A Quick Hello

It seems like half of Sydney is sick at the moment with colds, flu and nasty viruses... Including Roxy, Stu and I.

I'll be back here at the blog when I'm up to it. Until then it's back under the doona for me. You stay well!

x
Lisa

Happy Friday... Happy Weekend!

Over and out from me until Monday.
Have a happy day and a wonderful weekend.
Stay safe. Have fun.
See you bright and early Monday morning.

Lisa
xx

This image of antique birdcages has nothing to do with this post, but I liked it and thought you might too. It's from an article on Chinese antiques in Wallpaper*.
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Laikonik Wrapping Paper

You might remember how smitten I was with Laikonik's screen printed wrapping paper last year - I used it for my paper Christmas wreath and advent calendar. Previously only available in white and red, Kasia has now added a lovely aqua and mustard to the range.

I also have to show you an amazing piece of art by Kasia. Her daughter goes to school with Roxy and she recently handpainted the most beautiful curtains for the girls' classroom. It was a huge job for her, and everyone is thrilled with the result.


Aren't they fanatstic? You can read more about the painting and making of the curtains on Kasia's blog, together with other creations in her Polish folk art style. The wrapping paper can be purchased via the Laikonik website.

You also might like to read my previous post on Laikonik's screen printed wall hangings.
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Oh Anthro!

Dear Anthropologie, why do you tease me so? I swoon every time I look at your website and see so many things I'd love to buy... beautiful shoes, a top or two, a pillow, and a rug. And your sales! Oh, the sales.



So last night when I thought I was due for an Anthro fix I checked in to find that you now ship to 34 countries. Oh my, could it be... 34 countries?! Barely able to catch my breath I clicked on the pull down menu.
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Hang on Australia comes before Belgium. I check through the whole list just in case Australia is somehow mistakenly nestled in amongst the S's or the T's.

But it isn't to be. What you should have said dear Anthropologie is that you now ship to 34 European countries, by just inserting that one word my expectations wouldn't have been raised and I wouldn't have had so far to fall.

And so I will continue to admire you from afar.
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Inspiration :: Andrew Holder

With simple geometric shapes and a lovely colour pallet Andrew Holder creates beautiful illustrations with a retro and sometimes folksy feel.

Image Source: Andrew Holder

You can buy some of Andrew's work at Poster Cabaret and if you'd like to read more about his work and creative process click through to the interview on Defgrip.
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Summer Dreaming :: Sophik

In the depths of winter,
dreaming of summer.

Loving these photos from Sophik.
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Swedish Summerhouse

Hello! Just follow the path down to the deck. I've got some cups of tea poured and we can have a chat here overlooking the lake.


If the wind picks up we can go inside for a while. Just leave your jacket by the door.


Hey, why don't we curl up on the lounge by the window and flick through some magazines?


After lunch we could go for a wander in the forest. The days are so long and the afternoon light is lovely through the trees.


Oh how I wish it were more than a fantasy! This gorgeous Swedish Summerhouse was photographed by Rachael Smith.

Countdown to The Stitches & Craft Show :: 6 weeks

My preparations this week

OK, before I tell you what I've achieved this week for the show just lower your expectations a little. Thanks. Now just a little further... umm, maybe a touch more? OK I think we're good to go now.

I'm not sure that I've actually managed to cross anything off my list this week. I've been doing bits and pieces of everything, but haven't achieved anything major. I'm still nervously waiting on my fabric test from Karma Kraft. It should be here any day now. I've been refining my fabric designs and writing some bits and pieces for my kits. There's been some greeting card designing and I sent a new business card off to be printed. I've also been testing out some ideas for the kits, doing lots of sketches and scribbling notes and ideas for the fabric designs, kits, packaging and my stand decoration and set up.

Along with my diary I've been using a fab planner from Muji (Japan) to write my daily lists on. It has the days written along the top of the page, and allows you to fill in the month and dates. It's so handy, I love it. You can see that I have decorated it with some of my washi tape. The flowers and pattern graphics are part of my fabric and card designs.
Edit: Oh my apologies for that terrible photo! I'm just not myself this week. Maybe I should just delete it all together...


