Why do I craft?

image courtesy of lovely petal

Last week Jhoanna from One red robin tagged me with a meme about why I craft. I had a long think about it and realised that my crafting is intrinsically related to my like of all things vintage.

Seeing that the theme of the week on the My Poppet blog is 'all things vintage', I think this topic fits in quite nicely...

When did you start to create and make craft?

I suppose as I child my crafty gene came both from mum and dad. When I was young money was pretty scarce, so creativity sort of came from the need to make the best of a situation. Mum was always on the sewing machine making clothes for my sister and I, and dad was crafty in a thrifty way, bringing home broken things he'd find on the street, repairing and painting, and dada! a new dolls pram or pair of roller skates.

My sister and I were always encouraged to draw, paint, make and pretend and were taught at an early age to sew, crochet, knit and stitch.

I was such a geek, i remember in primary school taking taking some cross stitch to do during recess.

Why did you start creating?

I found that as a child and teenager I created things just because i could. New dress for my doll, no problem. Can't afford a new outfit, just customise something from the op-shop. Which brings me to the vintage part. I have always loved old things, secondhand books with dedications or underlining, chiffon bridesmaid dresses from the 70's, buttons, ric rac, and , and, and...my meager checkout chick wages would be spent at the salvos buying woollen overcoats for $4 and disco lurex everything. Now that 'Vintage' is a fashion statement and good pieces of clothing are hard to find my interest has changed to textiles.

Why do you create?

Because i need to use my big stock pile of collected everything...for me a project is inspired by what i find.

Creating things with my thrifted finds gives me and excuse to keep thrfting...to me it's all about the thrill of the chase and the uncertainty of what i will find. Going to Spotlight with a materials list for a particular project just isn't my style. Am i a crafter in a traditional sense? Probably not, patterns and directions tend to annoy me and i usually make things up as i go along (with a few abandoned disasters along the way).

What do you create?

I re-discovered crafting and sewing after many years of focusing on a 'career' and feeling quite unsatisfied with what it had to offer. Mum was making bags for friends and i thought it would be fun to do craft markets together, eventually this turned to accessories for babies and...Cinti does Vintage was born (read about it here).

Has this changed since you began crafting?

Since opening My Poppet i have felt much freer in what i can design and make as i am not restricted by market committee approvals and needing to make large quantities of one particular item (which can get a bit repetitive and very uncreative!).

I have now started making and modifying children's clothing and making toys. My list of ideas are endless. Now to find the time...

Hope I've answered your questions and rather than me tagging 5 bloggers like I'm supposed to, i encourage all you crafters out there to have a think about why you do what you do, and post some answers when you have some time.

Good day to you all!

All things Vintage...

This week the theme of my posts will be related to all things vintage. It's a topic I quite enjoy, so don't be surprised if i post more than once a day (time permitting)!

Now that all of my tax commitments are over with, (Yay! I promise not to mention that dreaded three letter word again) I'm feeling that November has promise of being quite a creative month.

I've already been busy on my sewing machine whipping up a few really fun boys t-shirts and singlets with vintage fabric applique. The ties are my favorite, made with genuine vintage ties from my collection. I don't know why i like old ties, i suppose i can't resist all those cool retro patterns, especially on those really fat 70's ones.

I once wanted a skirt made from stitched together ties, but i never have time to make anything for myself!

These giraffes are also super cute

Does anyone use Polaroids anymore when you can create your own here.

Take care in the sun this summer!

Sun protection is something I am really passionate about so I am really excited to be able to offer a great new Australian made range of stylish swimwear for kids.
Designed by Veronique, a French/Australian mum who was driven to action after having a pre-cancerous skin lesion removed from her shoulder. She sourced the best quality fabric available with the highest sun protection factor to protect young vulnerable skin. Her designs are really fun and stylish…no fluro to be seen, now that’s got to be good. Veronique also tells me her baby sizes can easily be worn over Huggies Swimmer nappies.
All Wikipop swimsuits are made in Australia using the best quality Lycra® fabric which conforms to the Australian & New Zealand standards for UV sun protection UPF 50+. High sun protection swimwear is really important as we have one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Exposure to the sun in childhood significantly increases the risk of developing skin disorders in later life. If you would like more information on skin care for children please visit the sun smart website .
The styles pictured are in stock now and I also have the catalogue available with the different ranges which can be ordered in.

PS. I completed my BAS statement this morning YAY! Feels good to cross another job off the list - well done me!

Just hanging around...

I was just hanging around the shop today (pretty quiet coz it's raining!) when to my delight I had a visit from Pei Pei, a fellow fabric addict and brilliant softie 'designer' (he he he!).
She brought a couple of her lovely bunnies in to decorate the store with, as you can see by the picture they both enjoy just hanging about as well. Now we can all just hang about together...
Being the experienced blogger that she is, I took advantage and picked her brain to solve all those blogging riddles that have confounded me until now.
Thanks to Pei Pei i can now do this pretty cool huh?
and this

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although I'll have to refrain from striking though everything just because i now can. Thanks for those tips, will come in handy for sure!

Living in Siberia...

