craft

Valentines for strangers

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Under the cover of almost-darkness, the dog and I went for a walk down one of Melbourne’s many laneways last night and left behind some little inspirational love-notes for strangers. Because maybe just maybe, the RIGHT words will be seen by the RIGHT person, just when they need them the most. The neighbour’s cat was…

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Make this – snail mail concertina pockets

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This is a really simple way to create a little concertina of pockets in which to place gifts for pen pals. To make them, you just attach the top of one envelope to the base of another, to create a kind of concertina filled with snail-mail surprises. I first saw it on Pinterest and I…

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Melbourne Dispatch – Valerie Restarick of North Carlton Ceramics

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I liked ceramicist and sculptor Valerie Restarick immediately, when she didn’t want to sell me the beautiful stoneware bowl that was proudly displayed in her little studio-shop. “Are you sure?” she asked, hugging the bowl tightly to her belly. “Have you seen the price?” The price was actually quite reasonable. Admittedly it was 100 percent…

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Handmade Halloween tea-treats

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On the spectrum from trick to treat, I’m hoping these friendly little handmade Halloween tea-spooks definitely fall on the treat side. Next year, maybe I’ll get my act together and pair them with some skeleton gingerbread men. Or gingerbread cats. Or something. This year, I packaged them up with yellow craft paper and posted them…

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Textile artist Jacqueline Fink on the creative process

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“My work is as much a physical feat of endurance as much as it is a loving creative respite.” ~ Jacqueline Fink Jacqueline Fink is a knitter, and some. She is also a crafter, a dreamer, and an artist. And a mother. Jacqueline learned to knit, like so many others, from her own mother. She…

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Hello and links on Monday

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Scenes from my house. How was your weekend? Mine was pretty simple. I worked most of Saturday, while Mr B played with the kids. They did painting and went to the park and baked chocolate pudding and generally had a great time letting nutrition and nap times go to seed. I got my hair done…

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13 ways to reignite your creative mojo

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The journey of the days and weeks deep and then deeper again into the winter season feels like a deliberate grinding down. A forcible slowing, as primal as hibernation. It starts on the first morning you realise you’re getting up in the dark, and that night blankets the streets outside before the kitchen fires up…

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How to create a winter woodland picnic party

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When I carried Madeleine into her playroom at 6.30 on the morning of her second birthday party she breathed “The park!” in wide-eyed wonder. I put her little sock-feet down on the grass where she was used to feeling floor-boards and she slowly spun around, taking in my dodgily-drawn toadstools, wonky painted fir trees and…

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Subdued, happy

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Subdued but happy describes the mood around here today. We are all in post-party fallout mode, after Madeleine had not one but two big birthday parties in a row on the weekend, followed by another mini-party this morning since it was her actual birthday and her Nanna and Pa were leaving to go back to…

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Easy gift to make: tea stamps

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How have these early days of winter been treating you? I have been getting out of the house as much as I can, because I know that when things get really cold and wet we will all be trapped indoors. The other day I pushed the pram more than seven kilometres in the rain to…

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Easy “woodland picnic” party invitations

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I always think it’s nice at a party, even a little one, to give your guests one “wow factor” to make them feel special. It doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive, just something that looks a bit extravagant, so they think “Wow, I’m excited to be here.” It might be a rainbow curtain of…

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Favourite things – sweet treats

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In my home, sleep deprivation and general exhaustion breed sugar cravings. We know it’s not good for us, but Mr B and I are both guilty of over-indulging on the sugar front when the world around us just won’t stop. (Even at 2am. And 3. And again at 5. Stop already, world!) It’s not even…

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