textile art

The best day of the year

| poppypeach

My favourite day of the year was yesterday – Halloween! I love the dressing up and pumpkins, spending time with friends and wandering the streets at night checking out the decorations. These pumpkins were made by the kids and my pumpkin was made with a power drill and a spade drill bit to get big circles – if I had more time I would have been more creative with it but still, it was a great experience to power drill a pumpkin!

My daughter has been enjoying Halloween with her friend each year where their house is fully decked out with lights and even a projector playing Thriller and Can’t Stop the Feeling on rotation which was so much fun as the kids got candy to dance! We stayed up till 8:45pm, and I said to the kids, now is the time for bed put all of their haul of candy away until tomorrow. Two different neighbourhoods yield a fair amount of candy that my son is trading in for something fun, like a Beyblade!

Sunday was so much fun with catching up with my peeps from FabMo at their annual Textile Art Boutique! This year I could not be a vendor as I have a full-time job in the classroom, so I was there as a buyer and found some beautiful pieces to take home. I really enjoyed the Japanese artisans, and a couple of booths caught my eye with Sarah from The Folly Garden who made these fantastic fabric flowers that I could not resist decorating the lounge room. I only bought a leaf and a flower but the colours and fabrics were just beautiful, and I really loved her work as I am drawn to colour just like a pollinator. Next door was the beautiful spirit Miko Kami dolls by Bahira where every doll is one of a kind. I planned to be at the boutique for just one hour and ended up staying close to three hours as I had so many friends to catch up with, it was wonderful to be with my textile loving friends!

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Finally I finished sewing all my feathers onto my owl costume and wore it to work on Hallloween. The outfit was inspired by Eva from the Owl Diaries book series where she is a creative little owl who hangs out with her pet bat and enjoys her time at school. The teaching staff wanted to tap into our inner superhero, so my owl cape/wings channelled “my inner wisdom and creativity” – quoted by teacher Marla.

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Halloween evening we hung out at this house and danced and wandered the streets with the kids to do their Trick or Treating – it was the perfect night to be out and about.

A favourite pumpkin carving I found was this little Japanese ghoul when we took the kids to the houses in my friend’s neighbourhood. Here is the gang of kiddos in their costumes a skeleton pirate, a phoenix, Happy from Fairy Tale, a grim reaper and a skeleton (their family theme of Jack and Sally from the film The Nightmare before Christmas).

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Today we experienced a Day of the Dead celebration/presentation at school with our Spanish teacher sharing her tradition of the altar where the kids helped with decorating and we learned about honouring relatives that have passed on. Plus one of my favourite animated films ‘The Book of Life’ explains this tradition with such humour and colour including the Radiohead classic ‘Creep’.

Now I had better rest to get through the week, so I can watch more episodes of Stranger Things!

The week of wearing many hats

| poppypeach

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The week finally came for the Textile Art Boutique and it was time to put on my retail hat and sell my stock inventory at my booth. Unfortunately for me the lack of people visiting the show this year was down 300 from 900 last year and I had to reconfigure my booth at the last minute which made me practically invisible at the show.

I really needed to be in a different location where I could display my rack without getting in the way of my neighbors – live and learn and I know for what to request for next year! Whether I will be making clothes is another thing? I really enjoy making and sharing my fun pieces but I really am in the wrong area to sell fashion – my ideal market is most likely Los Angeles or San Francisco where people are willing to dress up a bit more rather than wearing their exercise clothes everywhere they go! Still I am here in the suburbs and for now, I enjoy making what I would like to wear and I enjoy sharing these fun pieces. So on with the show and let me critique my booth below…

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For one the way the booth is aligned means people have to walk into the space to check out my wares, according to a fellow artist at the show. She mentioned she used this configuration and it is intimidating for a lot of people to walk into a booth to look and I certainly did feel that way when I was knitting away and watching the crowd go by. Being at the back of my booth behind my stock was another problem as I could not really engage in conversation. When I stood up to chat people got frightened and left – I think I wandered too deep into their personal space barrier! I find that I can talk to anyone, this is from experience as a freelancer coupled with my personality but from where I was in my booth I hardly engaged with the customers. The customers would just look at my sunglasses pouch, check out how it worked and walk off. Another problem was that on either side of me the displays of the booth were huge with using massive room divider screens to display their fabric canvases and cards on one side and on the other side lots of wooden risers to display stuffed animals and 3D textile pieces so my booth just got lost as people wandered by. Lessons learned from this year is to streamline my product line and work on my display at home before I head to the show.

