Thank you to everyone who has read and supported my Blog this year. I have really enjoyed becoming a blogger and have valued every bit of feedback and every comment. Blogging has become a very important  part of my creative life.


I send my love and positive energy across the universe to wherever you are this Christmas. 


I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.... Let's hope its a good one without any fear.... :-)


Much Love, 

Gillian, My Lovely Husband, The Awesome Teenager and The Super Twins

Dolly

When I was a pre teen I was fully into Barbies.And, unlike little girls today (yep, I am an old, old, cranky lady) I didn't have 56 Barbies that were interchangeable and meaningless to me. I had 4. And one of them wasn't even a Barbie. It was a Marie Osmond doll. Hilarious.

But I didn't care. Those four dolls were my most loved possessions. My most favouritest toys. (My feelings toward Barbie and her slutty cousin the Bratz doll are very different today... but that's another blog for another day)


I had an old cardboard suitcase that I carted them around in. My preciouses. I would take them to sleep overs. I made up plays for them to perform in. Twirl 'n' Curl Barbie was often the star. Marie Osmond was her perky best friend. 


Man, I loved those Barbies.


I was totally blown away when my Nanna Tessie came to visit when I was about ten, and brought me enough handmade Barbie clothes to fill my tatty suitcase to the brim. Gorgeous little knitted jumpers, funky dresses made out of old socks, all manner of glamorous duds for my four special girls. I was in heaven. I would take the clothes out, peruse the collection and then fold them all so carefully and place them back in my suitcase. I think, even though I was only small, part of the reason those clothes were so special was that I kinda understood how much time and effort Nanna had put into each little piece. There were even little vinyl handbags, for goodness sake! And she had done that for me. And Marie Osmond. 


I am surrounded by boys. 

I will not have a house full of Barbies and pink things. 99.5% of me thanks the universe for that.... but a little part of me was super excited when Jasper asked me to make a dress for their one and only doll. 

Nanna Judy found her in an Op Shop. We think she may have had a previously sordid life as an exotic dancer, as she was wearing purple tear away pants and nothing else when Mum found her. Weird. She was being called Stripper Dolly, but now that she is rehabilitated, she is just called Dolly.


And she is sooo much more demure in her new Tessie Fabric dresses.


She was a little shy at first...

But she soon warmed up to the photo shoot. 

These will probably be the only doll clothes I ever make. They are very crappily sewn. And the novelty of Dolly may wear off in a day, or a week. But regardless, I dedicate these little dresses to my Nanna and I thank her (wherever she is) for that tatty suitcase of amazing doll clothes and for making me (and Marie Osmond) feel so special.

 I pass on that message to my boys. I will always try to go above and beyond for you. I will put my love into the things I make for you. I will always try to make you feel special and unique. All three of you.


x Gillian


* I wish I had a picture of my Barbies. But I don't. When I was about 13 or 14 I gave my entire collection- Twirl 'n' Curl, Malibu, No-Name and Marie Osmond and their fabulous Nanna-made wardrobe in the tatty old suitcase to my fabulous cousin Bianca- who was about 8 at the time I think. I have it on good authority that Bianca loved those girls every bit as much as I did.

Christmas Giftiness

My bestest customer this Christmas has been my Sally. Some of her purchases were off the rack (or out of the Craft Cupboard) and some were custom orders.
I love to be challenged and pushed into new areas when fulfilling a brief for a customer, so I was super excited to tackle this apron and try a few new techniques.

My Sewing Yoda (Mum) was out socialising, so she is sacked. You Tube is my new Sewing Mummy*. 


But, come on, how many videos does the world really need on gathering???Apparently A. LOT.


Sal also ordered a clutch bag for her Mum. I am really happy with how it came out and I think it's the best one of these I have made. 

(Trumpet-blowing over.)
(For now :-)


Thanks for being as awesome customer Sal and I hope your peeps like their Tessie Gifts!!!


X Gillian

*I haven't really sacked Mum. She wishes!! She is still my Go-To girl for all sewing, toddler, cooking, life, universe, related queries. Always.

Kylie dressed up as Miley?

As we prepared to go Christmas shopping this morning (yes, we are insane going to a Shopping Centre a week before Christmas), I said to The Awesome Teenager, 
"Does this dress look too young for me, Mate?"
"...Um .... maybe... a bit?" he replied, with that male look of terror in his eye, flinching as he waited for my response.
 No, I didn't go medieval on his ass, (I asked the question and always want an honest answer from the males in my house) but as I changed into what I deemed as a more age appropriate outfit, I started to wonder,
"What is too old?"
"What is 'Age-Appropriate'?"
"Is it creepy for a 37year old to wear a baby doll dress?"


