A whole lot of this and that

I can't really say I did a whole heap this past week. But I can't recall doing much sitting down either. We did have Shannon and Penny come visit the studio for morning tea, fabric buying and lunch... and I did make these custom cushions:


Custom cushions - acacia and spikey bush

and I did go to Nikki's morning tea which was lots of fun and met lovely peeps.

I also ordered 100 metres of the most amazing organic cotton/hemp fabric too, which we'll be printing on instead of cream cotton/linen from now on - whoooo.

I also digested everyone's feedback on the scale of my Chalk print and decided that I think large scale is the way to go, because personally I want to get more into larger scale and upholstery based applications. And I think I've decided to call it Chalk after all. Although that seems to be one of those words that loses all meaning when you say it too many times...

And... I booked our accommodation for the Sydney Stitches & Craft show! We'll be staying right near the venue in an apartment with the lovely Sandra of Winterwood and Bek from Sprout Design (and I think even Kate from Little Bird). So it'll be a crazy week all 5 or 6 of us living together.

And now back to planning out the week ahead xx

dash rain chalk

Well that was a valuable bunch of feedback on my most recent pattern - thank you! I have indeed taken much of it on board - some tweaks have been made, and I'm feeling much happier about this design.

And! Here's some scale options for you to look at. Any preferences?


Rain/Dash/Chalk larger scale cushion mockup


Rain/Dash/Chalk smaller scale cushion mockup

I'm also wondering what I should call this print. I think it reminds me of rain but also of chalk and also of dashes. Any suggestions?

Man how awesome would it be to dye some fabric red and print on it in white? Mmmmmmm, something for the future xx

Mattt - Textile Design Competition!

The very lovely Matt from Mattt bags is holding a digital textile design competition!!

So if you've ever wanted to see your designs on a Mattt bag now's your chance - hop over to here for more details or download this PDF. There's prize money and everything.

The theme is "Local Knowledge", to be interpreted how you will!

If you're not familiar with his range, here's a photo of a collaboration we did about a year ago:


Mattt & Ginkgo collaboration

Go check it out quick - the competition is only on till the end of the month.

xx

simple

I'm really not very good when it comes to doing simple designs. I always feel like they should have more, that there's not enough happening in them.

But I would like to do something simpler and a little more abstract, with a bit of texture. Really not sure, what do you think?

Corner Store

Grigons & Orr Corner Store, North Melbourne

Ooh there's a new cafe in North Melbourne town, which just opened last Saturday and I discovered thanks to Shannon. Pete and I sussed it out today and we were totally impressed.

Introducing, Grigons & Orr Corner Store.


Grigons & Orr Corner Store, North Melbourne

It's a totally awesome retro inspired corner store slash cafe, that actually sells pantry goods and lollies and free range eggs and organic milk in glass bottles and butter fresh from the farm. Just like the good old days.


Grigons & Orr Corner Store, North Melbourne


Grigons & Orr Corner Store, North Melbourne

Definitely worth a visit. Nice work owner peeps.

Corner of Queensberry St & Chetwynd St, North Melbourne
Tuesday - Sunday 7am - 7pm

New & improved online shop!!!

Geez sometimes it feels like I'm creating a new online shop for Ink & Spindle every few months. But this is the last time I promise!

Let me introduce - The New and Totally Improved Ink & Spindle shop!


New Ink & Spindle shop - looks the same, but magic hides beneath

The old shop software was slow, clunky and unreliable. We had this constant problem where orders wouldn't process properly and stock wouldn't deplete. This version is SO MUCH BETTER.

There's only one downside, and it's actually an upside too depending on your point of view. There's no customer account/login. So every time you buy something you need to enter your address again. But that said, I often find having to create an account REALLY ANNOYING so I think this is better for new customers. And existing customers - we just hope you love us enough anyway ;)


New Ink & Spindle shop - über simple order screen

Oh, and as part of the launch - my new Rooftops print is now available!


Rooftops in Deep Red on Organic Cotton/Hemp


Rooftops in Snow on Natural

Melbourne Black

I do go on about how much I love seeing my fabric in different contexts, made into different things. So I was absolutely flattered when Kirsten from Assemblage blogged not once, but twice about my new Charcoal Birch. How awesome are these photos and the skirt itself!

photo courtesy of Assemblage

Simple A line skirt by Assemblage (photo courtesy of Assemblage too)

Thank you Kirsten!!

