Friday, December 23, 2011

wrapped...








my presents are all wrapped. I used the gorgeous frankie posters/calenders again this year as I really loved the look of them last year and there were a few giggles as everyone opened them to reveal the calenders inside with my notes of dates and things to remember. I really love the black and white animal illustration this year as well as the world map.


I didn't quite have enough with the November/December calender still on the fridge so ended up using one of my past favourites (the last image) which turns out is from 2008!!! Which brings me to this question..how long do you keep your frankie calender/posters for? which then brings me to the next question...how long do your keep your frankie magazines for? I have every edition of frankie since I first came across it which would have been in 2007 at least! They are nicely stacked in two piles (towers) with other lovely magazines: real living, country style, peppermint, donna hay and inside out...none of which I can bring myself to throw out or give away..why? Each time I sit down to go through them I feel inspired so they go back in their colourful piles.


Well, enough rambling from me, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and lots of laughs and fun with your family and friends this festive season xo

Friday, December 9, 2011

colour burst




This week in the studio I've been gathering all the little orphan pieces of glass laying on my desk. I've had a lot of fun making new necklaces combining four of these little delights. They will be available at the BiDM tomorrow.


Where: Saint Augustine's Church Grounds and Hall. Racecourse Road Hamilton.


Time: 9am - 4pm

Thursday, December 1, 2011

through Sandrine's eyes










looseleaf.paper




I really enjoy looking at my work through the eyes of someone else. It's so nice to see things featured and framed in a different way. Sandrine Marsh of Sandrine Marsh Accessories took these lovely images of stalls at the GoMA Christmas market on Saturday. There are more over on the brisstyle blog.


Thanks Sandrine x




Wednesday, November 23, 2011

one by one




One by one I'm getting through my list of things to do & make before the Christmas Design Market at the Gallery of Modern Art this Saturday. The market will coincide with the 5th Birthday celebrations of the Gallery. Stall holders include paper boat press, edward & lilly, kimono reincarnate and more - 20 in total!

If you'd like to visit the details are below:

WHEN
Saturday 26th November
9am - 4pm

WHERE
Gallery of Modern Art forecourt
South Brisbane

Monday, October 31, 2011

Markit

I love/want/need the cloud cushion by harvest textiles in this poster! This year has gone by so quickly, it's been a busy year filled with fun and exciting things behind the scenes here at hot toffee. Now the year is at the point where is goes by at light speed. The May Markit was lots of fun and I'm looking forward to having a stall at the November one. I'm working on some special little treats with my treasure box of 'mistakes' that will only be available at upcoming markets and possibly in my big cartel shop. I'll pop back in soon with more details!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Life Instyle



I found myself looking up a lot over the 4 days at Melbourne Life Instyle. The Royal Exhibition Building is breath taking!

Julie Fleming was my neighbour again and kept me entertained with her stories, charm and wit.




My plan was to take some photos of my empty space and then a few during set up and of course after set up BUT these two photos are the only ones I took! Both taken on set up day.







So now it's back to production, firing the kiln, sanding glass and finishing pieces off to send to my lovely stockists.


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

life instyle




My bags are just about packed for life instyle - only a few more things to squeeze in! These are a shots of some of the essentials: business cards, props, hot toffee sign etc. It has been organised chaos here over the last few weeks as I figure out once again how to fit a whole trade show display into a single suitcase - I do love this challenge. I'm really looking forward to visiting Melbourne again - it seems to cast some kind of magic over me.



If you are visiting life instyle please drop by STAND 68 and say hello.

Friday, July 22, 2011

kizuna


kizuna = bond






These petite necklaces are heading to hanasho for the KIZUNA Fundraising Art Exhibition to help Japan. Details can be found here and a list of participating artists can be found here.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

hello hello





I'm heading to mimmis in Forest Hill for the afternoon. If you are in the Lockyer Valley area please drop in and say hello (and see all the crafty, handmade and vintage goodies on offer!)


