In the Jungle

I've been inspired by the tribal look this season, and of course my Twiglet lion softie to find other Liony goodies around our place.

These lion softies are from two 70's Craft books.One I used as inspiration for this guy. I designed a whole range of brooches inspired by vintage toy patterns for "A Shop that won't be Named".
Cute Lion hand puppet owned by Lily.

Kitsch and colourful Lion piggy bank. More cute vintage lions at the Retro Lions Flickr pool.
P.S. If you type linoforest.blogspot.com into google it asks "Did you mean lionforest"!

Three More Things...

Last year Michelle from The Royal Sisters asked for three things that have made me smile this month. Well as March is almost over (and what an action packed month it has been) I wanted to think of the nice moments that were somewhat overshadowed by the bigger Betty Jo stuff.
* A lovely bit of craft blog synchronicity (I call them Betty Jo moments) involving butterflies, lino and the lovely Megan from "The Byron Life".
*Listening to my daughter play music has brought heaps of smiles to my face. Last week she thought she'd like to play the ukulele and the banjo and has been teaching herself (from the Internet no less). She has her fathers natural gift for music I might add, and likes collecting little toy instruments.*Every year before the 7th March ,Mr. BJ and I say we must remember our wedding anniversary, but we often forget. So I'm remembering now, with a smile, our special day 16 years ago.

Bright, Happy, Lovely stuff......

That's what I like to be reading about on the net, especially in blogs and tweets.
So here is some creative goodness from my world ( with a bit of Betty Jo thrown in for good measure).Wall art around the corner from my house.
A bunch of thrifted knitting needles itching to be transformed.My sons first painting that has made it home from school in one piece...straight to the fridge with this one!Lino finches and sparrows ready to be sent off to cool new stockist "Pulp" in Manly NSW.

Good one!

From New Math. Me likey.
Just replace Modern Art with Modern Craft and you define my thoughts on what gets me inspired in this Crafty city.

I strongly believe in the power of the unique and innovative.

If craft can keep striving to be wonderful, beautiful and thought provoking, there is room for all crafters to achieve what ever goal they wish, be they retailing their product, making craft for love and sanity, or just learning a new skill.

I still haven’t reached where I want to be in my crafting /jewellery making world, but I like the challenge of refining, improving and evolving.

I believe Craft should be an evolution rather than a revolution.

Robo Boogie

This guy is for a shop in Claremont W.A. called Store. He'd be good for a boy kidlets room I reckon.
I have had a certain comedy duo's CD playing on loop in the car for Charlie (thus the title of this post), and although it is hilarious (and a bit raunchy for a six year old, but only if you listen hard to the lyrics) I'm now hearing it as a loop in my brain.

Now here's a hypothetical for you- if you were staying at the "Craft for Fun, it's just a Hobby" camp, how many of you would want to hop in the canoe and paddle over to the "Serious Craft for Profit" camp across the lake? How long would you want to stay? And should the camps be separate?I worked on a girls Summer camp in Ely, Vermont many moons ago called Camp Wyoda. More than once we caught the campers returning after their midnight expedition to the boys camp across the lake.
To this day I don't see the harm in mixing things up..... but all frilly teddies with bobble earrings will definitely be chucked overboard!

Cool Stockists (1st of a Series)

Betty Jo Designs create adorable brooches to brighten any outfit. Crafted from vintage lino, buttons bits and bobs, each one is unique and full of personality." (from The Cat's Meow ) While hanging out at the Stitches and Craft Show , I met so many lovely people that knew of my work, or actually owned a Betty Jo piece. The most mentioned source of their purchase was the super excellent shop "The Cats Meow" in the Campbell Arcade. Go and check out their web site , or even better go and visit Karen and Kylie and tell them Betty Jo sent you. It's a real experience venturing down to the grumbling depths of Flinders St. It is on my top ten places to visit in the City. And now they have an online shop if you can't get to Melbourne in person.

