Houndstooth Owls!

I'm so happy with this design! I am really into houndstooth lately, and my like of purple has been building... I think they're pretty adorable!


When I started designing fabrics I created a little colour palette for myself, and stuck to it. I'm so happy I stopped doing that! My newer designs are a lot more colour saturated, and more fun! If I'm going to get the fabric printed, I may as well get it done in many pleasing colours, right?

Houndstooth Owls:
Pocket Carnival store
Etsy store

studio, in purple & teal

Lately I've really been leaning into the purple, teal & lime green colour scheme. I don't know how it happened! But here it is.

Plus a renewed appreciation of pattern. Love my chevron woven basket... awesome op shop find!

This is why you should pre-wash fabric. I washed my curtains and they shrank! Oops. Oh well, they're still pretty.

The owl in the plant pot is courtesy of The Storybook Rabbit. So lovely!

Oh, the fabric pile. These are all the fabrics I'm supposed to be working with at the moment... Hmm. Never ending pile of sewing.

More creative spaces here.

the happy home

Image by The Happy Home. Adorable.

Isn't this adorable??? It's a cubbyhouse! That's right! A cubbyhouse.

Seriously, this is exactly how I want my house to look. Lucky kids.

(Found via Little Paper Lane's adorable blog - go check it out.)

new swing tags!

Chris is a student, with access to the amazing resources of a university library. So, I got him to borrow me some business books. Entrepreneurial ones! Most of them are a load of waffle, but a couple have been very good (more on this soon!)

One of the books (plus an article in an old copy of Frankie!) made me think about packaging, and the purpose of it. Obviously it's there for a reason - to tell people who made the item, what it's made of, how to look after it. It can also make you feel a bit special! It can make you want to buy something even more. It should be nice, don't you think?

So, voila! The brown kraft card one is our old swing tag - sort of cute, and functional. I hope you agree the new one is just that bit more special.

From now on, whenever you buy a Pocket Carnival purse it'll be just a teensy bit more special, we hope!

Now, on to the softie packaging!

new stockist: made by others

Images from Made by Others

I wish I lived a little closer to Moss Vale so I could visit Made by Others, it looks like such a beautiful shop, don't you think?

Images from Made by Others

I've been a big fan of the Made by Others blog for awhile now, where Anna, the shop owner, posts lovely pics of her store. Made by Others sells gorgeous artwork, ceramics, and lots of lovely handmade goodness, which now includes Pocket Carnival!

How gorgeous is that display? Clearly Anna has a great eye for beautiful products.

Images from Made by Others

Made by Others is also a cafe, so if you're in Moss Vale definitely take a look!

Made by Others
Shop 2, 366 Argyle St
Moss Vale NSW

the Mouse loves the Cheese!

I'm still saving up my pennies for a mega-vacation in Japan (unless you all advise me to do the whole thing on my credit card?) Until then, I'm making lots of super cute things with Japanese on. The Bunny loves Carrots purse is proving rather popular, so I thought a Mouse loves Cheese was in order.

The Japanese word for cheese (チーズ) is said like cheezu! So cute! Kawaii!

Get your cheese-loving on Etsy or in the Pocket Carnival store.

the fabulous fab-ruary sale

This month when I was writing up my goal/stock checklist (I do one every month to keep track of what I'm making, what I'm designing, and other goals), I decided it wasn't February, it was Fab-ruary. Nice.

In honour of fabulous February, I'm having a wee sale. You can use the code fabulous in either the Pocket Carnival store or the Etsy store, and you'll get 15% off. Expires Sunday night.

If you look closely, you'll spot some brand spanking new designs I haven't introduced you to yet. I like them :)


P.S. ALSO! The winners of the card giveaway are #4 Little Mo, #11 Hayley Glen, #23 Marta Z & #25 memtree. Can you email me? penny@pocketcarnival.com.au

P.P.S. You can read our latest newsletter here!
http://pocketcarnival.com.au/newsletter-2011-feb.html

the pinwheel necklace

Tiny Pinwheel (windmill) Necklace by mxmjewelry

How gorgeous is this! A pinwheel necklace, and it ACTUALLY SPINS! Amazing. My dad knows how to make pinwheels, surely an excellent skill to have in life. (Found via Epheriell.)

Pinwheels are definitely something that make me nostalgic! I remember having a super rainbow one, and I would watch for ages.

playtime purses

These cutie little purses are our newest, and are already super duper popular! We'd have blogged them sooner, but lots of our lovely stockists nabbed almost all of the first batch!

In particular I love the kite... kites are fun, right?

Get them in the Pocket Carnival store, or on Etsy.

springtime with babiekins!

Hello! You may remember that a little while back I showed a peek at some illustrations I was working on? Well, I'm delighted to tell you all that these illustrations are all in the new issue of Babiekins! The Spring edition! (It sort of feels like Spring in Melbs at the moment!)

Even though I don't have any babies of my own (I wish!), Babiekins is probs my fave online magazine. It's free, bonus! It's beautifully curated & laid out, it's quite fast to load, and it's just lovely!

So, go take a look at Issue #4 of Babiekins now!

And, if you'd like, you can skip ahead to page 87 to check out my little contribution.

I've gotta say, I did these illustrations during some of the hotter weather in Melbs, so the colours are bright!

I'm thinking about using my three favourite illustrations for either pencilcases or coinpurses... we'll see!

xo Penny

the envelope question (giveaway!)

Hello! I've been super busy working away the past few weeks - we've got lots of new stockists on the way, more about this soon!

We've been busy google searching, calling places and trying to find some new envelopes for the greeting cards. We've narrowed it down to two - both post consumer recycled, there's a kraft brown and a white.

Chris and I sort of both prefer the brown - it's unbleached (yay!), and it looks recycled, so you don't have to read the fine print on the back of each card to realise it's more eco-friendly. I also think that the white envelopes are more in line with the look of the cards!

But, I decided I'd like to know, what do you think?

The giveaway.
Leave a comment, letting us know if you would prefer your Pocket Carnival greeting cards to come with a white or brown envelope - see the options in the above pic. (If you don't have a blog, leave your email address in the comment too!)
We'll pick 4 winners at the weekend who'll each receive 4 cards of their choice.

Thanks in advance!
xo Penny & Chris