Blogging and all that jazz.....

At the moment I feel like I have lost my way a bit when it comes to blogging.  I hardly know who I am talking to. Of course there is the lovely online network of like minded people who I have come to know in real life or via the internet.
But there is also the big wide world of anonymous readers that may have only clicked onto Lino Forest because they were searching for a particular image on google or looking for info on Linoleum flooring products. Hello if you may have been googling maps of Australia...or Peter Allen song titles!

 

"I Still Call Australia Home" brooch

Some people may  read blogs regularly, but wouldn't know the author from a bar of soap. Alternatively some readers think they really know a blogger even though they have never talked to them face to face.
It's all a bit other- worldly and surreal if you think about it.
Anyhoo, I have purposely not made this blog super personal because of this. Even though I tend to spend alot of my day chatting to people in my shop, I'm pretty shy and not into over sharing.
As mostly everyone has their own share of hardships to overcome in their lives...I think it can sometimes be a bit too much reading about other peoples.
That said, would blog readers just be content with colourful product pictures and crafty updates.
Should we leave all the other stuff out? Sometimes, all the time.What do you think?

Moving on.....

Today I am announcing that there are going to be some changes in the world of Betty Jo Designs.
I am slowly discontinuing my range of brooches and pendants. The production of lino critters and other figurative designs will be phased out and no more will be made ...except in very special cases.
I'm putting these guys out to pasture, as they have served me well and they need a rest!
All the necklace designs will still be for sale at Gleaners Inc. and from Etsy ( stay tuned for new designs coming soon.)
I will also still be manufacturing the Time will Tell Clocks and Flying Ducks and these will be obtainable from Gleaners Inc., my online shop and at selected retailers.

 

So goodbye owls, babushkas, birdies and friends. Hello necklaces and NEW Lino creations!
If you own a Betty Jo brooch or pendant you can now think of it as a *collectors* item!!!!

Lucky me, Lucky you.

 Lucky me was given a very appropriate gift on the weekend by the lovely Julianne from Sister Outlaws.
These cute vintage wooden construction blocks with a very snappy name.

With a wave of my magic Ryobi, I have  fashioned some of them into necklaces. I have named them "Lucky Slot" necklaces. I am not promising they will bring you endless luck, but people will notice you when you are wearing one. Maybe, just maybe, that person who notices you is a talent scout or a movie director and wants you to act in an important doco or feature film!!!
I am wearing one right now. I haven't been noticed yet, but I'm sure any moment some good luck will befall me. And the way things are right now in my little world, I could sure use some.

Come and get it!

The Betty Jo Designs Etsy sale last Sunday was a great  success! Pictures of happy mail and pretty necks were popping up all over instagram. Janine from Middlemost is seen here sporting her Winter Petal Seasons necklace.

To follow on from the Etsy sale we are having a half price sale on all the Betty Jo jewellery at Gleaners Inc. tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. This is a shop sale only. First in best dressed.

Yes there will be Birds and there will be Beads!

These fresh off the work bench Flying Ducks are now hanging out at  Gleaners Inc. If a certain lovely nurse is reading this let me know if this set takes your fancy!!!

Time for the chop!

Here's a new Betty Jo Cuckoo Clock with the sweetest little embroidered robin. Way better than a cuckoo in my opinion. Even after total doily over load last month  I still couldn't stop myself.
The fuschia pink doily won me over and the little white number from the donated stash was just asking to be included.Available from Gleaners Inc.

I am still loving my Polly Pratt "Magic Mood" dress and now I'm sporting new hair thanks to the bathroom mirror and the dress making scissors.  It's the salon of Champions!!!!!

This SALE will be a goodie!!!!

Smart Alec, Melbourne’s best hat shop for the gents (and for those desirous of manly headgear )is having a sale for ONE DAY ONLY along with their sister store, Scally & Trombone (or maybe their mother ship is more appropriate, as they have about 25 years on them!)

Scally & Trombone together with Smart Alec Hatters’ Garage Sale

Saturday 12^th May, 9am to 4pm

189 Grange Road, Fairfield (enter from Christmas Street)

Did I see there will be hat making materials, trims and equipment ? I have always fancied doing a spot of Millinery !!!!

Skull Duggery

There has been lots of Sugar Skull Clock making going on at the Gleaners Inc studio. These babies are for a custom order. Looks like my once popular Owl Craftin'  has been superseded by these dead heads.
That's fine by me as they are fun to make and I get to chop up embroidery and doilies. I'm not a destructive person, but there's a certain naughty thrill that comes with making that first cut!

Back to Number One

This image appeared on my very first blog post titled "The Enchanted Lino Forest" . That was in July 2007. Alot has happened in those almost five years. I have had lots of fun, some heartache, many great opportunities, made ace friends, watched my kids grow, created a zillion Betty Jo goodies (well it feels like it) , moved my making off my kitchen table and have ended up where I am right now, running a lovely shop and studio called Gleaners Inc.

 

pic.via Pleaty Bunny 

 In a time when a lot of small, independant retail businesses are closing, I went the opposite way and started a new venture. I'm not a risk taker by nature, but  the stars aligned one day and there it was.
An opportunity to take things another step further.
The first year running a retail business is a killer. The hours, the work behind the scenes, the uncertainty. the jugggling act with finances.
But the rewards totally outway the stresses. I'm very happy. I love my little shop. I love showcasing lovely designers and crafts people. Love it to bits!

pic.via Pleaty Bunny

So thanks for reading my rambles on Lino Forest. I post on the Gleaners Inc. blog too now. I take lots of photos on instagram and post regularly on Facebook. Oh and I make things too. Because making is what it's all about when you think about it. I am continually inspired to create and everything that follows is just a BONUS!