March Maddness

Even though March is not officially over I can say with utter conviction that it has been the maddest month in Betty Jo history.
Show aside, I have been shipping out goodies non stop to lots of lovely new stockists ( stockists page link in sidebar).
I'm happy to finally be selling Betty Jo in Tassie at Vulcanella in Latrobe.
Soul Sanctuary is in the exotic locale of Peregian Beach in Queensland ( I feel a trip up North on the horizon).
Flourish in Hyde Park, South Australia, National Gallery Shop in Canberra and a gorgeous Melbourne shop called Est in Hawthorn.
Tomorrow I'm sending off some pieces to EK Designs in Port Arlington on the Bellarine Peninsular. I used to holiday at this seaside town as a wee thing, staying in my Grandparent's fibro shack. I have great memories of those days, swimming and running amok with the kids in the camping ground.
Well, that's covered most of Australia, more parcels going to Perth, Sydney and Wellington in N.Z. in the coming weeks....then I may book myself into a retreat.

I must also mention the wonderful Rosalie Gascoigne retrospective that I saw at Ian Potter Gallery. So many people at the Stitches and Craft Show asked me if I had seen her linoleum collages and installations. I even mentioned to one woman I felt like I was channelling Rosalie at times as she was such an inspiration. It was sort of a joke, but would you believe it , the woman was into psychic stuff and took me very seriously....Na Na Na Na( Twilight Zone theme music) .Thanks for all the Happy Birthdays yesterday.....very much appreciated :-)

I'm making a List.....

I mean to write lists, but in my higgledy piggledy world, they often get forgotten. But not any more. I now have this super, adorable and recycled Little Golden Book journal from Megan at The Byron Life. I had been keen on buying one for a while, then out of the blue she sent me this one as a gift. It was my best friend at the Stitches and Craft Show sitting on my table, garnering lots of comments. A few customers even wanted to buy it.
So if you need to get in the swing of writing things down you should get one too!Speaking of gifts, these arrived home last night with Mr. BJ.
Tiger Lilies are my Favorites! Give me a bunch of lilies and I feel like a queen!
My daughter was busy with her pencils and glue making me a card (with the help of her brother) and although today's B.day plans have had to be postponed due to me being up most of the night with a croupy boy, the day looks so lovely I'm sure things will get better from now on.

Eco Shopping

Yep, Environmentally friendly spending has hit the mainstream in a Major way, which is good right?
Although naughty "Shop till you Drop" magazine misspelt my name and got the prices wrong. Oh well, what the hey!Update-Miss Betty Jo is trying out Twitter.Yeh I know, I should be working (and nurse- maiding again!)

The Show,Crafty Models and Loot!

WOW! What a Craftalicious five days we have had. I am still coming down from the high of the Stitches and Craft Show, but some of the highlights for me were....
*Meeting the most clever and gorgeous bloggers and creaters and being so totally taken with their friendliness and down-to-earthness. Incubator (or the "Left of Centre" section as it was described by someones Mum) was bursting at the seams with amazing creative people and I loved getting to know them all.Here are just a few of them I could catch.
All sporting Betty Jo.

* The supportiveness of everyone that came to the Betty Jo stand, and especially those who chose a brooch , pendant or clock to love for their very own. You know who you are.
* The blogger dinner organised by Sooze. Great fun. She has some good pics on her blog!
* Viewing the "Handmade Nation" doco...this film could easily be a defining moment in Betty Jo consciousness! So relevant and galvanizing of all my thoughts and aspirations.
*And the best bit...Unpacking all my loot, either swapped or purchased from the talented array of crafters in the Incubator.

Body Parts Armies and Scarf

RicRac Zipper mouth dolly (named Francis by Charlie)
and a Twiglet Lion softie (chosen by Lily for a B'day pressie for moi) Still to be named.

Nicole M purse on hand printed Textile Allsorts tights,
and a Kristen Doran printed fabric panel, that I think needs to be stretched and hung on the wall and not messed up in any way (such as me sewing with it!)

Lily chose this fabric in a pack from One Red Robin and is now debating how to transform it. Luckily she is taking "Fashion" at school so some solid sewing guidance can be sought!

Put on a Happy Face!

Super pooped from four straight days at the Stitches and Craft Show. Come tomorrow (Sunday) for the final showdown.
A few happy faces at the Show have surely brought smiles to the punter's faces. They have to me.
I very much need cute pick-me-ups after saying "Yes, it is vintage lino" for what feels like 100 times a day......

Sweet Maiike teddies and Gorgeous One Red Robin dolly.

Funky Babushka display and cute Two Cheese Please Icecream,

Betty Jo Babushka and cuddly Twiglet Lion Stuffie.

* And to the person at the Show that "forgot" to pay for the Suzie Sparrow brooch I specially made at 1/4 to 12 last night..I'm pretty sure the Crafty Karma fairy was watching.