EEEK! I made it happen!

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This is my studio! I know! Exciting huh!

This is why I disappeared for a while, between finding a studio, considering it, wishing it, hoping it, doing it, packing, moving, unpacking, sorting, labelling and breathing, I haven't had the time, inclination or a reliable internet connection to keep you updated. Mind you that's probably a good thing. Moving is hard, and you probably didn't want to live through it vicariously anyway.
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I'm all set up now, and it's so quietly creative and industrious it makes me just go into my own little world and not come out for hours. Also in the warehouse space are artists, painters and glass sculpturers (is that a word?). It is quiet and inspiring, and without tv/ laundry/ cats etc. there are no distractions at all. Lovely.
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I've always wanted a studio. So I got one. I'm a grown-up, so I can. I can do whatever I like, I just have to make it happen. Sometimes it's nice to remember that, and act accordingly. I hope you do too.

(ps. Still no internet connected, so bear with me and posts will be flowing soon!)

on hold

via

Hi peeps, sorry I have been away from blog-land for ohmygoodness a week now and it may be longer still before I get a chance to sit down, scratch my nose, and tell you what I've been up to.

I'll just say that it is VERY EXCITING and I will tell you everything! For now I am running around like a headless chook (does anyone use that metaphore anymore?), but I am still around, and will be back soon!

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(speaking of headless chickens, did you hear about this amazing one?)

Tweet tweet

via

A while ago, I had a go at twitter. I must say, I was a little perplexed, and after a few half-hearted attempts, I gave up. I think I was trying to be witty and challenging in every single tweet, acerbic about the machinations of popular culture, deep and meaningful or at least blindingly funny. No one is that clever, or if they are they’re certainly not me. After reading some of my favorite tweeters for a while, I am ready for round two, with new and improved scaled down expectations of my own brilliance. If you’d like to follow me as I blunder around for a while in twitter-land and find my feet writing succinct updates about my day to day existence, thoughts, happenings and the activities of my cat, please feel free!

I am also looking for new tweeters to follow, if you email me pepperstitches@yahoo.com I will follow you and learn about the minutia of your daily life! Exciting! (do not mean that in a sarcastic way at all, I am genuinely a bit thrilled!)

vintage contemporary media

Brazilian ad agency MOMA has created a brilliant set of fake retro ads for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Skype as part of the “Everything Ages Fast” ad campaign for Maximidia Seminars.
Check out the ads here.

Via Junkculture

my week in pictures

Singing moose.


Over a cup of tea in my favourite bookstore (text below picture reads: Pepper let himself go as the grey abyss loomed below)

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Thank you man in flouro, for cutting branches away from the electricity lines outside my house. Safer and more sunlight for moi. Awesome.
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My shelf in the fridge. Seriously. So I went to a friends place for dinenr and ended up having a 12 course degustation at a local resteraunt. Amazing. A hedonistic party in my mouth; and like any good party, I could barely walk home and felt a little sick the next day.

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My local markets now have pony rides. I want to ride the pony. Really, can I ride the pony?

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If I was that Dad and saw this, I'd be chuffed. Totally chuffed.

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Hope your week was awesome!

blog love of the week- swiss miss

Do you know Swissmiss?

It is not only a lovely person but a design blog too, full of interesting posts about design-y things, typefaces, creativity and designers. I have found lots of interesting articles and new-favourite-blogs and swoon-worthy ideas and products there. I would try to explain it more, but really, just go check it out.

ooh bookshelves

So many bookshelves. Beautiful, beautiful bookshelves.

See more here.

via Swissmiss

Just slice me up now

I have been struck down *sweeps back of hand onto forehead in a dramatic fashion* with the flu. A yucky ache-y snotty coughy sneezy moan-y kind of flu.

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It's okay, I will not spread any germs. No one will come near me. Apart from the red-nosed coughing and spluttering, it may be the garlic. I have eaten it, drank it, and wore it bound to the soles of my feet. I am exuding garlic from every pore. I feel like I'm turning into a great big bulb. Just slice me up now.

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I may not have any friends, but I am feeling a little better today *fingers crossed* and I am safe from all and any unearthly vampire attacks.

