Childrens table DIY // from salvaged to special delivery

It has been mini-people birthday season in these parts of late. Every weekend sees a new little soul that needs celebrating! When Leo's oldest little friend (they met aged 1 week), Cholé celebrated her second birthday, we made her a special present. I found a little table and chairs from the side of the road (people chuck out such good stuff it amazes/horrifies me) that was begging for some TLC.



We sanded, primed, painted it (with chalkboard paint on the tabletop) and painted it in preparation for it's adorable new owner...



This precious cargo fitted perfectly into the boot of our (on loan) fancy Silver Ford Focus Titanium (big old boot for a little hatchback innit?!) to deliver it for her birthday.



I discovered that painting is HARD.... and also that painting with oil paint is a BAD idea (not only does it take forever to dry but it's damn tricky to apply evenly) Lumps and dribbles galore all over this but all the more gloriously handmade looking because of it!

(Below is a picture of my little cub chowing down on a gingerbread man in the princess tent at the said birthday party... just because!) 



This post is one of three written as part of Ford Australia's 'Choose Your Own Adventure' challenge (in conjunction with Kidspot, Voices of 2013). I was not paid to write this post nor was I told what to write. But, I was given a swish car to drive around in for 6 weeks which is proving pretty nice!

cardboard camera kit

The camera shown here is not infact a plastic fantastic/gun metal old school camera as you may initially think... but a fully functioning camera made completely of cardboard. It is a medium format style pinhole camera. I have only ever taken one photo with a pinhole camera (and it was far from brilliant) but it is probably my proudest photo. No trickery. No machinery. Just the sun, a film and some lucky guesswork. Pinhole photography is the home of the happy accident.



This project is by UK designer Kelly Angood and is now on the home straight to be a real life product thanks to many a keen bean camera buff via Kickstarter (such a damn tooting excellent way to fund an idea!). It has been designed, screenprinted and is soon available for sale as a flatpack shipped right to your door. It's not too late to pick yourself up one of the first ones by pledging 30 GB squids here.



A few fabulous looking photos I found via this pinhole flickr group.


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Precious time // Julian Bialowas

If you're in need of a pep talk with yourself then go have a flick(r!) through this gorgeous and inspiring 365 day project by Julian Bialowas. This one above feels particularly apt for me at the moment. I sometimes find myself feeling frustrated and a little guilty that I've achieved nothing in a day... so it's good to remind myself that watching, playing with and helping a little human grow day by day is not a waste of time at all. hip hip hooray. pep talk sucess!

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)

A book of memories // Amy Borrell

I have admired Amy Borrell's whimsical watercolours (aka Cake with Giants) when they grace the pages of Frankie magazine from time to time. Having a little explore on her folio site last night I found this little project which makes me want to lock myself in a room for a week to attempt to replicate it!



Titled 'A brief account of a life lived so far', Amy has gathered her photos, letters and favourite things, ordered them from A-Z and then hand sewn the whole lot into a glorious bundle of a book.







& aren't her other illustrations adorable too. One clever lady, oui?!
(available to buy here & here)

Handwritten Letters

I love the work of Mary Kate McDevitt so was really excited to hear about her letter writing project: she will send a letter a day for a full year, all in the spirit of keeping postboxes happy and writing alive (letters of the alphabet that is, not letters about the weather!) Sadly I was too slow to sign myself up but am looking forward to seeing all the letters displayed on her tumblr site here

(you can buy the handwriting print here too)

Paper weather

Kurt Riedi has come up with a wonderful way of telling the weather forecase with these simple silhouettes and household objects. I love how moody they all are (This'd make even a cold and thunderstormy day an exciting one) & how the sunny sun is such a radiant lightness!



You can go and get your weather report with paper sculptures to boot from right here.

Paper pencils // Upon a fold

A little while ago I ordered a treat from my favourite online shop Upon a Fold. When I opened the package it couldn't have been more exciting! It was wrapped beautifully and came with a couple of these beautiful paper hearts (as well as some extra templates and instructions) They now cover my fridge and make me happy every time i look at them!

