came up to see my stall and share nice words and to those who liked things enough to take an item home. It was so nice to get some feedback on things and to chat to the lovely and encouraging ladies at the next door stall - it has inspired me to try more markets and take things further. And lastly (I know – this is reading a bit like an Oscars speech but without the satin gowns) thanks to my dear friend Vanessa and my man who stood by and gave me the strength to set the stall up, even though the weather threatened to wash away my will. Wonderful!

Stall preps

So, the stall preparations continue.

I am concerned I don't have much 'stock' but I guess its more a market testing exercise than a "look, I've become a professional crafter overnight" exercise. I think I just expect a bit much of myself - a half-mast attempt doesn't suit. Anyway, having looked at the weather forecast for Sunday I'm not holding out much hope for a big day.

- I have been tidying up the purses and bags. I had needed to stitch the linings closed where they had been turned which is always the dull part. Two hours in front of The Biggest Looser last night dealt to most of them. (Is it wrong to sit on your arse and watch Biggest Loser?)
- I have also printed some signs for the products.
- I'm been fretting about displaying the shoulder bags. I wish I had bought the dress form I have been eyeing up the last few months but I simply don't have any space at home. I'm crammed into a cupboard type arrangement as it is, so the dress form has always been the treat I would shout myself once I get a bit more space. However, I'm wishing I had one now as it would look great with some bags slung over. Anyway - my only other option was perhaps a coat rack so I'm hoping to borrow a coat rack from work and have some of the shoulder bags hanging from that. Not entirely sure how to make a coat rack look nice but never mind.
- I made some price tags. I was horrified to see that a pack of 5 price tags was $7 at the stationers. Yeah right. So I bought an 80cent manila folder and made some.
- I've been stockpiling $5 and $10 notes for change (perhaps optimistic of sales but hey - gotta go in positive right?) so I have a wallet of mid-sized cash.
- I had big dreams about getting some paper bags and stamping them with a threadbird design (for my many sales). Sadly when I dashed to the wholesale supplier yesterday, they were out of stock of the right sized bags. Bit bummed - I thought this would be great idea. Though to be honest, perhaps an unnecessary expenditure at this point in the game. - I've just been lectured by a dear friend that printing carry bags is not the aim of a first-time stall-holder, Roger that!
- And today I have taken a few photos of the flags in various locations. My friend Deb has a lovely house (complete with baby) that makes a great back drop for the flags - very photogenic. I thought having a few photos of how the flags can be used (on a cot, in the garden etc) might act as a good prompt for people.

- And I've made a few little tid-bits. Some of the Divine Twine I ordered in from the States. I've made some little cards with 10metres of twine each so people can use themselves. And I made a few magnets with the high-domed cabochons. These will be priced at below cost but I still like the idea and I think they make better magnets than broaches to be frank.
- I still have to make some of the wrist straps for the purses and figure out how the display will work. Oh, and I need to remember to take some weights to keep things from blowing away if it turns out to be a horrid Wellington day. *sigh*
Too much to do!

Low maintenance Bacon and Egg Pie

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while as the be all and end all of your picnic or Pot Luck problems.

I discovered this recipe in the Comfort recipe book a while ago, and it is now a standard. It takes no time to whip up and I challenge you to find anyone who doesn't like bacon and egg pie. The thing I love the most about this recipe is the lack of dishes. No fry pan required, no cups for beating or bowls for mixing. Just a chopping board, knife, grater and the tin you cook it in. Love it.

Process as follows:
Turn on oven to about 210 degrees. (the suggestion in the recipe was to put an oven tray in the oven whilst its heating so tray gets hot and then when you put the pie in and place on tray, this helps cook the bottom pastry of the pie. Not sure how sound the theory is but hey - it works so lets not mess with it.)
I use frozen flaky puff pastry - its about ease after all. 2 sheets needed. Defrost the pastry. I have been using a square tin because the pastry is square (less effort = more smiles). Of course you can roll the pastry to fit a circular tin and it will look much nicer, but I'm all for minimising the time to make this. Plonk one sheet of pastry in a greased tin to form the base and sides of pie.

For the filling:
- Grate some cheese and throw into the pastry case (about 1 cup I guess - but depends on your taste). [Grater goes to dishwasher.]
- Thinly slice bacon (4 rashers) into strips and then bits, and throw on top of cheese. Note - no prior cooking required. Yay.
- Then crack 6-7 eggs whole straight on top of the bacon (recipe said 9 eggs but seemed a bit full on and my pie was smaller - I used 6-7 depending on size). Egg will slop around a little but try not to break the yolks. Space out the yolks around the pie and let the whites dribble into the other areas. At this point I keep aside a teeny bit of one of the eggs to glaze the pastry at the end - this is likely to mean one of your eggs will break but hey - who cares.
- Chop up some basil and parsley and sprinkle on top of eggs. Salt and pepper if you wish (I usually forget this stage but I encourage you to remember it).
- Thinly slice tomato and place slices on top of eggs/herbs. [Chopping board and knife to dishwasher.]
- Throw on the top of pastry. Press pastry lid and sides together to seal pie - use a fork if necessary. I usually use a little strip of extra pastry to make a + decoration on top - do whatever you feel. Brush pastry with leftover egg to make sure pastry top looks browned and delicious.

