Countdown and giveaway

As the count down to Christmas begins in earnest, along with the release of the greatly anticipated Handmade Living publication AND the next Handmade Markets the Christmas carol 'The twelve days of Christmas' continues to be the inspiration for my range of designs.

A limited edition of 'Two Turtledoves' (above) and 'Three French Hens' (below) has been printed onto linen teatowels, and a similar design onto t-shirts will be available at the Handmade twilight markets.

The twilight Handmade Market held at the Kamberra Wine Centre in Canberra this Saturday 4 December. For those unable to get to the markets this weekend, the designs are also available from my online store.

I am running a give away today as part of my participation in the Handmade Blog Tour and Handmade Living publication. Leave a comment on this post and I will select at random one lucky person who will win one of the above tea towels (you get to choose which one). AND become a follower of my blog for your chance to win a copy of the new Handmade Living publication.

Green Christmas Ornament Auction

Handmade Canberra is joining forces with Loop to auction handmade Christmas decorations. (Loop is the new sustainable development at the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets) The ornaments can be for any purpose: the Christmas tree, dinner table, mantel piece or even the front porch. They must be made by hand, preferably with local and/or recycled materials. All the proceeds from the auction will be donated to Paediatrics at the Canberra Hospital (PaTCH).

I thought one of my special Dual Jewels which are designed as an ornament for the christmas tree or to adorn the body would be perfect for this and I designed this one for the auction.

Ornaments will be auctioned online at www.loopcanberra.com.au with a selected number of items auctions live at Green Christmas, at the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets.

Christmas at CraftACT

I dropped into CraftACT yesterday to celebrate their Christmas event with them. Lee has done a fantastic job of displaying the wares available - it looks like she had a lot of fun playing with colour, texture and shape :)

I was impressed at how vibrant the colours looked against a black background. It really enhances my Marks & Spencer green Re-find handbag and knitted wallets knitted from recycled plastic bags.

Redesigning the Regular

Today I was featured on the Canberra Weekly magazine! Im tickled pink by the review :)

Read it all here by double clicking on the image below

Dual Jewels and Re-find Wallets at CraftACT

CraftACT are holding their annual Christmas event this Saturday 27 November 2010 from 2pm-5pm.

In anticipation I have created Dual Jewels which are designed to be worn and are also a decoration for the Christmas Tree. They are available exclusively at CraftACT and are the perfect gift for Secret Santa.



Also featured in the CraftACT shop will be my Refind wallets - which are made from recycled plastic bags. The wallets also feature in the book 'Why dont you [re]design Christmas'. For your chance to win a copy of this book, simply subscribe to my newsletter. The winning entry will be announced on Friday 17 December 2010.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me....... at the Undercurrent Market

The Christmas carol 'On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me' is the inspiration for my range of designs which will be available at the Undercurrent Market held at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra this weekend.

I am participating in a series of markets leading up to Christmas with a new limited edition Christmas design being created for each market. A limited edition of 'A partridge in a pear tree' design has been printed onto linen teatowels (above), t-shirts in a variety of summer colours (below) and calico bags with the design printed in festive red (further below) will be available at the markets.





Undercurrent is a one day design market showcasing orignal Australian works, curated by Richard Baz, the owner of the National Portrait Gallery Shop.

The market will be held on Saturday 20 November at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra from 10am to 5pm.

Goodies selected and made for Maker Handmade

A lovely store in Melbourne has recently opened called Maker Handmade which stocks exquisitely handmade ceramics, textiles, jewellery, paper products and other beautiful products of the highest quality. Their stock selection criteria is simply that it has to be handmade and of high quality.



I was delighted to be approached by Rachael from Maker Handmade who asked me whether I would be interested in selling some of my handprinted wares in her store........ the answer was a great big YES and I will be posting some goodies to her tomorrow (tea towels, soft cover sketch books, cushions) - just in time for the formal opening party on 25 November 2010.

Man in the Maze Cushion Commission

I was recently approached to design a special image for a 21st Birthday present.

The request asked that I design something which incorporated the Native American Indian 'Man in the Maze' symbol which represents a persons journey through life. The Maze contains seven concentric circles with many twists and turns representing the choices made in life. The centre of the maze is always blank to symbolise reaching our goals and dreams.

I wanted to personalise the design to represent the person's life so far, so I incorporated imagery and symbols to suggest his duel citizenship, achievements, interests, dreams and goals.

The above image is the end result. The design measures 48cm x 48 cm and printed on hemp fabric using water based, permanent fabric inks. The cushion a black linen on the reverse side to further emphasise the black print on the front.

I really enjoyed working to the brief and working with Margo who commissioned the cushion. I hope that her son loves his very special, and thoughtful gift :)