SHOW OF THE WEEK

Walk the Line

Earlier this year Ramona had a little show at Imp Gallery above Greville St Bookstore. Well Imp are hosting a big christmas group show we they've invited exhibitors back to contribute one drawing each in the hopes that Santa will pick some up for delivery over the present giving season. This is her drawing - Pilgrims. She's pretty sure they mean something, not sure what. Show has opened and runs through December. You can pop in between Wed-Sat...

Market of the week

Having been washed out two weeks in a row we have our fingers crossed for the three thousand crowd that sunny skies will shine upon their enterprise - mainly because we want to take adavntage of the bargains from the genius hands of Iggy and Lou Lou (hello Irene), the lovely Emma Grace, and Johnny Benchpress who make the BEST tracky daks EVA.

So if the gods are smiling it should all happen this Friday from 11-4 atop curtain house
(that building where Cookie is, in Swanston, opposite Lounge, above Metropolis...)

Craft find of the week

Kick Ass Craft

In a sub genre chock-full of vinyl and plush Mike Burnett makes amazing handcrafted wooden toys... really amazing and we love him for it.

It's pieces like this Bruce Lee "one inch punch" figurine and the ghetto fabulous number from the Pimps Hoes and Johns collection above that so endear him to us - that and the fact that he is a self described tinkerer.

He created the Do-It-Yourself wooden figure for the brilliant NeighborWOOD show (held in Portland USA 2006), in which he crafted 50 figures and sent them out to a select group of artists worldwide to custom finish. A superbly simple idea which beautifully crafted results. Beck drooled wistfully over it for moths, wishing that the bloody thing would some day be available here in Australia for everyday peeps with itchy fingers, model paints and triple zero brushes to have a crack at. However, as she is want to do, she'd forgot all about it until Ramona started up her Christmas inspired wood craftin' frenzy. And so the longing began anew, but this time she was a little more pro-active - and after a wee bit of google research discovered that Bigshot Toyworks have managed to get it up as a retail product.

Guess what she's asking Santa to fill her stocking with?

Christmas gift of the week

hot stuff Good to get back to some textiley presents. This one is for the lovely Miss S - who works very hard as a social worker looking after alzheimers patients and their families. At the end of the day she likes to curl up with a good book or bbc series on the box and a hot water bottle. So despite Christmas being summer she is now getting this fancy pants quilted cover...

complete with home made bias binding trim ties - thanks to Pene for coming to the rescue with bias maker and very clear instructions for the remedial seamstress!

Book of the week

bitchin' stitchin'...

oh yes people its a hip hip hooray kind of day because another Amazon delivery has arrived in the backyard in no less than a US postal service mailbag, which is so amazingly cool and Newmanesque we'll have find some king of crafty use for it in the not too distant future.

However, in the meantime it's all about silver threads and golden needles for finally we have a copy of the ever fabulous Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching in our hot little hands . We especially love a spiral bound craft book - they just scream sensible, easy to finish project idea. Thankfully this is no exception - easy on the rhetoric and heavy on the stitch learnin' - just the way we like it.

The generous Ms Hart (that's her above working those crewel hardened callouses) and her publishers even provide hundreds of easy iron on transfers as part of the package - excellent for both beginner and the more accomplished among us that might be having trouble coming up with that special something for theose difficult to craft for members of the family...

With that in mind we thought these music inspired ties would be especially appropriate for both the twang crazy historian and the in-house dj... and lets face it's the closest either of them is gonna get to a Nudie Suit this Christmas...

Christmas gift of the week

oink!
Christmas making continues this week as Ramona is left twiddling her thumbs for the now late baby (why are guys always late?) A bit more handpainted wood - nice to not have every gift textile based for once! Up top is a roly poly doll for a little glamour girl called Poppy - so it should have been painted red, doh! nevermind. when you tip the doll there is a lovely deep bell sound...

The Pig money box is for an excellent grown up artist who's porky illustrations ended up gracing the pages of book this year (very exciting). Both gifts have been waxed rather than varnished. The furniture wax dries very hard, smells nice and gives the wood a nice sheen.

Show of the week

howdy partners

We know how insanely busy it is at the moment, and we know we've already foisted a market on you as a MUST SEE but we just couldn't let this one pass you by. We love a collaboration, and a kick-ass creative partnership even more so, as you can imagine we were very pleased to hear that one of our favourite duo's (and fellow bloggers) are currently in town showcasing some of their work at one of our favourite shop/gallerys in Melbourne: Outré.

Lab Partners are a San Franciscan based design/ illustration duo made up of Sarah Labieniec and Ryan Meis having originally met in art school they decided to fly the coop and head for the west coast (sigh) to set up shop. Inspired by nature, quirky narratives and their animal companions (just like us) they work together as a means of sharing and exploring their common loves.

They say of their latest show..."Hunt & Gather is a series of works drawn from a mishmash of experiences at flea markets. To us, the flea is a festive event, one filled with both delightful curiosities and people. There is something tantalizing about arriving at a market with the hope that you might uncover some hidden gem amongst the endless rows of objects from the past. It is this fascination of a time far gone and the thrill of the hunt that draws us (and undoubtedly others) to continually return." Well we could hardly argue with that!

Hunt & Gather will be on show at Outré's Melbourne City store in Elizabeth street all through November - one of their prints would make a knockout Christmas presents (hint hint Mr. Architect) so get in early!