Somerset Tas - Brown Owls THIS Wednesday...

Hello Lovelies, I hope your weekends were grand!

Our beautiful group is meeting this Wednesday at Two Oaks Cafe Somerset from 10am till 12pm and we would love for you to me along! After spending the morning hanging out with our local Spinners and Weaver for our last meet up, this one will be a relaxed affair with cups of tea or hot chocolate and cake available for purchase.

Bring along your crafty project or flick through some crafty books or magazines for inspiration. We are more than happy to share our skills, or learn new things!

We have a community project up our sleeve, in the spirit of Pip's earlier refugee book project....stay tuned!

I can be contacted via email or our new facey page here :)

Allana xx

:: Brunswick Brown Owls on Channel 31

Do you remember that Channel 31 filmed the Brunswick Owls and guest teacher Sue Halliday? Here is the follow up message from the show Made By Hand (via The Brunswick Owls page!)


A message from Tracey Wightman. 

"Made by Hand, our craft television series, is well underway with production for our 9 episodes. We are having a terrific time filming stories and I am grateful for the amazing access we have been given into your studio's and workspaces. It is an absolute privilege.I am thrilled to report that we now have a broadcast date for the 9 episode series. Broadcast will begin on Wednesday 29th June, 2011 at 8:30pm on C31. We are so excited to have this prime time-slot! Don't worry if you might miss it...all episodes will uploaded to our website each week after they are broadcast, available for viewing at your leisure...  ...I hope you enjoy the episodes - your feedback is most welcome and greatly appreciated. It has always been my ambition to showcase the amazing, world-class, craft talent in Victoria. I hope this series and our promotion might bring a new audience to appreciate your work and creative efforts.Many many thanks again"

Footscray Brown Owls June Meeting

Well it was just the two of us but we still had a most enjoyable time chatting, sipping, crotcheting perusing patterns and planning............

Born to Knit is a campaign being run by save the children fund. It intends to donate 15,000 knitted blankets for disadvantaged children overseas who need blankets for warmth. Footscray Brown Owls have decided to join forces to knit squares for a blanket.

If your Brown Owl group is interested in joining the campaign you can check it out how here.
So come on all you brown owls lets see how many blankets we can contribute to the campaign. Theres something nice about the thought that something woolly created here in Australia will keep a child in need warm and comforted. :)

Knitting at Brisbane Brown Owls!

Brisbane Owls: It's time to RSVP for our next meet up! 

CHANGE TO ORIGINAL MEET UP FROM MACRAME TO KNITTING! We'll be re-visiting macramé soon! Stay tuned!

Date: Saturday 25 June 2011

Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm

Venue: New Farm Library Meeting Room, 135 Sydney Street, New Farm


Craft-along Project: Macramé Owl Brooches

This is one not to be missed! Sarah Rossiter will be leading the Brisbane Brown Owls this month with cute little macramé owl brooches! All you need to bring is a ball of twine to make your little macramé owl, you can go for unbleached twine, white twine or you can pre-dye your twine ready for the day. Twine can be purchased at Spotlight or your local supermarket for about $5.50. 


Little twigs for the owls to stand on, beady eyes and brooch pins will all be provided. 

**NEW** CRAFT-ALONG PROJECT: KNITTING
 Sam and Rebecca will be dusting off the knitting needles to teach you the basics of casting on, knit, purl and casting off. Bring your knitting needles and yarn or if you don't have any we will have a little stash available to use on the day. For the avid knitters out there we'd love to see what you're working on too!

Please leave a comment to let us know if you will be taking part in the project.

OR BYO craft to work on.

Tea and coffee provided. Feel free to show off your baking skills by bringing a plate for morning tea :)

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post by this Thursday 23 June or email brisbanebrownowls@gmail.com. 

Adelaide Brown Owls - Jersey Wrap Up

Pardon the bad pun in the title there, but here's a few happy snaps of the jersey scarves that we very excitedly made last meet. Just look at our happy little cherubs! This craft was one of the most popular, achieveable and rewarding sessions we've done in a long time.

Big thankyou to Mel who showed us how simple yet effective making your own jersey scarves from t-shirts really is.

St George and Sutherland Brown Owls - Dates

Source

Pull out those diaries and mark down the following days for our upcoming meetings!

