Gina Garan Dolls

I had seen Blythe dolls in books and on products like badges and purses but it wasn’t until I went to Japan that I saw my first Blythe doll in real life. They were amazing and seemed to be everywhere I looked. I was tempted to buy one – but there was so much for me to spend my money on and in the end she lost out to the ridiculous amount of other things that caught my eye….and I can tell you the $800 in excess luggage they tried to sting me with at the airport put my negotiating skills to good use – I think I managed to halve it – but still what a shocker that was. Anyway I digress…..

A few years later I caught wind of some exciting news – the photographer Gina Garan, of This is Blythe fame, had designed ‘ginagirls’ in collaboration with the well-known Australian artist Christina Gordon.

I had to have one….and of course, I wanted them all – but that was ridiculous, for anyone that knows me….my life is already somewhat cluttered with the trinkets I have found in my travels, and if I adopted all the girls – well, where would they live? So, my husband being the lovely man he is – chose Nico (the ginger girl) and gave her to me for our second wedding anniversary.

She now hangs out on the mantelpiece (with lots of my other very special treasures) in the living room on her own custom made silver chaise lounge and recently has acquired, by way of a gift - a miniature Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck……..if you don’t mind. She is one stylish girl!

Handmade in Melbourne

Tonight is a very exciting night for me. I have been invited to the official launch of ‘Handmade in Melbourne’ - a guide to 200 of Melbourne’s fine artisans.

It celebrates all things handmade, and the passion of those who have made handmade their life’s work. I am lucky enough to be featured in this book and I feel honoured to be showcased alongside so many wonderfully talented people.

I also feel blessed to have been able to pursue my creative interests throughout my life. Using my hands to craft – whether it be a piece of furniture, the sewing of a scarf, the taking of a photo, the writing of my blog entries, the drawing of my designs – all of these pursuits and more truly make my heart sing. And when my heart is singing, I am happy.

Tonight is the bringing together of Melbourne’s creative heart. Well done to Geoff Slattery, the publisher for putting together such a fantastic guide.

Gaudi

I was first introduced to Antonio Gaudi in my History of Architecture class when I was studying Interior Design. His work belonged primarily to the Modernist style (Art Nouveau) and Gaudi was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs. I LOVED the undulating, organic curves in his work, the use of mosaics and the highly decorative style of his designs.

My Dad had recently been to Spain on holiday (and bought me a book on Gaudi as a gift)……he told me of seeing his work – I had to see it for myself. Years later – off I went to spend 7 weeks traveling the entire Spanish countryside. What an adventure! My favourite part of the trip would have to be the two weeks I spent in Barcelona – what a fantastic city and of course everywhere you look is Gaudi’s work. I was in heaven.

Two highlights I remember most are taking the photos above from the top of one of the towers at Sagrada Familia - the detail of the mosaic work is astounding considering that they are 170 metres high! And the hot summer night when I went to a Flamenco concert on the roof top of Casa Mila (La Pedrera) and sipped champagne and gazed across the city’s rooftops. The vibe was incredible. What an amazing man.

Frangelico

It was my 23rd birthday and I was out on the town with those nearest and dearest to me – whooping it up and generally partying until the wee hours - as I was prone to doing way back then…….when one of my dear mates Dru bought me a ‘birthday drink’ to celebrate. It was one of his favourites and I had never tried it…..needless to say from the moment I had my first sip – I was smitten…..a shot of Frangelico on ice with lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice. What a treat!

Apparently the origins of Frangelico date back more than 300 years to the existence of early Christian monks living in the hills of Northern Italy. It is made by crumbling up hazelnuts and combining them with cocoa and vanilla. What a heavenly nectar!

Fornasetti Faces

I can’t remember the first time I saw the face of Lina Cavalieri (a famous soprano who sang opposite the great tenor voices of the early 20th century in New York's Metropolitan Opera) but what I do remember is that I have never forgotten her face.

Neither did Piero Fornasetti (1913 - 1988) who I’m not sure ever met Cavalieri, but saw her face in a magazine, and apparently couldn't erase it from his mind. He just kept painting it - on no fewer than 500 of his design works.... my favourite of which are the plates – which at about $250 a pop stop me from having a wall of them…..instead I have this set of canvas’s that I picked up from a stall at the Shirt & Skirt Market years ago when it was in East St Kilda.

It was one of those moments where by from quite a distance away I spotted them and I was off….making a bee-line to claim them for my own. They now live on the mantle-piece in our living room and every time I walk into the room – Lina’s there, with her classic beauty and enigmatic smile.

