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Every year I spend hours and hours online, searching high and low for just the right calendar. I’m lost without one, but I’m very very fussy about them, I mean you’re going to be looking at it for a whole year right?!
For me it’s not just about the pictures, though obviously that does play a big part. My scrupulous list includes:
• I like the pictures to be predominantly hand painted artworks, not photos, not digital.
• I like the theme to be original, not done to death a thousand times before
• It needs to be cheerful, not gloomy
• The whole calendar has to fit in my "spot" in the kitchen
• I like the days to be laid out in a grid, week by week, not a long list. I like to be able to identify a week in a very quick glance. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Camilla Engman's calendars, but they fail in this point).
• The days each need a big spacious square/shape for me to write lots of stuff in.
Umm, I think that covers it. The secret is out, I'm cale-anal.
Last year I found a great free, customisable, printable one online at My Owl Barn.
The year prior to that I got it from Be Happy Now. (Actually I got one from her two years in a row because I loved them so much.)
Anyway, Lalaland have put together a 2013 calendar featuring lots of great illustrations. And upon first look it seems to tick all of my boxes. Good job Lalaland! And I'm not just saying that because one of my pictures is in there.
You can buy it online now for just shy of $20, right here!
Today I am lucky enough to be featured in the "interviews" section of Jodi's Art by Wiley site!
Why am I so excited by this? Well, for one Jodi is an amazing artist herself (I would JUMP on the opportunity to do an art swap with her if the opportunity ever arose), and secondly I've been a fan of her interviews for a while. She has interviewed some of my favourite illustrators and crafters, and I've gained new favourites from there too.
Here's a snippet of my interview:
"Nature is the biggest inspiration for me. I find it oddly alien, and that fascinates me! It's such great irony that the very stuff that makes up this planet can still seem so freakish and unreal. Show me one of those BBC nature documentaries and I'm all astonishment... take me into the backyard and hand me a teensy seedpod and I'm just as enamoured, sit me in front of a hyper-coloured sunset and well...you can imagine, I pretty much turn into the "double rainbow" guy."
For the rest click here!
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Last month I was also interviewed by Molly from Balancing the Tide.
Molly and I have "known" each other online for quite some time, she is a writer, poet, exquisite photographer, and she owns quite a few pieces of my art. Since we first encountered one another we've since both had our first babies. Now she runs " Balancing the Tide", a site dedicated to interviewing artistic mums, asking how their creative lives have changed since having children. "A LOT" is of course the answer... at least it is in my case.
Here's a snippet:
"My art-making used to occupy half of the studio we have out the back of our house, but as I tried to squeeze small moments of art into the calm moments of each day, I moved my computer inside onto the kitchen table. This made a big difference, I could be a mum, and answer an email on the way to change a nappy."
For the rest click here!
Many thanks to both Jodie and Molly.xx.
Great idea for a show right?!
Acme et al is a gallery in Yarra Glen, VIC, who endlessly supports my work. A bunch of genuine, kind, art-wise people, who as you can see, come up with innovative ideas.
Though I'm not a scarf maker, I know lots of you out there are very talented with that kind of thing, so I thought you might like to know about this. Not only to see the show, but to submit your own work. Go on!
Entry details are here.
Art Lab For Kids is a wonderful new book by my friend Susan Schwake, the mastermind behind artstream studios. It's a source of ideas and lessons for creating all manner of different art with children... mind you I learnt a couple of new things from it too.
Beautifully photographed and clearly laid out, it steps you through 52 different art styles, each relating to a particular artist; a type of "how to achieve their look" guide.
And I am delighted to be one of the artists! I'm on the watercolour and pencil page.
The book is lovely, meaty and inspiring. You can buy it online here, and find out more about it here.
Thanks so much Susan, and well done to you!!!
I had a dream last week where I was in a teahouse (built in a tree) where all the floors and 1/2 way up the walls were made completely of old hard cover books!
Very much like this amazing side table made by Tytie on Etsy.
Oi, if I was more on top of that illusive notion that is time, I would have told you all about the grand opening of a gorgeous new shop who will be selling my wares.
Little Papercup is a new shop/gallery space, run by the incredible illustrator that is Jo Dyer. I was tickled pink when she invited me to be involved.
Anyhoo, the shop opened just yesterday, and now it's alive and kickin'!!!
If you're in or near Newcastle, stop in for a cuppa one crafternoon!
Shop 18/19 Market Square Terrace Level, Hunter Street Mall, Newcastle, Australia 2300.
Hours: Tues - Fri, 11:00am to 5:00pm. And Sat, 10:00am to 2:00pm.
If you're not near by, you can always be facebook friends anyway :)
I love the colour blue, but I'm putting my foot down. Enough already!
Trying to dress a baby boy I've come to learn how uninspired baby clothing can be. I mean practically everything is pale blue (despite all the amazing shades blue has to offer), and for a boy it's a choice of stripes or traffic (cars, trucks, planes, trains...), it's like a smoggy old peak hour out there!
What about red, grey, green, orange, purple, yellow, brown, maroon, aqua? Or even some variations of blue?
So this article on Etsy really caught my attention...
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As reported by Jeanne Maglaty for Smithsonian:
In June 1918, an article from the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department advised, "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." Through the following decades, several department stores, including Filene's, Halle's and Marshall Field, recommended that boys be dressed in pink.
