sneak peek

Often people ask me if my little animals and people have names. They never have names, but they often have a bit of a back story - I like to imagine where they might live, and what they might do. These frogs are pretty fancy in an 80s kind of way (of course prior to the '87 Stock Market crash).

Stay tuned for more, involving a Fedex delivery somewhere between Memphis and Honolulu. That's the life.

Australian Ballet on The Design Files!

Photograph by Jessica Bialek

Have you all been reading the guest blog on The Design Files?

This week the guest blog is being written by members of The Australian Ballet creative team - awesome!

Photo by Thomas Dallas Watson

The Australian Ballet also have their own blog here... so fascinating!


P.S. Apologies for replying to emails a bit slowly lately - I'm sick again. It's babies. I'm allergic to them. Whenever I see a baby I can't help but give hugs and play and kisses, and then I get sick. Naughty baby.

love: coco cupcakes!

If I lived in Vancouver I would order some cupcakes from Coco Cake Boutique Cupcakes in a second. But I don't, so instead I must enjoy looking at photos.

Lyndsay blogs photos of all her edible artworks (tell me that cake is not art? oh, you can't!)

I would order these. I want rainbow cake!

Yay cake! Yay Coco Cake!

And now, I am hungry. I think it's time to bake a cake. I'll need some sustenance at North Melbourne Market tomorrow, after all.

billboard potential

I think I'll get this as a 20 foot billboard somewhere in the city. No? Oh well.

Toys in the shop, here.

my creative space: from above

The past day or so I've been making much lasagne - this is my new favourite thing to make in big batches. We made this last night, there's enough for 12 people! Mmm. Lots of lasagne goodness.

The bolognese is a walnut & lentil combo. Would you like the recipe? It's easy.

Walnut & Lentil Bolognese
1/3 cup split red lentils
2/3 cup brown lentils (I like the little tiny ones).
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
Bring to the boil then cook on low for around 45 mins, or until they're cooked and a bit mushy.

1 large brown onion
a couple of shallots (or a bit more onion)
as much garlic as you feel like
1 leek
quite a bit of olive oil (say 1/4 cup?)
Fry all this oniony and leeky goodness on a low heat until it's starting to brown and go a bit sweet.

Add in around 2/3cup of walnuts that you've whizzed in a food processor until they're a breadcrumb size (you could use hazelnut meal instead).
Add in the lentils, and around 440g tin of tomatoes, and a few olives or a teensy bit of salt. And herbs, if you like.

Let it cook for a bit! This is the quantity for quite a large pot of sauce.

Also - more gift tags!

Basil! The large herd of snails in my garden enjoyed eating my first round of basil seedlings, I'm hoping I can find all the snails and rehome them before these ones are ready. And I know, I didn't actually create these, they created themselves... but I did plant them, that counts, right?

Spruce TV: the pilot

Have you guys seen this? Spruce Upholstery, who do lovely things with furniture and whose Process video you may have seen on the Etsy blog, have made a TV pilot! So awesome! Their workplace seems so fascinating, and I love the pilot! Pretty ladies with cute accents and staple guns - I really hope a network turns this into an actual show!

Found via Design Sponge. Cool!

it's beginning to feel like...

Yep! Panic stations everyone! There are fruit-mince pies, candy canes & crackers at the supermarket, decorations in the shops... even carols have started playing! You know what time of year that means!

I try not to design anything too over-the-top for Christmas, and I think both the Deer card and the Star Man are all-year-rounders.

This year I decided to go for it and design a Hanukkah card too - I've had this design bumping around my brain since last year, and I finally made it happen, captain. I call him a Menorah Man, but I believe the correct term for this type of candlestick is a Hanukkiah.

Enjoy!

All the Holiday stuff is here in the shop (and remember you can pick and choose the cards you'd like in the discount packs!)

north melbourne market - oct 24th!

Another weekend, another lovely market! This weekend North Melbourne Market is teaming up with the Spring Fling team to bring you an awesome day of fabulous fun on Errol Street in North Melbourne - the Spring Fling will have performances and fun stuff, and the market will be full of awesome handmade and vintage, and a great time shall be had by all!

brr!!! it's cold out here!

Winter Sea Otter by Dawn Tan

I'm glad it's not snowing! Poor little Otter! He needs a big hug and a mug of hot cocoa! But how cute is Dawn's illustration? Answer - very. Plus, Dawn has a stall at North Melbourne Market next weekend with me! Yay!

Paris Umbrella Sticky Tape by Belle and Boo

I know Belle and Boo is from London, but these illustrations always remind me of France. Cute bunny!


Cloud Mobile - Grey by Made by Mosey

I've loved Made by Mosey for ages, and it was such a pleasure to meet Madeleine at Finders Keepers. And look! So lovely! Made by Mosey's product photos are the kind of photos I wish my photos could be :)

Rainy Cloud Glass Brooch by Little Mo & Friends

Little Mo now has jewellery! So lovely! I think the carrot brooch might be my favourite, but that doesn't have anything to do with rain, apart from the fact that rain makes carrots grow.

