Colourific

It's no secret that I love colour, colour my world, rainbow bright books, but I don't know if anything could top what I found in my recent online travels. The PANONE HOTEL™ in Brussels, Belgium, who would have thought that some clever people would be so kind as to create a little slice of design heaven.
Designed by Michel Penneman and Oliver Hannaert, The PANTONE HOTEL™ showcases colour with a distinctive hue on each colourous guest floor. I know where I will be checking into if I ever happen to pop over to Belgium!

Scrappy Zip Up Pouch

Hallelujah, I have been sewing! For a while now I have been thinking about all the scrap bits of fabric I end up with, after cutting out my cushion creations. I have been saving them up, as they are just too lovely to throw away and I think I have come up with the perfect way to use them....
I messed about with my scraps and created a ruffely pleaty thing. A simple little zip up pouch tut, some plain cotton and felt and Wollah! Yes, looks like I still haven't shaken that thing I have for the delightful colour combo, a little black, white, grey and yolk yellow.

Twenty Eleven's: Check Point

I'm well and truly back into the swing of everyday life, hence why things have been a little quiet here at Feast & Stitches. So far, I'm not making much progress with my Twenty Eleven's, although I have been really good at setting my expectations far too high by planning to get a ridiculous amount of things done after work and on the weekends, in between catching up with some of our good pals and trying to be an attentive, good little wifey - he who knows me best, understands I tend to get a little caught up in my own little world sometimes!

Here's my Twenty Eleven's progress report:

2 Decide on a brand name for my crafty creations 
- I'm doing a fabulous job of brainstorming and coming up with a gazillion different names, but yet to actually make a decision. On a positive note, I have come to the conclusion that I am the queen of procrastination!


3 Sew, Sew, Sew 
- A little bit of mending, but that doesn't count. I have really wanted to push the pedal to the metal on my trusty Singer, but the closest I have been to sewing something in about 3 weeks is looking at my pretty piles of fabric, printing out some new tuts and thinking YEP, I should do that...


18 Source Fabrics 
- TICK, I have added quite a few new pieces to my growing collection and cant wait to see them in their full glory.


For now, I'll leave you with a pretty pile of fabric that I hope to turn into something very soon!

Concrete Confessions

Oh how I love concrete. Not the footpaths, factories or high rise type, but the heavenly textured, simply scrumptious polished concrete floors, bench tops, built in furniture, staircases and sculptures. Used as a feature and carefully blended with a good mix of other textures and materials, concrete seriously does it for me and is too good not to share.

Image courtesy of Architect Nicholas Burns

Concrete Floors  + Rammed Earth Walls +  Glass  = The Perfect Match 

Image courtesy of this Etsy Shop

Image courtesy of this Etsy Shop

Imaged courtesy of French By Design

Rainbow Bright Books

'Me' week is going along splendid so far, trips to purchase fabric, an extreme visit to IKEA armed with notepad & pen to mark my wants under the careful instruction of my sister - she's a bit of an IKEA guru! Who knew what an experience that would be, self check out with a full trolley, find the spot to redeem your free parking, check your trolley into the holding area so you can return to jam pack your car, I think we could have nearly boarded a plane after all of that scanning & checking in of things!

I've also spent some leisurely time doing some good old web surfing. I don't know if I'm just way behind the times, but for the first time ever I have noticed colour co-ordinated book shelves. I don't know about you but I love a library and I have always wanted to have one in my home, but I don't think I would ever have thought about colour coordinating my books. I recently cleaned out my wardrobe & kinda put things back in some sort of colour & garment order. Don't you love it how you do that, you think it will stay like that for another 6 months and within about 2 weeks you wonder what happened! But to do it with your books and have them being functional and pretty, that's just GENIUS!

Image courtesy of  Colour Lovers

Image courtesy of The Inspiration Blog

Image courtesy of Design Sponge

Also, I can't go without mentioning the devastating floods disaster that has hit our sunny state of QLD. Being home this week I've found myself at times just sitting in front of the TV watching it unfold before my eyes. My heart goes out to all of those effected, I can't begin to imagine the impact it has and will have and the mammoth clean up task that is in store for the coming days, weeks, months & years.

It's a SHOE INN!

OK so I'm breaking my rules today. So far I have made a concious effort to always post using my own pics, but today I have found something I got super excited about and must share!

This succulent stiletto could turn any gal into a green thumb!

I found this on Etsy in Giddy Spinsters Cheeky Home Decor Shop. I know chicks and shoes are pretty much always a sure bet, but this just makes gardening all the more exciting. This seller is located in the States so there may be a few issues getting the fully planted version sent to Aus, but I'm sure we'll be able to wrangle an unplanted version.

