DIY stamped clothing labels

I'm feeling super-charged today, creative, prolific and really happy to have ticked a load of stuff off my 'to do' list. Really I just put the finishing touches on a bunch of UPcyled skirts and dresses that I've been working on over the last few months (or more), but geez it felt good (ok it felt awesome) to put all that stuff out on the racks at the end of the day. And, it's all because I finally figured out how I wanted to label everything - with my own stamped, branded sizing labels.

If you would like to have a go at making your own stamped labels there's a short how to below the gratuitous self promotion shots.

YOU'LL NEED: 

For the stamp pad I put a splodge of ink onto the lid, pop the felt piece over the top and use the back of the spoon to work it through the felt.

To make an even stamping surface, I used an old woollen blanket thrown on top of the kitchen table. Then I laid the calico on top of this and stamped a few rows of the business label. For the sizing labels I used the alphabet upper case stamps to spell out the numbers, then I wrapped a rubber band around them to keep them together whilst I stamped. Once everything was dry, I ironed them and cut them down to size. And that's it, easy peasy.

I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out, though I think I might get a dedicated clothing label stamp made up with 'little brown dog' and the wee critter himself.

Happy stamping
x Bec

a celebratory giveaway for listing new stuff on etsy

Hurray I have finally listed the the first pieces from my new jewellery line in my etsy store. If you follow me on instagram (littlebrowndog) you may have seen the evolution of these designs over the last couple of weeks. The jewellery is a direct off  shoot from my housewives of Ikea collages and a homage to the truly feminine styles of the 1960s. 

Whilst I usually work with pre loved materials these pieces have been laser cut (by the lovely Kirsten of Short Cuts Laser) from Perspex to directly reference the rise of plastic in design, particularly homewares and furniture, in the 1960s.

To balance the use of new materials I have made the findings from recycled silver, using new skills gained from the silver smithing course I am taking at the moment. And I have constructed all packaging from cereal boxes and decorated them with old pattern directions and leftovers from the collage projects.

To celebrate the new range, testing of new skills and the realisation of new ideas I am giving one reader a chance to win a pair of housewife earrings. 

It's a little bit of a creative writing challenge and here's what to do:

In the comments section let me know which colour is your favourite, give your chosen housewife a name and give me a little bit of her back story (a one liner will do e.g. ethel is a ......, she likes discussing foreign policy at cocktail parties......)

To help you out below are the original illustrations on which I based my designs. 

The competition is open to anyone on planet earth.

Competition closes Easter Sunday.

The winner will be selected by myself (and maybe the husband if I'm having trouble deciding). 

I'll announce the winner on the blog on the 5th of April and also notify the winner by email (please leave in with your comment if it's not in your user profile).

Finally here's a wee sneaky peak of the next range of 'housewife' products - perspex pendants with bespoke silver dresses. I'm really looking forward to playing around with these and can't wait to share them with you.

xx Bec

A good day to dye....

Last weekend I was invited to a natural dyeing camp in beautiful Stanthorpe, hosted by uber crafty lady Mieke.

This is something I've wanted to try for ages and it was loads of fun to stand around bubbling pots of leaves, fruit, flowers, onion skins and goodness knows what else. With the botanical dyes it's kind of a colour lucky dip every time.

We also tried our hand at indigo dyeing. This is a very different process to the hot dyes and also much faster, which is perfect for impatient types like me. 

A cold dye bath was made up and each piece was gently added to the bath for five minutes.

When the fabric is removed it's a funky green colour and as you untie and expose it to the air it starts to turn blue, it's all a bit magical really.

Lots more ideas are now brewing after spending quality time amongst all these creative types.

x Bec

Seeing Red

I thought I'd share a few process shots for my 'little red' entry. This is an annual themed competition held at ART time supplies, Ipswich. 

The rules are:

- you must use the 50 x 50cm canvas and tube of paint supplied 

- work to the theme (this years is little red) 

All works are then exhibited for two weeks and a people's choice and judged winner are chosen. This is pretty well out of my comfort zone here but I thought I'd give it a bash.

The theme immediately made me think of mushrooms and I decided I wanted to try and create a tree trunk with crochet mushrooms growing out of it.

To make the bark I pulled apart an old woolen suit coat 

and tore strips from some linen fabric samples. 

I sewed these together randomly making a piece just a bit bigger 

than the canvas.

I painted stripes of red onto the stitched together piece (this was the only way I 

could figure out to incoporate the red paint). Then I top stitched, over 

lapping some sections and adding extra strips of twisted linen until I was

happy with the over all look of the bark. 

Using this mushroom pattern but in a me kinda way (which means not really

following the pattern properly) I made a collection of mushrooms from a stash of 

op shopped wool. I stuffed each mushroom and pushed thick wire through 

the stalks.

With my trusty red staple gun I fitted the bark piece to the canvas, then poked the

mushroom wire through both layers and gave the ends a good twist and a generous

dab of hot glue to keep each of them in place. 

And here's the finished piece:

Entries are not due until the 13th of April, but I'm the kind of person that has to take advantage of an idea as soon as it develops. I had fun crocheting the mushrooms and testing out my developing skills, though the more I try to follow patterns the more I realise that I'm an adapt and go my own way kinda gal. The exhibition will run for two weeks from the 15th of April, I'll be sure to get some snaps of the other entries and share them with you so you can see the breadth of talent in my home town.

xx Bec

the housewives of ikea

I've been messing about with some ideas for an upcoming exhibition in Ipswich Town 'seven solos'.  

