Hand-made Labels

I've finally made a decision about the labels to attach to my work, and here they are!

hand-made labels made with an old lettering stamp and a new flower one

I was considering using tags ironed onto ribbon using my DYMO labeller and iron-on tape. I'm still not sure about that, I may yet do it as well. But the very least I need is a tag with the washing instructions, which is very important!

Thankyou to my mum who gave me these fantastic flower stamps and ink, I think they're really pretty and will do the job very nicely. I also dug out an old stamp I've hung onto from my old life, a good thing too as it's been very useful over the years. It's quite fiddly to arrange the letters, and even more so when putting the tiny letters back in the case. But its not something I have to do very often. I just leave these letters in the stamp for now! I was going to attach ribbon to these, but I've since decided that some nice clean white crochet cotton will do the job better.

My mum also gave me the cardboard tags that are cut with a special embossing machine she has. These ones are great because they fold into themselves, open them up for extra room to write the washing instructions! I think these will serve very well ...

Handmade Easter Box

My mother made this clever cardboard box, she gave it to me for Easter filled with little chocolate eggs. The lid is part of the box, when you lift it reveals an opening in the middle. After the eggs were removed, I peeked inside and saw more pretty eggs printed inside!

Paper Lady in a Red Dress

This is a very special memento from my old life as a professional vocalist in Darwin.

In 2001 and 2002 I was studying voice as part of a Bachelor of Music at the now Charles Darwin University (it was called the Northern Territory University back then). I was attempting to finish this extra degree for which I would get a lot of exemptions, the main challenge was completing the musical performance units which would take 3 years part-time.  The main reason I was doing this was because I had a highly desirable job at the Northern Territory Music School as a vocal and choir teacher, something that was coveted by other teachers and I was exceptionally lucky to have. So the pressure was on me to prove myself and that I deserved my place there.

It was during this time that I did some unpaid performance work, where prior to that I had always been paid. My voice lecturer was a wonderful lady called Kathy Banks, she was absolutely amazing and lovely. So of course, when she asked me if I was available for a Gilbert and Sullivan production she was directing I accepted! It was a showcase of excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, I would play the part of Peep-bo, one of the three little maids in the Mikado excerpt. It was so much fun. I was glad I made it clear I didn't want the lead so I was able to enjoy it and lend comfort to the other performers, as many of them had not performed before a large audience before. This was held in the Darwin Entertainment Centre, and I'm not sure how big the audience was maybe several hundred or more. This paper lady in a red dress was given to me as a thank you gift, and it is such a special memento for me to cherish now I no longer do that kind of work.

Of course, I don't perform any more so this is a mere memory from my past. It's so very special for me that I still have this, after so much else I have lost. It is a memory of a fun event during a very hard time for me. I was in the process of leaving my husband, and by mid-2003 a colleague had committed suicide so my world pretty much fell apart from that point and I didn't finish the third year performance units.  I didn't show up for my mid third year exam as it was a week after that terrible event, then I pulled out of the rest of third year altogether and left Darwin for good 12 months later. At least I had successfully finished my end of second year exam with a very difficult 50 minute performance. It was opera and included pieces in Italian and German as well as English, it was the hardest performance I've ever done. I have never rehearsed so much for anything in my life, rehearsing once or twice every single day for over 2 months so ended up doing very well. I was determined not to make a fool of myself and just had to grit my teeth and do it, it was very hard. I did all this while I was secretly planning to leave my husband without him knowing as I was scared for my safety, rehearsing at home everyday while still living with him. No one I know now came to see my exam, my family was busy, and there is no video of it which is a real shame but at least I can remember it.

Looking back I can't believe how I possibly got through that time in my life as well as I did, despite it being one big mess. But special memories like Kathy Banks and these performances remind me I am probably stronger than I think I am! Thanks to Kathy and the kind people that I knew back then I someone how got through a terrible period of my life. <3 <3 <3

Lovey Dovey Greeting Card and Envelope

I couldn't post this before yesterday, but this is the lovey dovey card I made for David, wrapped up in a custom-made pink envelope.

First, I made the snowflake from red coloured paper which I had in my stash left over from my school teaching days (I have kept soo much stuff). This measured 9cm x 9cm. I got the idea for the front of this card from the snowflake greeting card from allfreecrafts.com I carefully glued that with craft glue onto the front of a 10cm x 10cm card cut from white cardboard. I then made a paper insert with pink paper which was 9cm x 9cm. I attached it by handsewing with red embroidery thread a few stitches down the spine and ended that with a soppy bow on the inside of the card.

I finished off the greeting card with love hearts hole punched into the top right hand corner of the pink paper insert, before adding some lovey dovey words for my sweetheart! Then using some more pink paper, I folded it around the card to form an envelope, trimming it to be neat. I secured it with a small dot of glue on the inside, which I concealed on the outside with a lovey dovey sticker I bought as an impulse. Not very thrifty of me I know, but those lovey dovey stickers were very cute!