2013

And there goes 2013, just like that!

Actually mentally I'm still in 2013, and will be for a while. I'm still on holidays and have some lovely family camping in my future, hooray. 2014 can cool its heels a moment while I recharge.

An annual tradition round here is this end of year post when I go through my Flickr pages and compile a mosaic or two of my creative life for the year. {and if you're interested here's 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008}

Its always a nice surprise to see how busy and productive I've been despite sometimes feeling like I'm getting nowhere and taking too long about it!!

This year is no exception. It was big! Some great important things happened this year and I learnt a lot.

My work was featured in The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum Design section.

I taught my first craft workshops at SewMakeCreate.

I did a ceramics course and learnt to throw pots. A new addiction this and I'm already signed up for more in 2014.

I learnt to Shibori, expose my own screens and make coiled brooches at workshops run by other people. It was fun! I tried embroidery. Here's to more learning this year too.

I cooked and ate a lot. A brief flirtation with the 5:2 diet and an increasing dislike for processed food saw me make my own pickles, jam, marmalade, yoghurt, ricotta, paneer, bread, soup, curries, pastries, pizza, dolmades, soap and lots of cake. I also grew more of my own produce, which made me very happy.

I printed lots of fabric. So much that I didn't get round to showing it all on the blog. That's something to remedy in 2014, and sewing more with my flowerpress fabrics is another.

I sewed some more clothes for me, and I thought and read a lot about learning to adapt patterns to my particular shape. That's another thing I want to pursue further this year.

I dithered in my bloggings and was quiet for some of the year. I can see from the comparative number of posts that I wasn't as present here. However, the absence made me realise blogging's importance in my life. I hope to embrace it anew. This year I hope to be a more focussed and committed blogger. Another thing I really enjoyed this year was getting out and meeting more bloggers in person, both friends I've met through the blog and via ABCD meetups and the Voices 2013 competition. Bloggers are such lovely people and its nice to have a chance to catch up on all that stuff that you never talk get a chance to talk about in emails.

Do you have plans for 2014, I need a few more ideas for the year, and I'd love it if you wanted to share yours here. And Happy New Year!!!  Here's to 2014, but not just yet ;-)

present

It was primary school presentation day yesterday. I was under strict instructions about how and when I could cry (only if other mothers cried and no sobbing!).

I managed to keep it to a few small tears of happiness for my lovely boys, I'm so proud of them.

I didn't do quite as well at the big girl's presentation the day before. I was fine when she received an award but when her music class performed their cute version of Bohemian Rhapsody and the principal lavished praise on this wonderful year group who are moving campuses for years 11 and 12, I had to get the tissues out!

It feels like time for the move from primary school, but we have had so many wonderful years in this warm and generous community it will be sad to leave. This place has been a home away from home for our family for eleven years and those little everydays build up to something really deep and important in our lives.

My three kids all had the same wonderful Kindy teacher and she showed me a card yesterday she's saved since the boys were in kindy, illustrated with their pictures. How lovely is that! Teachers are so important. They can be such great role models and help kids to grow their minds in so many ways. Thank you teachers.

At the end of this week we get in the car for our annual trip north for Christmas with my family. I can't wait. It seems to have been coming for a while. Its been a long and emotional end to the year this year, what with all the farewells and orientations, the last times and first times as all three of my kids change schools.

I'm looking forward to stopping and staring at the horizon, preferably with a cold drink in hand and a book on my lap!

I'm looking forward to salt on my skin and the smell of sunscreen on my clothes, long lazy lunches and afternoon naps. I'm looking forward to squeezing the family members I haven't seen all year and telling them about my days.

There will be posts I'm sure, and I will see you on instagram too. But real blogging will be on holiday for a while, recharging for a big year next year.

I am inspired already by 2014. Its going to be different in many ways, and I'm hoping good different. How about you? Are you ready to stop already! Do you have plans for next year, are things changing at your house?

p.s. it was my birthday last week and the photos show some of my pressies, there was a flying visit from my brother for his gallery's exhibition opening at the AGNSW, a real old phone from the mister, new clothes, new creams and a lovely xmas surprise from Cam.

tool kit print

If you are a long time reader you may remember this design which I first made as a t-shirt design.

Its always been a favourite of mine, I love the bright primary colours, and I'm not too sure why it has taken so long for me to make it into a print. Here it is at last, and I'm so pleased with how beautifully it has printed on the wonderful specialised thick matte card I use for my prints.

