SIMPLE CRAFT #5 plus a teeny tiny giveaway.

Here are some more fun, crafty, NOT HARD thing to make....magnets!!

All I used to make these little cuties was paper from my collection of stationary/magazine/greeting card/postcard cut outs. I stamped different words onto the paper, and then glued them to magnet paper, (which you can find in most craft or office supply shop.....or, if you live in Footscray like I do, you might find magnet paper at a random Vietnamese "we literally sell everything" shop!!)

Here are the magnets I made.

I'm keeping this "I love you" one, but the rest will be little handy pick me up presents for friends and family.

(to be honest, these magnets are mostly decorative, and probably not the strongest and most reliable magnets in the world!!)

Despite that, they're pretty cute, and light, and therefor very cheap to post. So I think it would be a bit greedy of me to not share. Please leave a comment bellow and let me know which 2 of these magnets you like the best (ie "PRETTY" or "GROW") and next Monday I'll pull a name out of the hat and send 2 magnets to the lucky winner!!

Too easy, huh!!??

I'll happily send overseas, so please enter no matter where you are !!

Mezz x

SIMPLE CRAFT #4 + a song and some books!

Simple Craft #4

Decorate a Door!

 Try this if you're bored one day and you want to spruce up a door in your house!

 

Grab a bit of blue tack, some of your favourite postcard, photos, magazine cut outs and whatever else. Clutter up a door.... go on, go for it! More is more, I say. Don't worry about your picture placement being symmetrical, but keep picture close, and relatively grid-like. I think it looks good this way!

 

 

Also, did you know that my lovely Mr. Coleman is in an acoustic duo with my brother, Pete? They are called "The Sketching Room" and they have recently recorded a new little song. Click here to have a listen.

Don't you like the cover design for the song? (My collection of cuttings from mags and books etc came in handy for the cover)

I have also been reading lots of inspiring books recently. So inspiring in fact, that I'm thinking I might start writing a blog about the books I read (not replacing this blog, of course!!) These three books are from my local library. If you don't visit your local library, please do! They are awesome.

This inspiring book titled "The Divided Heart" by Australian writer Rachel Power is all about the life of being both a mother and artist. Rachel interviewed many Australian artists whom I admire including Claire Bowditch (musician) Nikki Gemmell (author) and Sarah Watt (film maker).  I have not quite finished but I'm feeling both challenged and inspired. This book is insightful and beautiful. If you are a mother/artists in any medium I highly recommend it!

Love this craft book "Just Sew Stories" by Katie Allen. I love that its bright, hip and all the projects are pretty easy. As much as I love all the granny chic stuff going around, I do appreciate  a craft book that doesn't feature a doily on every single page!!

And this craft book has been great too. "Lazing on a Sunday Crafternoon" (love the name!) by Eliza Muldoon is full of fun, thrifty and QUICK crafts. I've already used a few ideas from here. Some of the crafts are geared towards kids which is great.

Have you read any of these books? If so, I'd really love to hear your thoughts on them!!

So that's me for this post! Hope you enjoy the craft, music and books!! Thanks to all my new followers, comment leavers and readers. I am planning on organising my first ever blog swap soon, so stay tuned!

Mezz x

Pretty parcels

Hooray for the Postman! Well actually, we collect our mail from a PO Box, so I don't have much to do with the local Postman...but you know what I mean.

In the past week I have found a few special things in my Post Box.

The first parcel was from my sister in law Taz who writes the cutest blog ever called Butter and Buntings. She is not only my sister in law, but over the years has become a dear friend, and she knew that I was feeling a bit emo recently so posted a whole bunch of lovely my way! She sent...

A book to write 3 things that I'm grateful for at the end of each day, and a lovely card.

 

Handmade crocheted hair clip, made by Taz.

(She also sent me a vintage hanky which is currently in the wash!)

 

I also received a gorgeous parcel all the way from the UK. One of my favourite bloggers, Vintage Sheet Addict not only makes the cutest stuff with the most amazing collection of vintage fabric, she writes about a particular type of parenting journey that I relate to very well. She's like a kindred spirit on the other side of the planet! Visit her blog, you will smile!!

Vintage Sheet fat quarters.

 

Heaps of amazing Vintage Wallpaper cuts!!

 

..and a lovely card.

And then to top it all off, my new Mollie Makes mag arrived on the SAME DAY!

Before I go, here's a lovely picture form our winter solstice celebration over the weekend!

 

When was the last time your received a nice parcel? Or sent one!!?

 

xx

SIMPLE CRAFT #3 Recycled paper notebook

I have still been having fun whipping up lots of simple little craft projects, here is my most recent one. Little notebooks, (or sticker books, I prefer!!) using old pieces of paper! All you will need for this project is some old paper, ruler, scissors and string. You can also use some other optional stuff like stamping or stickers to make it extra pretty.

