Something ace from someone awesome. A handmade Christmas gift idea

This week the world has been in flux, world leaders have been chosen, storms have raged and stocks have rallied. 

Meanwhile in the Red Brick household it's been cross stitch time. Changing the world one stitch at a time. Or not, as the case may be.

I planned to keep this little project a secret as it was meant to become a Christmas gift for my beloved. However my inability to keep anything I'm excited about on the hush-hush has once again prevailed, and the cat is out of the bag. Lucky really. For you. Because now I have chance to share this amazing gift idea with you before Christmas. Yey!

Jacqueline from Wee Little Stitches tells me her web store has been abuzz with Australian traffic lately and it's no surprise really, since good ole Frankie Magazine shared her amazing cross stitch patterns in their weekly newsletter. 

Drawn at first to her amazing pixel characters (Ferris Buellers Day Off, The Labyrinth and The Goonies!) I whooped in delight to discover she can also design you a custom couple/family pixel people portrait. Amazaballs! I quickly lined Marky and I up for a awkward snap and a few days later Jacqueline sent through a design for proof... along with an apology for it's tardiness due to Hurricane Sandy leaving her powerless.. literally... to get to it earlier. What a gal.

Naturally I berated her and told her that was no excuse ;) but I was quickly pacified when I saw what an AWESOME job she did.... doesn't this look heaps like us?! If I were a bunch of pixels, this would be me. :)

Now listen here you crafty types, if, like me, you are looking at this and thinking "hmmm... I could design that" well yes, I'm sure you could, but for $12 Jacqueline designed me a custom pattern complete with a list of the exact DCM embroidery floss colours I would need so I didn't have to spend an hour in the store comparing colours (yes, I'm THAT person) as well as a whole heap of cross stitch tips on her blog. B.A.R.G.A.I.N

Now stop being a cheap-ass and buy something ace, from someone awesome this Christmas. BLAM.

Awesome People and Groovy Stuff

On Friday last week Steph and I along with the lovely Angelique Kerr hit the city and went to the Life in Style trade fair http://www.lifeinstyle.com.au/index.html to find lots of awesome new products for the cool cats of Ballarat.  We had a gerat day and let me say we were NOT dissapointed.
I PROMISE we will blog about the cool stuff that we have decided to order and that is coming your way but for now you will have to wait and try not to wet yourself from the anticipation... yes... it is exciting enough for a bit of wee to come out .... what? it is!

Anyway, whilst we were at the Trade Fair, as well as seeing great products we met some great people... new and the familiar.  I had spoken many times to Wendy June via email and we already stock her beautiful cards but we finally got to meet her in person which was ace.  I managed to snap a crazed fan shot with Steph in it :) You should All check out Wendy Junes blog when you have a chance. Or her website: http://wendyjune.com.au/

Steph and Wendy June with Wendy Junes amazing creations in the background.

We also got to meet, Ask Alice  http://www.askalicestationery.com/
and Able and Game

Able and Game have some great fathers day cards we are going to get ...oops I let one of the surprises slip

There were so many stalls, so many products, so many great people making awesome things.  By the end our minds were about to explode and our feet a little bit sore but geez it was fun.  It was first time at a trade fair and it's a whole other world, I couldn't believe it.  Can't wait for the next one :)
Marce

Getting my craft on

There are so many talented people out there making awesome things.  We see them come into Red Brick all the time and when we are really lucky they want to stock some of their mega cute stuff with us, which always makes me smile.  There is nothing more fun than walking into Red Brick of a morning and seeing the cute, colourful and fun things around me.  Brightens up my day.

I've tried making cute things before and I jsut can't pull it off. It's not soemthing that comes naturally to me so I think the end result often looks forced. I'm inspired every day by the stuff I see on the net and the awesome things people bring in for us to see but I have struggled to jump on the craft wagon and get successfully crafting myself.

BUT I had a crack the other day.  I had a bunch of old golden booksm, a giant guilotine and some left over paper.... so i thought to myself... cute sketchbooks ... why not!! lol

After a few cutting mishaps, where I cut too much of the book and swore at a few of the pages I came up with these ..... :D

This is a huge achievement for me because I'm a strange breed, the artist who isn't creative, who struggles to step out her charcoal portrait box and do new stuff lol.... so yeah I'm happy with my little creations :D
*Brag over* - Marce