Love Meccano!

This weekend I think that I might take the kids down to the Melbourne Meccano Exhibition in Brighton to provide them with a little inspiration for their project. I love meccano. The way it does up. The metal. The amazing things that you can make with it. Yay!

"I'm not tired!"

Sorry, I know that I haven't really blogged for a little while. Life has gotten on top of me & I am am feeling a little like those cars about to be smashed by that Monster Truck (yes, I did find myself at this whilst looking at camper trailers...YIKES!!!!). Anyway, haven't really had time to spend on the computer except for the essentials (getting ready for the tax man, stuff for school, preparing for classes, making sure emails aren't too out of control...).

Currently searching for 8th day in week.

Or maid.


On an interesting note, my sister Sally Darlison showed me this today...Too cool

Day 16 - Still life from the beach side

This a still life that my middle son took yesterday (that is way it is day 16...day 17 still to come) We had a weekend at the beach and this was a collection that he found on a little walk & he wanted to take a picture of them. I like what he has done.

Head over to The Byron Life to some great pics & links to others joining in A Photo a Day in August

A photo a day in august - day three

This is part of our collection of tins that we inherited from Skipshopper's grandparents. I really love tins to hide things in...like threads, scissors, buttons, knick knacks... and all sorts of other things! I especially love tins that already have stories to tell. I am sure that these tins could tell a great many stories.

You can head over to The Byron Life to see who else is playing along with A Photo in a Day in August or join in.

doodly-doo, oh, doodly-do

I must confess that I am an obsessive doodler. It started at a very young age when I would watch my mother when she was thinking or talking on the phone doing these amazing drawings. I used to think that she should be an artist with the drawings that she she did. She told me that they were doodles. I now do it when I need to think, relax, form thoughts, pass a moment by. Do you doodle?

I had a great time whizzing around on Friday at the Design Made Trade 2009 looking at the fantastic things on offer that people have been creating. It was great to see what Nick at Design Loop has been doing with bamboo this year, and the lovely Anna and all of her brilliant cards. There was Mattt with the new digital printing bags that he has been doing - always great bags & now he also has detachable straps on bags. I bumped into a friend from school and saw their incredible furniture The Timber Trip - worth looking at - incredibly well made furniture from recycled timbers. There were also so many others there worth mentioning:
makedo - cool connectors that you can use to create sculptures out of anything
designboom - this was an incredible market of international designers - wow
in-sync design - great geometric jewellery
...and many many more!
What a creative place to live in!

Surprise

I just got home from my morning errands and found a lovely surprise package on my doorstep. I really love a surprise, especially when it comes in a box and has lovely things in it! This one was from Peppermint Magazine because I was the lucky winner of the ‘Thriftscore’ Vintage Sewing Kit for being a subscriber from the last magazine! Hip hip hooray! Get a copy of their mag. It's great and it's Australian and full of great sustainable, organic crafty, fashion, arty people and ideas.

Chaotic creative space...creative mind?

Why does my space always end up like this? Anyone else have this problem?

Time for a clean up...again!

sorting the mountain

A great friend Andrea sent me an email last week wondering if I was interested in some old buttons & fabric from an old relative of hers & I have been having a wonderful time in lounge room since then going through many bags and boxes of this gorgeous lady's sewing history.

There was so much fabric that I had to sort it into colours (is this too anal?)

and then the buttons

and the buckles (can you believe the amount of them...! I think that I might have to make belts)

I feel soooo lucky. Bless her! There are are other treasures that I will share once I have got it organised and taken the pics.

now that's a weekend

2 nights out, without the kids, living large. Two events on one night - doesn't sound much to those without kids...but to the rest of us...this is HUGE!!

Friday night, Harmony picnic at school followed by (yes, second event!!!), CD launch for Charles Jenkins & the Zhivago's - The Blue Altas Collection at the Northcote Social Club.



Brilliant night catching up with friends, listening to great tunes, sensational strings and watching a definitely underated band perform. A CD worth having in my collection, and if you haven't heard of them, you have now, and should get yourself a cd of their intelligent rock. Best listened to loud & danced to (...well that's what I do!). All credits to Charles Jenkins and The Zhivagos (Matty Vehl, Art Starr and Dave Milne) & producer Ric Morgan & sound engineer Jimi Maroudas. Out now in Australia on Dust Devil Music via Stomp at all good cd shops ...


