whats up doc?

I just love this little green guy. Had to find props for a photography shoot, what better than a furry green rabbit. The chain I made last sememster. We were shooting our jewellery in a Digital Photography class....of course.

Twiggy

Some great graffiti in the windows of a building on Gawler Place in the city. Not sure if it's an empty building.....looks a bit like it. Fantastic use of windows. Just love Twiggy's dribbling eyeliner.

Butterfly Room

Singapore House, 203 Glen Osmond Road, Frewville, Adelaide.

Mr Rockstitch and I went out on a dinner date. We went to Singapore House, a relatively new restaurant in Adelaide. And in this restaurant is a room that one wall is full of these beautiful framed butterflies.

The decor is incredible. Stunning suspended lampshades, some look like birdcages. Taxidermy animal heads. Persian carpets. A dresser full of wonderful glasses and dinner sets. Truly truly amazing. So much to see.

Then the food.............a mixture of Chinese, Indian and Malaysian. Incredible. I can't wait to go back for more!

Week One of the school holidays.

Cupcakes for our picnic tomorrow.....iced by Cooper.



A stunning drawing by Max while we were travelling in the car. He does the most amazing detail illustrations.



And here he is. Max. Looking like a bit of a cool cat.



An awesome picture by Cooper.



I just love the Botanic Gardens in the Winter. Such a wonderful peaceful place.

The school holidays are going jolly well. Lots of trips to various skate parks. Karate Kid 2 on Friday - can it be as good as the first one? Nothing can beat the chop stick fly scenario. Train trip tomorrow with our good buddies, into the city, picnic in Rymil Park, via the groovey boutiques in Rundle Street, don't tell the kids!

Coffee Cup Necklace

I had a little scrap of sterling silver left over from another project and a little bit of extra time in the workshop, so I whipped up this baby.

After heating up and rolling out the silver, a little like pastry, to make the piece a bit bigger to fit the design. Cut it out with my jewellers saw. Drilled a hole for the handle to cup out the middle piece. Soldered on a bracket on the back to thread through the chain. Bit of sanding and tidying up the edges. Da dah!

The coffee cup is also going to be used on the medal, once I figure out the best way to make the ribbon detachable.

Finally!

I started crocheting grannie squares last winter (after lessons by the lovely Cathy at Brown Owls) Then summer came along and it was far too hot to crochet! Thankfully along came winter again and I could finish it. It's more a throw than a blanket.

Medal #2

While in the jewellery studio I snuck in a personal piece to make. The progression of my cross stitched medal brooche idea. This one is made with sterling silver and the bottom piece, which is actually the North Island of New Zealand (where I am from), is detachable. So you can wear the scroll as a brooche on it's own. The idea is to make different shapes to hang from the ribbon. I have an idea for another, so will pop it on as soon as I have made it!

Five Faves

Thought I would play along with Pip's Five Faves....

1. Groovy drawings by my eldest son Max.




My trusty Keep Cup. Perfect for travelling to school. Perfect for taking to footie games. Everyone who loves coffee or any kind of hot drink should have one.




3. Yes I am hooked on Masterchef, again! And now there is the magazine. Love it. Made 3 recipes in the weekend. The most scrumptious Apple Crumble. Pumpkin Gnocchi with Butter and Spinach - the most wonderfully light pillows of yumminess. Bruschetta with Proscuitto and Gremolata, and Pea and Pecorino and Garlic - enough said!


Image from Papercup

4. Just love this illustrator from New Zealand. And would just love one of these sweatshirts. Her name is Devon Smith and you can buy these from Papercup. Devons blog is here.




Image from www.annawilihighfield.com

5. The art of Anna-Wili Highfield. Stunning. She is a Sydney based artist and she makes incredible sculptures out of torn paper and copper pipe.

Journals and work in progress

Roman chain and journal work

I thought I would show you a little work in progress.

We are making chains in one of the jewellery classes and above is the start of a Roman Chain. It's weaving jump rings that have been squished. Which gets a little fiddly and it is really easy to loose your way if you don't concentrate.

Then there is the journal work on the right. For those who know me, this is the bit I love. Sticking bits here and there and making things look neat and tidy-ish. The kids at school think I am a nerd but they are a huge part at assessment time.