Felt Beads

My love affair with felt beads started with a necklace that my husband bought me for my birthday a few years ago. It is in varying tones of pink and orange interspersed with gorgeous glass lampwork beads and has been much worn and loved and commented on.

There is something so tactile and delicious about felt beads – I love the shapes and the texture and of course the colour! When I make my heart-felt necklaces I hand knot (with ribbon) the individual felt beads along with some gorgeous resin beads I have found in my travels.

Here are the basics of how to make your own felt beads……

What you’ll need:
- A little carded wool (called wool roving or wool top)
- A bowl of warm water with a little dish soap added
- A towel to protect the surface your working on

1. Start by pulling a little piece of fleece from your roving.
2. Wind the wool in a little ball shape like you would with yarn. Try to wind it tightly to avoid creating wrinkles in the finished bead. Your bead will shrink during the felting process so you have to start with a bead slightly bigger.
3. Dip your dry ball in the warm water and start rolling it gently between your palms like you would with a clay ball. As the bead starts to felt you can add a little more pressure. When your bead is firm and felted, and has reached the size you want rinse it well in cold water and let it dry.
4. To make oval shaped beads, just roll the bead flat between your palms instead of in a circular motion.

Happy felting!

Empire Line Dresses

In an alternate reality, I would love to live a Pride & Prejudice life. A life where I could dress up (or be dressed) everyday in long swishy Empire Line dresses – made from the finest silks in the most delicate of colours. I would swan around my mansion, drinking tea, reading novels, playing the piano and hand sewing little embroidered hankies and the like.

Because (as I have previously confessed) I am short and pear shaped, I find Empire Line dresses to be very flattering, as they create the illusion of length and skim the body (or should I say hips…) in the loveliest way.

When I got married – I took the opportunity to work with a fabulous dress maker to realise my design. We chose the most beautiful pale pink silk and lined the dress with cream antique wedding kimono silk that I had been given in my twenties. The dress took on many of my favourite clothing design elements – a cross over top, an empire line, bell sleeves and generous layers of fabric.

We got married during the Winter Solstice in a dusk ceremony in the Sherbrooke forest in the Dandenong Ranges. It was absolutely freezing but such an amazing and quite theatrical ceremony and a perfect excuse for me to swan around in my Empire Line dress and play ‘lady’ for a night.

Dress ups

My Sister Kelly and I loved dressing up when we were kids and doing ‘performances’. Mum filled a basket with some of her old ‘pre baby’ cast offs – one of which was a very slinky, early 70’s halter neck mini dress with red, blue and gold stripes and a ruffle around the hem. Very Brazilian Mardi Gras or perhaps I should say 70’s disco, anyway that was definitely one of my favourites! I would love to know what happened to it!

I think life is in some ways like a big game of dress ups. Whether you are ‘dressing up’ to go for a night out on the town, or to a wedding or even just to go to work or to take the kids to the supermarket. Choosing and putting clothing on your body is the everyday ‘art’ of dress ups. When you don your ‘outfit’ you are choosing to present yourself to the world in a particular way (or fashion) and different outfits can allow you to behave in different ways or to feel different in or about yourself.

When I was in Tokyo I marveled at the girls who chose to dress themselves up as Manga like characters or Walt Disney meets Japanese punk rock characters – it was so ‘out-there’ and yet so refreshingly creative and brave. I admired them (and took photos of them!)

From the moment my daughter Kitty could walk and talk she has been a keen partaker of the big dress up basket I made for her. The thing I love about her dress ups is that she doesn’t hold back. Often she will come out in some amazing layered creation where she has a bit of everything on and sing me a song, tell me a story or just dance around. The photos above show just a small snippet of her fun dress up times and before I know it baby Milo will be joining in on the act! What fun to be had!

Dr Seuss

When I was 3 or 4 I absolutely LOVED Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss. I must have asked my Mother to read it 100 times. So many times that I learnt which words went with which pictures and memorized it. Then I told my Mother I could read and sat her down and read her the story from cover to cover. I think I tricked her for about 5 seconds – then she worked out what I had done. Still it was the beginning of my love affair with reading. I think I just devoured anything I could get my hands on when I was a girl but Dr Seuss has always remained a firm favourite…..even as a grown up!

Now that my daughter Kitty is 4 she is up to the same tricks I was and there is a particular Dr Seuss book she loves called ‘Oh the Thinks you can Think’. I think this is because in it there is a bit that says – ‘You can think about Kitty O’Sullivan Krauss in her big balloon swimming pool over her house.’ As I read the book she pretty well reads with me and when we get to ‘her’ page…well…she definitely knows that one off by heart!

