Fabric Flower 'Bloom' Hairpins

Above is a photo of some fabric flowers I've created to be worn as hairpins. These ones were especially made for my friends hens night this weekend. I created a special hairpiece for the bride also. Hopefully I'll be able to get some nice photos of them being worn.

Each bloom is carefully hand sewn from creamy satin, organza and lace, centred with beads and genuine fresh water pearls.

I'm happy to make these hairpins to order, if anyone is interested.

Lace & Pearls - Fabric Flower Arrangement

The above is a new piece I have created - An arrangement of fabric flowers I hand sewed, using a combination of new, recycled and vintage fabrics including satins, silks and lace, centered with pearls.

It will be exhibiting (and for sale) at the Gawler Community Gallery as part of the Members Exhibition, which is being held in conjunction with the Christmas Shop, opening on November the 10th.

Creative Person Overview - Brett Hughes

 

I'd like to share with you all another family member of mine, who is another very talented creative type (I happen to have a lot of those in my family), my Uncle, Brett Hughes. 

Brett is laid back, with a wicked sense of humour, and an inspiring outlook on life. He is also what I would refer to as somewhat of a 'nomad'. Having spent many years traveling, hitchhiking and busking around Australia, picking up odd jobs along the way, he never stayed in one place for too long. He's had over 60 different jobs; From radio host on numerous stations, to fruit picking, shoe making, even a stint as a 'Pickled Gherkin Tank Scraper' - Which he describes as 'a job so bad, that all he could do was laugh'. He now currently resides by himself in a little 1800s cottage, surrounded by forest in the gold fields, central Victoria.

He is a guitarist/singer/songwriter with a style that I can only describe as folk, pop-rock. Currently in a band called How Much For Cash, his music style is laid-back and has an air of Australian outback/country and often just a hint of melancholy. He also happens to be one of those rare, freakishly musically talented people who is able tune solely by ear (Actually I happen to have a few of those freaks in my family) It's just unnatural...  

He loves going to opp-shops and antique stores and rummaging through discarded and forgotten items. He is very good at picking items of value and has an amazing eye for interesting pieces, so much so that he works at an antique and collectibles store.

He is also an artist of sorts, creating what he calls agricultural industrial art; Fondly nicknamed Agri-dustrial art. Using a collection of  random old metal parts he has uncovered at the tip, old farm houses or found in paddocks using a metal detector, he creates amazing rustic metal sculptures. He really gives new meaning to 'One mans junk, is another mans treasure'. Anything from old parts from tractors, trains, sewing machines, to old gas top handles, even shells from WW2 have been used to create his pieces.

Like Brett, and like his music, his art evokes a laid back feeling of the country, outback and solitude, and is distinctively Australian. It is an appreciation of that others have over looked, and a tribute to a time forgotten. His creations, although often miss matched, overall, have a sense of harmony, and raw beauty. Not to mention that his work is eco-friendly.

Brett is not the most 'tech-savvy' of people, and is yet to set up a website where his work can be viewed and purchased. He doesn't even have an email, or even a computer! (How he manages without the Internet, I will never understand...) However, if you are interested in his work, you can contact him through me here.

You can also check out Brett on his son (my cousin) Cody's You Tube channel: CodyDaviesTV, where he did a short interview with him on one of his pieces. It's worth a watch if not just for a laugh - Brett was completely unprepared and is a little stuck for words at times.
Although, fore warning: You may hear some of the information in this post repeated in the interview, as I may or may not have stolen most of the details from it....

Handmade Christmas Cards

The above reindeer blank Christmas cards are designed and handmade by moi.

The reindeer was hand-carved into rubber then hand stamped with quality white letterpress ink onto each hand-cut piece of card stock. I then individually sewed a border onto each piece of card with white stitching.

The end result is a simple, yet effective and somewhat elegant Christmas card (I'm selling myself a bit here).

Each card is just that little bit different due to the printing and sewing process, making each one unique.

For the amount of time and effort that has been put into them, not to mention that it's a one of a kind design, these babies are a bargain at $3!

If you're interested, they will be sold at the Christmas shop at The Gawler Community Gallery held from the 10th of November until the 18th of December. Or you can contact me here.

Exhibition Announcement

I'd like to announce an upcoming exhibition I'm really excited about, featuring Joanne Hughes (My Nanna), Lee Eiffe (My Mum) and myself, to be held next year in March at The Gawler Community Gallery. 3 generations together, to exhibit new collections of work, based on the theme of Aquarius.

Official exhibition announcement still to come.


I have been 'umming and erring' as to whether I should post the above picture - I want to show everyone what I've been working on, but I don't want to give too much away yet. Obviously, the photo won out, and above you can see some fabric flowers I've been working on, made from new, recycled and vintage - Beautiful silks, creamy satins, lace and pearls. You'll just have to wait and see what they're for...

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas

So it's that time of year again. The shops are filling with tinsel, the pageant is only around the corner - Christmas will be here before we know it.

Although I no longer have trouble sleeping Christmas Eve as I did a child, with excited anticipation at Santa's arrival, the magic of Christmas isn't completely lost on me.

I love that Christmas is just one giant excuse to decorate. It's the only time that it's considered completely acceptable, if not mandatory, that you adorn you entire house with over the top decorations - Including your front yard and roof.

Every year, I buy every single home decor magazine that has a Christmas special - I even have a Christmas folder especially for Christmas decoration ideas that I've kept.

Although I love Christmas decorations, I have an absolute hate of red, green and tinsel.

The traditional 'red & green' is a horrible match of colours, and tinsel is tacky and messy and every year I refuse to have any in the house, (although, I'm told it's not Christmas without tinsel, and mum always sneaks some on the tree when I'm not looking).

I'm always looking for new Christmas decorating ideas that involve anything but.

This year I have decided on the theme of simply white.

White is simple & pure. All the best things are white: Lace, pearls, the moon, stars, snow flakes, whipped cream, angel wings. All the prettiest and most beautiful smelling flowers are white: Roses, Gardenias, Jasmine, Cherry Blossom, Freesias, Hydranges, Ranunculas, Peonies, Anemones ...And I've only just realised how racists this post might be coming across... Trust me - There's nothing beautiful about Anemia. The darker my skin is, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, moving on - I've decided not only on a theme of white for our home decorations, but I've also decided that I'm going to try and do a 'White Christmas' styling shoot. So watch this space.

Top Left Photo: Each year the Gawler Community Gallery puts on a 'Christmas Shop'. This year I am putting in some of my creations: Lace gift-tags, and hand carved, hand stamped Christmas cards.

The shop will be held in the down stairs room of the gallery from the 10th of November.

Top Right Photo: Part of my 'white Christmas' theme, one of my new creations - a beautiful white wreath adorned in roses.

For years I have been searching for plain wreaths to work with and they for some reason have been near impossible to find (that weren't ridiculously expensive). This wreath, that I managed to find to decorate, was purchased at a beautiful store in Paddington, Brisbane called Blake & Taylor (Which both happen to be dream names for my possible future children).

Bottom Photo: Hehe, bottom... No, no 'bottoms' here, just a childish sense of humour and a cute little nook of our house - Wooden letters spelling out 'home', draped with gorgeous handmade, white flower fairy lights (I looooove fairy lights) which I purchased in Thailand some years back.