Then throw in oven for about ~45-50mins at about 200 degrees. [wipe bench]
Take out from oven and if you think its fine, leave in tin for 5-10mins. Turn out of tin and place on cooling rack to dry.

Honestly, so easy and so yummy - you feel guilty when someone compliments you on this one.

What the stall will hold

So, with the settlement not going through perhaps the only up-side was that I could now continue to have the stall at the Newtown Festival. Of course, with all the distraction, my time frames are somewhat compacted. So I am very conscious I now have a week. Eeek. I have tried to create a few things.

I took the patchwork idea and applied it to a messenger style shoulder bag. These are using some old stretchy denim fabric I had around (and would not use for clothing) and some home décor scraps. They have the main pocket and a front pocket. I quite like them.






I also tried a couple in a one colour option with a little printed picture on them. I think these might be my favourite - they came out looking quite good. The fabric is actually thermal lined curtains so will be nice and sturdy and is a really good weight for this bag.










I made a few more purses in the same style as the ones I'd sold on Felt. Two with the blue lining and two with the white. I might make some more if I have time …..






I also have a few wee gift bag type ones. I made these after noting that lots of the girls at work had their handbag and then another little bag for their shoes, or book or lunch. They were using shop branded bags but I thought it would be nice to have something small you can fold up. They are made from simple calico but I printed various types of pictures on the pocket.






Oh and I've made some bunting flags. Having done these before I thought these would be easy and not take much time - was I wrong! Making some for a friend is one thing, making a stack for a stall is another thing entirely. However, I think these look really nice and would be great around a cot, or in the kitchen, or even in a tree in the garden.










And I am trying my hand at another purse design. The one I tried last night didn't quite work out. I was a seam allowance off with one bit and then in a moment of idiocy I put the magnetic catch on the wrong of the purse side (*sigh - NB: why do I never learn to not make decisions after 2 glasses of wine?). Nevertheless, I am hoping that I can figure this out tonight.

A tough February

It has been a very up and down month. My post below had me at the start of the month focussed on preparing for the Newtown Festival. That fell away when, after so many months of searching, we found a house we liked. We made an offer on a house which was accepted - settlement was due to occur the weekend of the Festival. I was so excited about the house and was dreaming of finally getting some space and room to play. It would have been a blank canvas to create in. However, the sale sadly fell through due to a defect in the foundations. I spent quite some time just being totally deflated and depressed. I guess it’s a lesson for those of us not very experienced in these things … never get your hopes up.

And then this week, all of that was put into perspective. Our poor wee country was rocked by yet another terrible earthquake. Poor Christchurch, already at its wits end after a big one in September and hundreds of aftershocks, suffered a destructive earthquake that has crippled the city. My heart goes out to everyone effected, whatever the reason may be: whether it be property damage, financial worries, physical injury or the tragic loss of someone. I think everyone in New Zealand carries the burden with them this week as the news rolls in of more impact, more loss and more dead. It is surreal to try to plod on with your own life as normal, knowing not far away people are in turmoil and countless lives have been lost. We all grieve for those poor people like you or I who were leading just another day at the office - eating their lunch, shopping for shoes - who never got to complete their day. It makes you very aware of everyone's fragility, and that the comfort that we award ourselves by the routine of life can be snatched away so quickly. Tell your friends and family you love them and give as generously as you can!

Stall plans

I have taken the plunge and booked a stall at the Newtown Festival taking place on 6 March. I went to this Festival last year and it was a lovely sunny day and full of life. I am super excited about this as well as horrendously nervous. However, my New Year's resolution is to take the leap --- and so I am.

I have been gradually stockpiling a bounty of stall items with this very thing in mind and so am now conscious that there is a date that needs to be met and stuff that needs to be sold.

I had a bundle of these cute wee purses I had made for the occasion. I really liked the contrast between the natural mottled outer and then the bright funky inner linings. I also thought it might be quite nice to have a broach on the outside. It means you bring some colour to the outside, link to the lining fabric, but you can also use the broach however you want or our even pin it to your jacket if you feel like it. I really like the fact that when you look at the broach you are forced to really appreciate the print of the fabric and also the weave, which tends to get lost when you look at fabric on a larger scale. It makes the fabric the attraction.

On a whim I listed some of these items on my felt shop and I was totally delighted that they have been snaffled up. I was so pleased that people liked the purses too (sometimes its easy to labour under a misconception that everyone will like your style but actually they don't).

However, with those purses flying out the door, my stockpile is now low - I only have two left. Eeek. So I shall have to whip up a few more. I've opted to make a few out of some material I found at the fabricabrac sale - it’s a deep rich brown with a thick weave and is quite dramatic. I have enough to make 4 purses from this fabric so excited about that. I might have to resist putting them on felt when they are done.