My creative space

Something a bit different and a bit of a story.  

 

I am a member of a craft co-operative that is in Leura, NSW. It is called The Nook.
We are a shop that is open every day except Christmas day, and it is a great venue to sell handmade goodies.
Every October the village of Leura has a gardens festival and a 2 day festival market right in the main street of Leura. Most of the shops in the street use the occassion to publicise their business, but The Nook, being upstairs on the first floor and not having a shop frontage always was disadvanteged. Sure we had  little stall outside your front door, but how to get people up there.
So a couple of years ago we came up with the idea to give our customers a goody bag, with things handmade by our members, when they spent $20 in the shop.
It worked a treat and our sales for the weekend rocketed.
So the other day a few of us got together and had a working bee to make some goobybagness!
My friend H has more fabric than I have beads I think!
These are some squares she cut out once for cushions that never really sold, so here we are making them into coasters - to give away in October.

Nothing like being organised in advance!

If you would like to join in with Our creative spaces or just take a peek at what others have been up to, pop over here.

Favorite fibre people

I am priviledged to know some amazing fibre artists, some of them I actually know and some I just "know" virtually!
Know what I mean!

So I would like to intoduce you to the incredibly talented Pam de Groot.
I first met Pam in her previous life as a potter!

We are both members of The Nook craft co-operative in Leura.

For the last several years Pam has turned her hand to felting and fibre arts.

Pam's entry in the Art Street competition at Winter Magic this year.

She has a very lovely felty blog.
If you are in Sydney or the Blue Mountains or nearby you may be interested to know that she holds felting workshops.

She also has an etsy shop where you can find hats, wraps and more!


I am the proud owner of a Pam de Groot wrap and am now the very unhappy ex-owner of a Pam de Groot hat (sadly lost!).
Maybe I should do a hat making workshop with Pam?

Another fibre artist that I have met through the crafty community in the Blue Mountains is Michelle who I am delighted to say is a new member of The Nook.



Michelle spins, dyes and creates eye-popping pieces.
I urge you to look at her Wooldancer blog - she has list of spinning divas in her side bar, for more fibrous adventures!

If you are interested in incorporating some amazing fibres in your creations have a look at
Wooldancer on etsy.

Now to close encounters with fibres of a third kind!
Well I guess the fibres have the same initial source (sheep) but the end result is very different.

I introduce for your entertainment and delight, the Grand Purl Baa, Loani Prior, queen of the teacosies!

I love reading her blog - she has a wonderful turn of phrase and her teacosy designs are legendary.


See what I mean?
Have you ever seen such an awesome teacosy?

Even if you dont drink tea, you ahve to take a look at her work!

She has written two books, the latest one made it to the top ten of books in the Sydney Morning Herald!


She often wanders around the country teaching workshops.
I hope to be able to catch one, one day.

Roger Rampart - my favorite - of course!

Enough for today, but I have more lovely fibre delights for another day.

Do you have any fibre art blogs you'd like to share?

Sale and some new stuff

You know when you are just sick of seeing the same things?

I have been feeling like that about some of my jewellery, especially some necklaces that have been around for a while.
So I decided to have a clearance sale and see if I could get rid of them to make way for some lovely new creations.

I'm always a bit reluctant to lower my prices because my prices are so reasonable anyway, but maybe it will encourage some people to take the plunge!

- and I've threatened them, if they dont sell - then I will cut them up into bracelets or other things. (the necklaces not the customers!)

Where is this sale happening?
At The Nook at Leura, which is a craft co-operative that I belong to.
When?
Now!

And here are some new pieces -

peruvian opal and azurite with brass chain

rhyolite, chalcedony and pearl

brass pendant an assymetric mix of beads

and some cute owl earrings.

Doin' some pimpin' - blogtoberfest day 2

Today I'm going to 'pimp' someone else's business!

The reason for this is that apart from the reasons below - these people helped me out this week with a small problem and in return I have decided to pimp their shop.

Red Whisper Studio is a wonderful creative partnership between artist Liza Paizis and John Robson.

sylph

Liza is an amazingly talented artist with a love of the mystical forces of nature and uses images and symbols that evoke our dreams and fantasies.
She is actually mulit-talented and uses many mediums to realise her visions.

Liza is particularly fond of dragonflies, mermaids and goddesses but avoids the usual cliches and manages to deliver them in a fresh and vibrant version.

I dreamed a circus

Between them Liza and John have created a range of items to showcase Liza's unique talents.

Everyone can afford to own a Red Whisper creation, be it an original artwork, a print, etching or magnet, card, mirror, necklace, tshirt, bag, brooch.

dragonfly brooch

What about John?
Well he is Liza's muse, her business manager, framer, printer and indispensible right-hand man.

Want to know how to find Red Whisper?

They have a website,
etsy shop,
blog,
are part of The Nook Co-operative in Leura.
And sell at markets and festivals around Sydney and further afield.




If you do bump into them at a market you will realise that these are two very special people and I feel honoured to call them my friends.

Samibop

Danette Rowse has created her own children’s clothing label using quality vintage and recycled fabrics. She individually makes each item herself in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

Sami Bop was started early in 2006 as a small project and has slowly expanded with three monthly markets and a showcase of styles now at The Nook Art and Craft Gallery, Upstairs, 133a The Mall, Leura.

Fabrics date back from the 1950s onwards and consist mainly of woven fabrics with interesting combinations of prints and patterns.

“I have been sewing since I was eleven years old, and since studying fashion I have used my skills to create an innovative and original concept in children’s clothing.”

“It’s wonderful to be doing something I really enjoy while I’m at home with my own children”.

Styles are for both boys and girls in sizes 00 to 5.

You can find Samibop on etsy too.

Leura Tea at the Nook

The Nook has some new members!
In this post I will just tell you about Liane and Angelique who are Leura Tea.
It's hard to believe that they have only had their business in operation for 4 months.

I think the range and style of their hand blended teas is due to the amount of work and research they put into the previous 8 months as they devoloped their ideas and of course their product - the delicious teas!


Their specialty is a range called Leura tea blends -
- Blue Mountains Earl Grey
- Blue Mountains Lady Grey
- Leura Chai
- Lemon Sublime
- Billy Blue



Inspired by their own young families, they decided to develop a range of caffeine-free teas. Of course these are all enjoyed by all members of the family!
- Captain Jack's Jaffa
- Gabriel's Chocolate Chai
- Eddie's Apple Spice
- Dominic's Jasmine Black
- Honey Bee

They are constantly blending and creating interesting teas such as Japanese Genmaicha, Goji Berry, Australian Daintree as well as the amazingly beautiful artisan tea balls.

You can find all these delights and more at
The Nook, (a co-operative gallery)
upstairs at 133A The Mall, Leura.
ph 02 47 84 2917
thenookleura.com.au

or contact Liane and Angelique
leura-tea@hotmail.com
www.leuratea.com.au