Colour Me Green

Green, generally considered the earth colour, the colour we think of when wanting to get back to nature. Green trees, green grass, being green. It's also one of the secondary colours on the colour wheel, made from blue and yellow.

I love green also for a few quirky little saying...It's not easy being green.

Also....Blue & green should never be seen unless there is something in between. What a load of rubbish, but it still makes me giggle.

My favourite shade of green are definitely apple green & lime green, they both in my eyes are bright and cheerful.

With different shades of green available, I have created my "Colour Me Green" colour chart, of my interpretations of the green wheel.

Here are some gorgeous green décor pieces to brighten your happy place!!

1 Hooo loves you baby

2 Organizer Basket

3 Pom Love

4 Freshline

5 Dinosaur bank

Busy Bust Busy

When I become very busy my poor blog gets a little left behind.

Like everyone's business, well I am assuming this anyway, their business has peaks and trofs.

Well this last week has been a peak. Yay, I am not complaining by any means. I had a large opening order from a brand new stockist, lots of new orders from my awesome existing stockists, and then my own trickle of order from my own sites.

Phew.....Many hours later, printing, making, wrapping, labelling all ready for the post, this was the result. Two boxes one you can't see very well on the left under everything, and my good ol' empty nappy box that have come in very handy, and lots of lovely envelopes.

Now I am breathing a bit now, time to start on the next bunch of orders, and fingers crossed I can start squeezing in some time to start developing some new designs.

Does you business operate like this?

Peaks and trofs?

Mothers Day - Put your child's art on a cushion

I am doing a lovely and original gift idea for mother's day, May 8th 2011.

Getting your little Picasso's drawing, on to my cushions, so you have a special and original piece of decor for your special space.

For those who are still a little young to be illustrating, printing hands or feet are definitely another gorgeous option.

Here are two beautiful examples, that will certainly be treasured.

Lovely artwork from Maya.

Gorgeous little hand prints from Eva.

As you can see this isn't only for mum, but also a perfect gift for Nana or grandma.

It’s really easy, all you have to do is scan the image of the artwork email to me tigesandweince(at)gmail.com

Please images MUST NOT exceed the size of an A4 piece of paper. If you don't have a scanner let me know. If you would like text, and it's not compulsory, it should not exceed 8 words.

There are 3 colour options for the back of the cushion, & the text will match that. Green polka dot, aqua stripe, Hot Pink polka dot

I know most of us women do the gift shopping, and generally most men won't be reading this blog. So if you like this idea and think someone will love it, why don't you let them know and help organise it for them. Do some shopping on somebody else's behalf, so their mum gets the surprise of their life!

Cut off date for orders to ensure delivery is 27^th April 2011 (mothers day 8/5).

You can find these cushions for purchase on my etsy and madeit stores.

Have fun getting those crayons, pencils, and paint out!!

Win my Owl Door Stop

Head over to the wonderful site Fabulous Fun Finds today & you will have to chance to win my owl door stop. My door stop isn't the only thing to win there are so many other home décor items ups for grabs, it's fantastic.

A Painting of Tinkerbell

I love Tinkerbell, I have always loved that gorgeous little fairy, she has such a pretty face.

She is such a lovely character, considerate, yet always a bit of a magnet to trouble. I think when you have a son, you are generally consumed with boy characters, like "Lightning McQueen" "Rory the Racing Car", "Buzz Light Years", and lately "Astro Boy". You somehow lose the focus on the girly ones.

When I had Charlotte, I was so excited hoping that in time she would learn to love the magic of Tinkerbell, and we will happily sit together and watch her movies. Mind you, I have slowly gotten Hudson interested in them & he does enjoy them. Why wouldn't he? There is lots of magic, flying & of course boy fairies, but there is definitely no passion.

Last November when I christened Charlotte, I received a painting from my sister in-law.

It was Tinkerbelle, painted in all her beauty by my sister in-law herself.

