craftjuice

christmas present shopping

On the weekend I thought I would take advantage of the excellent exchange rate of our Aussie dollar and started my Christmas shopping early. I sat down and opened Etsy in my computer browser...well, HOURS later and with some substantial damage to my bank balance, here's some of the lovely things I purchased...

For my neice and nephew, I could not go past these fantastic messenger bags from my dear and talented friend Jacqui at Mee A Bee..

And there will be four little girls all with lazy days skirts from this fantastic Matroyshka design Japanese fabric from Beautiful Work. I was thinking a bright green or blue large spot as the contrasting hem band for this one...

And red spot for this one...

And Miss M's Peepa will love this fly fishing t-shirt from Medium Control (who has great 'man gifts') to wear on his next trout adventure...

More lovely gifty goodness to come!

 

 

touch wood's scandi cushion exhibition

A rather non-descript secret little laneway in the midst of our city.  Along Elizabeth Street, down the lane on the right, go under the boom gate, walk a bit and you'll see that little doorway on the left hand side. Inside, our 'secret coffee place' - The Coffee Supplier - owned by most lovely James, enthusistic supporter of all things exciting and creative in the city. And makes the best coffee ever too.

And it was here a few short months ago, very early one Friday morning, Eileen decided she wanted to exhibit there.  But what?  So we ordered some jumbo flat whites, and let the caffine get to work (it was very early on a Friday after all) and hatched a plan so cunning, it should have pointy ears and a bushy tail.  And, literally, it eventually did.

Behold Touch Wood Design's Scandi: Felt Folk!

To make this all the more impressive, Eileen did all this in just six weeks. Yep. Designed them. Sourced the materials. Made the patterns. Sewed them. Stuffed them. Six weeks. Yep.

I bought this lovely reindeer stamp one. Who couldn't resist. It was hard to pick a favourite:

See that snowflake one? We called it the 'snowflake from hell'. It is machine stitched around every edge. Perfectly.  This is why Eileen is so awesome.

Woot!

More Woot!

She still has some versions for sale (she produces just three versions of each)- contact her directly if you would like one!

(We didn't match on purpose. Promise we didn't.)

movers and shakers

My friend Glenn loves retro packaging as much as I do, so I couldn't go past making him salivate with lust for these Campbell's Soup salt and pepper shakers I purchased the other day!  I just love them!  I'm seriously thinking about going back and getting everything else to match. God knows what I'd do with six (or maybe I'd have to buy eight) soup bowls, but I'm sure they'll end up in my cupboard.

If I was super cool and not so damn nerdy, I'd have these Andy Warhol ones...

There's seriously something lovely about vintage salt and pepper shakers. Just the right mix of kitsch and delight.

Although these ones are a bit of a worry...

some very nice online clothes

A Summer maxidress from Pomegranate.

I'm not very good at getting out and going to the shops and tend to either make do or try and get a bit creative with the clothes I've got, but I wanted to share some great online stores I've tried and that have been recommended to me by my sensational friend Susan.

I have, although not lately, bought some great clothes from MaxShop. Their clearances are fantastic! The clothes are always very well made and have great fabric and detailing. They are NZ based, but ship everywhere.

This week Susan recommended to me the lovely Pomegranate Clothing (I think I really do need that lovely flowing white cotton frock number for Summer). If you sign up for their emails, you receive a $20 voucher! Awesome! She also directed me to the fabulous Birdsnest.  I like this shop very much because for someone with no idea how to put clothes together unless they are all black (ie me), they provide fully styled outfits that suit different body shapes. How awesome is that!

Thanks Susan for these great gems!

lustful object of the day - mushu bags

This one?

or this one?

OMG I want them ALL! (not to mention the raccoon bag)

Check out Made590 site and blog . You will never, ever leave. Ever.

lustful object[s] of the day - moose:art for living

I recently discovered (much to my wallet's detriment) the fantastic Australian-clever-people website Moose:art for living.  (It's logo is a squirrel, which goes without saying, is a sign of fabulousness within.)

About Moose:

Moose: Art for Living is all about creative people. From the incredible artists whose work we sell to the dedicated people working behind the scenes (doing everything from photographing the work to promoting this site), we aim to foster the creative spirit in everyone.

This Australian based website is designed to showcase the products on display as clearly as possible, so that you, at home, can see up close the hard work and effort that lie at the heart of everything on offer.

And it's beautiful - all of it. Jewellery. Textiles (ack!). Space. Art. Fine Jewellery. Paper.  All devine. All lusty. All Australian.

My favs at the momento are these apple tree hoop earrings by Kearnsie. I love the cute message clasps too!  But I like, nay, love the new stuff by The Strutt Sisters too. It freaks my freak.

Sigh... What's a girl to do?!

anthropologie

I've always loved the creative, innovative and fresh seasonal windows of US store Anthropologie - their visual merchandisers are wizards!  These are some of my favourite images from their Facebook albums (even though they are not in Australia, I can still live vicariously!)

 

So so amazing.

visual mechandising:The display of products which makes them appealing, attractive, accessible, engaging, and enticing to shoppers in a retail store. Visual merchandising utilises displays, color, lighting, smells, sounds, digital technology and interactive elements to catch customers' attention and persuade them to make purchases. Visual merchandising helps convey the image of the brand and reflects the personality of the target markets that the retail store wants to attract.

Like bees to a honey pot in this case!!  Buzz Buzz.

lustful object of the day - mrs beckinsale's tram cushions

My friends Louise and Eileen will freak their freak to see these gorgeous tram cushions from the very talented Mrs Beckinsale in Melbourne!  I spied them in the latest issue of Frankie (when I was reading it on the bus) and fell in love.

(Speaking of buses - I love my city and working for it, but these people are a bit freaky.)

i really do give a flying duck

I'm a little obsessed with flying ducks right now. I'm on a mission to collect a flock for my kitchen wall - hopefully all flying in the same direction!  I need to begin frequenting op shops and second hand stores (maybe even venture to some garage sales) to start collecting a few sets and see what happens!

I checked out Etsy to see what the creatives can do with a flying duck and here's some of my favourites:

L-R

Top row - 1. Prince Design UK 2. Amanda Jean 3. Muddle and Flow

Middle row - 4. Pillows Collection 5. ePaperCuts 6. DabbleDown

Last row - 7. Rustic Metal Art 8. Prince Design UK 9. Amanda Kindregan

I'm also loving these three light fittings:

 

1. Reining Gifts  2&3. Art and Home

Or you could paint some yourself!

*Quack*

liana kabel knitting needle bracelet

While doing some Christmas shopping at MoB Store, Santa happened to drop into my own stocking this fabo KnitWit Bangle by Liana Kabel - one of the awesome artists in residence at MoB.

I love the vibrancy of the needle colour and as I love functional art, I couldn't go past this 6 1/2 mm...

I also bought my sister-in-law some of her great earrings.

As luck would have it, Liana is also featured in the current MixTape #11 craftzine (page 37). So you can read all about her, her amazing vibrant pieces and her inspirations! Or check out her blog...

Check out Liana's etsy shop...but have your credit card ready...oh my...