On my list for next week

- Finalise all fabric designs - including final colour choice, which will be made when I get my test back from Karma Kraft.
- Source suppliers for all the other components in my kits and packaging
- Work out pricing (total costs/wholesale/retail) and decide on the number of kits to make in the first batch

If you've been following my progress and have a keen memory you'll realise that this list is exactly the same as last week's! I really hope that by next Wednesday I will have these things crossed off. Last week I was at Roxy's school for 2 days (one of them was spent doing canteen which was so much fun!), I spent a morning at Magnolia Square, plus I had graphic design work on and I've been battling a killer sore throat and a cold and generally feeling blah. Am I making excuses? Maybe!

There'll be progress this week...
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Magnolia Square in Sydney

I'd read so much about Melbourne's Magnolia Square from their website and blog, so I was with high expectations that I attended their first Sydney "pop up shopping" market on Friday. Magnolia Square position themselves as 'thoroughly unique and overflowing with products and ideas that are exceptional in their originality, quality & style'.

It was held in the lovely Teahouse at the Royal Randwick Racecourse, and from the moment I arrived at the entrance I could see that it was going to be different to other markets I'd been to. The thing that struck me immediately was the effort that had gone into styling the venue and creating an upmarket environment.


Tulips in bottles hanging from big twisted branches above the entrance.


Paper parasols, lanterns and mobiles adorned the ceilings and there were beautifully styled little nooks here and there. There was also a nice area for kids to sit and colour in, as well as a little cafe.

There were over 50 artists, designers, crafters and gourmets who had gone to a lot of trouble to present their wares and style their spaces to fit in with Magnolia Square's claim to being the 'premier boutique shopping event'.

I loved Maiike's sweet softies made from patchworked upcycled knits.


A fabulous range of stationery products from Belles and Whiselles, who's signature is lovely embossed black envelopes. Danielle told me that they had only launched their products a few weeks ago. Very impressive!
Equally fab were the taste sensations from Sparkle Cupcakery. Oh my. I sampled a pistaccio and cardamon cupcake which was to die for, and with other flavours like lavender and honey, citrus cloud and oriental flower (lychee and rose cake with sweet rose petal topping) they are definitely not your everyday cupcake.


Sisken had a range of lovely leather products including the most divine buttery soft ballet flats, and they even make my size. Woo hoo! They are now on my birthday wishlist.
I saw redBERRY at the last Finders Keepers markets and was drawn once again to their lovely display of paper crane mobiles, lamps, notebooks and pouches.


Sweet children's clothing and accessories by Betty and Lola.
Funky sustainable design from States of Nature.


Beautiful knits from Grasshoppers, which are designed in Australia and made by women in Zimbabwe who are stakeholders in the business. Amongst other admirable things, Grasshoppers is committed to fair trade and providing work for women with disabilities. You can read more about the aims of the business here.
I love Ella Sanders' knits and the understated design of their space with the hanging scarves, spools of thread and single flower stems was simple and gorgeous.


Lovely jacket and dress for a little girl by Bluebird and Honey, who are a collective of designers.
Online bookstore We Heart Books drew quite a crowd with their story time. They had some really lovely books.


One of my favourites on the day was the porcelain jewellery and mini wall plaques from Angus & Celeste. One of these porcelain plaques is now high on my (always growing) wish list.
A range of beautiful stationery by Alannah Rose was accompanied by gorgeous product photography.


Sweet Dreams Cakes had some amazing iced cookies. I didn't sample them, but they certainly looked fab.
Isn't this the sweetest little Liberty fabric dress? It's by Miss Beba, but unfortunately I didn't pick up a business card and haven't had any luck finding a website for them. Update: thanks to merespring for the link in the comments... not sure how I missed that one! Maybe that's what happens when you write posts after midnight.


Magical laser cut timber wall decorations from Bride & Wolfe.
Fun and funky paper goods from Lox and Savvy.

There were other lovely sellers, like Kindergallery, that I just couldn't get a good shot of, but you can find a full list of retailers from the Sydney event here.

So you can see there were lots of lovely things on offer at Sydney's first taste of Magnolia Square, and I've heard that the November one will be even bigger. Overall I loved it - my only slightly negative comments would be that there seemed to be too many stalls selling children's clothes (although they were all gorgeous), there was an $8 entry fee, and that by 11am the aisles were gridlocked with pram jam.