Next night out to dinner, just skip shopper & I, initially booked for one place that could only give us a late booking. We arrived for the late booking on time to find the said restaraunt booked...out.... Now, let's say, skip shopper is a little on the leaner side of skinny & doesn't last too long past dinner time... so we were happy to wait a little while, however... The people that came after us were given a table 15 mins after we arrived whilst we stood perusing the large window menu... thank goodness for the warm night! While I watched skip shopper turn yellow & eyes beginning to glaze, I looked back to our old favourite, The Asian Kitchen in Racecourse Rd, Flemington (Victoria). I ran up to check that they had a spare table & sure enough, just one. Gorgeous! They have done a beautifule reno & new menus but same food & same beautiful staff. I saw food on there that I was unable to read before because it was written on the blackboard & didn't want to stand for too long at someone else's table trying to read just 'cause I've got crap eyesight. Fabo. Phat talay. The best. Spicy tongues, full tummies, no kids & we get to walk home! Bliss.

Final hurrah. A good friend dropped over a stash of fabric & notions (that means buttons, lace, trims etc) from her old relative for me! Yippee!

flashback

Crazy 90's flashback moment. The event was the Kensington Women's Dinner & I do quite like a dress up affair. I didn't think that there was such a thing as "flashback" to 90's & thought that maybe I was still wearing the same clothes...but, when it came down to it & skipshopper & I had a good think about it... there it was. Surprisingly enough (or sadly enough - depending on how you look at it) in my roof space, I still have my 21st dress, Thai silk with matching lined velvet bolero jacket. Yes, it did still fit, but no, I couldn't sit with ease all night - the dress has shrunk in the heat of the roof.

I still had the heels too which look barely worn, probably because they haven't been....I think that I stopped working corporate not long after I got them. The most wear they get now is up & down the hall with the boys...

Yesterday I had a ripper of an excursion to the Stitches & Craft show & met a heap of bloggers. I picked up Mixtape & took up a subscription, met Justine Telfer & watched them making buttons, saw Liz from Betty Jo & her gorgeous lino jewellery & chatted about diving into skips and so forth..., had a chat with Melanie of textile allsorts & grabbed a pair of patterned orange stockings to replace the last pair from her, marvelled at Thea's graceful designs & beautiful ecofriendly fabrics of thea & sami , said hi to the girls of ink & spindle & saw their beautiful works & the great tree for their display, inspired by Nicola Mallalieu (& she was incredibly busy!) with the beautiful bags & purses that she makes in such gorgeous colours, also met a lovely couple Ellie & Sam of red seed studio who do beautiful screen printing on cotton/bamboo fabric. I did also see Aunty Cookie who was swamped with customers - wow! Her fabric & quilts were looking great & she was pretty happy. I think there was something for everyone - there was the quilting, lacy, beading stuff, then there was the more "contemporary" stuff. I did hear an older lady say that it was a little bit "trendy" now.... I watched "Handmade Nation" while I was there too - super inspiring.

He he he....not really enjoying having all the kids at school...now what will be my next excursion?

my book tower

This is the little tower that accompanies me when I go to bed & I am slowly devouring them (some faster than others). Some make me go to sleep, some have made me laugh out loud, some have made me cry. So far this year (this is the year that I have dedicated to reading) I have read "The Slap" by Chris Tsiolkas (thought provoking, good Melbourne read 9/10), "The Time We Have Taken" by Steven Carroll" (a little slow here & there, very Melbourne again, but well written, 7/10), "My Guantanamo Diary" by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan (WOW, everyone in the world should read this to stop and think, 10/10), and "All that Happened at Number 26" by Dennis Scott" (a laugh, a cringe, a cry...did she spy on my house...well written, very funny 9/10), oh, and not to forget 2 Frankie magazines cover to cover!

Right now I am reading "Breath" by Tim Winton (I loooooove him - well his writing, I haven't actually met him, yet), "He'll be OK" by Celia Lashlie (in some kind of hope that my 3, no 4 boys, all turn out all OK, and that I can stop worrying about them), and "I Could Do Anything I Want If only I Knew What It Was" by Barbara Sher" (in the hope that I'll turn out OK when I grow up).

