Homestead For Youth Community Fair & Twilight Movie event stallholders wanted

Homestead For Youth is a not-for-profit local organisation with a vision to advance the safe refuge and recovery of at risk youth. They are holding a fair and twilight movie charity fundraising event.
Stalls are $50 for the day or 10% of profits - whichever you choose. Contact them if you are interested in holding a market stall or food van on 0439950642.

When: Saturday 21st March, 10:30 - 4pm
Where: Kingsway Sporting Complex, Madeley

Re-Love Project Part 5

The big day has come! Our rocking chair is going up for auction along with the seven other amazing pieces of remade furniture from the Feast Watson Re-Love Project. Some really great work has come out of this project with lots of inspiration and instructions on how to re-love your own piece of furniture on each of the designers' blogs. The auction will run on eBay until Sunday 3rd August with all proceeds going to the Salvos Stores. Go here to check it out: http://myworld.ebay.com.au/feastwatsonre-loveproject

Re-Love Project Part 4

We're up to the final stage - varnishing!

We used Feast Watson Mastertouch wipe-on poly in gloss and loved it! It was so easy to use - we just dipped a rag into it and wiped it on the rocking chair. It was a lot quicker than using a brush and easier to get into all those nooks and crannies. We did the whole chair, applying it to the stained areas, painted areas and bare wood. We did a few coats, waiting at least 6 hours and giving it a light sand in between coats.

Rebecca and Nicole from Made on the Left with the finished rocking chair

Re-Love Project Part 3

Now, I know I promised the fun bit of our Re-Love Project next but first... some more sanding! Fortunately all the major sanding is done and we just need to give it a light sand this time.

We are using 2 products to add a bit of colour to our rocking chair - Feast Watson Prooftint traditional stain: Brown Japan and Feast Watson Crackle Lacquer top coat in Opal Gleam. 

We gave the base section and the headpiece of the chair a few coats of the brown japan stain. It is quite strong smelling so don't forget to use it in a well ventilated area and wear a mask! After applying each coat, we wiped with a rag to remove the excess stain.

Next we gave the armrests a coat of opal gleam. We only used the top coat as we didn't want a crackle effect.

Now we're almost finished!

Music in the hills: for clean water

Music in the hills: for clean water is a fundraising event for charity:water, a non-profit organization, to raise money to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

It will take place at the Affinity Café in Roleystone on the 30th March. It will have a picnic theme with a beautifully decorated outdoor space, live music, dance, entertainment, market stalls, raffle draws and silent auction.

They are seeking sponsors to donate prizes for the raffle and silent auction. If you would like to donate something, contact Janet by email.

For more information and to make a donation to the charity fund, go here:
http://my.charitywater.org/Lovefromaus

Music in the Hills: for clean water facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1388969691364108/

Re-Love Project Update 4

We've been working hard on our desk for the Feast Watson Re-love Project.

We applied the Feast Watson Sanding Sealer and then after it had dried, sanded it back. The wood was then so smooth! A great surface to start work on. Our idea was to have a nautical theme with a sailing ship on one desk lid and a whale on the other. The waves would go across the bottom of both desks. We started off by drawing the designs in pencil directly onto the desk lid.

We then started painting. We needed to keep a steady hand as we would not be able to cover up any mistakes. The paint we used was a new Feast Watson product to create a crackle effect. If you want a crackle effect, you paint over a layer of the crackle lacquer but it can be used as a normal paint as well and comes in a range of pastel colours. We also selected a Dulux Minted Gold metallic colour for something a bit special.

We ended up changing our minds about the whale and ship and went with a rainbow instead. Surprise! We kept the waves though as they were looking good.

Next we added a bottom to the inkwells so they could be used as pencil holders and painted the insides black. And now for the varnishing - as soon as we applied the varnish, the wood looked amazing! We used Feast Watson Satinproof varnish.

We are really happy with the desk lid and love how the varnish has brought out the warmth of the wood. We did a few coats so it would protect it.

On the inside of the desk lid, we wanted to have a chalkboard surface in the shape of a cloud and here it is, freshly applied (and still wet!). We did a few coats in Dulux Chalkboard paint and left it to harden.

Now we just have to attach the lid to the desk body and it will be done!

http://www.relove.feastwatson.com.au/designers-auctions.aspx

Last minute stallholder callout: Pink in the Park

HMS PopUp Productions are looking for talented artists, craftspeople and stall holders to contribute and be a part of the Pink in the Park community charity event to be held on Saturday 11th of May at Victoria Park Hockey Club, Weston Street, Carlisle. 

Stalls will be charged at a nominal fee of $40 for the full day, from 9.30am until 4pm, with stall fees being treated as a donation to the Pink in the Park day. Stalls will be under shady trees and a limited number of marquees can be provided (first in, first served). 

For more information or to register, contact HMS PopUp Productions at productions@hmspopup.com or 0419 679 579 but be quick!

Re-Love Project Update 3

We're working hard to make our old school desk look new again, ready to be auctioned on 9th May in the Feast Watson Re-love Project! 

Here's where we got up to last time – the desk top has been detached from the base and all the surfaces have been prepped. 



In the last post we did glueing and clamping and lots of sanding. Let's look at the results! 

We glued and clamped the veneer that was lifting off the desk lid. Now the glue has dried, we have to sand back this area to make it smooth. We also have to fill the damaged edge areas using putty in a matching colour.



For the legs and body of the desk, we used an undercoat of Dulux 1 Step Acrylic Primer, Sealer & Undercoat which is rust resistant then gave it numerous coats of Dulux Spraypak Quick Dry in black over a few days, letting it dry between each coat. We chose this product as it would give a hardwearing glossy even finish and was quick (and fun!) to apply.



