Farewell 2010, Welcome 2011

Too all of our wonderful customers and friends, have a safe and wonderful New Year. We look forward to hearing from you all next year and bringing some fabulous new items to you.

Happy New Year!!

Paper Magic!!

I've often watched Origami experts ply their craft and wondered how they do it all so perfectly.  I love how the edges of the paper are so sharp, yet flowers, birds, animals - all sorts of things emerge in full rounded three dimensional glory.

Here are a couple of tutorial clips I found on YouTube by the very talented jonakashima.  Complete with paper sounds, these little vids will give you some skills to impress yourself - and maybe even your family.

I'm going to start with the Magic Rose Cube and see how I go from there!  Perhaps you can get the kids to watch and give it a go if they have a spare moment.  Perhaps it might be a new skill for you to fall in love with!

I hope you enjoy :0)

And finally one that is close to so many of our hearts ;0)

A Young Lady With Dreams...

I know it's not about craft, but I'm always inspired by children following their passions and dreams.  Take a couple of minutes to check out Ailish Bolt (an Australia Zoo Joey Ambassador) educating us about the plight of the Orangutan.

Did I mention this young lady is only 6 years old!  

Watch and learn...

Orangutans - Extinction is Forever from Cate Bolt on Vimeo.

For more information on the plight of the Orangutans click here.

For more information on the Australia Zoo Joey Ambassadors click here.

Baby It's You Alright!!

As a young-un in the 1978 I heard this song and loved it immediately.  What more could you want - moody male vocals and a woman screaming the chorus with such passion and gusto - it was just about perfect.

And then I saw the film clip.

I so wanted to be that girl!!  I loved her hair, her makeup - the whole glam, rock chick package.  I had no idea what the song meant, I just wanted to be part of it.

And I still love it to this day.

So for your listening pleasure, here is The Promises with Baby It's You..

Such a classic!

Here's a little of today that was inspired by that fabulous decade - LOL!!

 haywoodcreektures 

yystudio

laurafauna

nickiefrye

Time. Is There Ever Enough?

A Time For Now 

a time to cheer, a time to cry,

a time to live, a time to die,

a time to sleep, a time to wake,

a time for real, a time for fake,

a time for truth, a time to lie,

a time to laugh, a time to sigh,

a time to stand, a time to fall,

a time for one, a time for all,

a time for love, a time for hate,

a time to run, a time to wait,

a time to stay, a time to flee,

a time for you, a time for me. 

Arik Fletcher

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thinking about time today as I sat on a training course wishing the day away because I wasn't doing what I wanted to do.  Don't get me wrong, the training course is very good, but it was 27 degree celcius today and I usually don't work on a Friday afternoon and I have a cold and I wanted to watch Moo do her gymnastics and...I could come up with a million more reasons.

I just didn't have the time to be sitting in a training course when I could have been doing so much more.

The ever allusive time.  We wish for more of it or we hope it will go quickly, we're never happy with what we have and how we use it.  Yet, I am a classic time waster.  I never have enough of the stuff, but I'll happily sit here on my blog writing about it instead of doing the dishes, or checking homework.  I then ask myself at the end of the day, "Where did the time go?"

What do you do with your time?

1. edmdesigns (cuff)

2. SunshineandRavioli (tags)

3. Scentsinsoy (candle)

4. RingRingRing (necklace)

5. Winterberrycottage (print)

6. evgie (felt clock)

7. empressivedesigns (decal)

8. 2BeContinued (dominoes)

The Handmade Show - Our Baby is Now Walking :0)

After obsessing about it for the past three weeks, I'm proud to say that our baby is no longer crawling, and is now walking :0)

We're still a little tentative - it's step-by-step, but we've got our pre-walkers on and we're giving it a darn good shot.  Despite the rain that threatened to wash us out in the morning, we all made it to The Handmade Show and we set up lots of fabulous stalls.  I was so proud to see all of the hard work that had gone into producing something that got lots of lovely compliments on the day.  There's still a lot of work ahead of us, but I think we did a great job today.

A big thank-you to all of our stall holders and my thanks to the committee lovlies: Elena, Samone, Bobbie, Jade and Kerri  - muah xxxx

And now for some photos!!

