happy woodland fabric

My Happy Woodland fabric is now available for sale at Spoonflower - hooray! Perfect for children's clothing or soft furnishings. You can click here to check it out. I'm currently working on some new designs and will hopefully have a stack more for sale after Christmas. Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday :)

weekends and weddings

Happy Friday, lovely people! What's on for your weekend? I'm taking a trip up to Daylesford to see the lovely Allison of Lark. I have some stock to drop off and I'm also looking forward to browsing her Lark Garage Sale. Oooooh I can't wait! I think I'll have to go to the Daylesford Makers Market while I'm there too... hmm I'd better set myself a strict budget or I'll be in trouble before I know it with so many lovely handcrafted things on offer!
Here's a wedding invite I designed recently for some super lovely friends of my brother's. I didn't realise when I designed it that Sumah actually has a phobia of birds... Stefan told me to keep the bird on her head in the design as he found it hilarious... blokes! :D

feature on Bondville

Hello all! I was super excited to receive an email from the very lovely Stephanie Bond, the talent behind the wonderful Bondville blog. Stephanie has featured my Christmas cards on her awesome blog - what a thrill! Thanks Stephanie for the fab write-up. Do pop by and check out Bondville, it's full of super fabulous Australian design for mums, kids and home. Have a top Wednesday :D

The 'C' word...

All images and designs copyright Belinda Strong 2010

... CHRISTMAS! 'Tis nearly the season to be jolly, and I thought I'd let you all know about my range of Christmas cards for this year. There are four designs and you can buy them through the wonderful Lark shop, or my Etsy shop. You can buy the cards individually, or get big discounts when you buy a pack of 8 or 12!

EXTRA! EXTRA! SUPER DISCOUNTS FOR MY BLOG READERS!

From now until November 22nd (that's ONE week only) ALL you lovely people who read my blog can receive 25% off ANYTHING you order from my Etsy shop! For example, that means that cards go from $5.95 down to $4.45 YIPPEE!
Here's how it will work:

1) In the 'message to seller' window as you checkout please type HONEYJUMBLE so I know to apply the discount... if you don't type it, you won't receive the discount :)
2) **IMPORTANT NOTE** Please pay via PAYPAL - You will be charged the regular price as Etsy can't create discounts. I will then be able to refund you the 25% after you've checked out.
NOTE: Discount will not apply to shipping.
NOTE: I usually have plenty of stock so if you'd like more than what is listed please convo me via Etsy and I'll create a custom listing for you.

Happy shopping! :D 

birthday cards

Hellloooo! My goodness, has it really been a week and a half since I last blogged? Where has the time gone? How have you all been? THANK YOU ALL so much for all your congrats on our wedding anniversary and for all your Spoonflower votes! You guys rock! I didn't win the comp, but the winning design was AWESOME. I do plan to get a Spoonflower shop running soon though so my designs will be available to purchase as fabrics... hopefully before xmas but will more likely be in the new year.
Anyway... here are some cards I did recently for Greetings Factory in the UK. I had heaps of fun with these :) Hope you are all doing ace! xxoo

spoonflower

Happy Frrriiidddaaayyy!! Wheeee it's the end of the week and I'm REALLY looking forward to a weekend away with Marty - it's our first wedding anniversary so we are spoiling ourselves for two lovely nights! What have you got planned for your weekend? I hope you get some time to do some fun stuff :)
I've just entered a design in this week's Spoonflower fabric design contest. The theme is 'woodland creatures' and there are lots of lovely entries! Why not take a look and vote for your faves here. Voting closes Nov 3rd. Have a top weekend everyone... see you on the other side! xxoo

shivers

Ello everyone! How have you all been? Wow - it's been a busy time for me, so I'm just going to leave you with this AWESOME little piece of Janis Joplin today. She's gotta be my fave female vocalist EVER. Hope this leaves you feeling goooood :) Don't you just get shivers when you hear that voice belting it out?! WOW.

For some REAL shivers, listen to the first 15 seconds of this one:

greetings for little ones

Friday woohooo! How has your week been? Are you looking forward to anything special on the weekend? I'm looking forward to a yummy Thai dinner with some ace friends tonight mmmmm can't wait! Just stopping by today to show you some brand new pieces for my portfolio, which will be available for license through my agent. Wishing you all a happy Friday and a super fun weekend :)

lovely things

Romper by Twiglet

Echidna by Mookah

Helllloooo everyone, happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? I hope so! Melbourne FINALLY turned on some proper sunny Spring weather this weekend, and our day at the Finders Keepers market was sensational. We stopped on the way to the market for some morning tea at the lovely home of our dear friends Liz and Jason - (thanks for the yummy danishes guys!). Then we had a good wander around the Finders Keepers market, in fact we went around twice because there was just SO MUCH beautiful stuff to look at. Well done to all the stall-holders, the standard and variety of handmade goods was just so impressive. I could have spent a fortune, but I stuck to my budget (pat on the back for me - it took a lot of will power!). I bought the two lovely items above.... the CUTEST little retro-print baby romper from the awesomely talented Dana of Twiglet. And this Echidna softie, which I've named Crazy Ed, from the equally talented Mookah. We finished off our ace day out with lunch in the sunshine by the water at Docklands - felt like a holiday!
Hope your week is off to a great start :) xoxo

finders keepers

What are you up to this weekend? If you are around Melbourne, why not take yourself down to the Finders Keepers market? It's going to be rad!! Lark will be there, with some gorgeous products from Belle & Boo, and their new Daisy Lane products (which I just adore) and some of my Little Beehive products too... including my brand new 'Field Trip Kids' prints which I recently exhibited. I'm going to check it out on Saturday, and I can't wait!
P.S - How cool is the poster artwork by Brisbane artist Lauren Carney ?!

