giraffe dilemma

A little while ago my neighbor went to China for six weeks and left me in charge of watering her plants. Those leafy friends survived and as a sweet thank you she bought me back some bits and pieces she thought I might like to use in my work, amongst them a bag of teeny painted wooden giraffes like this...



Oh no! I'm sorry Mr Giraffe, but your not totally my style. Yikes! What's a crafter to do? Well, they hung around for a while, I picked them up and put them back down, pondered their possibilities. I started painting over them, but without much success. Then in a stroke of freaking genius Thistler suggested covering them with paper. Flip!! Why didn't I think of this? I've covered so many things in paper already. Old tins, dodgy diary covers, cardboard boxes...



So I covered 'em, and covered 'em good. I used paper from a pack of offcuts we got here a few months ago. I was going to turn them into brooches, but they don't sit so well when pinned (a bit unbalanced) so now I'm thinking fridge magnets...

sock

This is the latest edition to our household. He is fashioned from a pair of socks. Look at him. He seems a little nonchalant to me. Thanks to The Orange Tree for sending me this and many other patterns! Orange Tree, do you know the name of the book this pattern came from?

Fun With Cut and Paste

Four collages I've made this week. Fun fun fun. All the paper is recycled too!

delicious escape

I have spent the last half hour or so in wonderland. 'But Maude, you are an arty type', you say 'you are always in wonderland.' That may be so, but this time I was in a wonderland not of my making. I was in the wonderland that is delicious. magazine. I used to buy this mag as often as I could back in Oz, and salivate over the recipes. Often I'd be so inspired I would make something other than toast for tea. I haven't looked at a copy since before Christmas, so I was a bit excited when I spied the latest edition at the newsagents this afternoon. It has a picture of dripping, dreamy fondue on the cover and the insides are full of winter fare like roasted chestnuts, baked treats and slow cooked wonders. Considering I'm ovenless in KL most of the recipes are impractical, but a girl can dream can't she? Maybe I'll make some art about food...

Now this is a sneak peek at something I'm making for a little friend who is waiting to be born. In fact, there are two of these friends on the way (not twins but two friends having babies) so fear not little friend #2, I'll be making something for you too!



Back on the food theme, you know what else I really miss? Ready Steady Cook. Nothing like a bit of stitching while watching smart arse chefs on daytime telly.

This is a post about art and craft.

Today was spent mostly being a consumer. Don't worry, it wasn't a worthless pursuit. I'll be starting a new art project about it soon. I'm thinking of calling it 'my life as a consumer'. It will be the companion piece to this body of work:



These are two more pieces from this series here. This project is a slowly developing thing, and is experimental at this stage. The two images here are called 'chair' and 'sofa'. Catchy titles huh? I never ever used the word 'sofa' until I worked at a sofa store a few years ago. I thought it was a terrible Americanism. Now I can't bring myself to say 'couch'...



Run misty, run! Guess I couldn't leave the horses to the blog banner. Here are the first in a new line of brooches. 'Horse Brooches'. Do you think I'm to literal with my titles? I haven't made any bird brooches for a while. Do you think the bird motif in craft has had it's day? I've heard cries of 'Enough with the birds designs!' around the traps, but ya gotta go with your instinct when you make stuff. If your crafty insides say 'bird', then make birds! My crafty insides say 'horse' right now, but I have been making a few of those bird softies lately.

Our Weekend Looked Something Like This

Fresh and dry produce at the Bangsar Sunday Market, coffee and cupcake from guess where?

The past week or so I've been nutting out some ideas for my new art project. I have a concept I'm working on based around the idea of home. Here's a sneak peak at three images I've made so far.


The images are watercolour and thread. I can't remember having ever used watercolour before. It was all we had around the house so I cracked it open. I don't use it with any sort of finesse, but I am absolutely loving it. I've also created my own surface patterns, which is another new step for me! Previously I had used existing objects as stencils to create surface pattern. These images are called, for now, "Table", "Light Fitting" and "Bed".

A Few Things I Haven't Mentioned Yet

* I completed my very first cross stitch project a few weeks ago. I bought one of those dinky little kits in a pansy motif. I never knew cross stitch could be so much fun! Maybe it was due to the 'stitch by numbers' aspect of it, but I found it engrossing and relaxing. I love methodical repetition when I make things (although I try to balance that with variety and spontaneity) , so cross stitch served that obsession.

* A while ago I made a lovely tofu salad thingy and, for the first time I can remember, Thistler happily chowed down on the tofu! That was until he fished a shell out of his mouth. I kid you not, he found a tiny shell in his piece of tofu! Oh boy, I wish we took a photo. We were shocked. What on earth?! After a bit of blustering we figured they must process tofu with seaweed in it on the same equipment at the tofu factory. At least it wasn't a hair, or a finger...

* I have never been in so many taxis all my life since coming to KL. Taxi drivers are as varied as any group of people you're likely to meet. Some are dandruff friendly, some are a little deaf or think I'm a little deaf and yell "left la?!" at intervals to check they're going the right way. Others are chatty and funny and ask us a lot of questions. We had such a driver once. He was lovely, dispensing advice about how to best handle other taxi drivers, places we should go in KL and the benefits of the Australian/Malaysian exchange rate. When we reached out destination he turned to us and said "Can I sing you a song before you go?". "Wow", I thought, "We are about to be serenaded by a taxi driver!"
"Sure!" we said. And he sang, "Tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down..."

