Crochet, coffee and pegboard

Crochet, coffee and pegboard, originally uploaded by painter girl.

Had the best, most girly-fied, cozy weekend ever.

A powerhouse of who's-who of Melbourne ladies met up for a housewamring at Lupita Lopez's new pad. It was great to be in a room where everyone was an equal great! So much mutual admiration and laughing - it was crazy.

Visited the super coffee shoppe of coffee shops on Sunday - the very amazing Seven Seeds - which is the new mothership to Brother Buba Budan. Ten things I like about Seven Seeds:

1. Pegboard detailing - I think I have a pegboard fetish yo - this made me so happy;
2. Big loopy knitted red lamp covers - super crafty;
3. Perfectly simple food menu - we had avocado and feta on toast sprinkled with crumnchy seeds - swoon;
4. Spaciousness and room to swing a cat;
5. Table service;
6. Atrium with coffee trees;
7. Lots of natural light;
8. Perfect tunes;
9. Talor - the most spunky barista girl ever;
10. And of course the most sublime coffee to touch these lips. No question, the coffee here is second to none. A heartfelt drop.

* Granny squaring is going stronger than ever!

Knitting Nancy Love Attack!

work-seeker, originally uploaded by virginhoney.

I had a Knitting Nancy a bit like the one second from the left when I was a kid. As a crafty girl now, I would love to be able to say I loved my Knitting Nancy, but to be honest I kinda found it boring. It just made long skinny tubes of woolly snakes - and after that I was always at a loss as to what to what to do with it.

I did dig the wooden doll herself - even though her function was to poop woolly snakes.

Best Knitting Nancy I ever saw was at Monash University Gallery about 10+ years ago which was a larger than life size doll that knitted with metres of rope. Nice.

BFF

Bongomama aka Hot Tamale!, originally uploaded by painter girl.

I haven't blogged in an eternity! I'm still here. And the Kuties are about to fire up with some winter action - so email me if you want to join the mailing list and be the first to line up for new sessions.

As a tribute to some of the amazing girls who are part of the Kuties - this return to blogging is dedicated to my best ever friend Ms Bongoqueen aka Ms Hot Tamale ... who is living proof that Nerds are Hot.

Paperchase gift from Magic Jelly

Paperchase gift from Magic Jelly, originally uploaded by painter girl.

Hey last year Magic Jelly started an inspiring and very good project called PAPERCHASE. She did a call out for peeps to send her vintage paper with which she could craft artworks. In thanks the promise was to make everyone a collage! Here's mine! So chuffed! x

Obey Kitten

Some non-serious, non-fundraising, non-krafty bloggin. This hilarious take on Shepard Fairey is a step up from obamiconme ... it is a lame joke that kittens must be obeyed I guess, but I'm just chuffed that the good ol' Russian Blue gets a look in.

Art Fights Fire - Who Won?!

Someone lucky won a Ghostpatrol framed original drawing

And there was a pair of paintings by me (Gemma) up for grabs

Martin was the Barrel Boy (and there was some head scratching too)

Patient anticipation - it was a hot night!

A lucky sod won this Audrey Kawasaki print donated by Outré Gallery...

Last night saw the live draw for our big raffle ART FIGHTS FIRE.
This all happened at Outré Gallery - and it was one busy, overwhelming and amazing night.

Before I launch into the list of winners ... I want to send out a massive, heartfelt thanks to:

• All the artists that donated work
• Outré Gallery for the time and space - my amazing work mates
  
• Everyone who bought a raffle ticket
• The stores that sold tickets - Arthur's Circus, Meet Me at Mikes, Metropolis Books, Bloom
• Everyone who baked cupcakes
• Everyone who blogged about the event and helped spread the word
• Frankie Magazine
• Fat Yak Beer
• Pip, Cam, Kirsty and Peta for help on the night beyond the call of duty

We are yet to do a final count of the funds raised, but it looks like we exceeded the $10,000 goal! Meaning, we sold more than 1000 tickets! Thanks to Lucy from the Design Files for putting me up to the challenge of reaching this goal!
Here's to re-building and repair. I hope our collective effort can help in some small way toward making things better for the situation for bushfire hit folks.