Come on, sunshine!

rain time!

Why is it raining so much? Don't the clouds know it's Spring? And that I'm cold?

New new new Pocket Carnival pencilcase - Rain Clouds in Chevron! I didn't realise these cute little zig-zags were named after a multinational oil corporation. Shame. Maybe they named Chevron after the zig-zag?

Anyway, enough philosophising! There's also a coinpurse! Lovely!

And of course, they're made of Pocket Carnival organic cotton, and lined with recycled cotton (this one's a pretty leafy print from the Salvos!)

pocket carnival fabric!

Okay! Lots of you have been asking about fabric for ages, and...

Pocket Carnival fabric designs are now available for purchase on Spoonflower! I have been unsure about doing this for a few reasons, mostly because I love to be able to quality control Pocket Carnival products and deal with customers directly. However I have now been purchasing fabric from Spoonflower for over a year, and on the rare occasion I've had any problems with my order, they have responded extremely fast and resolved my problems super well.

If you have any queries before you place your order, you can absolutely contact me. But after you've ordered, contact Spoonflower with questions.

I've listed a few fabric designs on Spoonflower - if you purchase them you will be purchasing directly from Spoonflower, and your fabrics will be shipped from the Spoonflower studios in the USA. Pocket Carnival will still be selling fabric online and at markets in Nov/Dec, but we'll be selling smaller pieces and fabric packs. If you're after larger quantities we encourage you to purchase on Spoonflower.

You won't see all our designs for sale there, but I have been busy doing some special designs for sale.

Why Spoonflower?
One of the (very small) problems with being a small business is finances - I would love love love to have fabric printed and be able to sell it directly to customers, but unfortunately there are often large setup costs for this. Longer term I would love to have fabrics printed for me, but in the short term these fabrics will be for sale on Spoonflower. I am going to trial this until the end of the year, at least.


And, more designs coming very soon - every time I offer a new fabric for sale I first get some printed so I can double check the colours & quality - I'm waiting on a bunch of new designs at the moment!

get happy!

New design! This is a bit different to my other purses, but I do hope you like it!

I will admit I have never been the hugest fan of the self-help/affirmations, but they have been growing on me. It is nice to remind ourselves of the simple things sometimes, isn't it?

I gave one of these purses to my buddy Debbie today - I told her I will call this purse 'the Debbie' to myself, because I feel like if she were a purse, this would be it. I think it's nice (and inspiring) to have friends who are always cheerful and fun and bubbly! And cute :)

The Get Happy purse is for sale here!

super-cute: hmc designs

Cute! Heidi from HMC Designs and I have known each other since we did stalls at Rose Street Market, so I was very happy to see her at Finders Keepers over the weekend!

How cute is this pouch? Very! It's a plastic-y fabric, so it is perfect perfect for my makeup and toothbrush and so on for when I go on trips (beats my current use-a-plastic-bag method!) Heidi told me the little chihuaha on the end is based on her dog! Adorable!

I love these clips, and the packaging is beautiful. The owls and the kittens are destined for two special little ladies (their mums read my blog, they might be able to guess?) and I think I might keep the ghosties for myself. Hooray! If you want your own, pop over to HMC Designs!



And! Oops! I didn't announce my giveaway winner! Let me random number generate...
The winner is Ottomania! Hurrah!

And I would love to thank everyone for entering my giveaway and leaving a comment, I loved reading all the predictions about the next big trend.

finders keepers melbourne: part 2

Phew! Finders Keepers is finished! I had such a great time - I met so many lovely stallholders, customers and visitors, and even snuck in a tiny bit of shopping (about 5 minutes before closing time!) This was a big market - it was a little overwhelming in its fabulousness!

The market was also overwhelming in its size - our stall was right in the middle - it stretched this far in both directions! Lots of stalls! (Apologies for the random stick in the middle of the photo!)

The gorgeous Beci Orpin inspiration wall at the Frankie stall!

I met lovely Madeleine from Made By Mosey (and her adorable family! yay! except I forgot to take a photo of her gorgeous stall!) I caught up with Chris and Sally who were two of my first ever stockists (hooray!). I saw Rosie again who made the voyage from Tasmania, and I am sure our sunny 25C weather must have felt like the middle of Summer to a Tasmanian (is that right Rosie?) I did a fabulous trade with Heidi from HMC Designs, and then got to see her beautiful daughter enjoy her new bunny softie!

And of course I had such a great time hanging out with my fabulous stall buddies, Emma & Susan!

Little Circus Design - gorgeous!

I had lots of super-dooper visitors, including Kate from Elly Oak, who has a whole new range of cards! Beky who was super lovely! Cathie who was also super lovely, and who I was so pleased to finally meet! Dawn Tan, who Susan and I were so pleased to meet, and who will be at the North Melbourne Market in two weeks! Michelle from Leni and Rose, who has some big news that I am excited about, and I am sure you fabric lovers will be too! More on this soon. And super, lovely Mich.

