Now Back in Stock

My Butterfly Artwork Kits are now back in stock in all stores!

Thanks for your enquiries.

Michelle

I'm Baaaack!!

source

After a rather extended break I am back! Wow, what I thought would be a break for a little over a month while I moved, turned into a little over two months!

So ..... what have I been up to? During this time I managed to move twice, and holiday once. Moving twice was a necessary nightmare - as some of you may recall we sold our house much sooner than we thought, and had to move to temporary accommodation until the tenants moved out of our new house. So for six weeks we lived in a little house with about a quarter of our possessions (which I must say made me question why we have sooo much stuff!!??). Then, about four weeks ago we moved into our beautiful new home (not far from our old one) .... I think we will be very happy here, and (according to my husband) the best thing about it is that we don't need to renovate ........ ahhh yes, boredom may set in for me but we'll see!!

It also took a little longer to settle our 5 year old into year 1. Last year for prep she didn't have a worry in the world, loved everyday, and certainly looked forward to going. Suddenly this year is very scary for her and for the first couple of weeks she cried everyday ..... things are getting better now but she still has a little panic every morning that she "won't be able to do something" or "will get something wrong". Unfortunately I see the perfectionist in her that is well - ME!!! Isn't it frightening when you see one of your worst traits in your child? Anyway I am slowly putting together an action plan to combat this 'perfectionism', but I must admit it is just baby steps at the moment. It just breaks my heart that she is so nervous about school when I know she can do all the work - any advice my fellow bloggers would be greatly appreciated.

If you are still with me and haven't nodded off to sleep - thanks for dropping by!!!
I have now reopened my stores and am looking forward to creating some new stock for 2012.
I'm also looking forward to visiting all your lovely blogs and catching up on all your news!

Michelle

Winner & More Giveaways

Thank you to everyone who entered my Christmas Giveaway. Thanks to Random.org we have a winner .....

Congratulations Anya from Anya Adores! Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Anya has a wonderfully written blog filled with many gorgeous images of her daily finds and treasures. Pop over for a visit, I know you will be inspired, and she would love to hear from you.

Now, I did promise another giveaway.....

The wonderful Romi from The Dreamy Tree is holding weekly giveaways until Christmas. This week you have a chance to win a little print from moi! It's easy to enter - just become a follower of hers and leave a comment!

Enjoy
Michelle

House Sales & Giveaway

Hi everyone, please excuse my absence but things have been a little frantic around here. We sold our house after the first open and it settles in a couple of weeks! EEEK!!! Hence I have been packing ..... panicking .... then packing some more. Luckily we have found somewhere to live until our tenants move out of our new home.

I am also preparing madly for the BrisStyle Twilight Market on the 16th December along with working at my new interior design job! Anyway, in order to celebrate the upcoming Christmas Twilight Market I thought I would have a little giveaway.

It's the time of year for Secret Santa at offices all around the world so I thought I would giveaway something that could be used in this realm ....


The winner will receive a set of Atlas Peg Magnets, a set of 10 Round Vintage Magnets, and some Christmas Gift Tags.

All you have to do to enter is ....
1. Become a follower
2. Leave a comment for one entry
3. Blog about it for another entry
4. Facebook/Tweet about if for another

Open to local and overseas followers.

A winner will be drawn on Monday, 5th December 2011
Good luck!
Michelle

Finders Keepers

As Brisbane dwellers may know, Finders Keepers was on here over the weekend. I was lucky enough to be featured on the Etsy stand!

Instead of selling at the market, the fabulous team at Etsy Australia (Thanks K) had Apple Ipads on hand for anyone who wanted to look up a seller. What a fabulous idea - it saved us having to load heaps on stock onto the stand, and also meant customers were able to see all of our online products .... ahhh technology!!

Anyway, I'm very lucky as my little magnets do seem to get around, and I am thrilled at the response!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Michelle

Christmas Cards

In amongst the chaos of selling our house, I have found some time to start working on my Christmas Card line for this year.

I will be uploading some of the cards below into my store next week. They are so delightful - all the images have been hand cut from vintage Christmas books then adhered to recycled card.

I will also be putting some stamped cards and tags into the store over the coming weeks, along with preparing stock for the December BrisStyle Twilight Market.

Have you started your Christmas preparations yet?

Hope you all have a great weekend.
Michelle

Yay Published!!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be published in the Home supplement of Sydney's The Daily Telegraph ..... "ahem" ...... well my Pink Heart Garland was anyway!
Yay!!!

Apparently my Atlas Peg Magnet's were in Melbourne's paper on Saturday too - will update you on this when I can.

Thanks Bluecaravan for all the wonderful avenues you provide for handmade products to gain momentum in the marketplace.

Hope you're having a great Monday.
Michelle

Holidays , Craft and more

Hi everyone, with the holidays drawing to a close here in Queensland I can finally get back to some craft. Although we have had a wonderful break I must admit my business has suffered a little. Luckily I was able to keep up with my orders ..... just!!

