CrumpArt » Swaps

Swapperific

March 31st, 2008 by Crumpet

I received my Ravelry Bag Lady swap package last week! Hooray!

annie3891, who doesn’t seem to have a blog, sent me a beautiful felted evening style bag made from some handspun yarn she’d bought. I love it, but it was a bitch to photograph. Especially at 10pm when it was raining and dark outside… here it is anyway making friends with my sketchbook.

I also got Pocky (!), origami paper, a beautifully soft blue iPod cosy and some lovely lip balm! Thank you Annie!

I’m pretty sure my ‘target’ will get the package I sent today, so I’m happy to post pictures now.

I have a bunch of old laser discs sitting at home waiting for a crafting opportunity. While my swap pal doesn’t like horror films so much, I decided that Vertigo was the best one to use, considering her profession. Every single office I’ve ever walked into that’s part of this particular business has had a Vertigo poster somewhere. And I figured my pal could do with a pencil box. Or a ‘whatever she wants to put in it’ box, really. I added some arty extras to the box, keeping in mind something that I read somewhere while stalking.

Continuing on the Hitch theme, I sewed this bag. It’s made almost entirely from recycled materials (we had a $30 budget, and I’m doing Wardrobe Refashion, so I set recycling/upcycling/working from stash as a challenge for myself) — I used some op shop pants that once belonged to a very short, very round old man for the outer, and some unwanted handmade pants scavenged from Kym’s stash several years ago for the lining. The batting was also recycled from old manchester, and the pocket was made from some beautiful fabric that I received in exchange for some art years ago. The zipper was also recycled, and the magnetic snap was from stash. Hopefully it’s easy enough to guess which title sequence I was riffing off with the quilting…

I was originally going to put two pockets in the bag, but the construction method didn’t really allow for that, so I used the leftover fabric to make this cute little pouch. So easy, and now I want one for myself!

And considering that the Bag Lady swap was happening on a knitting board, I obviously had to do some of that. This is the Saturday Market Bag from MagKnits, made from stash yarn (Lang Filo, I think) bought years ago for a buck a ball at Lincraft. It even matches the lining of the Hitch Up Yr Pants bag! Next time, though, I’ll figure out how to knit this in the round, then do a three-needle bind-off at the base. Teh Seaming SuXX0r3d.

So there you go, swap pal (if yr even reading…) — I hope it arrives soon, if it hasn’t already.

Posted in photography, Geekery, Book making, Film, Swaps, Sewing, Knitting | | 3 Comments

(what is box happening…?)

March 26th, 2008 by Crumpet

Putting together the last of my Ravelry ‘Bag Lady’ swap package…

Posted in Book making, Film, Swaps | | 1 Comments

Presents all round!

March 1st, 2008 by Crumpet

I totally scored in regards to my birthday.

I already had my combined birthday/Christmas present (a shiny new iPod named Red Robot) from the Mister, and he also gave me the box of Tofutti Cuties (one of my favourite things). To extend the sugar rush, I received a bag of the Pashmak Fairy Floss in rose flavour that you can see at the top of this post. Every time I walked through the foodhall at work with my friends, we’d pass by this stuff and I always wanted to try it but could never justify the price. I can now say that the value for money is great, and it tastes delicious layered over mixed berries.

I got a bunch of other gifts from my party guests as well — a gift voucher to Melbourne Artist’s Supplies, an awesome t-shirt from Kym and Giz, an equally awesome handmade sketchbook from Vetti, a Stardust poster from m1k3y, some art supplies, an owl statue (from someone who didn’t get the emailed invite and had no idea that it featured owl cake!), money, a Sigur Rós CD, an IOU for a couple of books that are on order, a brooch, a cone of yarn and a bonsai tree! I wasn’t expecting people to bring anything, but I love it all — thank you!

I do have a favourite gift, though.

My new bookshelf! I’ve been planning this with my dad since before Christmas, while he was making the DVD shelf that I posted about a few weeks ago. I wanted something long and low to go in our bedroom, and this is just so perfect. I’d love it to pieces anyway, but it’s even more special because my dad made it.

We now have enough space and then some for all our books and DVDs, and I even have a couple of shelves big enough for all the few slightly oversized books in my collection.

Because my mum and dad are so awesome, and also because they accidentally left their camera at our house after the party, I made them a little case for it. Quite some time ago, Mr Crumpet accidentally felted the first pair of socks I ever made for myself in the washing machine. Sometimes these things work out for the best.

And now onto the presents for you! A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Pay It Forward dealio, and I’ve finally found some time to draw names of three commenters from a ~~hat~~ shoe. Michelle, Tally and Kate, please send me your addresses, and sometime it the next couple of months (I’d like it to be sooner, but I’m a realist!) I’ll send you your gifts, and then you can send some handmade goodness onto commenters from your blogs. Everyone wins!

Posted in General crafts, Swaps, Random | | 4 Comments

“somehow, somewhere, sometimes sunlight seems to come my way”

February 12th, 2008 by Crumpet

Today I nearly lost my teacups. And my marbles. It was the last day of two weeks worth of stocktaking at work*. I had no energy left and missed several trams. I ended up getting to work 20 minutes late. During the day, I found out that one of my coworkers had to flee Bosnia when she was five, with her mother and two week old brother. Not many people I know can, or would want to, claim that their luckiest moment in life was when the sniper didn’t shoot them.

After work I had plans to go to a yarn night — meeting with Australian Country Spinners (Patons, Cleckheaton, etc.) advertising agency to clue them in on the whole knitting thing. I left work at 5. The information man at the tram stop stuffed me around and I ended up not getting off the tram where I was supposed to in order to catch a connecting tram. I wasted half an hour. Then when I finally did get to Carlisle St in St Kilda, I realised it was the wrong end and I’d have to walk for about a kilometre to get where I was going. I was half an hour late that time.

