jamfancy

Hi
Ive been dying to let the cat out of the bag on this!  Ive been working with the very talented team from “made by White” to come up with a set of JamFancy brooches!  So without further ado, here they are:
“Bandit Girl”

She is Laser cut and etched out of wood with hand painted detailing and a perspex black mask.
and my peronal favourites, the “Girl Heros”
“Lonely Girl Hero”

“Sensible Girl Hero”

and “Reading Girl Hero”

They too are Laser cut and etched out of wood with hand painted detailing and rather cool looking perspex glasses.
Plus the cheeky girl with her bunny “Oh Dear” brooch set

The “Pierrot” with her pom pom detail

and the “Boy Meets Girl” set, just the right side to sit together on a lapel

They are all $35.00 AU each, including the double sets as well, with free shipping within Australia and $8.00 for international  available from “made by White” and from my Etsy store.
This has just been the best experience and Im so chuffed with how they turned out, cant thank “made by white” enough for asking me to do this!
bye
Christina

Hi
Just took some new pictures of the vegetable patch, post the “rat wars” that we have been experiencing here.  This picture of our corn oddly shrouded and looking just a little like an aviary is part of our efforts to keep the little sods off our veg!

So far so good, but they decimated our tomato crop, I think we got about ten tomatos and they got the rest, often just taking one bite then moving on to the next tomato for another single bite.  Below is the new look tomato bed, its all peas, haricots, lettuce and little french breakfast radishes now with plans for purple sprouting brocali down the middle.  Its really shot up too since I took this photo, the haricots are about 6 inches high and the peas are delightful little tufts of leaves ready to start climbing.  We have since had to net it as well, this time to stop the birds digging up the peas and strewing them about for seemingly no reason.


You can just make out the pile of old tomato in the pictures here, its forming very nice compost at least.  We have learned a lot this year about the various perils of vegetable growing and will be ready for them next tomato season.  Many people told us netting was no use against rats, so we didnt do it, I wish we had, we might have saved our tomato crop.  It is still one of the most enjoyable things in the world to do though and I do love our new pea climber, even if nothing were to grow, I think its really very appealing.

Hi
Got a few new prints in the etsy store, seems masks and noses are all I can do of late.  I finished a new one yesterday called Knitting Girl Hero as well, will have to wait for a sunny day to take a photo though before I can add her.
This of course is “Sausage Girl Hero”, don’t know why this idea didnt occur to me some time ago really…..

and this one was completed around Valentine’s but I got the worst cold so she is only going in the store now, oh well, I never do time these things well

and finally yet another year of the bunny print, I do love this bunny year for inspiration!

Got some new ceramics back as well.  These plates and bowls are mainly from my first classes when I was too scared to do anything but make plates and bowls with moulds, it seemed so much safer than trying to make something in 3D!  I had been putting off painting them up for some reason, but ended up really enjoying it and plan on doing many more, I think they will even end up in the etsy store too.

Yeaar of the bunny again

This platter was to give me something to do  in class, I dont like to do any of the more detailed things as I only have a couple of hours and cant get them finished, so I made flowers for many classes, not really sure what to do with this now, serve crisps in it perhaps?

This girl is a work in progress really, she is going to be a ceramic doll.  Just cant wait to make her a body and clothes!

the limbs


Okay that is it for now, finally a bit caught up!
bye
Christina

Hi
I did two prints today and for some reason when I was drawing them up, they just needed to have noses.  None of my girls have ever had noses, not sure why exactly.  It poses some problems at times, I cant really do side views of them as they look like one eyed balloons for instance.  Of late I have become highly enamoured of other peoples drawings etc of pink noses too, they are so adorable, like a nose blush or something.  Anyway, these two girls have noses.


and this girl in her original form has no nose, but I sort of mocked up a nose version of her, which do you prefer?


are they still  my girls if they grow a new apendage?

Hi
Ive been so lazy this year getting my pictures of some of the Christmas edible goodies up!  Paul made 730 hand made filled chocolates this year, so many that we couldnt fit all of them on the table I use to take photos on!  We still have a little tub left over too.
Here they are filling the table

and some pretty close ups



Made some new packaging for them this year too, Bandit Chef rides again!