To make a little book, choose 3 different pieces of paper. The beauty about making these "sticker books" is that it doesn't matter what paper you use as it doesn't need to be plain for drawing and writing. You could even use old magazines or newspaper! I chose some vintage wall paper, an old page from a falling apart children's book and a scrapbooking sheet.

Cut your 3 pieces of paper to rectangle size. Your book will be that size folded in half, so choose whatever size you want!

 

Place your 3 sheets together and fold down the middle, making a little book shape. Choose your prettiest paper to be the top layer for a nice front cover. It should look a bit like this. 

 

Then tie a pretty piece of string or ribbon around the pages to hold it together. This is instead of glue, staples, or sewing, which makes it really easy and I think it looks super cute! Tie the string nice and tight!

 

nearly there...

 

If  you feel so inclined, you can decorate the front cover. Popping a child's name on the front always makes it special if its a gift. One of these little books with a packet of stickers would make a good little present for a 2 or 3 year old! (Let's face it, kids love stickers even if we wish they didn't!) These little books were given to some special twin girls who turned 2 over the weekend.

 

The gorgeous wallpaper I used was given to me by the lovely Vintage Sheet Addict (But more about all the lovely parcels I've been receiving in a separate post!)

 

xx

a few small changes..

Hello there,

I've been playing! Today I changed the font, header and buttons on this blog, hoping to make it a bit more me. (The header and buttons were all made using some lovely gifted vintage wallpaper from the lovely Taz. )

I'm also considering creating a second blog (keeping this one, of course!!) about the books that I read.

Let me know what you think!!  ?

I hope you're having a lovely day where ever you are. It's freezing here in Melbourne, however the sun is also shining so its quite glorious!!

xx

Refugee Week

Did you know that this week is Refugee Week?

I'm pretty passionate about Refugees in Australia, especially Asylum Seekers who get a lot of negative press from the mainstream media. My family and I have had the absolute privilege of living with different asylum seekers in a community house over the past few years. Women and children who have fled their homelands in hope of a safer and better life here in Australia. It breaks my heart that many of these people have not be welcomed well into our country.

A few years ago I was commissioned to write a song about Asylum Seekers. The idea was to give a human voice to what had become a disturbingly faceless political issue. I recorded it but never received a copy so except for live performances I haven't been able to share this song with my fans. I decided to go on an internet land search the other day (googled myself!) and found it on an American Salvation Army music sharing website!!! Who knew.

Please click on the link below and listen to the song I wrote (with the help of Byron Coleman and Melissa Bantock) called "Hands Tied", and if you  are interested to get the real facts on Asylum Seekers (not the dubious "Today Tonight" version) please visit the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre website, a wonderful almost completely volunteer run organisation.

http://www.saytunes.com/band/mezzcoleman

Happy Refugee week to you all!

Mezz

My housemate is growing her own food!

SIMPLE CRAFT #2 doily flower

Here is another very simple crafty thing to do if you feel so inclined.

All you will need is a small doily, thread and needle and a bobby pin or brooch pin.

 

With some thread, hand sew a running stitch around one of the inner circles of the doily. (sorry, I used white thread, so you can't really see it!)

Pull the running stitch tight, this will cause it to "bunch"

attach a bobby pin or brooch pin, simple by stitching it on.

Done! cute!

 

And while I'm on the subject of cute things, do yourself a favour and visit my sister in law and friend's new Etsy shop, Little Things Splendid. Ash and Mayra have found some very cute and retro things and they're ready to post it straight to you!!!!! You can read Ash's blog post about the new venture here. Good luck Ash and Mayra, hope it goes very well!

 

Mezz x

 

 

 

SIMPLE CRAFT #1... Winter Wrist Warmers!!

Winter is here! That means its time for some SIMPLE CRAFT because there is nothing better then popping on a favourite DVD, drinking large amounts of tea and indulging in some mindless crafting during these cooler months, hey?

Yesterday I made some cute little fingerless gloves (or are they wrist warmers?? I don't know!!)

I used a felted woollen cardigan (a washing machine "incident") Oops!

To make the gloves, I simply cut the ends of the sleeves off to the size I wanted. I then cut a little hole for my thumbs.

And that's it!!

I still have most of the cardigan left, so I'm already thinking of what else to make with it! fun, fun!I love working with felted wool, it's easy to sew...and cute! And I might even fool the odd person into believing that I have actually knitted or crocheted something, when in fact I have not!  I'll be back soon with some more simple crafts!!

What simple & creative ideas have you come up with recently??

Mezz

The "5 Great Things" Project!!

I was sceptical and unimpressed by Mr. Internet for a very, very long time...But over the last 18 months I have slowly warmed to him, mostly due to writing this blog. The thing I've decided I like most about being connected online is the information sharing that happens. Recently I've been discovering, reading, and listening to lots of great things, so I thought I'd share 5 links with you that you too might enjoy too. Some of these are blogs, particular blog posts, websites, podcasts...just a whole bunch of awesome that's tickling my fancy!

