Party Pics, Renaissance, & more FREE stuff!

Here are some pics taken at the BrisStyle Team meet-up at The Book Café in Mt Gravatt last Saturday. It was a fun morning, with our Secret Santa swap, the drawing of the blog giveaway and enthusiastic planning for the upcoming BrisStyle Christmas Market happening on Saturday 13th December.




I don’t recall that festive frog being in attendance. Frog face must have crashed the party after I left. Luckily another BrisStyler had left by then also. Would have been embarrassing because they were both wearing exactly the same outfits! Thanks so much to Em and Bel from EmBelISH for making the awesome Ferrero Rocher Christmas trees and for organising the meet-up! A great time was had by all!

Now onto a few things that BrisStylers are currently up to. The Renaissance Exhibition at Reverse Garbage opened last Friday and included in the exhibit are lovely handcrafted eco-friendly pieces by Ali (jellygnite), Bec (beckybean) and Helen (ruby red studios and ruby 2 go-go). I visited on Monday and took a few photos while there.


I am a Brisbane crafter and Art teacher and my work celebrates and is inspired by paper ephemera, vintage designs, memories, thriftiness and simplicity.

A big component of my making process is the use of salvaged and recycled materials: most of my work features at least 75% salvaged materials. I enjoy collecting and salvaging abandoned, old materials and transforming them, giving them a new and different life. I enjoy the extra ‘history’ salvaged materials bring to a piece as well as supporting the idea of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. So many wonderful materials can be found on the ‘scrap pile’! - Ali Chisholm

My inspiration comes from the materials themselves, and the story behind them. I love the idea that a soft floral linen used in a handbag may have once been a girl’s first tablecloth, stored in her glory box until her wedding day. Or maybe the big sparkly button on a bookmark once glittered under the lights of a blue light disco in the 80s.

My pieces say a lot about who I am. And who am I? My name is Bec, and I am a mum, a wife, a daughter and a sister. I sew and I sing and I walk and I play. And I really like tea and chocolate. - Bec Hollis

Helen is a local Brisbane Artist whose passion for nostalgia inspires her work. A part time air hostess, she is also heavily influenced by her intrepid travel adventures and surrounds. Viva the “re-purposed revolution”! Recycle, repurpose, reclaim, remodel, revamp, redesign, rediscover, recraft, rework, renovate, rescue, rekindle, reduce and revolutionise! - Helen Berthold
(info sourced from the Renaissance Exhibition artist bio booklet)
These photos don’t do the pieces justice, so you’d best head on over to see how truly amazing everything is. The exhibition is on in the Echoes Gift Shop during regular Reverse Garbage trading hours. This is one not to be missed! Fanflipintastic!


More giveaways! The big BrisStyle giveaway may be over, but four very generous and talented BrisStyle members are currently offering super giveaways on their blogs.

Teneale (wickedchilddesigns) is giving away a cool Gothic Gretel doll.

To enter click here. Quick! Ends Thursday 27th November.
Hayley (Re-Read) is giving away a fab Fruity Goose brooch.

To enter click here. Ends Sunday 30th November.
Cat (madebymaisie) is giving away a sweet Christmas Maisie doll.

To enter click here. Ends Wednesday 3rd December.
Eliza (ElizasArt) is giving away a print of your choice from her new website.

To enter click here. Ends Tuesday 9th December.
And a big bunch of BrisStylers are busy preparing for this…

To enter click…umm, nope. Just turn up! No clicking required. Phew! One more link and my head may explode!

Everyone's A Winner, Baby

…that’s the truth (yes, the truth)…and I can’t remember the rest of the lyrics. Hot Chocolate were right in saying everyone’s a winner. This is the time we announce the three winners of our first ever BrisStyle Giveaway! Please know that each and every one of you who took the time to enter, are winners in our eyes. You’ve won our hearts. Our love! For what that’s worth to you. The response to this giveaway has been quite overwhelming and we are really chuffed with the amount of entrants. Over 300! A super special thanks to all those non-BrisStyle bloggers who promoted the giveaway on their blogs. It was very much appreciated! If your name wasn’t one of the names randomly drawn this time, don’t worry, as there will be plenty more opportunities to win in the future. To kick off the New Year, each month a featured BrisStyle member will be contributing something to giveaway here on the blog. So 2009 will be the year of BrisStyle monthly giveaways! Anyway, let’s move on to the all-important announcing of the winners. Oh what am I saying? You’ve most likely already scrolled down and haven’t read a word of this…

The tin holding over 300 carefully cut out & folded names! Onya Bec!


