Learning New Things | Weaving

It's been a little while (ok, a long while - way back in February!) since I participated in my first class at The School here in Sydney. There is always a stack of great courses running there, from styling to photography to crafty pursuits. Megan Morton is the mastermind behind the operation, as well as being a renowned stylist (you can attend her styling classes too!)

As soon as I saw the name Maryanne Moodie, I was in! I've been following Maryanne's adventures on Instagram for some time and I knew the girl would be one serious well of information. If you haven't heard of Maryanne Moodie, you probably will soon. A former primary school teacher from Australia, she is now based in Brooklyn where she makes a living from her handmade woven creations. She shares the secrets of her trade with enthusiastic weaving apprentices around the world, most recently spotted in cahoots with Design Love Fest. My interest in learning weaving did bring up some conflicting feelings though... Have I turned into my mother circa 1978? When did this happen? Will I be getting a perm soon? I buried those feelings deep inside and went along to the course.

With her background in teaching, Maryanne proved to be an incredible teacher, patient, informative, attentive and encouraging to our tentative fumblings with our looms. Soon we were all weaving like pros, it was amazing to see what everyone produced in such a short time. We took our looms home for future weaving magic - I've been stalking the dusty corners of thrift stores for leftover wool treasures.

A spectacular close-up of a mistake! D'oh.

I'm looking forward to sharing some of my future creations with you. Have you ever tried weaving? It's such a fun and therapuethic exercise (until you make a mistake and have to undo everything)

If you have a chance, you should try learning something new this year. It such a rewarding experience, and better for your brain than re-runs of Dawson's Creek ;)

Kitty
xo

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is coming up fast! I've gathered together some lovely handmade and vintage gift ideas for you. I like the sentiment of mother's day, and even if you don't have a mum, I think everyone has a lady they look up to and respect.

1 | The Sydney Clutch in Gold/Linen
2 | Vintage Large Glass Apothecary Jar
3 | I Love You Mom Card
4 | Organic Pampering Body Care Gift Set
5 | Modern Pastel Hardwood Serving Bowl
6 | Mini Air Plant Pod Set of 2
7 | Gardenia In The Snow Soy Candle
8 | Personalised, Custom Made Paper Dolls
9 | Mountain Blossom Furoshiki

Kitty
xo

Kitty & Buck on Etsy

Well then, I warned you it would happen (eventually), and I've finally done it. My Etsy store is open for business!!! Currently there is not a huge amount of stock available, but I plan on adding it step by step instead of trying to create everything in one big hit. Right now, you'll find some limited edition hair bows, which I have lovingly (read- slowly) sewn from vintage fabric remnants. Many are 1-or-2-of-a-kinds, due to the rarity of the fabric that I've been able to source. I also have a range of color-blocked bows which are made with new 100% cotton and can be custom ordered in your color preference.

The entire store isn't going to be about hair bows. But it is for now. I have a big stack of incredible fabric ready and waiting in the wings, and I'll be adding new items and product ranges as I'm able to create them. I've also got my hands on some amazing vintage jewelery-makings, which I'm dying to get created and into the shop! I'm bursting with ideas, my only shortfall in the process is time, so - slow and steady, I'll introduce new precious things. If you'd like to check it out, just click. Here.

Kitty
xo

p.s. Once I have built up my stock a little, I'll be doing a little promotion on this here blog, and you know, maybe throwing some freebies and discounts your way!

Photo A Day #101 Success

Wow! I've surpassed 100 photo a days! It's a good way for you guys to know, I have officially reached my 101st day of blogging! How exciting is that? Now that I feel a little more sure of what I'm doing, and since I've had so many new readers in the past month or so, I thought I'd do a post this week, like a monthly recap, but for the whole 3 months. Just in case you missed something ;)

Today I attended the Etsy Success forum (part of the Vivid Festival) in Sydney, which was a full, exciting and tiring day! I learned a whole lot about selling on Etsy and a whole lot of things that can be applied to pretty much any creative challenge. I'll be sharing some of the top secret things I learned on the blog soon, they deserve their own post, and I need to compile my phone-book sized swathe of notes into something more digestible! I also met a bunch of lovely people, so if they are reading - hi! It was wonderful to meet so many creative and motivated lovelies in one spot.

I love this picture and haven't done ANYTHING in photoshop. The venue had all these cherry blossom fairy light trees and this one came out just right :)

I'll leave you with a quote that Chad Dickerson, the CEO of Etsy shared with us today, as I felt it was quite poignant, not (necessarily) for selling on Esty, but just for living life! I seem to have been thinking about this idea a lot lately, so here goes:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

How good is Teddy? I love that last line, life is all about doing, even if you fail or make a mistake, at least you've lived :)

Kitty
xo

Photo A Day #91 Show 'n' Sell Markets

Hello! I hope you're having a swell day :) My photo (s) (it's rarely just one, now, is it?) today are from the Sydney Etsy Team's Show 'n' Sell Markets that I popped in to see tonight. It was a sardine-can packed an intimate occasion. There were a few really cute stalls, unfortunately it was a bit hard to get a good look without being jostled, but I spotted some sweet pickings while inside!

Also, remember those awesome tights I featured here? Well, I had the pleasure of meeting Penny who designs and creates these lovely tights (she is a sweet gal!) and flipping through her fabric print sample book like a crazy lady! All the designs are so cute... and she has CAT print tights... shhh... I don't want them to sell out... they're ALL MINE!

1. Penny of Uptights (cute sparkly collar!) // 2. (and 3.) Uptights stand amidst hordes of people

3. Browsers (the shopping kind, not the Firefox kind) // 4. The room with the bar that was virtually impossible to enter!

I wish I could have stayed longer for the free BBQ (do you think they had Soysauges?) and lucky door prize (I really wish I could have stayed for the lucky door prize!!) But unfortunately, after driving around for about 30 minutes, I gave up on street parking and opted for the $9 per 30 minute parking station that smelled like a urinal. I did not want to leave my car there too long, and you know, I'm a tightwad and spending that much on parking just KILLS me! But I had a great time, and it looks like the night was a success. I'm imagining next time, there may be a bigger venue, and I'd love to go along again :)

My car was safe n sound right where I left it. Unfortunately C and I got trapped in the blue-light urinal disco stairwell and almost had to axe the door down like Jack Nicholson. We found one door (out of about 15) that opened and burst out into a dodgy dark alley covered in broken glass. We made it back, after many trials and derring-do. Ah Sydney... you're fun!