New From The Cutlery Draw

I finally got round to drawing some new utensils today and have now uploaded them onto my etsy shop. I've also opened a folksy shop and listed a number of pieces there too. I'm getting closer to doing a few markets here in Northern Ireland. They aren't so plentiful as they were in Melbourne, but fingers crossed they'll be just as good!

Masher and whisk

Five forks 

A lovely vintage beater

My mum went to a Good Food Ireland conference yesterday (she's quite involved with the organisation) and came home with the biggest flower of Kale I've ever seen. Even after my nephew had chewed, pulled and created a little kale carpet on the kitchen floor with it it still looked blooming! So I decided to use it here as a backdrop of green loveliness. We're going to eat it tonight with duck. YUM!

New Fantail Brooches

I'm still making them! Here are a few new ones I have available until I send my order to my new stockist Mattt on Gertrude Street, Melbourne. I'm also looking for stockists in the UK and Ireland. If you're interested please send me an email at bridbird78[at!]hotmail.com.

Settling Into My New Range and Into Belfast

It's been two weeks since we arrived in Belfast. I've been busy setting up a work space for myself and buying a new printer/ scanner and starting my new range for my Bridbird etsy shop.

The range is based on the pen and ink drawings I made just before I left Melbourne. I'm going to turn them into cards and digital prints. I've listed a few onto etsy already and in the next few days I'll add more. It feels good to start afresh with all new work. 

Here are a few cards from my new range, all photographed with my mum's newly renovated kitchen as a back drop. It's lovely to cook and to blog in such a lovely kitchen! Sometimes moving back home is a marvelous idea! (She also has a TV at the end of the bath, and why not!? In fact, I think that's where I'm going to go now!)

Gocco Giveaway

I'm having a giveaway to help with the stock lessening for my move from Australia to Northern Ireland! All you have to do is go to my bridbird etsy shop, look at all my gocco prints and leave me a comment on this blog post which is your favourite design. The winner will receive a set of 6 different coloured fantail gocco prints similar to the one below. The closing date for this giveaway is Monday 14th September. My bridbird shop $10 sale continues until 15th September, after that the shop will be closed for a number of weeks and possibly not sell these items when open again. This could be your last chance!

Good luck!

I'll also just mention for Melbourne readers the fantastic girls of Thread Den, who are truly amazing, are putting on an extravaganza fashion show for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. It sounds amazing.

They say "it's going to be an amazing night out - with a cast of dancers, live strings, opera singers - and of course stunning couture and ready-to-wear collections from emerging Australian designers.

Tickets are cheap cheap at only $12 (plus booking fee) at the Thread Den shop. And you go into the draw to win a pre-show makeover (and who doesn't love a makeover?) dinner at Sosta Cucina, 
bar tab at the after party and accommodation for two. So what's stopping you? Eh?"

Booking details:

Friday September 4, 7.30pm &
Saturday September 5, 7.30pm

The Lithuanian Club
44 Errol Street, North Melbourne

Tickets: $12 + credit card booking fee. Phone:( 03) 9329 5305

Duck Story

A little while ago I mentioned how I had borrowed a stuffed duck from a pub called The Marquis of Lorne. In order to take the duck I had to give them something in return for the time duckie spent with me. So my little soft toy lamb, that I saw in a junk shop in Northcote, and couldn't resist, sat dutifully on the shelf in the pub for almost a month. I bet it was the time of his little soft toy lamby life!

So, Duckie became my model, I drew her, painted her and finally made a plate. A large perspex dry point plate. Almost didn't fit on my press!

It took a lot of rubbing and wiping to ink up this large perspex plate. Perspex isn't as nice to work with as copper is, I find it takes extra effort to get the ink just right on the plate and it's confusing because you can see ink on the back of the plate too. 

I inked up in sepia brown tones with black rubbed over the top in areas. I rubbed the ink clean in areas I wanted white and then over the wing I inked in a mixture of turquoise and black to give that flash of metallic green. That part of the duck has a special name, my mum knows what it's called, but I can't remember. Anyone else know?


