2014

Its one of my annual New Year traditions round here to look back over the last year's creative efforts. Its so interesting to scroll back through my Flickr account and see what I've been up to.

I'm always surprised to see how much I've actually achieved over the past twelve months. It really helps combat that feeling that I'm not getting anywhere!!

In the case of 2015 the last quarter of the year was consumed with renovation which made getting anything done harder, though ironically at the same time I took on a market, some new designs and more workshop teaching including my Finders Keepers spot, and spent a week away looking after my Mum. Somehow it all worked out though! Whew.

Its very exciting for us that this year, when we return from holidays it will be to a bigger house, with more space to do our thing! And when I get back I won't be sharing my workspace with builders. Nice as they were, that was a bit exhausting. So double yay!

We still have lots of work to do to finish the renovation, but the builders and the structure they've made are just about complete. We are still walking around marvelling at the extra space and light, pinching ourselves really, and looking forward to time alone, to enjoy it, to make it our own again. I can't wait to get the garden back to its old self, or rather its new self, with level changes and different aspects. Its going to be fun.

Some of you will have been following along on instagram, but I can't wait to share some pics on the blog.

2015 will hopefully bring a wired in kiln of my own, and more time to play and experiment with clay. Looking over my mosaic I can see how much this new making consumed me this year. I had so much fun exploring the different possibilities for decoration, finding how my style translated to ceramics.

If anything it has reinspired my other making, I love the way my textiles and clay complement eachother. Both are so tactile and usable in my domestic world too. Love, love, love.

This was the year of cheese too! Sadly the domestic restrictions have put a damper on my cheesemaking, but I'm hoping the new year will see some more. It was a delicious pastime, easy and worthwhile. A new larger kitchen will make this easier.

In 2014 we were blessed with lots of new babies in the family and I made two baby quilts, one for Sid, one for Astrid and a baby wrap for Zoe. Little Frankie arrived too late in the year/renovation, but I haven't forgotten him!

My other great breakthrough this year was in clothes making, and pattern drafting. I haven't even blogged or photographed my last make, a Fancy Tiger Crafts Sailor top, but I did wear it to my Finders Keepers workshop, also unblogged. Hopefully I can catch you up on all that stuff in the New Year. I think I need to sit on a beach and think about what my goals and plans are for next year.

Thanks for reading this far, and for spending time with me in 2014, I wish you a Happy and Creative New Year. Here's to a creative 2015!

(To see what I made in other years here are the links: here's 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008.)

flower

The light is changing here and spring's vanguard have arrived. The jasmine and the daphne and the magnolias are all showing off their delicate shades of pink and soft perfumes. And although its cold again at night there's something in the air, a warmth, a light, a feeling. I love this pretty spring light and the way it slants into the garden.

I have been working away, head down, lots of projects in the making, lots of different creative thought processes fighting for attention in my busy brain. I still haven't got my kiln wired in, but I am still making and still decorating clay pieces. I am uncharacteristically patient with the slow progress on this front. As long as I can keep making while I wait I'm happy.

We have plans, literally, and hopes that these will become reality soon. I'm hoping the stars eventually align... I'm pretty sure they will.

The other day I signed up for an online discounted Illustrator course and I've had fun playing around and learning some new tips and tricks for this favourite program. I've also joined in with Kate using up some of the colourful yarn stash crocheting a Granny Square hot water bottle cover. Its not the first hot water bottle cover I've made, but it will be the first I've kept.

I like crochet, I'm not great at it but it is so much quicker than knitting and these little granny squares are such a great way to play with lots of different colours. I'm a bit behind though, I better get to it!

I've also had the screens out again, for something I hope to share quite soon. You'll have to wait for that one, but not too long.

I had such a fun weekend last weekend. It started with dinner and a sleepover at my sister's place on Friday night. Such a delicious dinner and it was so nice to have time to natter and catch up properly. I've been coveting her vintage style scales she brought back from Vietnam for ages so it was a lovely surprise she brought me my own set on her last visit.

On Saturday I had dinner with friends, a really nice and interesting bunch of women, more fabulous food and this moreish cocktail of Aperol and Prosecco. Worth drinking just for its looks I think!

