George Baker Chair

With a bit of Drop Dead Fred and a little George Baker Selection, this chair is my most prized possession ever.



The fact that I made it is just a super added bonus. There is nothing better than seeing ideas come to fruition, and the fact that I get to sit in my creation is swell.

back to basics

Many apologies it has a been so long and so much has happened since my last post a year ago. So I will give an over view...

The company I worked for this time last year went through turmoil due to a series of reasons. I also moved into a more permanent residence (which included a design studio all for myself!). This took a toll on my life in a number of ways so I put Iva on hold whilst I waited to see how everything settled. When everything was sorted out I came out to discover I had invested in a long term career with people I respect and trust and love. I was also promoted to Design Consultant. What luck!

How does this help Iva? An opportunity came from someone close to me to present a range of hard furnishings for a new business operating close to my current one. Within a matter of weeks I find myself the designer of Perth's latest range of uber contemporary dining tables, coffee tables, tv units and accents.

Needless to say I'm jumping in my shoes.

Coinciding with this revelation is the course I began during my spare time. The course is the TAFE WA Upholstery course. I fixed up an old armchair I found on the side of the road. I have to say I have fallen in love with furniture all over again.

Shortly I will be showing you the finished product and I promise for regular updates...

Little Red Riding Hood

A friend of mine last night asked me if I still painted and it got me thinking. I used to draw constantly in high school, and most of my drawings evolved into paintings at some point in time too. However since I've finished my interest waned as I got more into knitting and stitching, as you already know.

As I though about it more I decided to give sketching a shot, see if I was a rusty nail or just a hibernating bear. My favourite theme is people, and I have to say I think I got quite good at it. So I asked my good friend to name their favourite superhero (we are both comic book buffs in a massive way) and I would stylise an image for them.

It took less than a day for my passion to re-emerge and by this evening the idea had formed and the hero was named: Little Red Riding Hood.

I cannot believe how easy it was to get back into the groove. With only one pencil, a bad eraser and a scrap piece of A3 I tried to do a rough interpretation of where I wanted to head. It has been honestly an hour since I first put pencil to paper.

Check out the result....

Before I Go

Well, I am off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a week! It will be my first trip in a plane...and by myself...and out of the country (!) so I am crossing quite a few things off my to-do list at once. As you can imagine I am unbelievably excited at the new experiences awaiting me, especially since my good friend Fareena is a local there and ready to take me to all the sites and shops.

Due to all this I thought it best to catch you up before I get too much news to share and everything becomes a jumble!

Firstly, there is a new member of the household. Her name is Geraldine and she is a mannequin from New South Wales. She has fit into life with me superbly, and we have already had much fun positioning her in dark nooks in the middle of the night to scare unwary moonlighters. In her spare time Gerladine also poses for photos in my scarves and shawls. These photos are not far off me publishing them, I just need a few touch ups to lighting etc. Also I feel a make over as far as her face is concerned isn't long off.

Iva Designs is only days away from having an official logo and stationary. With this will come the publishing of the patterns and hopefully some interest from pattern companies. Fingers crossed!!

I have also begun playing around with felt, yarns, needles and hooks, and pre-existing patterns, as well as an incorporation of corduroy, patchwork and silks into designs. This is probably too much at the one time, but there are just too many possibilities in the world. I have settled for now to focus on yarn vs. needlework for the moment, with much success....

My big idea for this fortnight has been a 2 ply lacing yarn, with a thicker crochet hook. The challenge being the fine qualities of lacing yarn and looping with a chunky hook. If this confuses you then the idea is little hole vs. big pokey stick. Also lacing yarn is primarily for knitting, not crochetting so there is little information readily available to help...Much frustration to ensue but I'm excited :)

This is probably enough for now, but I'll be back with Malaysian colours and new designs in mind don't worry and hopefully a few finished pictures to share!

Salemat Tinggal xx

New beginnings

After my recent success at the Arts and Crafts Convention I decided to get my act into gear and do something I'd been talking about for months and applied for my Business Registration.

The reason I had to do this was basically to get my name sorted so I could trade under it without worrying if anyone else in WA had the same name. Today I got the good news that my application was successful and so as of May 22 2009, I am officially a business acting under the name Iva Designs.

As you can probably guess this was a momentous moment for me, and so I have celebrated by purchasing a stunning light shade for my bedroom (Icarus by artecnica) and designing a new hat.

This brings my total design portfolio up to 3 hats, 5 scarves and a wall hanging. Never fear though a new scarf is on the way which I am planning to encompass a little bit of crochetting, a small amount of felting and a whole lot of colour.

I am also expecting the arrival of my mannequin from NSW, so as soon as that gets here there will even be some images to go with all this talk.

Will be back soon with more information :)