Made on the Left Winter 2009 Market

Only six sleeps to go until the next Made on the Left Market! We have organised two fabulous days of handmade goodness this time - Saturday 25 July and Sunday 26 July 10am to 4pm, back at the good old Hyde Park Hotel.

I've been running a one woman sweatshop round these here parts to get all now products ready for the market. Here is a sneak preview of my new cast necklaces, and there are plenty more goodies where those came from...oh yeah. I'll be selling there on Sunday, but will be floating around being all 'official' on the Saturday too. If you are local to the Hydey it's well worth popping in for a look on both days, as completely different stalls will be included on each.

And I finally did something with those buttons...

So I finally got around to playing with my new cast shapes, and inspired by discussions with the Lovely Liza from Lillybuds and Eclectic Elaine from Behind the Monkey (sorry - can't resist alliteration), I started playing with combining fabric with the buttons for some larger neckpieces.

I had a whole lot of silk squirrelled away from my murky past as a silk painter, so ruthlessly tore it up to fashion some small blooms, which I spent yesterday afternoon sewing and attached them to two strands of loose silk braids. There are three different types of silk in the posies: a habotoi which is a fine lightweight silk, a beautiful silk satin that I think my mum picked up for me in Vietnam years ago (figured I didn't use it for a wedding dress so safe to repurpose now!) and a stiffer, stronger dupion which forms the base for most of the flowers.

I don't think it is quite at its final stage yet (maybe a little too white...could try tea dying it to give it a more vintage look) but would be interested in feedback. It's definitely heading in the direction of a bridal neckpiece I think, next I'll probably play around with combining fabric and buttons to create some pieces for the "not getting married just want a cool necklace" market.

All Buttoned Up

Taking vintage buttons in a new direction, here are some new pieces that I have cast from old and interesting buttons collected at various markets and antique stores.  The process involved making a silicone mold of each button, then creating a cast in resin.  In future I'll be able to use different kinds of resin and pigments to cast these in a variety of colours.

I can't wait for the findings I have ordered arrive and I can finish these into some new pieces of jewellery!  Yay for new techniques :p

An apology to koalas everywhere

Forgive me my furry marsupial friends....I besmirched your reputations by inferring in the post below that you all had syphillis. Pardon me. It's actually chlamydia that you tend to suffer from. My deepest apologies....

Three little bears came out to play

One of my ordained roles within my family is as cakemaker for certain events - including my neice's upcoming third birthday celebrations. The chosen theme for this year: teddy bears picnic.

After much pondering on decorative techniques, I decided to use my existing skills instead of learning new sugar paste ones and created this little family out of polymer clay...

They are going to sit on a square cake iced to look like a chequered picnic rug. They did turn out looking a little more like koalas than I intended (minus the pouches and syphillis) and mamma bear does tend to fall over if not propped up (gin for lunch again) but overall I think they have worked out well. Depending on how well I managed to do the icing, I may post a picture of the final product.

The trick will be convincing my neice not to try to eat them...

Allsorts of fun

Let me introduce you to my latest new pieces to be unleashed on the unsuspecting public at the Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar this weekend. They are vintage wallpaper, polymer clay and resin brooches and although you can't quite see it from this angle they are a little bit liquorice allsort-y as the backs of the brooches are black. Yum yum yum. And they will be available in three different sizes for varying appetites...

I love a good cappuccino...

Today was spent in the warm late spring weather under a marquee at the Vincent Cappuccino Festival. Plenty of North Perth people were out to enjoy the sunshine and among them was Songy of www.stylediscovery.com.au who took some great photos with her kick-a*se camera. See if you can spot Odd Girl Out in the collage in her post: Style Discovery

Speaking of bloggers, An9ie is a girl who gets out and about for her own blog and the one she does for the Community News Group - check out her very comprehensive summary of Made on the Left here.