December Owls

There's been a few crafty owls arrive at our place this festive season, so I'd like you to meet..........

"Tangerine", my new favorite owl teacosy. A lovely Christmas gift from my sister .

"Big Night Out" the hand made Kitchen Owl from Focus on Art (an early Christmas pressie to myself!)

Marvin the "Make Do" owl made using our set of MakeDo connectors.

And "Orson" the Lino Owl who has the honour of being the last Betty Jo owl made in 2010. The buttons for Orson came in a great little box of op-shopped buttons from my sister too.
It's fitting to be seeing out the old year with owl stuff.....I'm not sure exactly why, but it just is.
But lets now bring on the New Year.......I have lots planned and I want to get started!

Sun and Fun!

The Betty Jo tribe has had a goodly amount of beach going now the sun has started to shine.
An easy drive found us at Eastern beach, Geelong at the old timey swimming spot.
A big semi-circular pier with diving boards, pontoons and rolly wheels!The diving tower was the boys fave.I quickly looked away every time my 7yo jumped from the 5 meter platform!

And I must give the beach a gold star for being relatively tidy. Way less beach plastic was collected on my walk than usual!

Pony Craft

Were you a kid who always wished for a pony for Christmas? I was!
Well here's the next best thing. Hand made crafty ponies to wear.
You can get your own Betty Jo Pony on Etsy and Georgie Love.

Check out my New Flickr group "Pony Craft" for a selection of handmade crafty ponies and horses (donkies are welcome too). If you have made or discovered a handcrafted pony , post your pics. and lets celebrate everything craftily equine.

And meet the new Pony in the Betty Jo herd, Lucky the Show Pony! My tools have been idle for almost a week, but that's about the limit for me .

Chrissy Greetings!

My sister and I got a bit carried away with the decorating!

All the best to you and yours. Thanks for stopping by the "Lino Forest" on your blog travels and providing wonderful feedback for my ventures in Betty Jo land! Looking forward to more fun blog adventures next year. (and maybe even this year, as it isn't quite over yet!)

Life's a Beach

After my beachy post yesterday, me and the boys decided we would hit the beach ourselves.

We headed for South Melbourne, and even though the water was sort of cloudy after all the rain, the boys went for a dip (with strict instuctions not to put their heads under). Not one to sit idly on the sand I took my trusty rubbish bag and collected some beach debris. As you can see , the plastic refuse was in plentiful supply.

Even though the beach is a bit iffy, I still have a soft spot for old South Melbourne.
The first ever house I lived in when I moved out of home was a tiny terrace in South Melbourne near the old Swans footy oval. Then about eight years later Mr BJ and I got married in the Hotel Victoria (see pic) opposite the pier, when it was a real pub and not fancy shmancy apartments.

After the celebrations, we spent the night in the third floor suite with the little tower look out.

Summer Lovin'

It's sort of Summery today (a hint of things to come) so lets dig out some cool beachy goodies to get in the mood!Did you have beach towels like this when you were a kid? I did! From Irving Baby.I'm liking these 50's style bathers from My Sister Pat. Buy them from Lark.Did you see these fancy Basil Bangs retro style beach unbrellas on The Design Files. How to avoid UV rays in style!No beachy day is complete with out a bucket to collect treasure! A cute vintage one would be even better.
via here

Betty Jo In Store!

A selection of Betty Jo Designs in retail spaces over the years from as far away as the U.K. (Paul Smith) to my newest stockist in Ballarat Red Brick, and everywhere in between.

I feel very fortunate to have had such wonderful support from lovely stockists including (from top left)

1.Eco Innovators 2.Big by Fiona 3. Paul Smith
4.The Hive 5.Scally and Trombone 6. Pussy Cat Black
7. Gone Dottie 8. Red Brick 9.Goma Store

Festive Colour

Last night we went out for dinner and when we got home, Lily had pulled out the Chrissy decos and transformed the fresh "unadorned" tree and loungeroom into a splash of festive colour. Now I'm feeling the Christmas Spirit!

Yesterday I stumbled across this . Someone has used the picture of my Orange Kitchen stuff and made it into a digital jigsaw.

Cool!

Tweeting and Such

Do you Tweet? I'm a somewhat fair weather friend to the twittersphere. I really can't keep up with it .
140 character observations and witty bon mots often appear so fast that if you leave for a moment, dozens of fresh tweets have made the earlier ones obsolete. It's a full time job tweeting.
And there are no pictures. Sure, I can click over to a twit pic. but I need instant visual satisfaction. One click too many and you've lost me.
So if you like pictures too, you've come to the right place!
How would you like to have a Christmas tree just full of these birdy decorations by British illustrator Kate Slater. There are 6 different designs, all birds and all lovely. I've featured some more of Kate's work on Find, Make, Do.The King of gorgeous design Rob Ryan has collaborated with tapestry wizz Emily Peacock on this DIY tapestry kit that is all sorts of wonderful.
Next Thursday the crafty folk at Artisan are having a special shopping night at (m)art. There's 20% off all (m)art design products, plus exclusive access to the storeroom where many a treasure can be found....maybe even a Betty Jo Nesting brooch!
If you live in Brissy this would be a great opportunity to get some last minute gifts, or a treat for yourself.

Fresh Betty Jo

Here's a few new and returning stockists with fresh Betty Jo Designs in store.....just in time for Christmas!