Mothers Day......a little late

Gifts for Granma


I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Truly spoilt. Woke to my boys with their cards. A present of magazines which I read in bed with my deelicious plate of scrambled eggs that my beloved made me. Stayed there for a couple of hours! Bliss.

Then he was back in the kitchen making scrummy things for a picnic down by the beach, in the sun! So nice.

And it didn't finish there. Gelati and coffee in Glenelg.

The best Mother's Day ever.

Cape of capes!

Wednesday was my day off of studying, so I had plenty of time to whip up a cape. I have been thinking about capes for ages and ages. Thought about knitting one but couldn't find a pattern and it would take weeks to make anyway. So off I went to Spotlight....joy. Though it kind of was joyful, most unusual.

Found the perfect pattern - New Look 6916. Found the perfect fabric which just happened to be on the sale table with an extra 50% off. Found the perfect cotton lining, looks like paisley but has skulls all over it.

Well the pattern wasn't 100% perfect. It didn't have a hood. And it had to have a hood. Took a few attempts at pattern making- doh! But it all worked out nicely.

Just needs to be a smidgen colder so I can wear it.

Lights

I wish I had thought of this. Aren't they the most beautiful light shades ever! They are made in Adelaide by a design company called Enoki.

love me love me not

Here are my "love me love me not" cherry blossom earrings. All ready for assessment next week. Phew. Now just have to make 3 other pairs of earrings.........

Softie Self Portrait

For another class - "Concept", our first Project is "The Creature Feature". We had to produce a hand-made "creature" as a form of self portrait or self expression.

Mine is all about juggling things so my creature has lots of arms. On the arms are bits and pieces like cooking utensils (all the cooking), tape measure (all the sewing), tattoo fabric (all the tattoos), handbag (all the handbags). Then sewn on are more snippets of me - moko (for NZ), green and blue eye (yes that's me!), couple of kids in my pocket.........(Max and Cooper) and not shown is a embroidered version of Mr Rockstitch who is on the back, and the whole thing is made out of pair of his old jeans.

It was heaps of fun. Wish I could show you all of the others from the class. Amazing stuff.

Final Pieces

It is almost assessment time for the first few jewellery projects. Week after Easter holidays and I am almost ready. Just a couple of pairs of earrings to create.

Above is my "Coathanger" pendant - funny that! I made it out of sterling silver and am really happy with it. Still has a few scratches on it.......so much sanding.




These two brooches are made out of brass. Sorry about the terrible pics - I can even see me in reflections! The shape was made using a perspex die and I had to come up with two variations from the same die. The bottom one, the base was made pressing a piece of lace into a softened piece of brass, then I soldered the two pieces together. Finally I have gotten over the fear of using solder!

Miss Gladys

I'm sure this is part of Fringe.....but I was wandering along Rundle Street yesterday and saw these marvellous pieces in the window of Miss Gladys. I should have really jotted down the names of the artistos...........but if you too are wandering along Rundle Street you could stop and check it out.

Second week at school....

So it's now almost the end of the second week of studying at TAFE. And I love it! Above and below are my second attempts at charcoal from my Drawing Foundation class. I'm rather pleased with myself. And can't wait to see how much I improve by the end of term.




And some really really exciting news, in another class called "Concept" our first project is "The Creature Feature". We have to produce a hand-made "creature" as a form of self-portrait. Couldn't be better!

Happy Valentine

Here is something I made for my valentine. I found an amazing box of alphabet stamps and away I went. The idea was somewhere on blogland, can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. But this is my version. A little bit wonky here and there...........was a little worried seeing my valentine is actually a gifted Art Director in advertising land. But thankfully he loves it.

One more sleep to my first school day. I'm a litte worried seeing I almost nodded off listening to everything at orientation. How the heck am I going to go in my first 4 hour lecture starting at 9am tomorrow?!!!!
H

Graffiti in Glenelg

We went for a wander along the esplanade at Glenelg and came across this great bit of stencil art. Very cool indeedy. Rock on Dr Who!

Vintage and Fashion Fair

So on Sunday I trotted off to North Adelaide to the Vintage & Fashion Fair. It's in a lovely old building called Estonian House.

There were lots of stalls of great bits and pieces. Buttons, hats, handbags, vintage patterns, scarfs, lots of jewellery and more. I was lucky enough to find this vintage fabric. A to Z in vegetables and fruit! Funny.

It's well worth a visit. They are happening the second and fourth Sundays every month. The next one being February 14th.