The primary colour scheme of blue and red and yellow would look great on a little boy's wall, or girl's. Especially those junior Bob the Builders amongst us!

As you can see I'm also offering personalisation of the print for a special custom gift, some special nursery art for a new baby perhaps?! I think they would make a lovely birthday or christmas gift too. Contact me if you have any requests for that wrench toting youngster in your life.

In the shop now!

I've also uploaded this design to my Flower Press shop on Society 6. You may remember last year I ordered a range of products and I was so pleased and impressed with the quality. Even better I ordered with one of their regular free shipping offers, so the prices were great!
So if you want a tool kit phone case, tote, cushion or canvas head over there.

pinterest love

I love Pinterest, do you? I use it for recording, bookmarking, research and discovery. I pin pretty things, clever things, funny things, colour schemes, books, patterns, clothes and fabrics.

I find it stores more than just images, it stores feelings and ideas. I store dreamy gardens, crafty projects, yummy food and I hoard beautiful pattern. Its a place to file a funny quote, a piece of wisdom, sewing inspiration, amazing landscapes, a mood, an inkling, a plan...

It helps me see the amazing beauty in our world.

Pinterest is often seen as a timewaster but I'm not sure its ever been that for me. While I pop in regularly I usually don't stay long, its a quick dose of inspiration and reference.

I love that each image is linked to its source. And rather than feeling it takes my images without attribution I've found that many people follow the links, so its given me a wider audience for my work, my images and my tutorials.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favourite boards with you guys (and I would love it too if you wanted to share your link or a favourite pin, pinner or board to help me find more pinterest treasure).

I've been trying to keep a note of inspiring and eclectic boards for the last while. Its a small list and to be honest I could add thousands more, and a lot of these pinners, well I love all their boards so while I've mentioned one board please have a look around.

And If you want to check out my pinterest, come and follow me at flowerpress. 

Melissa Wastney - Clear Blue or Grey

Alisa Coburn - Natural Forms

Daphne L's - Graphics, Prints and Textiles

Stephanie's - Folky board

Klaradyn K. - Dress details

Hansol Kim - diy/repurposed

Tamara N - Still Life

Scott Murphy - Abandoned

Mrs French - Fuzz, Feathers, Fur and whatnot

Janet Clare - A Field Guide

FLOWER PRESS 5th BIRTHDAY SALE

Yay, I've finally got round to sorting the Flower Press SALE

For the next five days celebrating 5 big years of Flower Press I've gone in and discounted a whole range of Flower Press wares.

There are lots of bargains. Some of these are one offs so get in quick.

* FLOWER PRESS 5th BIRTHDAY SALE *

Cushions selected styles
Lego cushion $34
RickRack Blue and Red cushions $29

Lego bags $17

Screenprinted Linen Tea towels, set of two $27
Your choice of Sky/Grass, Sky/Chalk or Grass/Chalk filigree towels
These make fabulous presents for a great range of people. (they are the best Teacher present!)

A4 Prints $15
Teapot, Collection, Ruby Slippers, Marbles, Zinnia

Quilting fabrics FQs $7.50
Cloudy
Yellow Marbles
Large Sky Bricks
(limited stocks at this price!)

Aqua Rick Rack Linen/Cotton original screenprint fabric $14 half yard.

Thanks Guys for supporting my little shop for all these years!

show & tell - alisa coburn

Alisa Coburn's Ink Caravan blog is one of the really beautiful spaces on the interwebs. Its like a coffee table book full of delightful illustration, wonderful photography, vintage images, creative links, crafts and references. I'm always delighted when I notice a new post from Alisa pop up in my Google Reader. She has a great eye and marries images together so beautifully that I'm always entranced by her posts.

Its no wonder then that her pinterest feed is also at the top of my favourites. She's always adding little gems that's she's found around the place, and like me she loves natural forms, vintage illustration, pattern, clothes, fabric, art and design.

Alisa is a talented illustrator and her blog shows her beautiful illustration work made in pencil, watercolour, gouache and ink. She often shares her process, and I love her eye for colour. (I'm really hoping she likes the colour I've chosen for her interview ;-)

She was the deserved winner of the popular choice prize for this year's Umbrella Prints Trimmings challenge for her fabulous folded book made with their beautiful fabrics. It is an amazing piece which I've shown part of below, but worth checking out more closely on her blog.

Alisa joined in with my Big Brooch Swap last year and her foxy brooch (above) was one of my very favourites from the swap We've seen glimpses since of some beautiful gocco prints in the same series that look just as lovely, and so when she (finally) opens her Etsy shop I'll be there at the door peering impatiently in at the window.

