Just a minute in January

I'm finally back into the swing of things with this monthly meme. So, here's my January in a nutshell:

Sewing... scented birds and new zipper pouch designs.


Growing... jasmine and basil joined the team this month, after five years of nurturing the Bird of Paradise finally flowered and little mushrooms unexpectantly popped up in the tomato plant (no, not the edible variety).


Watching... Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Slumdog Millionaire with my new movie friend (and Twilight is on the cards tonight with the Book Club).

Organising... with 3 other lovely Qld Prefects, the first Brisbane Brown Owls meet!


Joining... BrisStyle, or maybe I joined in December? I know it was definitely after I went to the BrisStyle Christmas market which was fabulous! Go check out the BrisStyle blog and all the other lovely members' etsy stores.


Anticipating... the release of Pip's book. Alas, we will all have to wait till March (I think), but you can pre-order here.


Spending... more time with a smaller crowd of good friends. My new year's resolution was to spend more time with people who have time for me. It may sound a little harsh but it's working quite well, it's brought unexpected friends closer and means less disappointment when no effort is made.

Appreciating... the love of my life.

Just a minute is a meme created by Jenaveve and it's a great way to stop and reflect no matter how busy things get. Pop over to August Street to sign up.

New Finds

Happy Friday! Here are some more (relatively) new finds:

Bespoke Press for lovely stationery and beautiful images
Bondville for all the latest Australian art, craft and design, and
Paisley Jade because her softies are so darn cute!

Hope you all have a great weekend (and hope the days get a little cooler for those down south!)

My creative space

I'm whipping up this little one for a baby shower on the weekend. It's a Hilary Lang design from Joelle Hoverson's book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. Has anyone made it? Or anything else from this book?

There are more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

Also just want to say thank you to Chris for including my bird on her blog this week. If, like me, you love brooches then you must go and check out her shop.

Flickr Friend... kitty eden

1. Kitty's drawing, 2. new home card, 3. summer hair clip , 4. my phone case

Layers of pretty fabric, tiny buttons, flowers, applique, strawberries, hearts and embroidered cuteness are abundant on Kitty Eden's photostream. She works her magic with pouches, purses, phone holders, hair clips, cards, brooches, totes, anything that requires cute little embellishments. You can buy Kitty Eden creations here or have a go at making your own phone case using the tutorial on her blog.

Kitty Eden

website

flickr photostream

shop

blog

The kindness of others

A few weeks ago I had some great responses to this post about sourcing lavender locally. Linda from Two Pink Possums very generously offered to post me some lavender from her garden in Tassie, it arrived this week bundled together and tied with string ready to be hung to dry. Thank you Linda, your generosity will only bring good things your way I'm sure ;)

I also received a very sweet blog award this week from gretchenmist.

Proximidade is described as:

'This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!' This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

So I'm tagging these eight lovely blogs: apple cyder, bits of sunshine, ellieboo, fancy picnic, florcita, handmaiden, jettas nest and sophism press.

Oh, and happy Australia Day! I'm off to a picnic. How are you celebrating?

Saturday Shopping List

1. Which Rabbit Brooch from REread
2. Fathers Little Dividend - enviro resin brooch from Ruby2GoGo 10% of all sales go to voluntary organisations!
3. Superheroes Among Us from estasketch
4. cat on the bench (original giclee art print) from Mizu Designs

Shopping List Saturday provides an opportunity to promote the wares of fellow etsy sellers. Are you taking part? Head on over to Fancy Picnic to sign up.

New Finds

Happy Friday everyone, here are some links I'm likin' this week

penguin & fish cute cats and artist profiles till the cows come home
Life in Yonder for some beautifully photographed teeny stitches
The Selby this one came via Her Library Adventures (thanks Sophie, I'm totally obssessed!)

How about it? Stumble across any great finds this week?

An important petition for Australian artists

The Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Bill 2008 provides for artists to receive a percentage of the sale price of their work each time it is resold.

Based on the government's election promise to introduce a resale scheme, artists expected the scheme to return royalties from resales that take place from the time the legislation takes effect. However, under the Bill introduced to the House of Representatives on 27 November 2008, artists will not be entitled to royalties until works acquired by the seller on or after 1 July 2009 are later resold.

The Coalition for an Australian Resale Royalty (CARR) has launched a petition to the government to amend the Bill so that artists can begin receiving royalties on resales sooner.

The petition is open for signature at http://www.copyright.com.au/resale

More information about resale royalty http://www.copyright.org.au/resale_royalty

My Creative Space

Last week when I posted a shot of my desk I think maybe everyone was under the impression that I am a super tidy crafter. Well, I'm not. The truth is that my creative space is the dining table so things get packed away into little containers and glad lock bags until I get a chance to pull them out and sew again. Believe me, if I had my own creative space there would be unfinished projects in every nook and cranny (instead they're crammed into every available bit of storage space). This week I'm back onto scented birds for the shop.

Head on over to kootoyoo for more spaces.

Cuddly Cat Green

She's waiting for you over here.

Or in AU$ here.