Friday, July 8, 2011

collecting feathers



Pretty hearts and flowers garland by collecting feathers


It's time for the brisStyle Indie designers market at Hamilton tomorrow from 9 am - 2 pm. A full list of stall holders can be found here.

Where: St Augustine's Church Hall and grounds, Racecourse Road, Hamilton

Friday, June 17, 2011

treasure yourself...






the beach

so refreshing

cleansing

and empowering

worries are washed away.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

homemade oreos



These are easy, delicious and the recipe worked well with gluten free substitutes. I came across the recipe through the black apple who found it via smitten kitchen who adapted the recipe from this book by Wayne Brachman. I used the sugar quantities that Emily used as I like my cookies a wee bit chewy too. I also only used butter for the filling instead of shortening. We didn't have quite enough icing sugar in the house so my filling is a little soft but oh so good! (and easy enough to spread with just the back of a spoon)






It has been 4 or 5 years since I had a real oreo and these homemade ones seem to taste very close to my memory of the real deal!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

so little time







This time last week I was at Markit in Federation Square with a stall next to the creative duo from so little time. Take a peek at their website to see more hand painted, laser cut lovelies.













Friday, June 3, 2011

insulated





I have a quirky habit of acquiring little collections of odd items like these electricity insulators. Anything with numbers or letters printed or stamped onto it grabs my immediate attention. There 21 in total and I only want to keep 2 or 3 so if anyone out there is interested please contact me. Prices start at $5.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

string heaven









This is the biggest roll of string I have ever seen.


It's 30 cm high!


and


20 cm in diameter.




This is going to keep me busy making bird garlands.


Sunday, May 22, 2011

Markit The Atrium, Federation Square



It's been a long time since I've done a market and I'm quite excited that this time next week I will be in Melbourne selling my wares at Markit. There is a list of stall holders here.

Friday, May 20, 2011

my heart wanders...




Not long ago I attended the launch of Pia Jane Bijkerk's new book 'my heart wanders' and what a lovely afternoon it was! The title resonates with me as my own heart wandered overseas to live in the land of the rising sun several years ago. I really enjoyed having a little chat with Pia as she was signing my copy of the book and was quite taken with actually hearing the sound of her voice. Pia's blog 'enhance the everyday' is one of my absolute favourites and to hear the author's voice after reading her blog voice for so long was really special.


Everyone who went to the launch also received this sweet 'my heart wanders' brooch made by Kylie from Paper Boat Press.







Sitting in the warmth of the sun the following afternoon I read the book from cover to cover and loved it. I could relate to so many of the things Pia mentioned and wished I was able to articulate them myself. Over the years I've found myself trying to express feelings that Pia was able to do so beautifully. A few tears were even shed as I saw into the soul of this kindred spirit. Thank you Pia for sharing your story xx

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

on my wish list



there's something that really attracts me to this locket by 'garden of sypria'.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

in the studio...



I love the colour changes the seasons bring for me in the studio. These whites, greys, vanillas and purples are so pretty together...

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Reincarnated Kimono Project



Melanie has done a blog tour of 'The Reincarnated Kimono Project' over here. The exhibition is held at Hanasho in West End and runs until April 30.


The above photos were taken by Melanie and are of my work titled 'Kiryu' after my first home in Japan. I had proposed to do a different work but a few days before sitting down to work on it I received sad news - Sunaga san (my first boss & father figure in Japan) had passed away. How ever hard I tried to work on my original idea it just seemed to look and feel empty. That's when I began to play with the vintage kimono fabric with Sunaga san in my thoughts. As he was such a thoughtful, gentle and kind man I was drawn to the softer, more subtle colours in the background of the fabric. Remembering conversations with Sunaga san, I carefully folded the fabric and cut an abstract tear shape to produce multiples. I love the fine details that are present in each little droplet as if they each hold their own special memory.


