The STORY story continues....

This is the second tea cosy I've made for my wonderful friend Monique Germon's new online store called STORY, which is planned to launch in early January. Its part of a collection of two tea cosies and four cushions, made-to-order (there are a couple of each piece in stock already).
This image shows the inside of this cosy which I've lined with delicious hand printed Pippijoe of Melbourne hemp fabric, called 'Buds'.

 A few details....hand embroidered text on vintage linen mangle cloth....

 Duchess silk satin 'finial' and binding...

 The teapot is stitched and appliqued hemp denim...

 The 'front' of the cosy, which is a made-to-order piece.
If you'd like to know when STORY is online and live, please sign up for emailed notification on the STORY website.

HIGH TEA exhibition at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre

With the help of my fabulous mother, Claire Badcock, my partner Rainier and my very well behaved and patient little 5 month old son Felix.....I have finally finished the five tea cosies for the exhibition at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre which opened tonight...

Voila, a few pics of the finished tea cosies and if you'd like to see more please check out this collection on my flickr site.

Antique Tea Tin find

Inspired by a lovely blog I read often, Dill & Parsley, and a post showing a beautiful old Australian tea tin found by the side of the road, I'm inspired to share photos of my old tea tin too (thanks PK!)

I found this lovely old tea tin in a local Antique Bookstore in Deloraine a while ago and kept meaning to post images of it here. It must be depicting the Boer War or something from the 1890's, given the style of dress worn by the wife who is waiting patiently and hopefully at 'home' for her dashing soldier husband to return.

There are no brand names or any other text on the tin, so no tea company to link it to...

Its currently keeping my other tea tins company!

WORLD HABITAT DAY is Today!

Yes, It's here again and I've been asked to post info about it, so hopefully we can all help in some way, whenever we can?
I'll just post the message I received as my lactating-mother-brain finds anything else a little complicated!!
I will post a video from the website here too.

"On Oct. 4, Habitat for Humanity will join efforts around the world to mark World Habitat Day - a day the United Nations has set aside to call attention to the dire need for affordable, adequate housing. I'm reaching out to ask if you and your readers would help raise awareness about the global need for decent housing by posting about it on The Teacosy Revolution. I've put together a microsite with facts, videos, photos, banners and even a way to submit your own photo to the World Habitat Day Photo Wall, so please feel free to repost any of it:

http://worldhabitatdaynews.org

If you are able to post about this, it would really help spread the message of the housing need around the world and ways to help improve many lives. Please let me know if you have any questions and if you are able to help. Thank you so much."

The Concise Dictoinary of Dress trailer...

Luscious viewing...

The Teacosy* Revolution prepares to show itself in Melbourne

The exhibition at the start of December and hosted by Bundoora Homestead Art Centre is called HIGH TEA and this cosy is one of five I'm making for the show.

This tea cosy is called Teacosy* Number 31; Partido de te Sagrado del Madonna (Death & the Maiden) Cosy, and I've applied Aluminium Epoxy paint to a collection of vintage doylies and lace to recreate the silver effect from the Mexican Religeous Icon which is the inspiration for this piece.



A detail showing the fabric pens I used on white leather to draw images I don't have time to embroider...




I'll post more information about the exhibition in a few more weeks.

It's Friday Afternoon and nearly Afternoon Tea time...

Lovely Finnish animation

Far From The Maddening Crowd....& back in my studio!

Yes, that's right....Felix is now 9.5 weeks old and a super baby who sleeps for 3 hour stretches and is glorious when he's awake....so when he sleeps I work (I know I ought to sleep/rest too, though I prefer to make the most of studio time while I can).

This post features a recent commission for my very dear friend and fabulously talented Monique Germon, who is launching an online store of beautiful handmade treasures, at the start of November this year....and lucky me, she wants my work too!

