What causes blindness?

A naughty little canvas created for a friend

DIY Urchins

I love sea urchins, but I don't often find them in one piece on the beach so, like many people, I resort to searching for them in little boutique stores, which can be expensive. What is the solution to my first world problem? I cut out the middle man and create the urchins myself!

This is always a fun experience - so fun, that I thought I would share my step by step process for creating your very own faux urchin in resin.

What you will need:

- A real sea urchin (okay, so your wallet won't be totally safe, but keep in mind that you will be able to make several resin moulds as a result).
- Silicone 

- A chinese food container

- Resin

- Pigments

- 2 paddle pop sticks

- A pair of plastic gloves

- 2 plastic measuring cups

- Scissors

- 2 plastic cup

Method:

1. Clean the surface of the real urchin

2. Place the real urchin in the chinese container

3. Mix up the silicone in a plastic cup using a paddle pop stick - 1:1 mix ratio by volume

4. Pour the mixed silicone over the sea urchin in the chinese container. Make sure the silicone is mixed properly or your mould will never dry properly and be sticky to touch. You also must make sure you mix enough to cover the urchin by 1/2cm. This will set in approx. 20 mins.

5. Break up the chinese container using the scissors. If you try to get the mould out of the chinese container without breaking it, you may stick your nail through the surface and your mould will be ruined.

6. Now, here's the tricky part - getting your real sea urchin out of the mould. I use little scissors and very carefully cut back the mould on the flat surface. Then I slowly peel back the mould and pull the urchin out. Surprisingly, the urchin survived in tact.

You will then have a mould for your resin!

7. Choose a colour and mix up your 2 part resin in a plastic cup. Stir for 20 seconds or until it starts to heat up and quickly pour it into the mould. I decided to make mine cream with a blue swirl though it. This will set in about 20mins but will not be hard for a few hours, so leave it in the mould overnight.

8. Very carefully pull your new object out in the morning and ta da - your own little resin sea urchin!!

I am thinking of framing mine in a 3d box frame and hanging it in my bathroom.

Enjoy and be sure to let me know how your attempts go!

Succulent cup of tea

Only recently have I started collecting beautiful second-hand tea cups and saucers.

Every time I pass an op shop, I seem to be drawn immediately to the homewares section and 9 out of 10 times, I find myself at the counter purchasing yet another vintage tea set.

Most of the time there is not a matching pair, which I don't mind. The variety of unique, one-off pieces provides me with a chance to be creative - I will spend time mixing and matching a pattern tea cup with a plain saucer or vis versa until I find the perfect combination.

The fun doesn't stop at the op shop though.

Once home, I fill the cups with soil and plant a small succulent inside. With a little bit of TLC, these make-shift pot plants make the perfect gift and my friends just love to receive them.

They are the easiest plants to look after - I only spray mine every few days. If you're looking to create your own tea set garden, remember to water them lightly as the tea cup has no drainage.

Loving life outside

Love letter

About a week ago I sent a love letter to my favourite magazine 'Uppercase' for Valentines Day. The package I sent was filled with a selection of my favorite treasures, from exotic Asian trinkets to vintage train ticket stubs and even a holiday snap of myself + the letter ofcourse. To my surprise they featured the package on their blog. Whooo!

Below is a snippet of the letter, if you want to read more please click the link.

" Since the first time I flicked your pages I have been in awe and I continue to be bedazzled by your utter beauty. You are perfect inside and out and will forever hold a place on my coffee table"

 Click here to view

This font blows

I should probably explain... I have always dreamt of creating my own font so in order to gain some inspiration, I began capturing photos of everyday, man-made objects which resemble letters of the alphabet.

Once I had captured every letter I began tracing them in Illustrator using the pen tool. I then chose my favourite shape - a leaf blower in the form of a 'b' - and devised designs for all 26 letters of the alphabet based on this.

This was certainly a challenging task, but it was also extremely rewarding. I love finding beauty and hidden meaning within seemingly mundane inanimate objects, so it was a great to create such a unique type font from such an unexpected source.

Bangles galore

Resin is an amazing tool, one that I am still learning to master but I love already. Check out my range of handmade bangles, brooches, rings and earrings - all crafted from this truly unique product.

Photobooth

I have always loved the idea of photo booths at partys and weddings (or any special occasion, really). All of the guests seem to really enjoy using the various props on offer and never fail to leave some great memories.

I spent the day before Pete's 30th making super hero action signs (think - 'BAM!' and 'Pow!'), as well as novelty mustaches and spectacles on thin dowel. I also bought a 'able 300 DX' tripod to hold my Canon 450 D in place, making it easy for guests to stand behind the camera and take photos themselves.

The results were amazing and to finish off, I edited the photos to give them a vintage feel.