Little Indian Inspiration

I have fallen head over heels with all things that remind me of American Indians. It's such a cool theme. I have to firstly admit it's all a visual love, & that I have no knowledge of American Indian history.

I love the idea of living in a teepee, although it probably wasn't very luxurious at all. Mmmmm dirt ground, no thanks! But how cool are they as an inside tent, it really make the regular concept of cubby house really boring.
The super large feathers on the headdress are absolutely breath taking. The colours on the tips, the workmanship, the tribal symbols are just amazing & inspiring.
Now bows an arrows I am not a huge fan for the obvious reason, but they are divine. So earthy, natural, & fierce, I love the made by hand quality in every piece.
The dream catcher I found here isn't very traditional, but thats OK, it is however absolutely stunning. Such an ancient & traditional tool created into a beautifully crafted piece with a vintage feel.

Image Sources  - 1  2  3  4  5  6

With the above inspiration I have created my own "Little Indian" pieces, which are in my own bold style, bright & will be perfect for boys bedrooms. I opted against a natural colour palette & used what feels safe & bright for me. I would almost consider them muted brights. I love turquoise & grey together with he pops of re & olive, ideal for a little indians bedroom.

Above is the hero piece which has been created into several other bedroom decor pieces which I look forward to sharing soon.

Pinning Citrus inspiration

Beautiful citrus tones are so fresh & crisp, & I cant wait to be wearing these colours again.
With a predicted very warm summer coming (according to meteorologists), I can't stop thinking about colours that make me feel warm, make me think of swimming, & a few gin & tonics haha.

Sources left to right - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Pinning Water Colours

I love water colours, there is something so soft, gentle, & peaceful about them. I love how colours bleed into each other, it can have such a refreshing effect. With spring shining here at the moment, it has me feeling inspired to create.

Here are some gorgeous finds on pinterest I have found.

Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

I hope these designs & such beautiful colours inspire your day.

feeling rather rejuvenated

I have just come home from my trip to QLD, I had a great time but kind of feeling like I need a holiday from the holiday if you know what I mean. Being on the go every single day is very tiring, especially on the legs, theme parks really take it out of you. However a great feeling, & I have to admit I am glad to be back. There is no place like home.

On a positive note.....I am feeling rather rejuvenated. I tried very hard to not really do a lot of work, except the essentials like answering emails & so forth. It was lovely to just be, & go with the flow. having a break from the structure of life is very healthy.I did get a change to do a little bit of sketching, with is not work to me I really love it. I just love to sit there with my pencil, eraser & black marker. It's a form of freedom to just start & see where it ends up. With the beautiful warmth of the sun, I was inspired to draw this.

I am looking forward to adding some colour when I get a chance.

So now that I am back I am feeling the inspiration I crave in my belly. The last couple of  months that feeling just wasn't there. I think it was just being emotionally tired & in need of a break. We are all human & can only push ourselves so much.

I have a lot to do with Xmas pending. My Christmas range is ready to release...YAY!! I have pretty much finished my website, & need to get that baby live....EXCITING!! I start the next instalment of Lilla Rogers MATS course in October, which I am feeling anxious about. On top of that I have some new ideas floating around I would like to action.

Stay tuned....

I get to paint! MATS assignment 4

This week on MATS it's all about wall art! yay I am feeling excited about this.
Think of the beautiful abstract art that is hanging on everyones living room walls. It's a great piece that doesn't really say much. It may have a bird, flower, anything at all, but overall it's generally colourful (in my mind) & abstract. We have had to collect items that would work in our art from the house. this fabric, buttons, trims, paper, paint what ever works basically.

This week we can do whatever we like....Scary as there are too many possibilities!! Clearly, Lilla has read all of our minds & made it easier but giving us colour depending on your star sign. Yay again!! I don't have to think I can just have fun. My colours are blue & yellow as I am a Sagittarius.

On my scavenger hunt around the house , this is what I have found.

We have to paint, have fun, get into it & use words, I can not wait.

Here I go.......

Ballet Mood Board Inspiration

I am starting to plan new designs, I find this stage really exciting thinking about what I haven't created before. Working out what new ideas that make my heart race. I have learnt to really listen to my body when I create, or when I am sourcing new ideas. I always know I am on to something, if I am excited & smiling from the inside out.