Design Market stall video!

I'm really glad I took this video just after we set up the stall, before the crowds set in. But gawd, do I really sound like that??

A most fantastic day

Ink & Spindle (and Pepperberry & Co) at the Melbourne Design Market. Curious that we're ALL almost exactly the same height.


Cushions, Lamps, Teegs with her new jacket and me with my infamous jeans!

It's Tuesday night and I reckon I'm just about recovered from the craziness that was the Melbourne Design Market. Oh. My. God. What a day. I'd have to say it's up there with some of the best days of my life. Not only did we have a super successful day (GFC you say??), we got to interact with lots of lovely peeps, meet other stall holders (including my long time idol Nicola Cerini and her partner!) aaand...

AND! The highlight would definitely have been when I was tucked into a corner of our stall eating lunch. Out of the corner of my eye I see Bee running towards me. "Lara, Lara!" She says. "Lawrence Leung is in our stall!!". You should have seen me move. I was basically in the back most corner of our narrow stall staff area. I had to run across the back and all the way down the side of our stall (almost knocking Teegs over in the process) in order to get out into the public area to chase him down.

I asked if I could shake his hand for being so awesome and I did. And raved about how his humour appealed to my Gen-X slash Gen-Y childhood. I should have mentioned growing up in Blackburn.

Must say he's much shorter in real life.

Anyway, enough rambling. Here's some pre-Design Market preparation pics, because pics are good! And you can find heaps more over at the I&S blog.


Me making a new rooftops lamp. I have a love/hate relationship with lamp making


Mr Matt from Mattt bags inspecting the first print of his new fabric. Rooftops on a lovely Sea Foam coloured 100% hemp - mmmmm


The finished result - our latest 100% hemp collaboration with Mattt bags

I'm just mid way through uploading to youTube a video I took at the market. Will post that soon!

The same old scenario the same old rain

Wrapping handmade soaps

It's the same old story blah blah blah. Down at the Ink & Spindle studio we're working our proverbial bottom's off preparing for the next big event - the Melbourne Design Market this Sunday.

Although I must admit, the rain is novel. It's been freezing, and we are so so so grateful for the big gas heater we have in our workroom. Trips down the icy corridor to the loo are hellish though.

It is quite satisfying seeing things come together. Like these little bundles of handmade soap wrapped in fabric (and hemp twine - booyah!)


Handmade soaps all wrapped up and ready for Market

Aaand, aand, I'm squealing with excitement about this one, my new Rooftops design which we'll be launching on the day!


New Rooftops fabric - in red on Organic cotton/hemp and white on natural cotton/linen

And, a little bit of modeling for Teegs who's making gorgeous 100% wool felt scarves for the market:


One of Teegs' 100% wool felt scarves (and I need to cut that fringe)

Okay laptop battery is almost dead. I left the charger at work intentionally so I'm only permitted so much computer time. Now I'm going to go read my book!

xx

Escape for a day

On the Monday public holiday I escaped from the city with my mum & long time family friend Sandra to go visit some woodfire potters down South Gippy way. Mum needed a pot for an orchid she received, and both potters we had visited had just done a large bi-annual firing.

First stop - Gooseneck Pottery.


Gooseneck pottery - out the front


Gooseneck pottery - studio


Gooseneck Pottery - studio bush view

My parents have been visiting Robert's studio for some 15+ years. I even made his website for contra once upon a time, which is still there! Robert's studio is in a gorgeous hillside bush location and has a 15 metre kiln which he fires over several days twice a year. Yep. 15 metres.



After stopping for lunch at my favourite cafe owned by aforementioned awesome house-on-hill owner, we drove out the other side of Leongatha (past a cow and rainbow filled paddock) to:

Valley Plains Pottery


Valley Plains Pottery - studio and gallery


Valley Plains Pottery - studio and gallery


Valley Plains Pottery - The lovely Zak and his anagama kiln

In complete contrast to Robert's studio, Zak's light filled studio is perched utop a ridge with gorgeous panoramic views of the surrounding gippsland hillside. He doesn't yet have a website (although I'm considering making him one!) but here's some details:

Zak Chalmers
Valley Plains Pottery
Nicholas Road
Leongatha South
Victoria, Australia
ph: 0356745657
Open weekends and public holidays 10-5
Open most weekdays, please call before you visit.

