MOVING TIME... AGAIN!

So I feel like I owe an explanation for my lengthy silence.. For what seems like the hundredth time in the last couple years, it was time to pack up and move! After spending a significant chunk of time tirelessly looking for rental properties, falling in love with places we couldn't afford & putting in application after application, we finally found a place!

The last couple of months has been a blur of (once again) boxing up all of our things and settling into our new home. Thankfully this time my little bun Alfie gets to live with us, so I am one happy camper! We're much closer to Sydney now which is a massive bonus, and our lovely little apartment feels like home even after a few short weeks of living there.

On top of moving, work has been crazy busy since Christmas so I've been struggling to find the time to just unwind and enjoy my hobbies (taking photos and blogging - hence the silence). I bought a magazine yesterday for the first time in months and I was a little overwhelmed with how inspired it made me feel! I don't even know what to do with all of this creative energy, so hopefully I can harness some of it and get in a bit of a routine with blog posts again.

For me a home doesn't feel like a home until there are plants and pretty little knick-knacks everywhere, I'm finding it a little difficult to stop myself from going crazy in home décor stores! I am pretty ecstatic with the timing of our move though, it's almost Easter which means there are bunny figurines and toys EVERYWHERE. My idea of heaven! I've limited myself to one for now, check out my adorable little white tarnished bunny [pictured above] from Bed Bath N' Table!

THE LITTLE THINGS

Last night when I was sorting through my folders on my computer I stumbled across a bunch of photos I'd taken years ago when I first got my first DSLR camera (circa 2009). Most of the photos weren't of anything spectacular, just things from around the house and a whoooole heap of trees and flowers! The photo above is of my absolute favourite flower, a Protea. Well, the King Protea might be my favourite, but they're at least in the same family! My point is, that sometimes it's so hard to remember the little things in life, and that's why I love being able to look back at all these precious little moments.

I do still use my camera occasionally, but not nearly as much as I did back then. I was absolutely crazy about photography and I would waste (well, not waste) hours editing and re-editing the photos that I'd taken. Looking back through the thousands of photos I have stashed away, it hit me how much I miss it! I never took photos for anyone but myself, and not even for any reason or purpose, but it sure did make me happy.

So, as of right now, I'm going to bust out my trusty old camera and try and get back to what I love doing. Here's hoping that I can get some of my inspiration back and get out of the annoying little rut that I seem to be stuck in!

MOODBOARD: SUMMER DAYS

I love making moodboards, there's something so therapeutic about not having any rules and just being able to make a little collection of the things that inspire you. It reminds me of being a kid and cutting pictures out of magazines to make little collages (although admittedly back then mine probably had less pretty design things and more Nick Carter).

Here's one I put together in tribute of the lovely summery feeling that always starts around this time of year!

ice cream | embroidery | if not now | adventure | legs | florals | hands | hair

IT'S TIME TO...

Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about what it is that I want to achieve in my career/life in general... When I was younger (okay maybe not that young, lets say 2 years ago at most) I thought that all I needed was to find a stable job where (if I was lucky) I could happily design to my heart's content.

Now that I'm working full-time in a job where am I actually able to gain more design experience to (hopefully) get where I need to be, I've found that I've started to drift further away from where I want to be & I'm starting to lose sight of what I want (and what I need) out of life.

I mean yes, this job experience is "good for my resume" and hopefully will help me get into a really great job further down the line, I know that everyone has to start somewhere. In the meantime, I'm not sure that it's worth staring at a screen all day every day and genuinely not having one shred of enjoyment in what I'm doing.

I want to travel, I want to explore places that I've never been before. I want to create things for no one else but myself. I want to take some time out and relax. I want to spend time to appreciate all the wonderful people around me. I want to stop stressing out so much and getting so frustrated over the unimportant things in life.

I don't want to get stuck in this rut of being so focused on this mythical "future job" that I completely ignore what's going on in the present. I don't know how I'm going to make a change, but I think admitting that something does need to change is the first step.. right?