I am wanting to create a dance ballet range. I have never danced in my life, I was always into sport, so  was my mum, hence me never entering a dance studio. However Charlotte has taken to it, (like many 3yr old girls), so last year I enrolled her in a kindy dance program, & ever since it's been the highlight of her week. Her enthusiasm has drawn me to the dance & ballet world, still not knowing anything about it technically, I am drawn to it's beauty. It is so feminine. So pretty. So graceful. So elegant. So gracious. It has a soft romantic & even vintage feel. When I think of ballet, I think about fluid movements, soft pink satin, tulle, ribbons, slippers, dusky pink & creme, lace, and two tone roses.

I have put together a mood board to create inspiration, & keep me on path with my ballet design vision.

I have thought of a colour palette, it's soft & very ballet. I want to keep the colours a little cleaner, & not as murky as what is perceived a little more traditional.

With ideas down, its time to get some art drawn.

Pinterest image references as follows - 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11

Feeling overwhelmed with inspiration

Do you ever get overwhelmed with TOO much inspiration?

I know a lot of artists get it, but I haven't really be stung by the feeling too much before.
With the sale of my Quirky and Quaint business I spoke about last time, it has give me the opportunity to start planning the new tasks & projects I would like to pursue in the near future. Some personal & some business. I have had a bit of time to web surf which I LOVE!! I haven't been able to do that for what feels like forever & forever, & mind you I forgot how time sucking it can be. Two hours can fly just like that.

For the very first time in a long while I have actually even felt like sewing for myself. I haven't made anything with my trusty sewing machine for a long long time. I am not a bad sewer, it's one thing I have always found easy, as with making patterns, as that's what I studied at school. I used to want to be a bridal designer & made a few dresses, you can see this post here & here about this long ago desire. I have started to look at beautiful fabric, it's all so glorious.

image by Kylie Loy

Unfortunately the more I look, the more I am starting to feel very overwhelmed with all of the amazing beauty out there. Some artists are just incredible, there are amazing products, from everything to decor to jewellery. I am in heaven. I feel like I have so many ideas popping around in my head I am  starting to feel like I have stage fright a bit. I'm completely overwhelmed & in awe of the amazing work out there. In seeing this I am wondering where the hell to start. I know it's seems a little exaggerated  but I know I am not the first to feel like this.

I am not one of these people who have a flood of ideas flowing out of them. I do need to look for my inspiration, whether it be on the web, checking out retail stores, or in books & mags, I just have too.

Eeeek I just need to shake it off & start, I need to let go of this, I think it's the best way.

If you have ever felt like this ? If you have I would love to know how you combat this.

Seeing Paisley

I love new seasons as it brings new trends. Winter is pending here in Melbourne which I have to admit I am not overly excited about. I am a sunshine girl, I love summer and my favourite season is Autumn. When the sun is out I feel happiest, it's a guaranteed mood lifter. It's also my favourite season to draw and design, it just comes a lot more naturally to me. I am sure it's due to my love of colour!

With summer starting in the northern hemisphere, I just can't help notice lots of summery paisley's coming through as a strong trend. I have not always been a fan of paisley designs, but as I have got older, I have become more drawn to them. From a surface design perspective I think they are brilliant, so detailed and intricate. I love how a rainbow of colours can be used, and I love how it can be created so simply with only 2 colours. There is so much versatility.

Here are some lovely images I have found and collected on pinterest. It's a trend that is happening from fabric, apparel, shoes, home wears & even cakes. So inspiring!!

Images & references from pinterest
Aren't they gorgeous? Their swirliness just makes me want to draw.
This inspiration has given me some ideas for mothers day and a couple of prints, so stay tuned.

Have a lovely Friday.

Course Update & Initial Concepts

I have been working hard over the weekend, in between Easter activities, as seeing that I didn't have Internet connection, it gave me some time to work on a new print concept. I am doing a short course which I mentioned here. Over the last 3 weeks it's all been about finding my style & influences, it's been a fabulous eye opening experience. I have such an obvious style, from my clothes, the kids clothes, pinterest boards I have created, it's all so similar to what my eye is drawn to.

We are up to a really fun part now, the part that I LOVE most.
Story Boards - Colour Palette  - Design Concepts

The biggest influence at the moment in my house are Rainbows. Both of my kids love these. I am continuously inundated with questions about them, from where does it begin and end? Can they touch them? Why are they the same colours? What are they made of? Why cant they see them all the time? The list goes on!

My Story Board & Colour Inspiration

Some Sketching

A Initial Print Concept

I am really enjoying this process & feel like its all coming together nicely.

Update on my e-course

About two weeks ago I mentioned that I was feeling a little ho-hum with daily life, being so busy, and some product deadlines that have been very time consuming. Just to add to it I decided to take on a new e-course. I thrive on new knowledge, and it's a guaranteed way of popping some new fire in my belly.

