Canary Yellow

The other night Charlie discovered a fluffy ball of feathers sitting on the blind in our lounge room.
On closer inspection we discovered it was a young canary.

We caught it and put him in one of my old bird cages. I love EMPTY bird cages. I have at least five hanging around my garden.You can't beat an old bird cage for a easy brooch display.

Within five minutes Charlie had named him Louie. And that's when I knew I couldn't turf him out into the suburban wilderness to fend for himself. Poor "Louie" had an injured claw and was bound to come off second best with Pedro my cat if I let him fly free, so now we have a bird who seems perfectly contented in his bird cage. I just hope we don't have too many Sylvester and Tweety Pie scenarios.
Here's feathery Louie and here's the Betty Jo version.

Holidays.....

Hey kids, what shall we do in the school holidays.....?
Shall we go and feed the Head Butty goats living down at the Merri Creek?And shall we go and explore the abandoned House ?Creative kids might like some arty activities a Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Inspired by the current exhibition "Sculpture and Painted Relief" this Tuesday I will be running an assemblage workshop where kids will construct picture collages using found everyday objects.
Charlie and I had fun playing around with ideas!

I'm looking forward to raiding the Reverse Garbage stash and getting creative with the glue guns!

This is one of my favorite pieces in the exhibition by Mike Brown called "Christmas Present 1963".I know the Royal Melbourne Show will definitely be on the agenda. Animals, rides, show bags, FUN!You might even see this high diving dude again!
What have you got planned for the holidays?

Etsy Buzz

The Etsy planets aligned last night. There I was mingling and chatting and giving a little presentation at the Etsy Australia Meet and Greet at Salvage and Selvedge (big claps for Kirsteen for organising such a great night, so friendly, welcoming and reaffirming!)

At the same time over in Etsy land the cogs were turning in my relatively stagnant Etsy shop and I experienced a mad rush on the Bunting Crazy necklaces.

Well it was mad for my usually pretty sluggish shop! There must have been an Etsy buzz in the air.
There are more being made as we speak so you won't miss out!
I'm liking this cool vintage pennant bunting on etsy, especially the comment in the description...... "Amazing and absolutely one-of-a-kind handmade vintage bunting banners made from vintage felt tourist pennants. I THINK I JUST BLEW MY OWN MIND!"

They remind me of my pennants which now live in our loungeroom! Just as mind blowing eh?

Bunting Crazy!

You like Bunting, I like Bunting, we all like Bunting! The craft world has been a little Bunting crazy this year! Search for "Bunting Necklace "on Etsy and you get 244 items.
But search for "Lino Bunting Necklace' and you get "We didn't find anything" .....until now!

Thanks to these strands of gorgeous bunting custom made by Curly Pops for Gleaners Inc. I was inspired to whip up a few strands myself to celebrate, well, stuff!

So now these Betty Jo Bunting "Crazy" Lino Necklaces are at a super bargain price on Etsy so we can all go Bunting crazy!

Sunny Sunday

Out and about on a Sunny Sunday.......
Sad red chairs. Not the choicest of nature strip booty. Drive on by Liz. No wait, there is a nice wooden table a bit further down with a laminex top. As I was putting it in the back of the car the guy who put it out smiled and said thanks! Thanks to those of us that see the value in reclaiming unwanted stuff!
Popped into my folks for a visit and swooned over Dad's multi coloured blossom. Pale pink blossoms with green leaves and magenta blossoms with red leaves all sprouting happily from the same tree. And no grafting on this baby. It's just a sweet freak of nature.
Then a pit stop at the High Noon Festival in Northcote to see my current favorite band doing a three piece set. Ron S Peno = Melbourne's own indie Steptoe.
Rhino was looking a bit miffed at all the hipsters.

Etsy comes to Melbourne!

Etsy is on the ground in Australia and kicking off with a meet and greet in Melbourne!

Come along on Thursday September 22nd from 7pm and view highlights from Hello Etsy: Global Conference on Sustainability and Small Business which takes place in Berlin the weekend of September 16 - 17, 2011.
This will be a fantastic opportunity for Melbourne creatives to get together and.......NETWORK!
( I know we all love that word deep down!) hosted by the dynamic Kirsteene Phelan, Etsy's new Australian Community Manager. There will also be some sharing of local knowledge with two guest speakers sharing their experiences.
Anna Laura Blandford from super fantastic Melbourne based card company Able and Game will be on hand to guide you through preparing for interstate craft markets-what to bring, what to do and how to get through it.And Liz (moi) from Betty Jo Designs will be share some tips and tricks for managing a wholesale stream within your craft business.
All of this goodness takes place in the comfortable surrounds of Salvage and Selvedge in glorious Fitzroy. This gorgeous space is owned and run by Andria from Shagpile. So book in here. It's free and there will be nice treats to eat and drink. Maybe even Chocolate Crackles and Lime cordial if we're lucky!
All pics from the lovely "Selvage & Selvedge" -a fine Melbourne Betty Jo Designs stockist.

The Glean Queen

I had a catch up with Lois aka "The Glean Queen" yesterday. Lois is arguably the best skip diver North of the Yarra! But first stop was the pile of junk in her neighbours garden which was the remains of a demolished retro 50's kitchen. I scored some lovely Basketweave Laminex from the old bench top. I'm partial to a bit of Basketweave design!I was also the happy recipient of this funky lino covered shelf that Lois rescued from a skip.