Sunday the boys soccer team won against the odds (header goal from Master D), another team lost against the odds and so we made it through to the finals.

A grab bag of pictures again this week. Its the best way for me to blog at the moment, and I always enjoy it when others share their weeks, I hope you do too!!

The last picture is of the wonderful guinea fowl feathers that Jenni sent me, just because. Aren't they beautiful.

it's a wrap

Don’t you love a well wrapped present? I do, I love the way it adds another layer of care to a specially chosen gift.

I enjoy wrapping presents too. I like coordinating the giftwrap and card, and occasionally dressing it up with ribbon or a bow. The year before last I designed and shared my own gift tags.

One of the things I love the most about buying handmade is the wrapping. Don’t you think? I’ve rarely received a parcel from a maker that wasn’t wrapped with care and individuality, and a beautiful piece of string! And I love buying cards from artists I know and love. I have a bit of a collection as you can see, though I find it hard to give them away, as you can see!

You won’t be surprised to hear I am one of those annoyingly slow present openers who carefully removes the sticky tape, carefully unknots the string, and tries to save the paper!

I was a bit sad this Christmas that I didn’t get to spend as much time and thought on my wrapping as I’d have liked. I had grand plans to make some wrapping paper and gift tags using an inkpad and stamps. I’ve done this before with potato prints when the kids were small but it has remained one of those projects that I always mean to get too but run out of time.

So this year I am starting the year as I mean to go on. I got the stamps and tags out and some crispy new brown paper and made a start.

One of my sister’s in law is a great wrapper. She always personalises her parcels with string and stickers and layered wrapping. Her presents are always distinctive. I’d like to be more like her. Another sister in law always has the perfect card. Carefully chosen especially for each recipient, mine are always perfect for me, and I always end up saving them.

In line with my resolution to have my presents more organised this year, I bought four brooches from local maker Polli's sale last month. One for each of my four sister in laws’ birthdays this year. I’m feeling smugly organised. With that purchase out of the way I'm going to get them wrapped and tagged, ready to send out. I might try to buy some little gift boxes for that extra touch. Oh and these little shoes bought ages ago from Melissa Wastney that I've had tucked away were wrapped and tagged and gifted to a precious new little girl on the weekend!

To inspire me I've also started a new Wrap pinterest board to collect images for inspiration.

I’m also ahead of the game for Valentine’s Day with these special wine boxes sent to me by Pack Queen. I love the way they dress up a simple bottle of wine for gift giving, and the different colours make the perfect base for a bit of stamping. I’m going to personalise one with this newly carved heart stamp for Mr Flowerpress’s Valentine’s gift, a bottle of nice champagne which I’m hoping he will share with me!

How about you? Are you an organised present buyer and wrapper? And do you give Valentine’s Day presents? We aren't too fussed about it, but I'm lucky enough to get chocolates from my favourite local chocolate makers sometimes, and I always share!

Doily panels

My Butterfly Doily image is another favourite of mine. I've printed this design on cushions and tea towels in the past, but always dreamed of taking it further and making a doily fabric repeat pattern. I can't exactly put my finger on what appeals to me so much about doilies, but I do know that they make me happy! I think its something to do with the intricate patterns and the traditional handcrafted nature of the craft. Some slow, handmade love to be passed down the generations.

So this newest printing takes the doily image a little further. I think this pattern is a work in progress, but for the moment I have printed up some panels of the doily design to sew with and made some extras to share with like-minded crafters. They are in the shop if you need some Doily sewing goodness. This is the first of my sun exposed screens!!

Each doily panel is a minimum size of 11 x 14 inches printed in white on lovely unbleached linen/cotton fabric. I have plans for other colours. This fabric is a great medium weight perfect for homewares, and small projects.

I spoke last week about my search for zipper feet, this pencil case project was the one in question which couldn't be completed without the elusive equipment! For many years I've had this serviceable tartan pencil case, which because of its size has proven really useful and taken care of my extensive pen and pencil collection (I have a habit!). As you can see it is starting to fall apart, but beyond that I felt that something I used so often should be beautiful rather than just serviceable, and it was a great way to showcase my new fabric.

