the september issue

september is only 2 days away... for us southerhemispherians, september means spring! ie - strong winds, pollen and hayfever but also more daylight, daylgiht saving and blooms of spring flowers...
what a way to start the new season with a new movie from orpheum...
with great anticipation (4+ from margaret AND david), we stepped into cremourne again to indulge ourselves with a bit of fantasy / reality in "the september issue"...

the verdict: have i just watched a fictional movie? the characters were so OTT, larger than life... one memorable scene involved the multiple, matching, LV tennis accessories paired with a diamond encrusted piaget, all draped over the mountainous body of mr talley - my mouth dropped wide-opened, speechless and astounded by the apparent "thickness / plushness" of the fluffy LV towel around his neck!
I was quote surprise to see quite a number of people at VOGUE without makeup or with minimal and very minimal botox... the look du jour was the ultra skinny, lightly wrinkled (i-have-had-a-ton-of-cigarettes-and-sunbathing-20-yrs-ago look), eyeliner only look... it would help should one have a head full of electric red hair or a taylored bob cut with razor sharp sloping sides...
anna was looking tense throughout the entire length of the feature... she must have had some botox as she should have much more crowsfeet and frownlines... she didn't compare herself well with her father and siblings... she reckoned her family saw her as "frivolous", "amuzing"... may be that was why she always had to appear so "serious" & "restrained"...
grace's creative direction was true mastery and beauty... esp the last "colour block" shoot...
overall it was an 8/10
a bit hyped, but not disappointed (the doco quality of the film suited the small screen better i would think)
the "valentino preview" looked v interesting!
*anna was v uptight, but l loved her dresses! the shape, the colours, the patterns! 50s audrey hepburn silhouette and fur, fur and more fur! she must love the sparkly necklaces - aquamarine? amber? - she had all the colours*

goodies fresh from "stitches and craft"

i got the best out of $10 ever! (by spending my day at the stitches and craft show today)

without spending anything else, i came back home with a bag full of goodies - unbelievable in this day and age of inflated prices!

truly a bagfull of stuff and the "stuff" includes the bag holding it...


i got there just in time for "irene williams"
v happy about that, cos it ended up as the highlight of the day...
what an inspirational lady! and all the colours! and her workshop and wardrobe + hats! i can go on and on...
the ending was sad... but i was in awe & wonder during the entire film...

there was time to kill b4 the feature film "handmade nation", so i ventured into one of the "craft bars"

and ended up making (knitting) this...

"handmade nation" was not to be as the DVD kept stuffing up...

so i ended up at wardrobe refashion's reconstruction zone instead... i went in and nearly didn't come out...

there were NS20 brother machines, scrap material, zips, rhinstones, lace and bits and bolts...
one could make whatever one wished...
i spotted a big piece of sloppy joe fabric... it ended up as a skirt...


then i spent the next hour or two making good use of this colourful piece of stretched woven fabric (with retro pattern)...
it was joined by pieces of felt / a zip / yellow fabric / black hessian as backing... "retro tube bag" was born!





i did end up watching "handmade nation"... i caught about 3/4 of it, cos i was busily finishing my retro bag...
i have to say, it was a little dry... lots of interviews... nice crafty products and ideas were on display from inde craftsters, but not too much fun was on show - not fun like "irene" anyway...
by early 4 o'clock, i still have not visited any of the "shops"! haven't seen any products! no time... i ended up spending another 20+ min on making a pin cushion from the sewing craft bar...

when i did have time (less than 1/2 hr till closing) to wander around the showground, the stalls were already packing up...
good i guess, cos i didn't end up spending any $$$ on $$$-fabrics or bag frames that i don't need!
verdict: bargain day out! much better than last year's SnC show...
*the NS20 was way better than my freebie machine... so smooth & it's computerized! but it is $500+ (450 show special though)*

jam for the summer

i was at big-Al yesterday when i spotted strawberries for 79c a punnet!
when i went back today (thinking to make a whole summer supply of strawberry jam), the strawberries were 99c a punnet...
no matter... it didn't deter me... i got 15 more punnets and 3 bags of sugar and a bag of lemons...
resulting in 11 jars of delish strawberry jam...

so now i can savour my quince jam for my cheese indulgences...
**yep... had to cheat and use jamsetter, 2 packets**

another handy DIY bag

finally it was the weekend... i had sometime to make good use of the bits and pieces of fabric salvaged from my cushion making session...
i had strips upon strips of hard wearing upholstery fabric...
first i made use of the collection of the shorter strip...
i wanted to make a bag for me:
1) easy to carry, can be carried as shoulder bag or off the shoulder handbag or hand held handbag
2) place to secure my key/ mobile chain
3) secure compartment for my $ & little bits and bolts
so i made this!

worn as a shoulder bag...
inside there is a ompartment (secured by zip) for my wallet etc etc
velcro fastening for bag opening - easy to pen and close and things won't fall out...

"ring" on the side to secure bag strap - which can be single (messenger bag look), doubled (for off the shoudler handbag look) or tripled (for handheld look)


the flower brooches were made with scraps of material left over from bag making... yep, reclyed-recyled fabric...

they can be attached anywhere to accessorize the bag...
it's cuteness have received some positive comments already from on lookers...
still thinking of a name to call it though...

animals at midnight @ printmaking

the animals at midnight (on a tree branch) series started off with

midnight possum last term...



at printmaking this term, i am hoping to add 2 new members to the "on a tree branch" portion of the series...

first... (a bit too dark)



flying fox at midnight (not finished)



then, also hiding in the dark...



owl at midnight...
looks like a ghost owl atm, gotta refine it still

DIY cushions

we trekked to paddington during the weekend for a fabric sale and we were not disappointed...
there were rolls upon rolls of upholstery fabric from $5 a metre!
it would have been good only if i had measured all the windows at home - i could have bought all the fabric to make new roman blinds! (but i didn't)
instead, we went in search of cushion materials - and we were disappointed either, as they had "sample suqares" for sale at $2 a pop or 14 for $20!
the squares were large enough to "encase" 35cmx35cm cushions (phew...)
mcduck was not too keen at the beginning, but slowly warmed to the idea that we have landed on great bargains here! so he suggested we get 2 squares per cushion...
since i had 12 35x35 cushions fr ikea sitting at home, we got $40 bucks worth of squares...

although these are recycled materials(samples made good), they are of really good quality...

just a look at the label...

screaming - quality, quality, quality...

envelope cushions were to be made - cos they would be simple to cut, easy to sew and i had 12 of them to make in a flash!
each cushion came into being with 3 separate pieces of fabric - one square 35cmx35cm, two rectangular ones, each with one of the sides short of the 35cm

front piece

1st envelope piece

second envelope piece, pinned...

sewing in straight stitch all teh way around 4 sides...

4 corners were clipped...

envelope side
front side
cushion in place

lovely cushions!
to use at home and on our special day!

$40 (fabric for cushions and remnants for bag making) + $24 (12 cushions) = under $65 for 12 lovely cushions!