To read more about each artist involved and their thoughts and processes behind the works visit the blog tour here. Thea, of Thea and Sami has also shared her processes here.


Friday, April 8, 2011

Nihon

Firstly sorry for my absence lately. I've been keeping myself busy and trying to keep our life as normal as possible because we can. Ryo's family and our friends are all safe but their lives have been interrupted by the recent disasters in Japan. Living with aftershocks, lining up for groceries, living without hot water, trying to rebuild their lives ..I feel we owe it to them to keep on going.
to not stop.

While we feel quite helpless there are many ways we can help and one of them is to raise money to help Japan. Donations can be made directly to the Red Cross Japan Disaster Appeal.

Exhibition Kimonos


Last night I attended the opening for 'The Reincarnated Kimono Project' at Hanasho in West End. The exhibition was curated by Melanie from kimono reincarnate. The two vintage kimonos above were carefully dis-assembled and the fabric distributed to fifteen local artists, all to reinterpret in their own way. Gold coin donations were taken to raise money and part of the proceeds from sales of the works will also be donated to help Japan. The exhibition runs until 30 April, so please pop in to hanasho and view the artworks. ( I will write more about some of the artists soon)

Other artists raising money for Japan are included in the i heART japan auction organised by ceramic artist, Kenji and his wife Sonia. The auction has started and will end at 8pm Sunday 10 April. All the works in the auction have been donated by the artists. It's a great chance to collect art work while supporting an important cause.

A Japanese friend living in Scotland raised over 1000 pounds by baking and selling cakes with a friend! Awesome work Toshiko!


Tomorrow (Saturday 9 April) night the above event is taking place to raise money. More details about Jam for Japan can be found here. Ryo loves the didgeridoo so we are looking forward to seeing that act in particular.


It was such a relief to see some dear friends who live in Fukushima and arrived in Australia almost a week after the earthquake hit. They left their home and headed south because of what was happening at the nuclear power plant. With a young daughter they decided their best option was to head to Jacquie's Australian home. They have set up a bank account to help their city back in Japan. Here are the details in Jacquie's words:


We have done it!!!! We have set up an account at Westpac to raise money for our village. Westpac Kenmore have opened a fee free account and will cover all costs to send the money to Japan.They have also offered to have a free dress day at their branch and a sausage sizzle to help with raising money for Kitaibaraki.Our town is called Kitaibaraki, located at the very top of Ibaraki Prefecture, on the border of Fukushima Prefecture. 200 km north of Tokyo, 70 km south of the Fukushima nuclear plant. Not only was this town rocked by the earthquake, it was also hit by the tsunami, in which many people lost everything they own. During a phone call to Japan today we heard also that the school, in which half the township has evacuated to, is also badly damaged. We realise that many charities will be donating to Japan, but we would like to help with our community, which could possibly miss out due to size and location.We understand that there have been many disasters this year and in turn many charities asking for assistance but please remember that any donation, no matter how small, will help our family and friends over in Japan rebuild their lives.

Thank you very much, Jacquie
PS Please pass this onto anyone else you think may help.
Account name : Jacqueline Glover
Account Designator : Kitaibaraki Appeal Account
Branch Name : Kenmore
BSB / Account No. : 034055 / 265888


Well, I'm quite sure this has been the longest post I've ever written on my blog. There is a lot more I could say but am trying really to only focus on what we can do.


Friday, March 11, 2011

x-ray





When I was packing these wind chime earrings the other day they reminded me of when my bag goes through the x-ray security check at airports. I always enjoy seeing the outline/silhouette of hundreds of pairs of earrings up on the screen and would love love love! to have that image printed out one day.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

simple clouds


simple is best, less is more. I'm loving these cloud decals (especially on this wall colour) by art wall project.

Monday, March 7, 2011

hana




something native








brasilia ?



pretty berry






Do you know the name of any of these? I'd love to hear from you if you do x