Now to put on my teacher’s hat for the Halloween Goodie Bag workshop at the Mountain View Public Library. We now have a total of 8 machines for the libraries drop in sewing on Saturdays and for the Sew Sew with FabMo classes that I teach. We had about 13 students in this beginner class last Tuesday. The class made a goodie bag for Halloween from four 8″ squares and a felt stencil of a Halloween image. The class went for 2.5 hours until the library closed as some folks really enjoyed detailing their stencils. I really enjoy seeing what people create when they come to my classes, how they take my tutorial and customize it. November 15 will be the next workshop with an infinity scarf made from stretch fabric to take home all compliments of FabMo for the fabric and Friends of the Library for the machines, thread, and supplies.

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On Wednesday I took a small break and went to the hairdresser for a mom’s time out and used the Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink this time to dye my hair and I just love it! It is so vibrant on the lighter parts of my hair (the gray) and it takes so well! I love how I can change the color of my hair so often with such fun colors – I wish I knew about Manic Panic years ago as it is Vegan and a Semi Permanent!

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Sunday I put on my helmet and got on my red bicycle for a ride early in the morning. There was quite a chill in the morning with the added bonus of the trail being very quiet. I had planned on just doing my usual 30-minute ride up and down the trail but then I decided I would try and find a way to the middle school from the trail. I hopped off the trail at Crittenden right next door to one of the Google buildings and I spied this cool sculpture so I had to stop and check it out. I found the plaque and it read ‘Cast Bronze Horse – Deborah Butterfield May 2001’ and underneath it read ‘A Gift to the People of Mountain View From SGI’. SGI would have been in their heyday back then before Google had taken over the Shoreline area and I think the building (where Google is now) would have been the one my husband visited when he came to the Valley many years ago when he was working for SGI. And as my MIL mentioned, there is one of these sculptures in the lobby of the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford – I knew I had seen this before but I could not remember where.

So the week ended on a beautiful 1-hour bike ride and all was good again. I just finished Missy’s Halloween Poo Emoji costume yesterday for Trunk or Treat this Friday! With Halloween this weekend it is very exciting!

Now to wear my student hat to get to studying as my classes start November 6th, for my Bachelor of Education so I can teach when we return to Australia in a couple of years. At least it is inside weather now and I can hang out at the library and study!

The Grand Finalé

| poppypeach

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The time has finally come with 3 days to the show I have been working towards. My inventory of stock has finally come together! This weekend is the FabMo Textile Art Boutique from 10am to 4pm at the Elks Lodge in Palo Alto. I finally completed my final piece for the day of the show which is a dress made from the cascades of colored fabric I have collected over time which I made into the skirt for the dress. As well the bodice is fabric that I found at FabMo – I love how it turned out and the skirt is a lot of fun to wear as I puffed up the hem with gathers to enhance the differences in the fabric.

My last few garments have been completed somewhat slowly in the last couple of weeks with little bits of time here and there and I finally made all the pieces that I have cut out ready to be sewn. The shift dress in the 1960s green and orange fabric has terrific hanger appeal and is very fun to wear – fancy a bloody mary anyone? The checked yoga PJs are super comfortable to wear and the feel of the fabric is wonderful, I am sure they will find a good home with someone. I know I used my fox yoga PJs all throughout my Australia holiday in the winter mornings doing my yoga sessions.

