Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and New Year, 2008

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog and leaving comments throughout the year, its been a real pleasure learning how to make the most of a blog and posting films and images>

I especially love sharing my tea cosies with you and am hoping to have a bit of holiday-ish quiet time to make some more to start the new year's blog with...
The Teacosy* Revolution is making progress, slowly slowly, and surely....

To close the year I want to share a most sublime song with you from the band Beirut, called Postacards from Italy...so summery and full of play, which I wish for you all, and a safe and healthy and fun festive season full of pots of nourishing tea, favourite tea cosies and friends and loving family.

Don't forget to check out the tea cosy giveaway winner in the below post, and thank you so so much everyone, for your fantastic quotes and film scenes relating to tea...
I wanted to give everyone a tea cosy for their shared treasures!!
There will be another giveaway before mid-2009, so stay tuned for this offer too!

Bonne fete and Happy New Year!

AND THE WINNER IS.......

Sorry that I didn't get to post the winning name yesterday, I was overwhelmed with work and making sure I got everything done in time, before Christmas day...

I also didn't get the chance to ask Peter to draw the winning name, so I've put all the names into a tea cosy and asked my partner, Rainier, to draw out a name...

Which is......

Drum roll please and no peeking.......







CONGRATULATIONS Brigette!
I'll email you to organise getting the cosy to you soon.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: Teacosy* Number 8; Sugarpink Colonial Cosy, 2008

I am holding a random lucky draw for this tea cosy as a special event!

Je fais un prix de cet couvre-theiere, comme une 'donation chanceuse' de Noel!

If you are interested in putting your name into the draw, please leave me a comment here in answer to this question:
Si ca vous interesse, laissez-moi ici votre reponse du question suivant:

What is your favourite tea cosy/tea drinking/tea party scene or paragraph in a film or novel?
C'est quoi votre souvenir de preference au sujet des cache-pots dans un film ou un roman?

I will then put everyone's names in a tea cosy on Monday the 22nd December and ask the Curator of Decorative Arts at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Mr Peter Hughes, to draw out the winning name.
If you re-check this blog again on that Monday night, there will be the winner's name posted.
Ce lundi le 22 Decembre, je vais mettre tout vos noms dans un cache-pot en attente de la main de M. Peter Hughes (Directeur des collection des Arts Decoratifs au Musee des Beaux Arts de Tasmanie), qui va tiens un nom gagnant. Epuis je vais ecrire le nom ici le lundi soir, donc si vous reviennez voir ce blog, vous le sauriez!

Tea cosy dimensions: (interior measurements) 31cm x 24cm. So will fit a two or three-cup tea pot.
Dimensions du cache-pot: (d'interieur) 31cm x 24cm. Ce cache-pot marche avec un theiere du 2 ou 3 tasses.







Hand embroidery on silk, cotton velvet, transfer print on silk, antique needle lace, wool, hand printed linen lining by Aunty Cookie, vintage brass bits, printed hemp by Pippijoe of Melbourne.

Brodee a la main sur la soie, velours du coton, homme inprime sur la soie, dentelle vielle, laine, lin imprime par Aunty Cookie, cuivre jaune vieux, chanvre imprime par Pippijoe de Melbourne.

London Transport tea cosy

My sister gave me this tea cosy on the weekend.
She found it at the Queensland Art Gallery when she was there in the winter.
Thank you Renee!

[Titlepage.]

[Titlepage.]
Originally uploaded by New York Public Library

Please read the following two posts, especially the third one.

Cystoseira granulata.

Cystoseira granulata.
Originally uploaded by New York Public Library

Another page from the album, I've written more on the below post.

Cystoseira fibrosa.

Cystoseira fibrosa.
Originally uploaded by New York Public Library

I found this on flickr today while I was getting ready to upload new tea cosy photos.

This album is a beautiful collection of British sea weeds (Algae), and has so much embroidering potential, not to mention how important it is as the first photographic published work by a woman.

Follow the links to view more information and see the rest of the album, its a beautiful thing!

What relation does this have to The Teacosy* Revolution?
I know....though what do you think??

Profoundly Inspiring...

One of the most inspiring artists and his work I've ever encountered (in Paris).

Arthur Bispo do Rossario had a fascinating life and his textile artwork is totally mind-blowing. I've attached an image of one of my favourite pieces of his. It keeps me inspired when Im embroidering...in the way that embroidery can be so much more than just decoration and prettiness, it can have such a deep social and socio-political resonance and affect others for years, centuries, millennia!

On the trail of some family history...

So I went looking online for some information about my Grandfather, Clayvel 'Jack' Badcock, just to see what sort of a write-up he's got.
There's a great image of him on a 1930's cigarette card...