The e-course I am doing is a PDF download, called "the whole shabang" by Kelly Rae Roberts. A fantastic mixed media artist who I admire from a far (she's in USA). She has had an incredible amount of business success & I know I can definitely learn something from her, well a lot actually.

I am about a third of the way through it & I can genuinely say she has definitely stuck some cords with me. I just LOVE how her whole business is so connected with herself. Just her, and nobody else. Her passions, and her loves. To me that shows so much strength, confidence, and bravery, to just create and make from your heart. She expressed her initial worries at the beginning of her artistic career, and how she has overcome those with trial and error. Learning to create what you know and love best, and the rest will follow.

Believe in your Dreams

I feel a connection with her as I am going through the same motions at the moment. Worried about what will sell what won't sell. Will people like it? How will I grow my business to the next level? I mean lets face it not everyone will like my work, and what my work is about. But thats the journey of learning to be true to yourself, she speaks so, so, so frequently about. 


Her belief of just being YOU seems so simple, yet so scary, also a journey I feel would be lovely to travel right now amongst the super busy world I currently am in. it' almost calming in a strange way.


However in saying that I think it's time I start listening to my true design loves, not that I don't by any means now, but inspire myself in another way, by following what makes my heart flutter. Sometimes I think of something that is magical to me, and then that voice in my head says, but will it sell?? Popping that element of doubt right back where it seems to want to belong. I am really wanting to try some new styles, incorporating some figures (people) into my work, but I am just sill trying to perfect everything. I also have a habit of putting a lot of pressure on myself, which is not a great thing to do, as it causes procrastination for me. 

It all sounds a little corny but it's like I just get, everything she says. It's really lovely to read the words of someone else and it almost feeling like they're talking to you. I find myself sitting and nodding with that  ah ha moment!

In saying that I suppose I better start putting all of this new found knowledge & ideas down on paper & start something new....Wish me luck and I look forward to sharing more of this fabulous e-book and it's impact on me.

Under the Sea

I am working furiously on new designs & will be happy to say most of them are complete. It's a very exciting time for me when I can start showing you what I have been up to.

While I was away we spent a lot of time at the beach, & also did some looking around under rocks to see what we could fine. I love the sea & it's beauty & have a tendency to daydream a bit, wondering what is going on under the water were I can't see.

What's there?

Who's there?

What colour is it?

Is there 1 fish or many?

I am a fan of the zoo, & the aquarium, & I could spend hours watching all creatures swimming. I love their beauty & their effortless gliding in the water, it look so smooth and gentle. I love the idea of a MASSIVE fish tank at home, just like this one below....How cool is it?? But just don't like the idea of all the maintenance.

image source

So I decided to have an under the sea design theme. I knew I wanted a vintage style tug boat, starfish, seahorse, sea grass, jelly fish & of course fish. I found these fabulous images below to get the ball rolling, giving me shapes & colours to work with.

images from pinterest

This is the end design result, still in a drawn format, but they are ready & waiting to be made into cushions, doorstops, a bunting & some ready to hang wall art.

After what felt like days & days of tweaking (which was only a whole night), changing & redrawing I am very happy with the result.

Are you a fan of the sea?

Cushion Love on Friday

It's a known fact that I love cushions!

I also love to search for all of the amazing designs & style available. To come up with ideas is hard, & it is so important to constantly search for inspiration. Never to copy, lets make that very clear, but to find that one colour, one detail, one character, or a surface pattern, that can provide me with an explosion of ideas for me to design & create.

I have started an inspiration board on Pinterest, with all of the sweet lovelies that I come across. I wanted to share some of them with you today.

I love this pouffe & intend on making one myself one day.

I love spots they are such a clean simple way to add colour.

More pouffes. I think this image is divine, I love it. Especially loving the clock.

I love the simplicity of this design. Lots of felt circles, 2 layers of felt & each colour complimenting the other. All attached by a simple straight line. Simply divine.

I hope these colourful cushions have inspired your day.

Have a great Friday.

More ways to find inspiration

You may have realised I am a little obsessed with maintaining your inspiration, as I guess I rely on it you could say.

I found a link today from a tweet, & unfortunately for the life of me I can't find who's it's from, so sorry if you're reading this. The link was a great one that I wanted to share with you.

"33 ways to stay creative".

Most of the points aren't anything you haven't heard or read before, but there were a couple of new ones that I quite liked.

source & image via today tomorrow

1. 'Don't force it', which I connected to immediately.