Hope to put some work onto my website early next week. If you have the kids home on holidays, I hope you have had a safe and happy holiday. Can you believe we only have a term until the end of another school year??

Michelle

p.s. Have also been doing some interior design work for a company and have really really been enjoying it .... hopefully it will lead to some permanent work, and I can let you know some more details soon!

New Artwork

Loving that I am finally able to get back to doing some artwork. Just listed this framed 'Birds' artwork on my website's store.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Michelle

Yay - A Magazine Mention!!!!

Hi everyone. Sooo excited today, and really honoured, to see that my Butterfly Artwork Kit was featured in Coast Kids Magazine - Yay!!!!

This wonderful online magazine is jam packed with great features on anything and everything to do with children, along with great features on pregnancy, lifestyle, health, business and interiors.

The magazine is free to down load and is definitely on my 'must read' list. Just simply click on the magazine icon on the left hand side at Coast Kids Magazine. Loved the 'Beach Shack' article.

Enjoy!!
Michelle

And the Winner is ....

If you have just had school holidays, I hope you had a great break with the kids!
Our holiday was pretty mad - we stayed home but seemed to always be busy, busy, busy!

Today I am happy to announce that random.org has selected Felicity from Gifts of Serendipity as the winner of my Butterfly Paper Art giveaway!!! Felicity has a beautiful blog that she fills with everything that gives her pleasure. It's always a great read, and I know she would love it if you popped over and said hi.

Congratulations Felicity, I hope you enjoy making your artwork - I'd love to see what you do with it.

It's a beautiful warm sunny day here in Brisbane today - I hope where ever you are you are getting a little sunshine too.
Michelle

Giveaway Time

Hi everyone, I know Wednesday is usually reserved for my design post, but I am being lazy as I have the flu.

I was always intending on doing a giveaway before the school holidays, so I have decided to start early.

This time round you can win one of my Butterfly Artwork Kits in your choice of fairytale or pink/red - get the full description here.

You probably already all know the rules, but here's a quick refresher:-

1. Add a comment here for one entry
2. If you blog about it come back and let me know for another entry
3. If you add my giveaway to your sidebar come back and let me know for another entry
4. Lastly, I can now add, if you 'like' me on facebook you will receive another entry
5. Oh, and you have to be a follower to enter ..... so come on join in, I love meeting new people

I will draw a winner on Monday the 11th July - good luck!

I must apologise that I have not been visiting everyone lately - I could list all the boring reasons why, but I won't! Please know that I intend to get around to visiting everyone over the school holidays in my spare time (go on laugh).

I hope you all have a lovely break - see you all back here when school is back! Keep safe if you are going to travel!
Michelle

p.s. thank you for your lovely comments on my last post, and for 'liking' Paper Art Studio on facebook.

In The Studio

Despite all the work that has been going on around my place this week I have managed to do some craft work. More of my garlands will be listed in my online stores at bluecaravan, madeit and etsy next week. This is an image of 'pink love' ....

School holidays have started here today, my girls had a lovely morning playing with a friend. Her mother and I also got a chance to catch up for a chat - thanks for today divine Miss M!

I'm going to try and do some more artwork next week, after the last Twilight market I am down to one. Lets hope I get a bit of time to blog too. If your children are on school holidays, I hope they are off to a great start.
Michelle

Butterfly Art Kits

Example of a finished 'Cinderella'

My 'Butterfly Art Kits' are for those of you who love all the butterfly art that is around at the moment, but not the price tag that comes with it (I can say this because I sell them)!
Instead of paying for someone else (i.e. me) to make the artwork up and frame it, you can now do your own artwork via my kits.

inside a vintage 'bambi' kit

Each kit contains over 20 butterflies, an A4 mounting card, and instructions for mounting. All kits are lifted from old (mostly vintage) childrens books and are available in many of our favourite stories such as Cinderella, Bambi, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio ....
I also do these kits up in beautiful red and pink papers if you are after the colours only.
They make fantastic gifts, and make up more than one framed piece. Many of my friends children have created their own masterpieces from my kits - they love being able to create their own stories from the butterflies and see them hanging on the wall.

wrapped and ready to send

At the markets I sell a lot of these kits, and I usually get asked if they will be available for sale online. I like to keep some things for my 'market' customers only, but due to popular demand will now be selling these through my stores at bluecaravan, madeit, and etsy from next week. Each kit will be priced at $19.00 plus postage.

I will be loading more stock into my stores, along with these Butterfly Art Kits, next week. I'd love to hear what you think!!

Have a great weekend.
Michelle

And The Winner Is ....

from here

Hi everyone, I am back from holidays and had a wonderful time!
Sand, sun and relaxing at the beach ..... I even managed to read three magazines from cover to cover, and an entire book!

Anyway, back to business, before I left I put up a little giveaway of one of my little birds ...

And the winner is ..... Rockmelon Recycled!
Congratulations, I hope you enjoy your artwork!
If you haven't stumbled across this blog yet, Rockmelon is a fellow Brisbane artist who enjoys sharing life's journey with others through her blog. Pop on over and say hello, I'm sure she would love to hear from you.

