Now and Then

Plastic collected from Seaford beach, January 2011.

Unfortunately there was just as much plastic on the beach as there was just over a year ago.

Foxies

Foxie brooches heading up to Museum of Sydney Shop, and some new cute additions to the Crafty Fox Flickr group.

1. Takiyaje Fox, 2. Knitting, knitting, 3. ms fox, 4. ginger fox, 5. personal bestiary, 6. The Cherrybomb Family, 7. Foxy., 8. New Fox, 9. Lichen and Silverbirch

Summer Days

Wasting time on Polyvore.......

Australian Souvenir Style

It's supposed to be a public Holiday today. But Mr BJ didn't get one, he had to work.
All the shops are open around my way, and I'm not entirely sure what the day celebrates. I do know what it doesn't celebrate. But at least I can dig out some of my Australiana Souvenirs

{Poor old Tassie gets left off a lot of maps!}

This amazing artwork by Tony Albert sums up everything really!

Geo-Metric Necklace

Lino Geo-Metric....now comes as a Necklace.

Lino Geo-Metric

The other day I looked down at the footpath near my place and noticed the manhole cover that I have walked over everyday for more than ten years. I like the patterns in the concrete and after a fun day in my studio (which I have desperately missed visiting these holidays) I came up with some new brooch designs.Thanks for the inspiration concrete manhole cover.

Summery Sydney

I'm back in Melbourne after a week in Summery Sydney. We did lots of swimming at our favorite Northern beaches and waterways. Clareville was a favorite when the surf was too big and the lifesavers closed the beaches!Our bags were way over check in allowance weight after going on many market and op shopping expeditions. It was great to re-visit Glebe and Rozelle markets as it's been over 10 years since I used to have stalls there myself.

All I can say is we had to find room for at least half a dozen new thrifted summer dresses,

more playing cards, and some colourful buttons ( I won't even mention the extra pairs of shoes!)I also had a lovely catch up with bloggy friend Tara from Dudley Redhead and saw her most excellent girly shed/studio (and also found out the origin of her brand name "Dudley Redhead").

I visited some cool shops that stock Betty Jo so hopefully more goodies will be arriving at Pulp, Retrospections, Collect@Object and the Museum of Sydney Shop very soon.

The low light of the trip was the security at Sydney airport wanting to confiscate Charlies souvenir mace that Lily bought him at a medieval castle in Italy. Although it was accidentally left in the backpack after show and tell at school, no amount of pleading would make the stern security guy let us keep it. If not for the nice lady at Tiger Airlines who let us check it in at the last second I would of had a very glum boy for all the flight home. Now he is calling himself a mini terrorist!

Owl for the BIG Wet

Just popping in quickly while I'm on my holiday in Sydney to offer my support, thoughts and sympathies to all the people who have been affected by the ferocious floods in QLD.

After experiencing a flood at my place (of tiny proportions in comparison) I know what a hideous experience the whole thing can be. It takes years to get back to normal...if you ever actually do. To help in some small way I am offering a Betty Jo Owlie Clock for sale with the proceeds going to the Flood Relief fund. I heard Woolies is matching dollar for dollar all donations , so I'll be checking out the most generous businesses to give the proceeds to.

These are a sample of the Owl clocks from the past. The price for your totally custom made, one of a kind clock will be $150.00 (plus postage if you are not a Melbourne resident). So if you have been thinking about buying an Owlie clock , now is a great time!!

Teaparties and Travel

I have just made a big pile of "Timeless Teaparty" cards, and they will be travelling up to N.S.W. today.
I think they would be great as invitations to Teaparties and Kitchen Teas (does any body have Kitchen Teas anymore, and what exactly are they?)
We are following them up to Sydney tomorrow, so the blogs will be having a holiday for a week with us!
Speaking of Kitchens, I have posted some pretty kitchen pictures from Tracey of thrift.nest.sew. over on "You Will Always Find Me" . Pop over and have a look!

You Will Always Find Me

On a whim, I started a new blog the other day. And I need you to help. If you love hanging out in your kitchen doing stuff we would like to see some pictures. I know the kitchen in many homes is not just about cooking and food. Betty Jo Designs started on my Kitchen table. My collection of kitsch kitchenalia lives all over my kitchen. And the family hangs out here too.
Just click on the title of this post to be taken to "You Will Always Find Me". And if you would like to share your kitcheny space with us, please send a picture or a link. Or follow along and get a sneaky peek into other peoples kitchens.......because who doesn't like a sticky beak?!

Holiday Passtimes

Evening walks around the neighbourhood.

Luna Park visits with the Darwin cousins.

And getting my backgarden back after having a bloomin' great trampoline in it for 3 years..... bye bye jumping , hello relaxing!

Park your Van

I read an article in the Age last week regarding those caravan holidays we had as kids and how in our minds everything seemed so carefree and easy......... polish up those rose coloured glasses folks.

I also remember the hot stuffy annex and rock hard camp beds, a five minute walk to the crappy toilet block, queues for the 3 showers, my baby brothers and sisters getting up at the crack of dawn and "disturbing" the other campers, intimidating big boys in the games room, being totally cramped and having absolutely no privacy, and mozzies.

But regardless of all the above, my family caravan holidays are also some of the fondest memories I have as a girl.

Lark has some Betty Jo caravan brooches in stock to get you in the retro holiday mood.
Or drop us a line for a custom order!

2010 Highlights

I just let my mind wander back to last year and realized there was a lot that happened in the twelve months of 2010.Here are some of the highlights in no particular order..........
The Timeless Teaparty installation in the window of Curious Oyster,
My lino Foxie brooches proved to be very popular,
I mucked around with some Fairy tale designs,
My Kitchen was featured in Peppermint magazine,
I started my other Crafty blog Find, Make, Do,
I made some Nests for Cherish at Artisan,
I had stalls at Finders Keepers and Markit,
I moved into the Pea Green Boat artist studios and and was lucky enough to receive a substantial order from Big by Fiona Scanlon.

But that's enough of last year...I've got plans to make , travels to go on and dreams to fulfill!

Happy Crafty New Year!

I think I was a exaggerating a bit when I said I had lots planned for 2011. I have a few ideas swirling around, but actually I am once again venturing into the New Year totally open to opportunities and ready to take unknown paths when they present themselves.
Way more exciting than plotting out a business plan and rigidly sticking to it. If I only learnt one thing doing a Small Business course last year, it was to be flexible.
One thing I do know is I want to get a bit more profesh when it comes to webby stuff, which will most likely mean "outsourcing".
I'm looking forward to a trip up to Sydney next week. Mainly to visit family, but I'll need to throw in bit of business to keep my mentor happy.My first "Happy Coincidence " of the year is a new order that came in yesterday for Two Birds Gallery in Toowoon Bay on the Central Coast of NSW. Right up the road from my sister in law who we are visiting next week! (that's the business bit taken care of!).My second "Happy Coincidence" is an offer of this pretty vintage lino from Sarah who must read my blog. It turned out she lived few minutes away from me , and I had just passed her house earlier that day while I was walking Chester!

*Wishing everyone a Happy and Creative Year ahead*