Did you go to Magnolia Square? What did you think of it?
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Monday BlogDay :: A Creative Mint

A Creative Mint is only a few months old, but is full of lovely eye candy and bursting with promise. Leslie takes the most gorgeous photos themed by colour.

Friday :: Colour Me Happy

Here's a lovely, breezy, happy way to end the week... Henry Holland's autumn/winter 2009/20 collection, called Colour Me Happy, was inspired by the bands on paint colour cards. I love the way the steps behind the catwalk are also painted in bands of graduated colour.

Image Source: House of Holland

Wishing you a bright and breezy weekend, see you Monday.

x
Lisa

Custom Stamps from Imprintables

It's sometimes tricky to find a lovely original gift for children, that's why these personalised stamps are a great idea. Roxy, aged 5 (and a half, thank you) is so into putting her name on everything I'm sure she'd love one of these stamps from Imprintables.

Image Source: Imprintables

Nathalie, the creative force behind Imprintables also has a great selection of coloured stamp pads to choose from, as well as a number of different stamp designs. She suggests children could use the stamps to create personalised stationery, book name plates, or as a signature on artwork or little notes to friends.

Have a look at the Imprintables website to see design and colour options, and if you're hosting a child's birthday party check out the Imprintables blog for some lovely ideas, and the website for invitations and more.
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Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Visionary filmaker Tim Burton is a perfect choice to direct Lewis Carroll's surreal classic Alice in Wonderland. In this house we are big fans of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, his first feature film in 1985, as well as other Burton classics like Ed Wood and The Nightmare Before Christmas.


The film is due for release in March next year and features Burton regulars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, together with Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and Australian actress Mia Wasikowska in the title role.

Image Source: ComingSoon.net

It looks absolutely breathtaking. I can't wait!
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Etsy Search Top 10: Crochet + Necklace

I had to laugh when my Etsy keyword search post last week generated not a single comment! Seems I'm not the only one who's not partial to argyle. Too funny.

This week I wanted to see what I could find on Etsy in the way of crocheted jewellery, as I'm loving wearing my earrings and I've also seen some beautiful crocheted necklaces around recently. One of the things on my I'd-love-to-do-this-if-only-I-had-the-time list is to learn to make some crocheted jewellery. But first I have to cross another thing off my list, and that is 'learn how to crochet'.

The keywords for my Etsy search this week were crochet and necklace. I didn't make it through all the listings and I was overwhelmed by how many gorgeous things I found.

Lichen Lariet from Bodhi Tree

Crochet Necklace from Wren handmade
So beautiful!

Vintage Lace Crochet Necklace and Pattern from La Bonne Femme
Vintage Crochet Necklace Pattern from Meeks Sandy Girl
Oooh... vintage and crochet! Love.

Ertha Ecco Neckpiece from Gitte
Deliacte Leaf Necklace from Blue Fish Handmade
So delicate and beautiful.


Bobble Branch Necklace from Ollies Woollies
Round Cup Leaflets Garland from Kanokwalee
Lovely oganic shapes.

Chrysanthemum Indicum Necklace from Irregular Expressions
I love this because it looks so vintage and reminds me of lovely old things you'd find at your grandma's house.

Super Loop Chain Scarf from Beautiful Bridget
Bubble Round Set from Softspoken Crochet

These beauties aren't my style, but I think they're totally fabulous.

When I started my Etsy Search Top 10 series I intended for it to last for 10 weeks... how time flies, because those 10 weeks are over. What do you think, would you like me to continue on with the series, or not? It's a lot of work to pull these posts together, but I would be happy to keep going with it... otherwise I can move on to something else. Should I stay or should I go now? (That reference was a flashback to my youth)
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Bjork :: Beautiful

I'm not particularly a fan of Bjork's music, but I'm absolutely an admirer of her kooky, out-there, individuality.

Image Source: Top image: Nonesuch records,
Bottom images: Bjork.com

When I was browsing the art & design section of the New York Times website last night I saw a pop-up ad for Voltaic, Bjork's upcoming release. I was instantly drawn to the graphic design - I really love the fabulous typography, colours and stylised graphics for the album/DVD box set and the Volta tour poster.

After doing a bit of looking around I discovered that the design is the work of Parisian duo Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak of M/M. They've collaborated with Bjork and photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for the past decade on almost every piece of Bjork's visual identity from record packaging to posters, videos, books and imagery.

