Feature Friday - Lizzies Lovelies

Our featured artist for today is Lizzie who runs the absolutely cute Lizzies Lovelies.  Lizzie is a fellow CAST member and makes adorable bows in a range of styles to suit any little girl!

 Summer 4 pack of bows

Tell us about yourself.

I live outside of Dayton, Ohio in a small town. It is the town that I lived in from Kindergarten till sixth grade so it was kind of like moving home when my husband and I moved here. I am a full time Mommy to a two-year-old little boy. I started making hairbows for my first niece and my god-daughter. I also do other crafts such as cross stitch and sewing....I hope to incorporate some of these items into my store at some point.

Describe yourself in 5 words.

Christian, teacher, mommy, wife, friend.

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

My mum taught me to do counted cross stitch as a very young child.

ABC canvas blocks

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I work mostly with ribbon for my bows.  I just like to combine different colours and add special touches to each bow.  I also get ideas from friends and customers.  My plastic blocks started because my husband's aunt had made them for them as kids and my nephew wanted one...this Christmas maybe I will make one for myself!  I also did the name blocks and alphabet blocks because of my niece, nephew and god-daughter.

When and how did you start selling online?

My sister-in-law and friends encouraged me to start selling my bows online.

 Pink Camouflage Bow

Describe your store in 5 words.

Colourful, creative...I am sorry, I can't think of any others at this time.  (Deb: I would say cute, adorable, pretty and decorative). 

Where can we find you online? 

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LizziesLovelies

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dayton-OH/Lizzies-Lovelies/368310860588?ref=nf

Blog: http://lizziesloveliesbows.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

My Northern Territory Holiday - Souvenirs

The penultimate post about my Northern Territory holiday is a relatively short one (yes, can you believe it, a short post from me!) highlighting some of the amazing artists who created some of the lovely souvenirs we brought home with us.

 "On Walkabout (Blue)" fabric by Karen Taylor

When I asked Malcolm what he was interested in bringing home as a reminder of our trip, he replied that he was interested in the many paintings by Aboriginal artists he had seen in the local galleries and stores.  Since these were out of our budget range,  I came up with a solution which made him happy and which also gave me an excuse to add to my fabric stash (he he).  I had noticed the tantalising Australian Aboriginal Fabrics store on our second day in Alice Springs and had been dying to pop in for a browse.  When I did, I was blown away by the beautiful fabric available!  I had to choose the blue "On Walkabout fabric" since blue is Malcolm's favourite colour and dot paintings are the traditional form of painting created by the local Arrernte people.  For those of you who can't visit Alice Springs, you will be glad to know that Australian Aboriginal Fabrics ship worldwide (was it naughty of me to tell you that?)

Beautifully coloured earrings created by Julie Millerick of Desert Silk

Another place full of amazing art by local artists was the small studio and gallery, Central Craft.  This little gem is a part of the Araluen Cultural Precinct and was full of a variety of handcrafts including pottery, felted and woven fabric art, jewellery and paintings.  My parents even found a delicious-looking range of gourmet jams and marmalades!  We had so much fun looking through all the beautiful handiwork and we were a little disappointed that none of the artists were working in the studio on the day we visited.

Bookmarks of paintings created by local artists

This last picture doesn't really constitute a "souvenir" we brought home with us, but it did give us some giggles after the initial tears.  As I mentioned in a previous holiday post, we found many of the walks to be rather arduous with two small children.  As a consequence, by the last day of our trip, each of us sported at least one graze or bruise on our knees (except for my parents who, being more "mature" and sensible, picked their way carefully through each walk and didn't fall once).  It hurt quite a bit at the time, but it was pretty funny looking at all of our knees while we sat in the departure lounge of the airport awaiting our flight home!

Sweet Kokeshi is Completed!

You may remember some weeks ago that I blogged about a cute kokeshi doll pattern by Melly and Me which I was planning on sewing for Operation Christmas Child (see this post).  I was really excited to give this pattern a go as it is so pretty and seemed quite straightforward.

 

I decided that this would be a great portable craft to bring along on my travels around the Northern Territory and, since we didn't do much sightseeing at night because of the kids, I managed to complete kokeshi's hair, face and most of her kimono while we were on holiday.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am not the most confident of embroiderers and did find it a little hard going with the more delicate details on the kokeshi.  Her mouth took me two attempts to get right, and it still looks a little crooked to me.  Also, as you can see, I cheated for the flowers and did them in lazy daisy stitch rather than back stitching 10 small flowers and one large one (yes, I am a coward, ha ha).