Studio Spaces at Ironside

I first mentioned the Ironside Studios a while back when they were just looking into starting up. Now I'm happy to say that not only did they fill every single one of their studios with lovely arty folk, they're now looking at expanding!! So if you're still keen to find studio space in our awesome building - here's your second chance:

Ironside Studios opened in Kensington in February 2009 with twenty individual studio spaces. Ironside currently houses a variety of artists and designers. These include several sculptors, industrial designers, textile and fashion designers, screen printers, set designers, lighting designers and animators.

Ironside Studios is now considering expanding to accommodate a further twenty artists and designers.

The studios are suitable for a wide range of artistic practices, particularly those that require ground level access and a more industrial space.

A combination of individual lockable spaces and open-plan spaces will be available. Lockable spaces range in size from 16 to 32 square metres and in price from $50 to $95 per week accordingly. Each lockable space has solid floor-to-ceiling white walls.

Open-plan spaces will each be 12 to 16 square metres at $40 per week, in a group of eight to ten. These will be more suitable for those with a quieter practice.

These prices include all expenses except internet access. High speed internet is available at a further

$15 per month. All spaces have lighting and power points, 24 hour access and use of the communal kitchen and sink area. Some studios have natural light. The studios are easy to get to on public transport, or by bike or vehicle. At this stage we're looking at the studios being available by September.

Ironside would love to hear from any practicing artists and designers who may be interested in a studio space. If you would like further information, or to register your interest, please contact Laura at admin@ironsidestudios.com.au with a brief description/images of your practice and an indication of the kind of space you may be interested in. If you know of any others that may be interested please feel free to forward this email on to them.

I stole a whole bunch of photos from Spin Spin's blog - hope you don't mind, Susan!


Front door of existing studios (photo courtesy of Spin Spin!)


Entrance hall of existing studios (photo courtesy of Spin Spin!)


Front yard (photo courtesy of Spin Spin!)


The view from the street (photo courtesy of Spin Spin!)

houses i mean rooftops

I really should learn my lesson by now and give my prints the simplest name possible. I know that I'm going to end up calling my new 'rooftops' print 'houses' like I do with my other prints. Thankfully Bee is often on standby to correct me.

Anyway, it's not quite up in the shop yet, but here's some progress shots of the new rooftops print:


First, the original sketch (with shadow of the halfdrop repeat to see how it interlocks)


Then, printing! This is looking down at the screen as it sits on the fabric. Mmmm a lovely deep red on organic cotton/hemp.


Et voila - printed rooftops stretching into the distance.

We've also printed it in a lovely white on natural - mmmmm.

I'll put it up in the shop after the Melbourne Design Market. Which I should probably have mentioned earlier. Yep we'll be at the MDM yet again this year! On June 14th (next Sunday) at Fed Square as usual. Hope to see you there!

furniture friend

Do you ever have those moments when you're finally catching up on all your blogs and you suddenly feel like lately you've been a terrible blogger, hopeless friend, completely un-creative and that your life for the past few months has just been playing catchup and sorting out admin shit?

That's how I feel today.

I will however post about something exciting I did a couple of weeks ago. I finally bought a new sideboard thingy for our living room:


I love the screen printed drawers. One day I'll replace them with prints of my own...

I've wanted something to go in this spot for ages, and when I walked into Wilkins & Kent's new shop on Little Bourke, there it was, waiting for me as discounted display stock. Yay!


And the coffee table from way back when that it matches. Don't you just love our hideous carpet?

friendship flattery

It always gives me such happiness to see something made out of my fabric. The excitement of it is yet to wear off. I spend so much time printing and selling the stuff that I rarely have time to make things myself. Plus other people make things I would never have thought to.

Anyway, of the many crafty projects I've seen, these two below stand out as special to me because they were made by my 'real world' friends. Not that there's much of a distinction between the two anymore as the lines are constantly being blurred, but these are friends that I used to work with back in the day at a Multimedia company before I even began to dapple in patterns.