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Unless it is this vampire from this movie. That would just be unfair.

(edit) no, it's not twilight.

a peanut piggy pair

To celebrate her first bloggy birthday, Stitchy Britt is giving away these adorable peanut-shaped squishy pigs. All handmade, including that little scarf and crocheted basket. Adorable. Pop over there and oink her- post a comment or visit her facebook page, and help celebrate her blog birthday! Yay!

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Be quick, entries close Saturday night! (Her blog is swell too- less peanut-shaped, but just swell.)

my creative space- Penny!

Results are in from the name poll to name my new sewing machine, 56% voted for the name Penny, so Penny she is! (Alice came second at 35%, and Jane last). Thanks everyone who voted!

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Other things I've been doing in my creative space
- sorting fabric by colour and size into lovely new plastic tubs and stacking them up high

- freaking out when the now-named Penny flashed and blew smoke (she's better now. phew)

- madly calling repair centres

- staring out the window instead of sewing. watching dog walkers and cranky birds.

- being unsure of what to do first. watching movies instead

- writing lists. crossing out lists. merging lists and then rewriting lists neater

- spending time shopping instead of sewing. finding old patterns and materials and possibilities

- spilling tea on everything and swearing

- cutting out sweaters for cushions

- planning a giant giraffe. Giant. Giraffe. you heard me.

- feeling a little bad for not sewing much. going to the pub instead

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VERY productive, as you can tell.. (*cough*) But now that Penny is named, we can chat and sew all week long. Uh-huh.

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more creative spaces here

what the fortune teller told me

by pop-awesome artist Esther Aart

Yesterday on the way to meet a friend for lunch, I passed an old lady in the tunnel walkway who read palms, and on impulse I sat down and proffered my open hands. All I told her was my birthday, these are some of the things she told me (for future reference!)

- You can create anything you want, the tiniest things, and you can teach anything. You are very good at creating
- I can see 1 child for you, and 3 grandchildren
- You will live until you are 88, but because you will live so long, you need to mediate regularly to clear your mind or you will look very old much sooner
- You will die in your sleep
- You are vulnerable to being duped, You must check people, as there are those who would be out to trick your mind and your heart. Always check people. Promise me this.
- 2010 is a very good year, so is 2012 (and some more she said but I forget!)
- Never travel by plane during the month of march, or you will lose all your money or passport
- You are a moonchild, your best hour is 6am. Anything you really want to do you should do or start at that time
- November 2, 2010, you will never have to worry about money again, you will have enough for everything I will need.
- December 31st, 2010, you will be with or meet the love of your life, you will be happy together for a long long time
- February 2012 (or 2011? I don’t remember!) You will have the highest career you have ever dreamt of
-I see here you will have two accidents in the next 33 years, one will be in a taxi and you will hurt my toe and have to have your toenail removed, and break a finger. The taxi company will give you $300,000 compensation for my toenail.
- Also you will have two operations in the next 33 years, one for your nostrils and one for your ears, I don't see any major operations or illness
- You move a lot, and should live near the ocean or lake or river. Never move to the cold, it is not good for you and will give you asthma and make me sick. You should never spend weeks in the cold, or move to someplace like the blue mountains. Remember this, you will never forget my ugly face *laughs* However, you will never drown or die in water, I promise you.
- Always wear pearls, and not any other precious stones
- You have a lot going on in your head, and must concentrate on one thing at a time, and not get too caught up in your brain and worries. Remember to meditate.
- Stay away from junk food or you may die from heart trouble, and also don’t eat fruit from a tree, or you will go blind within 33 years. Please please for me do this. What is good for you is pineapple juice, blueberries and raspberries. If you have any health problems, eat these.
- You are a 90% perfect human being, which is rare. You have good health, good mind, good spirit. I see many people who are not good beings, you are good.

fake science

via

Hide and Seek Market

My stall last weekend at the Hide and Seek market, and the market mascot that I made! My mum and a friend were there to help out, and we have never seen quite-so-many pregnant women in one place. I suppose if you’re starting to get clucky, making baby and kids toys and being surrounded by babies and pregnant women may not help. Hrrmm. I think I need to visit my niece and get my fix vicariously.

