Inkodye – Printing fabric with sunlight
Inkodye, by Lumi, is one of the success stories to come out of kickstarter, it is a clever product that allows you to expose an image on fabric. It is kind of like screen printing where you get to skip a step or two.
Ages ago a friend bought me an Inkodye pack. I was so excited, but it took me so long to get around and use it. I felt I wanted to design something worthy of the process, but this required some spare time(which I don’t seem to have enough of), so instead of putting it off any longer I decided to make some t-shirts with Ava using found objects. I had seen a lot of beautiful images on pinterest and instagram where they had used leaves and flowers but we decided to go with crochet doilies.
I did the painting of the Inkodye onto the t-shirts and Ava chose her doilies and put them down as she liked. Then we popped on a piece of glass (which I had pinched from an old picture frame) and took it outside. It was a lot of fun to watch the colour appear and grow stronger in the sunlight.
The edges were a bit soft because of the thickness of the doilies but with film or paper cutouts it would be nice and crisp. I am really looking forward to doing some new designs with this and there is no shortage of inspiration on the net, here are a few of my favourites from Urban Comfort and Jessica Jones at How about Orange.
Crafternoon Cafe Carlton
Crafternoon is a great little cafe in Carlton where craft activities appear alongside coffees, cakes and foccacias on the menu. Your little’uns can collage, paint and draw letting their imaginations run wild, while you are all served lunch or maybe just meet up with friends for a cuppa.
This is such a fun way to spend the day. I have been there with Ava twice now and both times we have ended up staying for hours while Ava and her friend ‘get their craft on’ while I get to drink tea and chat ’til my heart is content.
Collage creation and decorating a little trinket box would have been heaven for me as a child and although we can get crafty at home, getting out to this lovely little cafe is a great solution to cabin fever, and raiding someone elses craft stash is also a bit of a buzz. The food part of the menu is quite nice aswell, offering normal cafe fare including a pumpkin and fetta wrap so delicious I ordered it both times. There are some great options for children, catering for them in size and not compromising in quality, the way a typical ‘kids menu’s’ can.
With winter on it’s way crafternoon is a great place to keep in mind for anyone able to grasp a pencil. The staff are helpful and cruisy and really didn’t seem to mind us parking ourselves there for the day while we played, ate and drank.
Crafternoon Cafe is at 531 Nicholson St Carlton 3054 and is open Mon & Thu-Fri 7am-5pm, Tue 7am-10pm, Sat 8am-5pm and Sun 8.30am-5pm. Wear clothes that can handle texta marks, glue spots and glitter so you can truely relax and it is worth booking, so call 03 9077 6998.
Easter Egg Hunt
After Ava’s latest night in history, with dinner in the city, Easter morning started a little late for us. At 10 am Ava woke and together we found the first easter egg the bunny had left. All too quickly the pretty pink foil was off and the egg shaped chocolate was heading for her mouth (a skill I think she had mastered at childcare on Thursday) Being the big bad parents we are, we intercepted the little feast with the promise of more eggs to come, putting a dressing gown and boots on and handing her a basket she was ready for the hunt.
I had been looking forward to the easter egg hunt this year. While Ava had a good go at it last year, this year came with so much anticipation and more searching skills than she had before. Although, I was not prepared for quite how good she would be, spotting the tiny little solid eggs as she ran passed them, she would stop still, turn around and pick it up, put it in the basket, then continue on her way. The excitement and amazement was gorgeous and she was so expressive, telling me a number of times during the day ‘I am so happy’ and ‘I love chocolate mummy’.
Though her love of chocolate was so great, Ava was sharing her eggs with everyone throughout the day, even before she had had a chance to eat some herself.
Gingerbread for Easter
Ava and I had fun this week making gingerbread eggs, bunnies and chicks to give to friends as easter gifts. I found a simple gingerbread recipe on Taste.com.au, here it is:
Gingerbread
The Shopping List…
125g butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
And what to do with it
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and egg. Beat to combine.
- Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon over butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined and a soft dough forms. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth. Shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line baking trays with baking paper. Roll dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Using your chosen cookie cutters, cut shapes from dough. Place about 1cm apart, on prepared trays.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until just firm to touch. Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ava chose the sprinkles she wanted to use and we had a mini production line with me icing them and Ava covering them in sprinkles. So much fun and we are both quite proud of the results.
Sea Salt
During a recent trip to the beach I decided to collect some water and make my own sea salt. I was inspired a long time ago by the beautiful blog Not Without Salt and more specifically this post. Not Without Salt is full of amazing recipes but for me the reason I love to visit is for the gorgeous food photography. So not only does she make me want to make better food, she makes me want to take better photo’s – motivating me in so many ways.
Something I have learnt about myself is that I am addicted to creating – I love the satisfaction of making something. Whether is be knitting row after row to make a simple scarf, painting an old piece of furniture, sewing a garment or designing an entire visual identity for a company, creating things and making them beautiful makes me happy. The downside of this is that I feel kind of empty when I am not doing something that produces results that I can see. So although holidays are lovely they often take me away from these loves in my life.
This little salt experiment was kind of a way for me to create something while relaxing on the beach with my family. The actual making of the salt didn’t come until I was at home in the kitchen, but the collection of the water gave the promise of the new little project. As Ava and I collected shells, feathers and sticks from the beach I talked with her about what we were going to do with the water and wondered myself whether it would actually work.
