My first craft show

Today I went to the Craft and Quilt Fair in Melbourne. I was a bit apprehensive about the anticipated crowds, but I got there early (9.20) and had previously planned out what I wanted to see. As I approached Jeff's Shed*, I felt a part of an army of like minded people. Marching along with me were women who, well, had that crafty look about them. It was a hoot! When I arrived the queue was not long and moved quickly. Fortunately I had brought cash with me, which eliminated the need for me to stand in another queue for the ATM.

There were half hour demonstrations of lots of products and techniques, and there were so many products, I was astounded. My favorite was specially treated fabric with paper backing in A4 size which can be put in an ordinary inkjet printer. Photos, graphics, text etc can be printed onto fabric and then sewn into a project. Most people there would have been thinking "quilts", but I was thinking "fabric covered books". There was something for everyone and I'll certainly be going to more of these crafty events.

*Jeff's Shed is Melbourne's Exhibition Centre, nicknamed after the 1990s premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett. The shed is an important place in the life of the Australian male, where he can retreat to, to tinker with bits of wood, metal and the like. It is a tragedy for the Man Who Cooks that there is no shed in our garden. He has to make do with part of the rumpus room.

Grand opening!

...of Val's craft room! Come in and have a browse.

Since the return of Techie Son in June I've had to move all my craft stuff back into my study. This room had been well set up for when I was working when I needed a desk. But as a craft room it was useless. So I moved my desk out to the kitchen/family room area, and replaced it with a table with adjustable height and a stool, so I can work standing or sitting. It is working very well for me.

Beyond the chair on the floor is my tool box, and above that are two trays that are designed to fix onto the table legs and rotate out of the way and for easy access when you need stuff. Table, chair and trays were bought at Ikea which I braved for the first time for this project.



This is a small room (just over 3 x 2 metres = 10 x 6.5 feet) but has a built in wardrobe with 4 large drawers. One of the drawers is used for storing SOME of the paper I have, and I'm using all the area above the drawers and on the upper shelf for my craft things.

My craft room is the mirror image of the Man Who Cooks' study on the other side of the wall with the wardrobe in it, and was designed by the original owners to allow the wall to be removed to make one larger room. However, dear readers, I am now reluctant to even entertain such an idea, as I'm SO happy with this room.

















This is a new acquisition, a trimmer I got on sale this week. Not only does it cut in a straight line, but also a wavy line and does perforations. I've always wanted to be able to do that so I can make notebooks with pages that can easily be removed. It also has a scoring wheel to make crisp folds. It's brilliant! But can anyone tell me what those arcs are for? I'm sure they're meant to do something useful.

Goodbye craft room

As some of you know, Techie Son has been studying in Berkeley since January. He will be returning home next weekend and that, dear readers, spells the end of my idyllic craft room. I am now gradually getting his room back into bedroom mode. Oh how easy it is to spread out when space is available, even using the bed for temporary paper storage. Don't know where I'll be able to use my recently purchased large cutting mat.



Here are some of my latest creations.
A couple of books I made practising a new stitch on the spine. The larger of the books has on the cover a little kimono made with an origami technique. Instructions for a similar kimono are found here.
Recently I did a printing workshop at Barb's, and surprised myself by drawing a giraffe which I then carved out of a rubber block to be used as a stamp. Here I've stamped it onto a paper that has a background made from using bubble wrap and a perforated piece of scrap metal. Lots more to experiment with.

Paperbark picture

There was some interest in the paperbark photo I posted, and I thought you'd like to see a photo of a picture made up of paperbark and other natural materials. I bought this in the 70s shortly after arriving in Australia, but haven't seen them for years. I think they're very charming, and portray scenes that are still, thankfully, very common in Australia.

Craft room

Hey Techie Son! Look at your room! Look at your desk!





Oh, and that's NOT a box of Red Tulip chocolates on the desk - it's filled with MIL's embroidery threads that she gave me - every color of the rainbow, great for sewing books together.






Look who's sitting in your oh so comfy armchair!














I've been making more books in my craft room.

Coptic stitching with slip case
















Two accordion books

Great weekend!

Saturday night my beloved Carlton Blues football team won - great way to start the pre-season, and there was a real excitement amongst the fans.

Today I attended a workshop learning how to do lino prints so I can decorate some of my books. I am mightily pleased with myself because I actually created something that looks like what I meant it to. Ever since primary school (a long time ago, folks,) I regarded myself as having not one bit of skill in producing any kind of art or craft. I can still remember my art teacher in Year 7, the last year I was required to do art, looking at my work and sadly shaking his head. Since starting on bookbinding, I've developed a little confidence in being able to make nice looking books. Today I was required to come up with a small design for a first practice piece. Help! But I thought I'd do something really simple and fun (remember my motto), and I did this:

On the left is the inked up piece of lino, which I drew myself (I said the design had to be simple). And on the right is the print, with a bit of color added. Hopefully I don't have to tell you what it is.




This is my second, larger print, the original is beneath.


For the final piece, the tram was traced onto a piece of foam, but this is not very robust and may not be worth doing again. Although the Man Who Cooks (and also Has Good Ideas) said I could glue it onto a piece of wood to make it last longer.




















The next great thing was meeting a blogger buddy Sharon at the workshop; this was the first time I've met a blogger buddy face to face. We're going to get together for coffee near a local craft shop. We've had our blogs through which we have communicated, now we've attended a workshop together and can share ideas on that. I've seen and admired Sharon's seahorse on her blog, a theme she used today in class. It turned out beautifully. Hopefully she'll post a photo of it too.

Finally, tomorrow is the first day of the academic year, with hundreds of new students pouring through the library, and guess who is NOT going to be there: me! because...














I...










am...













retired!