MooBeeTees (that's me!!)

Ladybugs and Daisychains and Red Letter Studio

Mignonne

Ladies who Lunch (at the best markets!)

We all hope to see you all at the next market on the
20 November 2010!!

The Handmade Show - Blood Sweat and, hopefully not, Tears!!

For those of you who may have been down a mineshaft with 34 Chilean miners over the last couple of months, you may have missed the fact the The Handmade Show is expericencing a rebirth.  The original concept of the wonderful Celeste Wong, The Handmade Show is a boutique crafters' and artisans' market which is now being lovingly looked after by a group of creative, hardworking 'nuts' including my good self.

(Note: Calling us 'Nuts' is, of course, a term of endearment!)

We are excited to be holding the first of these rebirthed Shows this coming Saturday, 16 October - at the Oakleigh-Carnegie RSL (Dummond St, Oakleigh, 3166).

As mentioned earlier, we are a boutique market so we are able to bring you some amazing items in a very intimate environment - no walking for hours to get from one end to the other - it's all in one spot AND it's INDOORS!!!  Particularly good since this weekends forecast is a little wet!

Some of the fantastic stallholders coming to the market include:

• Rosa May Creations
• Mignonne
• Ladybugs & Daisychains
• Spikey Rose jewellery design
• Jooce Bath n Body
• Found n Bound
• Vintage Sew and Sew
• EP Designs
• Holi Goddess
• Creations by Bobbie Mac
• Red Letter Studio

And did I mention there is a GIVEAWAY?  Just turn up and we give you the chance to win a Gift Voucher to spend at the November market.  Purchase something and we give you bonus entries in the draw for the Gift Voucher - how good is that???

I hope that we see some of you on Saturday - please come up and say hello - or I hope we see you as a stallholder in the future! 

Cheers!!

 

Baggy Trousers - Monday Madness!!!

I was YouTubing with the Moobee on the weekend and we were reliving my 1980's teenage years. We had a look at all of the 'old' video clips that used to get me so excited on a Sunday night when watching Countdown. 

One of my favourite bands (When did they become groups? I'm sure they were bands in the 80's!) was Madness.  I loved their music and their look - in particular I loved the absurdity of their video clips - Baggy Trousers was a particular favourite:

I had such a crush on Suggs (lead singer)!!

In honour of my trip down memory lane here's a little bit of Etsy Baggy Trouser madness - enjoy!

AQUA SILK SAROUEL PANTS : whoknowswear

Baggy pants trousers dress strapless skirt : lapinsexy

Harem Scare 'Em Jungle Suit : btbvintage

Does this remind you of anything?

Come on, we've all been there :0)

This just made me laugh.  And then want to go tidy!!

HOW TO: Make a Collage

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

 A collage is a technique of composing work of art by pasting on one surface numerous materials not usually associated with each other. Making a collage is fun, easy, and creative!  You are going to make a collage to represent who you are.  What kind of things do you like?  What are  my hobbies, favorite colors, and favorite singers? You can put anything that you love into your collage! Be creative! It's about things that interest you!

Steps

1. Collect materials for your collage, and find inspiration in them.
   • Traditional collage materials include scraps of paper and other flat materials: newspaper and magazine clippings, shopping bags, photographs (or photocopies of photographs), wallpaper, and foil.
   • Objects such as string, beads, feathers, and fabric.
   • Collage may encompass images, text, solid colors, or a mixture of these.  You may want a recognizable image or word, or simply a suggestion, feel, color, or texture.
   • Use what you have.  Start from available materials and work out from there.
   • Create what you don't have.  Since collage is an assemblage or blend of elements, it lends itself well to mixed media.  You could paint, draw, stamp, or stencil in between the elements you find, or cover over them.
   • Don't rule out unusual materials, like sandpaper, blurry photographs, etc.
2. Choose a base for your collage. The base is usually flat paper or poster board because these are easiest to work with.
   • The background does not have to be white, and it does not have to be plain. The background could be a page from a magazine or book, a large photograph, or a page of text.  Paint or draw on it, or cover over it with anything that glue will stick to.
3. Prepare the base by cutting the base to the desired size and shape.  Add any decorations or embellishments you want to the background.
4. Use scissors. to cut out pieces for your collage. Try cutting your scraps into unusual shapes, cutting out words or letters from a variety of sources to make phrases on your collage.
   • Cut out a whole picture, an identifiable part, or just enough to evoke texture, colour or feeling.
   • Cut different shapes for both words and images.
5. Try tearing materials too.  The rough, random edges give parts of your collage a different character than cutouts.
6. Arrange the items on your background.
   • Play with the different elements and don't be afraid to make this part a messy process.  Serendipity may hand you something interesting that you hadn't thought of.
7. Apply glue to each item.
   • You don’t have to cover the whole surface if you don’t want to, and not every piece has to be glued flat on the collage.  You can fold or crumple pieces of paper, for example, to get interesting textures.
8. Let the finished collage dry completely.  Depending on the glue(s) you used, you may need to let the collage dry for a few hours or more than a day.

