hello bloglovin'

Thank you Birdy!

Not much more to say except that Google Reader is over (sob for one second) and bloglovin' is even better anyway for collecting and reading all the blogosphere goodness.

So now you can Follow my blog with Bloglovin and there's also a very nice app which will make it even easier to catch up with everyone else :)

Oh sorry Birdy! For those of you who haven't met Birdy previously on instagram she was created one crafternoon with my family. My nieces, my sister, my Mum and me all made a little bit of her and now she lives in a gorgeous little town called Pottsville :)

still nesting

So many talented creative people making so many beautiful things that should be in my home :)

1. Avocado shaped fibre form : Robyn, fibreartist44
2. Hemp/organic cotton tea towel : jenna rose handmade
3. The amazing collaboration between Paravent and Ouchflower - yes it's available to buy and totally affordable!
4. Beautiful clay picture with natural heath imprint : herbs and nature
5. Love these three old wooden spoons from India soooo much!! : delfin design

If only I had more wall space, display space and shelving! For now they'll have to live in my virtual home :)

my creative space

 

I've been indulging in a little bit of crochet this past week. I always have issues with storage so I've been working on perfecting my crocheting-in-the-round skills to make some bowls and baskets for my home. Learning that while it's very tempting to double crochet, it's actually better to single crochet the sides of a bowl or basket so it stands upright nicely. Yep, trial and error!

Having recently been inspired by my little trip to India I'm also enjoying a bit of kantha style stitching, well my own version of it really. Kind of reminds me of sashiko as well. Either way it makes for a nice departure from my usual whipped stitch and it's highly addictive!

Plus I've been pulling together all of my macramé notes and links from the last Brown Owls meet up, you can find them here, great for anyone wanting an easy way in to knotting.

And with that it's time to make a cuppa and check out more spaces here :)

notes on macramé

Macramé! It's so hot right now and after many requests from the Brisbane brown owls members I pulled out the rope and string and all sorts of yarn-y bits and went through the motions again for our meet up.

Macramé owl from last year - make your own here

Last year it was all guns blazing with the macramé meet up and we tackled the owl! Appropriate? Yes! Easy? Not for those who had never tackled the square knot.

This year I thought it best to ease into the idea of working with a bunch of string, where the knots should go for a nice 'net' pattern and how it all comes together. So, firstly we went for it with the knotted plant holder which everyone pulled off very quickly and easily, country boy even used his recycled t-shirt yarn from last year's meet up to make one - oh so eco!

"Yay! It's so easy! We're going to fill up our homes with these!"

They are so easy and fun to make. For more info check out this video on Etsy but more importantly have a look at the pdf in the actual article itself as it's much easier to follow. The first one I made with 6mm rope for Kevin our uber fern to hang in but I had to double all of the measurements to get the length I wanted and also because the rope was thicker the knots take up more room. There's also a great tutorial on skinny laminx! You can make them for smaller plants with twine or yarn but if you're using them outdoors it's probably best to go for a hemp twine rather than jute which may deteriorate over time.

Kevin

After Kevin was feeling light and airy and fabulous I moved on to jars because we obviously eat too many olives and have a ridiculous amount of jars. The jars are great for storing little collections of treasures, popping a tea light into (LED only - be careful of flames near the macramé!) or more recently I've used them for plant cuttings and as vases. I love them!

made with basic twine and 4mm crochet cotton

In my macramé research travels I also came across this fab tutorial which really shines a light on how knotting twine around jars or bottles gives a beautiful nautical effect.

great craftberry bush tutorial

Then it was time to move on to the square knot. Despite the fact that I was a Girl Guide I was feeling a little concerned about dredging it back from my memories but it's super easy and images like this are a great help!

 

image from here

Here are the instructions I used at our meet up, I hope they'll be helpful for you too!

How to tie a square knot

1. Knot four pieces of string (or whatever you're using) together. The two pieces of string on the outside will be the pieces you're working with. The two in the middle will form the centre or core that you'll be knotting on.

2. Bring the left piece of string (the red one in the picture above) over the two centre strings. Then bring the right piece of string (the maroon or dark brown one in the picture above) over the left string, under the two centre strings and through the loop that is formed by the left string. Pull the left and right strings until they tighten.

3. Ok, then you're basicially doing the opposite. Bring the right piece of string (the red one in the picture above) over the two centre strings. Then bring the left piece of string (the maroon or dark brown one in the picture above) over the right string, under the two centre strings and through the loop that is formed by the right string. Pull the left and right strings until they tighten.

