Making Inspiration: Ohdeedoh, A New Creative blog and a Crafty Gathering

Well I have been very busy, including working on some new designs that will be printed on tea towels - so fun!  Yikes I'm ridiculously excited about it!  So I haven't been able to get up to my usual Making Monday goodness this week.  But  don't worry I still have plenty of making inspiration for you!

First up, Ohdeedoh shared my sunprints project I made with Yashar in a post 'Get Inspired by Sunprints' yesterday.  Thank you Ohdeedoh!  And if you haven't made sunprints before I definitely suggest checking out the post I did about them and giving it a go - we had so much fun with it - easy and creative for any age!

For more creative inspiration I suggest getting in early on the blog recently started by Alara Hindle (my lovely friend and owner of LOLA children's art studio)  Alara has such a wealth of fantastic ideas for creative things to do with children. She is posting activities once a week - there is already a great art deco one and some fun beach theme ideas.  Don't miss it!

And finally...here's another (all very summer party inspired) instalment of 'Crafty Gatherings'....where the best things to make, gather, stand around looking cool and sip on mojitos  ;)   links below and all photos via the respective websites.

Zoku Pops - this is the pineapple and coconut recipe - yum!
- (found via Design Mom)


Lemon and Fetta Dip -  from Sweet Paul (and the Sweet Paul online mag has just come out...can't wait until I have time to have a look!)

Glow Cones - glowing snow cones.  Fun for a summer's night kids party or rave  ;)  - from Giverslog

Pinata Inspired Party Lanterns - Brenna for Design*Sponge

Crafty Gatherings: Let's Party

A crafty gathering of some of the things to make that I liked the most this week...

And now I realise there's a bit of a party theme going on with them all...I must be wishing for Summer!

Watercolour paper cups:  Stephanie Polli via Design*Sponge

Ombre Tablecloth:  Brittany (the house that Lars Built) via Jordan Ferney (Oh Happy Day!)

Fringey Monogram:   Michaela (Blissful Fetes) via Jordan Ferney (Oh Happy Day!)

Geometric Paper Garlands:  Weekday Carnival

Crafty Gatherings: Scandinavian Winter

Yikes!  Where did the week go?!  Actually I know - Yashar and I are sick...again!  It's been a nasty winter of sickness for us this year :(  Makes me want to curl up on the couch, under a blanket and make these:

Hmm...ok, some of these may be a little hard to make while curled up under a blanket ...

Scandinavian Inspired Wooden Heart -Kate Pruitt - Design*Sponge
Clara by Karin Vestergaard Mathiesen - this one made by Alicia Paulson - Posie Gets Cozy

Felt Hot Pads - Molly's Sketchbook - The Purl Bee
Big Herringbone Cowl - The Purl Bee

Have a great weekend!

Crafty Gatherings: Wintery Knitted Hats

Now that the cold weather has really hit here and we have a snowboarding trip planned (yeee!) I thought I might try knitting myself a hat.  I actually only rarely wear a hat a winter hat - the only time I wore one last year was when we had all that snow here - I think beanies always make me look slightly ridiculous!

So I went in search of a pattern that I hope will suit me!  I finally settled on this one:  The Pasha by Jane Richmond  I found it via Ravelry and bought the pattern there, but I now see that Jane has a etsy store here.

It's a lace pattern - which I haven't done much of before so fingers crossed.

Here is a photo of the Pasha and some others that made it to the shortlist (images are from the respective designers except for the Selbu Modern): 

The Pasha - Jane Richmond
The Jane - also by Jane Richmond

He Said She Said - Chic Knits
Selbu Modern - Kate Gagnon Osborn (image is by A Shrill Caramel of the hat she knitted - I love the colour combination she chose)

Crafty Gatherings: Some crafty ideas to cozy up with over the next week..

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful Christmas and New Year!    Thank you so much to everyone that has stopped by and thank you so much for all your lovely lovely comments.  It means so much to me!    It has been a wonderful year and I am excited about what the next year might hold.  I'll be back after the new year...I might even pop in next week sometime too.  Otherwise, see you in 2011!

Well, it's just about too late for any Christmas making now!   But I hope that you and I both have some relaxing time over the next few days...maybe after Christmas lunch or the next day after eating leftovers!...to take a little time for ourselves to create.  Here are some ideas...