It's not like I dress like Brynne Edelsten...

(Who I think is supercute, by the way. And I could give her a run for her (husband's) money if I had a corset like that too!!)

With age I have learned to tame the bosoms, lower the hem and the platform heel, but sometimes I wonder if I have crossed some invisible threshold from cute and edgy to middle aged and embarrassing. Are people pointing and giggling? Am I making The Awesome Teenager cringe?

But, then I think... So What?! I don't feel 37. I don't think I act 37... 

But what is 37? Who gets to say who I should be at this age, or any other? Who gets to say what I should wear or how I should feel comfortable.... Answer? 

ME.

I figure as long as I don't look like Whitney dressed up as Britney, or Kylie dressed up as Miley, I'm good.

Oh, and I most definitely want someone to take me aside for a stern talking to if I ever start to look like and elderly woman playing the lead in a production of Annie.....

What do you think about 'Age Appropriate' dressing? 

And, 

CAN I GET AWAY WITH THE BABY DOLL DRESS????

x gillian

Guess What?

And I am totally in love with it. 


At this stage, it is still vector artwork. I am hoping my very clever Lovely Husband can help me to make it into an actual font that you can actually use as an actual font! How cool would that be? And then I can sell it to a billionaire Font Magnate (they totally exist, right?) and we can retire to Maleny on our font-earned millions....


Font is a weird word, isn't it? If I had another child (which will happen when monkeys fly out of my butt) I would call it Font. Or Colour. Or maybe Dave

Do you like my font?


x Gillian

Stubby Cooler Craft

As I mentioned the other day, (for those of you paying attention) I love to make my own Christmas Paper. I love the organic, bespoke feel of it. And it's free. I like free stuff. 

I don't have anything against store-bought paper. Some years, I use it, and love to make all the presents match. It does make me nuts when presents wrapped in OTHER PEOPLE'S PAPER appear under my tree and ruin my aesthetic. I have been know to try and force my mum and sister to use the same paper as me, so ALL the presents match. 

They have been know to say, "Have you taken your medication today?"

SO, while the crazy lunatics where asleep the other day,

(SIDE NOTE: How do you stop 2.5yo's from CLIMBING ON TOP of their chest of drawers, which is over twice their height?!? And how do u stop 2.5yo's from eating the cat's food*? And how do u stop 2.5yo's from peeling the paint OFF THE FRICKING WALL? I know the answers to these questions, I just can't believe I have to ask them in the first place!!!!)

Anyway, while the sweet little angels were sleeping, I taped down a bunch of Ikea paper and got to it.

The green chevrons may look a little wonky here, but that's part of the cuteness of handmade stuff, isn't it?

(How cute are my toes. My husband says I have hobbit feet. Mean.)

To contrast with the green chevrons, I decided to do some red spots. And what better stamping tool to make spots is there than a Stubby Cooler? I know, I am totally awesome and unequivocally Oz. Mate.

Again, I think the messiness, and irregular nature of the spots works really well.

Add some grosgrain ribbon from the craft cupboard and some simple gift tags (created in Illustrator and printed out) and you have some pretty cute presents!! I have a few more to buy yet, so my shelf will look lovely and full! And matchy match match matching! 


(I promise I'm not a total jerk who loses it if the presents don't match.... And I totally don't care when the remote controls aren't lined up parallel on the arm of the couch... And who cares if  my Owl Collection is out of alignment and needs to be rearranged every day? NOT ME)


My fabric bunting adds the final touch to my gift shelf, don;t you think? Notice the presents are not under the tree. They are on top of a high book shelf. I think we all know why....

 X Gillian


* I don't let the boys eat cat food. On purpose. Kidding. Sort of.

Mr Lennon...

Today is the anniversary of John Lennon's death.

He would have been 71. 71! I can imagine him as a craggy faced, grey haired, cranky old man. I can imagine the last 30 years and what he would have contributed to the music landscape- awesome, amazing stuff that we are all so frickin' poorer for never having heard.


John (and The Beatles) have been part of my life for my whole life. They are part of my DNA,  my history, my insides... They were the first thing I remember claiming as 'Mine'. You know- those things, whether they be bands or authors, or fashion styles, or concepts? The ones you know more about than anyone else, that you love more than anyone else. The ones you knew about before anyone else and the ones you return to after all the other fads and fleeting fancies have faded. They are yours. The Beatles are, and always will be, mine,


In 2008, my Lovely Husband took the Awesome Teenager and I back to the UK to meet his beautiful family. I was so proud to be able to stand beside him and meet his parents and siblings and say (on the inside) "This amazing man of yours chose me." His family embraced Max and I and made us feel so welcome. They made us theirs.


