1960's chairs....before and after

About 6 - 8 months ago I picked up two fabulous 1960's chairs in our local second-hand / antiques shop. I loved the shape and size of them, but they were old, a bit fusty and whilst I loved the original green woven fabric, they were in much need of new foam cushions and re-upholstering.

 

The first thing we did was to set about stripping back the old dark varnish.  Mr B tackled this job over winter, at night and in the garage - I don't think it was much fun, whilst I trawled through fabric books and ordered a heap of fabric swatches to chose from.        

Removing the dark varnish transformed the chairs, revealing a lovely pale Scandinavian looking wood (which apparently is Myrtle) and we then simply finished this by rubbing over a wax to protect and seal the wood.  I decided to cover the chairs in different fabrics, rather than having them as a matching pair, and I settled on 'Baxter' in Wasabi from Warwick, and 'Bubble' in Yellow Chrome from Zepel Fabrics.    We used a Stephen Read, a great local upholsterer in Woodend to re-cover the chairs, as I fear my average sewing skills and very old sewing machine might not have been up to the job!

'It's Time to Talk', tea illustrations for Aware mental health campaign

I was approached towards the end of last year by the charity Aware, a non-profit organisation in Ireland, which offers support and information for people who suffer from depression.  They wanted to use some of my tea illustrations to launch their latest campaign 'It's Time to Talk'.....about mental health, for their website and facebook sites.

The illustrations chosen by Aware were from a blog post sometime ago, where I did a series of sketches experimenting with ink pen and collage techniques.  I was delighted to donate the illustrations to such a worthy cause, and help support their campaign to get people in Ireland to host coffee mornings and chat about mental health.         

The sketches were originally done for personal experimentation and enjoyment, so it was great they ended up being useful and serving a much greater purpose.  For more information about the 'It's Time to Talk' campaign just visit Aware.     

Kyneton Cookbook Illustrations

Sometime ago I blogged about some kitchen and food illustrations I'd been working on, and here is the finished result.  The illustrations were to accompany recipes for the Kyneton Kitchen Cookbook, put together by the hard-working mums of the Kyneton Playgroup (myself included!)    





It was a great project to work on as I really just created my own brief.  I'd been wanting to work on some more food-based illustrations for a while, and also to experiment with working in a linear style with pen and ink. 

The majority of the illustrations were based on things in my kitchen such as condiments, bowls, saucepans and utensils, and of course I tried to ensure that the illustrations matched the recipes.  As well as creating the illustrations, I managed the overall layout and design of the book, so it was great to play at being a graphic designer for a while! 





 

I loved working on all the illustrations and creating the foody artwork, and it made a really nice change to be in charge of my own brief and not to be restricted by the usual commercial constraints.  The freedom of working with a dip pen instead of my usual watercolour technique, and creating a more 'simplistic' range of artwork in a limited colour palette was really refreshing and I hope to get the chance to work on similar food-based illustrations in the future.     

 

Christmas countdown

“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” ― Janice Maeditere

I know I say it each year, but I can't believe Christmas is once more upon us and the end of another year is nearly over.  2013 has been a busy year, with exciting work projects, a new house and a fast-growing little toddler. 

Christmas for me still has all the nostalgia and associations with growing up in England......cold, dark days with twinkly lights in shop windows, Christmas carols being played at home on the record player (yes that's the generation I come from when we grew up with record players) and if we were very lucky some snow for snowmen and sledging.  So, sitting here writing this on a bright sunny, steaming hot 35C day and planning what food I need to organise for our orphans Christmas, doesn't really feel much like christmas.  But really, however and wherever Christmas is spent, it's a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family and take some time to enjoy being together (for a short time anyway!)

Wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas and all the best for the New Year.  :)  

Port Macquarie long weekend

We recently got back from a mini escape to Port Macquarie, which was just lovely.  We were only away for a few short days, but the mini break was perfect to just unwind and take it easy for a day or two.  Little Mr J loved playing on the beach and paddling in the soft waves, and we even found some crabs to put in his bucket which was very exciting.  My formula for a perfect long-weekend escape is quite simple:   Sun + sand + waves + ice-cream = bliss :)  

Teacup etchings

A few weeks ago I wrote about an etching workshop I did with Bridget Farmer and I've finally managed to find time to photograph some of the prints from my weekends work.  As well as some black and white etchings, I managed to produce several coloured artworks of my favourite teacups.      

 

The top image was my biggest print, with all three teacups printed onto one sheet of paper, whilst the rest of the prints were single teacups. 

Such a fun weekend and great to learn a new process which is totally different to how I normally work.  Thanks again Bridget x    

Strawberry kettles & crochet mats

 

On two separate op-shop expeditions recently, I picked up this very sweet old-fashioned whistling kettle and a collection of crochet mats.  I already have a couple of vintage whistling kettles, but it was the pretty strawberry pattern that appealed to me with this one, and it was just too cute to resist.      

The crochet mats in assorted sizes and patterns were picked up for the pricely sum of $1 for the lot!  I don't really use crochet mats for anything, I just loved the different patterns (they're rather like enlarged snowflakes) and figure I'm sure to find a use for them sometime in the future.     

Duck Duck Goose & Larder

For a small town Kyneton really punches above it's weight with a great selection of shops, cafes and fresh local produce, with Duck Duck Goose & Larder being a rather gorgeous addition to the scene.   

Housed in a large brick building (I believe used to be the old Kyneton Market) Duck Duck Goose & Larder stocks locally sourced fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meats, as well as a really tasteful selection of local, Australian and international range of sauces, pastas, olive oils, cordials, teas, preserves, and delicious pantry items.

At the front of the store a cafe opens onto an outdoor area facing Piper Street, with a selection of delicious home-baked pies, cakes, tarts and a yummy breakfast / brunch menu.  Dotted around the place are terrariums and succulents planted in old pots and enamel containers, which is right up my street (makes me realise how much I've neglected my little succulents recently) and I want to take them all home with me.

As well as food produce, there is also a small selection of very cute gift items, including this fabulous yellow Scandi-style teapot and cup set - cute! 

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and the Gelati was very popular with little mr J. 

The selection of goods available has been really carefully selected - almost curated like a gallery - and I love all the beautiful packaging of the food.  How gorgeous are these small Panettoni boxes, I'm sure the sweet breads are delicious, but I'd buy them for the packaging alone.   

Duck Duck Goose & Larder 17 - 19 Piper Street, Kyneton

Weekend print workshop

Over the weekend I took part in a Dry Point Etching workshop in Daylesford with Bridget Farmer.  Bridget specialises in various forms of printmaking, but it was the Dry Point Etching I was most interested in learning.  Myself and fellow local designer Fran Pidgeon headed to Bridgets fabulous studio armed with rubber gloves, aprons and itchy fingers ready to print!             

Bridget has dedicated 2013 to 'The Year of the Finch' and has been drawing and creating prints specifically on this little bird.  Above is one of her very cute dry point etchings of said Finch. 

The etching workshop took place on Saturday and Sunday, and it was so lovely to have a creative weekend for completely personal enjoyment - no brief to work to, no commercial limitations, (no toddler around) just me, Fran, Bridget, some 1930's music, choc-chip cookies, cups of tea, and lots of chatting.  Fabulous! 

I love being in other peoples studios and workspaces, seeing how creative people work, what inspires them, are they neat, messy, organised etc.  Most studio's house a lovely mix of random bits and pieces (I like to think of it as studio flotsam and jetsam) that have been found and gathered to serve as useful equipment or inspiration.      

I decided to take some of 'my girls' (vintage teacups) to use as a basis for my etching prints. I started off roughly sketching the teacups, before engraving my illustration onto the plate.  We were using acetate as a plate, which makes it a really easy substance to engrave and allowed us to work very quickly as no acid is necessary to eat into the more traditional copper plate.   

