Time for bed

Lenny is a big fan of tractors and headers, so I was very pleased to hear that he loves his Hiccups 'Field Days' farm theme bed linen. A big thank-you to my cousin Clare for sending me this photo of Lenny and his baby brother Herb (quite possibly another tractor fan) at bed-time.

Iris report

After a long wait the irises are finally in bloom. Unfortunately the fancier breeds of iris only flower for a couple of days before withering away - a very short-lived kind of beauty!

A lovely tale - Cinnamon Baby

I came across this beautifully illustrated book on the weekend whilst browsing the well stocked shelves of children's picture books at the Hill of Content Bookshop, Bourke St, Melbourne.

Cinnamon Baby is a contemporary fable celebrating the special bond between mother and child, and is an ode to the power of the senses.

Miriam is a baker who makes the most delicious concoctions, including a cinnamon bread so delightful that a musician named Sebastian buys a loaf of the bread every day for a year. Sebastian falls in love with Miriam and asks her to marry him, and before long a beautiful baby is born to the happy couple.

All is blissful until one day the baby starts crying, and crying, and crying..... Miriam and Sebastian find themselves at their wits end, unable to soothe the wailing child.

Early one morning Miriam suddenly has an idea... and once again all is well in their world.

Cinnamon Baby is written by Nicola Winstanley, and illustrated by Janice Nadeau.

First Published in Canada by Kids Can Press Ltd, 2011.

Springtime Wisteria

The first flowers of a pink wisteria coming into bloom.

A Saturday surprise

I received a text this morning from my fellow interiors magazine fiend Kelly of Little Bubble and Tree fame, letting me know that this wee blog is mentioned in the 'love at first site' column in the November 2011 issue of the Australian Home Beautiful Magazine. I have had a smile planted on my face all day!

Thank you Home Beautiful!

I was also pleased to see Melbourne based designer Lucy King's summery melamine plates featured in the 'fave finds' pages.  Congratulations Lucy.

You can view Lucy's collection of hand-painted designs for melamine plates here.

Rounding up the sheep

I think I am going to have to draw these fat lambs pretty soon - they are at the perfect cuteness level!

Spring Blossoms

I picked a bunch of apple and pear blossoms from the orchard which inspired me to create this textile design. I love Spring!

Inspired by the garden

Another mono-print inspired by a recent trip to my local botanical gardens where purple and pale blue tones dominated the plantings.

Spotted on The Renovators

My brother spotted my bed linen and wall sticker designs featured in Mel's winning room on the Channel 10 TV Show The Renovators.

Mel chose the Ticketty Boo yarn-dyed stripe bed linen and teamed it with a variety of cushions and plush toys from the Hiccups range. Good work Mel!

Purple Rain

I have spent the last week on my parents farm with very little internet access. (I think my mum used up her internet quota on ancestry.com during the school holidays - she calls it 'Old People's Facebook') 

I really enjoyed painting designs without my usual procrastinating blog-reading work ethic, so fingers crossed this will carry on now I am back in my home studio. Hmmmm.

Today I visited the Williamstown Botanical Gardens where purple blooms reigned supreme.