2016 ...living the dream.

Well 2016, here we are! 

My life has seen so many changes since my last post ... 
well a lot has changed but a lot has stayed the same.

I'm still creating to my hearts content, but no longer as a part of Ruby's Nest.

Ruby's was a wonderful experience, 2 years running a shop with my crafty friend Anna of Polly Pratt.

Each week the space evolved and grew into something we just loved more and more. 
As the end of our 2 year lease approached, it was decision time though.

Anna was lucky enough to have landed a small shop and residence (every designers dream) whilst on a hunt for a new home to house hubby and her baby on the way. 
Life for her, was taking a whole new direction, which meant that by default mine was too.
I personally, grew so much as an individual and designer during the 2 years at Ruby's and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to have shared a shop space with Anna.
Alas... life was to change,  Just when  thought I had it all sorted out.

                                                              image via: theloadstar.co.uk
I was at a crossroads, being forced to make a decision as to which way my life was to go.
Knowing the rent of our current premises I really didn't think it was an option to go it alone, so I started to contemplate leaving the creative life and heading back to the 9 to 5.

I honestly sat on this for a while and it just made me feel so heavy and down on life.
I started to look at smaller shop spaces closer to home, convincing myself I could go back to markets and work part time on the side.
None of this sat well with me.
So I pushed it all aside for 2 months, so I could just get on with life and hope that something would pan out.
Allowing myself to fully be present at the Ruby's with no expectations or decisions made about the future, 
made me realize that it was something I really enjoyed doing on a deeper level.
Creativity is at the heart of what I do and having people engage with that process, loving what you make ... enough to buy it, is extremely fulfilling.
Whilst the idea of having a shop to represent my own range was exciting, I've always been passionate bout representing the work of others too.  Helping new designers get there products out there and giving more established designers a home for their work too.



So thinking about a small shop was no longer an option ... because how could I fit the work of a crafty community into a small space.
Dream big hey, Why Not?!

                                                                Image via:sayingimages.com
So begun a period of seeking advice from accountants, bookkeepers and business mentors to test the viability of staying at 159 and going it alone.
Easy is not a word I would use in describing the decision making process and easy is not a word I would use to describe the job that I had laid out before me ... but I have never been one to take the easy road. 
I'm not afraid of a challenge and I believe with all my heart that if you come from a good place, with heartfelt intentions you are on the right track.
Back it up with a bit of hard yakka and 110% commitment and you have a wonderful foundation from which to spring board life in any direction you want.

So began, the next phase of my life ...
In Dec 2015 I opened my own shop space called 'Finki'. Representing my handmade range, along side the work of over 40 independent designers, makers, jewelers and artists.

It was so exciting to take this step and bloody scary too !
Its not all crafty parties and fabric shopping ... 
  If I want to sell 100 items a week to pay my rent, I need to be able to make 100 items a week to sell.
So its a huge balancing act to keep it all afloat.  One only made possible by the artist/designers and makers who bring awesome stock my way each week and of course the community of customers who support our work and keep the dream alive for all of us.
I used to think in terms of 'I' and 'me' ...
  Only to learn that in life and business, 
it is all about 'us' and 'we' ... 'We' as a community of makers and 'us' as conscientious consumers.

                                                                Image via : www.lccsnj.org
It takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to run a successful business.  
So thank you to all of you. My village, my tribe.
Running my own shop is a dream come true and I could not do it without you.
Jay x

Kickin' butt in 2013.

I've been keeping myself busy of late with little bits here and there for Finki ..

Making gloves,

Skirts,

 

more skirts,

experimenting with punch cards,

and some machine knitting.

Mum has been gung ho on the machines too, making some awesome new styles.

Amidst my time making Finki stock I've packed up my studio at Olive Grove and brought it all home. Little man was my awesome helper getting all packed into the car. It was a bit sad to say goodbye to the studio, but I could never manage the time to get over there anymore, so really it just became storage.
It sort of had me split in two as far as productivity goes as half my supplies were there and half at home.
So I actually look forward to a concentrated effort in making stock now that I'll be saving time travelling and saving money on studio space too.
So it's sad to have left, but I'm excited for the future too.