Image Source: Interview

These absolutely breathtaking images of Bjork were taken for Interview magazine by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin (of course). I love that they are so classic and totally different to Bjork's usual style, but they still have an edginess to them. You can read the accompanying interview M/M did with Bjork here.

To find out more about the M/M design partnership there is an interview with them on the Design Museum website here.
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Countdown to The Stitches & Craft Show :: 7 weeks

My preparations this week

The kits I am intending to make and sell are still evolving and being refined. This week I have been finalising my designs ready to have them printed onto fabric. These are a few little characters that I have been working on.



The cupcake and hedgehog still need more refinement.

I got my test yardage back from Spoonflower, and sent a test file to Karma Kraft. I was disappointed with the colours of the Spoonflower fabric, so I'm hoping that the results from Karma Kraft will be better. I also visited Direct Digital Print here in Sydney, and although they do promise to work hard on colour matching, they are cost-prohibitive for this project. Even with the exchange rate and international shipping both Spoonflower and Karma Kraft are substantially cheaper. Having said that, the clock is ticking and they are my back stop. So far Karma Kraft have given me fantastic customer service and are promising a fast turnaround... so fingers crossed. I'll do a complete review of my experiences with both Spoonflower and Karma Kraft in the coming weeks.


On my list for next week

- Finalise all fabric designs - except for final colour choice, which will be made when I get my test back from Karma Kraft.
- Source suppliers for all the other components in my kits and packaging
- Work out pricing (total costs/wholesale/retail) and decide on the number of kits to make in the first batch

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Inspiration :: Tara Donovan

Image Source: Ace Gallery

Tara Donovan's striking sculptural installations are made from huge quantities of man-made materials. Through layering, grouping and repetition Tara's finished pieces look organic and natural, the antithesis of the mass-produced materials she uses such as styrofoam cups and plastic straws. One of her works consists of thousands of buttons glued together to form amazing stalagmites or coral reefs. The absence of colour seems to further enhance the repetitive beauty of these lovely creations.



Found via Little Paper Planes.

Talent :: Olivia Bee

OK, before I tell you how old Olivia Bee is, just take a look at her photos.



Olivia is just 15 and these self portraits were taken from the age of 13! I am blown away by her amazing talent, and apparently so are many other people as her photos are amongst the most viewed on flickr. She's truly gifted, don't you think?

Image Source: All images via Olivia Bee's flickr photostream

Olivia is quite fond of shooting in the snow while wearing flimsy summer dresses. Under this photo she wrote:

"it's too cold for that shit."
"man, i know. i bet you she's whack."
"don't you know we're in an arctic blast?!"
"it's like 12 fucking degrees outside."
"look she won't even talk to us."
"i bet she can't talk either."
"that is one crazy chick."

-- people watching me


It was really tough choosing what to show here, so take a look at Olivia bee's flickr photos for more breathtaking images.


Found via Oh Joy!

Monday BlogDay: Design Milk

Design Milk is one of my favourite blogs for all things related to art, architecture and design. Below are some recent things that have caught my eye on Design Milk.

Alexander Girard for FLOR.

Jonathan Adler. Fabulous packaging!

Kids Love Design. I love this desk/cubby house.

Itoki. Each chair looks like a sculpture. Nice.

Elli Popp. Feeding my desire for more wallpaper.

Felt Egg Cosies. Simple and sweet.

Textured Sideboard from Dust Delux. This would make a fab statement piece in the right space.

The folks behind Design Milk also have a lot of other things going on. The editor Jamie Derringer (a talented artist) and Erin Loechner also write for AOL's new home design blog Shelterpop. Erin is the same Erin who writes the wonderful Design for Mankind, and she and Jamie are also responsible for Bakery.

If you are a small business it's worth checking Bakery out - they offer all sorts of services and they have a blog too. If you're struggling with blogging check out the Bakery blog for their recent posts on ideas and writing for your blog. Talk about multi-tasking! How do they manage it all?!

The other contributors to Design Milk are Crystal Chou, Eleanor Cleverly, Jessica Goldfond, and Joel Pirela.

Wow, that was a lot of links for one post... that should keep you busy clicking for a while!

Have a Fab Weekend

I did this make-it-up-as-I-go-along embroidery (hence the wonky rain drops)
at a Brown Owls meeting a few months ago.