I was thrilled when I got it, & was absolutely in awe that she was this talented at painting. She is very good at flowers, but I had no idea of her other capabilities. All of the black threw me a bit at first, but I am definitely in love with it now. I really just wanted to share it with you today, and I hope you like it to.

Colour Me Yellow

Yellow is one of the happiest colours around.

It oozes summer and spring, happiness and smiley faces.

It's also one of the 3 very important primary colours.

I wanted to highlight it today as I think it's a colour we don't see enough of, mainly I believe is because it's particularly bright. It's definitely a colour of accent, a little bit goes a long way, you know a great highlight piece. It's very unlikely you would see somebody dressed head to toe in yellow, or even a whole room painted in it. I am certainly not saying that is absolute, but generally speaking.

Did you know there are different shades of yellow?

I have done this, as unless you are very accustomed to colour, it's sometimes not obvious to see other base colours coming through. Have you ever heard someone say, gee that yellow looks green? Well that is because the shade has a green base.

I have given a few samples of different shades of yellow.

Below are some fabulous yellow highlight pieces found on etsy that I am positive will brighten your happy place.

1. amye123

2. Mid Western Treasures

3. Creative Butterfly xoxo

4. Critters Jitters

5. Bugs Loft

What are your opinions on the colour yellow?

New - Garden Party

I have just uploaded the newest design for Tiges and Weince.

If you look through a lot of my current designs I tend to have a bit of a theme happening, well a love of particular images. I love drawing,

birds

ladybirds

flowers

anything with polka dots

trees

busy scenes

So I though why not throw them all together??

And what do you know...There is a bit of a Garden Party happening.

Looks like fun if you ask me.

747, 748, 749, 750 bookmarks

About 2 weeks ago I received an email from a lady enquiring about purchasing some bookmarks for the library she worked at. I gave her all of my design images to select from.

Usually when I have a wholesale order for bookmarks it varies from 50-200.

In this case I got the shock of my life she required 750 of them. As much as I was happy to receive the order I did think, 'oh boy what a lot of work ahead of me'.

So the long process began, mind you I did get a lot of help from my husband and sister in-law. It's amazing what you can get done over a kitchen table, and a few glasses of wine hehe!

As part of the bookmaking process I have 4 bookmark designs per 1 sheet of card. As you can imagine there was a whole lot of printing going on.

Once printed I laminate all of them for protection. The inside is always left unlaminated to write your name, even add a special message for someone else. They are always popular inside a birthday card as a little something extra. Then I meticulously cute each one with a guillotine to ensure straight lines.

Once done they are folded perfectly in half and magnets are attached, so they snap closed securely. You don't want them falling out of your book, diary or journal!

Ahhhh, all done and piled into a carry bag ready for one of those tough bags from the post office. This order weighed a whopping 6kg!

I am so happy that there will be potential customers buying them, to put in their favourite books. I would also, should I receive an order of such quantity again, probably outsource some parts of it. It truly was quite back breaking!

You can see all of my magnetic bookmarks here.

If you like what you see remember to take advantage of the buy 4 bookmark receive 1 free offer that is permanently in my shop.

Happy Friday

A quick post today wishing you a Happy Friday.

It's been a really busy week for me, I actually feel like curling up in a ball and snoozing away.

I received a HUGE order of 750 bookmarks, I will fill you in on that later. I am nearing the end of this baby, and ready to post it away!

I have a new wholesaler who has a lovely little shop call Skadoodle, based in Barooga NSW. She made a lovely order of cushions to fill her sweet shop.

Finally I am trying to work on new designs, for my cushions, door stops, and I am going to start selling my designs as prints, to hang on you walls.

It's also my wedding anniversary today, 11 years, I can't believe it. Tonight I am being taken out for French cuisine MMMMM.

It's nearly the weekend people, enjoy yourselves xx

photo by Cate S

Two New Personalised Designs

I have just completed two new personalised designs, Monster Mash for the boys, and Apple Pop for the girls.

