Yumi

Yumi is a Japanese Kokeshi doll and this picture book takes the reader on a cultural excursion into her bustling, colourful and pattern filled world.

Yumi loves to dress up, and has a fine wardrobe filled with beautiful kimonos and accessories. Today Yumi is off to a party with her friend Sakumi, and you can join them on a day filled with many adventures.

Annelore Parot's wonderful illustrations and clever paper engineering techniques combine to produce a delightful book that little fingers will love to peruse over again and again in search of the many hidden details. And much older readers with an interest in Japanese textile design will find this title becomes a favourite too!

Yumi by Annelore Parot is published in Australia by Hardie Grant, 2010.

Yumi was first published in French by Editions Milan in 2009.

Annelore Parot's website: http://www.anneloreparot.com/

Catch of the Day

Nothing speaks of summer more to me than a meal of fresh fish and chips on the beach. (These Hiccups fish theme cushions are not all that tasty but are very cuddly!)

Come on summer!

A happy swag of Dutch interiors....

....from the always inspiring in-store room sets found at the Kids Factory.

 The lovely Kids Factory stores are located in both Amsterdam and Breda.

You can visit their website here.

Beach and pool weather?

The warm weather is yet to arrive down here in Melbourne, but this photo of our new collection of beach towels reminds me that summer is not far away!

Shop Girl Magazine - Electric Eclectic!

'Colourful, contrasting and kitsch, this look will keep your vibrant girl feeling right at home'.

A couple of Hiccups items can be found in the Shop Girl Spring/Summer 2010 bedroom decorating section. Styling by Alissa Thomas, and Photography by Rob Shaw. Thanks Shop Girl!

Set of three paper hot air balloon lanterns

'Mexican Dolls' 30cm x 60cm cushion

Nathalie Lete was in Australia....

....and I didn't know! 

My mum loves Blue Illusion clothing and receives the catalogues, but obviously is unaware of my love for the designs and artwork of Nathalie Lete. Although I missed out on her visit to Melbourne last week, I am definitely going to pick up a couple of these homeware pieces which are now available at Blue Illusion. This blue and red hatbox is going to look lovely on my bookshelf.

As will this tin.

And this painterly printed scarf features my favourite Nathalie Lete motifs - butterflies.

Nathalie's paintings also make an appearance in the latest Blue Illusion catalogue.

You can take a look at Nathalie's collection for Blue Illusion here.

Hiccups in Real Living magazine

Here is our latest ad which appears in the November 2010 issue of Real Living magazine. Take a trip around the world with Hiccups!

A little lamb

This little fellow kept me busy on my break last week - a warm bottle of milk every three hours kept the maaaaaaas at bay. He also came in handy for a bit of farm-themed sketchbook practice!

A blog inspiration moodboard

Over the past month I have been a student of the Blogging Your Way e-course - an inspiring exploration into the world of blogging, taught by super-bloggers Holly from Decor8 and Leslie from A Creative Mint. 

One of the optional homework assignments was to put together a mood board relating to your particular blog. Here is my Friday afternoon effort filled with both favourite things and things that inspire:

Art materials - coloured pencils, watercolours and gouache,

Botanical painting (an apple sketch from my Botanical painting class),

Children's picture books - this one is by French artist Nathalie Lete,

Japanese fabrics - a folk print by Kokka,

Australian natives - this is a flowering ironbark (from the glamorous surrounds of my local supermarket car-park),

Birds - a favourite print from Dutch Door Press,

Toile de Jouy - this is a small piece from my Hiccups 'Beautiful Balloons' textile design,

Historical textile design - this is a design painted in the 1920's by French Artist Raoul Dufy,

Tricia Guild of Designers Guild - I love this jacquard design,

and finally and quite obviously the colour red!

Back from the bush

The wildflowers around the area in Northern Victoria where I grew up are currently putting on a spectacular show. The heavy rains of the last month have allowed these little purple and yellow blooms to put on the best display seen for years, after almost a decade of drought. 

During my week off I managed to do a little bit of painting and drawing, inspired by the springtime blossoms and blooms. Spring is such a good time of year to re-fresh the creative batteries! As for that spring cleaning I had planned to do......