Sometimes when a drawing isn't working for me, I admit to forcing it to work. It's a very frustrating process. I need to just leave it for a few hours, or over night, and look at it again in the morning with a refreshed perspective.

2. 'Stop trying to be someone else's perfect.

I think this is a great point everyone needs to think about, especially me. I am a bit of a perfectionist and at times probably put to much pressure on myself, to make everything for everyone. I always stay true to my style, but always have in the back of my mind, will everyone love it. I have come to learn over many years, not everyone will love your work. As much as that is a slap in the face it's so true. So stop trying to be perfect for everyone else and work harder at trying to be better at what amazing work you're already doing.

3. Gets lots of rest

I know this is important, as I honestly believe your best ideas pop into your head as you're drifting off to sleep. Hence why its good the have a note book next to you. Unfortunately for me I am not always guaranteed of this as I have a 1yr old who doesn't believe she needs to sleep through the night. She is getting better, and I am sleeping more, and have had some lovely new ideas come to mind. Restful sleep equals awesome potential ideas and thoughts. It's definitely on my list for improvement, however still a bit out of my control.

This is a great list to read on a Monday to prepare you for the week. I hope that there are some points that help you out.

One of many things I do when searching for inspiration

I like to be as honest as possible about my business. I would never let anybody think that the ideas 'just flow', or 'oh they just come to me so easily'.

Guess what? It doesn't always happen that way for me.

Lately I have been feeling a little bit flat on the ideas creative front. I think it's actually called 'hitting the wall'. I have been so busy with orders which is just awesome, and I am not complaining about that by any means. I just haven't had a lot for time to focus on developing new things. I am learning through out my business journey that it is really important as a creative being, to just stop. It doesn't matter if you have 30 pending orders, just stop. They won't go away if they are ignored for a few hours or an evening. I know they will still be sitting there later on for you. I have had to learn this myself as I was becoming a little frustrated as I wasn't enjoying the creative side, as I wasn't allowing it to happen. As I mentioned before, it was making me feel a little flat. My ideas felt like they had hit the wall, so I went looking for it instead.

I love books and magazines, they are my addiction of choice, so I decided to buy a whole bunch of design ones. Gotta love my favourite book home 'Book Depository', to feed this bad, bad habit. With great prices & free shipping, it's crazy not too go a little mad once in a while. I bought 6 the other day & 4 have arrived.

1. Print & Pattern

2. Pattern & Palette source book

3. Flowers & leaves

4. 2000 colour combinations

I think it is really important to remember this, especially those who create for a living. It is so easy to get wound up in the orders, invoicing, relisting, emailing, networking on face book and twitter, and any other responsibilities. Sit back and set aside an hour or two, you may need half a day, and let your mind wander naturally as you immerse yourself in inspirational materials. Whether is be books, store visits, surfing the net, or going through op shops, as this is the only way to allow you mind to come up with those imaginative sparks, that are at the end of the day, the most important facet of your business. Without those, there won't be any more orders in the future.

I know after flicking through some of these book, I have a few light bulb moments happening.

Happy creating, xx

Home Library

I have a spare room in my house right at the front, it doesn't have any doors on it, it's more of a show room actually. To be quite frank with you, its useless. Always wanting a place to be alone, which is almost impossible with two babies, the dream and determination to have something has resulted in trying to create my own library, a little sanctuary I guess one would call it. The last few weeks I have been planning this dream library in my house.

I love books, they are my way of leaving the place that I am at, it could be a juicy novel, or dreamy and inspiring design books, it just fills my mind with other thoughts. A perfect place you could say. I have always loved the library of Nile's, on the sitcom Frasier. So grand, large & the best part is the ladders that glides along the shelving, getting you from one reference to another. MMM I don't think I will be having a library on that scale.

Looking for inspiration I found these amazing libraries.

I love all the books colour coded, isn't it divine?

image by - http://www.home-designing.com

This library looks so cosy and inviting. I love how the green curtain could be dragged across to hide the books creating a whole new space. Oh, and I love the ladder.

image from - apartment132 blog

Now my library is not on this scale by any means, it will be cosy & tiny that's a guarantee. After a visit to IKEA, and a tonne of book shelves later, here is the beginning of my own little in home library. I definitely knew what I wanted in my head, all the shelves to sit in the corner, and not all the same height or width. I wanted to create some interest and opportunity to find some new artwork to hang later on.

Here is the room, see that window? Well that is the front of my house.

These gerbra pictures are not my favourite at all now. They used to be up in my old house & suited it perfectly. But because I went from an 11sq house to 34square house I had to fill spaces with everything I owned. The rest of the stuff is just kids things that should be put away.