Its got me thinking a lot about the whole Australian obsession with sport(s) and how different, and in fact 'opposite' French culture is with its grand tradition of Art, Intellectualism and Beautiful Objects!
Australians seem to feel more comfortable with the humility and humble state of the human condition, always seemingly aiming for homogeny and the safety of mainstream popular culture. Why are we such an insecure culture? Why always a trend towards wanting to be someone else, or deriding our own points of origin...?

I think also it's the fact that I'm in Melbourne at the moment and it's a city which always makes me aware of the power of conservatism, even in the most multicultural of metropolitan environments! I keep seeing pairs or groups of people, men, women, kids...all dressed as each other, matching! Is life so very frightening that people here feel that safety is in wearing black, or copying Paris Hilton's latest Long-cardigan-and-slim-jeans-and-long-leather-boots-with-a-floppy-cap-and-big-shoulder-bag look?!

This brings me back to the floppy cap...the Baggy Green cricket cap my Grandfather is wearing in another of his Cigarette Card portraits (not included here). Its an iconic garment/accessory and its function is more symbolic than physical. I think of the two my Grandfather had, my cousin has one and the other is in the National Cricket Museum, if such a thing exists...I cannot remember where it is.

I have his travelling trunk from the 1938 World Tour to England via Europe and Egypt. If anyone is interested, my Grandfather made a silent film of the whole trip which is in the National Film Archives and has been put on video. Its a really fascinating documented event...and my Grandfather being the sparky provocateur he was, has spliced in shorts of the local Cataract Gorge in Launceston when it was in flood...right in the middle of the Swiss Alps!!

So I think what I'm really pondering here is how and where do I fit in to all of this...and how can it benefit the Teacosy* Revolution?!

There are aspects of my Grandfather's story that inspire me and that I wish to adopt and assimilate into the Revolution in order to keep a sense of diversity and inclusiveness, especially where sport is concerned...and yet it must not dominate the Revolution (the sport, that is!)...I will weave together a magic combination of Australian and French cultural sensibilities to create my ever growing Teacosy* Revolution Manifesto...which I really want some time to work on and get finished...life can be quite frustrating like this sometimes!

So we raise our tea cups to all the women and men in sport, and especially cricket, as they break for tea, mid-match, and enjoy the socio-cultural patina of an iconic pastime...Here's to you, Gamp*!

*Gamp was the name his first Grandchild gave Cleyvel 'Jack' Badcock, of Exton, Tasmania in the late 1960's!

"A Cup O' Tea an' A Slice O' Cake" Song from Worzel Gummage

Oh, my childhood favourite television show...I didn't know they did this song!

Message to World Leaders

Courtesy of The Age newspaper, this Karmarama advertising strategy came out in 2006 when the U.k were putting more troops into Iraq to support the US in their ridiculous and dangerous 'War on Terror'...the only terrifying thing in my mind is the ignorance, greed and stupidity of US businessmen and 'leaders'!

And its SO good that Obama is now going to be President...at last some brains in the 'top job'! The Teacosy* Revolution wishes President Obama the very, very best in his daunting mission to turn the US around, and will send President Obama a celebratory Tea Cosy, to help him get through long days of policy review and implementation!

Jasmin Tea Ball- Fleure d'Orient

I used one of my precious Mariage Freres jasmine tea balls the other day, I wanted to enjoy the magic of the flowering tea ball in the lovely big Russian tea cup my Swiss friend gave me last (European) summer!

The tea is lovely and fine with a delicate flavour...and the most pleasure is of course the enhanced magic of the flower bobbing around in the cup!
(Photos in reverse order, start with the lowest one, then follow it up!)

A call for conributions: Help the Fabric of Resistance!

I just found this site for The Fabric of Resistance, which is probably naughty of me to post again here, though its just so exciting and inspiring to have found it, that it must be shared!
And if you know of anyone, or even yourself, who has participated in some form of resistance action or protest, in relation to this project, please follow the link to contribute your story.

The following image and text are from the Fabric of Resistance project site:
(Image is of Handkerchief embroidered by Janie Terrano in Holloway Prison 1912.)


We can best help you prevent war not by repeating your words and following your methods but by finding new words and creating new methods - Virginia Woolf

"Welcome to the Fabric of Resistance!

One of the things that has becomes very clear in doing and talking to other people about radical craft is that political and radical craft is far from a new idea. What is also clear is that this amazing herstory is way too absent from history books. It seems that even feminist political action herstory books marginalise the art and creative responses to political issues.

So we have started this wiki as a public archive of profiles of activists who use(d) craft as a way of communicating their ideas, resistance and vision. And at some point in the future, all these stories will be collated into a book.