The winner of Prize Pack #1 is...

Girl Ferment (Woohoos! Streamers! Applause!)
The winner of Prize Pack #2 is...

The Crafty Librarian (more Woohoos! Streamers! Applause!)
The winner of Prize Pack #3 is...

Sue from McHats (followed by more Woohoos! Streamers! Applause!)
Thud! Thud! Thud! … Thud! Thud! … Thud! … Thud! …is the sound of BrisStylers passing out from drinking far too much celebratory wine. The giveaway draw took place at our BrisStyle Christmas gathering, so do pop back in for a mid-week post featuring lots of fun photos from the event!

Congratulations to the winners of our giveaway! We will contact you shortly to request your postal details. Just as soon as the Panadol starts taking effect…

HO HO HO - The BrisStyle Gift Pack Giveaway IS GO!!!!!

Christmas is often associated with stressed out department store crowds and crying kids being photographed on Santa's knee. And why do we do it? Because it is nice to give and receive. And Christmas is a chance to celebrate this. Seeing faces light up as we hand out presents, and receiving thoughtful gifts ourselves, most often makes all the pre-Christmas stress worth enduring.

So to celebrate the warm fuzzy side of the upcoming festive season (and to kick-start our own holiday cheer as we approach our first ever upcoming Christmas market) the BrisStyle team has put together three huge packs of handmade goodies from 17 BrisStyle members, to be given to three lucky random winners. And you don't have to elbow your way through any crowds to enter either!

"And what's the catch?" I hear you say. Well there's none, fair readers! Very simply, this is a promotional exercise for BrisStyle and its members, to showcase the quality and variety of our wares, and to make people aware of our blog, and our members' shops, which we hope you might visit. But you don't have to. No pressure. Really. We're just not like that.

To enter is simple.

Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post, answering the following question: "How Did You Hear About BrisStyle?" Simple as that. Winners will be posted on this blog on Monday 24th November and you will have a week to contact us to arrange the postage of your gift pack! Easy peasy :)

Please note that this giveaway is open to international readers as well as Aussies!!! The only people who cannot enter are BrisStyle members and their immediate family. Also, only one entry per person - just to be fair.

So what can I win?

Here it is folks - time for me to rub my hands together in glee and do a little happy dance as I show you the goodies to be won. Each gift pack is valued at over US $100, and they are all of equal quality, value and gorgeousness!

Drum roll please..... (now imagine a lovely assistant with a cheesy smile and an evening gown doing wonderful ballet-like display motions with her hands as we present these packs....you know....like Sale of the Century....all classy like. Noice!)

You can click on the item name to view a larger image in Flickr, or click on the shop name to view the associated member's shop - go on, you know you want to ;)

GIFT PACK NUMBER 1

1. Billy (Little Jelly), by Jellygnite 2. Grammo Girl mini painting & Mini Canvas Bird Magnet, by Hey Harriet 3. Kumihimo Bracelet, by TrishAlan Designs 4. Noah's Ark Library Bag, by Hot Fudge 5. Child's Pants size 4, by Ogekko 6. Owl Brooch, Bookmark, Hair clip & Hair bands by EmBelISH

GIFT PACK NUMBER 2

1. Messy Matilda, by Wicked Child Designs 2. Carousel Rose (girls room art print), by Twinkle Star Art 3. Denim tote, by Little Mary Moo 4. Paper Gals Paper Doll, by Sharlzndollz 5. Vintage sunglasses & handstitched case, by Art Decadence 6. Ruby Red Vintage Button Earrings & Love2GoGo Charm Bracelet by Ruby Red Studios & Ruby2GoGo

GIFT PACK NUMBER 3

1. For Girl & For Boy Softies, by Made by Maisie 2. Brooch from old books, by REread 3. Butterfly print (matted), by Eliza's Art 4. Brooch from old books, by REread 5. Dandelion Clock shoulder bag, by Beckybean 6. Brooch from old books, by REread 7. Julie Coquelicot (pretty pop) Hat by SMboutique

So to quickly recap, here's all the essential details:

How To Enter: Answer the question: "How did you hear about BrisStyle?" in the comments section below.

Giveaway End Date: Entries will close on Friday 21st November midnight Aussie time. We will draw the winners at a special BrisStyle function on Saturday 22nd November, and the winners will be posted on Monday morning (24th November 2008).

Who Can Enter: Anyone (international readers as well) except for BrisStyle members and their immediate families.

Good luck everyone - and thanks for joining us in raising a bit of Christmas Spirit. And a merry merry pre-Christmas season to you all :)

Cheers,
The BrisStyle Team!