merry

Etsy treasury, originally uploaded by flowerpress.

The bags are packed, the presents wrapped :-) We leave tomorrow on our two day road trip up the coast to my parents' place for two weeks with my family. Happy Holidays my friends :-) I wish you a happy Christmas, if that's your thing, but lots of happy times whatever you are doing.
(p.s. Can you guess where this image comes from, I made it from screenshots of that little kaleidoscope gizmo that grows while you are waiting to view the treasuries! I think it looks like xmas snowflakes.)

ladybirds

I recently heard about ABC Science show Catalyst's Ladybird Survey. They are asking people to photograph their local ladybirds and send them in for a sort of Ladybird Census.
Sounds like a gig for my new macro. This poor unsuspecting couple were just pottering around the back garden when the paparazzi hit! One nice thing I discovered is that these are both native Australians. I've long been fascinated by the different patterns and Catalyst have a gallery so you can identify your own.
p.s. Thank you everyone for the lovely birthday wishes :-)

special day

Hot on the heels of my blog birthday and my Etsyversary, today is my real birthday, can you guess what my present was? A new macro lens for my trusty Nikon D50! I have wanted one of these for a few years and i just love it. Amazing the little worlds that lie hidden close up.
Expect lots more pics!

learn to sew - tote bag

Regular readers will know that I have teaching myself to to sew (better) by tackling simple projects. One thing I've been dying to master is the tote bag. So fantastic to carry all those groceries, library books, art materials, knitting stuff, clothes, food for the park, everything! This is the third tote I've made, if you count the tiny one I made for my daughter's moose toy (he is very fashionable).


The great news is that they are very simple and very rewarding. Yesterday I made a couple in this fabric, one to use as wrapping for a gift to add a bit of handmade love.
There are some fantastic tutorials out there on the craft web. I usually like to read a few and take the bits I like from each, sort of how I use recipes. Here are some simple diagrams I drew to keep beside me as I sew, so I remember the steps.


One thing I learned early on is don't sew the handle straps inside out and then try to turn them right way out. This makes a simple project an exercise in frustration. I like them sewn on the outside anyway, they seem sturdier.

Next I might try a lined bag and some different shapes, I love those pleated totes, or even this tea towel/dishtowel pattern. Oh, and the pieces I started with were about 38cm x 45cm if you're going to try this at home. It's sort of long but I think I like it that way.

momento

Those tea towels of mine have the wanderlust now! Yesterday I put them on the plane to Launceston in Tasmania, along with some of my prints and cards.
They are off to visit the lovely Sarah of Momento Gallery, in time for the special evening she's having down there on Wednesday. Perhaps one day I can visit them there... I've never been to Tasmania (wistfully).

nesting

My tea towels have taken themselves off to Adelaide for a holiday. The lovely Carly and Amy from Nest Studio shop (and Umbrella Prints) are showing them a high time in that beautiful city so if you are an Adelaideian (?!) go and say hello and buy a couple (your kitchen will be happier)!

Isn't this treasury beautiful, I was a little disappointed when it made the front page but without me, my tea towel had already sold. I do love it though and I wanted to show it here. Some people are so clever with their styling and colour choices, this one is by KiraFerrer. I love the little girl in her bonnet, though I think that was sold prior too.

gift tags

I love the effect of the layering of the leaves in these simple stamped tags I made today. It only took me a few minutes to carve these simple shapes and I had the stamp colours in my stash.
One of my customers is giving sets of three tea towels and I tied them for her with brown string and then tagged them with these graphic tags. I made a few extras for Christmas presents and I've been adding one in each etsy parcel I send.

peony heaven

Sister in law + flower market = peony heaven!!!

Wow!

I just realised that my current stock of tea towels has just about sold out!
Until I reprint next week I have officially run out of quite a few tea towel colours and designs. I am happily overwhelmed :-)
The other day I noticed that I was running out of labels too. I went back to see how many I'd ordered - 200!
To me success is also measured by the wonderful feedback left by customers and the repeat orders and lovely emails they send. Thank you friends!
(p.s. look who came to my garden today!)