I have tried to make them inbetween the other Sydney Brown Owls dates (20th of each month) to make it easier for those who like to go to both!

Please let me know if you would like to learn a new crafty skill and I will add a 'learn to' to the meetings!

July

Date: Sunday 10th July 2011

Venue: Buzzbar Expresso - 22 Morts Road Mortdale NSW 2223

Time: 2pm - 5pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

August

Date: Tuesday 9th August 2011

Venue: Boyles Hotel Sutherland - 806 - 810 Old Princes Highway, Sutherland, NSW 2232

Time: 7pm - 10pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

September

Date: Sunday 11th September 2011

Venue: Edmonds and Greer, 97 Mulga Road, Oatley NSW 2223

Time: 2pm - 5pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

October

Date: Tuesday 11th October 2011

Venue: Buzzbar Expresso - 22 Morts Road Mortdale NSW 2223

Time: 7pm - 10pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

November

Date: Sunday 6th November 2011

Venue: Buzzbar Expresso - 22 Morts Road Mortdale NSW 2223

Time: 2pm - 5pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

December - Christmas Party

Date: Sunday 11th December 2011

Venue: Hazelhurst Gallery 782 Kingsway, Gymea NSW 2227

Time: 2pm - 5pm

BYO Craft or Learn To: TBA

Special thanks to Michelle for braving the cold to join me last night in an intitmate Brown Owls meeting!

:: Facebooking Good Looking!

Hey ho!  (Not that you are a ho... it's just an expression!)  I just wanted to pop by and say go you guys. Look what you are all doing. Sheesh and wow.  Very awesome.

AND I wanted to say that HEAPS of good stuff and chatter is happening over on Facebook.
Of course you know about the main Facebook group.  But of course there are lots of little splinter groups (ow!) on Facebook for various chapters.  You can join the OTHER chapter's Facebook groups, to be privvy to what they are all up to, even if you are not in that chapter.  It's a good way to gather ideas and friends, and to see how other people are doing the Brown Owls thing!  Also you can perhaps swap project ideas and tutorials for Brown Owls meetings too, which is incredibly time saving and share-y and totally what the Brown Owls spirit is all about!

If you do write a tutorial/project for Brown Owls, you could save it as a PDF (via Microsoft Word) and upload it to Issuu.  Then other Owls can download it from there for their meetings.  (It is free to use Issuu!)

There is a list of the FB groups in the sidebar : and I shall copy and paste the group list PLUS the full contact list below for your convenience!  If you start a chapter Facebook group, be sure to add it to the list (if you are not sure how, just send me a message!)

• Brown Owls on Twitter : Tweet Your Meetings! (Contact Pip for the Twitter log in!)
• Brown Owls Facebook page : Post your meetings over there as EVENTS... or just on the group WALL
• Brown Owls :: Melbourne 3000 :: Sue :: Facebook Page
• Brown Owls : Brunswick Melbourne : Stacy : Facebook Page
• Brown Owls : Eastern Suburbs Melbourne : (Jemma) Facebook Page
• Brown Owls Sydney: Facebook Page
• Brown Owls : Brisbane : Facebook Page
• Brown Owls : Launceston : Gemma : Facebook Page

Adelaide:: Cherry, Gillian Melissa & Susan FollowAdelaide on FaceBook

Adelaide :: Mitcham :: Julie and Lianne

Brisbane :: Rebecca & Sam : Follow Brisbane on Facebook

Perth :: Bayswater :: Sarah

Perth :: Como :: Lisa and Pip

Canberra :: Michelle, Bron, Georgie & Naomi

Tasmania :: Burnie Area : Allana

Tasmania :: Devonport Area : Lili

Tasmania :: Launceston Area : Gemma

Melbourne :: CBD 3000 :: Sue

Melbourne :: Preston :: Keti

Melbourne :: Brunswick :: Stacy

Melbourne :: Eastern Melbourne :: Jemma : Join the Brown Owls Eastern Melbourne group on Facebook

Melbourne :: Footscray :: Helen

Melbourne :: Outer Eastern Suburbs :Kaz

Melbourne :: Southside :: Katrina at Windsor Deli and Shannon

Sydney :: St George and Sutherland Area :: Thouraya

Sydney :: Bec and Jess : Join the Brown Owls Sydney group on Facebook

Perth (Bayswater) Brown Owls this Sunday!

