Outtakes

We interviewed and photographed Anissa Ljanta - a.k.a. Grow Mama, for the latest issue. A skilled sewer, she lives and creates on the west coast - there must be something in that salty sea air. Her upcycled items are not only practical and well made, but evoke a bit of nostalgia in folks of various ages when they recognise fabrics from their childhood (Anissa also wrote the piece on upcycling for the issue). She is hosting The Creative Mama Series on her blog at the moment, with guest posts every weekend by other creative and inspiring mothers. Here are some photos that didn't quite fit in the magazine, taken by Rosa-May Rutherford, and an excerpt from the interview.

"I look out from my crafting table to an expanse of sea, native bush and sky. I feel so blessed to be here. Living on the wild west coast keeps me grounded in practical, everyday beautiful designs. Vintage pencil skirts and heels just don’t cut it out here."

Fashion-flavoured art

This looks delicious...

dream workshop

Wish I could attend this workshop run by Abby Seymour from Golden Ink... you'll have seen Golden Ink Collaborative's distinctive porcelain creations bouncing around the internet like wildfire, as well as an interview in Issue 5 of Extra Curricular and Abby's beautiful cover illustration. If you're in Melbourne, you'll certainly want to get in quick for this and several other tempting workshops coming up at Harvest Workroom. You can also learn the art of mini teepee construction, watercolour painting, and one-piece printing – and that's just the beginning.

Photos are from the workshop series that's just been and are copyright Harvest Workroom 

Crafty as a fox

It is a complete coincidence that just as I was sending the latest Extra Curricular off to print, I found out that Nyssa Skorji, of A Wilderness for You and Me was going to be stocked online by Foxes. Funny especially as we titled her interview 'Crafty as a Fox'. Although not all that surprising really, since she makes lovely and sometimes foxy things! There were many gasps of excitement when I got this shoot back from the photographer, Olga Bennett, so I wanted to share with you some of the pictures we couldn't fit into the magazine.  I love how organised Nyssa is with her little containers labelled with 'deer eyes' and 'fox eyes'!

48 Hour magazine project

This weekend I've been helping out a bit with this 48 Hour magazine project. The folks at Stack Magazines over here in London are putting together a magazine over the weekend at the Southbank Centre with a bunch of writers, photographers, designers and illustrators... it's an interesting process to watch, especially coming fresh from spending more than two months on Extra Curricular! The theme of the weekend is 'Power & Production', and the title decided upon for the magazine is Makeshift - a name befitting the whole process and, as you can see, the makeshift studio set-up in the corner of the Southbank Centre. Here are a few photos of the process - I can't wait to see the final result next weekend!

Sneak Peak

A few spreads from issue 6, which comes out at the end of next week. 
Available for pre-sale now, here and here.