On top of all that Alisa is a lovely and thoughtful blogging friend whose encouragement is always generously given. If you haven't been to her place then I really think you should visit. Thank you Alisa for being part of the Show & Tell series.

name
Alisa Coburn
location
Melbourne, Victoria.
blog
http://inkcaravan.com
shop (coming soon... cross my heart!)
flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31899105@N05/
pinterest
http://pinterest.com/alisacoburn

1. Can you give us a short description of your blog/style/work
My blog is a mix of illustration, the stuff that inspires me and daily life.

My style is something I find quite tricky to pin. I think maybe it falls into two camps - one that is quite kid friendly with a vintage feel and the other is inspired by the individual in an emotional relationship with nature.  I love to show movement in things like wind and water and I looove drawing people - faces and personalities are endlessly fascinating.

2. Why blog? How did you start?
I started reading blogs as a breather to life with a new baby and a toddler. I felt overwhelmed and needed parenting tips and a creative escape in bitesize portions. I was blown away to discover the huge creative and incredibly generous blogging community out there. Blogs like hop skip jump and Loobylu, to name just a couple, inspired me and helped me keep some level of sanity - I'll always be grateful for that.

I love blogging - It's the perfect opportunity to play with photography and create stories around snippets of life and is a constant reminder to me to have a point. Plus the friendships I've made are just the best!

3. Family taught/Self-taught/Trained?
I've always been a squiggler - my aunty could always tell which bedroom was mine with her eyes shut because it reeked of coloured pencils. I started out in animation and learnt tonnes on the job - mostly about how to be silly and work silly hours. All good training for life ahead.

I'm also a trained graphic designer, art director and I spent my last 6 fulltime work years before kids as a promo director at the BBC. Illustration has been a part of all of those jobs but I've never actually called myself an illustrator before now. I obviously have a thing for reinventing myself.

4. Workspace - studio or kitchen table?
We currently live in a shoebox flat, so my creative space is a very snug corner of the main living space sandwiched between the girls bedroom door and the kitchen table. The creative mess tidal wave often sweeps across the kitchen table. Needless to say I fantasize about having a proper studio that I don't have to tidy.

5. Blog/Shop name, where does it come from?
I wanted a name that sounded fun and evocative. It took a while to settle on one but I quite like ink caravan. To me it suggests exploration and adventure, maybe an intriguing parade of characters or that wonderful studio space tucked into a forgotten corner of a garden that I pine for.

6. Favourite media to work in?
I mainly work with pencil, ink and watercolour or goauche on paper but I also adore printmaking - I love that it leaves room for happy accidents and imperfections - imperfection is something I'm learning to embrace.

7. Ambitions/future directions/future projects/medium you'd like to try?
Oooh I have heaps of these. One is to fine tune ink caravan as a brand and open an Etsy shop - I've been threatening to for ages. I got quite close to opening the virtual doors but then realised I really didn't have enough variety of stock. I've been busy dreaming up some new ideas to remedy that. I'd love to do another children's book, a printing workshop would be lovely, more working with collage in fabric and felt, some animation... and... and... and... !

8. Are you neat and organised or, ahem, creatively messy?
My deskspace is usually a very good reflection of my headspace. Too neat isn't healthy, it may mean that the creative anxiety levels are raging, but too messy can mean I'm totally lost, adrift in too many half finished thoughts. I think pretty and tidy-ish is a good place to be.

9. Favourite handmade, handcrafted item you own not made by you.
Oh that's tricky! There's no way I could pick just one. The handknitted woollens we were given for our babies by Mark's mum, the needle felted pond with mother duck and ducklings given to the girls by a clever aunty, plus so many lovely things that have come to live with me through blogland.

10. Favourite food/recipe?
I looove breakfast! Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, full english, pancakes, coffee... all of it. Preferably consumed on a lazy morning in the best relaxed cafes around the world every Sunday for the rest of my life. Ahhhh!

11. Favourite colour?
I used to be able to answer this question with 'greenish blues' but now I tend to think more in terms of combinations and have fallen in love with so many others. In fact I'm pretty sure there isn't a colour out there that can't be made dazzling in the right combination. I wonder which colour Susie will give my banner. : )

12. Star sign?
Aquarius

13. Favourite place, landscape (not necessarily Australian)?
Someplace with a view of the sea or being up high where I can see the whole sky. Most of the landscapes I've loved are intertwined with the thrill of travelling - Early morning mist falling down the cliffs into the sea at Santorini, The sparkling Cinque Terre coast, The green parks of London in summer and the colours in the Scottish Highlands. I just don't think I've settled on my ideal yet.