Mitered Baby Blanket -Chocolate a Chuva

Postage Stamp Coasters from Jessica via design*sponge.

Super Easy Baby Blanket - kits from Purl Soho

Lunch Bag Pattern - The Long Thread

Crafty Gatherings

Crafty Gatherings: The (almost) weekly post where the most awesome things to make like to gather, hang out and generally stand around looking cool.

The weather has turned...which means no more daily trips to the park and lots more time spent inside!  Yashar and I have started 'toddlerart' classes at LOLA - (which are wonderful by the way! such a lovely space and a fantastic way to spend time together!)  And I have been thinking about more things to make that Yashar would like and things we could make together.  Here are some recent discoveries:

Tooth Fairy Bunnies - eeee!  these are gorgeous! found on inchmark here and using the bunny template from Kata Golda's book Hand-Stitched Felt

Great Butter Cookie recipe - also from inchmark...so many lovely things there! - I know Yashar will love these - he is always asking me if we can decorate some biscuits :)

And some from one of my favourite places to find beautifully designed things to make with and for kids - Made by Joel

The Paper Owl Mobile and the Woodpecker

Crafty Gatherings: Christmasy Crafty Plans

I know that it is incredibly, ridiculously early to be talking about Christmas but.....if you are anything like me...where projects tend to take a while, and then I have to allow for international shipping... yikes, I better get to work!  :)  Here is a little gathering of Christmas things to make or at least to think about making ;) in the coming months...

I think this felt flower wreath would actually suit a Summer Christmas perfectly (like the one's I'm used to in Australia)  - those neon threads make me think of zinc and the beach!   Instructions here from The Purl Bee

Alicia Paulson - For the past 3 years Alicia has been putting together these cute little felt ornament kits...and this one has to be my hands down favourite. Available here, but be quick - she always sells out quickly!

This felted ball wreath is amazing!  You can find the instruction at Pickles.

And I love this Silhouettes in the Snow Garland.   You can download the template and you can find all the instructions here at A Field Journal.

Have a great weekend!

V
xo

A Crafty Gathering and Iyi Bayramlar!

Crafty Gatherings:  A place where the coolest things to make come to hang out, look cool and sip on Lattes.

Paper City - Made by Joel

Pom Pom Garland - Honestly ...WTF (via Poppytalk)

Liberty Coin Purse - available as a kit from the Purl

Hardback book covers - Ohdeedoh.com

Tomorrow is the end of the month of fasting and the start of Bayram (Eid).  To everyone celebrating Eid/Bayram over the next few days, I hope you have a wonderful break with loved ones.  This is a very special time of year here and we will be spending it with Senol's family (with lots of laughs and yummy food I'm sure!)    Iyi Bayramlar!

Yashar, a Cool Weather Crafty Gathering and some exciting features

Look at this cutey!  He's grown so much.  I’m already thinking about what we will do for his third birthday!  I really can’t believe it.    When he was a baby I would ask other parents if it got easier and they would often reply that it didn’t!  That it was just different.  They had me a little scared!  I suppose that everyone’s experience is different though – because I have to say, yes things are different, but they are also a lot easier...and much more fun!  Phew!  Life is good.

I don't know about you guys, but now that the weather is a couple of degrees cooler I'm preparing for the cold winter ahead.  I bought this gorgeous hoodie on sale from Aunty Ollie (I'll be sure to take some photos once it arrives - the things at Aunty Ollie are so beautiful!) and I'm back knitting again already!  I have picked up knitting this scarf again for Yashar and I have lots more projects lined up!  So this week's Crafty Gathering is all about cool weather and keeping warm...because, if you are anything like me, you had better get started now so they will be finished in time!

The 'Baby Sophisticate' sweater from Stockinette.  I plan to knit this is a larger size for Yashar.  You can find the free pattern here.  Apparently it is a very quick knit - yay!

I love this Owls jumper from Needled.  You can buy the pattern here.  From what I have been reading the pattern for this is exceptional and gives a really good fit.

This scarf and hat are both from one of my favourite pattern designers Kirsten Kapur.  So cool!  She has a blog 'Through the Loops' where you can find the patterns and projects she is working on, lots of photos of her awesome and totally unique kids in them and also in their band The NowhereNauts.


The pattern for the Kersti Stripe scarf is free here.

