Follow the Leader - Spring has Sprung!

'Follow the Leader' by Diana Jones 2009

Only two days to go till Spring. I'm looking forward to t-shirts and shorts weather and my skin actually being able to breath free of jumpers, jackets and scarves. Granted it was 28 degrees last week so Spring has definitely sprung round my parts. I'll be turning this illustration into a collage - stay tuned! Currently fixated on pinwheels. They are so cute. Mmm... the minds ticking over, I'll see what I come up with......

Stitches and Craft Show - Sydney 2009

As a bit of a slacker blogger I'm dedicating this post to my childhood friend who popped out a bouncing, 35cm headed, ouch, baby girl on Wednesday. As she did a champion effort and she did mention I haven't updated my blog in a while, here is a post for you, Chris and sweet little Georgia. I will try to pop out a few more blog posts in the coming months while you're on maternity leave.

The Stitches & Craft Show was a mad crafty affair and I bought quite a bit. Here is my bootie from the day. Finally got myself some Heather Ross material which I've been drooling over for many a month. The fabric selection was too fabulous and finally got some pippijoe and ink & spindle fabric. It is all such beautiful quality, how am I ever going to cut into it? Got myself a copy of the madeit recipezine which I contributed to and met the powerhouse behind madeit, Bec, who is super nice. This craft show is a must for craft supplies I saw so many things I've never seen in the shops around here. I got heaps of business cards and am slowing making my way through them, so hence, I don't think I've quite stopped shopping yet. I'll definitely be back next year. If you're thinking about going, you must, it's on till Sunday.

In other updates, here is the hot air ballooning illustration turned into a textile collage. I love it and currently have it hanging in my room, but I will be selling it next month at the markets. It is the biggest I have completed so far. It measures about 50 x 70 cm.

This is my first ever item that I have had in a magazine (yellow flowery handmade doll). One of my stockist's, rudy and the dodo got my doll in this mag.

And for some new products. Here are some cute toddler hats for summer. This is my sweet little mate Rosie modelling a selection of the hats I've whipped up in the last couple of days. Rosie and I hang out most Wednesdays. We dig each other and think each other is pretty tops - pretty good combo I reckon. Oh, and Rosie is a big fan of Hi-5 and cheese and I've got that in spades round here so it's pretty much a cheesy, hi-5 utopia when she visits.

Hot Air Ballooning with Snippy and Little Miss

'Snippy and Little Miss Go Ballooning' 2009 Diana Jones
It's getting warmer here. Hopefully I'll be able to stop the hunch over to keep warm and I'll be sitting upright in no time at all. Here's my latest colourful illustration. This will be turned into a textile collage, quite a big one if I'm up to it. With this illustration I couldn't help but think about a very bossy little girl, called Little Miss, who takes her dog, Snippy, everywhere she goes - whether Snippy likes it or not. To exact his revenge on his bossy keeper, Snippy leaves little surprises under Little Miss' bed much to Little Miss' horror. Snippy also drinks out of her cup when she's not looking. Snippy would much prefer to laze around, itch and eat the cat's food than participate in some of Little Miss' adventures. Being a loyal friend though, Snippy has generally learnt to suck it up and go with the flow.

Dessert Buffet update.

I found a pic of the dessert buffet my sister and I whipped together for my friend's baby shower. Although this pic isn't so fabulous you get the idea and setup.

Winter Colour Fun and The Olive Tree Market

'Girly Balloons' 2009 Diana Jones

'Flying Bed Girl' 2009 Diana Jones

'Swing a Little' 2009 Diana Jones

Another month, another Olive Tree market. It seems to come around so quickly. For this wintry month I cranked out some cute and super colourful collages to lift the spirits of my fellow Novacastrians. Was absolutely freezing and after coming back from the snow only the previous day, you'd think I could hack the north coast Winter. But nay, am big cold frog wuss. After jumping and jiggling up and down for a few hours (I'm sure to the amusement of customers) it slowly warmed up and I had a great day with my fellow carnie peeps. But now I think the snot has set in for the week, those are the breaks I'm afraid. And for some more colour fun - my eldest sister snapped a pic of me, miss six and my younger sister at the BusDepot Markets in Canberra. Looking particularly colourful, we were browsing the most amazing stall. The lady made elaborate leather slippers with all different scenes and designs - amazing. The coat miss six is sporting I made for her a couple of months ago. I sort of stole this project from my elder sister as it was driving me nuts that she started the project and just left it sitting there in my sewing room. The queen of procrastination that I am I had to finish this project before I could move onto my other projects. It is a beautiful swing coat, lined in hot pink silk for that swishy, swishy feel the kids love.