I have a wee (ok it's actually a little excessive) collection of vintage patterns and order books and flipping through the books one day I was compelled to find 'homes' for these ladies. Then the idea struck me that the best place for them would be in interiors of modern design and this is what's happened - the housewives of Ikea.

I'm also working on a few accessories inspired by my love of the silhouettes cast by these ladies. And I'm undertaking a beginners silversmithing class and hoping to tie in what I'm learning their with all the other ideas jumping around in my head. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the developments.

xx Bec

D.I.Y. fabric sample and screen printed wall hanging

I've had a whole week off and it's been lovely. Late nights, lie-ins and catching up on all those jobs on the bottom of the to do list.  Mostly I've been clearing out cupboards and sorting out my sewing pit to turn it back into a sewing room. And... I've done a little bit of sewing and decorating including making a nice big wall hanging for my bedroom. 

If you fancy having a go at something like this here's what to do:

You'll need:
- a variety of fabric samples or fabric scraps - I have a bit of a stripes and pompom thing going on at the mo, hence my choice in materials
- design of your choice - I love a nice simple silhouette with a bit of a twist
- screen printing bits - screen, squeegee, ink, scalpel, masking tape, an old spoon and a piece of screen printing paper
- a canvas in the size of your choice (small person who sit's on it is optional but highly entertaining and helpful)
- a staple gun
- a letter opener can be handy
- a pencil
- an old wool blanket and some scrap fabric

STEP ONE - sew together the fabric remnants.

Figure out your design by laying the fabric pieces over the canvas until you have a layout you're happy with. Make sure you give yourself plenty of seam allowance for each bit of fabric so that you have plenty to play with and the finished piece hangs over the edge of the canvas by about 10cm all the way around. Once it's pieced together, press all the seams nice and flat.

STEP TWO - attach the fabric to the canvas (this should really be step three but I do tend to do things a bit backwards).

Place the fabric face down on the floor and put the canvas down on top of it. Start in one corner and staple the fabric onto the wrong side of the canvas. Gently pull the fabric along the canvas as you go and keep stapling along one edge. If using stripey fabric you need to make sure it's straight against the canvas or it will look a little wonky.

Start stapling along the perpendicular edge to the one you've already stapled, gently pulling the fabric as you go to make sure it's stretched nice and tight across the canvas. Keep working all the way round and don't be afraid to pull out staples if you need to readjust it - a letter opener comes in handy for this. Finish off the corners by folding and flattening, then stapling down.

STEP THREE - print your design onto the fabric (this is kinda easier if you do it as step two as it's much easier to screen print onto a flat piece of fabric than a wobbly canvas propped up with books).

Cut the screen printing paper to the size of your screen, then transfer the design - you could do this by holding it up against a window and tracing round it or rubbing a pencil over the back of the design and drawing over the top of it. Using your trusty scalpel carefully cut out the design. Attach the paper to the screen with a couple of pieces of masking tape and you're ready to print.

Set up a table to print on. Throw the old blanket over the table and the fabric scrap on top - this will give you a good resistant surface to print on. Put the fabric you are printing on down on table, screen on top where you would like your design to go. Sploodge a nice generous spoonful of ink onto the screen and work your magic with the squeegee, a couple of swipes with a firm even pressure. Lift off the screen and admire your handiwork.

Let it dry for a couple of hours or overnight and iron over the design to set it.

The picture shows the practice run, I always like to do a test print to make sure the design is just right, plus I get an extra print or two to do something else with like make cushions (there are now bear things everywhere in my house).

Here's my lovely (and helpful) assistant:

Obsessed with tiny wee things

Lately I've found myself indulging and combining a few obsessions. I've been practising needle felting, playing with figurines and experimenting with crochet to create 'no maintenance' terrariums and teeny sculptures. 

These are the zombie cats and were my first foray into the 'no maintenance' terrarium experiment. A custom order for a teenage boy, they had originally been housed in a live terrarium which went from a lovely lush green to yellow, brown and then dead. I just couldn't get the irish moss to stay alive and this made the cogs start to turn. I pulled out my felting tools and determined to make needle felted grass and I've got to say I was pretty thrilled with the result plus the needle felting was pretty cathartic.

This teeny tiny terrarium was a personal challenge. I wanted to see just how little I could manage to needle felt without losing a finger. It's a wispy wee thing but rather charming and I love how ridiculously small it is.

Then along came a new craft obsession - crochet. I've tried about five times to figure out crochet and I finally think it may have stuck. I was gifted some amazing local hand spun wool by a lovely local maker. Most of the wool I made into a basket and the little bit left over I decided to use to crochet rocks. There's a great tutorial over at the purl bee if you fancy having a try. Mine is nowhere near as delicate as the wool I used is so thick but I loved the texture and couldn't resist adding the cowboy and the felted tree.

I'm really enjoying needle felting, it's the perfect activity to do whilst watching a movie (as long as you are mindful of your fingers) and I am loving that I have another excuse to buy these tiny figurines from Ipswich institution CJ Vogler & Son. 

'Granny in a jar' was a little pick me up pressie for a beautiful, stressed out and over worked friend. And the three little scenes below are the first of a collection of bubbles for 'Size Matters III - The end is nigh' at The Swich Contemporary Art Space - follow the link and click on 'artist opportunities' if you think you might be interested in contributing to the exhibition. 

I'm pretty excited about this new direction and I'd appreciate your thoughts and feedback.

Bec xx

Happy snaps of an epic day out

Our little family had a huge day out on Friday

 to GOMA and the Queensland Museum.

It was a fabulous and crazy day -  here's a few 

happy snaps as captured on Instagram.