Spring Sale at Lamp & Motor

To celebrate the arrival of spring in the southern hemisphere I am having an exciting SALE over at the Lamp & Motor Etsy shop. Save 33% off some fantastic, one-off creations until 30 September only. Share the love and start your Christmas shopping today! Avoid the stress and expense of last minute Christmas purchases, do yourself a favour, have a look at the sale and see if you find anything you or a loved one might like. Happy shopping! Image acknowledgement: Spring Flowers by John-Morgan on Creative Commons 2.0 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidanmorgan/3376559479/)

Shop Swap & Blog

One of the benefits of belonging to the BrisStyle team is notifications about very cool projects like the Shop Swap & Blog event organised by Patti from Structured Chaos.

Sign up is this month, until 30 September, and you are assigned a partner (or two) to whom you send an item from your shop along with some information about it, by mail. They then blog about the experience.

What a great promotional tool! I don't know about you but I reckon one of a crafter's biggest markets is other crafters. Love it, I have registered and can't wait to find out who my partner is. What shall I send them? I'm thinking perhaps my Monochrome Clutch Purse, or my Port of Osaka Japanese print bag, or perhaps my Swingin' Yellow Bag?? Hmmm, probably best to find out where my partner comes from first and work around that. Get into it, have some fun, you never know where it might lead!

Lamp & Motor Brooches

I have 'branched out 'and started making lovely brooches, both flower shapes with a lovely vintage button in the centre and military style ribbon brooches, also featuring lovely vintage buttons. I reckon it's a great way to use the off cuts from all of my vintage fabrics...lovin' it! I'm actually not selling these on Etsy, just at markets, etc. But, if you'd like your very own Lamp & Motor brooch they are going for $8.50 AUD. Just contact me on lampandmotor@live.com.au to make a purchase.

Two Thumbs Up

The gorgeous Epheriell Designs featured my Lamp & Motor Silky Flower Bag in her Superb Sunday blog article!

This bag is for sale at the Lamp & Motor Etsy shop for $30USD (about $34.50 AUD).

Thanks Jess, you're a star! Check out Epheriell Designs - Handmade style, indie design, and crafty resources for gorgeous jewellery and other lovely things.

This bag now has a lucky new owner. For more beautiful bags visit the Lamp & Motor Etsy shop.

The Pope goes to the US

Well, the iconic Pope bag has started it's big trip across to the other side of the world, having been purchased through Etsy by a buyer in the land of the red, white and blue. I must say, I'm chuffed that one of my bags is going 'all the way over there'. And if it had to be any of them going to the US, I'm glad it was the Sublime Pope bag. See ya Pope-y!!

Happy People

Beautiful day in sunny Ipswich at the Handmade Expo. I actually got sunburnt, very warm in the middle of the day. Lovely people and lots of interesting punters. It was just great to meet other Etsy shop people as well as BrisStyle folk.

I tried a new display set-up this time, using some fabulous 'Stitchcraft' knitting magazines from the 50s that I sourced from an op shop as props. I think it worked quite well.

People were loving the brooches today, see happy customer below.

Lamp & Motor at the Ipswich Handmade Expo this Saturday

Come along to the Handmade Expo at the Ipswich Turf Club, Brisbane Road, Bundamba, for a fun day of all things handmade and crafty, this Saturday 15 August. Lamp & Motor will be having a market stall so pop in and say hello, you never know, you may be tempted to take a Lamp & Motor creation home with you... I've heard this is a huge market and the organisers sound, well, very organised, with promotion etc. So, I am looking forward to it.
Image attribution: Shire Horse by Squeezyboy (Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezyboy/46072245/)

Gorgeous day at the Young Designers Market at South Bank today. Lots of people through, and some really creative folk trading. The markets have really expanded, there must have been about 70 stalls. Was great to meet the market-goers and to chat to people about what they liked. I must say, the Pope bag was a hit, so many people commented on it, but noone brave enough to buy...

Image: my lovely husband 'minding the shop' at the YDM today.

Lamp & Motor at the Young Designers Market, Southbank this weekend!!