 

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Close up of the skirt above – I love the detail in this fabric

 

I found this velvet collection of cascades on my last visit to FabMo and it makes an amazing looking huge tote with denim straps – it is a mix of the luxurious and the utilitarian that will hold a heck load of stuff!

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As much as I would like to make more denim totes this is the last one as time is fleeting away and I think I have a lot in my collection and I need to have room on my table too! This beautiful butterfly fabric worked so well with this final bag for the show.

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So anyone in the Bay Area who is wanting to check out an inspiring textile show head on over to the FabMo Textile Art Boutique this Saturday, October 22, 2016 – hopefully I will see some of you there. I am looking forward to presenting my ‘Traveling Not So Light’ range inspired by my 8 weeks of travels and coming home to my sewing room.

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Something borrowed, something new

| poppypeach

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I found this interesting info about camping in a book from my daughter’s classroom when I was waiting to go home from school. This is what we enjoyed for my husband’s birthday over the weekend. Friends from our school organized this trip to Memorial Park near Pescadero, in the summer and we thought what a lovely way to spend a birthday weekend under the redwoods! Yes, I can say camping is quite relaxing though the preparation and organizing for a night out in the woods can be quite demanding especially after a big week!

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A banana slug found by the creek where we were hanging out and relaxing after a big week. Hopefully, this guy found some tasty foliage and was kept out of harm’s way!

The week started out with my monthly program at the Mountain View Public Library with Sew Sew with FabMo. I am the FabMo representative who creates little take home projects working with FabMo fabric from interior designers and smaller textile design companies that would otherwise end up in the landfill. I had a class of 8 people who enjoyed making embroidered cuffs – a cuff is a bracelet with a snap to hold it together and we go through the process of sewing a front and back, sewing a snap and embellishing the fabric and then sewing the whole cuff together. I have a link to the tutorial on this blog if you want to try your hand at sewing one. Everyone is so happy when they leave with something that they made themselves and very thankful for the class, so it is a joy to volunteer to teach something that I really love.

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Another side project I am enjoying with my Italian friend Cristiana from Pebble and Fire is an Art Play every 2 weeks sharing our skills. We visit each other and work together, have lunch and finish a project. Our first project was a ceramic pinch pot that Cristiana helped me create – it is a geometric salt cellar. It was so fun to create and learn new skills in ceramics that I may have missed when I went to the adult education classes. Cristiana is super skilled at hand building I love her style, so it is such a treat.

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And this week we worked upstairs in my sewing room and Cristiana wanted to make a pillow case so I made her the pattern and we did some applique and made an envelope backed pillow cover. It looks just lovely on her couch and the little whale is made from denim and we embellished the heart from the red fabric we used on the back. It was so much fun to see my friend enjoy sewing as last time we went sewing together it was at an Etsy event in San Jose making lunch bags which was easy for me but not so for Cristiana. At least, this time when we worked together it was a bit more relaxing. I am looking forward to our next project together and it is such a great thing to do to learn something new and spend some time out of the usual.

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In between, I have also been preparing work for the FabMo Textile Art Boutique that I am working towards. Here is another denim tote I have made using some beautiful linen I found at FabMo. I also made completed the sunglass pouches I worked on last week and made 3 skirts from stretch fabric – whew that inventory is coming along nicely!

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Today I worked with the kids at school helping them choose colours for their cubby project where they are making an art installation using fabric I found at FabMo. They are staining the wood with a 1 part acrylic paint and 2 parts water where the wood absorbs the colour and creates a translucent effect with the wood grain. I love it and cannot wait to see the finished installation in the classroom.