Over the years my love of Dr Seuss has meant that aside from the books I have acquired since a child I also have Dr Seuss Board games (one of which my Dad gave me for my 25th Birthday!), Cat in the Hat toys, plates, cups, videos, dvds, stickers , puzzles…the list goes on and on! I love sharing Dr Seuss with my children. What a clever man he was!

Doll Houses

When I was a little girl we had a handyman called ‘Vick’ who used to come to the house to fix things. He would have been in his 70’s and was such a lovely man. While he was there ‘fixing’ he also made me a fantastic pair of stilts – which I absolutely loved, a guinea pig house for ‘Spike’ and a dolls house. It wasn’t a very fancy dolls house. Just four rooms and a pitched roof – but I LOVED it. When I think back though, it wasn’t so much the house that I loved – it was the decorating of the house, particularly the furnishings. Funnily enough as I grew up I studied not only interior design & decoration but also furniture design.

I painted and wallpapered that house and made little chests of drawers and beds from matchboxes, tables and chairs from toothpicks and corks, used scraps of carpet for the floor and raided Mum’s fabric stash for suitable curtain and bedding material. It was so much fun.

When I studied furniture design in particular – one of my favourite aspects was the making of mock ups or scale models of my furniture prototypes. There is something about ‘mini’ furniture that is so cute! Especially the designer classics you can get now. I’d love a mini Arne Jacobsen Egg chair – actually I’d love a big one too!

The photo above is by Canadian artist Heather Benning who transformed an abandoned farmhouse into a life-sized dollhouse. What a cool idea.

Anyway – all this talk of dolls houses is making me want one again. I have seen all these ridiculously expensive modern ones whilst searching for a good photo on Google and I’m all inspired……stay tuned – when I work out which one I want and where I’m going to put it – I’ll let you know!

Dinosaur Designs

My favourite shop in the whole wide world is Dinosaur Designs. Whenever I get a chance to pay them a visit I am like a kid in a candy store. The way they showcase their pieces in different colour groups really appeals to my sense of what is beautiful. I’d like a bit of everything and if I could I’d have a shrine set up in my studio showcasing their work….a place where I could sit and reflect on the direction of my own craft - I would surely be in heaven!

One of the reasons I think I am so inspired by their work is partly because they started off as craft market stallholders, molding their designs out of polymer clay and partly because they are well, just so bloody clever! There have been so many Dinosaur Design imitators over the years…but never have I once seen anything made from resin that can compare to the quality of design, texture or colour in their work. Also the fact that 25 plus years down the track with signature stores around Australia and their work sold in 40 countries around the world they still hand finish each piece. That is saying something.

Thankfully I have been lucky enough over the years to acquire a few pieces of my own…some as gifts and some I have splashed out and bought myself. These are mainly things that adorn my body but also some that decorate my home. If you ever have a chance to visit one of their stores I highly recommend making an afternoon of it.

Dark Chocolate

I have been excited about writing this week’s blog entry all week because – yep, you guessed it……I love dark chocolate!

As I sat down this afternoon to write - I received an email from my husband at work entitled ‘YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATHS’.

Well normally he and I come from pretty well the same school of thought on this one – we highly dislike (I won’t say hate) junk emails – so if we are going to send them on – we either had to laugh out loud ourselves or we had to think it was pretty clever and worthy of sending on. Anyway – I did this one as it was serendipitous to my topic and I must admit it is pretty cool……I never know how these things work though – must be a maths geek thing.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute.

Work this out as you read.

Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10).

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold).

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator!

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759........... If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number (i.e. how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are……..YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!)

Apparently - THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK.

Tell me if it doesn’t work for you!

Cyclamen

Last Sunday we had a beautiful Baby Blessing for our son Milo. We held it up in a place called the Dandenong Ranges which is about 1 hour from our house in the city.

We held it there partly because my in-laws (George & Joy) have a beautiful home and garden there where we could host the gathering but also because it is a totally magical place. I think if fairies were going to live anywhere – they would definitely live here.

George & Joy love gardening and hence have half an acre of the most beautiful meandering garden. Dotted all around where we set our stone circle for the blessing were miniature alpine cyclamens – just popping up through the autumn leaves. Absolutely stunning.

When Kitty was born – we were given a beautiful cyclamen plant and every year since, Sam has harvested the little seed pods and nurtured them into a new plant. We now have quite a number of pots of different coloured cyclamen that around this time are just starting to bloom.

Kitty and I believe that as the cyclamen flowers open a tiny cyclamen fairy is born. It is definitely one of my favourite times of year.