• 

Things I Have Recently Made

OK, so the images aren't fantastic, but at least it's documentation.  Proof that I'm doing more than swimming and asking myself 'which mall shall I go to today?'.  Actually, we have to tighten out belts here so I think I'll be making more things this week.  And 'teksi' rides can be expensive.  I'm a little shy about working out the public transport system on my own.  Maybe I'll make my own commuter 'softie' and feel more empowered.  

The following softies I made from patterns that came out of, funnily enough, "Softies".  I posted about that book last week.  I make my own softies (you can see some at made by maude) but this is the first time I've ever followed a real, proper pattern to make them.  It may well be the first time I've followed a pattern to make anything since high school! 

'Dorian the Dog' - original pattern by  Chika Mori.  I used different colours to those used in the book, but I learnt how to blanket stitch, daisy chain and make a french knot! Oh la la.  Dorian is tiny, about 5 x 8 cm, and I think he's pretty sweet.

This chappy here is 'Snow Bunny' - original pattern by Tamar Mogendorff.  My bunny is very different to the one in the book.  I've used completely different fabrics and didn't follow the instructions to the tee.  I really didn't think I liked where this one was going when I first assembled the body, but after I embroidered the face it got some personality and the whole softie came alive!

This is a particularly shoddy photo.  The whale looks far more interesting in real life.  This is called 'The Lookout' - original pattern by Michelle Valigura.  It's called 'The Lookout' because the original softie has a bird perched on top.  The bird used foam and feathers and a googly eye. The whale originally has a googly eye also, but I embroidered one for her instead.  I can't quite reconcile the fabric and plastic mix.  I'd feel strange popping a bead on something textile based I'd made.  A button though, no drama.  I wonder why that is?  I think I'll make the birdie and see how I feel after that.  I am impressed by the whales gloomy disposition though! 

In case you're new to links in text, you can click on the artists names above and visit their websites.  They're all wonderful and inspiring.  Highly recommended! 

Oh Hello!

This is Bangsar, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur. We live here, somewhere. So here I am, after a week or so of incommunicado! So sorry about that but it was difficult to get near a computer with the Internet. And now we have the Internet on in our apartment, so these updates should be regular as clockwork once again!
Kuala Lumpur is lush and steamy. The first thing I noticed was the abundance of trees. I could see their outlines in the predawn as the plane taxied in Sunday morning. There was a bit of an airport fiasco, Thistler and I not actually seeing each other for about 45 minutes. Ahem. Not quite the reunion I had imagined. Tired, grumpy and fending off over enthusiastic 'Taksi' drivers is no way to meet your beloved after a significant absence. Never mind, we managed to get a giggle out of it eventually. So far I have explored a mall or two (a mega mall, mind you) and our local burb. And the swimming pool. We are going for a country drive this weekend, up into the highlands! I've also been making things, but have no pictures yet unfortunately. I can show you this though...




'Softies, Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals' by Therese Laskey and Leah Kramer. My sister in law gave it to me before I left. What a clever and thoughtful lady she is! Can you believe it's my very first contemporary craft book? Not a very good record for a contemporary crafter. It's a lovely book and I've already made two softies from it. I'm trying to be good and follow the instructions to the tee, but I can't help skipping some and embellishing others. Oh, I know that's what it's all about, but I wanted to try and challenge myself by actually FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS instead of skipping ahead and troubleshooting later. Still, they are LOADS of fun to make. What a thoughtful sister in law I have!
Thank you for your comments. Yes, we are making a bit of a nest here. We're not allowed to hang anything on, nail into or stick anything the walls here so it'll be a challenge to get around that one!

Today I Have Been Making...

This!


I made this purse to take with me when I go to Malaysia.The lining is one of my most favourite fabrics. My younger sister bought it back with her from a trip to Tasmania, and I've loved it ever since. I've dubbed the purse "Garden Delight". It's lush and tropical, like Malaysia! Well, parts of Malaysia. I imagine.

I also finished off this top...




















I traced it from another hand made tee by Brunswick designer BG (yes, pilfering I know). It's a basic T shape - no need to sew on sleeves. It gives the shoulders a nice soft look. You can't see it too clearly but I rouched the back a little, to bring it in and give it some detail. It's been so long since I've successfully made a piece of clothing, so I'm pretty stoked with the end result!!
p.s. thanks to X for helping me with this post.

Things I Have Recently Made

These are some cushions I made for friends who got married recently. It was a self indulgent gift really as I got to implement an idea I'd been toying with for a while (a sort of patchwork). I used some of my favourite vintage, recycled and new fabrics, and loved the process of making them.

the 'patchwork' front, that's dappled sunlight light not dodgy fabric...

the initialed back, awwww

Although they're made in my usual 'make it up as ya go along' way, I was fairly tickled pink with the end result. The initials are the married couples, obviously. Mmmm, text in textiles.

Achievement Thursday

That should also be Achievement Friday, as I'm posting for the VERY FIRST TIME! But I like Achievement Thursday better because I made 32 brooches yesterday afternoon!


I haven't made a circle brooch that I really like for quite a while, so I was pretty chuffed when I saw them all tumbled together, looking pretty. Stick around, I may even pop a few more images up.
xo maude