 Tips

• Take your time.  Be patient and carefully choose and arrange your materials.
• A collage is a great opportunity to experiment.  Experiment with color, space, texture, arrangement, juxtaposition, and message.
• If you enjoy image editing, try an electronic collage.  You have the ability to change scale, transparency, clarity, tone color, and many other qualities of images you manipulate electronically.  You can also combine digital and paper image editing by printing edited images to include in a paper collage.
• If the materials on your collage do not stick perfectly after gluing, you can brush a diluted glue mixture (about 3 parts water to 1 part glue) over the whole collage once it is finished.  You can also use this technique to seal the collage.
• You can try mixing your glue with water to make it easier to work with.  Try applying it with a brush.  You may find it helps with the handling.
• Only use glues that are right for the materials you are pasting.  Some glues simply won’t hold certain materials, and some very strong glues may quickly damage your collage pieces.  Rubber cement is great because it doesn't wrinkle paper and is very strong.
• If you want to plan out your collage, you can lay the pieces down on the surface without glue, rearranging them until you have it just right.  Then take a picture of the collage so you will know how to assemble it.
• Make your collage however you want it, and don't be afraid to experiment with different techniques, images, etc.
• A three-dimensional art piece created by combining found materials may be called an assemblage.
• Let your mind run free.  Take pictures and put them all together.  Express yourself!
• Be random.  Do not paste items in a straight line.

 Be careful!

• Take appropriate precautions with scissors and glue.
• Put down newspaper or plastic, especially if you are working with liquid glue or paint.Make sure you don't waste it!

 

Things You'll Need

• Glue/paste.
• Materials
• Scissors or a craft knife
• A base, such as a piece of stiff paper or newspaper

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make a Collage.  All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Just Becasue They're Gorgeous...

I have no other reason to publish these items except for the fact that I think they are gorgeous and I want to share them with you!!  Enjoy!

Owl Queen Original Watercolor : vusova

Sterling Siver Bow Necklace : angelene

Flying Crane fabric Brooch : BoosTees

 

Celebration of Lime hand dyed soft and light cotton wrap scarf : Rainbow Revolution

MEGA SALE Now On!!!!!

That's right.  It's a MEGA SALE at MooBeeTees Etsy Shop.  Nearly everything has to go and it's all $10!!

We're changing direction - I'll still be making fabulous dresses for the girls, but I'll have much more choice and create some fabulous accessories to complimate each frock. The real change is that MooBeeGran and I will be concentrating on creating wonderful tactile Sensory Toys for the young (and young at heart!).  Toys that make you want to pick them up and pat them, squeeze them, hug them - and be comforted by them.

MooBeeGran will be concentrating on toys made from yarn and I will be building up the toys made from fabric.  Now I have a fair idea of what we would like to produce, but YOU are my consumer - what do you want to see?

Do you want to see toys shaped liked dinosaurs, flowers and cars - or would you like shapes; squares, circles,etc.

OR - Would you like to see both?

Also do you want clips so you can secure them to a pram?  Perhaps on some covered elastic, so little ones can move them around but not throw them out of their pram or cot (or car seat!)?

We would love your feedback on this?  We're excited and want to be able to incorporate your ideas - tell us what you need/want.

I'll keep you informed as we go along.  It's going to be a very exciting journey!!

