Updated product lines

These new scarves and cushion covers are finally listed in my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/AHomeForTandy and featured on my website gallery http://www.ahomefortandy.com

And a newsletter is coming! Shoot me an email if you'd like to subscribe… info@ahomefortandy.com

New Scarves!

The scarves pictured in an earlier post now have happy new owners, so last weekend I worked on a large new batch with some great results! Here just a few of them which I photographed today.
They will be listed on my Etsy shop soon! https://www.etsy.com/shop/AHomeForTandy

A peak at my balcony photographic studio!

3000 Views!

My blog has had 3000 visitors. Hi everyone!

So......I'm curious.... who are you all? I see that most of you are my fellow Aussies (probably my friends and family, thanks for visiting guys!) but many of you are from the United States, New Zealand and Russia, and others from The United Kingdom, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Welcome!

I'd love to hear more from you all and learn something about you; what city you're from, are you a crafter yourself? What were you looking for when you found me, are you enjoying your time here and what else would you like to see?

Your feedback is most appreciated, but more than that, it would be so wonderful to connect with some of my readers.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Deb

In the meantime, here's an image of my favourite piece from my scarf dyeing frenzy last weekend.

Winter Scarves

The chilly weather is definitely creeping in! I always love the turning of the seasons and seeing the changing colours of leaves, even the way the air feels in the morning brings a sense of excitement, like something new is coming.... a new season!

I've adapted my range accordingly with these silky merino knit scarves. They're soft, warm, durable and easy to wear. And they were my most popular item at the recent NEW CRAFT @ Queen Victoria Market. 

I'll be back there again with more scarves next Sunday (and in fact the 1st Sunday of every month till the end of the year)

Hope to see you there!

PS. By the way, you can now follow me for a behind the scenes peek on Instagram @ ahomefortandy

...... as well as FaceBook, Twitter and Pinterest

Happy Easter!

Easter weekend is always a lovely time to involve the little ones in the family in some Easter related activities, and this year we spent time with my sister who's family now includes a four year old and a new born. As well as home-made hot cross buns and an Easter egg hunt, we tried our hands at decorating eggs. These coloured and patterned eggs, dyed in onion skins and garden leaves are a natural alternative to the usual blue and pink food dyed versions I remember doing as a kid. (I'm not sure Master Four was as enthralled through the entire process as I was!)

This is India Flint's method as described in her inspiring book Eco Colour.

I do hope you've all enjoyed some Easter family time too.

A few simple ingredients.

Wrapped up, ready for the dye bath.

The lovely results!

Lots to report...

The good woman herself, India Flint.

Beautiful bundles emerging from the dye bath.

My silky merino dress dyed with eucalyptus, beetroot and assorted leaves.

Dress detail.

Of course the internet goes down when I'm bursting with news! Anyway, we're back in 2014 so let me update you....

First of all, I attended a three day eco-dyeing workshop with India Flint, the guru of the technique on which I base all my work these days.  India has a very practical and good humoured approach to her work and embraces the beauty in imperfection. That said, everything she produces looks like perfection to me! She had us designing, hand-stitching and dyeing a garment of our own using a gorgeous silk/merino knit fabric which I've since stocked up on and used in my recent dyeing sessions. Needless to say, I emerged with a head full of ideas and inspiration, plus a new dress to add to my wardrobe!

It all happened just in time for my first market which happened today. Craft Victoria has curated a market to be held at the Queen Victoria Markets, Melbourne on the first Sunday of every month. Today was a great success for A Home For Tandy in so many ways. It was lovely to chat to the public (i.e not just my friends!) and gauge their reaction to my work. Many had great suggestions and positive feedback and I feel I'm on my way to building a presence in the hand-made market place.

Another big plus was collecting a mailing list to which I can send my new quarterly newsletter. This will include all  A Home For Tandy's news as well as interesting information about eco-dyeing etc. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list, simply send an email to info@ahomefortandy.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

India Flint Workshop

I'm not usually one to get star-struck, but I have to say I'm super excited to be meeting this lady. India Flint is the guru of natural dyeing techniques, has written beautiful books on the subject and holds highly popular work-shops around the world..... and I'm participating in one this weekend!

The three day "Second Skin" workshop to be held at Beautiful Silks store in Fitzroy is an event I've been looking forward to since I booked nearly a year ago (that's how popular they are) and now it's almost upon us. I just can't wait to see for myself, not just read it from a book, how this woman gets such amazing prints and colours on cloth using nothing but natural/organic materials. I'm hoping what I learn will lend new ideas and direction to my own work.

And of course it will be a pleasure to be surrounded by like-minded folk, swanning around being creative for three whole days!

Here's a link to India Flint's beautiful blog

http://prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com.au/