That's it, you have a square knot! If you want to add a bead you can slide it onto the two centre strings and keep knotting. 


Now that the square knot is mastered you can make up your own macramé fabulousness. You can even do the twisty thing by only completing step 2 above over and over till you get a nice length of twistiness.  You can make jewellery, more elaborate plant hangers, wall hangings, market bags, the ideas are endless! And you can use all different materials!

For more ideas and inspiration I have a little Pinterest board all about macramé which I'll keep adding to here.

If you have any tips, hints or links to your own macramé I would love to hear from you in the comments section below :)

Happy knotting!

Rebecca x

my creative space

Less actual making and more tying up loose old ends and sketching new ideas this week. As always I'm still managing to squeeze in a bit of 'necessary-to-keep-me-sane' stitching and hooking :)

Loose old ends in the form of too many unfinished projects lying around the house...

And too much unlisted stock! I'm getting there though :)

For more spaces head over here.

shop update

I'm working on getting all of my stock into the shop, the whole wanting to make new products process is incredibly distracting though. I wish photographing and listing was as much fun as making...

 All new brooches are listed

 Hand-embroidered tree pendant

A new version of the little bird that's always a hit at markets

And my most favourite pencil case

Check out the back, it's ridiculously cute and one of a kind! 

There's lots more coming very soon!

my creative space

Lots going on in the space since I've been back, I've been re-working some old designs, developing new products for the BrisStyle market on Friday night and refreshing my macramé knots for Saturday's Brown Owls meet up.

Whipped up some little coin purses for the market, stay tuned, they'll be in the shop soon.

Getting my knots on for plant holders at Brown Owls on Saturday morning, I'm finding lots of uses for these including holding little led tea lights at the market on Friday night.

There was a little rush of pencil cases this week, in particualr everyone seemed to be going for blue dogs and bikes :)

Looking forward to having a cuppa today and checking out more spaces here.

hello 2013

 

Hello and welcome back to my little blog for 2013 :) 2012 was a huge year, I achieved big things for edward & lilly, some I worked hard on all year while others came along unexpectedly proving that if you put good (and crafty) energy out into the universe it all comes flowing back. 

 2013 will have a different focus, I'm itching to make loads of new products, to learn loads of new crafts and try loads of new things regardless of whether they are successful or not. It's all about the creative journey as opposed to the business/financial journey. 

 A big part of learning new things will be the huge program of crafty meet ups I have planned for Brown Owls (if you're in Brisbane check out the details here). I'm very excited about honing some crafty skills in areas I've dared not touch before and sharing everything I learn right here in this little bloggy space. 

 While tripping around Singapore and India taking in some incredibly inspiring art (it's a work trip I swear) I've also been working on some new brooches in the pic above combining embroidery and crochet. I'm hoping to have a nice limited edition run of these at the first BrisStyle indie Twilight Market on Friday 22 February and shortly after in my little shop :) 

 Exciting times ahead! I would love you all to stick around for more crafty goodness :)

edward & lilly christmas

Hello everyone!

Just popping in to say a very special thank you to you all and to let you know about final dates for online Christmas shopping.

So here is some info to make your handmade Christmas shopping seamless!

Within Australia my recommended final date for your order to arrive in time for Christmas is 16 December, after this time I can also offer Express Post options. If you're concerned about your order not arriving in time just shoot me an email (rebecca@edwardandlilly.com) or convo me via my Etsy shop.

International customers need to get in a little earlier at the very least by 5 December, eek! That's soon!

And if you're in Brisbane (lucky you!) you can pop by and shop in person at the final two BrisStyle indie markets, details here, I would really love to see you at one of these markets :)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for supporting edward & lilly in what has been a huge year and to wish you all a beautiful festive season! Support for handmade this year has been overwhelming, exciting and so so encouraging.

2013 is set to be another fun one with loads of new products already in development and lots of crafty fun to be had with the Brisbane Brown Owls!

Ok! So you better get shopping and I better get stitching and I'll see you in 2013 if not before!

Best wishes
Rebecca x

i'm having a sale!

 

Psst! 

I'm having a little sale in my Etsy shop, I think it might be the first time I've ever had one! It's just to say thanks a bunch to all of the lovely and supportive followers of my little space here, my facebook page, instagram, twitter and pinterest.

20% off store wide but be quick, it finishes on Tuesday! Just use the coupon code HolidaySale when you get to the checkout :)