I actually met so many more lovely people than the ones I have listed - but I can't remember everyone right now! I am glad I got business cards from people, or remembered to write their names down, as I am rather forgetful.

Shannon and her gorgeous cushions! So cute!

I had so many amazing conversations throughout the market, and received so many lovely compliments about my designs and work. Working from home is lovely, but sometimes it feels very disconnected from actual living, breathing people, so it's always fantastic to meet people who are so enthusiastic about handmade & art! I think it's a huge hats off to the amazing team behind Finders Keepers, for curating such an amazing collection of artists and designers, and then promoting their little patooties off! I was just so happy that so many of the visitors to the market really just enjoyed looking at everything, and talking to us designers, and just had a great time!

You can read an awesome interview with Sarah & Brooke from Finders Keepers over here, at The Design Files!


Phew again! That's enough of a recap for awhile. Although I still need to have a show & tell for the things I came home with!


Edited to add:
Ooh - lovely photos on The Design Files!

finders keepers melbourne: part 1

Firstly - apologies if you're trying to email or visit the Pocket Carnival website - our server's down at the moment. *oops*


Phew! Half-way through Finders Keepers - if you're coming tomorrow, don't get lost! Check this Google Map - Shed 4 is at the very very end of Bourke Street - head through the Docklands shops, keep on going through the carpark with construction trucks, and head toward one of the ugliest sheds you've ever seen.

Parking is free, and whilst the shed's ugly outside, there is much prettiness inside, and a beautiful view of the ocean.

So! Our neighbours are Adorning Al (how cute is their owl mirror you can see in the background!)

Toys!

Our stall goes, L-R, Benconservato, Spin Spin, Pocket Carnival.

Emma's artwork! Her softies are selling like lightning, so if you want one, hurry tomorrow! They're gorgeous!

Emma's gocco prints and Susan's cushions - I WANT the red cushion!

my creative space: the frogs

Frog skins! And something else too. All sewed up, and turned inside out, waiting for...

Stuffing! This is corn fibre stuffing, it's really similar to polyfill apart from the fact it's made of corn. Awesome! I use a combination of corn fibre and hemp stuffing. The corn fibre is from Inner Green - check them out.

Partially stuffed...

Softie army!

I am photographing the frog softies right now to put in the shop. They'll be for sale at Finders Keepers, along with a few other new items, which is exciting! I love having new things! More on these soon.

P.S. The other new softies may make an appearance at Finders Keepers, depending on how I'm going for time!
P.P.S. Remember the giveaway is still on!



Edited to add:
The frogs are now in the shop!


Bunny legs!

panic stations!

This is what my kitchen table looks like. Pretty & peaceful.

This is what my work table looks like. Argh! Finders Keepers is very very soon, so I'm busily sewing up some last minute things. I have a heap of stock, but I must be prepared. What if, you know, someone wanted 10 loveheart purses but I'd only made 8? Distaster, right?

I think at some point today I'm just going to have to accept that the world won't collapse if I don't have 1000* purses or some other over-large number. At that point I will go back into the lovely, peaceful kitchen, make a cup of chai, and relax.


*Okay, that's not actually how many purses I want to make. It sounds impressive though!

Edited to add
P.S. Please come introduce yourself if you're at the market (if you want to)! I am always so scared when I introduce myself to people whose blogs I read, but it's so nice to say hi!
P.P.S. I have figured out what to wear both days! At least if I have no purses, I will look nice.
P.P.P.S. Our stall is next to Lightly! I think 2 days of not spending money there may be quite tricky.

the owl quilt

I'm super sleepy today, and I choose to blame Daylight Savings. If I still had this quilt, I might be tempted to take a little nap under it, but it was a gift for my little Grandma, who has been through a rather rough patch, health-wise.

In the above photo, the quilt is folded twice, so you're seeing a quarter of it. It's somewhere between a single bed & cot size, and it's perfect for brightening up a hospital bed I think! It's not really a proper quilt, in that it doesn't have any batting inside, it's just organic cotton with my owls, and the back is pretty flannel from Patchwork on Central Park. I stitched down some of the tree trunks to keep both sides in place - alas, my skills at sewing such large pieces of fabric leave something to be desired, as the owl fabric ended up longer than the flannel, so it's a bit lumpy down the bottom. Oops.

This is another sneak peek of something. More very soon.

Finders Keepers

The Finders Keepers September Gift Guides are up! If you can't make it to Finders Keepers on October 9th & 10th, you can still shop your little hearts out online.

But if you can make it, come visit me, Susan & Emma, because our stall is gonna be rad!

hello, orange owls!

Okay, the actual owls are not orange, they are the other good colours such as teal, purple, pink, blue, kelly green and duck egg blue.

They're now available for sale online!

And of course, they will be available for sale at Finders Keepers Market, which is next weekend! Are you coming?