Village voices nomination

I'm so honoured to be listed  in the Village Voices 2013 Top 100 Blogs in Australia. This here space, The Daily Smudge, is nominated in the top 25  'Creative and Home' blogs category.

I've already been discovering some new and fabulous reads across all categories and so happy to be amongst such fine company as part of the year long festivities. Thanks so much whoever nominated me :-) and a cosy warm hello to any new folks passing by xx

three thoroughly top blogs

Starting this wonderful new week with a new addition to these pages... a monthly list of NEW (to me) voices and gazes in blog form (an attempt to broaden my reading and discover new inspiration) These are they for the month of March: 

1/ I only discovered Emma's blog a couple of weeks ago but covering everything from pillows to fonts to shoes, she has kept my attention. A highly talented curator and designer who makes everything look so neatly fabulously desirable.

2/ I want to be friends with these two ladies... they have some serious style and do some seriously fun and creative things, all while eating delightful food and laughing lots. It makes me happy being able to spy on their world.

3/ Design Work Life is an old favourite I admit but i've rediscovered it this month. It's a fabulous design resource with paper goods, books, fonts and identity designs being some of my favourite things to oggle at. She makes me passionate and inspired to design in my working life.

A list of my longtime daily reads is to the right of this post

See some more profiled blogs here

An aside // One of my very favorite things to discuss is top threes... topics vary but it usually does come back to food eventually if not straight away... top three juices, top three cheese snacks, top three dinners... you get the gist! All good things come in threes ;-)  

Happy 3rd Birthday Smudge

Poor dear blog... I neglected to acknowledge it's 3rd birthday back in June so a belated sing-song is in order on this July sunny day. Today I purchased it's very own domain name in celebration!! (it's fresh faced new look will be revealed soon too)



So many wonderful things have come from this here blog that have made my world abit shinier than it already was...

+ a couple of a scrumptious book design jobs
+ the commissioning of a real life book (out in November. yeehaa)
+ a wonderfully inspiring creative community to make my home studio feel less lonely
+ endless sources of inspiration from other blogs and generous souls
+ the bubble of joy when hearing from like-minded and inspired readers
(plus some other things but in my sentimental hour I've most likely forgotton)

Thankyou ever so to everyone for reading (even this year when i've been awol rather too often!) and for your lovely comments and emails along the way. xxx

'yay' coasters via here

Jordan Ferney // DIY party queen

Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day is one helluva creative lady. I want to make all of her DIY projects... ALL of them! As yet I haven't but I will... just as soon as I have make the time (I can't use the kids excuse as she has two. yep, offical wonderwoman!) If you haven't checked her magic out then you really should. go go! These ones below all use paper... possiblities are endless...



(That bottom Movie lights DIY is my very favorite though)

Scandinavian love

Despite never (yet) having been there, I've always been completely smitten with everything Scandinavian. Their design aesthetic is so clean and neat yet kind of extrovert in a way too. I love it! So you can imagine how much dribble is now on my keyboard after having found this beautiful tumblr site full of amazing Swedish homes and beautiful objects. If you're like me in your loves then go forth and Ahhh.

Thankyou Finders Keepers

I feel very honoured to be on the Finders Keepers blog today (thankyou for asking Jade!) Go over and check out their other lovely online picks too.

Little Shirts in Lightbulbs // Nadia Tan

Who would have thought it... to not only make miniature clothing but to then magically put them into lightbulbs!?? I do so love how peoples brains work and Nadia Tan has one very creative brain.



I was first taken by her little paper creations above but then upon seeing her blog realised she is far far from being a one trick pony - little animals from clay, painted mugs, tea, handbound books, mobiles and muchas more - she is one clever lady! You can find here etsy shop here too.

Colourful ballooning

Aren't these photos of hot air ballooning just gorgeous?! The colours on that top left one especially so! In fact all the photos on Angela Hardison's blog are equally as peaceful and divine (Go take a peek)

Bucketloads of colour on The Design Files // Kate Banazi

If you haven't already checked out the guest blog on The Design Files this week then you must MUST must! Amazing things have been created and they all revolve around colour. Each day, illustrator Kate Banazi explores one great colour in all it's glory. Yellow, Red, Blue, Green & .... I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings!



Above is the downloadable desktop image for Day 1: Yellow (& almost even more great than the finished product is the video of Kate screenprinting it)



In amongst all the wonderful yellows my heart and eyes rested on this Kat Macleod image (below right). Wow! At first I thought it was the profile of a japanese girl (the black being the hair), but then i saw the pencil. This happy accident makes it doubley good!