FREE printable treat box!

Download my treat box HERE!

Oh my goodness - October! Where has the year gone already?!
I hope you all had fab weekends, and are ready for another week :)
Over at out group blog, We Love To Illustrate, we've all created some FREE printable Halloween treat boxes for you to download, print, assemble and fill with treats on Halloween! Please head on over to
We Love To Illustrate and check out the other fun treat boxes from Cally, Shirley, Nina, Julissa and Jennifer. I had a ball creating my little treat box, I hope you enjoy. Have an awesome Monday :)

new stuff

'Fairy Bread' card range 

'Lemondrops' card range

Ello!! Just a quick one today to do a little plug for some NEW STUFF available right now in my Etsy store - yippee!

There's the 'Fairy Bread' card range - four cards for birthday or everyday occasions featuring characters from some of my favourite fairy tales... Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and
Puss In Boots.

And there's the 'Lemondrops' card range, if you need to send a cheery greeting :) Featuring Thank You, Hello Sunshine, Basil and Nelly.

You can find them in my Etsy store, or you can buy them through the gorgeous Lark online shop.
Cheers everyone! :D

exhibition accomplished!

Howdy everybody! How is your week going? Only a couple more days until the weekend - yay!
The exhibition opening last Friday was great - SO many fab people rocked up to have a look at our artwork and have a good natter. Was a very fun evening! I finally decided on names for my last two little friends... Thanks so much to Flora, who suggested the name 'Meg' for the girl and to Moira, who suggested 'Alfie' for the boy. All your suggestions were very much appreciated though, it was hard to chose just two.

Oh and I have decided to post the 'Getting to Know...' segment monthly. Workload is getting a bit nutty, and organising myself to do mini-interviews is a little tricky at the mo :) xo

getting to know... Pinky the Toymaker

Hello lovelies! Sorry about the delay in this week's 'Getting To Know...' post. I've been a busy bee getting the exhibition set-up. All done now and ready to roll for opening tomorrow night yay!

OK - May I introduce Pinky the Toymaker! Pinky has been sewing for 20 years - since she was little. She has studied sewing, pattern making and graphic arts at college and now also teaches at college. Pinky says POO POO to factory-made toys, and aims to create gorgeous softies that are just as special as the children they belong to. Pinky has a wonderful Etsy shop here and a Flickr photostream here - please do take a visit!

 images and designs copyright Pinky the Toymaker 2010

*Where do you find inspiration?
I find a lot of inspiration for my toys from fabric, my fiancé and my childhood. I didn't have a lot of store bought toys when I was little and I guess that's why I started sewing my own too. My mother had a beautiful wooden Babushka doll when I was little and with all the beautiful bright fabrics available I have always wanted to make a fabric one. I like simple forms because they are quick and easy to make but I've also been know to spend 100's of hours making art dolls too.

*How do you usually start and finish your working day?
I teach and I'm a freelance graphic artist so my days vary. I do a lot of my toy making in the evenings during the week and then spend all weekend sewing some times when I should be doing UNI assessments or marking assignments!

* Tell us something about where you live....
I live on the border of NSW and Victoria, so I'm right on the Murray River. I enjoy the peacefulness of a country town but LOVE trips to Melbourne which is three hours away, that's where I do most of my shopping for fabric :)

* What do you do for fun or relaxation?
Sew, sew, sew and cook! Both things that make LOTS of mess! Hahaha.

* Do you have any pets? Tell us about them...
I have a lovely little cat who thinks he's a dog. He's an Abyssinian which is a short-hair cat with BIG ears and an even BIGGER personality. He loves to help me with anything I'm doing. That's why I keep him locked out of my studio because I'm sure he's love to try and arrange my fabric when I'm not home. He's our little Hero...so that's what we called him!

* Of all your softie creations, do you have a favourite?
You shouldn't have a favorite softie! But... in saying that, there is one that is dear to my heart and he lives with my Nanna. He is the first softie I ever made. I designed and made him when I was about 8 years old by cutting him out of an old blue fleecy jumper. I used the buttons from the front of the jumper to secure his limbs to his body. He's a tatty, disproportionate little fellow and my hand-stitching was very rough but I literally love him to pieces! 

* What is your guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure is SPOTS! I can't get enough of them. Whenever I venture into a patchwork shop I always come out with at least one little piece of spotty fabric. I find that spots go with everything and there is something so childish about them I just love them. So needless to say, when you see my toys you'll know why their little bellies or clothes are all spotty.

Also, I remember telling myself when I was a little girl to remember what it was like to be a child and promised myself never to forget. At the time I wanted to be a toymaker but also thought that maybe it was a far-fetched dream. But here I am today doing all the grown-up stuff and still doing what I wanted to do when I was little! :)