Motivation, now where did I put that....I seem to remember seeing it...

Ah, that's right, there it is!

It seems to have taken me ages to find my friend motivation. For posting on the blog anyway.

I don't really know what happened to it. All motivation to blog just up and left me...without even saying good-bye. Ever felt like that?

It wasn't 'writer's block' as I have been doing things, even though I haven't been blogging about them.

I've baked some delicious individual Sticky Date Puddings and Caramel Sauce, for a recipe spot on Julie Gibbons' Tractor Girl blog. The recipe is on my Facebook page if you want to give it a go. It is such an easy one and so yummy. They are even great as muffins for lunches the next day, if they last that long.
 

At the sewing machine, this cute little outfit became reality, after much procrastination. That motivation thing again, it went missing again for a while, around the time I was trying to get this finished.

Some new patterns are uploaded on my Spoonflower account. I've ordered samples of a few of my recent patterns and hopefully they will arrive this week.

Frankie & Swiss are a Melbourne outfit who do the same as Spoonflower, digitally print fabrics in both large and small runs. Which is fantastic for fledgling surface designers like me. Michelle has been really helpful, but I'm yet to order a sample from her. I'll wait until the Spoonflower samples arrive, as she suggested sending a cutting would give her an idea of what I am trying to achieve in colourways for the fabrics.

Plenty of time has been spent on Illustrator making patterns as things come to mind, but I'm planning on doing complimentary patterns for some of them. Mainly with the patterns I would like to use as fabrics for my 'jane on jane st' products.

Here's one I'm pretty happy with. I call it 'Flare'. The pattern on the right is a basic repeat of the motif. I was thinking there could possibly be a couple of complimentary patterns from this, as each of the elements, or a combination of a couple, would easily create some contrast and interest.

My 'Diamonds and Pearls' pattern has been around for a while now. In fact it's now my blog header. I revamped the blog quite a few months ago, while I was trying to figure out how to do a repeat of the 'Diamond' pattern for a complimentary fabric. I still don't quite have the repeat figured out, it's a bit tricky but I'm nearly there with it. It's been very much trial and error, so I'll see if it works.

The 'Chevron' pattern that is part of this story is loaded in my account on Spoonflower. There is another pattern that goes with this, but it's not finished yet. The purple is more prominent in the 4th one of this story, unlike the 'Pearls' pattern below, where the brown charcoal colour stands out.

"Chevron"                                             "Pearls"                                           "Diamonds"

The screenprinting gear came out again about a month ago. I tested three new prints, and here are two of them, 'Eat' and 'Mid-north Beaches' scroll.

Keep your eye out for the Giveaway I'm planning. It has something to do with the 'Eat' print. My blog was 2 years old on January 24th, so it might just be something to celebrate.

The tote bags are test samples. My idea was to test the prints, then line the bags with contrasting fabrics. They are all earmarked for 'giving' away, but the next batch will become part of the product line on my 'Made it' store. I've closed all the items on the store for the moment, as I am in the process of getting quotes for labels and swing tags.


They will all have, what now seems to be, the trademark aqua colour for 'designed to a T' and 'jane on jane st'. Here's a sneak peek.

Very plain and simple styles was all I was after. The 'jane' tag matches the blog page.

The screenprints were very pleasing in the end, so permanent screens are next on the list. At the moment, I'm still testing all my designs by preparing the print with a sun exposed screen. A very satisfying process, but the screens don't last very long without the emulsion being 'set' so you are able to use it over and over again.

Interestingly, the young lady who taught me how to do sun exposure is the daughter of a printer who worked for the famous Florence Broadhurst. So screenprinting has been in her blood from a young age. Her business commercially prepares screens for large and small business.

So, after all that, the motivation to write about what I've been doing certainly had left me, but I've kept busy. Holidays are coming up soon, with some relaxation in the garden and at the beach (if the weather holds up).

The Giveaway will be up on the blog later in the month, so keep watching here, on my Twitter account, and on my Facebook page for how to enter.

Have a great week everyone!

Intermission...

I've had a fairly disjointed intermission in my blogging lately.

Other things have been going on.

About the only thing I've been blogging regularly, is my weekly 'A thought for you...'. This was a commitment I'd made to myself when I did the 'Blogging Your Way' course, to make sure I posted once a week. I suppose because I'd made a conscious decision to do a weekly thought, at least for the moment, this was going to be my 'once a week' connection to blogland.

Life has gotten a bit disjointed also. I didn't have a lot to talk about and I was in so much pain. Work is busy, home isn't so much, so I've been taking it pretty easy. My grandson arrives in less than 2 months, so I wanted to feel stronger for when he arrives. It would kill me if I couldn't pick him up, or play with him, or even bend over to change a nappy...hmmm, maybe I'll leave that one for my son. After all, as a grandmother, I have the privilege of being able to play and hand back!!!

For the past 8 years I've had an extremely bad back. In recent times, as in the last 2 years, I've been seeing a physio most weeks and it's only been in the last 6 weeks that I truly feel close to normal. It gets you down, having pain every day and night.

