garland

For a while now I've been putting aside envelopes, collecting the different security patterns which come across my desk. I love the different patterns you can find. But the envelopes have been sitting poked into a drawer out of sight.
I love paper garlands. I'm intrigued with the idea of sewing paper together, something I never would have thought of if I hadn't seen it online.
Somehow though these two thoughts came together in my busy brain and today I put a little time aside to make these flag garlands. They are so simple to make, I made up a template of triangles and cut into my collection. And then I just sewed them together.
I love the blue and white patterns and its a nice way to display them together, it recycles all those used envelopes, and I love the flutteriness and the slightly see-through quality of the garland. Even better, strung from one end near a window they are very mobile, quietly twirling and spinning around.
(p.s. for more beautiful envelope patterns look at this flickr set.)

little parcels

I've 'fessed my love of old buttons before. The other day I made the mistake of wandering through Ebay, with the result that two little parcels arrived in my letterbox today. One contained lots of big buttons which would be great on bags, and the other had these floral beauties - still on their original card. And they're boil proof, how lucky is that ;-) Have a great weekend.

patchwork knit

I've already finished three squares of my knitting project. It's fun! I've stuck with simple designs so far and I love how quick they are to finish. I think experienced knitters would be a bit worried at my choice of wools (I am!). I'm just realising now that though they all say 8 ply they are widely varied thicknesses. Which might pose a problem later on when they come to be joined together. Spotlight had a pretty limited selection the other day though when I was there, and I chose for colours rather than matching gauges.

I'll see how I go. Perhaps if I juggle stitch number and needle size I can get them to be a similar shape. Perhaps!

Oh, and here are a bunch of roses for all the lovely people who left such nice comments on my last post. Thanks :-)

ups + downs

Hello! I hope you're having a good day :-) I am, after a couple of weeks of feeling pretty ordinary I've suddenly begun waking up again feeling focussed and positive. It's not a big deal but I wanted to acknowledge that things aren't always perfect here at planet Flower Press. Just lately I've been really pleased to read the same on a couple of blogs I read. Artists with doubts about their work and online life, Bloggers who suddenly feel like they're talking to themselves!

I think some of that goes with working creatively whether you are a designer, crafter or blog writer. The work is very subjective and sometimes you wrestle a bit with it trying to make it look like you wanted. And then you send it out into the world to be judged and that can feel a bit vulnerable. A week of big sales can make you feel fantastic, but on the other side of the coin a slow week can make you feel blue.

It helps that I woke this morning to find Flower Press had been featured on the front page of Etsy, in this beautiful treasury. And on top of that I've been featured here on Laura Trevey's lovely blog - "Bright Bold and Beautiful". Thanks Laura.

What I wanted to say though was that I was feeling good before that. I wonder sometimes if those good vibes make their way into the world and attract good things. Sometimes I think you've got to work at being happy and at some point it starts to happen on its own!

natural, linen, cotton, vintage, japanese fabric

I loved reading all your comments about fabric.

"Natural fibres"
It seems there is consensus, we all love natural fibres! I've always been drawn to these too - something about the feel and natural qualities of these just feels right to me, and to most of you too :-)

"Feel and drape"
A few of you mentioned the feel and drape of fabric being important. This makes a lot of sense and I can see how different blends enhance this quality.

"Organic fabric"
I really hope that these will become more freely available in Australia and less expensive soon. I'm sure there is a big market out there. It's funny, a million years ago I helped design catalogues for Greenpeace when they first introduced their organic cotton t-shirts. I wish we'd come a bit further in the meantime.

"Vintage, overdying, geometric prints, japanese designs"
I got excited just reading about all of these. Isn't fabric great!! Come back next week and I'll show you pictures of the fabric I've bought to print on!!!!

And now to announce the winner of the giveaway, the very helpful random generator gizmo has chosen - Ellie who said "i love using natural fibres - lots of hemp and organic cotton, and little linen. as well as vintage japanese fabrics. ooooohhhh. anything pretty really.
but love handcrafted fabrics the best!
lovely giveaway you have."

Thanks Ellie. If you contact me with your address I'll pop your prizes in the post.

Thanks again everyone for helping me celebrate my blogging milestone. Its my blogoversary next week, two years. Crazy. But lots of fun. I think I'll be here a while longer.

buku larrnggay

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments and ideas about fabrics you've all been leaving on my Giveaway post. It doesn't end till late tomorrow so join in and leave a comment soon!!

My brother has been in town the last couple of days, which is great. I don't get to see him that often because he lives in the Nothern Territory, at the top of Australia. He works there for Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre, a non-profit community arts centre in Yirrkala, on the Eastern tip of Arnhem land.

Buku Larrngay is well known in the international art world as a leading centre of Aboriginal Art. One of their artists, Djambawa Maralili was recently part of the Moscow Bienale, alongside Anish Kapoor, Fiona Hall and others.

Will's down here for an exhibition at Annandale Galleries which opened last night. We all went along to the opening, I love the fact that my kids are such inveterate gallery patrons, having been going since they were little babies, I love to seeing them wandering around, wine glass (full of mineral water) in hand, perusing the art! Here are some images from the exhibition. The three artists showing are Gunybi Ganambarr, Dhurrumuwuy Marika and Boliny Wanambi. It runs for a while so if you are local, go and see it, its great to see it close up. And the gallery is housed in a wonderful old Masonic hall which is beautiful all on its own.

Giveaway - 300 posts!

To celebrate all the new colours in my tea towel rainbow, to mark the milestone of 300 posts, and most of all to thank all my lovely readers and blog subscribers here at last is my promised giveaway!

Up for grabs are these two tea towels, the Filigree design in bestselling Royal Blue and White on Unbleached. If you can bear to give them away these make great presents! All my towels come wrapped in a cellophane bag with Flower Press banner and woven label. Also included is this little Keep Calm cloth badge (a gift from one of my suppliers).


To enter leave a comment below, and only if you feel like it I'd love to hear from all of you about what fabrics you like - what you buy and what you use. Cotton, linen/cotton, lamé, plush!? Leave your thoughts, a name and contact details.

I'll be drawing this one on Friday afternoon. I'd love to hear from all of you. Come on - delurk!

Blog followers are automatically included in the draw but if any of you would like to leave a message about fabric, I'd love to hear it.

learn to knit - patchwork afghan

I enjoy knitting, its like meditation. And while I'm not quick or experienced I really enjoy patterned knitting - the type that uses stitches to work a design. Ambitious! But if you work carefully they are usually just a mixture of purl and knit.

The last two scarves I've made have had quite intricate designs, the seafoam design I made last winter and another, shown below. I can't remember the name of this design, I adapted it from somewhere. It's not great as a scarf though as it rolls inwards! (Please admire the beautiful bakelite stitch counter my dear MIL gave me from her stash :-) )


The other day at the library I found this book 200 knitting blocks (Aussie version here) and something clicked. A while ago I was admiring this gorgeous blanket on Rummage's beautiful blog. So that's my new project (no I haven't finished my sashiko!). A patchwork afghan. It's a long term project, its nearly summer here so probably not a great time to be knitting, but I like the idea of small squares which can be knitted individually and sewn together down the track. They are small and quick to do and all those different patterns will keep it interesting I hope. I'm hoping to venture into the world of cable when I get more confident.

I'm going to choose five colours of wool, some neutrals and pale coordinating colours (I couldn't wait though so this one is leftover from the scarf - I think it matches my new front door!) but does anyone know any good wool places in Sydney apart from Spotlight?