Hip Products: Kimono Reincarnate

After living for a combined six years in Japan, Melanie Gray Augustin returned to Australia and started her Kimono Reincarnate jewellery label to share her love of Japanese art, kimono fabric and 'kawaii' culture with the rest of the world.

Using combinations of vintage kimono fabrics, Japanese cottons, silver, crystal clear resin, bamboo and brightly coloured, and laser cut acrylics, Mel creates amazing brooches and necklaces to add a little Nihon-chic to your wardrobe. Many Kimono Reincarnate pieces are limited edition or one-off, so if you see something you like, best grab it quick smart.

I met Mel at a Brown Owls get-together in Brisbane a few years ago (remember me, Mel?) and have been keeping an eye on her work, but the recent launch of her paper crane brooch begged to be showcased. The crane brooches are laser-cut from sustainable bamboo, hand-sanded, and painted with delicate plum flowers to bring a little peace, love, health and longevity to the wearer. I truly love all of Mel's work, and I know my big girl would love those kawaii pendant necklaces too.

You can find Kimono Reincarnate in the online store, the Etsy store and at stockists around Australia. You can read more about Mel and all things Japanese and crafty and good over at her blog.

Images: Kimono Reincarnate

Brown Owls: Paper Bunting and Cards

We had a great time at Brown Owls on the weekend geeking out on stationery cutting tools and pawing over gorgeous paper designs to make these cards and paper bunting. Brown Owl prefect Abbey led the tutorial and we cut, stamped, folded and glued to our hearts' delight. How often do you dedicate two hours of your life to uninterrupted crafting time to make something pretty. Not enough I bet! I think we all deserve a little time once a month to create. And I can't wait to see little Livingstone's face when she opens her card on her birthday this weekend. More pics on the Brown Owls blog.

Images: Steph Bond

Brown Owls Brisbane Crochet Granny Squares

I was never a Girl Guide or a Brownie, but I was in Girls Brigade. And although we had a great time, I have always wondered what it would be like to wear that mushroom brown uniform and bake cookies and do all the things that Brownies do. So I did the next best thing, and joined the Brown Owls group in Brisbane.

This group is decidedly for big kids and we like to get together once a month to have some morning tea and work on a craft project. This weekend we worked on crocheting granny squares. I had worked on crochet with my Mum when I was young, and it's amazing how it all comes flooding back. It was lovely to craft and chat Next step - doilies. I'd love to make some sweet patches to sew onto Sophie's jeans.
I had a lovely time chatting to Alischa from Bespoke Letterpress Boutique, so really didn't get too far in 2 hours, but I think the chatting, baked goodies, cup of tea and relaxed atmosphere with other like-minded people is great for the soul.

A special thanks to Em from EmBelish for the excellent tuition and hands-on help. For more previous meetings, check out this post. For more pics, check out Helen's blog and Rebecca's post on the Brown Owls member blog.

Brown Owls was conceived by Pip from Meet Me At Mike's. For more information on Brown Owls and a chapter near you, check out the official blog.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Brown Owls Hit Brisbane

This year I'm spending more time on art - I'm doing a short SLR photography course at the moment at the Brisbane College of Photography, and I've joined the Brown Owls crafting group. Our first meet-up in February was a huge success - the venue was great, Bel made incredible cupcakes and I got to sit around and chat with a bunch of girls while working on craft projects. I'm working on my Kristen Doran matryoshka dolls, some teddies and embellished a top for Sophie. I'm pretty keen to learn how to make gocco prints, so I hope we have someone in the group that can share the knowledge.