This wiki is a constant work in progress. So this is a call out is for the stories of women and men you know in your community who use craft as a form of resistance.

Please add your stories, preferably with images. We want to know names, dates and issues. But we're especially interested in the stories behind the work. Tell us about the design processes as well as the creation process. If you want help with questions to ask people let us know.

And please don’t hold back because you think some information you have is not significant enough. Even if you just remember someone’s name from some protest back in the day, add it in because it might be a good lead for some else to follow up on.

Finally, please pass this information on to people you know who might want to help collect these stories. We need this call out to go as far and wide as possible.

Love and rage and solidarity"

Looking for direction...

Voila, une femme Francaise...Mme Chanel, talking about how she works...

Weekly Times Australian Tea Cosy Pattern

An Australian Crocheted Classic!
This pattern is from the Weekly Times Farmer's Handbook, Sixth Revised Edition 1978.
I have to check with them that its alright to publish these images here...wooops!

I'll make sure its fine and then the usual offer is in place: if you would like a copy of this pattern sent to you, then please leave me a comment here and I will answer with a request for your contact details (which are then disclosed to no other person or organisation)...and I wish you happy crocheting!!

My aim is to be able to follow a crochet or knitting pattern one day! My brain is too active and I constantly move on to something different and come back to projects in circles until they are completed! It keeps me entertained and thats the main thing!!

I just had to reconnect with my preferred tea drinking rituals...

My Teacosy Revolution has a lot to live up to...it MUST deliver...!

Spring in Tasmania...

I found this lovely sewing magazine in Troyes, France, during my last trip. It was published in March 1952, and the title, 'Mon Ouvrage', translates as 'My Work'.
I was hoping I'd discover a French tea cosy pattern inside, though I wasn't that fortunate...it has mostly clothing and table linen and Broderie Anglaise patterns, which are lovely, though not as exciting for me as a tea cosy!

The previous owner has traced over the cover design to get an embroidery pattern, which is a nice touch!
Birds don't really feature on my tea cosies, as yet...I like these colours though, very 'Spring'...the question is now: How to make these colours look funky and contemporary and....Revolutionary!!??!!

To be continued in Tea Cosy format.....soon I hope...eeeek, so much work i want to do, not enough time....

Another favourite Tea Story...

A scene from the Toy Story animation...

Giving Darjeeling its 15 seconds of animation fame!

My favourite Tea Time invitation...

Swiss Tea Cosy pattern from the early 20th century

Here is an exciting example of a Swiss-German tea cosy pattern from the beginning of the 1900's. My fabulous Swiss friend Jackie found this magazine in a flea market in a small village not far from Zurich when she and her boyfriend were taking a cycling trip one weekend.

Its such a treasure of a find because it shows that not only the English and British Isles inhabitants were making tea cosies a hundred years ago...and the German (Swiss German), work for tea cosy is great: Teewarmeru, which actually sounds Japanese! My computer keyboard hasn't got a letter 'a' with two dots above it, so just picture the 'a' in Teewarmeru having two dots above it to give it a flat 'aaahhhh' sound.

Its a nice hand embroidered cosy too...I'll have to give it a go...and just a reminder that if anyone would like a copy of this pattern, free of charge, please email me, or leave a comment here, with your name and address and I'll post it off to you as soon as I can. I could try and get a translation done to go with it...I'll see how many people ask for this first!



This is the cover of the old sewing/needlework magazine...

Devonshire Tea at Neil Pitt's Menswear store

This is a regular thing I do with dear friends CatRabbit (Cat Badcock, a distant relation and craft superstar), and Alan Moyle (Photobat, fabulous Tasmanian photographer), at Neil Pitt's Menswear Store in Launceston, Tasmania. Devonshire Tea here costs $6.50 and the scones are homemade and the tea comes in little old embossed aluminium teapots, it's totally fabulous!!

Neil Pitt's occupies the old 'Majestic Theatre' in Brisbane St, Launceston and a few weeks ago we managed to ask for and receive a quick tour of the upstairs part, to discover the late 19th Century ceiling and lead-light fan lights intact above a false floor used for storage. It was a magical moment...and will probably lead to a photographic project for Alan, and emerge in my work and Cat's somehow too.

Antique Tea Cosies from my personal collection

I took advantage of my new white shelves to take this (slightly dodgy) photo of three antique Victorian/Edwardian silk tea cosies I've collected over the past five years, two have hand embroidery or ribbon work embroidery decorating them.

The red enamel teapot is a recent acquisition too, from a local junk shop...it makes a great cup of tea!

Swedish cosiness chez Julia and Patrick

I just wanted to include this great photo my friend Julia Adzuki sent me the other day, as she features in the little photo or her and I (just on the right of the screen), having our 'Iced Teaparty' at Ice Hotel in 2005 (northern Sweden).

