That Cuckoo Clock!

My Linoleum Cuckoo clock was in a group of crafty goodies on the Living Creatively website. We didn't win the "How Green are You" competition, because Jodie's amazing Selvedge Scarf had the honour!!! I was just chuffed to get a mention, and get some positive feed back.
The same clock has just been delivered to Craft Victoria for the In the Making Members Exhibition. It will be inspiring to see the 150 or so submissions from Craft Victoria members adorn their fantastic exhibition space. The Exhibition launch is on Thurs.7th August 6-8pm.
Check out the Craft Victoria blog for other events in A Month About Making.

Linoleum?

Linoleum is a floor covering made from solidified linseed oil (linoxyn) in combination with wood flour or cork dust over a burlap or canvas backing.

Vinyl floor covering displaced lino in the 60’s , but is often incorrectly referred to as linoleum. The two materials are quite different.

Look at the beautiful designs of this vintage linoleum in the work of the celebrated Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917–1999)

The linoleum in Betty Jo designs is predominately from the 40's and early 50's (with some contemporary Marmoleum).

What was I thinking?

When I first spied this salt shaker critter in the op shop I thought great, a very long and cute sausage dog. She could be a friend for Sally the lino Sausage dog.
But when I had a closer look it was not a sausage dog....it was a Sausage Cow.
But I still bought it. Mr BJ thinks it looks like a slug. I'm thinking I may have to return it back to op-shopsville as it's quite a creepy item.

Gotta love Photos

I like the pretty cool world of flickr, and the "interestingness" of the images I discover. I like the word interestingness too. And now I am a flickr Pro so I can upload photos to my hearts content.
I like to think of it as my online collection of photo albums.... easier to rescue in a fire or flood, but trickier if your computer crashes.

This is..... a Book full of Loveliness

A little while ago Lara from Thornberry asked where the picture from my blog header came from. It's from this beautiful book. A compendium of children's stories full of very gorgeous illustrations.

Now it's back to keeping the 5y0 (aka Mr. Mischief) from chasing our dog Chester with cutlery (too much Maurice Sendak, and wet weather me thinks!)

It never Rains....

When it was a little bit slow a while ago I put my head down and came up with some new designs, sourced a few new stockists, and generally kept the Betty Jo ball rolling along so I wouldn't have to go back to the day job ( often my biggest motivation!).
Well now I'm swamped. Wouldn't ya know it. But I found time from my brooch and pendant manufacturing to make this Owlie clock for a special order.
Yesterday on flickr BlythesWideShut left a comment on the Owl Clock below(made for Douglas & Hope) saying "The base lino for that owlie is exactly the the same as the lino that was on the floor in our first ever out-of-home rented house in East St.Kilda- wow a blast from my past...". This is exactly the reaction I love to evoke with my work.

Pressies!

Nothing like presents to brighten your day.From beautiful bloggers. And when they are colourful and cute.....all the better.A gorgeous Nicola Cerini tea towel won from Sam at April May. With PomPoms! It will hang on the wall, and never touch a dish if I have anything to do with it

A cute card from Rubbergob won from the Made It blog. It says"you're winding me up!", which is not an uncommon thought in my day to day dealings with a 13yo & a 5 yo.
And a lovely screen print dolly to sew up from The Royal Sisters. Now I will need to give my much neglected sewing machine a little run, and actually make this dolly...I promise. But the best present was reading this piece by my "cyber swap buddie" and very talented Hannah from Knick Knacks and Ric Rac.She is getting quite a good collection of Betty Jo Lino accessories. Any day now I hope to receive my skirt (swap) from Hannah in the mail. Don't you hate waiting for snail mail!

Wintertime Blues

Well I'm both happy and sad today.. my beloved has caught a Jet plane to London and I'm stuck home in wintery old Melbourne. But I am sooo excited for him. And happy that his band,"Mista Savona" have built enough cred to score a spot at UK Womad. And some gigs in Turkey!!!
He has been instructed to visit here and try and bring home one of these.....To cheer me up, I have spent some time looking here . And I'm loving everything!And check out Margo Slingerland's website....you click on real buttons!!!

Visit the Lino Cottage

I am happy to say my new Lino Cottage brooches and pendants are making their way into shops around the country.Some are already living at Antipodes Bookshop and Gallery in Sorrento. A selection are travelling up to Abicus in Newcastle, and some more to Scally and Trombone in Brunswick St. Fitzroy.

This is ...a catch up

Last weeks "this is" passed me by, (whoops), but coincidently, there is a single thing that can make me happy, scramble my brain and give me goosebumps all at the same time.......Music.
I am never happier than when there is music in my world.
But at the same time, it scrambles my brain when I try to understand it?.... Mr BJ is an accomplished musician (give him anything with strings and he's away) Lily inherited the musical gene and is confident with keys and strings. Oh and they can sing in front of an audience too,eeek!

But I have not one musical streak, notes on a page look like squiggly marks and even though I had guitar lessons at school , I never got my head wrapped around playing it.
But I adore listening to music.....just not coming from me!
Music has shaped my life and certain songs can induce a shiver of goosebumps, a lovely memory, or a wave of deja vu. Here is a random list of why music makes me happy............