In other parts of life I'm going great guns with my health and well being. I'm eating really well and have maintained gym going for 5 months now. My longest stint yet. A big part of me has accepted that the way I'm living now is not a fad to get fit but rather a life long change for the better.

I totally struggled for the first 3 months. Having to force myself to overcome tiredness or a sense of needing to be working or cleaning the house instead of going to gym. But I pushed through and when I hit a wall and almost gave up, instead of walking away I reached out and asked the gym for help.
They were so reassuring.
We did a new program, assessed my nutrition and I took the plunge and started group fitness classes.

Yes I was the sweaty fat chic at the back with the beetroot red face. But I soon realized that everyone had there own struggles and reasons for being there. Everyone was a sweaty beetroot focused on improving there own health.
So I pushed through those first few awkward sessions, made a bunch of new friends and actually look forward to going to gym. Woohoo.

I've lost 12kg to date and finally have started to feel my energy levels come back to normal. Thank god for that.

All I need to do now is spend less time on FB, Pinterest and Instagram and start being a whole lot more productive in the field I love.
The arts and crafts.
Hope your all well and kicking but in 2013.
Jay xx

Craft with Heart.

It's been far too long since I've done a market and mingled with my crafty peeps, so when I saw this flyer on FB recently I decided it would be a perfect foray back into the market scene.

I love that it's all about raising money for the church building project, as a lot of the people in the local community use the church for there clubs and meetings. So your gold coin donation is going to a good cause and who doesn't love some home made cake and a white elephant stall.

There is more info: here

It's on tomorrow 10-3, so if you're up for a drive on the first day of school holidays, bring the kids down and explore Williamstown.
Jay xx

Health and Happiness ...

Hooray for 2013, so far it's turning out to be a winner. I've decided my focus this year is health and happiness...isn't it one's focus every year, one might wonder. But I guess a lot of the time I hope it's a side effect of my focus on home, family, work etc ...

But I have learnt that, you know what! It doesn't just happen as a quirk of fate.
It takes time to be made for it and focus to be placed upon it.

So in a nut shell, this is where I am at presently. Eating nutritionally, growing veggies, walking to school with Finny daily, back at gym to rebuild some long lost muscle, back at yoga to try and bring some mind and body alignment into play, enjoying the mans new roster of weekends off for the first time in years and most recently, I've cut down my commitments at work and changed the way I fit in at Olive Grove.

Its all very new and all a work in progress, but for once I feel in charge of my life and the direction its heading.

Creatively I have been on hiatus. Sort of de-cluttering, clearing out everything at the shop and making space in my head and home for new ventures. Can't say I'm 100% on what they are just yet, I just know I needed to get back to basics and start again for it all to come out just the way I want it to.

So I'll make sure to keep you posted on my progress.

Big thank you to Sister Outlaws and their thought provoking post on why we blog. It reminded me that I enjoy sharing what I do and make with you all.
For a while I felt that all I was doing was bragging or boasting about me, my business and I, which didn't sit well as I'm just not that sort of person.
So getting a reminder that creativity is a process, something we share for gaining clarity in it's explanation or something we share for sharing sake, hoping that someone in our crafty community might be inspired, intrigued or interested in it, is a lovely reminder of all the right reasons to keep up with le' old blog.

Also I gotta keep mum up to date with my life as we are a few states away from each other. Hi Mum.

So from me, I'm doing o.k and I Hope you are all doing well too,
Jay xx

New toy ...

I've been having fun learning all the In's and outs of my new toy...

Mum brought it down for me when she came to stay after my oppie.
She was only here a week, so it was a crash course in learning all the wonderful things a knitting machine can do.

It's quite a technical piece of equipment, but once we got going I sure learned a thing or two.

Firstly that me and punch lace will not be friends...and secondly that my ignorant attitude about machine knit pieces being somehow easy to create was wrong.

It is a manual machine operated by pushing that big carriage with the handle back and forth. the wider your piece the longer your push. One push left equals one row. A scarf 1 metre and half long equals 900 rows. 900 times someone has to push that baby left and right. It sure does work out the arms and the core  muscles and over do it ... ie: try and do 7 scarves in a day and you'll cause yourself some harm.
Mum will testify to that!

