designerlicious

The Stitches and Craft show is on again in Brisbane. (One of my favourite craft shopping events).

And you only have a few days left* to grab a copy of “Real Living” magazine and score yourself a coupon for 2 for 1 entry. Considering entry is $16 per person, this means a huge saving. If you grab your closest crafting buddy to split the cost, you can spend the dollars you save on more crafting supplies! (heaven forbid)

*(the new April issue of Real Living magazine is due out at newsagents approx March 3rd, and Im not sure they will have the same offer again)

The same offer is valid for Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide Shows as well.

A little while ago I became a prefect for the Brisbane chapter of Brown Owls, a crafting group and the brain child of Pip from Meet Me at Mikes.

So today, after a lot of busy organizing behind the scenes by myself and the other three wonderful prefects

Rebecca, Belinda and Emily we had our first Brown Owls meet.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect (being that I had never met any of the other members before) but i ended up having a great time!

Turn out was pretty good (approx 15 members) and the atmosphere was friendly and chatty.

Bel baked some delicious cupcakes for the whole group….yes, those are icing owls on top (genius!)

Bel and Em, two of the other prefects hard at work.

A lot of the girls chose to make my badge kits at the meet, and I felt like such a proud mother! It was great seeing how everyone personalized their badges and I was jealous of how skilled some of these ladies were with a needle and thread.

One of my problems with crafting and finding time to make things is that none of my friends are really into it. The meet today made me realise exactly just what I was missing by hiding away in my craft room alone.
Wonderfully talented people to inspire, and share your joy with, to help you when you hit a crafting snag (yes the letters do have to be written backwards when you transfer on an embroidery pattern) :p , and just to have a good old fashioned giggle with.
I had heaps of fun today and hopefully I will make some great friends from the whole experience.

After ages and ages of toying with the idea I finally opened my own little shop.

Making cute gifts for family and friends is always rewarding, so I love the idea of being able to share this with other people.

My first little project has been to create some little badge making kits for my Brown Owls craft group here in Brisbane.

My little blue bird kit is only $4, so pretty much just covers materials costs, but I have found the whole process so rewarding, that I am happy to make them. I am excited to package all the kits and at the same time nervous thinking about handing out the purchases on Sunday and hoping everyone who bought one will love them as much as I do.

My other little kit is the cream or brown owl badge kit for $6. Making the prototype was quite an effort and made me decide to substitute the cream knit fabric in the kit (which frayed terribly and was difficult to sew through) with a more user friendly felt.

Hopefully the feedback is all positive…fingers crossed!

You know when you really really want something to the point where you have abstract dreams about it?

Well that is how I felt about wanting to win one of these absolutely droolworthy packages from Décor 8. (Decor8 is a blog about gorgeous design things that I read religiously every day)

Unfortunately it was not to be, and given my poor luck with winning things lately I was wondering when the dry-spell would end.

Then out of the blue, I get a phone call … I had won the major prize for the Saturday in design competition!!!

http://www.saturdayindesign.com.au/major-prize-draw

I had completely forgotten about entering

(S.I.D was only 1 week away and I had already booked my flights and accommodation)

So instead, courtesy of indesign group, my work colleague and I received a very nice hotel upgrade….from our fleabag motel, to the best room at the Adelphi Hotel, Melbourne.

www.adelphi.com.au

Can you say BOOYA!

Thank you Kylie Turner and In Design!!

Anyway, below are some images taken inside the suite.

The Adelphi was designed by internationally renowned Architects Denton Corker Marshall and opened in 1992.

Awards -

• 1993 - RAIA National President’s Award for the Adelphi Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria.
• 1993 - RAIA Victorian Chapter Merit Award (Interiors) for the Adelphi Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria.

Given these awards, and the fact it is a part of the “hip hotel” fraternity, I was a little disappointed with the design overall. I guess as a designer my expectations are already set at a high level and all the hype surrounding the hotel wasn’t helping.

There were a few elements that were noteworthy….the cute stainless steel corner bar, the absolutely huge bathroom with meters of wall mirror (a girl’s best friend) and a cute and very handy clock that projected the time onto the ceiling; but the cold sparseness of the rooms and the fact that the furniture was showing signs of wear and tear didn’t really appeal to me.

From the perspective of a hotel guest the service was good. We were treated to breakfast both days which was made from orgainc produce and quite yummy, and they were more than happy to open up the pool deck for my crazy friend who decided that she wasn’t going to leave Melbourne without swimming in the Adelphi’s notorious cantilever swimming pool…even though it was about 6ºC and the middle of winter.

Glass Bottom Pool

CHEERS FROM MELBOURNE!!

Welcome to Designerlicious!!

This is my design blog showcasing Australian design and anything else i find inspiring or feel the sudden urge to write about.

Im always on the lookout for new products from all aspects of design (interior, graphic, 3D, fashion ect) so feel free to drop me a line if you think you have something i might be interested in.

I hope you like my new layout, though please bear with me as some of the kinks in the site are ironed out.

*A big thankyou to Rhiannon for all her help so far ;)*

Enjoy

Abbey