Four Little Spring Bunnies...

I have been inspired by today's sunlight to think of Spring, and when thinking of Spring I think of rabbits - don't ask me why, I just do!  

Here are four very cute bunny offerings from MadeIt :0)

Rabbit in a Hat : PocketCarnival

I'M LATE Alice in Wonderland, White Rabbit inspired t-shirt : billymac

Woodland Bunny Rabbit Tea Party Giclee Collage Art Print : MulberryMuse 

 

Rabbit card, blue for boys : moonmum

Change is as Good as a Holiday...

 

Welcome Change (rustic green) - 24x36 LARGE Print : papermoth

Or so they say.

Whilst standing in the middle of our market stall last Saturday MooBeeGran and I had a moment.  None of my tees were selling.  Well, we sold two, but that's not enough to feed the children.

'Aren't they as good as everyone elses?' I asked MooBeeGran.

'Of course they are dear.' she replied.

'Then why isn't anyone buying them?' I asked.

'It's winter.' she said.

'Since when did the season have anything to do with a cashed up mother at a market?' I quickly shot back.

At that point I received the stare of a mother who was not going to answer any more childish questions.  I knew when to stop talking.  But it did make me think.

What could I do differently?

What should I do differently?

What is my point of difference?

Do I offer enough choice?

How do I make myself stand out from the crowd?

As a result of asking these questions there are going to be some changes at MooBeeTees.  We are still going to make beautiful handmade items for children - but - and this is a big but - we are going to streamline our range, give you more choice within it and  do it better than before.

 

Change always happens in the now : artzink

Big words, I hear you say.  True, but I think change is an all important component to any business, fledgling or established. So this is our first important change.  I'll let you know more about it as it happens, but I'm sure you'll all be pleased with the results.  I know MooBeeGran and I will be.

Change.

How has it shaped your art/craft?  How do you embrace it?

The first part of our change challenge will be a Mega MoobeeSale...more on this shortly.

Cheers!

Planet You and Cate - These Words Are Not My Own

Every now and again something touches my heart in a way that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.  It makes me want to question why things happen and how we can help to make them better.  This is such a moment.

I was reading the latest blog from one of my all time favourite bloggers - Cate Bolt - and was so moved I  needed to repeat it here.  I'm not going to try and explain as I think the original says it much better than me - all I ask is that you read, listen and perhaps, should you be so moved, help :)

My thanks to Cate for allowing me to reproduce her work here :)

These Words Are Not My Own by Cate Bolt

At night in silence the tears trickle down my cheek,

This cancer inside my brain is called Medulloblastoma,

In my heart I know this is Gods plan for me,

Yet I didn’t know if I was ready to travel this journey.

They pump the toxic drugs into me hoping for a cure,

The treatment is frightening and makes me so ill,

My platelets are low my body has bruises that are all black and blue,

Forever my life has changed and will never be the same.

I look in the mirror and hardly recognise myself,

The person I was is no longer there the girl looking back is someone new,

Resilience is what I need now to fight this battle,

I need to find the power to be strong, positive and courageous.

So many people are praying for and thinking of me,

I am touched by their kindness I shed another tear,

They give me strength to carry on even on days when all goes wrong,

My light is rekindled and I want to keep it burning brightly.

I will keep fighting as hard as I possibly can,

There are dreams I have for my future and I want to achieve them,

Cancer is a demon that tries to take away happiness,

But it won’t win for I know I want to be a survivor!

It’s funny how a random sequence of events can lead you to a place that you’d never imagined you’d be. The words above, as the title suggests, are not my own. They are – believe it or not – the words of a 12-year-old school girl. Her name is Dainere.

Just under a year ago, my kids and I made a video for a competition run by Australia Zoo. Actually, my kids made it, I stood back in awe of what my kids had learnt at school about film and television and realised how damn old I was. That video won them second prize and they had so much fun doing it that they decided that they wanted to do more.

So between us we came up with an idea to create a video series that would do what they loved doing – educate and inspire others. We had some awesome people jump behind us and throw in their talents to create the branding and website. We had some sponsors throw their money & products at us and we interviewed hundreds of kids to find out what they were most worried about.

