Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday in Melbourne

Woohoo........I just returned to the hotel after a MAMMOTH BLOGGING FESTIVAL. I am dead tired but I WILL NOT LAY DOWN MY HEAD UNTIL YOU HAVE ALL BEEN THERE TOO.

Where do I begin....ha, yes, showered, caught train to Craft Fair....that's right...


The first thing I saw after some wandering around in a daze was this:

Jodie from Ric Rac has taken selvages to the next level. Unbelievable!

Then I saw a "Stitch Bar." You sit on a tool at the bar and choose a craft activity from this menu:

Naturally, I chose the librarian:
The bartenders showed me how to do the back stitch, and I did very well...but within 10 minutes I became agitated, impatient, annoyed, hot and bothered. I so much want to be crafty, but it just doesn't come easy to me.
Then I went and introduced myself to Jodie of the selvages. I fell in love with her Zipper-Mouth Monsters:



I also wanted to send this fish, immediately, to BabelBabe.

Suse arrived soon after, Suse! Suse! Hello Suse! It was a wonderful moment. Being with her is like reading her blog, only a million times better. We sat down together and chatted like old friends and watched Jodie being interviewed on stage.
This is what she did when she noticed me taking photos of her. She reminded me quite a bit of Kim, only crafty. Or, as Suse quite rightly pointed out to me, Kim is a lot like Jodie, only a gourmet cook.

Here is a photo of the 3 of us. Can you tell that I am very very happy and excited??!!

And what do we have here? It's Aunty posing with moi.

And this photo is dedicated to Eurolush who wants her entire house to be made of selvages.

We wandered around quite a bit, chatted with other bloggers and crafters, I shall give more details later (I took notes, really)....But for now, moving on....Suse, Suzie (who organised the dinner, thanks Suzie!!!), Janet and I tumbled into Sandra's car. She was going to take us to Suse's car.

Suzie is in the middle, Janet and Suse on either side of her. I will tell you all about what we talked about, but not now...too tired....

I'm really pleased with this shot. It's Suse driving, looking at me as if from a photo in her blog, but NOT, because she was REALLY THERE WITH ME. Woooo hooooo!!!!!!
Here we are at a fabulous Lebanese restaurant, not all bloggers have arrived yet, soon both tables will fill up as the sun sets outside the window.

Clockwise, from bottom left - Caroline (Stompergirl), Lisa (Frogdancer), Liz (Linoforest), Cathy (Tinniegirl) and Michelle (Quiltingmick).


Lisa and Liz:
This is a photo of Ellie from Petalplum of Red Seed Studio fame, who I first met via Anna from Sweden, and now...in person!
Everyone was asked to bring a handmade gift, and here they all are on the table:

Stompergirl received my gift, most exciting, what could it be? What could I have possibly hand made?

It's a book of a selection of my blogging poems!! I called it "Poems from the commentbox." I hope she enjoys it.

What did Frogdancer receive?

Beautiful wool from Suse, so good you can eat it for dessert!

Janet received a fab owl made by Sandra's daughter:
Suse was most excited to receive a stupendous stash from Ellie:

And this is what I received. I immediately knew it was the perfect gift for me.
Introducing...........drum-roll please...........
Sing Along with the (sometimes very naughty) Mrs. Mill. This box was hand made by Cathy from the cover of a vinyl record:

Inside I discovered an amazing collection of paper objects - old tickets, stamps, pages of books, maps. Much of it seemed to be, at first glance, in the theme of the sea (believe it or not! How perfect, huh??!!). I have promised to keep in touch with Cathy and send her pictures of a stupendous collage I can see in my future...and maybe even a poem to accompany it!!


Here is Ellie with her adorable kidlets, Suzie and also Stompergirl admiring a piece of fabric:
Cathy is on the left, and next to her is another Cathy - Miss Marzie.


Facing that Cathy is Lara of Thornberry fame, and next to her is Liz.

At the other end of the table were the young and trendy gang from Ink and Spindle, and in the red shirt on the left is Kristen.
Suse and Sandra talking over tea:


I probably muddled a few names up, please forgive me and send me a comment so I can correct it. I also know that I inadvertantly left a few bloggers out...I simply lost track of the details in the grand excitement of a most wondrous day and evening. As I sat on the tram on the way back to the hotel, clickety clacking along, I thought to myself:

"We are so lucky to have each other."

I shall post many more details tomorrow...I took notes you see....I take my job very very seriously.

Did you enjoy yourselves??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I may or may not have danced along with the restaurant's resident belly dancer. You have been warned, as photographs of a shocking nature may surface on some bloggers' posts. But not mine, because I couldn't have taken a photo of myself while belly dancing...if I had danced...hypothetically speaking, of course.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ohmygodthisisthebestpostever!!!