From what I understand there are electronic ones out there, bigger and more expensive and the machine does the back and forth by itself. So I guess to me, this still feels handmade and quite labor intensive even though it is way quicker than hand knitting.

Definitely worth the time dusting it off and learning how to use it.

I have been experimenting with some lovely 3ply cotton that I got from Spottie and came up with these goodies.

Necklaces and summer scarves. 

The options are endless and quite possibly I have opened myself up to a new medium that I might lose my self in for a while.

I'm excited to try 1ply, multiple colors as one, metallics and patterns.
Did I say you can make your own patterns.
Yup ...sure can. Could put your name on stuff if you wanted to!

Fun and games.
Jay x

Happy Halloween ...

We are still in go slow made over here at camp Finki, whilst my middle does the good job of healing and reconstructing muscle tissue that will once again allow me to bend over enough to pick up things off the floor.

Oh how I have taken my stomach muscles for granted. Oh how much do I now appreciate all that they did for me...goodness. One even braces said stomach muscles to apply strength to opening a bottle of drink. Who knew?

However, slow and steady wins the race. I'll be back kicking goals and opening jars free willy in no time.
Just have to keep reigns on my busy little brain...

It wants to do so much and the body just aint running at the same speed. So it's camp frustration on the crafty front. Zero advancement in making stuff, but soon..

Sometimes life forces us to slow down and we just have to comply. So instead camp Finki have been...

Helping little one dress up for Halloween at kinda...

and making scary green cupcakes too.

End of year concert for big girl, who has done an awesome job of mastering the clarinet.

Harvested the rest of our winter crop and planted all our summer. 

(which was more about me overseeing and planning whilst family did the labor) ...lovely family xoxo
We look forward to tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber and more all from our little suburban patch.

I managed to get through my pile of magazines, which was a tower really, waiting over a year to be looked at ... and I had the luxury of Mum being down from Queensland for a week to help with kid wrangling and all other WAHM duties. A true blessing that was.

So happy Halloween to you all, whether you be trick or treating or just hanging out enjoying this lovely bout of weather we are having.
Jay xx

Before I go, I'd like to say ...

I'm feeling rather melodramatic about impending doom by way of a small operation I'll be heading off to have tomorrow... merely a day procedure, I won't even be staying in hospital overnight.
But there is something about reading the fact there is a 2% chance of death, that freaks the bejeebers out of me.

I'm an optimist 98% of the time and a pessimist the other 2%, so my pessimistic 2% mixed with the death rate of 2% has my little brain working overtime.

From the pessimist in me ... if perchance the advice that 'death is possible if complications occur' happens to be referring to me, I'd like to say ...

Image:  via here

The optimist in me now says... 

see you on Friday, albeit a little bruised and battered and probably feeling sorry for myself.

Jay x

Dreaming with no barriers ...

I saw this image and couldn't help but feel that it hit the nail on the head for how I am feeling of late.

 image via: here

I still have dreams, big ones... 

I still believe we live in a world where anything is possible... anything.

I still have a heart that is full and giving and accepting.

But, I'm struggling with people who seem to want to stifle my dreams,

my beliefs and my way of being.

When that happens, I feel so dead inside. 

Like everything I knew and loved was wrong.

I fought hard for my dreams to become a reality and I work hard on them everyday

 so they continue to be an inspiration and a reason to get out of bed. 

So whilst I do ponder for a little while the negativity projected my way, 

thinking maybe I need to change or slow down or not have so many aspirations,  

I also remember that I am well and truly entitled to my dreams, 

I am well and truly allowed to believe that anything is possible. 

That I can explore, create, grow and soar... because that is what I was made to do!

So you know what, the reality isn't that I miss the kid who used to dream with no barriers, 

the reality is that I miss the kid who didn't let others stop her from dreaming with no barriers. 

My wish for you today and every day, 

is that you know your dreams are worthwhile 

and that you know you don't need permission from anyone...to follow them.

Jay x

Our new baby...

No I'm not preggers.

I'm speaking of the creative baby that has been in the making for the last month. 

Our new little range to grace the shelves at Olive Grove studios.

Lost in Melbourne.  

