Busy Week - Yes Again

Another busy week at the Notjustnat household, but what news right? A busy life means you are really living a life and I think lately I have over done it. Trying to fit everything into the weekend is getting harder and harder. Luckily we women can multitask so well. I can watch TV (listen), reading, iPading and stitching all at the same time. You would believe it when you see my chair! The most comfy spot in our house! 

Anyway, what have I been doing since my last post? Jacky and I went to Ballarat to the opening of Maria's exhibition. On our way we stopped at Mill Street antique mall. Actually we stopped there on our way back as well (mistake!). I have a weakness for all things vintage and recyclable so it was a good stop. It was my lucky day. I found a vintage tin with red roses on it. I love retro tins and my favorite are ones with red roses. There were other treasures there as well, too many treasures! 

It's the Chinese New Year weekend - the year of the black snake. Happy Chinese New Year...

I have a big selection of tins, some are retro and some are not, but all my tins are usable. I use them for my stitching projects. My first tin with single red rose I found in the UK. I use it for all applique supplies. The new tin with red roses was the one I found at the Mill Street Mall, but the problem was, it came with bundles of retro fabric, not the reproduction retro, but the original ones. The man was very sweet and let it go for almost next to nothing! With me not buying new fabric it fitted perfectly because the fabric wasn't new!

Also found at the Mill Street Mall is this cast iron pot. I have been looking for one for ages. It's deep and large enough for the bundles to sit comfortably inside. It also came with a fitting lid. I used it for the first time yesterday. I'm going to leave the bundles for a couple of weeks before I open them. Let's hope I can wait that long!

And on Saturday I went to Ziguzagu for some silk. The trouble is when I go there I end up coming home with more than just silk. I got a whole roll of cotton that is perfect for indigo dye. An antique white cotton yukata and some vintage indigo pieces. I had a fun few hours rummaging through the bins. I was very restrained and did not overspend this time. 

The indigo vat is still alive and well so I dyed a piece of linen I got from Ikea. I was experimenting with the dyeing technique. It turned out really well. I will have to use the whole piece for either a wall hanging or table runner.

Still on indigo. I dyed this bag a few weeks ago. The bag was a promotional bag with printing all over it. I covered the printings with three pieces of color catchers that I had shiboried. It was very enjoyable stitching on the soft textures of color catchers and cotton bag.

The Creative iPhoneography workshop I'm taking online is going well. I take a lot of photos anyway, but this workshop is specifically for iPhone photography. I'm learning a lot about lights, reflection and at the moment the assignment is about textures. I'm looking forward to some textures to photograph in the next few days.

Until next time

Nat