About 6 weeks ago, I couldn't stand the pain, but I had to keep plugging away. Panadol became my right hand (wo)man. It's not very strong compared to what I've used before, and I think some psychological factor takes over in your brain when it comes to masking pain, but it got me through. I had to ween myself off stronger tablets as they were making me sick, with the possibility of an ulcer forming.

Then all of a sudden, almost as if 6 weeks ago was like the peak of a tempest, the pain started to go. My back feels better with less (sometime no) pain, my left knee is getting better (still not very strong in the quads though) and my left hip is finally starting to hurt less and less. The pain in my knee and hip are a result of not being able to walk normally from the back pain, so other parts of your body take over.

I have a slight curve of the spine (scoliosis) and soft tissue injuries (muscle tears, weakened muscles). It's hard to remember what year it started, all I can see looking back, is a day in Big W with the boys, when they were much younger. I went to walk around the end of a fixture and 'BANG', something went in the left hand side of my back.

And I mean 'BANG'. It actually made that noise, probably amplified in my mind. I couldn't stand up straight for about 3 weeks. I was in agony. My boss booked me in to an Osteopath, didn't work. I went to a physio, which got me back on track, but didn't really fix the problem or help me arrest any more damage.

As the years went on, it happened time and time again. I was losing strength in my legs, my stomach muscles, my upper body, more and more, because I was too scared to do anything. Sport stopped, exercise stopped, I put on weight...so on and so on. It made me tired, being in pain, not sleeping, all the usual stuff, including tiredness from now living such a sedentary life. Doing nothing or not much at all makes you tired.

I wish I knew why all of a sudden my back feels so good, because I'd make sure I kept doing it!

I'm ready to get back into walking. Spring is coming, so maybe a bit of swimming. I might even change my physio sessions to a Personal Trainer session every now and then.

Being in pain has made me lazy. I know that...I see it all the time. I can hear my mind saying, 'You really should dust/vacuum/wash/cook, you know...Yeah I know, but I'm not going to, I'd rather read my book!'

I have been doing things, just not household things. Well...I do them, but not as much as I should.

My extra curricular activities have been sewing, making handmade gifts, some fabric designs, some typography designs...I found Pinterest! Great because it has beautiful images, not so great because you can spend hours on it, but it's given me some inspiration, especially for the arrival of Baby Grove.

Let me show you what I've been doing in the meantime...

 Home Made Rice Pudding...Yummm

A fabric block for my grandson...now has the letters 'B' 'A' 'B' 'Y' on four sides.

'A whale of a time' 3D artwork... to go on my 'Made It' store.

'Don't wish to be anything except what you are!' posters
...still testing colours. They will go on 'Made It' when I'm happy with them. 

Using these clipboards is a great idea to showcase your kid's artworks. 

From Officeworks for a few dollars!!

I participated in a Mail Swap with Sheree from Seaweed and Raine.

These are what I made and sent to Greta from On Top of a Lily Pad.

 

 

 

Burlap/Hessian Bunting ready for my 'Made It' store.

Reversible Bunting, also ready for my 'Made It' store.

I have a few others in the process of completion, just need to trim the tips, turn them out, iron them and attach the trim and ties. Oh...and I decided to make one for my room too.

My fabric designs are coming along, and I've found a Melbourne printer, to be launched in a few weeks time, who just might be a good substitute for what I've been having done by Spoonflower in the US. Frankie and Swiss is the name of the company. Their website is still under construction, but they have a Facebook page, so check them out. 

Love the name for their printer, Florence (the machine). Hmmm...wondering if it's any coincidence the name is similar to Florence AND The Machine. Great band, fabulous voice!!

Thank you so much for letting me get that off my chest. I don't talk a lot about myself here, maybe I should. Treat it as my therapy...haha! I have always wanted 'designed to a T' blog to be a positive space for me, so the little intermission has given me some space to find something to talk about. Something positive. I didn't want to be sounding defeated, or a whinger, which I know I do, whinge that is, or have done, because quite frankly, I haven't been well. Not 'sick' in the sense of the word, but generally not well.

Anyway, onward and upward as they say. October here I come, welcoming a new life into the world with the arrival of Baby Grove!

It's in the mail...

With the advent of the electronic age, it's very rare we find something special arriving in the normal surface mail. We never seem to have that feeling of knowing something special is on it's way...unless you are an especially regular online shopper. The feeling of waiting for the parcel to arrive, wondering what's in there! Unless, of course if you bought it, then you'd know...

This month, I decided to take part in the 'Sunshine in the Mail Swap' over here at 'Seaweed and Raine'...

Having missed out on a mail swap earlier in the year with the Creative Collective, this was a great opportunity for me to use some of those ideas floating around in my head, AND for a recipient to have a parcel arrive in the mail (and not just those window faced envelopes!)

Sheree from Seaweed and Raine put the call out about a month ago. I'm not sure how many people signed on for the activity, but we all now have the name and address of the person we are preparing our little surprises for!

We each have been allocated a different person to receive the Mail Swap, so our special gifts are for someone other than the person who is making one for us/me! What a great idea!