We focused on only 3 designs to get it off the ground and happening,

 but look forward to building it into something even more ab fab.

 Check out the rest of our goodies on our Lost in Melbourne Facebook page.

Jay x

New range...

I've been a busy little squirrel working away on a new range being introduced to Olive Grove.

Lost in Melbourne...run by Anna, Roze and I to be released real soon....

Follow us on Facebook for all the goss.

Jay x

Choose your own bag challenge...

I know it's the 11th hour on the 31st day of said challenge. But until the bell chimes at midnight bringing in the new day, I can honestly say that I finished my bag in time, for the 'choose your own bag challenge' hosted by the crafty diva Curlypops.

Woohooo...

I had contributed my little man bags on day one, but they were a w.i.p before the challenge begun, so it felt a little like cheating. My plan was to make at least one more bag so that I could honestly and truly be working in response to and inspired by the challenge.

So here's what I whipped up this arvo.

 I made sure to interface, line, add pockets and top stitch so it looked all professional and all...
No zips, sliders or bling though. That,  i feel, is the job of someone who has done a Nicole M designs, bag making class. Although it is one my wish list, to do said class... I haven't. So i figured it best to stick with my current skill set, especially with such a deadline looming.

The fabric I had on hand is all furnishing weight, linens and a bit of wine colored velveteen for contrast. Quite a girly ensemble, but I do like that sometimes.
Making bags is something that has been on my to do list for ages. So I'm glad that I made the time to make and test this pattern. I think it needs to be longer in the body, but otherwise I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Thanks so much Cam, for being the hostess with the mostess and coming up with another great challenge for us.
Jay xx

Sale weekend is upon us, down at the Grove.

 

Do pop buy if you're after a bargain.

Jay x

Experimenting and making new things ...

Have finally got around to making this little foxy after sitting on the pattern for well over a year. Tis the cutest thing eva.
I am sure I should be doing real work, but experimenting with new things is much more fun.

 I still haven't given up on the crochet training either.

Pretty quickly getting through that little stash of wool I bought at Spottie recently,
by learning new stitches and making lots of scarflettes.

What will I do when winter is over?
Jay x

Choose your own bag adventure...

The crafting queen Cam, over at Curlypops is hosting another fab sew along  This time it's on Bags.
Fortunately I have a head start on this one.

I was working on our new little sheriff range for the shop last week and decided that there needed to be a bag for little boys too. Mainly because I have a little boy that loves to carry his cars and dinosaurs around when we go out. So rather then weigh down my bag, makes sense he has his own.

With some black denim on hand, a bit of seat belt webbing and our screen printed star, I came up with this...

 He does love it.

Although, that won't be my only contribution to the sew a long. I have soooo much cute, cute fabric just hanging around waiting to be turned into something awesome. Small pieces that are not big enough for garments, so a bag is the perfect option.
I'm thinking ladies bag, saddlebag shape, over the shoulder...
Hmmm. Time to start working on number 2.

Thanks Cam for hosting the challenge.

And the rest...

After a two day stint in the sewing room, I'm proud to say the rest of the Sheriff range is complete...

A fun little selection of goodies for 1 - 4 year olds by Roze Elizabeth and I.
Now available at Olive Grove Studios.

Old school...cool.

For this weeks 'What's new Wednesday' over on the Olive Grove facebook page, we decided to focus on kids wear and beef up that colorful corner of the store. Everyone has made some awesome things, but I just have to show you mine...

A crafty collaboration between Roze and I. 

Roze the screen printer extraordinaire and I the....

well I ... the designer/machinist extraordinaire.

They come in size 1 to 4 and I'm nearly finished the black ones too.
The little star says 'Sheriff, protecting Melbourne' Sooo cute.

I'll be back with pics when the black ones and matching bags are done.
Jay x

Zoom, crop, resize, upload, repeat....

Whew...that has been my life the last few days.

I decided to re-open my poor neglected Etsy shop and totally forgot how much hard work it is. In my mind I was thinking, grab a bundle of new stuff, take pics of the clearance stuff and bob's your Uncle.

But 3 days later...

 Nah it's all good.
The reality is, a normal person would just upload one or two things here and there. I was trying to put 2 or 3 of each of the things I do, so I could represent a fair amount of my range....Hmmm...Seems I do a lot!