We started off printing our etchings with single colour prints, before progressing to applying several colours to the plate.  This is called 'a la poupee' (multiple colours applied directly to the plate) and Bridget has a tutorial about this technique on her website.    Above you can see Fran's very intricate and detailed beautiful bird print (left) and my sketchy-style teacup print and inked acetate plate (right). 

A big thanks to Bridget and Fran for a wonderful weekend! 

New house bits and pieces

Five weeks ago we picked up the keys to our new house and began the upheaval of shifting all of our belongings into a new space. On the one hand it's exciting to be moving, but it's always an exhausting and overwhelming process.  We were lucky with a sunny day for the move, and with our things piling up in the garage Mr J checked out the new pad, whilst Jolly cat was a bit bewildered with it all!

Slowly we have been unpacking, cleaning, dusting and trying to locate things buried in forgotten boxes.  The empty new house we moved into is gradually turning into our new home.  Books are finding their way onto shelves, clothes are in wardrobes, pots and pans are in cupboards, and I'm trying to find new 'safe' homes for teacups, coffee pots and all my ceramic bits and pieces - having them all out on display was fine before having a two year old running around!

My studio space is a lovely light filled room overlooking the garden, and I've got all my favourite pieces of reference material / inspiration images pinned on a big wall in front of me to gawp at.  I'm trying to be organised, de-clutter and have a big clear out - but I'm such a hoarder that I struggle to let go of a lot of things!  Consequently my studio is packed full of things I love - which makes it a great personal workspace for me :)         

The kitchen is relatively new, so I'm doing my best to 'de-newify' it by getting all my favourite second-hand tins, retro cups and general vintage kitchenalia out to break up some of the plain white cupboards and laminated work surfaces.  I'd like to put up some more shelving to display kitchen stuff I use on a regular basis......but I'll have to persuade Mr B to get his tool kit out for that!     

Cute vintage children's memory game

How adorable is this children's memory game!  I picked this up recently at the Daylesford Mill Markets, it was only a few dollars as the cardboard box housing the cards was a bit old and battered.  The sweet little cards (measuring 5 x 5cm) are in great condition and I just love all the different pictures and illustrations.  There are 54 pairs of cards in total, with the idea being to spread the cards out picture side down, gradually turning the cards over to reveral the pictures, and to try and remember where all the matching pairs are. 

The game was manufacturerd by John Sands in Australia, 1966, and some of the pictures in the game are taken from 'House of Cards' by Charles Eames - which explains why I love the images so much.

Kyneton Daffodil Festival

Over the weekend we had the annual Daffodil Festival.  Kyneton is just bursting at the seams with Daffodils at this time of year - they bloom in all the public parks, along pathways, and every garden shimmers with yellow.  The Festival celebrates this yearly event and also welcomes the start of Spring - hurray!   

The children's petting farm was a particular favourite event with chickens, ducks, sheep, goats, rabbits, turkeys and even a deer roaming around, happy to have a cuddle and a stroke.  Very exciting for a two year old - and even for some adults!            

Kyneton turned on a fabulous Spring day with beautiful warm sunshine, and it was great to get out and support the local schools and CFA with their fundraising - sausage sizzles and buying yummy home-baked cakes isn't too difficult to support!  It's a really social event and lovely to catch up with people and see all the community getting involved.        

Lovely patterned old tins

I seem to be adding old vintage and second-hand tins to the list of things I find myself collecting these days! I've picked up the above beauties over several months from various different places - second-hand shops, vintage markets, and the rather lovely blue willow patterned tin was given to me by a very sweet friend. 

The blue willow tin and the yellow floral tin are old Australian 'Willow' brand designs, whilst the tin with the bird illustrations and the gorgeous floral tin tray are vintage designs made in England.