Maglaty describes the turning point as the women's liberation movement in the mid-1960s. Young women gravitated toward gender neutral clothing to rebel against the subservient role of women dictated by society. But by the mid-1980s, gendered clothing returned in a big way...
..."All of a sudden it wasn’t just a blue overall; it was a blue overall with a teddy bear holding a football."
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Fascinating!
(Remind me to do a show-and-tell of all the teddy bear reassignment surgeries I've done too).
To be honest, the challenge of finding clothes for Millipede that are a little more unique is kind of thrilling me at the moment. So when friends gifted us these I was nearly beside myself!
Alpaca jumper sent from Bolivia from friends currently traveling around the world. Apparently made by a woman who's been doing it for over 20 years.
And these gorgeous pants; "coffee bean" fabric hand printed, and pants designed and handmade by my friend who runs Hyde Clothing.
One of the "advantages" of this new lifestyle is catching up on daytime TV (and midnight TV come to think of it) as I'm feeding baby Millipede.
A bonus last week was catching an episode of Oprah that featured none other than the amazing NieNie*. Actually I only caught the last 10 minutes, and have been searching online for it to see the rest, to no avail. (It actually aired in the US back in 2009, hence the title of this post).
There is THIS bit though...
SO great, especially for me right now; a fledgling mother.
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* NieNie, for those of you who don't know, is Stephanie Nielson. A great blogger, plane crash survivor, and inspiring mother.
(Photo by Mel Stringer)
Earlier in the year Mel Stringer invited me to be part of a new zine she was pulling together, Borrowed Suitcase, and last week my copy arrived in the mail! I must say, I'm a little humbled to be in with other artists of such calibre. Thanks so much Mel!
You can buy yourself a copy here, of if you're feeling lucky, you should enter Mel's very first giveaway to win one (along with a huge bounty of other crunchy-cool stuff).
Fell in upsidedown, insideout, love with this rug this week! From Florian Pucher Carpet Design, they do landscapes from different continents, but the European one is my absolute favourite.
I wonder if they include a few cows when you buy one?
Elsewhere these colourful rugs also caught my fancy...
Scale rug by Carpet Direct on Etsy:
And this painstakingly made, but yummy all the same, bright Felt Ball Rug, by Krita on Etsy:
Hope your feet find something bright and soft to play with this weekend.
Last evening I was catching up on visiting some blogs, having a look through Herbert & Friends, by Torunn (who makes the awesome softies), perusing through some snaps she took of lovely shops in Newcastle... and LOOOOOK!
That's MY COLOURING BOOK!!!!!
I have a copy, so I knew it existed, I just have not been able to find out if it is in any shops yet.
But there you go, apparently it is in a shop in Newcastle called 'High Tea With Mrs Woo'. I've been told it's in lots of other places too, I just have no idea where.
So I'm chuffed. It really does exist, and it really IS in shops.
Now I just need to find out where.
In the meantime I plan to get a stack to sell at the Finders Keepers Market in Brisbane in November, and online to anyone else who's interested.
(Photo by Torunn from Herbert and Friends. Thank-you.)
I consider it nothing short of a damn shame that during the few years I lived in a place where Winters actually got cold enough to need gloves, THESE where not around.
Charming embroidered handmade mittens by dadaya in her Etsy Store, Tiny Toad Stool.
Another big thank-you this week to Yermit (who makes hilarious bearded dolls!) for including my "electricity" print in her awesome Etsy Treasury: All in the Family.
What makes it even more exciting for me is that I'm in very very good company in this collection, alongside some of my all time favourites like:
Sophie Blackall,
zukzuk,
and Julia Pott!
Plus I got to discover some new favourites too.
The team from the Drawgasmic show sent some photos through of the show and the book. It looked like an amazing event (too bad I couldn't pop over to St Louis, Missouri to take a closer look).
My work and the book are still for sale for a little while longer.
Lots more photos of the show on my portfolio site...
...Where Mr You and I have been making some small improvements this week.
Monday - muffins - mittens and milkshakes.
Lovely 3D wallpaper M by Little White Dog on Etsy.
Just now getting around to showing you the little packages I put together (of 5 things each) for the winners of my 5th Bloggy Birthday Giveaway!My friend is the brain and skilled hands behind the beautiful Mandi and Maddi brand, and although her online shops are mostly bare, it is because her retail outlets keep her so busy. She came around for lunch one day a few weeks ago, and adorned me with some really really gorgeous clips that I had admired. I kept the pink one for myself, and sent an orange one to my Sister Sparkle for her birthday. Feeling guilty that she always gives me her beautiful things, I took myself off to the shops and bought one of her very cool magnetic bookmarks.  The bookmark went into one of the giveaway packages!  For Cindy from Bug and Pop I got a nice neutral scarf from the op-shop, ready for her to embellish, the magnetic bookmark, a pack of my Happy Happy Garden Cards, a Curiosity mini-print, and a square card featuring my Buttercup Bluejay design. And for Victoria from One Sheep Town I got a cool string bag made of wool and a funny Australiana tea towel from the op-shop, a pack of my Happy Happy Garden Cards, a print of Honour, and a square card featuring my Peony and Red Cardinal design. I've since heard they both liked their packages.
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