Well it wasn't really in the skip .The builder was using it as a ramp to wheel up his rubbish filled wheelbarrow into said skip. No taste obviously!

These rescued bits will most likely end up in Gleaners Inc. fashioned into something other than their intended use...because thats the way we like it!

Swooping Swallow Winner

The winner of the "Tickle the Imagination" Swooping Swallow Giveaway is Clair from Ope Shope Hope. Congratulations!

If you haven't read this online mag chocka block with crafty people like my pal Robyn from Focus on Art and her cool Owl assemblages...do it now!

Oooh look, there is my Focus on Art Owlie on my Kitchen wall!

How tall are you?

If you like to measure your wee ones to see how they are "shooting up" (growing like beanstalks, not the other kind!), this Betty Jo version of a growth chart is for you. "Geri Giraffe" would be happy in any retro inspired kidlets abode, or even in a kid free zone just looking decorative.
Geri is a unisex beast. He/she would work for both boys or girls

.

So everybody, meet Gerald/Geraldine.
Big thanks to the* ideas chick* Julianne from Sister Outlaws who is all about seventies craftin' and shared her vision for Geri!

"Gleaners Inc."

Ok, it's time to spill the beans on an exciting happening in the life of Betty Jo.
We are opening a SHOP!
So along with making lino goodies we will be purveyors of handmade and vintage delights !
The shop "Gleaners Inc." will be situated in Brunswick in the foyer area of the historic old Perucci shirt factory in Ballarat St. The factory is now called "Gracious Space" and is the home of several Brunswick artists and craftspeople.The factory was originally built in 1955 for Yakka Overalls, and has also housed Fletcher Jones.
The facade has a heritage overlay, and almost nothing has been changed from the original modernist design.
We open on the 10th of October , so follow us on the Gleaners Inc. blog, Facebook page or Twitter for updates!
We are now sourcing handmade items for the shop. If you have a unique vintage, recycled or prepurposed inspired product and would like to be a part of this exciting new enterprise, email us at gleanersinc@gmail.com
There is also an opportunity for a craftsperson to share studio space at "Gleaners Inc." and display their products in the shop. Email us to chat at gleanersinc@gmail.com

"Gleaners": accumulators, collectors, gatherers.
"Incorporated": united or combined into a whole.

Hi...Bye!

Can't post . Too pre-occupied. With big plans. But here is a reminder. You have until Sunday night to enter the "Tickle the Imagination" Giveaway. You might win a Betty Jo Swallow! Like these ones. Details here. Bye!

Feeling Blue?

This Owl Clock is feeling a bit blue. He was counting on the sky to be blue like his body today, but there ain't no blue , just grey. He is even sporting some blooms...because it is SPRING right!

Now I'm off to put on a jumper.

See you on the other side of the grey. The Sunny Side!

I LOVE this song :)

Art Attack

Saturday was a day full of creative energy and arty goings on. The dynamic peeps from the Contemporary Sculpture Association organised an amazing event they are calling "24 hr Sculpture People". The Yarra Sculpture Gallery was full of found, discarded, salvaged and recycled materials and was opened up to friends and associates to come and make for 24 hrs.

On the way there I picked up two broken wardrobe doors from the side of the road, and with the help of a few nails and glue I made these three panels. I was happy to find some of my favorite things available for re purposing. Pre-loved toys, laminex chips, old tins and crafty bric-a-brac.
There are people there creating right now and all work created will be exhibited in the gallery for three weeks.Alas I could only manage 4 hrs not 24 as I had to race off to the opening of The Brunswick Show with my friend Kerry Strauss, glass artist extraordinaire. If you get the time to visit the show in the basement of the amazing Gothic style Donkey Wheel House (at the Spencer St end of Bourke St ) you'll discover an eclectic mix of over 100 Brunswick based artists in every conceivable style and medium.
Kerry's work in the show is created from kiln fired recycled glass, that melts into beautiful shapes and drips.Here's a blurry pic of the Bird O' Paradise in the hazy depths that is the basement space.

Feathered Friends

Once again our feathered friends seem to be featuring alot in Betty Jo land.

Miu Miu has brought the birdie trend full circle and has featured swallow prints on their 40's inspired fall winter collection. So there you go. Birdies are never going to fly away!

There is a Swallow Giveaway happening at the moment on Lino Forest. Just comment here to win one of your own.

Tickle the Imagination

Oooh look. A delicious new online magazine is being launched today. Full of crafty colour and love."Tickle the Imagination" is the brainchild of Tanya Collier and the first issue features over 170 pages of interviews, tutorials, cute crafty products, inspiring photo shoots and even a bit of kitsch kitchen action via yours truly.
So to celebrate the launch I am having a Giveaway!

A custom made Swooping Swallow brooch or necklace like these. Just leave a comment on this post then go and subscribe to "Tickle the Imagination" here to be in the running. Subscription is free (feathers not included!)
NOTE: SWALLOW COMPETITION CLOSES ON SUNDAY 11TH OCT. AT 12PM!