The “this year with love” part of the text drew much hilarity as to what the emotion would be for next year or for previous years, “spleen” got a lot of votes…..well it got mine, its such a good word.

and finally our traditional iced Christmas cake, last year I branched out a bit from the usual Christmas stuff and went with “where the wild things are”, so I thought I might do that again and decided we would have a Totoro Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all and have a Happy New Year as well.
bye
Christina

Hi
I realised yesterday that I had gotten quite behind in my show and tell of my ceramic works*L*  Im in a very lazy Christmas holiday mood I think, but I rounded them all up and here they are
I think this is my favourite, she is a vase, she was meant to be a bud vase, but I got a little carried away and she is quite large now


Here she is without her mad flower “hat” or “thoughts”, she looks almost nude I think

Next is the Bunny Rider, I thought after the bunny being so heavy that putting the girl on top would collapse the whole thing and very nearly gave up, but Im glad I didnt in the end.  The tree is inspired by the Staffordshire ones that are used to hold up various animals in their ceramic works.  Of course you can hardly see it though.


another item just to fill up the other dome I own

and finally this one is a little sad.  I made this girl so that she could sit on her custom chair or perch merrily out in the world……however, the people that fired her were a little careless and pushed her against the blocks she was sitting on, she was being glazed so of course her poor legs fused to the blocks!  They had to snap her legs!  It looked horrible, but Paul patiently glued her seamlessly back together.  She was to be for a lovely couple though and sadly cant be sold in her current condition, so she is staying we me I think.


there is one more……but he is a secret for now.
thanks for looking
bye
Christina

Hi
The Australian National Blythe Meet is on again next year in Sydney in 2011 and the organisers are gathering funds.  To that end how would you like to buy a raffle ticket for $10.00au for the chance to win an outfit set for your blythe made by me?  50 tickets are on sale and the prize will be drawn once they have sold.  Many more details and the place to buy your tickets right here!  Open to international folks as well  : )

The set includes a felt deer, bambi fur hat with velvet bow, crochet print headscarf, crochet shawl that does up with a lace flower pin, faux fur lace edged tippet with a glass flower button closure, a white gathered underdress and a patchwork russian scarf print, elasticised shirred overdress with faux fur and net ruffle trim and silk skirt (doll not included)



Huge thanks to Narelle for taking these super pictures of the set, best and worse idea I ever had, not sure I will ever be able to take pictures myself and show them without a degree of shame*L*  Best of luck to the organisers too, its a huge amount of work to undertake but its always a great day for Australian Blythe collectors.
thanks and bye
Christina

Hi
Been busting to show you these two cats I made for my Mums Birthday, but obviously I had to keep them a surprise.  They lived on my mantel for a week and she very nearly didnt get them after all…..

They are supposed to be like the Staffordshire dogs and cats for Mantels and firesides (right hand click view image to see them bigger)

The black one is just a tiny bit bigger than the brown one though, but I think they came out quite nicely in the end.

and now for the ones for sale in the future, not sure if they will be online or just in the gallery that has my prints

These are quite small, only about 4 inches high

I think this one is my favourite

another present one goes in for firing this week and another sale girl will get dipped and hopefully her potential owners will like her when she is done.
bye
Christina

Hi
Four new prints are in the Etsy store!




and here is a very exciting picture of our vegetable garden, the plants are so much bigger now and it was only a week or so back that I took the picutre, I have become completely obsessed by it too, Im always checking to see if things have grown and taking nibbles as well

We had our very first three stawberries the other day, a tiny repast, but it felt like such an achievement*L*
bye
Christina

Hi
Here are the foodie ceramics that I brought home from class the other day, a theme seems to be developing…

and of course that theme is macarons!*L*  These are for a set of glass domes I bought that turned out to be the wrong size!  Finally something to go in them.


and this is Paul, the Bandit Chef, holding a tiny little rose macaron, whilst standing in front of a whopping great big rose macaron that now holds our ipod and any other stray bits in the lounge room

well, its either a whopping great macaron, or a pink hamburger anyway

better start making some stuff to get ready for next terms class!
bye
Christina