The next step will be for us to finish the wooden desk top and prepare for artwork and final paint finish.

We are all excited to see this desk start to come to life!

Re-Love Project Update 2

As you may know, the Made on the Left team has been invited to participate in the Feast Watson Re-Love project . We will be bringing an old school desk back to life with a lot of love and hard work. We've finished the planning stages and the muscle work has begun! We've got some pictures to show you our progress (bulging biceps not included). 

So far it's been all about sanding – the metal desk tray had areas of rust and flaking paint and the wooden desk top was uneven and peeling. To make things easier, we detached the wooden top from the metal body. We then used glue to stick down the veneer parts that were coming off and clamped it down to get the best effect. 



Tune in next time to see us prepare the surface ready to paint!

Re-Love Project

We're pleased to announce that we have been asked to participate in the Feast Watson Re-Love Project along with 8 other designers. Our mission is to bring an old piece of furniture back to life which will then be auctioned on eBay on 9th May to raise money for the Salvos stores. We are so excited! 
Our piece of furniture is an old school desk which we have big plans for. 
Here is a 'before' photo - as you can see, it certainly needs some love... stay tuned to see how it progresses!

Trash or Treasure?

Lauren/Osier here, back for another informative and interesting blog post (psht, who am I kidding...)

Today I went op-shopping, one of my favourite past-times. I'm lucky that the town where I op-shop, is generally a low socio-economic area, so shoppers arn't looking for the same stuff I am at thrift-stores. They're looking for work/boring clothes, whereas I'm looking for vintage retro delights. I like to think I'm pretty good at finding the good stuff, I went looking for a cardigan today, and found three that were perfect. So I thought that I might share my tips with you.

1. Go to a low socio-economic background area and visit the thrift stores there. Subiaco, Fremantle and Dalkeith have already been stripped to the bone, so dont bother going there.

2. Use these websites to find shops close to you or where you intend on heading. You'll note that I've only listed charity stores. This is because I only shop at charity stores, because feeling good about spending money on clothes is pretty rare.

salvos :: vinnies :: anglicare :: good sammys :: paraquad

3. ALWAYS try on shoes and go for a walk around the store in them. Dont buy them if you're thinking "oh, they'll stretch" because they wont (no matter how cute they are), they've already been worn. Or if they're really high heeled, or they rub, cause they'll give you blisters pretty quick.

4. The dress sections are always my favourite, and basically offer a whole outfit for under $10 most of the time. Make sure you try these on too, as not everything is going to flatter you.

5. This goes without saying, but never buy socks, undies or pantihose/leggings from op-shops. Yuk.

6. If you're struggling to think what to wear something with, either dont buy it or find something in the store that will go with it, otherwise it will be chucked under the bed and forgotten.

7. ALWAYS take a car and your own bags, as many op-shops now have a "no-plastic bag" policy and often dont have anything to replace them. Juggling three pairs of shoes, a dress and a vintage typewriter on the bus home is just going to annoy you.

8. Take note of the price. I've had a couple of nasty surprises when I've gone to checkout and found that the cute jacket I thought was a cool bonus was actually THE most expensive second hand item in the history of the world.

9. This might sound gross, but smell the armpits/crotches of anything you've got your eye on. Chances are that if it stinks, you're not going to be able to get rid of the smell, sorry.

10. Lastly, always wash things at home before you wear them.



Any questions or tips? I'd love to hear them! xoLauren

Bushfire Appeal - Retail Therapy

This Etsy shop - OzBushfireAppeal - has been set up in response to the Australian Bushfire Tragedy.

Australian and other Etsians have donated items for sale.

All items have free International Shipping.

NEW ITEMS listed almost around the clock right now, thanks to the generosity of Etsians from around the globe.

Please visit us often.

Sales from all items will be donated to the Australian Red Cross every Friday.

A big Christmas THANK YOU

At the Made on the Left November 15 Market, many of our sellers donated handmade products towards a raffle held to raise funds for Charity Link's Christmas Appeal. The $587 raised has been given to Charity Link to provide toys, food and food vouchers for West Australians in need over Christmas. Charity Link helps over 115 charities support more than 10,000 Western Australian individuals who are experiencing financial hardship - to find out more go to http://www.charitylink.org.au/ . We would like to thank our sellers for their generosity and the November market customers for their enthusiastic support of the raffle.

We have come to that popular time of the year for 'reflection' (oh, as well as eating too much, drinking and general merry-making!). From the Made on the Left perspective, what began as a seed of an idea on an Etsy forum back in May has snowballed into two very successful markets and a new association over the last eight months.

We've seen a range of new markets pop up across Perth, created a beautiful window display for Windows on William, launched markets where artists and crafters can dip their toes into retailing, created a website and blog to share information about further opportunities, went on a dusty road trip to the York Jazz festival and started brainstorming about exciting activities to launch on the unsuspecting WA public next year!

All in all, we have been very pleased and excited about the positive reception Made on the Left has received and the supportive comments and enthusiasm sent our way have made the time and energy volunteered to create Made on the Left well worth it.

So thank you to all the artists, crafters, designers, venues, customers, bloggers, retail outlets, media and others who have backed our fledgling group this year. We wish everyone a relaxing, creative and joyous Christmas and New Year and look forward to making more on the left with you in 2009...

Love and Christmas tidings from the MOTL team:

Jacquie, Dara, Ali J, Rosanna, Beth and Sarah