I am still getting used to how popular this personalised industry is. I have thought about why it's like this and here is what I think.

The world has become such a depersonalised space, and I think as people we all crave for attention in some way or another. It's a competitive place and lets be honest we need to stand out to be noticed. Being an individual has become very important, as no body wants to be considered a 'copy cat'. I think to have your world created just how you would like it is comforting, and knowing that 'your name' is on this and that, and no body can be take it from you. That's my perception, what's your thought?

Monster Mash Perfect for boys, lots of funny monsters, each one with a different expression.

A colour palette of chocolate brown, lime green, orange, white and aqua.

Apple Pop Perfect for girls, apples, lady birds, lolly pop trees, and flowers.

A strong colour palette of pink, raspberry red, white and aqua.

How old is your USB stick? - Urgent read

I have had a stressful few days. Those who follow me on facebook will know this story, and here is my update, but for those who don't (please do) and read on.

Thursday night I was working as per usual, & I received an order for my flower & butterfly personalised cushion, and I couldn't open it. The error message was saying that it was moved to another location? My heart skipped a beat and I tried not to panic. I rebooted my system and the same message again when I tried to open it. Again I tried not to panic, shut the computer down & went to bed, hoping it was nothing.

Friday...Mum was here as I planned a research and drawing day, I had some new ideas I wanted to get down on paper. Anyway I thought I would print a couple of orders off, went to my 'personalised', folder and the whole thing was gone. I went absolutely cold, and felt this pain in my chest. Sounds dramatic but true.

After I had calmed down and worked through a process of elimination hoping it was nothing, it was time to call for help. When I bought my computer I also bought Harvey Norman's QK 24/7 PC Help Registration. Basically help anytime of day, just what I need, for just in case moments like this one. To make this long story shorter, the techs did a deep recovery session as they were to stumped as to how a whole folder was missing. I will admit I was very frustrated when they kept asking me, was I sure I hadn't deleted it. Ummm NO!!

An hour later they called me back & the folder was found, however not all of the files could be recovered. They said they could do a deeper recovery but I had to wait until the next day as we had been on and off the phone already for 3hrs. So Saturday night after 8pm I was on the phone to them again. They managed to recover a couple more, so all in all I got 10 back out of 12.

I asked what the problem was and they said my USB stick. Apparently USB sticks only have a reliable shelf life of 18mths. They have trouble being rewritten constantly, so if you are saving over and over on the same file it can become a little weak and unreliable. I had no idea about this, and have learnt a great lesson. One being have a decent back up, and second renew my USB sticks regularly. Please use my hideous experience as a lesson for yourself.

If you're wondering why I use these instead of saving on the computer, it's because my design files are HUGE, sometimes 6 meg, and when you have as many as I have, it's slows my computer down, that why I use and external drive.

If you ever need help with your PC here is the number (Australia only) 1300 133 373.

There is a membership of $195 but it was money well spent.

My Cushions in Peekaboo Magazine

Have you read Peekaboo Magazine? A great read for mums, bubs and kids.

In issue 6/March 2011, my cushions have been lucky enough to be featured on pages 11,and 35. A wonderful stockist of mine, Maryanne from Little Bird Decor manage to score this wonderful publicity. I am absolutely thrilled with the result, especially the pillow fight!!!

Thanks a million Maryanne, I hope the feature brings orders your way.

Wardrobe Inspiration

When we decide to redecorate our kids bedrooms I think besides the bed another important element is definitely the wardrobe. It's a that must be considered style wise as well as practical. Will the design last a long time, not just for when they are a baby. I think the first wardrobe we buy should at least take them to their first 8-10 years, before the tween element kicks in. Of course another consideration is space for clothes, shoes, accessories like belts, headbands, hats, and of course some special toys. One last important element I think would be that the design be suitable for you to had your favourite pictures or photos.

all images from home decor arcade

Live, Laugh, Love

A few months ago I bought some words that I wanted to read everyday.