She and her partner Patrick, who I met at Ice Hotel too, have a market stall selling crepes in Sweden (south, near Stockholm somewhere), from Patrick's vintage caravan...and they sell tea too!

I love this photo of two very talented friends living an idyllic artists' life...sigh!

Too cool for words, and just what the Revolution needs!!!

The Terrorist Teapot By Jackie Piper - Home Furnishings - Unica Home
http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=43299#height_491

Thanks to fabulous Dianna for this link and the following one too!

Ambroise Courtier Tray by ibride

Ambroise Courtier Tray by ibride
Originally uploaded by whorange

This famous French design studio creates the most divine tea trays...they did have tea sets too, though they must have worn out their stock?!

Their website is amazing too, such a pleasure to visit:

http://www.ibride.fr/ibride.htm

There's even a tray called 'Tara'!

And on the Tea Cosy front...

I've been a little neglectful of the actual tea cosy side of this tea cosy dedicated blog lately, and now that I'm at home in Tasmania and winter is starting to turn into spring (I cant tell you how grateful I am to my tea cosies during my working days, and indeed any day!), I'm processing all the fabulous sights and discoveries from my recent trip to Europe and waiting to see what sort of cosies are going to be born.

I'm really keen on the whole glamour of Paris Department stores and the aspirations of individuals, so I want to make some quite tailored cosies in "finest woole aynd silkes", very chic and restrained...to that point of erotic control which the French seem to achieve so well through dress and (city)lifestyle!

Oh and I have started an Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5898052
So I'll be uploading a tea cosy section soon too...

Its just a good way for me to reach a broader audience and I'm hoping it will help me hone my retail knowledge and skills and eventually find some good actual retail shops in the world for my work?! That's my current mission....alongside all my other 'current missions'...who said life is short?!!

Wishing you all very well with your daily tea drinking, and let me know if you need a new tea cosy? I'm happy to work to a tight budget, or do swaps....

So this is my most fabulous clothing creation from recent months, to give you an idea of where I'm taking my tea cosy designs...photo by the fabulously talented Alan Moyle (www.photobat.net), and my friend Anoushka Hughes is my model and lucky recipient of this hand embroidered pink silk camisole with real Macaw feathers (courtesy of my neighbours, Deb and Scott Wilson).
You can also see more info and images about this garment and the project it is part of, called Beautiful Empire, a collaboration with Monique Germon (www.moniquegermon.com), at our blog: www.beautifulempire.blogspot.com




Thanks for visiting!

Delightful!

I probably ought not to post info about another blog, and yet its such an amazingly fantastic blog full of treasures which I highly recommend perusing (in French: http://florizel.canalblog.com/), like this image:

Maps at Mariage Freres in Paris

This fantastic poster was also in Mariage Freres, and I love what it says for Tasmania...

Mariage Freres Salon du The in Paris...

These are some pics of the treasures that can be found in the Musee du The (Tea Museum...and please excuse the lack of correct French lettering...I haven't worked out how to do this on my blog yet!), upstairs in the Mariage Freres Tea shop in the Marais in Paris.

They serve tea in teapots which have their own felt-lined metal-casing cosies and so we dined on Mongolian Darjeeling and green tea cake with Earl Grey tea conserve...and it was....HEAVENLY!!

Tea things from Speyer, Germany 2008

This amazing lidded tea cup with ceramic inset and removable strainer I bought in Paris a few years ago for 5euros. This trip we recently made to Europe was also exciting because we found these lovely ceramic tea strainers and strainer-based cup in Speyer in Germany in a fantastic boo shop near the cathedral.

As I cannot speak German, the lovely woman selling me these items juggled a few slightly emnglish words with some sign language to tell me the strainer in the last pics with the four larger holes is for herbal teas (leafy things)!

They're just such lovely objects...I'm not really sure how to use the strainer-based cup though! Anyone have any ideas on this??

Amazing Tea Cosy Purse thing!

Wow! My gorgeous friend Gwena just emailed me these images of a purse-like tea cosy a friend of hers in New South Wales has and which kept the tea pot toasty warm during Gwena's last visit to her friends' place.

Its a really fascinating and eminently practical solution to the tea cosy design question...and I must admit its just the inspirational direction I've been looking for with my tea cosy works...somehow to inject some high glamour and historical/social narrative into my tea cosy form and designs!

So there are going to be some interesting and hopefully quite glamorous tea cosy handbag-purses parading forth from my studio during the coming (wintery Tasmanian) months! Oooooh, can't wait...and thank you so much for these images Gwena, you're a treasure!