What started as a “bit of fun” quickly turned into a LOT of work and an expensive exercise which we’ve continued to fund because we believe the end outcome will be worth every cent.

If you’ve followed us along the way, you’ve probably got sick of hearing about who we’re interviewing and not seeing the end result. Unfortunately the sad reality is that every 1 minute of end video is the result of TEN HOURS of work, so every 10 minute video takes 100 hours to produce, and with 10 videos in the series …I’ll let you do the maths.

The plus side to all of this is that we’ve had the opportunity to meet some AMAZING people. We’ve been more educated and inspired ourselves than what we ever anticipated we would be. When we put out the call to find a child with cancer who we could interview for Planet You, several people pointed us towards Dainere.

 

Dainere Anthoney is 12 years old. In 2009 she was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, I’ve included some very roughly edited footage from the interview we did with Dainere and she describes the journey she has been through far better than I could ever hope to.

When the Starlight Foundation offered to grant Dainere a wish, there were so many things that she could have wished for, so many things that everyone would have wanted her to have – for her. But Dainere didn’t want anything for herself. What she wanted was to help others. Dainere represents everything that we hoped to produce in Planet You with a selflessness that we’ve never ever experienced before.

Dainere’s wish was to have her blog published as a book. She wanted this so that other children who would have to travel her path could have something to read and know what to expect. She wanted to ease the unknown and provide comfort to others. If that wasn’t enough, she wanted the funds to be donated to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation – Brain Tumor Fund so that one day, perhaps they could find a cure.

I was concerned about doing this interview, as a mother. I knew that Ash would be incapable of meeting this inspiring young lady without becoming emotionally involved. In preparation for the interview Ash read every page of Dainere’s book from cover to cover and instead of becoming upset by the injustice of such a beautiful human having been dealt such a terrible hand – he got inspired.

The Planet You team decided that this book was too important to be limited to a short run and that it needed to be available to every child, Australia wide. So they’ve set themselves the task of having the book in every school library around the country. In order to do this, however, we will need to pay for a reprint at a cost of $15,000.  

Dainere has done the hard work in writing this amazing book. Planet You will work tirelessly to ensure that Dainere’s dream is realised and that her words can benefit others. We need YOU to help us raise the money required for the reprint.

I’ve done a rough edit of the interview that we did with Dainere just 1 month ago. I’ve never attempted to edit a video before, so you’ll have to excuse – I don’t know how to do the fancy things that my teenagers can do!

Dainere now has trouble thinking to form answers as she speaks and her speech has been impaired by her treatment. We gave Dainere the opportunity to write her answers before the interview so that she could read them and be confident in her answers. It’s hard to believe that she’s only 12. Please watch…

Since recording this footage, Dainere’s condition has worsened and she has lost the use of her right arm. She is having seizures and will travel again to Sydney on Sept 5 for more tests.

We intend to make sure that while Dainere may never benefit from the money the book will raise for Brain Tumor research, she will see her legacy in her lifetime and know that her book will provide light and hope to children Australia-wide.

On the right side of this blog there is a widget that says Sydney Children’s Hospital Fund – you can donate directly through Paypal. You can also use the “add to site” button to put this widget on your own blog. Please give generously so that Dainere can see her dream become reality.

**This fund raising is done under authority from the Sydney Children’s Hospital Fund Authorisation number #1510 the beneficiary is the Brain Tumour Rehabilitation Program and all donations over $2 are tax deductable – receipts will be issued by the Sydney Children’s Hospital Fund.

Have You Seen GiveawayScout Yet?

I was contacted recently by the lovely Josh from GiveawayScout who wanted to know if I had considered listing my giveaways on this site.  So I had a look and I thought 'Why Not?'

Here's a little about what they aim to do:

GiveawayScout provide access to all blog giveaways, contests and sweepstakes in one place. Giveaways have become extremely popular in recent years and thousands of blogs offer them on a regular basis. Giveaway Scout scans a large number of giveaway blogs and updates every hour with the latest offers.

Since giveaway contests usually expire quite quickly, we offer an automated update service that informs you by email when a new giveaway in your chosen category is discovered. 