Bayswater (Perth) Brown Owls is on again this Sunday!

Venue: Bayswater Drill Hall, cnr Murray and Crowther streets, Bayswater, Western Australia
Date: Sunday June 19
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Bring: Whatever craft you are working on that is portable and also a gold coin donation to help with the hall hire.

Leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions- shodgson(at)westnet(dot)com(dot)au


Hope to see you there :)

MELB OUTER EASTERN SUBURBS BROWN OWLS

Adelaide Owls Turn 2

Yes it's been 2 years for the Adelaide Brown Owls so we thought we'd have a birthday party!

Come and join us at the Chocolate Bean for yummy food, hot drinks drinks and crafty chats.

If you haven't been to an Owls meeting for a while this is one you don't want to miss.

Wednesday 22 June from 7pm. Comment here to RSVP.

Brown Owls Sydney- 20th June Meet Up

Hello lovely Owls!

The Sydney Owls are meeting up next week! We welcome all who would like to attend - new members and old. Just RSVP either here or on Facebook so we have an idea of numbers.

When - Monday, 20th June from 6pm

Where - Berkalouw Books Wine Bar (70 Norton St Leichhardt

What to Bring- Travel craft of your choice (knitting, crochet, hand sewing, paper crafts, beading etc)

Details - the Wine Bar serves delicious light meals and deserts and has a lovely selection of drinks - wines, coffee and teas.

Sydney Owls at the last Leichhardt catch up courtsey of Jess

:: Southside Owls :: A Little Video!

Southside Brown Owls from Susie Anderson on Vimeo.

Brown Owls Melbourne 3000, July meet

Howdy!

Well....... having had such a great first gathering this week, it seems only right to get right on with planning the next!

when: Monday 4th July 2011
at: 6.30 - 9pm
where: The Parlour, Madame Brussels, level 3, 59-63 Bourke St, Melbourne 3000
why: because the first one was so great and therefore a second is definitely in order
bring: BYO craft project or notify me in the RSVP below if you need some ideas
cost: no fee for attendance but you may like to purchase a drink or a delight from the Madame Brussels menu, by way of a thankyou for room usage
RSVP: essential! asap! indicate your want to attend by submitting a comment to this blog entry, in your response please include your name eg. Sue H (but dont use that one unless you are me!)

As mentioned at our gathering this week, please contact me - link in the menu over there on the right or sue (at) craftinghealth (dot) com - with any of your suggestions for topics / crafts you might like some instruction in or, hopefully, would like to present yourself (go on, do it - we can assure you lots of support!). And just generally let me know if you have any ideas for future meets, themed nights etc.

And.... how about joining our facebook group, that would be super.

Look forward to seeing you.

sue

ps. did someone ask me about a rabbit pattern? check out billy and bobby up top there in that there photo, cute yeah? they live in london now, having adventures with my nephews. access to pattern here (down at the bottom of the page).

MITCHAM BROWN OWLS

Our Logo designed and drawn by Jo Schofield.

Hi Owlies,

Sorry for the late notice, we have our next Brown Owls meeting this Tuesday.
Bring along your own project, or we have learn to knit and crochet, and of course, temari.

Hasn't the cold weather been perfect for curling up at home and doing a bit of craft?

Thanks very much to Jo who is a very patient teacher, and taught us how to spin at our last meeting, both drop spindle spinning and with her spinning wheel.

Could you please RSVP if you are attending so we know how many to expect.
We'll look forward to seeing you.

Kind regards,

Lianne and Julie

The Details.

Where: Gallery One 1 Torrens Street Mitcham ph : 8272 4504

When: Tuesday 14th of June 7 - 9.30 pm.

Cost: Once of Joining fee $10, Room Hire $5.

Brown Owls Melbourne 3000, didnt we have a lovely time

Last night was our first meet. It went jolly well. There were 23 lovely gals and one super bloke regaling in the splendour of the venue that was the Parlour room at Madame Brussels.



There was stitching, knitting, pippy slippering, crochet, hexagons, buttons and quite a lot of chatting and generally very good super sharing-ness.



Thanks very much to Tanya crochet teacher - look what can be achieved in just one evening, complete novice to granny squarer extraordinaire:

Some tennis outfit clad peeps served us toasties, fine cheese, wine, champagne and some lovely tea, from a proper pot, appropriately beclad in knitted tea cosy (the pot was the only thing proper about it, i found out late in the evening that that tea was undercover - and i dont mean just cosy under its knitted cosy - it was cheekily actually hot toddy - sneaky!)