Colour-rama!

 New "Colour-rama" necklaces. A splash of colour and such fun to make.

Get them from the Betty Jo/Gleaners Inc. stall at......

Our stall will be choc-a-block with special goodies from a great selection of designers and craftspeople.
Lots of colour, lots of  fantastic handmade clothing, accessories, jewellery and homewares and lots of reasons to come and say hello! See you Friday night or Saturday xx

Doily Ducks

A fresh set of Flying Ducks (with obligatory Doily adornment) will now greet you at the door of Gleaners Inc. I found the lovely autumny lino on the nature strip two streets away from my place after driving past it a few times in too much of a rush to stop. There I was breaking rule no.one of hard rubbish scavenging. "Do not keep driving if anything looks remotely useful as it's bound NOT to be there the next day. "

Do you have any rules for finding gems in Hard Rubbish? 

Lucky I didn't drive by this cool 50's lamp yesterday as it would have been munched in the garbo truck first thing this morning! This act of destroying perfectly good stuff is a  travesty all councils should cease forthwith! Recycle it, send it to the tip shop for others to re-use, don't dump it in land fill!

Now I will climb down off my hard rubbish rescued soap box.

What Cha Doin' ?

Reading a nice column in Thursday's Age about the Doily Show at Gleaners Inc.

Making an "Easter Chicks" Cuckoo Clock.

Having fun at Gleaners Inc.

 Happy {but always challenging} Times!

Lino Craftin'

These retro coasters have been jazzed up Betty Jo style. They are called "Apple Cider" coasters for those who like to imbibe the once daggy , but now very  hipster drink.

Me and cider don't relate, but I LOVE apple style homewares and the thought of keeping your table top tidy!

            This new Sugar Skull Clock has obviously been up partying all night! Those pink rimmed eyes are a dead giveaway! DEAD GIVEAWAY get it ...haha.

 Yesterday I started playing around with a tropical parrot. Today he is finished ready to hang on the wall at Gleaners Inc. 

Our little shop is getting to be quite the avairy, with birds still a popular crafty motif. After the spoof on bird craft died down, the bird trend seems to have bounced back even stronger, with birdy prints adorning many Spring/Summer collections  this year. Go the bird! 

I think I will name this fellow "Squawk"

The Orange "Magic Mood" Dress

Cam and I are both lucky enough to own a "Magic Mood" {my made up name} Orange Lace Polly Pratt Dress.

Notice how they change colour depending on our moods.......like a Mood Ring!

Cam and I have an texting arrangement so we don't  turn up to a crafty event both wearing our dresses.

 

Cam thinks she is channelling Ita Buttrose, or theseswinging 60's babes.

But I think we may have stolen  my Crissy doll's look!

The Life of the Hummingbird

Follow the pictures anti-clockwise and you can see the Life of a Betty Jo Hummingbird, {My favorite bird}
And because I also love Mexican embroidered dresses......

You can imagine how much I pine for one like this handmade beauty.
Viva la Picaflor!

Weekend Snapshots

On Saturday we gave 10 nine year old boys bows and arrows. It was Charlies 9th Birthday party and luckily a very experienced person was in charge! All boys were delivered home to their parents whole. Just don't try it at home....go to a BIG field!!


On Sunday I started making some more "Petal Seasons" necklaces for Blackbird Corner.


Yesterday I spent a lovely afternoon doing nothing much at all ( if you call walking through Darebin Parklands with the boy and the dog nothing much). There was also a bit of sky gazing and wondering how it became autumn so quickly.....

You are Invited!

Betty Jo News

Betty Jo Designs has two lovely new stockists in NSW. A selection of lino necklaces will now be available at Blackbird Corner : the ONLY place to get your fix of heavenly handmade in Newcastle. And for those of you near the Murray River border, the lovely emporium Hen's Teeth Trading in Tocumwal will have a range of lino brooches and pendants.

And some other exciting news. Betty Jo will be appearing at the New and Improved Finders Keepers Market in Melbourne this April. We will be having a stall full of beautiful handmade delights from our Gleaners Inc. friends as well as newer Betty Jo goodies {and some old favorites}.
It is being held in the iconic Exhibition Buildings in Carlton, and the line up is pretty awesome!And closer to home, the "I say Doily,You say Doyley" exhibition opens next Friday from 5.30 pm at Gleaners Inc. Some drop dead gorgeous pieces for the show have been arriving so it will be an event not to be missed. Cam from CurlyPops whipped up some pretty bunting from her doily stash especially for the show. My Hummimgbird likes it alot!

Wearing Orange

Dress : Polly Pratt
Necklace : Betty Jo

Petal Seasons

New Vintage Lino Necklaces by Betty Jo Designs. Coloured Lino Petals with seasonal accents. Now available on Etsy or at Gleaners Inc.

Fresh Clocks

Petite Owl {cuckoo} Clock..now at Gleaners Inc. It only has a soft wee ticktock sound and it doesn't shout CUCKOO every hour!

Little Skull is sitting in the window of Gleaners Inc. until it finds a home. I hope it shan't be long......