As you can see I've echoed the curved corners of the old case and made it a similar size. I've used my chrysanthemums on the reverse side, and lined it with a little blue and white floral print.

There is just one flaw in my grand plan, the newly made case was quickly seconded to necklace duty for my recent trip, and is actually a great way to keep all my necklaces together and untangled. I'm thinking I might need to make another for the actual pencils!

basecloth

Did I tell you my ambition this year is to make more fabric!!

I want to design and produce more Flower Press fabric designs. In particular I want to screenprint more designs, and if I've been a bit absent, a bit distracted that's why. I've been working behind the scenes to make this happen.

As you know from my recent Sewing with Flower Press post I get a big kick out of seeing what people make with my fabric. Up till now that has mostly meant digital quilting cottons. I love the way with digital I can create multicolour quilting fabrics like my Bricks and Marble prints and print them on quality Kona cotton. What fun! With digital design you can do anything - if you want to combine a hundred colours into one design you can. Swatch or yardage? No problem. Its a designer's dream.

Screenprinted fabric comes with more design limitations. There's more preparation in producing it. But handprinted fabric has its own quality which make us love it. Personally I love the vibrancy and texture and the graphic quality of screenprinting. I love the feel of it, the strong printed designs and the way they sit on the basecloth.

To me basecloth is all important to screenprinted textiles so part of my journey towards producing more has been finding the perfect basecloths. 

I'm always on the lookout for good fabric, and over the years have amassed samples from all over the place. My first criteria is they must be natural fibres which narrows the search to linen, cotton and hemp.

I love 100% linen for tea towels, its hard wearing qualities and substantial feel make this sustainable fibre a star.

For fabric panels that are going to be sewn I prefer linen/cotton blends to straight linen. I think they combine the great strength and character of linen with the better drape and usability of cotton. I find them easier to iron and a finer texture.

Cotton in all its guises is another favourite. There's something about the feel of freshly laundered cotton, its strength and durability and ease of care that make this versatile fabric so very popular. No wonder that quilts are made almost exclusively with cotton.

I was so happy when I sourced the perfect white cotton fabric recently. I love the weight and drape and feel of it. I also found some fabulous coloured cottons to play around with. I can't wait to print some of these neutrals.

And lastly, hemp is a new fibre to me. While I've seen this fabric around I hadn't had much to do with it up close until recently when I got some unused yardage when buying some secondhand screens. 

Wow, I was really impressed. Its a really nice fibre and it has a real radiance to it. It sort of glows. Its also smooth and strong and has great eco credentials. I snapped up a big batch of different weight hemp fabrics a couple of months ago when a local wholesaler had a sale, some of it a hemp/organic cotton mix. This will be fun to print on too.

As for the printing, I'm getting there. It is taking a while to get my setup perfect. The good news is that with my such a great range of fabrics bought I am a few steps closer to my goal. Expect some scrap packs made up of test prints to go up soon. I'm a big fan of the scrap pack myself (remind me to show you my collection some time!) so it will be fun to share some of my own.

p.s. yes, I know, I've messed up my blog template recently experimenting with tabs! I need to restore my saved template but life has been too busy. Time for a complete overhaul methinks!

gocco in spectrum

I'm really sad about the demise of the Gocco printer, this little Japanese system got me into screenprinting way back in 2007. It was actually the simultaneous discovery of Gocco and Etsy that set me on the road to my Flower Press business, and blogging, and all the wonderful rest of it, way back then.

My twin boys had gone off to preschool that year, and I suddenly had time to get back into some creative work. I'd finished the horticulture studies I'd been doing while they were little (my little spot of brain space after having three kids in three years!) And I was feeling the need to make again. So when I saw the Gocco it was love.

I'm a big fan of printing in its many forms, and the idea of being able to produce and print my own screens at home was, and is, a revelation. These days I'm still working on making my own screens and printing them, but its a much bigger more complex production than with the Gocco!

Riso the company that make Goccos shut down ink and bulb production in 2008, and while there are stockpiles of materials still available, it doesn't look like an alternative supply will come along any time soon. It seems like the end of Gocco style printing.