Cubby Houses

Cubby houses as a kid were something that I naturally built and created. Little homes or nests where I felt cocooned and safe. I had a good one under the balcony of my house – it was kind of dark, musty and a bit spider-webby but when I packed my little yellow school case with my belongings and left home (at the tender age of 6) this is where I went. I probably only stayed there for about an hour though before I got hungry and snuck back inside to raid the pantry.

Some of the other cubbies I remember were of course – ones built with sheets and blankets over tables or the backs of chairs. With lots of pillows and cushions inside to make it all snugly or the naturally occurring one I discovered in the tea-tree bushes along the coastline of Mt Martha Beach. I could ride my bike down and hang out in my little nature pad – I loved it.

There was one day though I remember going to visit the home of some family friends. The daughter was quite a few years older than me and out in the back garden of her house – she had a real cubby. From the moment I saw it – I was enchanted. It was like a real little house. With a front door, glass windows that opened, curtains, mini furniture, a sink, tea sets and toy food and wait for it…I think it even had power – and a functioning light switch! I absolutely LOVED that cubby and I just thought she was the luckiest girl I had ever met. It was definitely a case of cubby envy.

When I was looking for a good cubby photo – I came across this one, which I thought was pretty special. As an adult I have no hesitation in saying that I am attracted to living in a tree house and would seriously consider doing so – well…perhaps in an alternate reality (one where I didn’t have quite so many belongings!). It is kind of amazing don’t you think….the ultimate of cubbies but with the added bonus of being a tree house. I’d love to have an afternoon or two there, playing house with my daughter Kitty and drinking unlimited cups of smartie tea (milk with smarties stirred in) and eating the chocolate brownies my Mum used to make.

Crochet

The art of crochet or should I say ‘craft’ of crochet has always fascinated me. When it is done well – it is truly amazing I think.

As a girl my mother always knitted….she could knit the most complicated stitches whilst watching tv – it was incredible, and also for a period of time (in the 70’s) was very skilled at Macramé. The whole family wore her fancy knits and the house was adorned in amazing beaded macramé wall hangings and decorative owls.

So…having told you this…you’d think that I too would possess these skills….but ohh… no…not me…..

I cannot crochet, I cannot knit and I cannot macramé. And it is not for want of desire to or trying. You see it’s all in the tension. My tension is tight. I have been taught how to crochet and knit at least ½ dozen times over my life and it always ends in tears.

I start out on a positive note, but just when my project seems to be going along nicely –somewhere from deep within, I doubt myself and my tension tightens and then well, its all downhill from there…..

Therefore, I can really, really appreciate the ‘fine art’ of crochet when I see it and the example above (for my apple collection) is a fantastic piece, spotted by my husband at the Maribyrnong Makers Market on the week-end. Crocheted by the very talented Rosalinda Casamento – who gets a gold star from me for executing her skill so well.

Creeks

Well, I have spent a good part of the last week trying to find a suitable photo for this week’s - Creek entry. Actually I like the sound of that…Creek Week, but it’s Creek Week and I have no photo!

It’s because I have in my mind so many special memories of playing in the creek near our house as a kid – that I wanted an actual photo of the creek – or of the creek I can see in my memory. In real life I think the creek is actually called Balcombe Creek.

I grew up in what used to be a little seaside village on the Mornington Peninsula – called Mt Martha. Now I think it’s some fancy pants suburb but back when I was a kid it was paddocks and cows (& the odd scary bull), magpies that swooped you on the way to school, field mushrooms as big as dinner plates, heaps of pine cones that we would collect and burn in the open fire, dirt roads, going to play with my little kindy friend Ella under the big Pine tree in the paddock that separated our houses, lighting fires in the driveway (ok…I only did that once and I was testing out my ‘newly learnt’ girl guide building a camp fire skills), feeding the horses after school, fanging round on my bike with my pink or was it yellow? Stackhat (remember those? What a great name – ‘Stackhat’) anyway I digress. This entry is supposed to be about creeks and how they make my heart sing …..so…the photos above I’m sorry will have to paint the picture for you on my love of creeks.

The walking track photo was taken at the summit of Mt Martha and reminds me of the bush I used to spend hours exploring (now I think back – I would disappear for almost a whole day and my mother would never know where I was – but now I am a mother – my daughter Kitty isn’t even allowed to play in the front yard by herself….mmmm, how times have changed or is it just where we live?).