What are you reading?

face up

Who saw that last night? Cool huh!

New stuff in shop. New stuff in Bamakko. Open shop went well, opening again next tuesday 9 december 10-12pm and saturday 6 december 10-12pm megsthreads@gmail.com for all those who are going crazy thinking of a nice handmade something for chrissy (or just want something for themselves...)

board of inspiration or bored

This is my inspiration board which I did refresh not so long ago, however, when I was taking photos, I began to wonder whether it or I was a little bored...maybe it's time for a change (or maybe I am procrastinating again). Looking at it, I do seem to like the flowery thang....

Hey, been playing with t-shirts, and am quite happy with the result

spring time in my vases

It all started with some grapevine cuttings from Matt's Pa's place when we visited him in Wangaratta. Very special as they actually are from Matt's great grandfather's vines & the story goes that he got them from someone else up the Murray before that... Now, as we have just farewelled Cliff to the final part of his journey of life (God speed Cliff, you were a lovely man & I really enjoyed our conversations about many things, especially the garden) they are ready with roots to go in the ground.

Then there were some nectarine cuttings that now have taken root (nectarine tree anyone?) and then I liked the look of the fig cuttings.

What do you have in your vases?

these walls around me

These are the some of things that I have hanging on my walls in my room as part of my inspiration. From some I love the colour, others it's the cut or the fabric or the patterns. What's on your wall?

tidy time

Having a MASSIVE tidy of my salon so that I can clear my head.

Have put a couple new pix on flickr.

creative surrounds

What a buzz to be at Rose St Market being surrounded by creative people like Anna Laura who was able to help me through my screen printing thought crisis - thanks Anna!



I bought some lovely soaps that are good enough to eat from Greta at Food for Your Skin for my kids that are great for anyone who has ezcema.

Took a good look at Dan McGill's sea urchin inspired jewellery - beautiful is the word.

And Carey who does amazingly great art & furniture helped me out when the battery ran out on my camera (start of day....)

Looking forward to see who I meet next fortnight!

my busy week

I have had such a great time over the last week. First Matt decided to get handy on the sewing machine & have a go at putting bits of material that Aunty Cookie kindly chucked our way together & sew it onto a t-shirt. I'm too tight to let him near my stash!

Then on Saturday 19 there was the pop up as part of the Melbourne International Design Festival. As I have some stuff in bamakko I got to meet with some really talented people like Sixto from do yeah media and Peter from Really Whale who did the illustration on the window, and Laura and Jem from like butter. Worth checking out their talent.

It's on again next Saturday and there is a big hamper to be won if you visit each of the 5 places in projekta_57. The prizes are really good design stuff from the shops, 1 Keec bag, 1 Cubik ottoman from Design loop, 2 lumbi kustomade cushions, 1 street graphics book, plus a bag, badge, brooch, photo frame, doll kit from Kids in Berlin with total value of $1000, PLUS runners up are also awarded yearly subscription to inside mags. All you have to do is visit:
Kids in Berlin
Bamakko
Design Loop
Famous When Dead
Lumbi

oh, and Matt has stuff in the "ebay on freeway" exhibition in Design Loop so you might see him in there so say hello to him (about making stuff out of found stuff).

On Sunday we went over to the Design made trade with the kids & a little tip to any one travelling with kids to these things - make it a game "find the business card", we found it really helpful when we got home & went through to work out which were the ones that we had found really interesting and it certainly kept the kids occupied! Great to see Nick & Ben there looking happy but tired.

Then over to look at the "bubbles" of design, then hot chocolates on the way to the Melbourne Design Market. Great Stuff - Bamakko stall looked great. Everthing was really busy by the time that we got there which was really fantastic. There was such a buzz in the air still at 4.30 in the arvo. Maybe it needs 2 days..

The poster exhibition is good as well - worth a look and a vote - pop through if you have a chance. So many things to do and so little time.....

Just updated the shop with the market bags so pop in if you wanna grab one.

design city

Anyone living in Melbourne has no excuse not to get to something that is focussed on design in the next 2 weeks. With 2 festivals on at the same time - there really is no excuse!
Matt and I are lucky enough to be part of PROJEKTA_57 .

So get your butt in to gear & look at good stuff from this Thursday onwards, or take part in something really cool. There is no excuse.