my creative space - red Christmassy things

My creative space = catching up on orders!

I also have some limited edition 'deery santa' bags left -

hand screen printed by me...

they make great little present carriers...

The first offering goes to you my blog readers ~~ and

postage FREE anywhere within Australia!

 only $10 each.

pretty cool, huh?

just contact me on danceinmygarden@netspace.net.au

Catch up with other Thursday 'creative space players' on Kirsty's blog...

Hope you are having yourselves a lovely week.

♥♥♥

my creative space - fresh break

no creating...just a break from creating for now, and a lovely drive in the countryside....

then back home...

other creative spaces happen on Thursdays here....

Thanks for visiting today...

xo

my creative space - Christmas market head space

So many last minute things on the go, paint in pots sitting outside waiting to be smeared on a screen, fabric everywhere, photos to be put into frames....and no camera to be found to show you any of it.  Perhaps it's just as well, it's rather chaotic!

However I will share this little snippet of what I think is a great piece of market display wisdom from Megan Reardon, a quote taken from the book 'the Handmade Marketplace', by Kari Chapin.
I know a lot of us bloggers are prepping for stalls for Christmas, and when you're so busy it's sometimes hard to see forest for trees.  She says...

 'When I go to craft fairs, I'm drawn to booths that clearly communicate what the maker is selling and look tidy and bright but also abundant'.

Worth sticking on your fridge I reckon.

There are also Flickr groups to help with display ideas ~~
1 Show me your booths.
2 Arts and crafts fairs and shows

Also check out the link to my post 'top ten tips - visual merchandising for market stalls' on the right hand column.
Have a great day!

If you found this post helpful, please refer it on to others who may find it helpful too. x

For lovely creative spaces playing along this week, head over to Kirsty's place.

my creative space - birthday celebrations

So, what have you been up to? 

 Last weekend was huge for us, actually all last week was, I have so much to blog about, and yet no time to share it!

I made B's birthday crown...was quite pleased with how it turned out, my first attempt at embroidery, or at a crown for that matter...a chain stitch for the 'B', and some lazy daisy's on the side.  I used beautiful quality 100% wool felt from Germany...you can get that from Lyrebird in Hobart.  Making it double thickness, meant that it was a bit more stand upish.

 A party in the park is where you can keep things simple....

Morning tea, a treasure hunt, teddy bear toss, and bubbles...and of course the older kids played cricket.    I strung out some longish bunting, but forgot to take pics of that!

My only regret is not hanging out any balloons....I think I was trying to make an eco statement, but really next year I am going to try and get some biodegradable ones in time!

treasure hunt

birthday cake

teddy bear toss - the best game

who's a tired little girl now?

Pop over to Kirsty's, won't you?... for other 'my creative space' posts other peeps are making!

(As I write this, I am pretty sure that my little girl has another uti, so we are dashing off to the doctor's in a few hours; more mother guilt x.)

my creative space.....a sweet light voice

I just can't seem to get enough of wool felt at the moment...I have been cutting out a few circles for a Christmassy project...not sure how it's going to work just yet, but enjoying a play.
There wasn't much light when i took these shots this morning.  Perhaps it matches my mood a little, as after I took ~ my sweetness and light ~ to care this morning, for the second time ever I cried on the way home. 
I just want to know she is being listened to, but that's hard with other distractions around. I do know she really enjoys her time there, it's just me at the moment, feeling torn.  When she is with me, most times I can give her the attention, and bend down to listen to her sweet voice.  You know, really tune in.   If there is ever a time I don't understand her, she just repeats herself, and i try again....sometimes over and over, until 'i get it'. She is quite articulate for a 3 year old, but you know we have those times, when she is trying out a new phrase or sentence, and she is very good at persisting (even shouting), to get me to understand.   Sometimes, I'll even get right down to her level, and bend down to try and get what she is trying to tell me.   It reminds me of this phrase...'Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! (Psalm 116:2 *New Living Translation).   I feel pretty awed by that.
Isn't this how our children learn to communicate, love and feel cherished, and grow healthy self esteem, in being valued and listened to?!   As I'm getting older, I am valueing more to listen, rather than to talk (doesn't mean I don't always have a lot to bang on about!)
Listening to that soft, quiet voice, not always necessarily the loudest, gives way to understanding.

I am off to see what bright and lovely spaces are being made over here.
xo

my creative space - shape and colour

Happy Thursday! We've been mucking around with all sorts this week...lots of time for playing at home, and baking, and sewing, and eating outside again, now that the weather's turned.  It's been good.

Do hope your week has been lovely.

Head over to Kirsty's creative space, to see what other peeps have been doing.

xo

my creative space - entanglement

How many hair clips do little girls lose?  The answer is quite a lot!

So many in fact, that I was getting tired of replacing Beth's with lovely handmade ones, because it was starting to get expensive...the solution:

I came across this seller 'mimumee', who sells the basic alligator clips that we love...add some ribbon, a hot glue gun, and some embellishment, and we're done!