I bought a beautiful ring, and a doll (see more here), and a dozen cupcakes with flavours like Caramello, black forest, lemon curd and almond and berry. Yummo. (I'm eating one in the photo there.. That's what that bemused look is.)

You can see more about the markets here.

flea market finds

Oops a little (quite a lot, actually) late but better late than never! Here are some vintage-y things I have found this week and last week in my op-shop explorations. I am starting to visit op-shops quite a lot (even more than before!) in my quest for recycled fabrics (some nice op-shops even let me trawl through their gonna-throw-out pile for goodies! Which is what I prefer, I’d rather use stuff that would otherwise be landfill than stuff that is just second-hand. I want to eventually be using only recycled materials, but I digress). During these missions I -of course- end up looking at everything else in the store, and finding cute little vintage-y things like this that I just have to get.

So I’m going to start a section in my etsy store for ‘vintage-y goodness’. This means that I can still search for vintage goodness, and I still get to collect them, but they can be in constant rotation and be released back into the wild! Remember the gold deer? And those salt and pepper shakers? They’ll be in there too. Open soon!

yay team Adam!

picture via another masterchef tragic, pottymouthmama

Go Adam! (He's just so zen, and lovely and thinks well of everyone, and looks like a cute otter when he's worried, and can cook amazingly). I'm buying your book, and cooking (attempting) everything in it! I am happier about someone I've never met winning a reality cooking show than I ever thought I would be!

Hooray!

moustache party

I made these moustaches (inspiration here) this week for a party at my house. Or just friends over. Or just to make me giggle. Then, I was looking around blog world and I saw..

:: Pin the Mustache on 70s Burt Reynolds FREE PRINTABLE Poster :: FREE PRINTABLE Mustache Nickname Party Banner :: Inspiration for Mustache Cupcakes :: Mustache Cookie Cutter & Lolly Mold at Bake It Pretty :: FREE PRINTABLE Cupcake Toppers :: FREE PRINTABLE Printable Disguise Kit :: FREE PRINTABLE Template for Felt Mustaches :: FREE PRINTABLE Mustache Template :: How To Make a Mustache Cake ::

This post by Amanda on Kind Over Matter? (If you don't know it, it's a swell kind blog. Go see.) Resources for your very own moustache party! I'm reblogging it 'cause it's making me want to have a moustache party. Immediately. How fun would that be? Really.

What is it with moustaches lately? Ooh la la.

DIY photography light box

After all my light-for-photography woes, the Boy built me a light box! He used this tutorial.
Gathering materials; cardboard box, poster board (or in my case, the back of an Ikea Billy bookcase), scissors, tape, measuring tape, baking paper.




Cutting windows in the sides, which were then covered in baking paper, and the poster board cut to size and slid in.

Taa daaa! We lined up lamps to shine in and took some test shots. I need to change the wattage of my bulbs to a) be brighter and b) all have the same brightness, but overall it's a definite improvement, and sure beats waiting for the sun!

I'm looking forward to posting my Flea Market Finds with the help of my handy-dandy new lightbox tomorrow. Yay!

in stores now!

Pepper Stitches can now be found in some ace stores in Sydney, which is very very exciting! I've added a 'stockists' tab on the top there!

My Messy Room is a darling store in Summer Hill, full of gorgeous kids toys, books and decor. If you can't make it (or just like a good-old browse), the good news is that most of the gorgeousness is available online (including my cloud mobile! Eeek!). Stav is the owner (and super-ace she is, too) you can get to know her and more about My Messy Room on her blog, My Messy Room Journal.

Pulp Life is lifestyle store offshoot if the amazing Pulp Creative. It's a beautiful store full of beautiful things, just look! And my antler boys are now among them! The store is like a lovely loungeroom, or you can buy selected products online too. Plus it's next to the beach. I feel a business trip coming up.

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A big thank you to Bec, Stav, Nicky and Tracey for liking my stuff and having faith that other people will like it too! Next stop, Pepper Stitches WORLD DOMINATION (in a friendly, cuddly sort of way of course. With tea.)