Buttonastrophe!!!!

I had a communication this morning from Dorie who bought some of my buttons through Etsy. Well I put it up here for all the world to see.

Hi Trace,

Your buttons are very beautifull - I have used one at a kind of a felted bracelet, it was as the two are made for eachoter. Unfortunately the button was very soon a bit of damaged at the edge. I'll show you at the photo. You told me that the button will survive the wahingmachine, but this one was like this just after wearing half hour.

It is just that I want you to know it, not that I'am unpleased or unsatisfied. Maybe I have to look for another use, cause they are worth to be show! Hope you don't mind that I'am being this honest with you.

I'll show them on my blog soon (not the damaged edge ofcourse),

keep warm, xDorie

My reply
I need you to be honest so I know how the buttons manage out there in the real world.


I have put the button through the washing machine though I would recomend hand washing but they are made of ceramic and will chip just like a ceramic pot or cup will. So yes some thought must be put into placement it needs to be somewhere where it is unlikely to be knocked. And it is beautiful. I will show the damage on my blog as I like to honest about these things and I really don't want other people to have chipped buttons.

At least it is still useable and can be turned upside down so the damage is at the bottom. If you rub it with a little sand paper it will smooth it over.

Thanks Trace,


I will wear it with a lot of care (not when I'am working in the garden..) and in fact it happened at the bottom - I will rub it with a bit of sandpaper and maybe rub in some natural dust-cochenille of my natural coloured wool. The same colour as the bracelet is made from.

Xdorie
Btw your big buttons are great!

Slacker!!

All right all ready, I'm here and I am posting. There have been rumblings from a certain quarter about the lack of posts, you know who you are, so I am making a special effort or is it a really good excuse to stay home where it is warm and not go out in the filthy cold weather to the studio. Probably more the latter. But still for whatever reason I am here. Now what to say?

The picture above is the stall at the Abbotsford Convent Makers Market at which I did quite well though perhaps not well enough to justify continual trips to Melbourne. Lucky I have a few other things up my sleevies.

This is Miss Molly Dolly-Button supervising the stall from the back. She is between two pieces of my stitched work: Seeds of Life and Prelude.

And this a lovely piece of clothing from the amazing Suzanne Savona is featuring yes you guessed it my buttons. How cool is that?

I also went to the Etsy Party which was held at Threadden Fitzroy where I met this Delina who asked if I was interested in being a part of  this blog which I thought some of you might also be interested in having a look at. Delina seems to think that some of you out there in blog land might just be interested in some of the slightly off centre art work I do, so maybe I will start doing a weekly post on some of the techniques I use. Over the next couple of days I will be playing with plaster bandage.

Food Love

As you can see still procrastinating. But I left a comment over here at katiecrackernuts about a food post: 

did the chicken with preserved lemon and green olives from the latest Australain good food mag for my husband last night (I am vegetarian) and said it was delicious and I was more than happy with my beetroot and chickpea fritters.

 and well she emailed me

OOooh yum. The sound of the beet and chickpea fritters sounds fantastic. Can you share the recipe? I feel a recipe swap should be happening at the blog ... it's certainly going that way.

and what else could I say but:

I most certainly can share.


It started over here http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/thenewvegetarian

and if you scroll down you will see this link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/22/beetroot-fritters-yoghurt-recipe-ottolenghi

Which is what I mostly followed.

Except, well, I grated 2 medium cooked beetroots no idea how much they weighed and mixed with 1 can of drained chickpeas which I whizzed in the blender just a bit. I added two chopped up spring/green onions a bit of parsley and mint from my pot plant garden no dill but I did put in the cummin. Yes to the egg but no to the tahini coz I dont have any at the moment. Oh and I used a quarter of preserved lemon skin instead of the fresh zest as I had used it in Dan's chicken dish. I served this with roasted vegies (potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin) tossed with a few capers and a couple of spoons of the sundried tomato pesto leftover from the pasta the night before. And a sauce of yoghurt, olive oil, garlic and salt. And some dressed greens.

I could use this as a blog post if it werent so confusing. Maybe I could clean it up a bit?

Which was of course followed by this:
 
Oh do. Use it on the blog, that is. Can't wait to have a go. I cooked a Sydney Markets recipe for spinach and ricotta dumplings in a walnut, sage and butter sauce yesterday. Delish. The kids even remarked on them. I changed the recipe to be oregano and pine nuts, 'cause it was what I had fresh and in the cupboard, but worked a treat. Little bit fiddly. Worth starting ahead but oh so good. The dumplings seem sloppy, but they work. You can find the recipe at sydneymarkets.com.au and under the winter recipes section. I must go and have a better squizz at the recipes. Lots of goodies there.


Your dish sounds delish. I'm going to go take a look at those links.

Course I had to reply that I forgot to mention said fritter mix was a tad sloppy so i added some chickpea flour to firm it up a bit. And well there you have it. Shame I didnt take any pictures coz the sight of lurid purple fritters on a big white plate is quite a sight but they are all gone and I even Dan happily stayed home for lunch so he could have the leftovers.

Belive it or not this post has been edited for clarity????????????/

Buy me in Hobart

Well some of me will now be available at RebeccA's in Battery Point. Well not now coz it's a public holiday today and I know Rebecca is having a little holiday herself but when she gets back to work I know she will be very eager to get my bits on her shelves for all her lovely customers to buy. My only dilema now is will I have enough for my market stall on Sunday at the Abbotsford Convent. Or will I be really really busy over the next two days before I fly out on Thursday. Well I probably shouldn't be here doing this which is probably just a form of procrastination coz I do want to be making some fabric collages to take with me. But well I always have this jittery can't get started thing when I am going to be doing something a bit new and out my comfort zone. So hence me doing this instead. Maybe if you come visit me on Sunday you will see whether I actually got anything done!

Getting out there

Yesterday I sent 10 Miss Dolly-Button kits to Snug down south in Tasmania and I dropped a heap of stuff off at The Mill Providore and Gallery here in Launceston. I don't expect they will be on the shelves for sale for another week but soon they will be.

Knock at the Door

Who can it be now? The postie delivering a package, for me? Oh fab its the Artswap I did. The anticipation of unwrapping so exciting. It is up on the wall and  most beatiful. To see for yourself check it out here.

Suzi BJ's

Just got back from two fantastic markets in Hobart. Eastside and The Barnmarket well worth checking out both. I had a lovely time met lots of people made a whole heap of new contacts and new friends as well as catching up with people I have met before. But best of all was meeting Suzi BJ. What a wonderful warm hearted generous woman. To make it possible for me to do both markets she let me stay overnight in her lovely home and I do mean lovely. Out in the country surrounded by trees the house is a veritable treasure trove of delight. I took heaps of photos most of which unfortunately have turned out blurred which says something about my photography skills as well as the hurry I was in as I was running late. Here I am sharing  just one of them with you. Thats my buttons there, yes those ones in the photo. My buttons all in a line in Suzi BJ's studio. So cool.

But they are enormous

Adding the the big buttons to Etsy today. They are a whopping 5cm or nearly 2in in diameter.

Heres a taster but go to my shop to check out all their lovlieness.