Her new business is called STORY and showcases a more mature, pared back and elegant aesthetic which is going to be really exciting for me to work with, a real change! Here are images of the STORY Flagship Cosy I've just finished for Monique, from the finished cosy back to its beginnings as a pile of fabrics...oh, and a photo of Felix and I taken yesterday (you can see Felix concentrating on the computer screen as the laptop's camera took the photo!).



And a detail...


Other side & detail...



The work in progress...



Laying out the cosy sides...


Choosing the fabrics...


The inspiration/reference images...




And this is us, Tara & Felix...

A bit of Willow Pattern fun...

I'm working on a set of new tea cosies and doing a bit more research about the history of the Willow Pattern and story behind the legend.

I thought I'd share these two films with you, I especially LOVE the first one, the children's drawings animated are really great!

Let me introduce you...

To our new little boy, Felix William Anatole Badcock-Howe, born on the 8th July just before tea time!



He lights up our lives every morning an is the most glorious child, we feel really blessed....and terribly in awe of what we've made together, Rainier & I!

Warmth & sunshine to you all! xxxxxx

Getting ready to go to hospital...

And I remembered I wanted to find some music I love to play during labour...this one is making me cry too much (all those hormones!!), and I've always loved this video version made for SBS television in Australia...



These are the lyrics.
Sa ziza zecob dela dalou'a
Boralea'e borale mi komi oula
Etawuae'o ela'o coralia wu'aila
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai
Alatawuan icas imani'u
Barletas e'e barkia'a
Pro'e lai e'le a pantou la'u
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai
Sa ziza zecob dela dalou'a
Boralea'e borale mi komi oula
Alatawuan icas iwua'oula
Ilei pandera zel e' tomu pere no mo mai

Rose-Mount Tea Cosy, for my partner Rainier's parents.

While I await the birth of my first child I'm doing whatever I feel like and taking a little break from some orders that are taking longer than I'd hoped to finish, to complete a few things that I started last year! In other words, I'm procrastinating a bit!!

This cosy I started last year for my partner Rainier's parents, who love green and have a wonderful garden and farm with some lovely bushland on it in Mole Creek, northern Tasmania. Their farm is called Rose-Mount which I've embroidered with the date of their house on one side...




And on the other side I've embroidered Rainier's parent's initials and some roses...




I'll post some pics of the cosy in the garden at Rose-Mount soon....I'm being induced tomorrow night so I won't be very talkative on this blog for a week or two after baby arrives, unless I'm blessed with some extraordinary quantity of energy and find myself still sewing tea cosies in between changing nappies, breast feeding and naps!?!

Thanks to everyone who checks out my blog and apologies that it hasn't been very interesting of late, I've been a bit preoccupied..... ;-)

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, FINITO!

Well, I feel it's finished!

The sides are hand-stitched together with a double layer of back and overcast stitch (using upholstery weight Gutermann thread), before the silk binding is stitched around the edges as the final touch.

I've used Hemp denim as the lining as its nice and durable and can withstand tea stains, etc! So here are the images....

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, Stage 5 & 6

Ahhhhhh, finally I have been able to spend some really intensive 'quality time' on the cosy and we are now nearing the finish line, which will be later tonight!

So this is the Union Jack side of the cosy, with 1972 Mercedes chain stitched and satin stitched initials of the client's husband....


Then the HP sauce bottle and Bacon Buttie I applied as applique and embroidery above the car...I'm really chuffed with how the HP sauce bottle has turned out, I was really having difficulty finding a good way to do it without spending months hand embroidering all the details, so hopefully this is a successful and lively approach?!


And a close-up...


Now all I have to do is line, stitch and bind the edges of the cosy tonight and photograph it in the daylight tomorrow and show the client to make sure she's happy with the finished product.

I will update the images in the morning for your viewing pleasure!

Nothing to do with tea cosies....

Though I cannot stop watching this animation (and taking heed of the message being promoted), and just thought I'd share it here...



Happy winter to all the Southern Hemisphere residents!!

Baby is due in less than three weeks and so I'm trying not to overdo things...

more tea cosy images coming very soon....

Autumn is here...