Very excited, getting ready for the Young Designers Market at Southbank in Brisbane this weekend, Sunday 2 August 10am-4pm. This will be my first market stall ever! Have been busily getting ready and hoping I have enough stock, business cards, etc. It will be great to meet other crafty people and the weather's guaranteed to be just beautiful. If you're in the area on the weekend pop into my stall and say hi. Image attribution: Calm Palm taken by Cyron (from Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyron/542176364/)

New design - a clutch for all seasons

Created a new design this morning, a gorgeous clutch made from vintage green striped cotton with large white flowers. Really lovely (if I do say so myself). Kind of Asian inspired but mostly just a very cool vintage clutch. Available to purchase from Etsy, or contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35AUD/$30USD). This bag now has a lucky new owner. Plenty more where that came from...see http://www.lampandmotor.etsy.com/

Lamp & Motor now trading on Etsy

I have finally opened an online store on Etsy, see http://www.lampandmotor.etsy.com/. I shall add more to the shop in the next week or so. You can also access my shop through the Etsy widget on the right. Etsy is US based so all prices are in US dollars, but it's very easy to buy, even outside of the US. And I am offering FREE POSTAGE to all purchases within Australia. If you are hesitant to purchase through Etsy just email me at lampandmotor@live.com.au and we'll sort something out. I will continue to post images of the bags I've been making to this blog, keep your eye on the slideshow on the right. So if you see something you like, get in touch.

I love Fridays!

I love having Fridays off - what a nice day it was in sunny Brisbane today! Pulled together this one today out of a scarf that I bought second-hand during the week. I love the geometric shapes and colours and it has a lovely wide strap, very comfy and easy to sling over your shoulder. Scarves are such a great source of wonderful design....Available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($40). This bag now has a lucky new owner.

Some Kiwi Inspiration

This was a really cool tea towel - complete with a song in Maori. My sister, an ex-Kiwi, tried singing it to me in the kitchen at Dad's place, but it came out sounding like Frere Jacque! It's kind of beachy, I think that's because of it's blue-white colour and soft, worn texture. Gorgeous old linen...Available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35).

Port of Osaka

I really loved this scarf that I picked up at an op shop in the Valley. I wanted to figure out a way to use each of the lovely panels featuring fisher people doing their thing, so I cut them out and stitched them onto this bag, one on each side...Available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35).

Oh, Cunnamulla

Don't you just love Australiana?! I'm pretty lucky with my job, I get to visit all sorts of places and I found this tea towel (now shoulder bag) in an op shop in Charleville on my way to Cunnamulla. I also found the most amazing array of old buttons, I bought tubes of them! See the pic on the right for a close up of the fabric flower attached to this bag.

This bag now has a lucky new owner.

Geisha

A lovely workmate of mine gave me a vintage kimono as a gift one Christmas (thanks Jess!) and I recently whipped up this little number - black dupion silk I found at a church fundraiser and a square of fabric from a sleeve that I still had left from the kimono.
This bag now has a lucky new owner.

Dad's Lap Lap

My dad's going to love me for this one! I made this bag out of one of his old 'lap laps' (translation - sarong) from tropical Papua New Guinea, where we lived in the 80s. I bet he never thought this would happen to it...Available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($40). This bag now has a lucky new owner.

Pretty in Pink (and blue and white)

This is one of my favourites so far, I really love the fabric, I think it was an old table runner but I managed to get just enough out of it to do what I wanted with the style. Have a look at the close up pic of the little fan I made to go with it - a finishing touch... Available to purchase through Etsy or contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35AUD/$30USD). This bag now has a lucky new owner.

Sublime

My sister was on the Sunshine Coast during the week and picked up this absolutely wonderful scarf for me from a Neighbour's Aid op shop. She says the prices were great. Have a look at their website and visit for yourself http://www.neighboursaid.com.au. Perhaps it will give me some 'divine inspiration' to create my next bag.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this little number is actually some curtain fabric I found, god knows where, can't remember now, but I love it. The weight is good too. Makes for a strong, reliable carry-all and it's very cute! Available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35).

The Queen of Sewing Machines

This is my trusty 1970s Empisal sewing machine, handed down to me from my mum. This was her first sewing machine, she bought it in her early 20's and I have been using it for about 12 years now. It's incredible that it's still going - I love it!

Enamoured with Vintage

If you, like me, are enamoured with vintage and recyclyed fabrics, like the kind you find in the bottom of the wire baskets at the Salvo's, at garage sales and church fundraisers, and you can't get enough of kitsch designs from a bygone era, take a look at my creations. If you'd like to share your inspiration for creation or tips for sourcing great vintage or kitsch fabric go right ahead.

This bag available to purchase, contact me through my email address lampandmotor@live.com.au ($35).