DRUM ROLL ... Here are the winners!
I've been totally snowed under, so I'm sorry that I haven't contacted peeps individually as yet - nevertheless ... here are the lucky ticket holders:

KATRINA LOUGHEED
won an original artwork by Ali J

DAVID LANCASTER
won "Marie" giclee print by Angelique Houtkamp

NADIA BARBARO
won "Love/Hate" print by Angelique Houtkamp

CHRISTIE FOWLER
won "Sapphira" by Angelique Houtkamp

PETER MALONEY
won "Camille" by Angelique Houtkamp

MARK DORSET
won "Petronella" by Angelique Houtkamp
and a set of Ian McCausland prints

ROSEMARY WALTON
won an original painting on wooden board by APAK

LAURA FITZGERALD
won "Overlap" giclee print by Audrey Kawasaki

FIONA NIXON
won a framed Bec Winnel drawing

RICHARD CLOUGH
won "You Let the Light In" giclee print by Beci Orpin

JEN LIVINGSTON
won an original airbrush painting by Didik Tamtoro

KIRSTY FLETCHER
won a Bear Trap necklace by This Charming Man, Ed Janssen

ANGELA WHITE
won an original artwork by Eveline Tarunadjaja

LEITH BOOKER
won a pair of original paintings by Gemma Jones

LISA DEMA
won an original framed Ghostpatrol drawing
and a set of Gina Garan photographs

KELVIN
won a set of Ghostpatrol prints
and a Kate Banazi silkscreen print

NINA BLYTH
won a limited edition giclee print by Hybryd

MELISSA BEEL
won a set of porcelain figures by Iggy and LouLou, Irene Grishin-Selzer

LOREDANA DUCCO
won a Jenny Hart embroidered artwork
and a silkscreen print by Kate Banazi

YAN YAN TEOH
won a handmade teddy bear by Jess from Teddybears Wednesday
and a subscription to Frankie Magazine

EMMA ANSELL
won a Kate Banazi silkscreen print

SAM WILSON
won a set of three Kelly Smith prints

ELSA & ALASTAIR
won a crafty pack including a handmade handbag by Kirsty from Kootoyoo, a babywrap by Konstant Kaos and a softie by Udder

RIC CRADDOCK
won a large giclee print "Winter Bunnies" by kozyndan

WES CHAMPION
won "Sleepwalker" giclee by kozyndan

ELSA WEBB
won an original painting by Lab Partners

KERIN BRYANT
won a limited edition print by Madeleine Stamer

ANNA M DANIEL
won an original artwork by Magic Jelly

CAL TOD
won a print by Marcela Restrepo

BECCA CROOK
won an original framed photograph by Natalie Jeffcott

TEGAN HOPKINS
won a vintage framed piece of nostaglia from Arthur's Circus

ANDREA MEDWIN
won a vintage framed piece of nostaglia from Arthur's Circus

RICK LISTON
won a limited edition print by Neryl Walker

SAM JAMIESON
won an original framed artwork by Nick Edwards

NIA KALIVAS
won an original artwork by Nick Jones

DIANA KORNDORFFER
won a cross-stitch artwork by Radical Cross Stitch
and a Frankie Magazine subscription

JHOANNA ARANEZ
won an original painting by Rebecca Murphy

NARELLE SULLIVAN
won a limited edition print by Shag

SHANE
won "Wu Man" by the late Vali Myers

* If you are winner, and you live in Melbourne (or you have a friend in Melbourne), please drop into Outré Gallery to collect your prize! Otherwise, email me and we can make arrangements for delivery. Winners need to pay for delivery to ensure that all the proceeds from the raffle go the cause.

Thank you to Pip for the great photographs!

Art Fights Fire - The Draw is Tomorrow

original painting from Lab Partners
one of the prizes in Art Fights Fire

Tomorrow is the live raffle draw for Art Fights Fire.

I even have a tried and tested barrel for the draw.

Hope to see any Melbourne peeps at the event from 6:30pm. The actual draw is unlikely to start before 7:15pm tho - so there will be plenty of time to settle in and buy a ticket if you are without.

If you bought a ticket online in the last 36hours - your tickets will be in the draw, but you won't receive your side of the ticket before the draw. Sorry! I'm a one-girl machine here! But fear not, your chances are all good!

If you're not at the draw tomorrow and you win something, I'll be emailing or telephoning you with the news. I'll also be posting the results of the win here ...

Thanks to everyone's support all round x x x x x

Art Fights Fire - Still Time to Buy A Ticket to Win

hand-made original collage on wood by Magic Jelly
one of the ace prizes in our Art Fight Fire Raffle

There is still time to buy raffle tickets for the amazing draw for Art Fights Fire this Wednesday. There are over 30 unreal art prizes up for grabs that have been kindly donated by GOOD artists from all over the world.