In today's Sydney Morning Herald there's an article in the Design section of Spectrum (with a picture of me!) about the Gocco story with comments from Karena Colquhoun (Magic Jelly), ghostpatrol and me. Its a nice acknowledgement of the Gocco phenomenon, and I'm pleased to have helped celebrate it before its gone.You can read it here.

That's me with my little PG-11 printer in the photo. I still have some supplies, hidden away, but I'm loathe to use them, and sad to think about the end of this much loved art.

I still sell some Gocco prints and digital copies of Goccos like my well loved Ruby Slippers and Teapot prints above in my shop, which I have finally updated. I'm hoping to have some new products and designs in there soon too, and maybe a giveaway so watch this space!

my creative space - teach

There's a secret I've been keeping for a little while now, a plan I've been hatching with my new friend Melissa. I've been dying to share it but I wanted to wait until it was all organised and unveiled.

Melissa Tan opened her new craft classroom space and shop SewMakeCreate at the end of last year in Sydney's Inner West, my part of town! SewMakeCreate is a wonderful little crafting and sewing space and shop close to Broadway Shopping Centre, tucked away down a closed off leafy street in Chippendale.

Melissa has come to her new venture from the fashion world. She's a maker too and has an Etsy shop. Introduced by mutual friend Sue (my first friend on Etsy) we hit it off at our first meeting and bonded over a love of craft and sewing and our desire to share that with others.

I also fell in love with her too cute sidekick Pepper above (a 'puginese') who helps her run her creative space. What a sweetie!

I'm very excited that I'm going to be part of  SewMakeCreate, hosting my first ever craft classes at SewMakeCreate next month! The class I'll be teaching is a two part workshop on something dear to my heart, Eraser Carving for Paper and Fabric printing. (Other classes include crochet, sewing, watercolour painting.)

If you've followed my blog for any length of time you'll know that block printing is one of my favourite things. I love the simplicity and speed of the process. I love the way you can experiment easily and make unlimited different designs with just a few stamps. How you can print or combine those stamps in many different ways to make new designs. Or the many and varied applications, from envelopes to bags that you can print with them.

And you don't need to be a great artist, some of the most beautiful designs are made with simple shapes.

I can't wait to share this style of printing with others. I've loved the recent workshops I've been part of, there's something really inspiring about being part of a group learning and crafting together. So it will be great to host my own.

If that sounds like fun to you head over to the SewMakeCreate website and see more details about the two part workshop.  All materials will be supplied, you just have to show up. Part one deals with carving your block and printing on all sorts of paper. Part two will see us printing on fabric, and in particular a tea towel and a tote bag. I'm going to bring some of my stamps to play with too.

The best thing about this simple and inexpensive craft is that you can take your stamps and what you've learnt and keep experimenting with it at home. Once you learn to stamp there are so many ways you can use the prints in your life.

p.s. I'm still weighing up options for an alternative to Google Reader, but I know a lot of you have moved across already to Bloglovin. If so you can follow my blog with Bloglovin here.

my creative space - field

As promised some photos of my new textile print Field. I really love it printed and can't wait to sew with it. The artwork for this screen was done in a rush for my exposure workshop and I want to tweak it before I list it in the shop but it will be there soon.

What colours to print though? Here's an early design doodle with some colour ideas. I like them all, but what do you think? Opinions welcome.

Other creative things happening around here - a custom version of my Ruby Slippers in someone else's colours, orange and pink, you guessed it its the Curly Pops edition! To celebrate Cam's big adventure. I printed this one for Cam but I might just do a small edition for the shop some time.

I've also started cutting squares for a baby quilt for a new girl round here, who arrived a couple of weeks ago. I realised when I was posting them that the colours are similar to my field colours. I really do love aqua blue with pink, yellow, white and limey green as you can see. There is something very clean and soft about that combination. The nice thing is I think my field print would slip into that quilt quite happily. Which makes me very happy :-)

Its nice to be posting for My Creative Space this week. I have so many ideas bubbling that its good to have something to show for some of them!

(By the way, I logged into my Google Reader today only to read they are discontinuing it in July. Wah! I found this article on CNet which speaks of alternatives but I need someone clever to come along and tell me which I should choose. Any ideas? Do you use another service?)