Monday 23 February 2009

Mail!

I'm so excited! I sent off my bulk order to the Lilmag zine distro today. My zines are going to be sold in Japan!

Yay!

Saturday 21 February 2009

Tragedies, Swaps and Cats

I don't really have too much to say right now. The bushfires were just horrible, and they've left me feeling very sad and helpless. I've been thinking a lot about how lucky I am to have a house, and the things in it, and all my family and friends. Work has been absolutely flat out too. Because I work for a Government department, we are directly involved with some aspects of the bushfire recovery. It has been very draining, and I come home from work every night exhausted. I'm not complaining though - it's been very satisfying to be able to help in some way.

I have managed to make a few things in the last week though. I made this fabric bookmark for a swap on Swap-bot. Yes, I know, I've been going on about that site a lot! But it's my current obsession, so just get used to it! =)

Fabric Felt Bookmark

Once again, I missed the point and made something a bit different to the specifications. It didn't really need to have all that embroidery and needle-felting. But I enjoyed making it anyway.

Then I started making some sewn Artist Trading Cards for another swap. There's also an embroidery on a bought pouch that I'm working on there, too:

My portable workspace

(ATCs are playing-card-sized pieces of art. They are exactly the same as ACEOs, but you use the term ATC when you are swapping them, and the term ACEO selling them. I gotta get the terminology right!)
I've been working on my stable table (which has a background of coffee beans embedded in it) because it seems to be easier than getting everything out and putting it away again every time I want to work on something. I don't have any free table space anyway. I'm much more inclined to do some work when it seems easy!

I think I prefer using felt rather than fabric for the backing of the ATCs as it doesn't need finishing around the edges. I have cut out a second piece of felt for each one as a backing, and I'll probably blanket stitch around the edge to finish them off as with the first one. I'm a bit stuck at the moment as to what to put on next. Perhaps I should plan them out next time? Today I was looking at the blog Dot's Life and Art for inspiration. She is a lady who lives in Melbourne and does the most amazing embroidered and beaded works. I really admire her creativity - and her patience! She has a full time job just like me, but she manages to make the most beautiful, detailed work that she must spend hours and hours on.

I have also been doing a bit of writing this week (though not on my zine, unfortunately!). I've done both creative writing and a biographical piece. I'm not going to share that as I'm not very confident with it yet. Plus it's kinda yawn-worthy on a craft blog.

I was mucking around with the camera this morning, and I took some shots of the cat being schmoozy on the windowsill. On their own they weren't too crash hot, so I found a photo editing website and made them into a collage:

Amy-La

I have more Fabric ATC swaps and a handmade bookmark swap coming up, so there'll be more of that next time, probably.
Take care everyone.

Sunday 8 February 2009

These Things Take Time


Leaves, originally uploaded by apartmentcat.

My photos from my trip to Japan are up on my Flickr account. I haven't edited or cropped them in any way, it's just tourist snaps all the way. It's made me think that I really should get on with finishing the zine I've been writing about the trip, before the memories and impressions fade. But my brain has been fading in the heat! And I've become obsessed with Swap-bot again. I've been spending most of my time working on a big swap which involves a lot of writing. I've also joined a few other smaller ones which involve writing and making things such as bookmarks, which feeds into my obsession with reading at the moment.

After having no orders in my shop in about 6 weeks, I've had 3 in the last week! One is a bulk order for my zines from Lilmag, a distribution site in Japan. (If you want to look at the site, it's mostly in Japanese, so take the address and stick it into Google Translate or something similar if you don't read Japanese!) I'm very excited about this! I don't have enough copies of my zines lying around, so I've been doing some research on where I can get copying done without paying a fortune or being looked funnily at. It's a tough gig!

Meanwhile, things are happening! The Sticky Institute's annual zine fair is on this coming week. They are having a project where anyone can just pop in and contribute throughout the week, and a big sale and events next Saturday. The first Brown Owls event for the year has been confirmed in a few weeks' time. Numbers are unlimited, but it's members-only, and seeing as I am a member, that means I should go, but I can't take Boy or anyone else with me! *gasps* But I feel that 2009 is a year of change, and I can either hide away in my cubby-hole or embrace it and get out there!

Sunday 1 February 2009

This....


Louise Just Knew that Her Soul Mate Was Out There Somewhere, She Just Hadn't Met Him Yet, originally uploaded by viviennestrauss.

This is the kind of embroidery I want to do!
How whimsical, how sweet, what a witty title! What composition, use of different stitches and materials! What a large amount it was sold for!

*sighs*

Of course, I can't do work exactly like hers, cause that would be cheating now, wouldn't it?
To be honest, I really don't like it when embroideries are presented on the hoop. To me they feel unfinished. I'm looking around for other options.

It's been too hot to do anything lately, even hold a book up to read at times. I've been doing a bit of 'head-crafting' (I just made that word up) where I spend time thinking up ideas or imagining that I'm making stuff. Sometimes, when I'm at work or in other situations where I have to be doing something else, I imagine that my hands are knitting or crocheting something. It can be almost as calming as the real thing. I hope that doesn't sound too pathological. Other times, like when it's 45oC, my brain won't even do that.

I have to write a zine by tomorrow. Crap.