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By KarinaJean, on June 24th, 2011%
This post had been months in waiting.
My Good Cousin was expecting her first baby. She is one of my favorite people in the world so it follows that I wanted to make her something really lovely. I decided to splash out on some forest green mohair from Germany, and construct some type of softie critter. Part cat, part lamb, part Gizmo from the Gremlin’s movie. I used green paisley patterned fabric for added cute details.
The end result was a little more squat than my design sketch. But maybe a little more friendly?
A test run on Master J was a gleeful success.
I am told Baby Grace is also quite taken with her fluffy new friend.
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 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 7th, 2010%
A little while back, on Feb the 1st this year to be exact, I told you about a charity auction I was involved in ~ Schaffas2. Screamdance, Adelaideans Sam Barratt & Chris Edser, hand-picked art-friends from all over the world to customize their own breed of schaffas – including Me – YAY!. We were each sent a similar blank shape and given free reign to add, subtract, paint or destroy these objects. This is my creation:
“Mr Schaffas-Uffagis used to have 4 legs. One day he was at the beach having a grand time. He was chasing a ball through the sand, turned too suddenly and tore the cruciate ligaments in his back knees.
He could not afford surgery, so he got a wheel alignment instead. He is happy enough. He has a one-legged bird friend called Peg-ales”
Ah Mr Schaffas-Uffagis and your wheel alignment…I wish I could have kept you for myself..but I let you go for a good cause.
You can check out Mr Schaffas-Uffagis and the rest of the 2010 Schaffas creations at meet the schaffas and just in case you want all the Schaffas for yourself there is a book that documents all of the Schaffas Two exhibition in 2010 and a selection of the Schaffas from the 2008 show. Buy it from screamdance or urban cow studio
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By KarinaJean, on June 24th, 2010%
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 February 1st, 2010%
 2010 is starting to look like an exciting year. Word is just in that I have been selected participate in Schaffas 2.
What’s a Schaffas?
“The International Fauna Dossier describes a schaffas (Marcum-Schaffidius) as a gentle and un-aspiring creature of great mystery. This exhibition will demonstrate the various and complex forms that the schaffas adopts. SCREAMDANCE, Adelaideans Sam Barratt & Chris Edser, have hand-picked art-friends from all over the world to customize their own breed of schaffas”.
(text taken from Screamdance website – see below)
We are each being sent a similar blank shape and given free reign to add, subtract, paint or destroy these objects. The schaffas are then auctioned off with proceeds going towards Oxfam’s Close the Gap campaign, which works towards closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous health.
As you can guess my imagination is having a field day.
Thanks Screamdance – I’m rapped!
schuffas link
screamdance link
oxfam-close the gap link
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!
By KarinaJean, on December 21st, 2009%
 Queeny bird stands tall and proud amongst her tulips. Her crown is polished. She closes her eyes and enjoys the warm rays from the summer sun. Brushed Aluminium on Plywood, with hand stitched crown, wing and flowers. 40mm x 40mm. AU$55. Other designs available.
Want One? email karina@karinajean.com.au
By KarinaJean, on December 20th, 2009%
 Two boab trees intertwine. Their flowers are all mixed up. A Bat Bird rests amongst the branches. Brushed Aluminium on Plywood, with hand stitched flowers.50mm x 45mm. AU$55. Other designs available.
Want One? email karina@karinajean.com.au
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