14. Any tricks for juggling life/work/family with creative pursuits?
Not convinced I'm all that good with this one, I was hoping you might know some. I'm just grateful for having a supportive partner.

15. Favourite artists, artisans, crafters?
This is just a drop in an ocean of incredible talent but artists... Paul Klee, the lithographs of Henri Toulouse Lautrec and Édouard Vuillard, Modigliani; Edward Ardizzone, Japanese woodblock prints, Laura Carlin, Carson Ellis, Raquel Aparicio, Isabelle Arsenault, Violeta Lopiz...

16. Your favourite thing you've made/written/done.
I'm really proud to have worked with Alison Johns on the children's book 'Amelia has Cancer' it is a valuable resource that was sorely needed for newly diagnosed children.

17. Three words to describe yourself?
Optimistic, chatty, playful.

18. What do you like to do besides creating?
Playing with my kids, making things for my kids, visiting places with rich history, cruising museums and galleries, watching vintage films and animation, reading children's picture books, having coffee with buddies, pinning, baking...

my creative space - biennale

Some friends and I took our school holiday kids on the free ferry to Cockatoo Island on Tuesday. The Sydney Art Biennale is on this month with sites around the city including a large showing at this old industrial island which has all its old buildings and cranes and slipways and tunnels. I didn't realise it before visiting but Cockatoo Island is also an old convict site too.

In fact I hadn't been to Cockatoo Island before and I must admit the space, the old industrialia, the old wooden, sandstone and fibro buildings, the tennis court on the edge of a cliff, the convict buildings on the plateau up top, the rickety stairways past large fig trees hanging by convoluted root systems to the cliff face, the ruined glasshouses and the views to the city were my favourite part of the trip.

The art was perfect in this context, and we just loved it all. It was the perfect day trip and great for the kids, they ran and played in the open space between galleries and then explored the art in between. There are some pop up cafés all around the island too and we had delicious noodles for lunch sitting out in the square in the sun.

A favourite part was this large gallery draped and garlanded with bits of coloured materials everywhere which were sewn with vintage buttons, buttonholes and magnets. The kids all played dressups and ended up looking like Persian and Japanese princes and garden fairies.

Another favourite was this fog installation (made by a 78 year old Japanese woman artist) which changed the light in a magical way. I also loved the carved sandstone tunnel that ran right through the middle of the sandstone plateau with these lovely old numbers painted along the supports. I only wish I'd taken my camera and not just my phone, but I will definitely be going back. It runs till September so there is plenty of time to make the trip again. If you get a chance to go do, this is a magic day!

Whats up in your creative space this week? To see more inspiration head over here.

vivid sydney 2012

We headed into the city last night to see the Vivid Sydney light show, which is lighting up Circular Quay and surrounds this month. For non locals Vivid is an annual festival held in Sydney with the themes Light, Music and Ideas. Its often showcases avant garde ideas and I remember a few years ago Laurie Anderson held a concert for dogs on the forecourt of the Opera House and a few of my friends took their pooches (who didn't actually seem so fussed!).

Vivid is such a beautiful sight, if you're local I really recommend it, We parked near Sydney Theatre Company and walked round under the bridge and all the way round the Quay, into and up and round the MCA, then round to Customs House which has a bespoke animation playing on its front.

There was a really nice atmosphere, there were lots of families and kids and lots of babies too I noticed! it seems like everyone had a camera and the light installations are really accessible and interactive, especially the one near the MCA with flaps that jump the louder you scream!

Looking for somewhere to eat, and disappointed by the narrow choice between fried food joints and chef hats restaurant we suddenly stumbled across Young Alfred's outdoor dining area right on the square at Customs House, undercover and with a good view of the Customs House show. What a great find, it was really reasonable and so delicious. We shared a Caesar salad and Messi, Tito and Miles pizzas (roast vegetables and goats curd; caramelised onion, sausage and pecorino; and mozzarella, prosciutto, tomato & rocket).

I'm at my happiest exploring with my gang, and combining good food, art, landscape, a bit of instagramming and a cold beer... well it doesn't get much better for me.

Happy weekend everyone. If you have a chance go and see Vivid, but maybe not this weekend, its meant to rain, a lot! I'm thinking some food, crochet, and a bit of iView if its really miserable.