The pattern for the Thorpe hat is free here and the changes for a baby version are  here.

 Also, I have been extra cheery around here because my sideboard before and after was featured on two sites I love -  Design*Sponge and Kirmizi Minder.  A big and very warm welcome to everyone new that has made their way over from those two sites and thank you so much Design*Sponge and Kirmizi Minder!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Crafty Gatherings Are Back

After a little Summer hiatus, crafty gatherings is back with cooler crafty crowd than ever.  Here is a small gathering of some of the most beautiful things to make that I have come across recently.

The first is this amazing capiz shell chandelier made using wax paper by Brenna for Design*Sponge.

And these Baby Kimonos designed by Maya*Made are so cute!  They are from the book Maya contributed to called Craft Hope: Handmade Crafts for a Cause which contains many beautiful projects that are perfectly paired with an appropriate charity.  What a smart idea!

This cheerful quilted playmat is so pretty (and I love that cupboard in the background too!).  It is from Molly's Sketchbook on The Purl Bee.

Happy making!

Craft Gatherings: Summery Yellows

This weeks crafty gathering - a place where the best things to make (in my humble opinion!) hang out, look cool, sip on mojitos.

And in honour of the weather that has finally fined up again around here, some summery yellows:

Lemonade Favors from Project Wedding

Gerald Giraffe from Hop Skip Jump is sooo cute.  You can buy the pattern  for him and some other cuties here.

These Hawaiian Style Floor Cushions from Molly at the purl bee.

Cya!

V
xo

Crafty Gatherings: The Redo

We are painting at the moment - and that, combined with a little set of draws and a cupboard that I have my eye on at our local second hand store, has had me obsessing about furniture 'make overs' and before and afters.  I want to get them to help with the slight (read out of control) storage problem in my studio. 

So this weeks crafty gathering is all about the redo. 

First up are two pretty cupboards  from a favourite of mine for thrifty finds and beautiful redos:  Dottie Angel

Then some recent favourites from the home of the 'Before and After':  Design*Sponge

The first is Melissa's 'dungeon room' makeover - Don't the white walls make such a difference! Can't wait for mine!

The second is Lauren's Nursery.  I like all the pale tones with just a couple of splashes of colour.  It looks like such a gorgeous little attic room - so airy and calm don't you think?

Oooh!  And guess what?  My French and Italian Countryside wallpaper for Studio Nommo was featured on Bloesem Kids!  Yay!

Crafty Gatherings

A crafty gathering where all the best things to make hang out and sit around looking cool. 

I love this cushion made using the Kiss Tapestry Kit from Cox and Cox!  I really have to do this one!

Awesome roller blind hack from Brett Bara for Design Sponge.

This bear is such a cutie!  I made one for Yashar when he was born and it turned out so sweet!  But then got lost on a trip out one day :(  So I really want ot make another one.  It's the mamma bear pattern by Carly Schwerdt in the book Softies.

This soup bowl pot plant is such a great idea! - from Janis Nicolay for Poppytalk.

An early crafty gathering.

OK, things are a little mixed up here at the blog this week.  I have something special planned for 'Making Mondays' that I haven't quite gotten around to finishing off yet, so I will post about that a little later in the week.

And the GIVEAWAY will be finishing tomorrow.  A huge thank you to everyone that has entered so far!  An extra special thank you to everyone who has blogged, twittered, emailed and basically got the word out for me.  You guys rock!  I will leave the entries open until the last moment that it's Tuesday any where in the world and I will post the winner as soon as possible after that (I will be contacting them individually too).

So today I will be sharing with you an early Crafty Gathering - the new weekly gathering I'm having here where only the best things to make hang out!

Powerline Mini Quilt by Meg Spaeth from the new book Whip Up Mini Quilts
by Kathreen Ricketson (creator of whipup.net)

Wooden Slot Animal from Made By Joel

Gorgeous Nursery with Lanterns & Pendant Light from Ashley Ann - Under the Sycamore (found via poppytalk)


Also you can now view a small selection of my work on BeeArt - my Turkish agent's website!  I can't even believe I'm saying that - hehehe!  This is a huge and exciting step for me (remember when I posted about it here?)  Now, I'm just waiting for the work to roll in ;)  There are some fantastic illustrators' work on the site so check it out if you are interested!

V
xo