With the rain that's been hanging around (we've just had a down pour), it's been the right type of weekend to drag out the cutters, the glue, the printer, the sewing machine. Oh...how I long to be able to spend my days just doing this!!

Now that I have a grandson on the way, he'll be here sometime in October, all of my skills and passion for creativity are champing at the bit. I can't wait to see what Mum and Dad-to-be have chosen for the baby's room!

Pinterest is getting a workout! and my blog projects are up there too...Some of the things I've been doing this weekend are for potential new ideas for my Made it store as well.

How about a bit of a look at what I've been making?

The lady I am sending my gifts to, is Greta from 'On top of a Lilypad' across the ditch in New Zealand. How cool that it's 'overseas', well, over one sea anyway! NZ is so close they could be part of us anyway, or maybe they think AUS should be a part of NZ. (The rivalry continues...)

For the swap, we were asked to do a few things or all of the 5 activities, if we wanted to..

Sheree asked us:

... to choose 3 things (more if you feel like totally spoiling your partner!). It's preferred if you could hand make some of it (or purchase from someone who does).

1. Stationery OR  note cards with envelopes.

2. 1 Handmade postcard.

3. Something you have made.

4. Something that makes you think of Spring.

5. A surprise for your partner

My package will include the following:

A HANDMANDE NOTE CARD WITH ENVELOPE

A HANDMADE POSTCARD

This is from a selection of postcards I made earlier in the year for another project by the 

Creative Collective and I've sort of kept it as a bit of a 'signature' for some of my 

'designed to a T' poster/stationary items.

{Photo isn't great sorry, this was during the downpour and I had no light basically}

SOMETHING I HAVE MADE

A few tags using stickers, bakers twine and Washi tape - This tape is one of my favs 

at the moment, it has the days of the week on it - in 3 different colours!

 and

A SURPRISE FOR YOUR MAIL SWAP PARTNER

This is an A4 poster with the quote I used from last week's 'Weekend Thoughts' 

'Don't wish to be anything except what you are!'

Here's the actual graphic for it...I'm going to send it with the clipboard too. This is a great way to showcase art work, especially if you have children. You can change the item regularly and even have some hooks on the wall for a row of 3 or 4 pictures. They look fantastic and are really a cheap way to display. I bought these from Officeworks for a few dollars each...bargain!

I couldn't think of anything to do that reminded me of Spring, but I still have time. The parcels are scheduled to arrive by the start of Spring, September 1. I have some floral fabric in my stash...I'll think of something...

Stay tuned for some more of what I've been making this weekend...

A day at the beach...

Unfortunately for Sydney-siders, this week has been pretty wet, wet, wet. In fact, I heard it was the wettest July in 50 years (??), so a trip to the beach wasn't on the cards this week for most of us. 

I've been playing around with my typography ideas again and have come up with this 'bus scroll', listing some beaches in the Forster-Tuncurry area, where the holiday house is.

It is such a beautiful stretch of the eastern seaboard of New South Wales.

This one is destined to be screen printed, maybe on plywood, and hung in the hallway downstairs.

If it comes out as I hope it will, you'll be able to find them on my 'Made it' store, along with my new 'Are we there yet, Mum' eye charts and 'Sweet Child of Mine' posters for boys and girls.

More creative spaces over here!

Recently listed on Made It...

Two new posters, in A3 and A4, recently listed on my Made It store

My 'Made It' store up and running...& Don't forget my Giveaway!

How about that, I finally took the plunge and thought, what the heck...If I'm not ready now to do this, I never will be!!

My 'Made It' store has some STOCK!! Check it out over here!

I have to say I'm quite excited about it. I've been sitting back doing the Blogging Your Way course and reading all of the regular blogs, and some new ones. But it wasn't until I was reading one blog in particular that made me realise, 'Why am I holding back?? Why not get a few things up there and see how they go??'

It's that old indecision thing I was talking about a little while ago over here on one of my Saturday Thoughts.

Anyway, I'm going to talk in particular about this inspiring blog in a new post very soon.

Here is a little taste of my new eye chart design. I'm in Melbourne for my 'real job' this week, but as soon as I get back to good old Sydney town, I'll be making it into a screen print.

{Available in A3 & A4 in both Blue and Pink}

Now don't forget my giveaway of the beautiful IKEA Textiles book, as it's coming to an end on Saturday 26th March (NSW Election Day). You have until midnight on Saturday to get your entries in as I'll be drawing it on Sunday morning. Don't forget to leave me your email address so I can let you know when you've won!

{Image: Terese Grove}

{Image: IKEA}

You can become a follower, or comment that you are already are - that's one entry. If you want a couple more entries in the draw, you could tweet about it or comment on your Facebook page, then come back and leave a comment about that too. So all up you could have 3 entries.

Not too many entries at the moment, so you have time still to enter. Good luck to everyone who enters.

Oh and by the way, sorry I didn't have my Saturday Thought up this week, I was traveling home to Sydney and to be honest forgot to schedule one. It'll be back next week.

Bye for now...T