And I've had baking urges which go very well with my newest tea acquisition from Madame Flavour, an Organic Mints Tisane – a pungent blend of organic Victorian Peppermint, Egyptian Spearmint, Australian Native Rivermint from Gippsland; and a touch of purple cornflower, which is amazingly refreshing and Rainier loves it too!!

To locate your nearest shop which stocks Madame Flavour teas, please click on this Store Finder, or check out her online boutique to order teas through.


Image of mint tea glasses we had in Paris in La Mosquee in 2008...drained of their delicious contents!
So, if you happen have quinces at your disposal at the moment then this is a great cake recipe that goes really well with the tea:


PEAR (or QUINCE) CAKE

Ingredients:

1 ripe large pear (or quince), peeled, quartered and sliced
250 grams (8 ounces) plain flour
220 grams (7 ounces) sugar (I used raw sugar which makes the cake get a yummy crust)
2 level teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
250ml (8 fluid ounces) milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder & salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk until well blended. Gradually add to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin (I made mine in a square cake tin). Add the pear (or quince) to the batter, pushing some of the pieces in with a toothpick.

Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the cake is light brown on top (and a skewer test of the cake comes out clean).

Remove from the oven and let the cake stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Serve with plenty of whipped cream (or ice cream as a dessert!)

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, March, Stage 4

After finishing all my work for Tiger & Peacock in North Fitzroy (Melbourne) a week and a half ago, I'm finally back onto this tea cosy commission and luckily the lovely client is very understanding and patient!

Today I finished the birds on this side of the cosy, ironed and photographed it to post here. Now I'm chain stitching the Mercedes car on the other side of the cosy and hope to get it all finished by Monday evening.



One very voluptuous embroidered peony...


Its very exciting getting close to finishing this cosy, I cannot wait to see how it looks once its all together!

Special call for help!

Taking a break each afternoon from work sees me downstairs in my kitchen making pots of tea....this was yesterday with a pot of Madame Flavour Earl Grey tea with Australian Lemon Myrtle....and some Green & Blacks organic milk chocolate and locally-made shortbread that I buy from the small grocers down the street...supporting local businesses!

I also received an email 'call to tea-drinking arms' so I'm posting this on behalf of Corinne Noyes, the fabulous woman behind Australia's Madame Flavour Teas, a personal favourite of mine, in an effort to spread the word to support local/Australian (fair trade) business, please pass this message on to anyone you think is interested too, and help a great tea merchant stay alive and grow, and all before the 19th of April, eeeek!!!

Many thanks in advance...and this is what Corinne says:

"This morning I make my way to Fujian province to spend a week with our green and white tea growers discovering firsthand the tradition and wonderful variety of Chinese tea.

I am troubled though and writing to ask for your support.

You may have heard that the Woolworths/Safeway tea buyer recently left. Their entire range will now be reviewed with a view to deleting teas not selling enough according to their corporate requirements.

We have grown over 100%, but as a small business, Madame is vulnerable.

On the 19th of April, I have a meeting with the new buyers to present our wonderful teas and the difference they make.

Between now and then, I ask that you show your love of Madame Flavour by; no other way to put it: buying and spreading the word as you never have before.

To thank you for your continued support, I am excited to invite 10 Kindred Spirits to High Tea at The Hotel Windsor in Melbourne. To join me, I ask that you mail me your Madame Flavour buying and spreading the word story of 25 words or less. I will chose the winners May 30th and publish them and the High Tea date in my next newsletter.

This could make all the difference in the wonderful story we have to tell when we look back 20 years from now at these early days.

Thank-you for your passion and generosity in our shared adventure. I will let you know how I go.

Kindest Regards
Corinne - owner and founder"
FACEBOOK PAGE, CLICK HERE!

So I raced to my local Woolworths, the only place in Deloraine where I can get Madame Flavour teas, and stocked up...here are some of my favourites, and the white tea with rose I bought directly from Madame Flavour and its THE most DIVINE tea (perfectly perfect with a light sponge cake!!)