Arabesques

A beautiful trio of cards are sitting in front of my computer from French artist Dominique Arella. I bought them quite a few years ago, but there is something about the whimsical linework that I find really inspiring.

New collection

The new season's Hiccups bed linen collection is now finished and almost all of the designs have been photographed. A huge relief! 

Next week I will start designing the Winter 2010 range - I would love to hear any suggestions for themes, likes, dislikes etc!

Stig Lindberg textiles

Stig Lindberg (1916-1982) successfully worked in a number of different design disciplines , including ceramics, children's book illustration and textile design. These wonderful and slightly surrealistic fabrics were designed during Lindberg's partnership with Sweden's Nordiska Kompaniet textile design studio.

'Herbarium' 1947

'Fruit Box' 1947

'Tally Ho' 1961

'Herbarium' 1947 - my favourite! I love this fresh colourway.

For more Swedish vintage textile loveliness, check out these two blogs:

Makiato

Re-form Dizain

Happy browsing!

From Milk Magazine Japan

A few favourite kid's bedrooms from the always wonderful Milk Magazine Japanese edition.

Dreamy images

Christine Rudolph is one of my favourite interior stylists - her work is regularly published in Australian magazines such as Vogue Living and Marie Claire.

Japanese patterned papers

Also from Kinokuniya bookshop - some lovely Japanese patterned papers.

Kinokuniya Bookshop

Kinokuniya bookshop at the Galleries Victoria was my first design port-of-call in Sydney, and I was not disappointed! A vast selection of art, craft and design titles, including a particularly good offering of fashion and textile books make this bookshop one of the best in Australia. (I hope there are plans for a Melbourne store soon.) However, my favourite part of the store was the Japanese language section - every Paumes Paris, London, Scandinavian title imaginable and a great range of craft, home design and textile pattern goodness. And so much more affordable than an air ticket to Tokyo!

Flights of Fancy

As Martha says - let the decorative charms of birds take wing! Photographed by Dana Gallagher.

Green gardens

My favourite place to while-away a few hours: the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

Duck egg blue

Lovely bird items styled by Rachel Jones from the UK. I love that Hummingbird wallpaper...

Chinoiserie exhibition

On Thursday night I attended Chris Chun's 'Chinoiserie' exhibition opening at the Washhouse Gallery in Sydney. It was a wonderful night - Chris's art work looked stunning in real life. And it was great to catch up with all of the old Sydney textile design crowd!


Read more at Chris's blog here.

A favourite illustrator - Delphine Durand

I love the painterly style of French children's book illustrator Delphine Durand. There is something about her slightly kooky take on the world that really appeals to me. Visit Delphine's blog here to learn a little about her design process and her wonderfully whimsical sketches.

Many of Delphine Durand's books are available in English from here. I bought my copies from local bookshop Readings.

Before Baz there was Miroslav

Great news - the latest re-issue of Miroslav Sasek's classic children's travel book titles will be 'This is Australia', first published in 1970. 

The bad news is we will have to wait until September....

French Favourites

A delicious fabric from Pierre Frey.

Hand painted tiles from Sweet Bella

Hand made textural tiles from Manchester based ceramic artist Lee Page Hanson for Sweet Bella USA.

I bought one of these tiles a few years ago from ABC Carpet and Home (what a visual feast!) in NYC, and it happily resides on my lounge room bookshelf.

See more of Lee's ceramic designs here.

Atelier Akiko: A touch of France via Japan

More textile inspiration - this time via Japanese designer Atelier Akiko. So many Japanese designers seem to have the Parisian theme down pat! I love these fabrics.