And look, this is me and my first ever Brown Owl buddy Shannon.

A lovely time had by all.

Next meet details will be announced tomorrow, get ready to RSVP! Look forward to seeing you soon.

Southside Brown Owls ~ Thu 16th June ~ Embroidery!

Hello!!

We are going to give embroidery a try next week and would love you to join us!

Date: Thu 16th June

Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm(ish)

Venue: Miss Jackson 2/19 Grey Street, St. Kilda (just look for the big rusty gate)

Craft: EMBROIDERY!!

But of course, BYO projects are always welcome, please do come along even if embroidery is not your cup of tea

Here is a list of the stuff you need for stitching:

~ Embroidery hoop

~ Embroidery floss

~ Embroidery needles

~ Material

~ Air or water fading tracing pen

~ Scissors

We are aiming to provide enough stuff for everyone that wants to stitch along, but please feel free to bring you own stuff along if you have it already or buy some if you would like. Most of the items are pretty cheap, and Spotlight in South Melbourne has a great range of embroidery floss.

We will have everything listed above, plus plenty of pictures you can trace and different stitch instructions aswell.

Here is a fantastic tutorial from Pip on the basics of embroidery! And there is endless inspiration to be found on the interwebs. The best thing about embroidery is you can embroider pretty much anything!

Goodies: We will have tea, wine and some delicious baked goodies

And everyone is more than welcome to show off their baking skills and bring something along ;)

RSVP: Please RSVP in the comments section below if you would like to come along

Let us know if you would like to do embroidery so we can make sure we have enough supplies for everyone

We can accommodate the first 25 people to comment below

We are super looking forward to it and hope to see you there! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. And...we will have the open fire roaring so we will be toasty crafters!!

Cheers

Shannon (@ladygrey7)

Canberra Brown Owls 18 June - Jewelry Workshop

(Photo by Goldlens)

Hi Canberra Owls!

Our next meeting is on Saturday 18 June from 2 - 4 pm at the Downer Community Centre. This month, Brown Owl Simone will be running a jewelry workshop!

This is something new that we haven't run before, so thanks to Simone for offering to share her skills.

Here's what you need to bring:

• $3 which will cover you for 1m of tiger wire plus access to joiners etc. Simone has some clasps and shepherds hooks etc that I can provide.
• Any beads or other interesting things you'd like to incorporate into your creating. Now's the time to be creative! 
• Wire cutters or pliers if you have them. Simone has one set, but you can pick these items up pretty cheaply (under $10) from Lincraft and Spotlight.
• And extra $5 for the hall hire
• And a small plate of afternoon tea to share if you want to! Coffee and tea will be provided 

Please RSVP if you want to attend. This makes it easier for Simone to know how many supplies to bring, and for the prefects to know how many chairs and tables to put out.




(Photo by Pipalatest)

Hope to see you there!

xx
Michelle, Bron, George, Naomi and Simone!

St George and Sutherland Brown Owls

A little reminder that we are meeting next

Tuesday night the 14th of June at the Oatley Hotel

in The Lounge Room - Just behind the Clock and Oyster counter!

8 Oatley Avenue, Oatley NSW 2223

New craftsters welcome!

We'll be there from 7pm - 10pm

Come along and craft it up with a current project or you can make some covered buttons and hair clips if you want ($1 for each button/clip). If you have some super scraps you want to turn into buttons/clips bring them along or you can use some of my selection!

ALSO I am working on the calendar for the next 6 months if you have any venue ideas for the next meetings let me know on the night or suggest in the comments below!

See you there - Thouraya

Brown Owls Melbourne 3000, tomorrow night!

hoorah - only one more sleep to go! If you've RSVP'd already to the inaugural meet of the Brown Owls Melbourne 3000 group, see you tomorrow night.

at: Parlour room, Madame Brussels, level 3, 59-63 Bourke St, Melbourne 3000 (entrance to the left of 'The Spaghetti Tree' restaurant, and then lifts to level 3)
at: 6.30 - 9pm
bring: a craft project (or if Omlair Tanya is teaching you to crochet then bring a 4mm hook and 8 ply wool) and, if you like, a few dollars to partake in a beverage or delicious menu item, as way of a thankyou to the Madame Brussel'ers for allowing us to use the Parlour (which will also handily ensure that your tastebuds are also firmly along for the party).