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

After what felt like the longest Winter ever, the sun has finally shown his/her face! Blue skies & warm nights are finally here, and my favourite thing of all - the beautiful native flowers have started to bloom! It's tempting to keep a pair of scissors in my bag just in case I stumble across a goldmine of flowers in the "wild", but I have a feeling I'd feel way too guilty if I got caught..

So for now I'll resort to buying them from the florist, until my wallet starts to protest anyway!

Images

King Protea // Rubber Plant // Leaf

FREEBIE: DESKTOP WALLPAPER

I feel like I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. I've been feeling so uninspired & unmotivated lately, and that can always be a little tricky to overcome for me! Being stuck in a rut is the worst feeling - sometimes I feel like I just need to take a step back and take a break, rather than forcing myself into things that I'm not really feeling 100% about. After a couple of amazing weekends full of adventures I'm feeling ten times better and well rested, and ready to get stuck into more design work! Here's a wallpaper I made up to honour the end of (hopefully) my inspiration drought. Enjoy!

[image source]

Download Wallpaper here!

MOODBOARD: SUBTLE COLOUR

When I was younger I was a colour fanatic, and if I had my way everything would be rainbow and full of colourful goodness! Thankfully I grew out of that stage, and working as a designer has taught me to appreciate the beauty in subtle colour. As the old saying goes "less is more" - sometimes all you need is a little hint of colour here and there and it can be more effective than going crazy and using every colour you can possibly imagine!

Images [clockwise from top]

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

INSPIRATION: HAND LETTERING

Here's some of my latest typography inspiration, I've been going nuts for hand-drawn type lately! I'd love to get into the more hands-on aspect of design, it would be such a refreshing change to be able to step away from the screen every once in a while (much better for my eyes too).

Click on the links below to check out the more of the artist's work, there's plenty more design goodness to be found ;)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

FREEBIE: DESKTOP WALLPAPER

I read this quote somewhere the other day and it sort of stuck with me. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a bit of a rut, and then I realise that I have actually come quite far since graduating uni even if I feel like I haven't! I think that as long as there's some form of improvement I can't really ask for much more (except maybe winning the lottery).

The photo is from a website called Unsplash, if you haven't already stumbled across it I highly recommend you do! All of the images are high resolution & free to use for commercial use so you can go crazy with them!

[image]

[mockup]

Download Wallpaper here!

TYPE SPOTLIGHT: COCORRINA

One of my favourite new discoveries is this lovely handwritten font by Corina Nika of Cocorrina. I've been digging my way through the archives of her blog and I'm so amazed by all of her beautiful hand-drawn lettering. She has some great other freebies so it's definitely worth a visit!

You can download the font for free here

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FLOWERS FOR YOU!

My illustration skills are very very very far from perfect, but here's a little something I whipped up the other day because I didn't want to venture outside and buy real flowers ;) I'm also showing my appreciation for Billy Buttons, the cutest darn flower in the world!

100 POSTCARDS BY TEN DESIGNERS

Over the long weekend I was lucky enough to spend some time wandering around Sydney, my highlight was spending some time (maybe too much time actually) in the Art & Design section at the incredible Kinokuniya book store! It was too hard to resist splurging, so after plenty of umming and ahing I decided on 'Reinventing Lettering' - I've only had time to flick through some of it but it looks amazing so far, definitely worth picking up!

My other favourite purchase is this nifty little Pattern Box "100 Postcards By Ten Contemporary Pattern Designers" - It's an adorable little box full of yep, you guessed it, postcards.

There's some amazing artists featured, two of my favourites are Eskayel & Victoria Garcia (pictured below). These little postcards are so versatile, the colours and patterns are pretty damn inspiring, and I think framed on a wall they would make for some pretty awesome wall art!