Hello! I'm just popping back in you wish you a beautiful weekend my friends. Today was the most gorgeous winters day with a clear intense blue sky. I hope that's a good sign for the weekend. But if it rains make the most of it and snuggle someone you love.

See you on Monday.
xx
Lisa

Countdown to The Stitches & Craft Show

In August last year I blogged about my first visit to the Stitches & Craft Show. (You can read my post here) I came away very inspired by the section devoted to indie crafters that had been set up by Living Creatively. This year I have been invited to be a part of that 'incubator' section! I'm very excited about it and in a mad panic getting all new products ready to sell... hence the state of my studio/office, my long hours and huge list of things to do in the next seven and a half weeks.

I've had ideas for new things I want to make for quite some time (actually I always have lots of ideas!), but have never been able to devote the time to get going with them. It's only been a month since I committed to dong the Stitches & Craft Show, so designing and making, testing and packaging completely new products in this timeframe is madness. But even though the pressure is really on now I'm very much enjoying seeing those ideas finally taking physical form, and it is good to have a deadline. So what am I'm doing? Something totally different to my current art-based creations - I'm designing and making kits, which will include fabric panels which I have designed. And there will also be some new cards.

I'm going to be mean and not show you anything just yet, but each week I intend to write a post about my progress and preparation. Apart from the design and packaging of the kits I'm also hyped about decorating my stand for the show. I've got lots of plans and I'll share those too as the countdown progresses.

Image Source: The Stitches & Craft Show

Since Living Creatively took over the Stitches & Craft Show it's been on in both Melbourne and Brisbane.

The dates for the Sydney Show are Wednesday 19th to Sunday 23rd of August, from 10am - 5pm. It's going to be fantastic, so please make the effort to come along - you won't be disappointed. Along with the indie crafters section there will be over 200 stands selling everything and anything related to crafts, as well as workshops and demos, some cool craft exhibitions and random prize give aways during happy hour. Another highlight will be the screening of Faythe Levine's doco Handmade Nation. I have the book and I can't wait to see the film.

Let the countdown begin...

Inspiration :: Eunju Kang

During one of design*sponge's recent sneak peeks a print on the wall of one of the shots grabbed my attention.

Image Source: design*sponge

The print is the work of Korean-born New York resident Eunju Kang.


This series of fresh, vibrant images makes me feel so happy. But as much as they lift my spirits, her other art also has me swooning.

Image source: Eunju Kang

Eunju's website is here, and Eyebuzz has a lovely interview with her here.
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Stylish :: Sasa Antic

I saw a couple of rooms styled by Sasa Antic on Ninainvorm and I immediately wanted to see more of Sasa's work. I love the way these rooms look like little scenes from a very contemporary and very stylish storybook.





Don't the colours on that sofa look so lush and inviting?


I totally respect the work of accomplished stylists like Sasa Antic. When they are good they are very, very good!
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Etsy Search Top 10: Argyle

Let me start off by saying that argyle patterns are not my thing. But I saw something on Etsy last week that made me think that it would be interesting to see what a search for argyle turned up. Having looked at hundreds of listings that had 'argyle' as a keyword I can say that I have developed a fondness for some of it - the vintage kind (naturally) and I also quite like it in bright colours. Are you a fan of argyle? Here are 10 of my favourite finds:

Argyle Pattern Skeleton Key Necktie from Toy Breaker

Leather Harlequin Clutch from Felice
Vintage 60s Knitting Pattern Book from Fishtique
Argyle Tie Tee from Little Rory

Argyle Check Paper Tape from Just a Perfect Day
Crawler Covers Baby Leg Warmers from Fate Goddess
Wee Argyle Fitted Tea Cosy from Remade Shop

Brady Bunch Style Vintage Dress from Destashing It
Pink Argyle Owl Tank Top from designs by Amber
Gus Sock Monkey from Little Little
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Morning Light

There's something so beautiful about the soft morning light, especially in the winter when the sun is low. I took this photo last week because I loved the way the odd shaped patches of light and the long shadows fell on the walls and vases.

The two white glass vases were bought in the 70s by my mum, and the beautiful porcelain ones are part of the Rainy Days series by Meyer-Lavigne, available on Etsy.