Who doesnt love a nicely decorated Christmas tree? I love checking out all the displays in the shops and getting ideas. Last year i was complaining about or tree, it was looking a bit thin in areas and wasn’t exactly the full and thick tree i wanted. It was given to us as a gift, and lets just say, some things are a very personal purchase. Despite it being only 4 years old, it was looking a bit sad.

So while i was strolling through a department store i noticed a gorgeous tree. Its bristles were shiny and thick, it was tall and dense and everything my sad old tree wasn’t. Plus, the thing that won me over straight away, was that it was BLACK!

You know my small obsession with all things black and white…

So i took it home and had to wait a whole month before i could put it up, then i completely caved in and put it up anyway! It was October! People thought i was clinically insane for a. Buying a BLACK christmas tree and b. for putting it up in October. But i didnt care one tiny ounce. I got to enjoy its magnificence for 3 whole months. The kids loved it and the Husband even declared that it was cool!

I bought new decorations for my new black tree too. Guess what colour they were? Duh – WHITE!! And silver and black and glass and crystal. When i told people of my new tree and its colour scheme they all screwed up their noses at me- “Black! Thats not a christmas colour!”, “Are you sure its black and not dark green?”, “It’d look a bit boring dont you think?”

Well you tell me what you think:

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Ive been busy! With Christmas onlya  few weeks away ive been busy buried in Adobe- Illustrator & Photoshop to be specific. I create some custom christmas cards every year and this year i’ve designed some gift tags too. I love to create tags that co-ordinate with my wrapping paper so the whole parcel is a thing of beauty.

Heres a sample of what ive been up to:

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My Etsy favouries list is an ever expanding list of clothes, accessories, homewares, art, furniture and other oddities! If its turly loved, it doesnt stay a ‘favourite’ for long! Heres my newest additions to the list:

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I was searching online for a nice advent calender for the boys. Something that was a bit modern and would get them excited about counting down the days till Christmas. Most of the calendars were quite folky and were littered with Santas and characters that would date. And finding a decent Christmas pattern that doesnt involve red and green is difficult.

So i got to thinking. I could probably make one. But i didnt want to have to buy $100 worth of materials and slave over cutting, glueing and constructing. I had recently seen a tutorial on you tube, on how to make a paper box with only a sheet of paper and scissors and i gave that a try. It was so simple and quick that i decided my advent calendar had to use those boxes!

So 2 days later, i had 48 sheets of paper- ready to be folded into little boxes, a spool of red ribbon, 40 star split pins, 24 self-designed, numbered and printed lables, a small bag of chocolate santas, a small bag of chocolate snowmen, a bunch if branches from the yard, a vase and some christmas ornaments i had from previous years.

I made this:

The boys helped me find some suitable branches and hang the boxes onto the branches, becoming a little game of  ‘find the number’. I added some little red ribboned bows and my silver reindeer candle holders sit at the base with some silver pearls adorning the vase. Its about 5″ tall and is quite striking when you walk in the front door.

What i like about it, is that the branches can go back to nature and the boxes can be strung on some thick ribbon, like bunting, for next year. Or maybe we can just put them on the Christmas tree…the possibilities are endless!

Oh, i havent shown you my tree yet, have i? Its so pretty …

How beautiful is this print by Yasmine Surovec, it’s called Fancy Dress and this is what Yasmine has to say about it:

“I have a love for things that are vintage and imperfect. I’d once seen an old dress with tattered laces and with the fabric worn out and stained. That image stuck in my imagination and Fancy Dress came from that. The dress was drawn from start to finish in one sitting.”

I completely understand the need to finish something this beautiful in one sitting. It’d be quite theraputic to draw all those scallops and details. Here’s the second dress she created…

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Im really loving Robert Samuel Hansons alphabet prints. Irrevrent, well designed and clever. The pictures speak for themselves:

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I lurrrrve my dyson! Its sucked up all kinds of mess and chaos that the kids and 2 dogs have thrown at me. Its 7 years old and still kicking on strong. Check out the new Dyson DC25 Blueprint:

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A very sweet little girl, i know,  is having a robot themed party. Her mum asked me to design an invite that was quite gender neutral and something that she could pop into a frame later on. A cool print to commemorate a sweet girls 4th birthday. Check it out…

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Here are some of the latest name posters ive worked on…

for the transport obsessed little boy! I really enjoyed putting that truck face together and the train tracks too.

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We have a budding rocket scientist in the house! He loves to talk about space and the solar system,aliens, stars and astronauts. For his birthday we bought him an inflatable solar system model, each of the 9 planets now hang from his ceiling and he loves to chat about each planets unique characteristics. So cute!

So when i saw these prints from illustrator Steve Thomas, they brought a smile to my face. I love the beautifully vintage inspired design and the tourism poster concept.

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