New Shop Handmade display

I have borrowed these images off the gorgeous Shop Handmade blog which captures their new shop display featuring loads of my products. Very exciting, indeed! Can you spot the chickens? These were a creation of my mother (aka, second bird) using off-cuts of my hand printed fabric. Thank you, Handmade ladies! You're wonderful :)

making up for lost time | happy things and sharing the love

To get my blog rolling again after my long absence, I aim to honor a blog award I was given by the lovely Jo, over at Joe Bloggs. Admittedly, I am usually rather lazy when it comes to things like this and often guiltily let them slide.

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the award giver (done!)

2. List 10 things that make you happy.

3. Pass this award on to 5 others.

10 things that make me happy

1. The number one happiest of all is, of course, my beloved pooch Xena! She is an endless source of entertainment and after almost 7 years of snoring loudly at my feet, I really can't imagine life without her goofyness.

Xena boating

2. Brooches! I have accumulated quite a collection over the years and really don't believe an outfit is complete without one.

3. Cardigans. What better place to put a brooch then on one of these classic pieces of clothing.

4. Orange things. Another rather obsessive compulsion.

5. Op-shops and flea markets. Great places to find orange things.

6. Long baths. A few bubbles and a good book and I can quite happily kiss a few hours goodbye.

7. Pattern and colour. Well, it wouldn't really be very textiles student of me not to have a happy place in my heart for these.

8. Art journals. My handbag would feel naked without a moleskin, a glue stick and scissors. You never know when that inspiring idea may come along that you need to document straight away.

9. My studio. It is in boxes at the moment until I move into my new house (which has a spa bath!! oh, happy place) and I feel really weird not having all my bits and pieces around. Here is a pic of my old studio space at art school last year. I love to surround my creative space with inspiration.

10. Blogging. An endless of source inspiration and happy connections and conversations with friendly, creative like minded people.

Now to share the love

Am passing the happy baton onto the following:

1. To a lovely new blogger, Jiah. Also a student at the ANU, School of Art. We were students together and Jiah is now in her final year and is very much a watch-this-space designer. Her patterns are gorgeous and I encourage everyone to visit her gorgeous blog!

2. Handmade romance. Her beardy brooches make me smile!

3. Betty Jo of Lino Forest. I happen to have three of her brooches and I think you all should too!

4. Colour and Sound. Because her turquoise collection is to die for.

5. And finally, Nicole of freshly blended. Her beautiful blog is consistently gorgeous and this girl has one amazing eye for great design!

blog infidelity

It has been way too long between posts!

I am ashamed to admit that I have been cheating on this blog with another and it was a painful experience, indeed. The "other" one was part of an assessment item in the full-time course that I have committed myself to this year. Full-time being an understatement!! Between all the essays, pracs, presentations and..ahem...blogs, I haven't really had much time, let alone head space for this blog. But things are about to change as I am moving into my winter break and a new exciting few months ahead.

At the end of last year at the ANU grad show, I was awarded a three month residency at Megalo Print Studio in Canberra which was part of the School of Art's Emerging Artist's Support Scheme. I will be embracing this opportunity to develop new patterns and colours, followed by a new range of wares to showcase them. Ideas are already in process so stay tuned!

Some very exciting news! The shop handmade, GRAND OPENING! Friday 16 April at 9am!

Shop Handmade is the extension of the very successful Handmade Market and will showcase a huge selection of talented designers and handmade goodness. Head on over to their blog where you can get updates and sneak peaks of whats in store at this exciting and stylish new addition to Canberra's city centre.

happy easter everyone!!!

canberra handmade market

What a weekend!

My very first Canberra Handmade Market was a huge success and went off without a hitch. I had loads of positive feedback and clever suggestions which has left me brimming with new ideas.

The new location at the Kamberra Wine Company had a really great atmosphere and the friendliness of the other stall holders and the super amazing organisers made the whole day a really enjoyable experience!

and the winner is...

...Lucky ( or sometimes not) number 13. Congratulations Phill!! Thanks to random.org, you are the proud new owner of this here lovely, hand printed tea towel. And thanks to Phill's awesome suggestion - this series now has the new name of spin cycle!!

Thank you to all the lovely comments and ideas. It would have been so hard to choose a name myself. Hooray for computer generated randomness!

partly cloudy

As previously mentioned, I have been decorating some cute little vintage plates with cloudy shapes. This is for a group exhibition that I am part of, called Partly Cloudy.

Partly Cloudy is a group show which will invoke a variety of interpretation of one of the most beautiful and fleeting, natural formations - the cloud. A group of Canberra based artists will assemble their work throughout the exhibition space creating a quirky, beautiful and billowing experience that will leave you wanting to lie down and watch the clouds go by.

I am very excited and can't wait to see all the other ideas and interpretations at the opening night. Will take lots of photos!

turbine cushion

From the kitchen to the couch, the turbine print has found a new home. I was quite excited about getting away from the books yesterday and playing around on the sewing machine and was rather pleased with how these cushions turned out. Can't wait to so some more!