There has been some tragic events in my life that have effected me, & events that have effected my dearest friends. Life can be short so I wanted to use these words to remind me to be the best I can be, make the most of what I have, and be there for those who need me.

Bree runs Cheeky Monkey Craftwork, and is the creator behind this wall art. She was a stall holder in January this year at a local market I was at, and also my neighbour for the day. As soon as I saw her work I knew I just had to buy something.

They have been mounted up in my kitchen/living space, on my feature wall. I am feeling the area still looks a little bare, so I have intentions of adding some artwork near the words. I am not sure what yet, so I have scribbled a couple of boxes as to where I think they may be.

Cheeky Monkey Craftwork is a locally designed and produced (Australia) business, run by a great gal, Bree. Her work is of great quality and workmanship, and she can basically create whatever you need. From names to words like mine.

Please pop over to her site here to see more, and you can also follow here on facebook here.

Lovely Lavender

Lavender a soft and relaxing colour, there isn't anything fiery or bright about it, it's quite soothing actually.

It is a pale tint of violet and resembles the colour of the same plant lavender.

It's a great colour for a girls bedroom, whether you team it together in different shades like I have shown below, or add big burst of colour like hot pink or lime.

1. Pantone Mug with Lavender colour chip

2. Lavender bedroom, a great use of colour by Home Decor Arcade

3. Plush by 5 oragne potatoes

4. Fine art butterfly by Cloud Nine Creative

5. Lavender chair by kidcraft

6. Door knobs by Leilas Loft

7. Purple bottly by Indigo

A trip to Sydney

I have had a few days break, I went on a mini trip to Sydney with my husband and the kids, hence my absence from the blog sphere. We caught up with very close family friends, and extremely important people in my life. They hadn't met Charlotte yet so it was a milestone trip, and was also Charlotte's first plane trip. It was a great few days, time also spent away from the computer, just relaxing was what I needed. It wasn't time spent travelling around but just going for walks and chatting, chatting and chatting, oh and a few gin and tonics in between.

I just wanted to share a couple of photo's from out trip.

Here is Charlotte, she has been crawling for several weeks now, and it's just lovely watching her explore. Pick up a stick, blade of grass, a leaf, look at a travelling ant. It's great to sit back and relax and let her remind you of the simple pleasures.

Here is Hudson feeding the ducks. It was awesome watching him in amazement, his expressions on his face at what will happen when you throw a few pieces of bread. Although not impressed when a duck nipped on on the fingers getting to his bread, it was an experience to watch to say the least.

Well I am home now, not feeling as rejuvenated as I would have like. But I guess holidays will never be as relaxing with 2 rug rats on the go. However it was great to be outside and not in front of the computer. I guess there is no point going on about it as I type away thinking about the orders I need to complete. However a change of scenery can do wonders for the mind and body. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Caring for your cushion

I thought I would answer a questions I get asked constantly.

I think it's a very fair question.

I don't make cushion covers, my cushions are all hand stuffed, and very neatly I hand stitch them closed. I do not recommend you putting them in the washing machine, because you can't control how much it is thrashed around inside it. It can, & will possibly distort the shape of your cushion that I work very hard on, making it look perfect for you. The fluff inside them isn't one piece, like a cushion insert, but lots of little pieces hence them having the ability to move around. It's a bad look one end of the cushion being fatter than the other, I have tested it myself. Even worse it may look lumpy.

This is why I recommend strictly spot washing with a clean cloth and cold water, rubbing over soiled area gently. To help keep your cushion clean & prevent it becoming dirty or stained, I use a sealant shield spray on the printed side of the cushion. This helps to repel any dust, liquid, or moisture, that may accidentally be spilled.

I do like to remind everyone the pieces of artwork I create, are for decorative purposes.

I hope this has answered all of those questions you may have & help you in the decision process of purchasing my cushions.