And here is The Marquis Of Lorne's Duck. She'll be in my Exhibition next Thursday!

New Work For Market

Markets have been quite slow these last few weeks, probably mostly due to the cold winter months, but I was also worried that maybe my stall didn't have enough new work. So I've decided to get down and make some new things. Here are some examples of new pen and ink drawings with a kitchen theme. I'm now mounting them up ready for this weekend's markets!

At Market

My friend Christina who has a stall beside me at Rose Street Artists' Market just sent me these pictures of my market stall. Market is such fun, even if it is freezing cold in winter and so hot hot hot in summer! Working from home can be so isolating, I think I would go a bit insane if I didn't get to see everyone on Saturdays, and then we all go to the pub for a nice meal and a glass of wine after.

 

Me at my market stall doing something on the phone.

  The necklace colony

  

 

 The brooch area

 

Me in a dress I bought from a fellow market stall holder.

What have I been up to?

Recently I've just disliked sitting at my computer, hence lack of blog posts etc. I always feel I should be getting on with something else. Here are a few of the other things I have been getting on with instead.

The Crows.
I started playing around with unique state prints made from two plates and various scraps of fabric. I found it all a bit stressful, which sounds silly, I should just immerse myself into 'playing' but constantly at the back of my mind I keep thinking 'deadline, I've got a deadline' and should concentrate on work that I'm more sure about for my exhibition in September. I do like the deep red crow with black lines on top. He was made with a collograph plate painted with PVA and grit inked up in red, then a dry point plate printed in black over the top. I really like the deep rustiness of the red colour.





Sketch Etchings
These are dry point etchings, the plates of which I made at Wye River in January. I decided to sketch straight onto the plate, rather than make the plate in my studio from drawings in my sketchbook. I like the immediacy of this way of working, but it is a bit nerve wracking because you don't want to mess up the copper plate.



I must also mention the winner of my may giveaway was Stef of Distracted Muse. I'll be posting her little felt brooch to her this week! Thank you to everyone who took part. I'll have another giveaway soon!

In The Red Corner

I bought a number of sheets of various shades of red wool felt from FeltCraftStudio on etsy. I was lacking this popular colour in my last batch. So I've been busy making red fantail brooches. I've listed them on my Featherstitch Fantail blog along with a few new necklaces.

I'll be at Rose Street Artists Market tomorrow, Anna is kindly giving me a lift because I don't like cycling in the rain! I'll also be at the skirt and shirt market at the abbotsford convent on Sunday. Come down for a hot chocolate or visit handsome Steve in his house of refreshment on the balcony!

Here's the red team.

Two Zines

I have two new zines for sale on etsy. One is Keys, drawings of keys that I've found in our house. The old car key that you just can't bring yourself to throw out even though the car is long gone, it's all that you have left of the old girl! Pretty old keys that you have no idea what they open, but they look nice so you keep them. The bike lock key on your key chain that you still haven't taken off but the lock broke years ago.

The other book is Australian Magpies. It contains reproductions of pen and ink sketches of the wonderful Australian Magpie! Both books can be bought on etsy here and here, they are also for sale in Sticky Institute in the flinders subway in the city.

Right, I'm off to pilates class even though I can't afford it!

Remember to enter my May Giveaway competition on my featherstitch fantail blog!

Big May Giveaway

I'm having a featherstitch fantail giveaway! Simply go to my featherstitch fantail blog and choose your favourite design, leave a comment on it and I will pull out a winner at the start of June. The winner will win a brooch in similar colours to the design favoured. Remember to leave your email so I can get in contact with you. Good Luck! Here are a few of my most recent designs listed...

www.featherstitchfantail.blogspot.com

Two New

Since discovering that I can buy felt balls and realizing I can get them online from here or here I've been making a number of fantail necklaces. They have been received well at market, especially the red ones! Here are two of my most recent pieces.

Also, today on the way back from pilates class I saw an Eastern Spinebill, I think a male. I just looked him up in the bird book now. He was very handsome with a lovely long curved beak. (The photo is not mine, just an image from the internet)