The two clips on the left were just needle felted, then I finished with some machine stitching.

The blue / cream one is simply circles of wool felt, and you can't go wrong with a pretty button.

Now we can tame that curly entanglement once more!

Do head over to Kirsty's for some lovely creativeness, won't you?

xo

my creative space - market prep

I do love it when a bit of bunting is coming together.

The upcoming market this Sunday means a dash of last minute decisions, lots of sewing, and remembering to keep up with the kids!

Hope your week is going swimmingly.

Pop over to Kootoyo Blog for lots more creativeness.

xo

my creative space - for a special customer

Dear Pippin,

would you please thank your mama for being so incredibly patient!

I hope you both like your bibs.

Thanks to all of you wonderful people for giving me some valuable feedback and your thoughts about font selection..I will announce a lucky chocolate munching winner tomorrow!

see creative spaces here! for Thursdays are indeed special days.

xo

my creative space - it's in the mail!

My envelope for the Meet Me at Mikes 'envelope project', is off and away...I sealed it all up and then realised I forgot one of the components (a little screen printed number)....
Mmm... indeed my head seems to be in the clouds lately, kinda foggy.   Which is funny because last evening I attended a workshop called, 'Understanding Web Technologies', and the fellow talked a bit about operating in 'the cloud', which to be honest I had never heard of before.  Has anyone else?
Please excuse me if I digress a tad from 'my creative space', into 'cloud space', but go here to view on 'youtube'.  It's really fascinating!

the front

On the back I have stitched on a vintage patchwork heart, and the contents of the envelope are a couple of handmade tags, a little scented linen freshener with my 'secret formula', a page from a 'golden book', and a postcard of a vintage seed packet.

Follow this link to Flickr...for all the lovely creative envelopes.

And if you want to see a knitted kinda cloud, head over to host, Kirsty's 'creative space', and see for yourself!

Have yourselves a great day - it's raining here in Hobart...hooray (we need the water folks)
xo

my creative space - back to normal

I'm not completely sure whether my Bethany's creative space qualifies in 'this space', but in any case here we are!  Routines are slowly being re-established after 3 long weeks (!) of school hols, and my daughter's bout of  illness last week.  This week we finally made it back to family day care, and music, and I'm slowly getting back into some sewing.

I've also missed doing Thursday's Creative Space, and this is a little gentle intro back into it.

A visit to a park this morning, what glorious sunshine we had!

 

Bethany's colour-coded block space - all her own doing.

Then she spent some time, playing 'music' on them.

It's so lovely to see her 'alive' again!  This makes her mama very, very happy!

Head over to some very inspirational, creative spaces over here.

ps..Wow....We have a new prime minister today - a woman!
I read this first on chunkychooky!  Before any 'news' media!  Go Julia.
Now...I wonder how many babies are going to be named after her?  No one would have done that with Kev!  Would they?

my creative space - felty leaves

Using my current favourite colour combo of green and yellow (this is supposed to be a mustardy yellow, unfortunately my camera seems to have interpreted this as golden yellow), last night I was fiddling around cutting out leaves from some felted wool. 

 'Felted wool' is wool that is woven and then felted, as opposed to 'wool felt' that is just wool fibres just smooshed together and pressed out.   I learnt that from Leonie who one of the proprietor's of a wonderful quilt shop in Hobart, called the Quilted Crow. 

They have a luscious array of felted wool.

I think this is destined for a cushion, and I'm still thinking of the best way of attaching the leaves....either using a running stitch like the ribbon shown, or machine stitched down their middles.  Any other suggestions?

I just need to keep the symmetry.

I wonder what other lovely creative people are up to today? - I am heading over here to Kirsty's to have a look.   I missed last weeks Creative Space, Thursday just came and went without me even realising it. It's been lots of fun to particpate so far this year.

xx

my creative space - i heart rainbows

The rainbow to me is a wonderful symbol of hope...

A cloud of fogginess has lifted from my brain at last, some decisions have become clearer, 

so it seemed to me a befitting way was to celebrate this with a rainbow. 

 I was trying to think of an item to go into my Etsy store, that is due for a spruce and stock up, for Earth Day. 

The Natural Kids Team (which I am part of) through Etsy, will hopefully have a storque article on Etsy's blog very soon! (fingers crossed), about Earth Day (April 22).

Hope

 our Earth

rainbows

 my faith

it all melds together for me

So...

I chose some lovely rainbow fabric,

and 'little fire' came home with some beautiful bright paintings from her very first day

at family day care on Monday. 

 (It has been a big week, the lead up was taking a long time picking the right carer. Unsurprisingly she took it all in her stride - and loved it - hugh relief for mama! and I'm going to have one day a week now that I can sew!)

Too lovely not to hang up, and share.

Almost finished, just waiting on my order of heading tape (and guess what? it's just arrived, thanks courier man!)...

7 flag rainbow bunting ready for Earth Day.

I am thankful for clarity, and rainbows.

x

Now head over for a lovely assortment of creative space's over at Kirsty's place.