So as I said, 'Why Not?'; I do love a giveaway and if I can be alerted to them without having to search, I say 'Yay'!  Check it out - you might find it useful too :)

MooBeeView #10: TopazTurtle - plus Fabulous Giveaway!

Welcome to the August MooBeeView with TopazTurtle.  The fabulous jeweller behind TopazTurtle is Saunthra who works her magic with resin and other creative media.  The end result?  Wonderful, colourful pieces of art that you wear with a smile on your face.

As well as answering MooBeeTees' Fabulous Four Questions, TopazTurtle is offering a Giveaway especially for MooBeeView readers.  Just click on the 'August Giveaway' tab to see how you can enter :)

So sit back and enjoy a few minutes with TopazTurtle...

 

 1) Of all the media available to you as a jeweller, what is it about resin that has drawn you to it as a major medium for your jewellery?
What drew me most to resin and what makes me keep going back to it was the ability to inject colour into the pieces I create. I have tried my hand at a number of different types of jewellery making. I played around with metal for a bit but found the colours limiting and personally uninspiring. I use beads and wire too but again found the colours not exactly right. 

 
When I was given a resin jewellery making course as a birthday gift, it was an eye opener to how versatile resin is. When I was setting myself up as a resin jewellery maker buying pigments was a joy and a strain. I wanted to buy everything! I first started by buying the primary colours rightly thinking I could mix all my own colours. Gradually, once I had a better idea of what I wanted from my designs I bought other colours as well.
 
I still have my primary colours and I still do my own mixing to get that exact right shade.

2) Circles, rounded edges, spheres, smoothness - even your spikes are rounded! Tell us, what have you got against corners? How do you determine your design shapes?
No, I'm an equal opportunity designer. I don’t discriminate against corners!

 
Seriously though, most of my shapes are rounded as a matter of comfort rather than design. I can make some beautifully sharp corners with resin but very early on I found that this makes jewellery quite uncomfortable to wear. As a result I spend quite a lot of time sanding back sharp edges and corners to ensure that the piece of jewellery is smooth with rounded edges.

  

3) You use a lot of colour in your work. How does colour inspire you in the creation of your pieces?
Colour is an integral part of my work with resin and it’s what drew me to the medium in the first place. Colour doesn’t inspire me as much as things happening around me inspire me to create with a specific colour. Just take for example the song ‘Airplanes’ by B.O.B. It has these lyrics that go ‘can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars” and that line was going round and round in my head and led me to create the dark blue beads in the pictured necklace.It has gold streaks in them that look like shooting stars. Sometimes it’s a line from a book, flowers in my garden, clothes or a scene from a movie that drives me to work with a particular colour. When I work with bright cheerful colours, it usually an indication that I have been having a particularly grey week.

 
The marriage of colours and shapes is another issue altogether and I usually let my subconscious guide me as I feel very strongly about using some colour and shapes.

4: What has been your biggest resin disaster (come on, we've all had one!) and what did you take from this experience and turn into a complete success?
I have had a number of disasters. Very early on I was experimenting with embedding fibres in resin and the fibres I tried to use caused this foaming effect and huge bubbles in the bangle. I think there is actually a picture of it somewhere. I stayed away from fibre as a result.

Another time I added too much pigment to the resin (I was going for a very deep colour) and as a result it made the cuff that I poured very soft. I couldn’t understand initially why the cuff kept falling off and others didn’t! What a way to learn the lesson about what too much pigment can do.

(MooBeeView Note: All pictures in this interview are successes!  No disasters present!)

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I'd like to thank TopazTurtle's Saunthra for taking the time to answer my questions and letting us in to her world of beautiful wearable art.  If you want to learn more about TopazTurtle, please visit one of the following online sites:

 

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/topazturtle
MadeIt: http://www.madeit.com.au/topazturtle
Twitter: http://twitter.com/topazturtle
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topazturtle

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topazturtle 

MooBeeTee's Four Word Review:  Resin Rocks Wearable Art!

 
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Giveaway

And now for the Giveaway!  

Click on the 'August Giveaway' tab for your chance to win a  

$30 TopazTurtle Gift Voucher :)

Red Swarovski Crystal Ring

 Resin Dangle Earing in Milky Blue