Then, I intended to head back into the city for a coworkers going away drinks. I got off the train at Flinders St Station, walked up the steps, and realised that I didn’t have one of my bags. I went back down to the train, jumped back on for a minute, realised the train was not taking passengers and couldn’t find my bag. And just as I went to get off, the doors shut. And wouldn’t open again. I was stuck, alone on a train that was retiring for the evening.

The train started to move. I hoped it would stop at Southern Cross Station, but it didn’t. I panicked. And realised my phone was in the missing bag. I panicked some more. I contemplated pulling the big red emergency door release button, but the thought of dying while trying to cross the surrounding train tracks was a little too terrifying, and around that point in time I realised there was an emergency intercom. It didn’t seem to work at first, but I finally got in contact with the driver and did a fairly convincing job at sounding calm. Thankfully he was going to the North Melbourne train depot, and not the one at Werribee… He helped me off the train when we pulled up, and let me search all the carriages for my bag. I found it on the last pass through. I thought it had only had my current knitting and my phone in it, but when I searched inside, I found the bag of knitted teacups that I’d taken along to the knitting night. I hadn’t realised quite how much they mean to me until that moment. I almost cried with relief… although the tears could have been for other reasons. Did I mention that I’d been busting to go to the toilet for about half an hour? The ten minute walk with the driver back to the train station platforms from the depot was tough.

I finally made it to the city. My friends had waited for me and I had a couple of beers while being reminded exactly how funny and awesome they really are. I cried laughing at one point.

I finally walked through my back door while listening to Lithuania by Dan Bern. I found a package on my chair.

My Pay It Forward gift** from Lesley at Bird Ahoy.

As I was taking the photos for this blog post, another song started. One I downloaded for my now extinct podcast way back when. Sunlight, from thesquarerootofeleven. “Somehow, somewhere, sometimes sunlight seems to come my way” seemed like the perfect title. I cried again.

All the shit that happened to me today? Not even worth worrying about. I’m loved. I have wonderful friends, a beautiful partner, a family who would do anything for me. I get incredible packages in the post from people I’ve never met. I’ve never had to flee from war. I’m not the junkie whose blood had dripped over the floor and sharps disposal in the odd public toilet I had to use on Collins St. I’m alive.

And I have my teacups.

*Although I now have to go in for a few hours tomorrow to finish up some stuff.

**The Pay it Forward thing works like this: I was one of the first three commenters on Lesley’s Pay it Forward blog post, so she sent me a handmade gift on the proviso that I would do the same thing with my blog. I’m not going to make it the first three commenters though — I’m gonna take advantage of this to do some comment fishing. The names of anybody who comments on this blog post until the 20th of February (Melbourne time) will be put into a hat, and I’ll draw out three names at random for my Pay it Forward gifts — remember that you’ll have to follow through on the paying forward too. So get commenting!

Posted in Swaps, Universe, Jewellery, Art, Knitting, Random | | 10 Comments

A mad tea party.

December 22nd, 2007 by Crumpet

Recently on Ravelry, Kris organised a tea cosy swap in the Aussie knitter group. I haven’t participated in a swap for a while, but it’s holidays, and I am in fact cultivating a ~~slight~~ major tea (and teapot) addiction.

I sent out my swap package last week, with a slight Japanese theme. Here’s the cosy:

Made with Japanese Noro Kureyon yarn, and accompanied by some origami cranes, a knitting based collograph print, some Japanese tea which Karen mentioned liking, a whole bunch of Pocky and some yarn and fibre.

And while I liked the package that I sent, it (or any other package) can’t beat the one I received. I couldn’t possibly be happier with what came in the post last Sunday morning, and after a sleep-in, no less!

Orange napkins with handknit napkin rings! And no, I’m not so sad as to get disgustingly excited about napkins, even if they are adorable, but that was my photo of the day.

How freaking awesome is that tea cosy? It’s so perfect in so many ways. And the spotty mug! And the stack of T2 teas! And the chai! And the ginger nuts and fruit rolls! And the NORO KUREYON SHADE 88! I was very, very spoiled by Sandy.

But the pièce de résistance?

Take that, measuring tape black hole!

Posted in Swaps, Knitting | | 1 Comments

Doing business.

November 9th, 2007 by Crumpet

My email was down for a few days this week, and I finally managed to fix it yesterday. When I did, I found an Etsy order in my inbox, which is nice because business has been a little slow the past few months. I packed the order up and sent it off this morning — it was a gift for the customer’s eleven year old cousin, so I wrapped it up and made a gift card from part of an old print.

I’ve also done some handmade business outside Etsy. I exchanged prints with a friend from uni, and I can’t help but think I got the better end of the deal.

This etching has to be one of the most beautiful things I own. I can’t stop looking at it. It’s 110cm long and 40cm wide and was created by the ridiculously talented Andrew Keall.

Oh, and I just realised I won’t be able to go to ONEPLUSTWO to see my work screened on Tuesday night, because the store is open late for an event and I have to work until 10pm.

Posted in Etsy, Swaps, Art | | 1 Comments

Sock Wars.

August 22nd, 2006 by Crumpet

1. The first rule of Sock Wars is, you must talk about Sock Wars.
2. The second rule of Sock Wars is, you MUST talk about Sock Wars.
(no really, for this to be a success we need as many combatants as possible)
3. Two socks to a fight.
4. One fight at a time.
5. No shirts, no shoes, just socks.
6. Fights will go on as long as they have to.
7. If this is your first time in Sock Wars, you have to fight.

Posted in Swaps, Knitting | | 0 Comments

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