A piece a Week – Halloween Costume inspired by the Renaissance

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This week was all hands on deck to get everything done for my craft show. At least I only had one child to take care of as my eldest was in Science Camp for the week! As it turned out I had the time on minimum day to get a Halloween costume started for Missy. I let her loose in my craft room and she found two totally different florals that work together quite well. The idea for this costume comes from the renaissance fair and all the ladies there in their fine Victorian garb. I found a great tutorial online for the bodice and ended up making the skirt a circle skirt as the fabric on the skirt had such excellent drape that it cried out to be spun around. 
To me the outfit looks more Harajuku Girl  in Japan (not the Gwen Stefani kind!) check out the link for inspiration with the way they mix and match the patterns on their high fashion outfits. Still Missy loves it and has found the right shoes and tights to match the outfit – we worked together to make it happen and she was so excited to wear it! We went on down the park for a photo shoot and got some excellent pics of the outfit though Missy is looking way too serious in these pics 😉

The dress with the added apron on the front

Miss Harajuku

The big circle skirt with a ribbon down the center

Fun with the umbrella in light and shade

Swirling around in an action shot
So it was Sunday I wrapped up the costume as I had some free time to play and not concentrate on inventory! 
And on Saturday from 8:30am to 4:30pm I was at the FabMo Textile Art Boutique selling my ‘Urban Bicycling’ collection. I have to say that the show was an absolute success with 350 people coming through in the first hour and a half. I had a breather to eat lunch at my booth but afterwards it was all go, go, go. I spoke to so many people and got many wonderful comments such as you are very creative, the tulle skirt is just like Carrie from Sex and the City, you know what to do with this fabric (a lot of FabMo folks were inspired to make skirts with their fabric finds), you have such talent, the skirts remind me of Desigual a label from Spain (which was awesome to hear!) and gave out 21 business cards plus half my stock sold – I would say that the show was my best and I loved making the pieces for the show and it has given me faith that this is what I was meant to be doing all along!
My booth in the morning with all the stock ready to go – my $50 A line bedazzled skirt went to a lady who loved it!

A piece a week – a Dress for the Show, My Collection of Pieces and a Ceramic Birdbath

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I cannot believe that the time has come for the show and it is this weekend! I wanted to whip up a tunic for the show and I have used a pattern that I made a favorite summer dress thought this time I added sleeves. The silhouette pattern is from FabMo fabric and the black and gold fabric throughout was a fabric in my stash. I love the way it turned out and it may be a bit short so I think it will be a tunic with some skinny jeans. 
Fabric that inspired the tunic
Back of the dress with brown and white
Here is my collection for the show this year in video…
To other forms of creation that I am exploring this year – ceramics. I made this little bird bath for a garden decoration – I hope they like it!
Sitting in the succulent garden

A piece a Week – A hat for the Walkathon and Party Time!

| poppypeach
Wonderfully amazing week last week with so much going on! Volunteer hours at school have started, it was the walkathon plus it was Ash’s 9th birthday! I had to make date snacks for the class as a party snack as well – whew! So much going on, though we got through and had a great weekend to top it all off with a Lego party with Andrew from Playwell Teknologies who came and entertained the kids with ideas for Lego using a 9V motor and catapults – super fun! The kids had a blast and the adults enjoyed some relaxation in the garden with some beers and wine – an excellent party all around. 
My walkathon hat – excellent for a vacay, say when???
Date bars – DIY Lara Bars, perfect for a walkathon snack! 

How many laps do I have to walk??
Lap 13 – time for an otter pop!!
The prize shirts for the K&1st grade kids who walked 50 laps or the 2nd to 5th who walked 75 = 15 miles

 The idea for the cake was something low key as I did now have the bandwidth to make a super special cake from scratch. Ash wanted marble cupcakes so it was the Whole Wheat Vanilla Pound Cake recipe to the rescue with a swirl of melted chocolate throughout to give the cake the marble effect. Friday night I baked 36 cupcakes for the party so I could ice them Saturday morning for the afternoon party!

Lego dudes taking a bath before they land on a cupcake whirlpool!
Cupcakes waiting for the guests to arrive

Everything is awesome! The birthday boy on his special day 🙂

Minecraft guys ready to be catapulted

Happy 9th!
Oh and also last week I had a few pieces to wind up for the inventory for the FabMo Textile Art Boutique – little details like finding vintage buttons to go with the super interesting quilt from the quilt top I am using in the collection this year entitled ‘Quilted Style’. This is a detail from a X-body Small Purse. 
Found this super cute button in my stash! 