Karin's Restored Armchair

The chair before

The chair after - Ginkgo in Olive & Teal

I've mentioned my friend Karin's blog before, and she did such a fantastic job of this chair! I'm heading to her place this afternoon to see it in person for the first time. Nice work Karin!

Maz's Birch Purse

Front, next to her matching Mattt bag

The back

Maz is slightly newer to craft blogging but you should totally pop over and say hello (sorry Maz, I hope you don't mind being outed!). How awesome is this purse, made of course with one of Nikki's kits. And I love that she made it to go with her Mattt bag. Awesome work love!

P.S. - Yep I'm printing more of that Charcoal Birch, back in the shop soon!

open studio tomorrow!

I really should get around to writing about these things more than 24hrs before they happen! But better late than never.

Ink & Spindle is having an open studio day tomorrow!

Please come down and say hello, see the space, have a cup of tea and bikkies if we're organised enough to make them, and even buy some of our fabrics if you feel so inclined. Details are:

10am - 1pm
Saturday 30th May

Suite 206, 10 Elizabeth St (catch lift or stairs to level 2)
Kensington VIC


The lounge, looking lived in


Teegs and myself printing Sumor in deep red

Hope to see you there! Or should I say here... xx

New mix packs, new packaging

I'm loving the new packaging that we've got going over at Ink & Spindle. Simple and clean, doesn't distract from the contents, and also is completely recycled and/or bio-degradable. Yay!

On that note I've just put a few mix packs up in the shop. It's been a while since I've made these!


New mix packs in the shop


New mix packs in the shop

A date with lace

As you may or may not have heard, over at Ink & Spindle Teegs has been dragging Bianca and I along to Lace Class. Okay so dragging probably isn't the right word. After I convinced her that the Citylink tunnel doesn't represent certain death it hasn't been so bad driving over to Ashburton on Monday nights and being all nannariffic.


In class, working the bobbins...


Teegs and I in class

And then we even had homework to do...


Working on my ground stitches homework...


I know, that's a hellava lot of pins....


Et voila!

Okay so you're probably looking at this and thinking that lace making has the potential to drive you certifiably mad. But... surprisingly enough, it's actually quite enjoyable. It's quite a good distraction from all the racing thoughts in my head, it forces me to focus on something else.

So there. A post about something other than fabric! xx

here and there

Wow. So much great feedback on the houses print! It makes me so excited. I'm so glad to be finally printing the idea that has been floating around in my head for so long. It's off being turned into a screen as we speak.

We finally uploaded some pics from our Brissy trip, so you can see them all here. Here's what our stall looked like:


Bianca and I in our Brisbane stall

We were a little lacking in vertical-ness, being without our beautiful tree and all, and relying on a display that could be flat packed back into our suitcases. But all things considered it came out pretty good :)

I know this blog has been pretty sparse of late, so I'll endeavor to post more. In the meantime, here's some new colourways that I've finally managed to put up in the shop!


Bonsai in Deep Red on cream (mmmm, I do like this)


The très Melbourne Birch in Charcoal on black cotton/linen


...and Bonsai in Charcoal on black cotton/linen

Hello, old friend

I'm back! Brisbane was great. Such lovely weather, met some fantastic & lovely bloggers, got lots of great exposure at the show, and decent sales too. And really the days were quite cruisy. 10am starts, finishing up at 5pm on the dot, with heaps of time in the evenings to wander Southbank and be social.

Anyway, given it's my first proper weekend off in almost a month, I thought it about time to reacquaint myself with a distant friend - the pattern designer in me! My sketch books are filled with half baked ideas, and one concept I keep coming back to is houses. If you've been reading this blog for a long time you'd be familiar with my obsession with houses...



But I've never been able to come up with the perfect houses print for my textile range. I've had this vague idea in my mind for ages but have never been able to execute it. Until now. I'm really happy with how this has come together, and I hope you'll like it too...


Houses print... as yet unnamed...


Cushion mockup - not sure of scale...

Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm quite open to feedback. I've been thinking about it for so long that I've probably lost perspective...

Brisvegas ahoy

So we're off. It's been another mad week of last minute preparing and packing and packaging, and again we vow to be more organised next time. Myself and Teegs are heading up tomorrow with 6 overstuffed bags between us (eep) and Bianca will be following us up on Wednesday.

We're excited.

