Need a hand?

I adore brooches (but then again, Im sure you already knew that), which is why I absolutely love these brooches!

My friend Graham, knowing my love for all things quirky and interesting, sent me a link to Margaux Lange's website. Immediately you're met with every little girl's best friend, Barbie. But not they way you remember her, more dismembered actually. Margaux breaks down Barbie dolls that have been mass produced and turns them into wearable art, either pieces that she repeats, or once off productions. She's been doing this for over 10 years now, and her jewelry is highly sought after by art buyers, Barbie collectors and quirky individuals alike.

These are some of her brooches that I think are amazing! This is definitely going on my Want-list :) If you want them too, check out her etsy store and her Facebook page!

All pictures have been taken from Margaux's website and photographers include: Margaux Lange, Azad and Quad Graphics

Francophile? Yes.

What a great short week! Happy Voting Day to everyone for yesterday!

Speaking of holidays though, Im desperate for an overseas trip. This time last year, my boyfriend and I were prepping our France holiday. We spent the month of June in Antibes, in the South of France, and took day trips up to Nice, Cannes, Monaco and a spent a few nights in a beautiful mountain village called Utelle. It was the most amazing month ever! And ever since we came back, I've been dying to go back. Actually, Ive been dying to go anywhere. The travel bug has bitten and I want to oblige. There are so many things in the world that I want to see. We're hoping to go back to France at the end of the year, if all works out well.

In the meantime, I'll just be flicking through these pics to keep my heart warm :)

Antibes, Food Market

Antibes, The street where we lived

Antibes, On the walk to our house

Antibes, On the walk to our house

Antibes, Outside the Picasso museum

Cannes, Merry-go-round. There's one in every city!

Nice Train Station

Utelle, Mont de Utelle

The tiny French mountain village of Utelle

Utelle

Utelle

Belletwine village

Belletwine village

Antibes, the road going down to the market

A little custom love

My friend Sonja went back to Australia recently, but not before ordering a custom brooch :) I had just got in some new leather (some beautiful metallics) so she wanted to incorporate the bronzy colour. We took the round "doily" look and added the bird from the Bird Heart and voila! A custom brooch!

Prizes to DIE for!

I was so surprised when I received 2 packages last week. Thats right. Not one, but TWO! I was like a kid at Christmas opening up those boxes and I was even more excited at what was inside.

Remember that competition that I entered for VIXXEN but didn't win? Well, Koffin Kitten and Iron Fist sent me a runner-up prize! How awesome of them! I am so stoked to say the least. Thank you Jen and Iron Fist!

Here's what was in my goodie bag: 2 x awesome Anchor hairclips from Koffin Kitten and a RAD tee from Iron Fist!

Check out these awesome Koffin Kitten hairclips that are on my Want list! I popped over to the Iron Fist website now and there are so many heels that I want! I LOVE them all! Think Im going to have to start saving to add these babies to my collection :)

Sugar Hiccups Heels

Sweet Skull O Mine Heels

Skining Ships Heels

Ruff Rider Heels

Jens Heart Heels

Don't Hold Your Breath Heels

Mother's Day brooch!

My mom is an amazing craftswoman. She can do anything! From sewing, crocheting, knitting, stain glass, pottery, and quilting! She is the chairlady of her quilting guild and makes the most amazing quilts for competitions. I am so proud of her and her achievements in the quilting field - having received a judges award at the last competition, and having 2 of her quilts touring the country as part of a prestigious collection.

With all of that in mind, I really wanted to make my Mom the sewing brooch. I thought it could be really cute for her to wear at her quilting guild meetings :) My Mom loves purples, blues and pinks, so I kept it to those colours. She was really excited when she opened it up yesterday, makes me so happy to put a smile on my Mom's face :)

Happy Mother's Day for yesterday to all the Mom's out there!

A fond Farewell!

My amazing friend Jo left late last night for a round trip around the states. She has been wanting to do this for almost 5 years now. I am so very excited for her that she gets to fulfill her dream and explore more of the world! I popped by her place yesterday afternoon to hang out before she left, watched her pack, helped her with a few odd jobs. It was nice. I wish I was going too actually. But Im more happy for her that she's going. I thought I would make her a little going away pressie. A little something to remind her of home:) After experimenting with the fabric covered leather in the sewing machines - I thought I'd try covering a heart shape - its pretty cute.

To my friend Jo - May you have many amazing and crazy adventures and come back with incredible stories :)

SEW a needle pulling thread!

Yesterday was a productive day. I finally got to making some new brooches and I'm pretty pleased with how they've come out. My friend Maylin, from Sew Love Fabric, suggested this sewing machine brooch idea, and I love it! I even covered some leather with fabric to extend to the "sewing" theme - I think Im going to experiment more with that! Its always great to have a variety of textures.

I've decided to make one for my mom as well for Mother's Day as she is an avid sewer, but I'll save hers for another post :) Hopefully these brooches will inspire all you sewing people out there! (I must admit, its a skill that I don't have ...yet. Think its time I learnt!)