Where have I been for 10 days? Not really in Siberia but it felt like it because I exceeded my download limit this month (oops!) and was totally isolated from all you lovely bloggers out there. I was so lonely. So now I'm back, but my BA (blogaholics anonymous) sponsor advises me to take it slowly or I risk relapsing into dial-up speed hell again!


At least I was entertained by the spectacular and death defying trapeze spectacular that Sakaya the Shmerpi performs in my window - he is so talented and so very brave - no net!!!

What I did on the weekend...

I decided that filling out my BAS statement was way too boring a job for a Sunday afternoon. (Hi to our friends out there from the ATO by the way, I promise I'll get to it this week...probably...) So anyway, it's amazing how creative I feel when I really have much more serious issues at hand. I like to call this phenomenon 'Productive Procrastination'. It differs from my run of the mill type of procrastination (see prev. post) in that my house ends up a lot cleaner...amazing how the prospect of defrosting the freezer holds much more appeal than filling out my tax return. At least my fridge gets cleaned once a year!

So I suppose I'll have to thank the ATO (Australian Taxation Office!!!) for partly inspiring these little guys

They were made from unwanted knitwear that I felted in my washing machine. I have been collecting it for a while waiting for the perfect project to come along. I also made a stripey bear but he went to a new home before I could take the photo.

I really love recycling materials, it gives me a real buzz to think that I have reduced waste and created something special in the process.

Lots happening!

Bit the bullet a few days ago and decided to officially advertise the business. Scraped my pennies together (lots and lots of them!) and placed the tiniest ad in November's Melbourne Child-couldn't afford anything bigger unfortunately. So now when November comes round you can all get your magnifying glasses out and play 'Spot Cinti's ad', sure to be hours of fun!

Hint: looks like this-->

I can't take credit for the fabulous graphic artwork, my web designer extraordinaire, CC, deserves full marks and a big hug when I actually meet her in the flesh! The fawn was my idea inspired by this little beauty, and also this cute t-shirt in-store.Well that was going to be the end of my post today until the mailman arrived with these little goodies...I remember having some very similar blocks as a little girl, and I absolutely adored them.

These are the 6 designs made up by each side of the cubes. So retro...I'm in love.

How old does something have to be before it's considered vintage? These blocks were made in Czechoslovakia, which dates them back to at least pre-1993! And the box is printed in English and French, tres chic!

Lists...

I have long known, that the one thing i am really good at doing is procrastinating. The majority of my time at school and uni was spent putting study/work/assignments off, writing lists of jobs to be done, then watching copious amounts of television. Then most semesters ended in a mad rush of all night study sessions and lots of tea! (I don't drink coffee)
Nothing has changed. Now I sit in the shop, mainly just blog surfing and writing lists of things that need doing.
1. Write a press release (boring!)
2. Pay lots of bills (double boring!)
Unfortunately the deadlines i seem to set myself have so far been very flexible...no chance that press release will be written any time soon then?

Next really important job on my list - Complete Sudoku or should I say Jew-do-ku from the Australian Jewish News i received in the mail today - genius! Print this one out and have a go.

Must promote some product now I suppose...
More great stuff from Fiona at Monstar. These sun dressed are made with hand screen printed fabric, printed by Fiona herself. I have one in each size available in sizes 1/2/3/4. And yes, I can post.


And because I don't show off my own work enough, I have thrown in a picture of a 'Cinti does Vintage' bib and matching bassinet quilt for good measure.

Time for some Jew-do-ku people!

Need a recharge...

My energy levels are low. Seems like the endorphin rush that kept me motivated and excited during the exhausting process of opening My Poppet has finally worn off. Don't even feel like taking a photo today...chocolate probably won't help but I'll have a piece anyway.

And why is my flickr badge not working? grrrr!!

Do you ship?

I've had a few requests lately, from people that don't live in Melbourne, to sell products on-line and ship.

I'm not keen on setting up an on-line store but would like to offer some special ranges to customers further afield.

I was thinking of offering a limited number of one great product a week for sale on the blog.

Would love to hear any ideas/feedback from you guys out there, especially if you have tried something like this on your own blog. I need to sort out the payment/logistic side properly so I can offer the same great service that I offer in store.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated - it's brainstorming time people!

Where's the Union rep?

I've just realised that I'm the stingiest employer I've ever had! I'm expected to do every thing around here and for what? I don't even get real lamingtons for morning tea...must speak to the union rep. Oh! Me again, well that's just dandy! Better keep my mouth shut or I'll have myself wearing those horrible fluro vests that do nothing for my complexion!

Luckily I was cheered up yesterday by a visit from Jo, the talent behind Violet and Rose. She has been very busy crafting a plethora of goodies for My Poppet with some delicious fabric combinations and a sprinkling of vintage buttons.


These pencil rolls take me back to my childhood when I would spend hours sharpening my coloured pencils and arranging them in 'special order'.

Am also loving these button bracelets for little girls, designed to co-ordinate with any outfit. Clever!
And finally a shout out to mum who has whipped up these little numbers with some vintage fabric we had lying around. Size 0-3 available, absolutely limited edition as there is no more of this gorgeous Hibiscus fabric left.