Tussock in Point Londsdale.
I spent a few "Puberty Blues" summers in Point Londsdale. There was definitely no fancy gift shops in those days, or if there was I didn't notice because I was very distracted by the surfies!

Red Brick Gallery and Emporium in Ballarat - Grand opening this Friday! Boohoo, I won't be able to make it.
Love & Clutter in Hobart. Yay, a Hobart stockist , and a super gorgeous one at that!

Dragstar in Newtown (Sydney) is restocked after a break. I'm happy to have Betty Jo living in my old stomping ground of Newtown.

Mrs Peel in the Blue Mountains village of Leura has also restocked. It's a lovely shop full of vintage and new! Hopefully we'll be up to visit family in Leura in the New Year.

Nook in Brisbane has some more Betty Jo too. I really want to visit this cute shop!
And Pussy Cat Black in it's spunky new locale right near the Vic Market is nicely stocked up with Rainbow Orb brooches....looking all cosy in this display case, but I'm sure they would be even cosier gift wrapped for a Chrissy present.

To all the stockists who sell Betty Jo Designs and the customers who have adopted a clock or some jewellery....you have kept my one woman business rolling along this year and for that I give Big thanks!

Fair Fashion

I dragged my small boy along to Fed Square yesterday to watch the Fair Fashion show as part of the Fair@Square Festival.
We spotted some Betty Jo Designs on a couple of cute models. Tricky to see, but trust me, there is an owl and a boat pendant around these models necks!

The pay off for Charlie was all the free trade Cadbury chocolate samples he could fit into his pockets and a visit to see the Myers Christmas windows. But guess what. We had a better time looking at all the awesome street art on the way to Myers through Union lane. When we saw the queue to see the windows and all the Nut Cracker fairies Charlie lost interest!!!

My favorite piece by good buddy Madeleine Stamer.

Sweet!

For all you colour enthusiasts like me, Pantone has announced it's colour of the year for 2011.
Honeysuckle Pink will be dominating the fashion and home deco colour palettes next year, and I'm not too unhappy about it! I love me a bit of sugary sweetness!

There's some more little people sweetness in the Indie Art and Design Kids Christmas gift guide. Mmmmm Gelato!

Made'n'Thornbury

Betty Jo will have a table at the lovely Made'n' Thornbury market tomorrow!!!.
This will be the last market I'm doing for a long time, as quite frankly, there are just too many of the darn things happening in Melbourne across the year and I have almost reached the point of Craft Market fatigue (but that's another post entirely).
This market is in my friendly neighbourhood just down the road and has the feel of a cheery country Hall full of pretty and yummy things and is totally unpretentious!

So duck in for some handmade Chrissy gifts and Betty Jo Designs at market prices!!!!

Paper Chase

I would like to find these papery goodies in my stocking on Christmas morn..............

Paper Pin by essimarand the matching earrings.

Michi Girl's new book "What on Earth are you Wearing"

"Riches to Rags" print by Sandra Eterovick

Love Birds

Yes, I still love birds. Specifically birds OUT of cages (although the bird in a cage motif is still very strong).
I also 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.

But just a word of warning.....if you are going to use pre-loved birdcages in public, remember to remove all the pre-loved (read deceased) budgie feathers.

All day at the market last week I was picking off feathers from my op-shopped bird house. Whoops.

Belgrave Linoleum

Thankyou Pola for offering up this lovely 30's floral lino from your old Belgrave cottage.
Now a big pile of this pretty patterned lino is going to be used for Betty Jo goodies and not just dumped at the tip. Hooray!

Merri Rubbish Rainbow

After the tropical storms we've had lately, so much rubbish has been washed down the drains and into our waterways it's like someone has sprinkled the banks and shores with weird and colourful Xmas decorations. But look closely and it's crappy non Biodegradable plastic that never breaks down.
Here's a small selection from the banks of my nearby Merri Creek.
I've just recently discovered The Two Hands Project " a new and collaborative approach to cleaning up your world. Whether to improve the health of our oceans, or to simply clean up unsightly trash in one of your favorite parks, Two Hands is easy… Two hands takes the spirit of huge national and international cleanup days, bringing it back to the individual, allowing you to care for the place most important to you, anytime you want."

And for rubbish you can share, I made up some cards with my Willy beach plastic for Markit, and some more will be available at the Made'n' Thornbury market next Saturday

Geisha Circle

I am busy making a bunch of Betty Jo Geisha brooches for orders. Coincidentally I found these cute Japanese dolls at the Salvo's the other day.
And just a reminder, there is a cool and crafty Giveaway over on Find, Make, Do. It is running till the 17th Dec. Here are the goodies on offer so just leave a comment here to be in the running.

Xmas Memo!

It's now officially December ......so cue the Christmas images!

We all know how Santa tends to be in more than once place at the same time. He's virtually omnipotent, and, according to my son the "Awesomest man in the World."
I'm secretly pleased I get another year of Santa bribery (you know, "Santa won't visit little boys if they have been naughty !"), but of course the payoff is Santa gets a perfect score when it comes to adulation and adoration!
Santa=10, Parents who actually buy, hide and wrap the presents =0

I was just flicking through my Christmassy posts over the last three years and noticed the same little guy in red pops up in all the photos.

Anyway , there's only three and a half weeks till Christmas.
And if you think you deserve a present just for getting this far..pop over to Find, Make, Do and enter the BUMPER Christmas Giveaway.
There's some cute and crafty gifts up for grabs!