And, because the Lovely Husband is also the Unbelievably Cool Husband, he indulged my Beatles fanatacism, and we added a few Beatles pitstops along the way :-)


We crossed the pedestrian crossing at Abbey Road....

So fun. We did it about 6 times- totally pissing off the local traffic!


We went to The Cavern in Liverpool

It is apparently totally acceptable in any Beatles place, to write all over everything! The front fence of Abbey Road Studios, The Cavern all were just covered in words of love, names, signatures. My name is on a table right near the stage in The Cavern. Look for it when you are there next....


We went to Penny Lane...

We didn't see the barber shaving another customer, or the banker sitting waiting for a trim... but we did see some pretty scary parts of Liverpool!!


And then, when we went to New York City, we visited the Dakota Building......

And we stood in the place where John was shot.

I remember Maxy saying, "Smile, Mum" as he was taking the photo. I didn't smile. Couldn't smile. I felt so wrong standing there. And I was so angry and disappointed that there was nothing there.... it was just a building. No plaque, or flowers or anything memorialising the terrible, fucked thing that had happened there. The doorman (in that little bronze tube thing) just looked at us, with absolutely no expression or emotion. Like he had seen us a million times before. Like the fact that I had dreamed about standing on this spot and adding my tears to the millions that must have been shed there for as long as I could remember,  meant nothing at all.


We walked across the road into Central Park where there is a memorial garden for John called Strawberry Fields. And even here, there was no monument huge enough to match the need I had to mark my feelings for John. I wanted a visual representation of the fact that John had died. That he had died and he was mine.


Three years later, I am still confused about my feelings on our visit to the Dakota. Our other Beatles stops were fun and awesome and so cool. They made me re-remember how much I loved them, how important they were to me. But standing at the Dakota just made me remember that shit things can happen. That life is often unfair. That it is ghoulish and creepy to sensationalise a death, or the place of a death. Or to focus on the negative aspect of life.... to see the shit, the crap, the death. 


So today, on the day of John's death, I will remember to be positive. I will remember running across that pedestrian crossing in St Johns Wood over and over again, laughing with my soon to be husband, my 12 year old son and my beautiful Angela-sister. I will remember calling my Dad from The Cavern club- waking him at 3 in the morning back in Oz, cos I just had to share it with him. 


I will remember that my beautiful, Lovely Husband made my dreams come true.






x Gillian


*Edited to fix GLARING error!! 8th of December is not John's birthday, and I am a dumbass. 

Let's Go!

I have a few crafty projects on the go at the moment. I am working on some printed fabric book covers (the pretty girl above) and I have made some cute christmas bunting for our lounge room. Home made decorations are awesome!
I am looking forward to hand printing some wrapping paper! 
Maybe something like this...

source

Or this...

source

Or this one...

source

I do love me some chevrons at the moment, so that could be the winning inspiration!

Do you make your own wrapping paper and decorations?

x gillian

Christmas Shmistmas

SO, it's feeling a little Christmassy up in here. Our tree is up, and its so pretty. Christmas is one time I can pretend I still work in Visual Merchandising and get all control freaky with the decoration of the tree. But with 2yo twin boys, I had to throw that out the window! I hoped that if they were involved in the trimming of the tree, they may not see it as their sole mission in life to destroy it and everything it stands for. 


So far, so good. Eli is so in love with our pretty tree, he could barely sleep on the first night we put it up. He had to come back upstairs to say goodnight to it again.  And again.


And I got to add another sentence to the list of Crazy Things ONLY Parents Of Two Year Olds Say:
"Jasper! Stop licking the Christmas Tree!!"


Why would you lick a Christmas Tree? But then again, why the hell not? It's the only way you can find out how it tastes! Or how the cat tastes, or money, or your brother...


I sometimes dread the Christmas period. Starting from the Awesome Teenager's birthday in November all the way through to the Lovely Husband's Birthday in January is often a guilt ridden, white knuckle ride of  uber stress and extreme anxiety. This year, something is different. I am not stressed. I am organised. I am looking forward to Christmas day. Probably because we are going out for lunch. To an airconditioned venue, where someone else will make and serve the food, then clean up the mess. And I will drink wine. In air conditioning. Awesome.


I totally understand why this time of year is can be such a trigger for stress and depression. There are so many expectations of the day- the right gifts, the right food, the right dress.... Who is coming? What are they bringing? Will they piss me off? Will I say the right thing? My family are super cool and heaps of fun, but we have all been guilty of over-stressing over the last few years when it has been our turn to host Christmas. This year, we are all guests. We can all relax. Sometimes, we get so bogged down in the logistics of the day, we forget to just enjoy each other.  This year, we will remember.


Are you organised for the big day? Do you love Christmas, or does it stress you out?


x gillian