Some of you might know that Etsy Australia has just launched a great social campaign called Make For Good (#MakeForGood). We are partnering with Plan International’s Because I Am A Girl Campaign and aiming to raise $20 000 to fund a whole bunch of girl-run micro-businesses in countries Plan International supports.
How can you help?  If you are Christmas/present shopping online you might want to try to do it at http://www.etsy.com and search for #makeforgood items.

All the products are handmade by artists and artisans. I am donating 40% of my #makeforgood products value to the campaign but some other artists are giving between 20 and 100%.
Think that your purchase will be unique, handmade in Australia and will contribute to help empower women around the world. ​Hard to top that I think!
www.cardboardculture.etsy.com see the #makeforgood section

My contribution in picture:
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Art Bazaar Maitland is being held on Sunday 31 August 2014 10am – 3pm at Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG), 230 High St, Maitland

Art Bazaar is free entry & there are also demonstrations, entertainment, a mobile ATM, food, & MRAG’s Cafe Seraphine which is open for breakfast & lunch from 7:30am – 4:30pm. Children of all ages and their families are welcome for free art activities at MRAG every Sunday from 11.00am – 1.00pm. Bookings not required & all materials are supplied. MRAG will be showing two exhibitions coinciding with Art Bazaar: Judy Henry: Reflections of life and landscape, & Greta Migrant Camp: Displaced / Assimilation and Stereoscopic Views: Vivienne Dadour and Gail Burrows.


Here is a list of stall holders http://artbazaar.com.au/markets/art-bazaar-maitland-2014-stallholders




And here is  preview of Cardboard Culture's stall! I will also be showing larger pieces such as seats and drawers but you will have to come and say hello on the day to see them!

So if you are wondering what is going on with Cardboard Culture well I have only been enjoying my family and friends over the Christmas period but I also got time to do some load testing with the kids on the 'prototype' kids table. It seems to hold their combined 30 kilos no problems even with the jumping and messing about!

This is all thanks to the cardboard elements that constitute the structure of the table top and the reinforcement around the feet of the table. All this with some cardboard tubes and a large fridge cardboard box, I love it and the kids do too!

If you have a piece of furniture that you use because it is just the right shape and it does the job but you don't like the look of it, I can give it a new look: a new cover, a coat of paint and it can turn into something you like.

These are two samples of what can be done:

This old metal bench was going to be thrown out but with a new cover and a coat of paint it has become a colourful bedroom seat for a tractor addict!

It was hard to wait to show you this seat I made for a baby girl just turned one. Thanks Simone for the order and trusting me for such a special occasion, I had a ball making this one and the boys and I were sad to see it go.
With my kids I found that seats like this are more for climbing on, sliding on, rolling onto than seating on so I made it with a sturdy structure of cardboard, it has been tested for 60 kilos and passed the test easy!
Hope you like it as much as I do!

These tall drawers are sized to fit an entrance or a small corridor
Dimensions: 44cm wide x 103 high x 20 deep all made of cardboard.
This took a whole massive fridge cardboard box and with the Bleuzen technic and a bit of awesome Dulux paint, 'VOILA!'
Well, you can add a fair few hours of work, a lot of sanding and a lot of fun to the mix and that'd be about right.
Next I am going back to some children furniture ... for a girl! Very exciting.