tea time

Here's that teapot pattern... OK and I snuck a coffee pot in there too! Needed something with a tall slender shape to give it a bit of dynamic. Hope you enjoy! Hmm... now I feel like a coffee and a cookie already :)

Maeve magazine is nearly here!

Here's a little peek at one of the illustrations I did for Allison's column.


I was lucky enough to be asked by Allison of Lark to illustrate a column she will be writing regularly for a brand new e-zine called Maeve. I'm so excited to be a part of this brand new, totally top-notch online publication. Maeve will be launched in a couple of days, on May 1st, so be sure to subscribe here - it's free! Here's a bit about the mag to get you tempted....

"MAEVE appreciates that you are all grown up, that you are intelligent and street smart. That you are raising kids and creating a new generation. You have a desire for knowledge and a thirst for real life content. You want inspiration. You want to know what other people are doing and how they are doing it. How they are parenting. How they are achieving. How they are loving. How they are living."

It's sure to be full of wonderful imagery, inspiration, information and stories... Don't miss it!

back to it, then!

Helllllooo! How was your weekend? Did you do anything nice? Thanks for all your well wishes - we did have fun up in Mildura. The drive wasn't too tedious, but the poor car copped a WHOLE lot of bugs squished all over it's front... and I mean a LOT... there is a bad locust problem up in those parts at the mo, and let's just say we definitely did our bit to cull them! The weather was a bit rainy on Saturday but it cleared nicely in the afternoon, which was just as well because the reunion dinner was a picnic! We stayed up late with a few drinks and lots of chatting to so many lovely relatives that had come from far and wide. I am lucky to have married into such a great family :)
Anyway - back to it today, and I've made this little deer pattern for starters. I've been inspired by some lovely fabrics during my research time this morning. Hmmm what next? Any ideas? I'm thinking maybe some teapots? What would YOU like to see in a pattern?

weekend away

I'm off for a long weekend up in Mildura, about 7hrs drive away in country Victoria. We have a big family reunion on - Marty's family, and they are coming from all over Australia! It will be great to have a few bevvies and meet the family I have just married into. Looking forward to it! I'll leave you with this pattern I made this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend! See you Monday :)

autumn in my garden

Beautiful little crab apples, Autumn cropping raspberries and a red lime (which tastes amazing, especially in a dry martini!)

A Broccoli Raab seedling in a home-made hothouse (thanks Liz for the soda water bottles!), another Broccoli Raab seedling and carrots ready for harvest. I grew all these vegies from seed, there's nothing better than sitting down to a dinner of beautiful fresh vegies you have raised yourself from a tiny seed!

The last of the Autumn roses, the first camellias are blooming, and the white wind flowers are just finishing.


Ah - my fave time of year! The weather over the past few days has really been stunning. Up here in the hills there are tonnes of beautiful old deciduous trees, and they are turning the most gorgeous colours at the moment, it's the most beautiful time of year up here. I took a few snaps in my garden this morning and thought I'd share these with you all today. Righto - back to work! Got some magazine illos to work on today. I hope you are having a good week so far :)

exciting news!

Hello friends! Sorry for the lack of blog activity this week - work days at the flower farm have been ridiculously long and I've had very little time or energy for anything else... needless to say I am currently in the process of finding a different day-job. I have been doing some job trials at local cafes and will hopefully know if I've been successful over the next few days. Fingers crossed!
Anyway - I am VERY excited to let you all know that I have just signed with Heartfelt Agency in London - YYAAYYY! Heartfelt are a really fab licensing agency and I am so thrilled to be on board with them. Although I am still a fair way away from achieving my dream of working full-time for myself, I think this is a rather large step in the right direction :)
The one illustration I have managed to squeeze out this week is Gilbert Bear (pictured above), he's a happy new friend for Rory the lion.
I hope you are all doing great... hopefully I'll have more time to pop over to all your blogs a bit more next week - I've missed you!!

happy garden

I took those tiny birds from the pattern I posted this morning and put them in a happy garden! This one is a bit crazy... quite the opposite of the last pattern I made :) Hope you enjoy.

tiny birds

I had a little tiny bit of time to myself last night so I whipped up these little tiny birds. It is a SUPER simple pattern, but super-simple definitely has it's place. It's good to let the negative space and the colour do the talking sometimes. Surprisingly, it can be just as challenging to come up with a minimal pattern that uses simple shapes as it is to create something much more complex.

sunshine awards!

I am SOOO honoured to have been given the Sunshine Award from two lovely fellow bloggers, Shirley and Julissa. Thanks so much ladies! Please check out Shirley and Julissa's blogs if you have a sec, they are both wonderfully talented illustrators with super great blogs.

I am to pass this along to 12 super bloggers (I've also tried to pass this on to people who haven't received a Sunshine Award recently). Please take a sec and visit them, you will find rays of sunshine, a TONNE of inspiration and so much creativity! It was hard to just pick twelve out of so many awesome people but here they are in no particular order:

Katia (Plushka's Craft)
Sarah Anderson
Knicky Knacks
Kassandra Heller
Jennie (Posie Patchwork)
Little Ted Canvas
Tania (Cheeky Little Monsters)
Kate (Fox's Lane)
Anastasia C
Belinda (Tutti Fruiti)
Lisa Perret
Lucky Nielsen

A great big THANKS to ALL of you who come to read my blog, I really appreciate every one of you.

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave it to you.
2. Copy the logo and place in on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Pass it along to 12 other people.

and the winners are...

here you all are, sitting in my dish!

and the winners - Moira and Amy

Sorry for not posting this morning everyone - I ended up having to work at the flower farm today. Thanks for all your entries, some very interesting facts there indeed! And it's lovely to learn a little more about you guys too, even if it is just your favourite animals :)
I have just drawn the two winners - they are Moira and Amy (Stickers & Stuff) Congrats ladies! I'll be in touch to grab your details. Sorry everyone else, I wish I could give you all a little something... but don't fret, I'll do another giveaway soon!
I hope you all have really fab Easter breaks, whoopee the Easter Bunny comes tonight!!