(this was the first pic I ever posted, my handmade patchwork doona cover!)

If you enjoy this post and the links, I invite you to join the "5 Great things Project" by posting 5 great links on your blog.

1. One of my favourite crafty ladies Sweet Birdy Love is having a giveaway. You should definitely visit her blog and enter. She is from country Victoria and makes very beautiful stuff (even Mr. Coleman who isn't so into all these blogs I follow was impressed by her makes!!)

2. Another favourite blogger of mine, this time from the UK, Vintage Sheet Addict has written a post about living with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the family. This beautifully written post resonated very deeply with me. Please read.

3. Georgia Fields is a Melbourne singer/songwriter. Many moons ago we happened to go to High school together, and I have watched her music career with much interest since. She has a great way with words and recently wrote this blog post exploring why artists keep going... especially when the money isn't rolling in! A great post for any artist, musician, writer, crafter or creative soul to read!

4. Did you know I have an older brother called John? And he writes a blog too? In fact, he has been writing much longer then I have! Under the pseudonym, The Holy Boot, he blogs about being a crazy Footy fan (Aussie rules). It's very well written with lots of warmth. It's about footy, but without all the macho sexist crap!! Even if footy isn't your thing you should pay him a visit....or maybe tell a fella about it!

5. If you love reading you should most definitely listen to JoMad. These hour long podcasts are made right in Melbourne by two writers and readers. They chat about all things books, and each podcast has a different guest, who is usually a writer. Here's the crazy coincidence- I listened to a few of these podcasts last year, and then discovered recently that one of the people on it is my son's grade 1 teacher!!

So I hope you enjoy these 5 links to cool things. I think I will do posts like this from time to time, so please tell of any cool things you find online! And feel free to join the fun on your own blog.

In other linky news, I have tried really hard to overcome my Social media fear this year! The motivation for this was my music "career," (not sure is career is the right word!!!) and also a general sense that I was "falling behind" a bit. I think it's interesting that a week into having a FB page I've now been a offered a great gig. Hmm...that's just how it works now! So here the ways you can find me all over internet land...

Mezz Coleman and the Family tree website

Mezz Coleman and the family Tree Facebook Page

Mezz Coleman Facebook Page

Mezz Coleman Twitter page

(and I'm on Instagram too, don't know how to link you to that! I'm @mezzcoleman if you're interested)

Mezz xx

Holidays and second hand souvenirs!

I always get such lovely comments form you all when I show you my Op shop finds, so thought I'd post some more second treasures!

A year ago we went to the UK for my brother in laws wedding, and had the most wonderful month long trip.  The first thing we asked my brother in law Alex when we arrived in Banbury where he lives was, "do you have any Op Shops in town?" Firstly, he told us that they are called Charity Shops in the UK, and yes, Banbury had at least 8. HEAVEN! The Charity shops in the UK did not disappoint! After spending a bit of time with Alex and his soon to be wife, Vanessa, we  hired a car and travelled around lovely England and Wales. Stopping in many places, and visiting many Charity shops along the way!

We found many souvenirs for our trip in the local Charity Shops. Searching for them was  so much more fun then just buying from over priced and tacky gift stores! We met lots of lovely locals who liked our Aussie accents and couldn't quite understand why we were spending our holiday in their Charity Shops. I was very impressed with the quality and prices, and had to say (sorry Australia!) that the experience on whole was a little better then Op Shopping in Australia (but then again, I was on holiday.... and everything is better on holidays!)

Thought I'd share some of the souvenirs from our trip, all from local Charity shops in the towns we visited.

from Banbury,

a vintage map of Banbury and the surrounding villages.

 

From West Yorkshire,

an 80's Royal tin.

Us Aussies don't quite know what to make of the royal family, but  couldn't resist this.

 

from London,

 a "British bulldog" thimble

(ps- I have no memory of ever being blond, but apparently I was!)

 

from Haworth,

 a book on the area and the Brontes

 

From a cute little village in Wales

( Coleman Jnr broke his arm here so I got a bit stressed

and can't remember the name of this place,)

 this tray.

 

From Liverpool,

this book with great pics!

 

From the Cotswolds area,

another tray

 

and from Bath,

just after going to the Jane Austen Centre I found one of her novels in the nearby Charity Shop!

 

These last 2 things were actually found in Op Shops back in Australia. The tray was 50c, and I'd seen them in gift shops in the UK for much more then that! And I saw so many  cute tea pots like this on out trip, I really wanted to buy one but we were worried about it breaking on the flight home. I found this not long after we'd returned home, making my holiday feel complete!!

 

 

It's almost a year since our holiday, and I'm keen for another one as I've been reminiscing about it a lot recently! Shame it costs so much to take a family overseas!! Oh well, maybe another year! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage you to check out the local thrift shops next time you're on holiday!!

 

mezz x