One shelf on it's way.

All done in the corner as I wanted, and still leaving space to hang some great artwork. Told you it was tiny.

From another angle.

This is wear my couch will sit. I am going to eventually cover it as I am so over the red. I am thinking a print of some sort, not sure yet, and definitely snuggle cushions and a rug of some sort. I also need to buy a lovely rug to lay in the middle as I am not thrilled with how the unit colour & the carpet kind of blend.

Now I am just adding in all of my books, some little collectibles I would like to display. I am not showing the finished result yet, as I am a rather fussy and will most likely rearrange several times until it's right. Even then I am sure I will change it around again. Now I need to find the right artwork for the walls.

When its done I will post it, should only be a couple of days.

Paper Flowers

In my quest lately for decorating my house, I have bought countless book shelves and other odds and ends from IKEA. Storage has become a necessity, as I am sick of things on the ground. With a very mobile baby, nothing is sacred my friends, nothing at all.

Now the fun part starts, decorating and sourcing the beautiful pieces to adorn my new places.

I am still working on my dream home library which I promise to show soon. Oooh the pressure of that.

Today I discovered a new shop Miss Isa.

While reading through the wonderful Life on Planet Baby blog, (also nominated as Kidspot 50 top bloggers) she posted her love for these gorgeous paper flowers. It was love at first sight literally, I have always had a thing for flowers. After clicking on the link, seeing this gorgeous the shop, I was sold, hook line and sinker.

I bought these 3 gorgeous colours....How lovely are they?

Also had my eye on this.

Some more lovely paper flowers.

There lots of other beautiful items in this shop like garlands and stunning pencils.

Click here to see the whole collection.

Look what I have :0)

I got home from Soccer this morning to find a cardboard box under my door mat. I knew exactly what it was & raced to open it.

I am pretty happy to say the least.

I have looked, scanned, flicked, and said a few oohs & ahhs.

Now I just dream for the quite time to read and savour every bit of it.

I will be sure to tell you about my favourite pages and how they have inspired me.

Not everything has to be personalised

I had no idea what I was entering in to when I did my first personalised cushions. Putting your name on something is so incredibly popular. My initial idea when I started designing the collection was just to do a regular kids cushion collection. Pretty straight forward, nice and simple. Then the couple of personalised ones I did continued to sell, then I thought I'd do two more, and they sold, then two more and so on. So I guess it's you guys, the customers, that have unexpectantly altered my initial business plan slightly. But that's OK, I love doing it.

I do get a lot of queries, can I "unpersonalised' a particular design. Some can easily be altered, some not so, like the dedicated name designs.

Today's post is to let everyone know that if you like something, but don't want a name on it, that's fine just let me know. The last couple of weeks I have had several of these requests from customers and stockists.

The following have been "depersonalised".

I haven't listed them in my shop, but if you would like any of them feel free to ask me, or if you would like the name on something else removed. I will add them to my gallery & facebook decorative cushion page.

A depersonalised "Apple Pop"

A depersonalised "Monster Mash"

A depersonalised "Lady bird"

Colour Combo - Pink & Chartruese

I know we are heading into Winter (apparently), in Australia, but it doesn't mean dark dreary colours for me. No way...you know I am a colour obsessed.

These two colours I absolutely adore together.

While looking around on Etsy today, instead of working teehee, I found a couple of items that were so bright and happy I wanted to share them with you. After finding those, I intentionally went looking for more, and found some other great finds.

They are a such great, yet not always an obvious colour combination for some. When put against a white back drop, they just pop and scream happy, happy, happy. Also beautiful not just as small accessory items, try using them in your home. Splash the colour about in different shades, it doesn't have to be as rich as the shades I have shown you, tone it down.

A little bit of bright can make a statement, how about using the two colours as cushion covers on a dark lounge, there are heaps of prints around in these shades to make your own. Even paint a few boring frames around the house and sit them together with some fab prints. Paints some old vases, or buy some artwork predominantly featuring the two colours. It's just endless. I found this room featuring both colours and it works beautifully. Not so bright it would make it hard to live in, actually quite soft and soothing,

image by ohmigoshblog

If around the house makes you freak, take a look at some of the lovely jewellery pieces I found.

1.PartyPoms 2.TheSilverDog 3.gadgetarmor

4.crafteratlarge 5.fabrickjunkie1640 6.punkynmunky

7.minusOne 8.theotherjeanie 9.BlueVelvetHeart

I hope your're making something colourful today.