This handy little box of goodness can be found here :)

FINDERS KEEPERS

This weekend is the annual Finders Keepers markets in Sydney, I haven't been for a couple of years but all I can remember from previous years is stalls and stalls of amazing design, art & other goodies. I'm going unsupervised which is 100% going to end badly, I need someone there with me to stop me from buying things from every stall! Here's a (very) small selection of some of the designers appearing that I'm super excited about - Ella Mobbs & Courtney Brims are two of my favourite illustrators so it'll be great to see their work in person!

The Finders Keepers website has all the info you need if you're keen on checking it out. It runs Friday & Saturday, so there's plenty of time to head over and support some seriously talented Australian artists!

1; Ella Mobbs / 2; Phill Cuttance / 3; Courtney Brims / 4; Little Quarters

5; The Mouse & Me / 6; The Mod Collective / 7; Koa / 8; Beth Emily

PRINTABLE: RISE & SHINE

We've had some pretty crazy weather over the last couple months, we're 2 days away from Winter and it's lovely and sunny pretty much all the time! I don't know if it's related but we've been having some pretty breathtaking sunrises & sunsets as well (not that I see sunrises very often - ha). Here's some free printable goodies that I made up to honour the show that mother nature's been putting on for us! They're 210cm x 210cm so they can fit nice and snug on an A4 page :)

Click the link to download

Sweet Dreams | Rise & Shine

TYPE SPOTLIGHT: HANDWRITTEN FONTS

Handwritten fonts are such a lovely way to make a design feel more personal - here are some of my favourite little gems!

Carolyna Pro / Cheddar Jack / Nella Sue / Supernova / Londrina / Mega Team / Eyes Wide Open

Across The Road / Mossy / Amatic / Janda Elegant / Signerica / Mathlete

MANDALA

Here's something a little different that I've been working on. Mandala's have been popping up everywhere lately and I think there's something so beautiful about how intricate they are! This was one of those occasions where I started with something small and got completely carried away. The words around the edge are from one of my favourite quotes, found below :)

“If my love were an ocean,

there would be no more land.

If my love were a desert,

you would see only sand.

If my love were a star-

late at night, only light.

And if my love could grow wings,

I'd be soaring in flight.”

― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why

COLOUR INSPO: GREEN

My plant/cactus obsession has caused a chain reaction and for the first time in my life I have a pretty strong fixation with the colour green..

It's nice to be surrounded by pretty living things, especially at this time of year when it's starting to get pretty cold and miserable! I'll definitely be counting down the days until Spring (only  4 months to go, ha!). Until then, here's a selection of my favourite living & green things (with some awesome typography thrown in for good measure)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

MUM APPRECIATION POST

When it comes to presents, my Mum has always been more appreciative of the card than the actual present itself, and I've recently come to the realisation that she may have been onto something! There's nothing better than opening a card from someone you love and seeing a handwritten mess of lovely words just for you.

I made this one for my Mum for Mother's Day this year and I thought I'd share it with everyone to try and spread the love! The print size is A4, but once folded the card is just under A5 size (there's a marked cut/fold line as well)

Click the link to download
Peach | Turquoise

Hope you enjoy!

THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Turns out this long weekend has been pretty damn productive, and it's not even close to being over yet! I cleaned the apartment, spent time with some lovely friends, bought fresh flowers, caught up on some reading & had time to play around with some new designs.
"The Great Unknown" - I think that's a pretty vague expression.. It could be in reference to pretty much anything, but I guess in my case the unknown is the future. It's terrifying not knowing what's around the corner, but at the same time that's what makes life exciting!

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

I've decided that these are pretty wise words to live by. I get so much happiness from designing and making little crafty things that even if I don't find a job that I necessarily love, as long as I can keep having fun with little projects like this I know I'll be just fine.
I followed this awesome tutorial, although I sort of gave up halfway through and just followed my instincts, which I think is a much better way of learning (for me at least). I've always loved these 3D type designs, and I figured the only way to improve at anything and learn new skills is to practice practice practice!