Anyway the other photo is of me – aged about 8 or 9 I think. The one thing that really struck me about it – was that I have no shoes on and really dirty feet – sums up nicely the fun I had as a kid I think. Poor Kitty is not even allowed to walk outside without shoes on…..makes me want to bundle her up, take her to the bush (somewhere with a big beautiful creek), take her shoes off and splash!

Craft Markets

I have always loved craft markets. As a girl my parents took me to the Red Hill market and over the years I have been to countless markets as a visitor and in the last few years as a stallholder.

About four years ago I had an idea to start a local craft market in the small suburb of Seddon where I live. I had met many talented local artists and craftspeople who were all looking for an outlet to sell and showcase their work and I too wanted that opportunity for myself – close to home.

By networking within the community and meeting like-minded individuals – eventually after about two years of talking about it to anyone who would listen - the Maribyrnong Makers Market (MMM) was born.

Now up and running and in its second year – the MMM has become a fantastic quarterly ‘must come to’ event. Run by a Committee of dedicated volunteers – the MMM is a not for profit community based craft market which showcases the beautiful and high quality work of our local crafts people and artists.

Each market as I finish setting up my stall – I whip around to marvel at all the beautiful things our stallholders have been crafting…..what a clever bunch of people!

The next market is on

Saturday 2 May - 10am to 3pm
Seddon Uniting Church Hall
Cnr Gamon & Mackay Sts
Seddon - Mel Ref 42 A7

I’d love to see you there!

More information on the market can be obtained from our website www.maribyrnongmakersmarket.com.au

Colour

When I was 11 my mother did a make-over on my room. We were allowed to pick any paint colour we liked and then she bought us some coordinated bed linen. My sister picked mauve and I chose yellow. A really sunny, vibrant, warm yellow.

I loved it when I got home from school and the afternoon sun would stream in my windows and my walls would glow. I was happy in that yellow room. I think one of the reasons I chose yellow was because at my dear friend Ella’s house down the road – her Mother had decorated their sun-room in yellow. There were big opulent sofas with feather cushions covered in bright marrimekko fabric and the most gorgeous Mirka Mora paintings on the wall…I’ll never forget that room. We weren’t really allowed to play in there but we did – and I loved it.

I think that this time in my life was the true beginning of my love affair with colour. I dressed myself in all sorts of wonderful colours (modelled on Punky Brewster & Cyndi Lauper) and decided that I wanted to be a fashion designer when I grew up.

The photo above shows my colour cube – which was a puzzle I found at the National Geographic shop. It was pretty tricky to put together and now lives in my studio. It’s quite sculptural I think and reminds me of the way I put my scarves together - in that they are squares of colour in tints and shades of one hue. Colour definitely makes my heart sing!

Coffee first thing in the morning

As soon as is humanly possible I have a cup of coffee when I get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes if I am lucky enough I have one in bed without having to leave the bed to make it….what a treat!

Since I have had children this is a very rare occasion. Usually – everyone in the house gets fed (including the cats) and then I get to sit down and have one. My husband (god love him) usually makes me a stove top espresso (I only drink real coffee…so no instant in this house!).

When he made me the one above this morning…..I whipped it away for a quick photo before I had a taste. When I eventually got to it – it was deliciously creamy and perfectly made. What a great start to my morning. Thanks love.

On the week-ends we often go out to a local café for breakfast (we are spoilt for choice here in Seddon) and I have noticed that they have all perfected the art of getting your coffee to you straight away before you have ordered your meal……got to love the fact that they know without coffee in your system your brain has trouble functioning enough to read the menu. It’s like a reward for just making it to the café in one piece! Skinny latte with one sugar thanks….ahhhh…..heaven!

Champagne

Give me any excuse to crack a bottle of sparkling and I’ll be there with bells on. The anticipation and sound of the cork popping and the celebratory nature of this special nectar - make it a true favourite of mine.

When I think back over all the special moments in my life – champagne has been there to help me celebrate - graduating from study, getting engaged and then married, the birth of my children, celebrating a house warming……all these special moments that make up my story.

There’s also the memory of partying till the wee hours with girlfriends – glass of champers in hand, popping a bottle on a Friday night at home on the couch to celebrate the end of the working week, raising a glass to toast a dear friend or loved one at birthdays and weddings, celebrating those special family get togethers like Christmas and just opening a bottle for no reason other then pure enjoyment.

One of my all time favourite gifts from a dear friend was a 6 pack of Moet & Chandon Piccolos. What an absolute treat! There was just enough in each bottle to have two glasses, so perfect for sharing with someone special. They were savoured and shared and loved. Let’s raise our glass and toast – to happy memories and good times! Cheers!