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By KarinaJean, on January 28th, 2011%
A few months ago a very good friend asked me for my opinion on some hand made height charts she was deciding between for her little lass. None of them were quite what she was after but she was hesitant to make her own. So I suggested I make them one as their Christmas present. We discussed themes and details and I set off on my creative merry way, thinking all things trees, birds, hand-stitched string, buttons and leaves. Here is the result (a month late mind you), a fabric height chart that they can take with them wherever they go and keep for nostalgic purposes for as long as they wish.
The result is a sweet combination of calico, fabric pens, salvaged buttons, original bird artwork via iron-on transfer, pretty backing fabric and wool.
I began by adding all the detail to the front panel of calico. I choose the calico with the little specs in it and washed and ironed it to remove any residue. The original tree and bird were hand drawn in ink on paper and the bird was coloured digitally.
I had a basic plan I suppose, enough to know I was going to be doing a few different ironing steps and the order in which I did them was likely to matter. So I began by hand-drawing the tree with fabric pens (fabric pens are happy to be ironed over). I then cut leaves from the backing fabric and attached them with iron-on hemming tape (also happy enough to be ironed over). Finally I printed out my birds and numbers onto transfer paper (in mirror image of course), cut then out with my longtime best friend “medical scalpel with blade # 11”, and ironed them on…making sure I did not double iron any of the tansfers by accident (iron-on transfers definitely don’t enjoy being re-ironed).
I hand stitched little lass’s name and the circling wool with, ah.. wool, and added the buttons. Then after a good iron (reverse side only) I machined sewed the front panel and backing fabric together, added a few hems, added a rod to hold the top straight, doubled up some wool for hanging and my “tallish keepsake” was finished.
Oh, and some custom made measurement tags attached with salvaged garment safety pins rounded off a ‘job well done’.
By KarinaJean, on December 21st, 2010%
Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to all. If you are a regular here – Thank you for your following this past year. If you have only just found me, be sure to drop by once in a while for a little dose of creativness.
All I want for Christmas is a long-eyelashed reindeer with antlers just asking to be adorned.
 adorned reindeer illustration
By KarinaJean, on December 6th, 2010%
A while back we decided we wanted a blackboard in our kitchen. Not just any blackboard but a great big one, to fill a whole wall. But then a “whiteboard vs blackboard” debate began. You see the whiteboard claimant liked the magnetic aspect of the white board and its ease of cleaning. The blackboard claimant like the related nostalgia, the fact that chalk is wall/furniture/clothing friendly and that the writing is less likely to be wiped off accidentally. SO a compromise was reached and we made a “super big magnetic blackboard in a daffodil yellow frame.
We bought a big piece of sheet metal > Glued it to a timber backboard > Painted the sheet metal with blackboard paint > Bought a timber edging in the width and scollop-iness that we liked > Painted it yellow and attached it as a frame. It is a hit with the whole family. Occasionally I even clean it up and start a-fresh with a blank canvas.
By KarinaJean, on December 6th, 2010%
Back in may 2007, we embarked on a road trip around the Australian coastline with a mission to find a new place to live. We had a 4WD kitted out to sleep in and all manner of camping objects. My granddad, an avid camper and traveler himself, gave us an old green sleeping bag full of kindling, with the advice “sometimes you can’t find dry firewood, and sometimes your not allowed to take firewood even though it’s everywhere, so it is always good to have something to get you started”. We were slightly precious about the bundle, not wanting to use it up in an un-emergency. So at the end of our 9 month trek, we arrived at our new beachside home with half of his donation still onboard. So I decided to do something creative with it, something to capture the journey and the arrival…here is the result…
By KarinaJean, on November 19th, 2010%
 This week we are donating 1 of our Boab Kisses Necklaces to “The Friends of the Birthing Centre Sunshine Coast” Picnic in the Park Raffle, FBCSC is a non profit organisation committed to the creation of a Birth Centre on the Sunshine Coast and the promotion of continuity of care for women in the community.
Get involved!
visit www.karinajean.com.au.
visit my facebook page.
subscribe to my newsletter.
By KarinaJean, on May 24th, 2010%
So many new babys have been born into our circle of friends this month. Good friends of ours welcomed Baby boy bright and early on a Monday morning. He snuck in a few hours before he was due to be induced… So when I was deciding what I should make for baby F, I thought he should have some wise owl friends to go with his rather wise decision. I made him a soft plush mother owl with white leather eyes, blue patchwork cotton face and bobbly ears. I also made him a mini owl on a timber ring..ready for his first teeth.
By KarinaJean, on April 12th, 2010%
Little girl S was turning 1. No longer a baby-as such, she needed a little lassie to march into toddler-hood with. So I made her Ms dolly. Ms Dolly; with her sooty eyelashes, pigtails, belly button and ruffle cloth nappy.
Ms Dolly was made a few months back and since then Little Girl S and Ms Dolly have been around the world and back again on a grand adventure.
By KarinaJean, on March 24th, 2010%
A little boy I know turned 2 recently. I wanted to make him a cool boyish toy that he could hide all his treasures in. So I made him stash-pocket steggles – a big plush Stegosaurus with a hidey-hole in his back. I had never made a plush toy for a child over the age of 1 and I wasn’t sure how it would be recieved..But the big open-eyed WOW was more than I could have hoped for.
By KarinaJean, on January 18th, 2010%
 We have had many friends with new baby arrivals in the last month. I used to make baby blankets as gifts. That was before I became a mama and before we moved to hot humid queensland. So when second cousin Baby Boy O, and next-door Baby Boy S arrived I felt the need to create something more personal, fun and climate-appropriate than a blanket (please note…my blankets were run of the mill blankets, not nifty blankets-that fold-up-into-a-carrybag/cushion like Lady S made for Jonah. That blanket rocked and the idea was so superb that it has travelled all the way to israel).
So I designed Steggles the Stegosaurus – nice and plush and squishy with plenty of ribbony bits for the little ones to suck on. He is just darling.
By KarinaJean, on January 18th, 2010%
 Baby J is 8 months old now and finally the fibreglass belly we made of his in-utero days is finished and on the wall. Master N has done a fantastic job. For a long time we were unsure of how to finish it or mount it, but a bright lick of aqua paint, a rich timber frame and a summer string bikini has captured both Baby J’s personality and our lifestyle at the time it was made. I love it.
We made it by covering my preggo belly first with silicon and then with plaster bandage. I had to stand around in the summer heat for too long for the plaster to dry and when we finally tried to remove the silicon we found all my tiny tummy hairs had stuck and it would not come off. We removed the plaster and I stood in the shower to try and remove the silicon – first a little by little and then like many many super stuck bandaids. Finally it was off and I was free minus a little layer of skin. Ouch.
Master N made a fibreglass shell from the silicon/plaster mould and there you have it. Worth it in the end!
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