*Recently seeing the Grates and Patience Hodgson's cool vocals.
*The sweetness of New Buffalo, and the roughness of Janis Joplin.
*That I've seen Tammy Wynette, The Ramones, The Clash and Bob Marley play live.
*That I can see the movie in my mind when I play Michael Nyman's sound track from the Piano.
*That the Smiths could capture the thoughts and feelings of my generation.
*That there is not one bad song on Bowie's "Hunky Dory" or "Ziggy Stardust".
*Nick Cave, full stop.
*That I met Mr BJ ( the bass guitarist!) and have got to experience a lot of amazing musical moments.
*Lily performing the lead roll in her school musical..I was fit to burst!
*Listening to my son sing Maxwells Silver Hammer before going to sleep every night.

Get Thee to the Design Market

On today at Federation Square Carpark. Till 5pm.

Time to announce Giveaway Winner

I am so excited by all the fantastic suggestions for new Betty Jo designs.....and to think I have been missing out on this amazing source of inspiration up till now. Tapping other creative minds is not new to me, but crafty bloggers are always coming up with great and innovative products and were nicely willing to offer up their different and novel ideas (especially when there is a goodie bag up for grabs) . All the suggestions were possibilities, so I went for the Random pick, and the name drawn was.. Cass from Snailblazer! So if you can email me your address, your winnings will be packed and posted. Thanks again for all the great comments. I'll do a show and tell with the suggested designs I create. I had a pleasant afternoon appearing in store at Kids In Berlin working at my little table and meeting nice customers. My Flying Ducks found a new home while I was there which was very exciting, and I actually put my head down and cut out some brooches.

Bag your Prize

You have today and tomorrow to enter the Lino Forest bloggiversary Giveaway. Just leave a comment with your idea for a New (as in not been made already) design for a Betty Jo brooch or pendant. Here are just some great ideas already mentioned ......running deer, bilby, wombat, knitting basket, mannequin, sewing machine, gnome, rainbow, fish, shoes, mermaid, circus tent, cassette, turntable, seahorse, starfish, guitar, poodle, apple, strawberry, pea pod, eiffel tower, chicken, and 50's caravan!
And added to the prize pack will be this crochet bag pattern book, and clasp, some pink knitting needles and this cute little bag to put your crafty stuff in!

Winner announced on Saturday night.
And just a reminder, Madz has Runaway will be doing an in store demonstration today at Kids in Berlin, 3pm-6pm , and tomorrow(Saturday) Betty Jo will be doing some crafty things in store from 2pm -5pm. So come down and say Hi.
Finally, a big thankyou to Curious Kate and Indie Art and Design for giving "Design Demystified" a mention.

Yay for Tea Cosies And Merle!

This article was in yesterdays Age. I love Tea Cosies and own some beauties (pics. below from past posts).The super cute Owl tea cosy in the article was knitted by Merle Swale. Selected Tea Cosies knitted by Merle and her knitting group are available from McIvers Tea and Coffee Shop at the Victoria Market. Money raised from the sale of these Tea Cosies goes to the Dorothy Impey old folks home in Pascoe Vale. Oh and Merle was my Grandma's name. She was a strong and intelligent woman. Go the Merles! And this Cushions and Cosies knitting book is very lovely..... thanks Poppalina.

Kids in Berlin Window Installation

It's up, and lookin' good. More photos here. All my shop window shots lately seem to have major reflective issues, but it's all my poor camera can manage. So that means if you live in Melbourne you'll have to come and see it for yourself! Kids in Berlin is located at 472 Victoria St. North Melbourne. On the no.57 Tram. There are four very gorgeous inspiration boards, photos and bric-a-brac from our studios. And lots of lovely products from Anna Laura, Madz has Runaway, Sew your Own, and Betty Jo.It's crafty, cute, retro, colourful, busy, but most of all inspirational.

Owls.

Owl pendants off to Jaakan's new shop at 4/174-180 Chapel St. Windsor.

My Neighbourhood.

I am lucky to have a little block of shops right around the corner from my house. Useful shops like a post office, chemist, licenced grocer and organic fruit and vegie shop. Nice shops like a cafe, a bakery and natural therapies/yoga studio, (with some Betty Jo designs for sale in the window).And some I visit occasionally, like the toy shop, the kitchenware shop and the dolls house gallery.I really want to exhibit in this very cute gallery one day.
Yesterday, on my way to the shops to buy the paper, I noticed this little knitted guy was waiting for someone to claim him.....he was still there today. Should I rescue him? *The bloggiversary Giveaway is still running. There have been some super excellent suggestions so far. If you want to enter, just leave a comment with your idea for a fresh Betty Jo design.

Happening things!!!

You're all invited to Betty Jo's "Lino Cottage" for tea and cupcakes, there's gelati for the kids , and maybe later we can paint a picture......My New range is now officially available! Click here to view catalogue. (it's really cute!)

Melbourne Design Market........
See and buy Betty Jo and some other amazing work by local designers from Ambiguous Horse at the Melbourne Design Market at Federation Square on Sunday 20th July.

The window installation Design Demystified: Inspiration Uncovered at Kid's in Berlin is not far away...pop by next week to see how the girls from Anna Laura, Sew your Own, Madz has Run Away and Betty Jo designs have created a little slice of their studio magic right in the window.
And don't forget the bloggiversary Giveaway...just leave a comment with your idea for a fresh Betty Jo design....winner receives this little sparrow and some other crafty vintage goodies.