Thank you, Eleanor, for staying up late to share your day with us. I plan to go back and reread your post over and over, to make sure I don't miss any details.

That photo of you sitting on that selvage chair nearly killed me, though. I'm obsessed with the selvages!!! The dress!!! The pillow!!! I want them all!! PS-I also want all of her zipper monsters. In short, she should just start sending all of her work to me. I'll be her only client from now on.

How amazing to be able to put faces to names, too...Suse is adorable!

So happy for you and all the Aussie bloggers, who seem to be having a wonderful time together.

Can't wait for more!!!

Anonymous said...

Although the true highlight of such a meetup is always meeting new and old friends, the part that kept me gasping was the sunlight! and the warmth! It is still the depths of winter here and I yearn for spring and green and warmth. But it also seems that the warmth of your group would be enough to melt the snow if you were here :-)

The Coffee Lady said...

You obviously had the most amazing time! Lucky you!

Anonymous said...

Well colour me impressed....
I came home and made a few comments on blogs before going to bed and I thought that was doing well. Obviously I'm going to have to lift my game.

SHE BELLY DANCED, PEOPLE! She was shaking her thing all over the place, jumping on tables and at one stage wore a lamp shade. (ummm...not really... she just belly danced.)

Lovely to meet you, and that book of your poetry was exquisite.
Can't wait to catch up again in Sydney!!!!

trash said...

So pleased you invited us along to share in an adventure we wish we could all actually experience.


Am pleased to see that the naughty Missus RicRac remains unchanged herself despite her mahoosive fame.

Your previous post about Melbourne left me sad and happy. I am pleased you enjoy the old girl.

Duyvken said...

I second what eurolush said! You have introduced me to some 'new to me' bloggers in this post and I look forward to visiting their blogs and introducing myself.

How is that I have not come across that selvedge work before? It is amazing! I think I need that dress, you did pop it in your bag to bring it home for me didn't you?

xo

Suse said...

You are the BEST belly dancer.

And shortly, I shall show the world. Watch the blog ...

Anonymous said...

oh gosh mum, what have you done!BELLYDANCING?!?!

Suse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BabelBabe said...

1. Are you a librarian? If so, how did I miss that? I should think we were psychically linked or something...

2. I love the fish! Just that you thought of me is so thrilling!

3. Sigh. Photos of my darling Suse.

4. And lots of other cool bloggers.

5. Can't wait till Suse posts belly dancing photos.

BabelBabe said...

oh, and the selvages are so cool. What a terrific concept.

Mary said...

OK

Now I will allow myself a bit of jealousy.

I loved this post so much.

But still jealous.

Eleanor said...

Mary, please don't be jealous. I promise you that the belly dance was merely a rehearsal for THE REAL DANCE which I shall perform for you in person. I needed to practice so as to perfect my technique.

And Melbourne TOTALLY SUCKS without you.

Anonymous said...

What a marvellous record of the evening - you've done all the work for me! It was lovely to meet you Eleanor. Your book of poems was exquisite. Keep on belly dancing!

blackbird said...

You lucky thing!
(Must admit, I have a bit of a thing for selvages too...)

Anonymous said...

I loved this post, you would think I read and reread it 30 times or something ;)

And that photo w/ the selvage chair is amazing. Can I scoop you both up and bring you home with me?

Pretty please...

Cathy said...

Eleanor, it was a delight to meet you. And I did witness you belly dancing - very well too!!! Your post about the night was perfect - I forgot my camera that night so thank you for the memories. I am looking forward to meeting you again, at least I can read your blog!

Kristen Doran said...

The belly dancing was most impressive!!! Thanks for sharing the photos of a great night.

Stomper Girl said...

It was so lovely to meet you and to be the proud recipient of the lovely poems. Also, speaking as a dancer, I thought you acquitted yourself admirably with the shake-n-shimmy Cx

Mary we will take you bellydancing next time you come to Melbourne, promise.

Sömsmånen said...

A million thanks for taking me on such a well guided tour along crafty Australia!
It feels like I miss everybody instead of wishing I really went there. Which of course means that I actually did go to the fair with you, how else could I miss you all?
I hope we slept well and that our feet got a good nights rest after all the walking and talking - and.. belly dancing!?

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

A fabulous wrap up of a fabulous night.

ellie said...

The belly dancing was so fun to see. And really lovely to meet you, and get to hug Anna via you.
(I'm too tired to put any more sentences together, and the kids are *asking* me for food...).

Take care,
ellie :: petalplum :: red seed studio

Unknown said...

It looks like veryone had such a great time! hat a wonderful opportunity to all get together!