But, you know, diversity adds interest and the reality is making/creating/dreaming/designing is the driving force, the blood in my veins. So of course there is a lot.

Worst part was my little shop front message. It went something along the lines of 'My Etsy shop is closed whilst I focus on an exciting new clothing range, stay tuned for  updates soon'

Oh No...I guess my idea of SOON, was about two years.

So slack. but....onwards and upwards. Back on track. I look forward to exploring all the new features.

A lot has changed. Etsy is pretty jiggy with it and now have Apps', Connections to Facebook, twitter and Pinterest, live feeds on your activity and more.
I feel like a kid on my first day of high school all over again.

Oh and apologies to my FB page likers for 3 days of Spamming....they have a feature on Etsy, that when you upload products you can link to you FB feed and let your page followers know. Was fun at first, but in retrospect a bit Spammy. Soz...I was a kid in a candy shop.

Life goes back to normal...Now...Well as normal as it gets around here.
Jay xx

Pretty beads...

All in a row.

I've been busy painting up beads for my new necklaces. 

Love how they look all together.

Jay x

Getting there...

So I've had a few more attempts at a shaped beanie over the weekend.

I'm getting better at it, thanks to Jennie's advice on how to mark the beginning of your round. Makes all the difference.

The shaping is coming along nicely, although my end result in sizing is somewhat unpredictable.

The first pattern was in a 1980's Womens weekly book and had all sorts of terminology I didn't understand. I get the DC, HDC, CH, SL ST... but was thrown by a few others MC, ISC and INC for example and they didn't have the key to their little codes anywhere, so I had to call in the big guns .... Mum to the rescue.

Seems MC = main color  CC1 = color change one and inc h tr means you have to increase hmmm. I reckon these pattern writers are LAZZZYYYY. Is it so hard to just write stop using blue and start using the red!

And how about saying... do two htr's in the next hole, then one etc...not just inc h tr, rep from *

My goodness, it's like learning Morse code. You know, the crochet bit is easy easy it's reading the lazy patterns that does your head in. Thank god I have my interpreter on call ( Mum xx)

So anyways, rant over...

I made this, which worked out well and to the correct size based on instructions from my 1980 Woman's day book.

Then I made this one following a pattern I found on Ravelry. Whilst it was my best attempt yet at having a shaped crown, the sizing was way off. It was supposed to be a 3-5 year old and I reckon it's 3 - 6 month old.

I think ... after googling and staying up far too late last night trying to conquer this thing, I think I'm doing it wrong. Well obviously! But to be precise I think I'm putting my stick into the middle of stitches and not in between the top two. That's the only thing I can think that might effect the out come. My stitch count is spot on, per round, so it's not that.

I dunno.
I have not been beaten though. I will carry on with my experiments as with each attempt I can see I am getting better.
I'm knowing where my rounds start and stop, counting my stitches... two little changes that make a big difference and hats are a perfect size project to test on. They don't take too long to do and they'll always fit someone.

I know I'd be too sad if I'd devoted that time to a Cardigan only to see it wasn't working and had to be unravelled.
But a few more attempts and I reckon I'm ready for a garment...

This perhaps:

 Pattern available here:

Oh ... blessed readers who are not into crochet...My apologies for boring your socks off.
Other types of crafting to resume shortly.
Jay xx

Is it a plane...

Is it a crocheted snow cone.

A pear cover perhaps?

Well no, it's supposed to be a beanie.

 One that is nice and shaped on top, not all cinched in like my last two.

Alas it is shaping up to look more like a snuggli for your pear.

Aint no human head gunna fit in there! 

And it has some weird pointy bit happening up top..

Sort of shaping up to be a form fitted crochet bikini perhaps!

Nope... time to unravel and start again me thinks.

I know where it all went pear shaped too. 

Some time around the bit that said, when you get to the end of that round start doing ...

Who can tell where it starts and ends. It's all one big circle. A circle that never ends. And who has time to count stitches.

Oh I know. If you don't pay attention Jay, you end up with nipple covers not beanies!

So I shall undo, start again and figure out a way of marking the end of a round.

Wish me luck.

Jay xx