Another deviation from the pattern was that I used a different colour scheme, opting to use a pink and blue combination rather than a straight red.  Not that I don't love red or the original design, but I just can't help myself when it comes to mixing and matching colours!

Of course, my little girls have asked me if I would PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make them a kokeshi each since she is so beautiful.  I told them maybe, because right now, I don't know if I can face any more hand sewing!  If I do make more of these pretty dolls, I will probably only do so in VERY GOOD light - I nearly went cross-eyed sewing her in very bad hotel lighting.  I would also read the instructions next time...something which I failed to do this time round, resulting in  a few problems and the need for unpicking.  I hope my post has inspired you to try something new or different!

Buyster Rugs - Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to enter the giveaway I hosted for Buyster Rugs!  There were almost 50 valid entries, which I'm pretty satisfied with for my first giveaway, especially one which was open only to Australian residents.

So, without further ado, I'd like to announce that Stacey of Sunweeds was the ninth comment and is, therefore, our winner!  Congratulations Stacey, I will be in contact with you about your prize.

Wishlist Wednesday - Something for Little Girls

Today's wishlist Wednesday is full of items I think my daughters would love.  It's kind of an eclectic mix since they're quite "girly" but also love cars, monsters and Lego.

Summer Fun Paper Doll Set by Little Mo and Friends

Building Block Soap by Soap Scentsations

Matryoshka Doll Purse by Wild Olive Kids

Triceratops Crochet Applique by Nanasue

My Northern Territory Holiday - The Playgrounds of Alice Springs

Today's holiday blog post covers a topic I never thought I would be writing about in conjunction with a holiday to a new, exciting and unexplored location.  More experienced parents will think I am foolish, I know, but I never thought that a trip to a place like Alice Springs, which has so many bushwalks, museums and galleries to explore would result in me exploring almost every playground my kids set eyes on (I say almost every playground because we managed to convince them that the playground near our bed and breakfast hotel was not worth visiting).

Playground at the Araluen Cultural Precinct

Every time we reached a new location, my girls would scan the area and then cry, "Look!  A playground!"  And, as you will see in the last picture, if they couldn't find a playground, they would improvise.  Dry and sandy riverbeds make for great giant sandpits, according to my children.  And rocky tracks and climbs were a great source of stones to bang together or pretend they were dinosaur eggs, food, or whatever took their fancy!

 

Simple playground at the Olive Pink Botanic Garden

So, for those of you heading to Alice Springs with young children in the near future, make sure you note down the location of each of these playgrounds.  You might find the information very handy!  My next holiday post will be about some of the souvenirs we brought home with us.

Miss 4 enjoying the slide at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum

Miss 2 and my dad playing on the see saw outside the Old Ghan Heritage Museum

Making "cakes" in the mostly dry riverbed leading up to the gorgeous Simpsons Gap

Feature Friday - Epheriell

This week's feature Friday looks into the life of the lovely Jess and her amazing jewellery store, Epheriell.  Jess is also a member of DUST and, as we will find out, a very busy woman with her fingers in many pies!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

This year my husband Nick and I decided to spend the year travelling around Australia! We bought an empty Ford Transit van and have converted it into a campervan - so I'm running Epheriell on the road this year. It's my dream to make it work so that I can make Epheriell my full-time business - but I know this will take time and a lot of effort.

Describe yourself in 5 words.
Stubborn, slightly-obsessive, loyal, silly, and creative.

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

I spent many years studying, and afterwards I worked in the Education field. In 2008 my then-partner (now husband) and I went to Fiji for a holiday. We met a lovely family there, and one of them gave me a novel when they left. I can't remember what it was called, but it was about the life of a woman who owned a yarn store. It inspired me to try knitting again... and basically it all snowballed from there! I started Epheriell in late 2008.

Raindrops - Urban Eco Earrings

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
Sterling silver, hands down! I make a range of artisan jewellery - but my focus is on a range of simple designs featuring 100% recycled sterling silver. I'm also just introducing a range of beautiful gemstone briolette jewellery using recycled sterling silver.

Little Square Hoops

When and how did you start selling online?
I joined Etsy in October 2008, and started listing a few little earrings and such. I couldn't believe it when I actually sold something!!! When I look back now on those early designs and photos, I can see just how far I have come as a jewellery designer.

Budding Necklace

Describe your store in 5 words.
Contemporary, eco-friendly, urban, feminine, stylish.

Where can we find you online? 

Etsy - http://Epheriell.etsy.com
Madeit - http://madeit.com.au - search for Epheriell
Blog - http://EpheriellDesigns.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/jessvanden
FB - http://www.facebook.com/Epheriell