A Christine update

It's all been about the bra contest lately so today I thought I'd do a little update about what's new with me.

Well I've been spending lots of money on this, this and (very excited) this.

I've been making these:


I'm going to be writing for another blog which I'm very excited about. If you have any tutorials you'd like me to consider trying out, leave me a comment.

Ummmm, what else? College is finished until September so I'm free of assignments for a little while. The sun has been out today which is great. I'm loving Mika's album, chatting to the UK etsy girls (buy UK!), gardening and facebook.

What's new with you?

Are you afraid of snakes?

If you are, you probably wouldn't wear this bra! But what a fabulous bra Felicia of Fluffy Flowers has created.


Chase in the Grass by Fluffy Flowers (Click to see full size)

The snake is chasing the little mice around the green bra- will the mice get away??

Felicia makes many more fun little creatures, see her shop for more of her work.

You still have until the 6th June to upload your bra contest photos to the flickr group. I'm looking forward to seeing them all.

A day later than scheduled...

Here's another prize that is up for grabs if you win the contest.



This beautiful embroidered brooch was donated by the fabulous lovealittle. She creates the brooches using tyvek and assorted yarns, threads and beads. You can make one yourself using one of her kits:



So go check out her shop today and don't forget to enter the contest!

Back to the prizes...

Next up in the prizes we have these beautiful earrings from Sakura Fubuki Designs.





Again, my photos don't really do them justice, they're very pretty and glamorous.

Sakura makes stunning jewellery and also produces some beautiful ceramic work. She's combined both talents in this piece:


(Click photo to see (and buy!) the Etsy listing).

Read Sakura's blog or visit her shop to find out more about her unique jewellery designs.

How many more reasons do you need to enter the "decorate your bra" contest today? Well, tomorrow there'll be another reason!

Just a few new designs...

I interrupt the prize announcements to just show you a few things I've been working on lately...

Thanks to the UK etsy supplies swap I received these beautiful pieces of sea glass from The Devil's Wallpaper. So with the addition of some silver wire twisted and turned around them, they became pendants:


Two of them in my shop now, with two to follow soon!

I'm really happy with this set of cards and gift tags so there'll be more colours to come soon, in the meantime here are the Sunshine Girls:





In my shop now.

Hope your bra decorating is going well, hoping to see some more entries soon! For all of you in the UK, have a fun bank holiday weekend. I'm now off to do some gardening before the rain starts!

More beautiful bra contest prizes

This time I have two prizes to show and they're from the fabulous Kezzaroo Designs.

First up is a beautiful pink dream pillow:



The little felt pillow is filled with dried French lavender which will help you sleep when you pop it under your pillow. Or you could use it as a drawer scenter- it smells wonderful!

Secondly, we have these stunning earrings:



My slightly ropey photos don't do them justice, they're truly stunning and if I had pierced ears I'd be hiding them and not telling you lot about them! :)

Kezzaroo is queen of plushies and her trademark little people are the best, not to mention the beautiful jewellery. She's probably best known on etsy for her little Mr.T:

(Click photo to see (and buy!) the Etsy listing).

Read Kez's blog or visit her shop to find out more about this super talented lady.

So what are you waiting for? Enter the "decorate your bra" contest today!

At last, she shows us the prizes!

I have been sent so many beautiful prizes for the contest, I'm so thankful for all the support from my fellow Etsy sellers. Not only have they sent prizes, several of them have also sponsored me for the MoonWalk. So this is a big huge thank you from me to them!

Now on with to the prizes. First up is this beautiful orchid print from the super talented Jo Askey. It's printed on linen effect paper and has a white border for framing.



You can buy this print and many more in her shop, I know you'll fall in love with her "Shoes" series of prints. This new one is a particular favourite of mine:



I love the rose handbag Jo has created in this illustration- I'd quite like one like that myself. Anyone know where I can find one?

Come back tomorrow when I'll be featuring another Etsy artist and another great prize.

Playtex MoonWalk London 2007 Photos

There are lots more in my flickr set but here are a few photos from last night (all clickable to view larger sizes).

Me before the start in the tent, modelling my bra:


The start:



Nearly there:


Amanda proudly showing off her medal


And me with my medal


Thank you everyone for all your support!

WE DID IT!!!!!

It took 7 hours and we finished at 6am. Weather was perfect, the support on the streets was fantastic and I'm very proud. Photos and a fuller report will follow soon but for now I'm having a rest. :)

***News: Change of deadline***

I've extended the deadline for bra contest entries to the 6th June. I've also been offered several more prizes. I'll be blogging about each prize separately when they arrive so look out for that coming soon. Keep decorating! I'll be back on Sunday with photos from the Playtex MoonWalk- London 2007.

It's all about bras and walking

Well only one more day to go until the big night- 15,000 women (and men) will be donning their decorated bras and walking the streets of London in aid of breast cancer charities. According to the MoonWalk website it's going to be 8°C overnight which means we need to keep a good pace and not stop unless we really have to. I'm excited and nervous now- I know what to expect as this is the second year I've taken part- which is probably why I'm nervous! I know it's going to be fun though and I'll also be thinking about the women I know, and those who's stories I've heard, who have battled breast cancer bravely. If they can do that, I can certainly walk 26.2 miles to help them and many others.

Now on to the bras, two more people have added their bras to the flickr group as part of the bra decorating contest.


This beautiful bra is by Carolyne from Australia and features gorgeous hand felted flowers.