You can buy tickets with a click - over there to the upper left! I'll post your tickets out to you, but even if you don't receive them by Wednesday - we have records of all the ticket numbers, so we'll let you know if you are a winner.

We'd love to see you at Outré on Wednesday evening for the draw:

Wednesday 25th Feb, 2009 - from 6:30pm
Entry with a $10 raffle ticket - available on the door

Outré Gallery 249 Elizabeth Street Melbourne VIC 3000 between Little Bourke and Lonsdale

Beer, cupcakes and music.
Kids welcome.

I'm aiming to raise $10,000 for the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. Please help make this happen. Every ten bucks counts.

limited edition giclee print by Neryl Walker
another one of the ace prizes in our Art Fight Fire Raffle

Art Fights Fire - Online sales and Cupcake Call-Out

Raffle Tickets - gocco printed by hand by moi

Ticket sales for Art Fights Fire are flowing. We've now got over 30 awesome donations from the artists listed to the left - some works are valued at over $500 - most works valued around $300. AND, your odds of winning a f-ing fantastic.

Some FAQ stuff:
* If you bought online, I will post your tickets out to you.
* If you aren't at the Outré draw on the 25th, we'll email or telephone you if you win.
* Kick off on the 25th at Outré is 6:30pm
* All works are being offered up as part of the raffle now.

Please encourage your friends and family to buy tickets - we are gunning to raise $10,000 for the bushfire appeal - and it would be great to see value put on all the artworks that have been freely given by artists near and far.

Cupcake Call-Out
If you are a baking type, you're invited to bake some CUPCAKES to add to the festivities at Outré on the 25th. We have delicious beer from FAT YAK, and a tasty homemade cupcake would sit nice allround! Yo! (vegan and gluten free are welcome!)

Art Fights Fire - PayPal Ticket Purchase available now!

3 x Limited Edition Grizzly Bears In Honey (Signed and Numbered)
(Quartz Porcelain Figurines with 24crt Gold Lustre)
by Irene Grishin-Selzer, Iggy and LouLou
value: $550 for 3
part of the Art Fights Fire Raffle

Today is the first official day of ticket sales! Thanks to everyone for their fast buying.
You can also buy tickets here on the Kuties' website via PayPal. Check it out across to the top left! Ticket cost is AU$10 each. There is a $1 additional cost to cover postage and the PayPal fee.

If you buy 10 tickets via PayPal - I will throw in an extra ticket (so you get 11 for $110).

Thanks to Sach for helping me with the PayPal coding - yay, it works!

Tickets are also available at Meet Me at Mikes, Arthur's Circus, Metropolis Books and Outré. (See below for addresses of these outlets)

* And also at Bloom, 574 Chapel Street, South Yarra

(If you've sent me an email in the last few days - I'm a little snowed under, but I'll reply in the next day x x x x x)

Art Fights Fire - over 20 prizes and delicious beer too

"You Let The Light In" by Beci Orpin

one of the prizes for Art Fights Fire

Check out the side bar to the left there - ahem! That is a hell of a lot of generous artists and crafters who have donated to Art Fights Fire. Stage Two: sellling raffle tickets! We really need people to buy tickets! They are only $10 each. Why don't you buy a book of ten from us for $100? Share some of the love with your family or housemates or work pals?

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Monday 16 Feb, 2009). There will be a PayPal button on the blog then - and the stockists listed below will have tickets too.

Happy to accept phone calls if you have any questions: 0414 695 001

Thanks to Fat Yak Pale Ale for their awesome donation of beer for the night of the draw! Yum!

Art Fights Fire - Where to Buy Tickets

"Pink Birds" by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching
available as part of our Art Fights Fire Raffle

Raffle tickets for "Art Fights Fire Fundraiser" will be on sale this coming MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY.

They will be available for $10 each over the counter from the following super ace stores:

Outré Gallery

249
 Elizabeth
 St

Melbourne


Meet Me At Mikes

63 
Brunswick 
St
Fitzroy



 
 
 

Arthur’s Circus

631 
Queensberry 
St

North
 Melbourne



 
 

Metropolis Books
Curtin 
House

Swanston
 St

Melbourne

We will also have a PayPal option here on the blog.

Please spread the word near and far. This is a really positive way to address the terribly grim fire situation in Victoria - and add to your art collection too.

Any questions - please email me directly at: gemjones (at) alphalink.com.au