The Simple Things

I have spent the past week away from my usual bush setting and leafy surrounds as we have been looking after a gorgeous little place in Fairfield. As I didn't want to cart everything in a semi trailer, I opted to leave my sewing machine and other design bits and pieces at home.
It's been kinda nice to have a little holiday away from home, even though we are still at our day jobs, I've taken a break from my usual creative night time antics and other than at work I have hardly even touched a computer. I mean I do love browsing and checking out all of the wonderful blogs out there, but sometimes it's nice just to take a little break and enjoy the simple things such as hanging out with Azz, cooking up yum dinners, taking a stroll, enjoying Melbourne's splendid spring days and chelaxing!
A couple of nights ago I was rummaging through the cupboard, trying to choose what flavour tea to have. To my surprise I discovered this seriously nice box of tea bags, I'm sure the tea is nice, but it's not the tea I'm talking about, it's the packaging! Harrods Herbal Infusion Peppermint Tea, check it out, a beautiful design printed on a lovely uncoated stock with the added decadent detail of a foil stamp. I know you might say what's the big deal it's just a box, but it's one seriously lovely box, too good that I decided I better just leave those tea bags alone.

Spoilt Rotten

It was my birthday this week and I was spoilt rotten with beautiful gifts from family and friends, a lovely dinner out with Azz and my in laws, a cake at work with the always embarrassing happy birthday sing along and a garden party enjoyed with the gals, devouring delicious homemade treats washed down with the very English PIMMS, at the fine establishment Madame Brussels. 

So, I'm another year older and a very lucky lady as one of the gifts I received from the #1 man in my life is a book I have had on my wish list and hanging out for; Prints Charming, by Cath Derksema and Kirsten Junor. It's full of fantastic sewing and hand printing projects for the home and family and I am very much looking forward to getting stuck into some of them right after I master the art of cushions!

The decor at Madame Brussels - perfect for a tea party

My very own copy!

I love the extra attention paid to the details on spreads

Droll

This week has been a good mix of craft and design. I had my first ever sewing class with the super experienced sewer Shirley Wheeler. Her classes are fantastic as you can commit to as many or little lessons as you please, work at your own pace and make what ever you want under Shirley's watchful eye.

I've also managed to finish off my poster design just in the nick of time, as the September 10 deadline for the Positive Posters competition is looming. Positive Posters is a non-profit international poster competition run by a group of volunteers based in Melbourne. It gives graphic designers at any level an outlet to create freely, use their skills to inspire, challenge and make a positive difference in a non commercial way - ohh what a treat!! This years theme is 'A Glass Half Full', a saying that refers to optimism. After some research and brainstorming I came up with a solution based upon my outlook on life.

Title: 
Droll

Rational:
What is droll, a donut or hole?

The solution behind this poster design is taken from the quote, "Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the donut; the pessimist the hole!' - Oscar Wilde

To open yourself up to positive outcomes, you must train yourself to think positively. This poster aims to encourage viewers to remember they have a choice and to take a moment and ponder their outlook on life...... you decide.

Right Track

Took the day off work today and went to Craft Victoria's Craft & Design as a Career seminar. Very informative and something I took away from the day "You must have a blog to get out there and get yourself noticed"..........  looks like I'm on the right track!

Big Day Out

My design work has taken over my crafty side the past couple of days, hence the delayed post about my big Saturday out exploring homewares, furniture and fabric stores as well as the magnificent Magnolia Square.

I had my first ever visit to Patchwork on Central Park and it was like visiting a lolly shop, so many colours and patterns to choose from. We also stopped at Preview International Fashion Fabrics and had a chat to Paul who imports a beautiful range, his wools & linens are worth noting. Of course, I couldn't resist my fabric fetish and picked up few new bits for my collection, snaps below.

Magnolia Square. For anyone who hasn't been, all I can say is you must go. If you happen to visit the Melbourne market and the lady is there with her home made lime curd and mini meringues, make sure you stop by for a sample, it's a taste sensation not to be missed! I ended up with a big pile of cards as there were many talented designers and craft makers with great products to buy and inspire.

There were some surprise shops we stumbled across in our tracks and two that particularly took my fancy:
- Image Paperie, a fine paper supplier with some stunning hand made papers from around the world and the service to create hand made lamp shades from your chosen paper, at a reasonable price might I add.
- Fenton & Fenton - a vibrant and modern homewares store with a bohemian edge, ohh there where lots of things I wanted to take home.

And big thank you is in order to my dear friend Mel who so kindly chauffeured us around on our Big Day Out!

Red polka with splash of nautical

I love a little typography

Great texture

Wool with sweet detailed edging - I have some ideas for this!

Great to see a few hand made business cards at Magnolia Square 

Light Bulb Moment!

A couple of months ago I was simply a Graphic Designer doing my thing. That was until I had this crazy light bulb moment....

I was reading the Home section of the Saturday Herald Sun and stumbled across a cushion made out of a coffee sack that really caught my eye. It was that moment I realised my fetish or some people may call it obsession with colours and patterns, it dawned on me that I could put my creative skills into action and make some of my own crafty creations to enjoy. (Although I would have to learn to sew, but that's OK because I already have the sewing machine and it's been on my to do list anyway!)
So after many hours googling on my MAC and driving my husband crazy, I have discovered this wonderful world of fabric designers and talented crafty people. I have purchased my first mixed bundle of quirky fabrics from Felix Loves Fabric (pics below), I have bookmarked my cushion tutorials and I am ready to sew.

I figured what better way to document my crafty journey than with my own blog, so here I am giving it a go!

Green Bird Chirp - Robert Kaufman

Black & White Step by Step - Alexander Henry

Red Letter Day - Lizzy House

Blue Retro Rocket Scientist