With a little Craftiness

Things I made today: Earring Holder, Key Holder and Container for Nik Naks

Its remarkable what one can do with some old bits of wood, a folded piece of chicken wire, some knobs, a door frame and a lick of white paint...

I'm burning a hole in my workshop bench and have so many ideas i need to expel from this crazy head of mine.

Dangling Earrings and Cabinet Fever

Bamboo Earrings

White Earrings

My postings on etsy are up to 37.  63 to go! Earrings are my latest venture... Ive also made a few trays which are planned for markets. Will post them up soon..

The latest on my conveyerbelt of reconstruction!

floral key holder

a quick product update...

this is another small shelf made from recycled materials. Im aiming for 100 items on etsy in 4 weeks. Only 66 to go!

Other info.. I finally got on the saddle today. How fantastic to get the legs spinning after a week of pure laziness and over consumption. That 250km ride which seemed such a fabulous idea 3 months ago is fast becoming a cold slap of terror. It's happening in october and promises to kill me if I persistently avoid training. This week I'll visit the house of pain (gym) with my master of torture (pt). Oh my puny muscles are cramping.

Cookin in the Kitchen & the Workshop

I cant believe the rubbish people leave on the street!

Last night, after dinner, I convinced my husband and flatmate to check a pile of industrial waste. I then convinced them the wood would be great for my workshop. We walked home with bits of timber in hand. It joined the bits that I had taken and reworked the day before..
Want to see the results of the day?

Broken wood from a scrap heap

Bike key holder

And after...

Resourceful hu? I absolutely love turning something out of nothing. I read on a blog that a fellow was complaining prices were too high for up-cycled items. Well if the bloke had ever done reno jobs from wood like this he wouldn't complain. The nails in this timber were unbelievable. I needed to buy pincers and a small hammer to rid the wood of hundreds of nails. Putty, cutting, sanding, gluing, screwing...wholly smoke that's a lot of work. Its much easier to go to the hardware and buy it new and clean, but there's no where near the satisfaction. Ive a bit more left for a few more holders....coming soon!

Finders Keepers...

Its very true that one man's rubbish is another woman's shelf! I stumbled upon some fabulous rickety pieces of ply today and immediately started thinking of all things cabinet related. Im truly nuts.

The wood was not in a great state - lots of nails and desperate for a sand. But after some work and repair here is the result

Key or Jewelry Display in Wood by Ayliss

Key holder in Wooden Ply - Wall Mounted by Ayliss

The following addition was made out of wood but not the kind you find on the street..

Unusual Ring in Wood by Ayliss

There are a few more listed today. Otherwise went for a great walk along the coast this avo. Im about to eat at a fabulous Japanese Restaurant that I love - nothing beats fresh sashimi for a birthday bash.

The Madness of Running

The weekend was absolutely insane for so many reasons. For one, running 100km is not normal and seeing over 1000 people doing it proves the world is mad. Two, my husband is incredibly good at this and wants to do more. And three, Im happy about his commitment because I want to live in the mountains.

Since getting off that mountain and back to the hustle of Sydney Ive been remarkably productive. More listings as follows...

Bike Container

I haven't ridden for a few days and Im feeling pretty crushed about that.

Wall Mounted Key Holder

Tomorrow however, is another day and I think an expedition is in order...

JEWELRY ORGANISER up and running

JEWELRY ORGANISER up and running

Im feeling heaps better after my run with food poisoning. Thankgoodness for that because Im in the mountains this weekend to support my crazy husband running an ultramarathon. Thats 100km in trail that will include night running..yep, crazy. im pretty excited to be there.

Most of the time I will need to entertain myself and be thinking of all things creative. Just popped a few more items up such as this Jewelry Holder..

Wall Mounted Jewelry Organizer on etsy

and another jewelry hanger..

Fleur de lis Jewelry Holder

Im loving the current constant supply of ideas taking over my workshop. Lots more to come...

The Damage of Chowder

WOWSA!

I've felt terrible the last 24 hours. Last night a few fabulous friends came to mine for a fab casserole I'd slow cooked from the wee hours of the morning. Yum. Unfortunately though I ate seafood chowder for lunch. Unfortunate because I reheated it and gave myself a serious and violent bout of food poisoning half way through my guests' visit.