Looking forward to seeing you.

sue

ps. to all those that havent already RSVP'd, sorry! this event is now full, look forward to seeing you at the next one.

Adelaide Brown Owls :: Jersey scarves

Even sunny old Adelaide gets a bit chilly over winter but sometimes a thick woolly scarf is just too much.  A fantastic solution to this fashion dilemma is a jersey scarf and that is exactly what we plan to make this week at Brown Owls. Recycle an old t-shirt that has seen better days, and create a light and soft scarf that will protect your neck from the cold but not end up feeling scratchy and hot.

All you need to bring is a t-shirt (old or new, it doesn't matter) and something to cut the t-shirt with (a rotary cutter is ideal but scissors will be just fine.)  If you have some stretch fabric at home that you'd like to turn into a scarf then bring that too, but make sure it is at least twice the width of the average t-shirt.  

If you'd rather just bring along your own project to work on then please do. We'd love to see you and you can always just watch what we are doing and then try it at home later on.

Where? The Box Factory, Regent Street South, Adelaide.
When?  This Wednesday 8th June at 7pm.

What?   Bring some supplies for a scarf or BYO a WIP that needs some love. 

We have a Facebook group now too so please join us there to be updated on any Adelaide specific stuff that is happening. 

Launceston Brown Owls June Meet: Freestylin'

Hi to all Launceston Crafters!
It's June Meeting Time.

When: Tuesday 14 June, 7-9pm
Where: Nanna's Cafe, 7 Coulter Court, Launceston (Park outside by driving down driveway next to Toyworld off York Street, OR Park in Brisbane Street and walk through arcade)
Refreshments available for purchase.
What: Bring your own WIP (work in progress) There are still plenty of Granny Squares going ... so if you are at a crafting loose end there are a whole army of crocheters ready to lend a hand if you want to have a whirl.

RSVP below. or head to our facebook page (how very modern).
All are welcome. Never been before ... but been meaning to? This is your month. ALL welcome! We promise you won't have an awkward 'what am I doing here?' moment.

Yours in craft
Gemma and Georgia x

My first night at Brown Owls

Here is my story, of fact, not fiction, which I feel like sharing; especially with those that are new to Brown Owls and may be soon to embark on walking into their first Brown Owls group gathering.

It was February I think, 2009, my first Brown Owls in real life experience. A Brown Owls article in Frankie magazine had inspired me, whilst on a flight to Brisbane for Christmas. I remember it well. That was the first time I discovered Frankie as well as the first time I discovered Brown Owls – a pretty inspirational combination.

So….. having arrived at that bar on the corner of Gertrude Street, Fitzroy of which the name escapes me just now, I shuffled on in and eagerly, nervously, shyly, waited to have my name ticked on the brown owls 2009 member list. It got to be my turn and I presented myself to Pip, who at that point I didn’t know was Pip but it soon became very evident that it was she. She was wearing a necklace; its pendant announced “hello”.

"hi, i'm sue" says me - "oh yes i've been hearing lots of good things about you" says Pip.

This was not the response I was expecting. On the verge of saying "oh no you must have got me confused with someone else, we've not met or been in contact before", I luckily, fortunately, thank goodnessly, realised that this was Pip being beautifully warm and welcoming. I left with a smile in my heart and a great looking forwardness to the next meet.

Although we don't all embody the depth of generosity, grace and goodness that Pip does (she really is quite special) it really is quite likely that at a Brown Owls gathering you'll find a friendly, crafty sharing kind of person of good Brown Owl repute, who can assist in buffering any 'first time' nerves.

This time next week it will be the first meet of the Brown Owls Melbourne 3000 group. Will you be nervous? I hope not too much. If you like you can grab me, Sue that is, if some nervousness strikes and I shall introduce you to someone lovely. If I’m not around then I’m sure there will be someone else who can offer such assistance.

To Brown Owls veterans: What was your first Brown Owls experience like?

To Brown Owls newbies: Here's wishing all of you a first Brown Owls encounter that’s as heart warming as mine.

Sue

on behalf of BABs (Befriend A Brownowl scheme)