Justine has just last week added a new paper treat to her packages... these incredibly lovely pastel pencils (complete with secret storage unit for tictacs). Hmm, just need decide on only one thing to buy now!



(top image from Design Files, other images from Upon a Fold)

The Working Proof

Now this is a great project... Founder of the program, Anna of Sub studio, sent this link across and I was instantly taken by the idea and the quality of the prints. Basically artists submit a print to be sold, choose a charity to which 15% of the money will go and ta daaa. There are some great artists and great prints to be bought here. These are some of my favourites...


Truth/Mystery by Sam Chivers


Birdies by Amaranta Martinez


Forest Lady by Karolin Schnoor


Wanderlust by Linda Kim

Lots more on the Working Proof website... go forth and buy some peace making prints!

The Package Project

If you like sending and receiving curious snail mail packages then you should apply for The Package Project too... I've wanted to be a part of one of these exchanges for a long time and now there is an Australian based and lovely one from folk at Cupcake Couture. Go and sign up now...

Newspaper Club // Bespoke printing

Found this fantastic treasure on the Eye magazine blog. It's a UK based company called Newspaper Club and the winners of the Brit Insurance Graphic Awards 2010. They began by wanting to create a one-off newspaper of their favorite blog articles and had such an overwhelming response that they carried on to form this bespoke service. Now, they run a service that will print a newspaper format document (for a print run of 1 - 5000) just by uploading a pdf to their site. They've printed papers for BBC, LastFM, Folksy aswell as a whole lot of personal projects. The future of publishing? An new breath of life for newspaper culture? yes please!

{images from eye magazine and Brit Insurance awards)

Edwina White // 52 Pick up

When I was at university a few moons ago, one of our projects was to design a pack of playing cards... we all tried to match the loveliness of this beautiful set by Edwina White (to no avail on my part). I've loved it ever since and so when I saw it printed and for sale right here, I skipped a little beat and had to get a set! Tres excited to see it up close at last!

Strange and wonderful postcards

I love everything about The Benevolent Postcard Society... what a cool idea! You become a member at the beginning of the year & then each month you're given a different address to post a random postcard to... and a little papery piece of joy comes through your door every month too! There's talk of a book at the end of it all too... here are a few good uns (more here)

Wilkintie // Letterpress prints

Australian duo, Wilkintie collaborate with illustrators to make beautiful letterpress prints. Started originally (via monthly print subscriptions) with the grand aim of getting children interested and inspired by art... while also appealing to the the inner kiddywink in us all. Beautiful idea and even more beautiful prints.

Top to Bottom:

'Forever Friend' by Cody Hudson

'Rolling Contrivance' by Merijn Hos

'Untitled' by John Copeland


'It's the Seafaring life for me' by Niels Oeltjen

'Circus' by Chamo

Knit knit knit

I have been knitting this weekend... nothing fancy... just a yellow mohair scarf to keep away the icicles. I definately have caught the knitting bug, especially good when accompanied by a cup of tea (it's the inner nanna in me I think) In my searches today I came across an entire guerrilla knitting collective called 'Knit the City' that is brightening up London with their woolly creations! My favourite was this phonebox cosy... so cute! The story behind it is equally as cute too.. read it here

Uppercase magazine > novel posters

Anyone looking for a weekend project?! this is a fun one. Though picking my favourite novel might take all weekend! Extremely loud and Incredibly close is definately up there... along with What I loved... and In the skin of a Lion... and The people of paper... yep, this could definately take all weekend!

Clemens Habicht // 100 Kites

Lovely looking exhibition at Lamington Drive Gallery in Melbourne at the moment... 100 kite collages of birds was the task & each piece in the exhibition is accompanied by a video of it in flight too. So beautiful... would love to take one out for a fly!
Clemens' other illustration work is great too... I think he quite likes birds!?