Amidst it all I managed to design some new packaging, and some new kits:



Here's the rest of my fabric that I couldn't fit in our bags. Instead I'm putting it up in the shop. It's all up there right now actually! Except for the new new stuff, like the charcoal & black Birch & Bonsai and the red on cream Bonsai. I'll put them up when I get back and have two seconds to take pics.



Anyway hope to see you at the Brissy show if you're a local (do say hi!!) and otherwise I'll be back on the 5th. I'm going to be internet-less for a week, I don't know how I'll cope ;)

xx

Second chances

After such a dry spell I'm finding it a miracle that here I am blogging away with multiple daily posts both here and on Ink & Spindle.

Whilst galavanting down South East Gippsland way I bought these two lovely old dining chairs from an Antiques barn. The selling point for me was the fact that the cushioned seats just pop out of the frame making for a super easy reupholstery job. Something so easy I will actually find time to do it!

The best thing is that I can quickly prototype different fabrics before having to commit. Like this piece of Chocolate Birch I had floating around:


Dining chair reupholstery prototype


Dining chair reupholstery prototype

I was so chuffed with the result - it feeds the growing upholstery 'thing' I've got going on.

On the fabric front, here's two large stacks of fabric we've been printing for the Brisbane show. All my favorites basically. I'm really liking the red, chocolate, white, charcoal and teal colour scheme.


Textiles for the Stitches & Craft Show

I'm not sure these fabrics will be up in the shop before we leave for Brissy. Well I might put them up but won't be able to post them back till after we get back. I'll keep you posted :)

Karin's giveaway

Leather pouch with Japanese fabric cover by Kayi Dreaming

A good friend of mine Karin has recently started getting quite involved in the blogging world. It's great - having a 'real world' friend who understands both sides of my social life.

Anyway Karin's been feeling the creative urge for quite some time now, and has been experimenting with all sorts of different crafty pursuits in order to find her thing, which I think is great. It's not always obvious what your true calling is, and it doesn't really matter anyway so long as you're having fun!

Anyway Karin has recently started working with leather and vintage japanese and screen printed fabrics. Two of my favourite things, and I can tell she has a great eye for it!

Aaand, Karin's doing a giveaway on her blog! She's giving away this lovely little leather pouch, which I think is gorgeous. So do head on over there and leave a nice comment to go into the draw - she'll really appreciate it :)

Leather pouch with Japanese fabric lining by Kayi Dreaming

The house on the hill

The house on the hill - kitchen & dining areas

Over the weekend I went down South East Gippsland way and visited a dear friend who moved there a few years ago. 'Moved' doesn't even begin to describe it, not only has he established a very successful cafe in Leongatha, but he also personally designed & built the most amazing home I have ever set foot inside.

The doors - all salvaged. The windows - all north facing, with sun warming the polished slab floor in winter but sheltered by the cantilevered roof in summer. The kitchen - featuring a wall of recycled weatherboards and bricks, and benchtops made from the offcuts from the rafters. The water & waste system - all self sustainable. Water is collected from the roof and ends up in a worm farm waste system along with the food scraps.

And as you can see from the photos - such a homely space. Look at all that art, all those books. Books books books. It's the sort of home you can just relax in and not have to feel too precious about (although everything had its place).

I was so very inspired by this house. How, with careful thought you can create a beautiful space with genuine minimal impact on the earth. I hope to one day be able to create something similar.

Photos below, more on my flickr.


Entrance hall through to living


Living and dining areas (spectacular hilltop views from those windows)


The kitchen


The kitchen


Living area (with familiar lamps!)


The bathroom

Naomi's lamp

My blog posts are becoming fewer and further between of late! The other day I was looking back over photos of my old projects and it felt like I had so much more time to just experiment with things and take pretty photos and write about them. At the moment it's all just print, print, print, in preparation for the Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show.

Fortunately, other people are out there making pretty things that I can blog about instead! Like Naomi, who commissioned a run of large scale chocolate Birch for a lamp project. Now bear in mind this is the LARGE scale Birch, so the lamp is really quite big!


Large Birch lamp in Naomi's stairwell


Large Birch lamp in Naomi's stairwell


Large Birch lamp in Naomi's stairwell

I love the way the colours & form of the pattern match the balustrade.

Thanks for the pics Naomi!