Thank you to all those who entered, and for all the new friends who now follow, I look forward to visiting you all soon.

On another note, we currently have a yard/house crawling with tradesmen etc. (I know, everything is normal right?). Due to this, and a little one who is sick, I will not be reopening my stores or blogging until next Monday. If you are really wanting to order something though, please email me at papertreedesign.blogspot.com

I hope you all have a great week, and I will catch you all next week with (hopefully) some reno. images. Michelle

One Persons Trash ....

As you probably already know, most of my stock is made from recycled or salvaged materials. You may not know that most of it comes from a wonderful not-for-profit organisation called Reverse Garbage.

Set up in 1998 to support Friends of the Earth - Brisbane, Reverse Garbage sells high quality industrial discards donated by local businesses for re-use. In turn this ensures they do not go into landfill. These products, are sold to the general public at a very low price and are used in a range of craft, art, renovation and school projects.

Until recently Reverse Garbage has resided in West End. Currently they are stocking their new warehouse at 20 Bourke Street, Woolloongabba with their doors set to open on the 21st February 2011! They are holding an official opening on the 26th February with a range of craft classes being held for the kids, among many other exciting things.

Reverse Garbage also supports local artists by selling their wares through their gift shop Echoes. All artists must have at least 75% recycled or reused product in their work in order to sell through the shop. I am lucky enough to be one of the artists in their new gift shop at Woolloongabba!


You will find some of my magnets for sale ...



My garlands ....



along with packets/individual gift tags ....


I'm very excited to be part of their new location!

If you have never been, have a wander - you never know what you may find ..... nor the inspiration that may strike!!

Have a great weekend everyone.
Michelle

Faking It Update .....

Thank you to all those lovely people who gave advice, emailed, or simply commented on my previous post regarding 'faking it'! Your advice was so valuable and certainly contributed to our decision. So I thought it was time to update you all. We have decided to go with the synthetic turf out the back and around the side of our house. I hope it looks as good as this when it's finished ....

from here

We have decided to go with a grass called 'All Season Gold' which has little bits of kind of dead bits in it, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I think it looks quite realistic.

Before the company will lay the turf we are having all the gardens pulled out in preparation for our new garden design, which is being finalised very shortly. We will then replant, and the turf can then be laid last. I am sooo looking forward to this final stage of our renovation - it's been a long one this time - but I guess having a baby in between it all can slow you down somewhat!

I will be sure to post all the before and afters as we finish our little projects.

Thanks also to those who left lovely comments on my last post. Yes, I will be putting some of my retro cards into my madeit, etsy, and bluecaravan store soon. Later this week I will be showing you some more artwork destined for sale at the next BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market.

Wishing you a fab Monday!
Michelle

In The Studio

Just thought I would share some of the things I have been 'crafting' in my studio in preparation for the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Markets.

Tags stamped on recycled card ...

Loving my new retro inspired cards ...

Hope to see you all at the markets in the city on Friday, 25th February in King George Square.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Michelle

p.s. I told Miss 4 yesterday that she had to go to school 5 days a week - to which she replied (with hands on hips) "that's preposterous !" Even though she used it in context I'm not sure she knows what that word means! :)

BrisStyle Handmade Ark Appeal

Hi everyone. I was hoping to return to blogging last week, but with all the heartbreak in our beautiful country I just couldn't - it somehow didn't seem right.

We are lucky to live high on a hill and were untouched by the water - friends of ours were not so lucky, with some losing everything. I hope you and your families are safe and well.

With the horrible flood situation in mind, I thought I would let you know about BrisStyles Handmade Ark Flood Appeal initiative. The clever folk over at BrisStyle have been encouraging their members (and non-members) who have an etsy store to list a handmade item, with proceeds to go towards the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. You can read all about their initiative on their blog.

Of coarse, I was keen to jump on board and have listed my "four seasons in one day" framed artwork to be sold in my etsy store with all proceeds going towards the Premier's fund.

If you know of someone who can join in, please pass the message on as if we all do our little bit for the appeal, we will see Australia recover stronger than ever!!
Michelle

Selling in the rain, just selling in the rain ......

One of my artworks - 'an adventurous day'

Very fitting indeed

And I'm sure you all know the rest of this tune! Yes, unfortunately market day was a bit of a 'wash out' but as the song goes I just kept "singing and dancing in the rain" and had a good day dispite all mother nature had to offer!

Thank you to all those lovely people who popped by with their umbrellas in tow - you made it all worthwhile.

Luckily set-up was achieved prior to any downpours and miraculously pack-up (albiet early) was also achieved in the dry. Below is an image of my stand at the begininning of the day. Luckily no stock was damaged, I managed to keep it dry, but somehow I ended up looking like a drowned rat (no image of this I am pleased to say)!

Hope you all had a lovely (dry) weekend whatever it was that you got up to.

Michelle

p.s. Thanks for all the birthday well wishes for my youngest - she had a great birthday and was very spoiled like all two years old should be!