Next up is Amanda's bra, Amanda is from Suffolk in the UK, not many miles away from me. In fact she's one of my walking buddies for tomorrow night's event so she'll be wearing this bra on the streets of London- all that glitz and glitter will look fabulous. ;)



How is everyone else getting on? I have had three fantastic prizes offered from three etsy sellers. More on that when I have some pictures of the prizes.

EDIT: Just a little note, although this contest is totally free to enter, if you'd like to show your support for breast cancer charities, please consider sponsoring me via the little box on the right of this page. All money goes directly to Walk the Walk. Thank you.

Lots of photos

I have lots of catch-up photos to show you today. I've had some great post lately: artwork from askey, Marmee craft, ashleyg and alicub, Marie Claire Idees magazine (some scans to come soon) and this beautiful vintage teacup trio from Rhi.



I also had an amazing find in a local charity shop, this beautiful handmade patchwork quilt top:





I'm contemplating finishing it but having never quilted before I don't really know where to start so for now it's gracing the sofa downstairs with it's presence.

Two Bird ACEOs- which will are in my shop now!




Oh and here's a sneak peak of my bra, as promised! I only have a few days left to finish it.



Hope everyone is getting on well with their bra decorating, I should be able to show you some of the prizes soon.

Buy pink!

Buy any pink item and I'll donate 50% of the price to Walk the Walk- the charity I'm walking for on Saturday night. Here are all the pink items in my Etsy shop you can choose from:











Don't forget to check the flickr group- we have another bra contest entry! Thank you Carolyne

First bra contest photo is in the Flickr pool...

Thank you to Katie (from What Katie Did) for being the first entrant with her knitted pink creation. She's part of a group who are taking part in the Edinburgh MoonWalk.



Hope everyone is doing well with their designing and creating, I started mine last night, I may post a sneak preview later.

More bra love...

I've been searching the net finding more bra inspiration for you! But first here is a picture of the bra I decorated for last years MoonWalk along with my medal.



We chose a garden theme and embellished our bras with felt flowers, beads, butterflies and green fur trim!

So on to the Internet search results:

Spiky bras by Laurie Jacobs :: Australian National crazy quilt retreat (inaminuteago blog) :: Bras for a cause :: Playtex MoonWalk :: Sew news :: Frida Bra-hlo (craftster) :: MAKE blog- flashing LED bra! ::

Also see my previous post for some more links.

I'm can't wait to see bras appearing in the flickr group soon!

Walking and designing

Well yesterday we completed the last "big" training walk before the MoonWalk- 20 miles! In less than two weeks it will all be over, we'll be tired but satisfied and proud after walking 26.2 miles in aid of breast cancer charities. We're still giving some thought to how we're going to decorate our bras for the walk. Of course we need to keep them practical and comfortable as they have to stay supportive for the walk. You of course don't need to keep them so practical! How is everyone getting on with the contest?

I've designed this little banner for the contest. Feel free to use it on your blogs and websites to promote it.



And finally here's a picture of our walk yesterday, more in my flickr set. Our walk coincided with a vintage car rally which made the walk along the sea front a little tricky!

Decorated Bra Contest

Here it is, my first ever contest.

Take a bra, any bra, everyone’s got one lurking in the back of their underwear drawer that they never wear any more. Then decorate it any which way you wish- dye it, cover it in flowers, ribbons, sequins or whatever you can think of. Be inventive & imaginative. My last post has some inspirational links to give you some ideas.

Then upload a picture to the Flickr group that I’ve set up for the contest. The deadline for entries is June 6th. On June 7th I’ll post all the photos here and ask for votes from all you lovely readers. The entry with the most votes will win a special big box of handmade goodies from me and other talented crafters and artists. If you’d like to donate a prize please email me at bracontest(at)tesco.net

Any questions? Leave me a comment! And please tell your friends about the contest, the more the merrier.

EDIT: Here are some FAQs to answer the questions I've had so far:

FAQ
How many times can I enter?
It’s just one entry per person- if you make more than one bra, choose your favourite one to enter in the contest.
Can I post more than one photo of the same bra?
Yes you can. But I'll choose only one to post on the blog for voting.
Does the bra still have to be wearable?
No, but the bra should still look like a bra- i.e. don’t make it in to a purse.
Can I post my entry photo somewhere other than Flickr?
No. Please post your photo to the Flickr group only.
How do I set up a Flickr account?
Go to www.flickr.com. Click the button that says “sign up” and follow the on-screen instructions. Once you have an account, you’ll need to join the Decorated Bra Contest Group.
How do I join the Flickr group?
Go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/335553@N24/ Click on the link that says “Join this group” and follow the on-screen instructions.
How do I submit my entry photo to the group?
First you need to upload your photo to your Flickr account and you must be a member of the group. Then follow the instructions available here.

EDIT (24/5/07) PRIZES: See this post for the one of the prizes- more to be announced soon.

All about bras...

For the MoonWalk we have to decorate our bras (supplied by Playtex) and wear them proudly as we stomp the streets of London. You can see last years bra here

This year we're thinking flowers again, maybe big pink gerberas!

Here's a website (found via Art dolls) with lots of amazing bras that might inspire us although I'm not sure how wearable most of them are. There's lots more bra inspiration here and Laura Jacob's art bras are spectacular.

If you know of any other websites with great bra art, please let me know!

EDIT: I've had an idea for a competition based around this, details in the next post once I've figured them out!