Last Post of the Year

Seasons greetings and farewell 2012

So today is the day. Well tomorrow is really but we swear we thought there were at least three more days to go! Personally we've had a helluva year of extreme highs and terrible lows, and are both pretty glad to put this year to rest. That being said we have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all lovely readers for checking in on HML this year and hope you continue to find us a source of info, inspiration and humour (usually at our own expense). We'll be back Jan 1st with more craft news, crews, reviews, clues and...um stuff. Can you tell we're tired? Love to you all! XXXX

EVENT OF THE WEEK

party time

Well we have really saving the best for last. Don't worry if you haven't bought any gifts yet because all shall be taken care of at the Harvest Fiesta. That being said even if you have bought or made everything this will be such a nice day out it may be well worth cracknig open the piggy bank one last hurrah! The lovely ladies of Harvest Textiles have invited all their favourite friends and collaborators to share the Christmas love and put on what is sure to be the sweetest of all the seasonal markets. Sadly HML won't be able to attend but if we were able to be there I can tell you right now we would be the first in line for a taco!

Merry christmas Harvest Textiles!
RAMONA & BECK xxxx

PROJECTS OF THE WEEK

tis, you know, the season

Despite notably ramping down this year, both the ladies of HML have been busy making things. We put it down to the pressure being off considerably, somehow it made it easier to craft! I'm continuing my obsession with needlefelting and made a little baby rattle for my young friend Gene. There has also been more wreath making (hence the air dry clay flower making) and pulling out all the handmade decorations for the tree (most of which Beck made!)

My continuing quest for the perfect christmas village continues. This little neighbourhood took me a fair few hours of an evening to make but how sweet is it? Very pleased! Mind you I have a number of nasty cuts on my hands now, and will have to put the needle down for a while to recover.

The recipient (our gorgeous glamorous publisher) instantly thought they'd be great brooches, something I hadn't even considered. I now dream of making a row of needle felted terrace houses as a brooch. I'll have to write that down somewhere for later. 

Not to be outdone Beck whipped up a set of glamorous glow in the dark polymer beads for her to take to Berlin and this super cool neon basket.

And despite getting ready for an epic 3 weeks in QLD Beck has been a very busy bee. She's made jam, beads and baskets for everyone else as well and as she leaves soon I scored my gift early. This will be the first year in about 6 that we haven't spent Christmas together so there will be a lot of texting going on the next few weeks. But we can honestly say, at the end of a pretty tough year, the ladies of HML find themselves breathing a little easier. RAMONA

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

littlies

Every year I like to make a personalized decoration for all my small friends. When I started many of my peers were yet to have children so the numbers were pretty small. This has all changed in recent years and I am now up to 18! It's still my favourite tradition and I had enormous fun doing this stamped wood tag for them all. I found the blank tags for 50 cents at a craft shop so it was kept well in budget - important this year as we seem to be poor church mice at the moment! If I had my time over tho I would have utilized the shape more and done little house paintings instead.

If your interested you can see past decorations here (2011) here (2010) here(2009) here (2008) 

Merry Christmas Maxwell, Finn, Silas, Sunday, Rueben, Gene, Clancy, Wolfgang, Alani, Kye, Lily, Charlie, Toma, Audrey, Georgia, Nicholas! love RAMONA

And my own Hope and Thom xxx

RADIO OF THE YEAR

Last one folks! Around 10am I'll be talking up Craft 2012 on RRRfm with the lovely ladies of the Grapevine. I'll be dishing out what were our highlights and lowlights of the year, giving a mini lecture on maker etiquette, and of course talking about last minute handmade gifts for Christmas.

I'll be flying solo as Beck prepares to fly north for the summer (let's just say she loves heat+beach+holiday reading) but she'll be there in spirit - or in this case jam - which I'll ceremonially pass on to the ladies with my needle felted house decorations! I'd love you to listen in. RAMONA

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

too much is not enough

We know you are all super busy, in denial, or in retail yourselves and literally have NO TIME, but we thought you needed a heads up on a couple of the amazing events on offer this weekend. They appeal to us mainly because the kids can participate. This Sunday North City 4 opens the roller doors for some free demos, a sale, a sausage sizzle and activities for kids 11-3 - I'll be there for sure.

Saturday I'm going to take Thom to do his own Christmas shopping at Northcote Pottery. Their show small pieces is perfect - he can pick things himself which is very empowering for small people and a great introduction to buying handmade. Open this Saturday 9-4.

As for the Big Design Market...we know we know ANOTHER MARKET but a lot of thought has gone into providing some points of difference,. The biggest one for us is this is totally kid friendly - with activities and decent food and a parents room as well as totally inspiring makers selling ware we think this is actually going to make all members of the clan happy. Plus the Royal Exhibition Building is a gorgeous venue.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

pins and needles

Needle felting is not for the faint of heart that is for sure. The needles are barbed, brutal and show no mercy to the weak or weary. That being said once you get the hang of it the rhythm of this craft it is very soothing. As you can see we didn't entrust Thom with a needle but he pretended to felt with a plastic screwdriver instead (with some very speedy jabbing help with a proper needle from his sister).

We decided to start with the most basic of projects - a felt ball garland for the piano. It felt Christmassy enough and perfectly doable in an afternoon/evening.

My favourites were the big white ones with confetti spots - they remind me of icecream with sprinkles. We of course are now addicted and have visions of making a needle felted nativity scene, a tree full of felt birds and some discs of grey felt to make a necklace. Ambitious? Always!

It was lovely to make something all together and I behaved myself by NOT putting a Christmas CD on while we worked - I'm not allowed those until the 12th December. I am pleased with how it looks too. I wonder what you are all doing to Christmasify? RAMONA

SHOW OF THE WEEK

fresh cuts

Could this year have gone any faster? Could there be more happening around town? Could we be the only ones a little nervous about the fast approaching end of the Mayan calendar? These are the questions that plague us this week at HML hq. We'll be interested to see the work of the best of the best craft, art and design students on show at this Years Fresh Award at Craft Victoria. We've been looking at this show every year for about a decade and are amazed at how things come in waves and trends. Always Fresh, always tasty! Opens on Thursday with a traditional large party - something to celebrate graduation. Ah the young things!