A piece a Week – More pieces for the Textile Art Boutique and checking out some Skulls at the Cal Academy

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Another week flew by and I managed to complete a couple of bags in the minimal time I had available. I think because I had so many meetings last week that the week seems like a bit of a blur! The highlight was having our neighbors over for dinner on Saturday night – we can still enjoy the outside with some candle light and good food and wine until it gets cooler. We had a roasted vegetable quiche with salad (bought over by our neighbor, oh so good) and for the kids they had roasted pepper and cherry tomato with cheese tart – it had a crispy crust and was just like thin crust pizza. And for dessert we had an amazing strawberry and rose water ice cream – inspired by this recipe. I used a whole tin of coconut milk and a big splash of rosewater, oh my what an addition! We served it with macerated strawberries and pistachios – delish! 
The bags below was all I had time for this week as I had a ton of prep work to do. As it has turned out my neighbor had a serger / overlocker for sale and I bought it from her and that has helped so much! It has been wonderful to have one in the house and I am so looking forward to making some tunics for the winter – it will make clothing creation so much easier 🙂 
This large tote was something I started for the last show and did not get to finish in time so I quilted it and it came out to be a perfect bag for a picnic. The quilted cross body bag I finished from last week is now to hang for the show. 
Large Tote needs a bit of ironing though 🙂
Quilted X Body Bag – completed

Underwater at the California Academy of Sciences
On the Sunday we visited the California Academy of Sciences to see the Skulls exhibit at long last and it was so worth it! Ash had a bit of a freak out when he first went in and after talking about skulls for a while it did not seem as freaky 🙂 Admittedly seeing a wall of sea lion skulls was intense and beautiful at the same time. In amongst the skulls we had to find out other animals skulls by the sound of their howl, roar and the like and it was a very tricky game. The kids were really good at it and found all of the random animals on the wall. 

A wall of sea lion skulls
The skull of a hummingbird
Finally we visited the Planetarium and saw the show Dark Universe – in all our visits to the Cal Academy, the kids had not wanted to go. I was so happy to visit the Planetarium at last and the kids really enjoyed the 3D effect too! We had our picture taken at the Skulls exhibit with skulls that were created with a 3D printer. I said to the guy – Why is this giraffe skull so light?  It was made with a industrial 3D printer. The kids enjoyed the smaller skulls and really did love the exhibit too – it was so fascinating!
Good times with the skulls!

NaBloPoMo – Days 1, 2 & 3 – a Combo Post

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A friend of mine reminded me by her FB posts that it is National Blog Posting Month! As I just finished this great instagram contest through SF Etsy called Craftobergram and had such a fun time posting daily – I wanted to challenge myself with doing a daily blog post.

So here goes… I wanted to talk about the booth I had at the FabMo Textile Art Boutique – exactly a week ago! It was such a fun day with meeting lots of new people and volunteers that I have met before. The beginning of the day was quite slow due to the weather being very foggy and cold. Soon the crowd picked up and we had a busload of ladies that had come from Sacramento just to go shopping at this event and that was when the energy picked up! I met a lot of people commenting on my work saying it was very colourful and chatting about what I was knitting while I was sitting at my booth. I sold about a third of my stock so all in all it was a successful day – I had made about 30 items and 13 of those were brooches. The larger bags were the bags I was wanting to sell and they all went – I think a large tote is a good thing to have. Here are a couple of pictures from the show.

My booth all good to go after I set it up!

The view from my booth – checking out the art on the walls

This weekend I was at a Qi Gong class – 2 x days 9:30 to 5pm working on the Moving Program of Life. We learn about working on a chart using our time of birth, year, date and month that will balance our life and we can move along our path in life smoothly. I must say it is wonderful being with such a lovely group of ladies and our teacher my acupuncturist Catherine Burns. Something I discovered today is that I should wear more green – here is one of my favourite shades of green.

Lovely green moss with teeny fungi