etsy etsy etsy

I've tossed up the idea lately of using madeit more (Australian focus) or perhaps trying out BigCartel (more brands in one shop)... but at the moment, at least, I am using etsy most of the time. With the two markets on the weekend, that is the last of the Curiouser 'market season' finished until October. So I've been busy uploading stock into my etsy shop... all the small canvases (12"x12" and smaller) that I have in stock are there now, and I am working on prints. I'll get around to adding cards and magnets soon enough!

In the meantime, I have a promotion running on the Curiouser facebook page - just tag Curiouser on your own facebook wall saying what you love about your day and I will message you a special discount code for my etsy shop :)

Heath's Old Wares

I had an article from an old Virgin Blue magazine about vintage and collectables in the Byron Bay area... when I was there last week I spent at least an hour in this fantastic vintage shop in Bangalow, Heath's Old Wares... I had a lovely natter with Eva, and took a bunch of photos while I was at it :) Um I also bought a vintage ship's wheel, I couldn't help myself! For Ash, of course...

Eva pointed out this gorgeous viewer thingy that I can't remember what it's called, LOL, and let me experiment photographing it for a little while... it's impossible to get the impression that you get in real life, it's so fun and nostalgic, the special prints become three dimensional through the viewer. The tin surround also has a lovely pressed design...

Apparently the South Steyne is iconic in Sydney, the original ferry, but I had never heard about it...

Oh and I have a thing for old bikes. Spokes and peeling paint, love it!

OPEN 7 DAYS - 12 STATION STREET BANGALOW NSW :)

Giveaway winner

A pretty hectic week meant that this was later than I intended, but it is now time! The winner of the 700 post 7 item giveaway is comment number 3 - Natalie!

And now it's time for me to head off to another Mulgrave Maker's Market - here is one of the newest canvases I have for sale today...

Every cloud

I have a gazillion things on my to-do list and I should have been in bed an hour ago, but right now my heart is beating a little faster at this series of cloud photos... intended for wall art and cards sometime soon. But unlikely to be before this weekend's Grassroots and Mulgrave Maker's markets! Soon, though... *happy sigh*

A week later

And a lot of things having happened, beautiful places visited and wonderful people met... photos of Byron Bay to come!

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few favourite things :)

Paper Boat Press I have mentioned before, but the new news is that Kylie Johnson now has three of her ceramic poetry vessels available through Anthropologie, how exciting!

The Book Depository is one of my regular book shopping destinations (virtually, that is!). This is just one of the books on my wishlist there...




A few selections from my etsy favourites list - Custom Heart Tree Pillow

I love these skirts

And I love trinket-y little jewellery with vintage details, like this bee bracelet

Rob Ryan is a favourite of mine, a brilliant paper craft artist, but I also discovered this other paper cut artist on etsy... Tina Tarnoff. Love this one with my weakness for the Neverland theme (not to mention the Wonderland themes...) and this one is so lovely too...

And this pendant is so sweet

On the discoveries front, one of my favourite places to (window) shop is Lark, which I've mentioned plenty of times before, but they always have fresh inspiration there...

And a couple that I've meant to visit but so far haven't made it to are Little Shop Of in Carnegie and Meet Me At Mikes in Fitzroy. The sort of places I see when I travel but don't get around to visiting the Melbourne alternatives, funnily enough!

It's fun shopping and dreaming but it also inspires me to make stuff myself. Hmm. Now, to find the time...

Making art on the kitchen table

The last few days I've been making 8 new 8"x10" canvases and 30 new magnets... covering my kitchen table with newspaper and paintbrushes and whatever. Here are two of my new pieces, the tree is one of my favourites ever :)

P.S. My 700 post, 7 item giveaway is still open for another week or so, comment on the Cooks hill blog post to enter!

Artsy Ants photo interview

This week I have a photo interview up at artsy ants - check it out here :)

Apples

From here

Sometimes the Stars

This is so beautiful, this short film to The Audreys' song "Sometimes the Stars". I'm so glad I'm on their email newsletter, these little gems sometimes slip by...

Like 'The Lost Thing' by Shaun Tan. A long-time favourite book that was recently made into a short film, I had waited keenly and pre-ordered the dvd (which was gorgeous). Now they won an oscar for it, lots of people have sought it out - which is awesome! But just think of other similarly obscure and inspiring work that just slips through the cracks... it's a bit sad. I guess that's common in creative fields though.

Anyhow, I love this clip.

Amy's turn

Oh they're so sweet! More family fun at the house on a hill in the Hunter... yes, I love alliteration. Can't help myself. This is Amy and her cute people...

Amazing, blonde little Finn looks A LOT like my hubby Ben when he was that little! True. I will try and find a photo to show the resemblance. Strangely, I didn't notice it at the time but looking at the photos later it was really obvious to me!

700 posts giveaway and Cooks Hill

On Friday morning we had the usual school routine, hopped in the Corolla and dropped the kids off at school, reminding them about going to after school care until daddy picked them up, and then headed to Kell's to drop Cedar off (along with his car seat). Once he was settled for his morning nap, I headed to Melbourne airport's long term car parking, took the courtesy bus to the terminal and pottered in to check in for my flight. I was quite unnecessarily pleased with how smoothly the schedule worked out!

After arriving at Newcastle airport, I headed straight to the Hunter Valley, spending Friday afternoon, Saturday and Saturday night there. First thing on Sunday morning I drove to Newcastle, intending on at least having a look around before flying home!

Since a friend had pointed me to the area, I stopped at Darby St, Cooks Hill, an inner city suburb. I had stuffed mushrooms for breakfast at 3 Monkeys, which was really tasty! The coffee (with an extra shot) was not strong enough, but a nice flavour. Service was sweet :)

This display was in the window of High Tea with Mrs Woo and it was probably best for me that the shop isn't open on Sundays ;)

This is Blackbird Corner, which the lovely Jane of Kabwares suggested I visit as they stock her funky garden markers (the next pic shows the spoons and forks in their Blackbird Corner home).

I also visited a shop called Blue Star Elements and bought some gifts, some accessories for Sienna, had a long look around and they also let me use their toilet - always nice! There was a retro boutique called Ramjet that had some awesome men's tshirts and I also bought this dress as a special treat for myself... can't wait until it's boots and scarves weather to wear it. Today Kell and I went to Savers and I found a great, really wide, brown belt that will look fab with my new dress, happy days :)

And last, but not least, to celebrate getting to 700 posts, I am giving away 7 things to one lucky blog reader! Doesn't that sound fun?

What you can win: 7 things! Ok, I already said that. Here's the rundown:

1. A Curiouser magnet
2. A Curiouser photography print
3. A blank Curiouser card
4. Another blank Curiouser card
5. An 8"x10" mixed media canvas
6. Something little I will sew for you
7. A vintage treat (I love surprises!)

What you have to do: comment below (thanks to Maxabella's passionate feelings on the matter, I've changed to pop up comments - do you like? I was also thinking of switching to Disqus for commenting, which would allow me to reply...). Oh, anyway, just comment, say whatever you like! As long as it's nice!

When it will be drawn: Thursday 24th March 2011, sometime after school drop off ;)

On the blogging front, the last set of sneak peeks from the Hunter will be up tomorrow...