Oh how horrible for a host to ask her guests if they'd mind if she go to bed. I'm feeling better and the cramps are slowly passing.

Nik Nak Container

I was meant to go to work, But no way. I decided to pop into the workshop instead. As a result I got a few things up on my etsy site such as the above Nik Nak holder. At least Ive been semi productive!

Before I forget, I also made jamie oliver's prune pudding last night and can attest that it is absolutely delicious. This is what it looks like..

Its from his latest published '30 minutes meal'. I cooked them in the oven, not the microwave which jamie requested.. I don't own one.

MORE LISTINGS!

A few more of my listings have just been put up! This is an example of the cabinets Ive been busily working on.

Wall Mounted or Sitting Jewelry Cabinet

Hopefully I can get a few more inventive designs up and running next week.

Today's been another social schedule with several friends and neighbors dropping by. Yummy carrot cake was delivered to my doorstop by the fabulous lady living in the unit below us. We are lucky to get on with everyone in this apartment block. Currently our sofa contains a sleeping body - a body that came with 6 bottles of beautiful wines. We only got to polish off two and already two out of three have begun to sleep it off. I wont be long.

I also went for a great ride and clocked a nice 23kms. The instant hills had my legs immediately burning and the sun helped churn away those biscuits and pancakes Ive been enjoying lately..

Cabinet Fetish

So I cant stop thinking about all the uses for cabinets. Never Ending possibilities are leading me to exciting ideas. I bought my sister a few beautiful teacups and am planning to make her a cabinet to house them. And I want the design to be as easy to mount as a picture is to hang.

This green cabinet is very lovely...

Where I would put Ann Wood's beautiful cups

And I would somehow make it fit with This Kitchen designed by Shubin + Donaldson ..

That's a lovely coupling of ideas to go to bed with..

My socialite days, with hammer in hand..

Lots of socialising for me the last two days. Last night involved a fabulous dinner at a friends beach apartment with her two beautiful girls that had us talking art & planning our next business move. This morning I finally went for that cycle. Just now two friends popped by and helped polish off a meal. Before that, I had an hour of delightful childminding that included a wee bit of crafty mothers day card-making. As I am childfree I always enjoy the crazy adventures that kids minds take you.

Lots of productive work is also happening in my studio. Sawing and drilling and gluing and nailing. I will keep you posted but for now I'm excited by the prospect of completing three super lovely jewelry cabinets and getting them online asap. They're all much larger than my originals versions and I'm looking forward to show and tell.

Till tomorrow then, adios..

A Punch of Culture

Finally! Ive listed my jewelry cabinets

As always, I've a few projects on the go and if I can brave the cold of my workshop I should have some sparkly new listings by the end of this week.

For ramblings on latest shenanigans.. What a gluttonous feast I had last night! I was a dinner guest at China Doll - an unbelievably fabulous Restaurant that lasted 5 hours. If that wasn't enough, I later rolled on over to the Sheraton on Hyde Park and slept in. After a much needed pamper in a rather luxurious sized bathroom, I ventured to the breakfast room where I made myself comfortable enjoying an hour of sampling everything but the ice-cream.

I definitely need that punishment cycle to pay for my serious sins.

I haven't even gotten to my other productive ventures which included further overstimulation of my already overworked senses. This included a visit to the inclusions in the Archibald Prize that currently grace the space of AGNSW. It was interesting to note a swing in 'ugly painting'. I'm not sure if its directed by painters or the judging panel but I enjoyed the jarring colors, challenging perceptions, haphazard applications, and the rawness of the many thick impasto textures. The whole experience reminded me of mixing mud with food coloring and squelching it between my fingers. And before this is misinterpreted as an insult, I truly do appreciate the slap happy and general approach to representational genres. My largest source of disappointment was that the Packing Room Prize of John wood seemed too touched by the sense of honesty. It was one of the few works that appeared to harness something of the actual sitter, as opposed to exhibiting something about paint itself.

For the small entry fee its worth a look. After leaving the art I wandered down to the museum of Sydney. Ive meant to do this for years. Most memorable items housed were the two beautiful wooden spheres that feature the basic extracted shapes of Jorn Utzon's Opera House. The other admired items were the photographs of Harry Seidler's architecture. Iconic and quite simply stunning.

I'm now desperate for a glass of wine to help down my explosive 24 hours of fine dining and culture...