Packages Tied Up With String ....

Me and Amber

Don't you just love getting something in the mail? I know I do.
I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful cushion by Me and Amber in the mail yesterday. It was from my lovely friend Michelle over at Sprout Gallery.
I just adore it!!!
Thanks lovely lady!

If you aren't familiar with Me and Amber check out their store on Bluecaravan. Enjoy!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Michelle

from here

Sorry for my absence - I usually post a Wednesday Wicked Design today but I have been listing things to sell on ebay ....... and it has taken ALL DAY!!!!

We are doing a bit of a clear out as we may go on the market soon.

As time has gotten away I will have to miss my usual post today - sorry to those of you who regularly check in for a new designer.

Must admit I have been a little slack all round lately with preparing my house etc. Must get back onto visiting you all soon. Thanks for sticking with me through my slackness!!

Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

I just love finding these wonderfully talented designers!

Kathy Panton is a local illustrator who sells her prints via her etsy store. She has so many wonderful artworks it was really hard for me to narrow them down and show you my favourites. I just adore all the colours ...

Aqua Ampersand Print

The Original Butterfly Print

You are my Sunshine Print (with birds)

Hot Air Balloons Print

Little Elephant Print

At the moment you can purchase any 3 of Kathy's prints for $40.00 and any 4 prints for $50.00! She posts to any destination in the world.

She also sells cards featuring her beautiful illustrations ....

Set of 6 Handmade Cards

Kathy also has a blog so pop on over and say hi if you get some time - I know she would love to hear from you.
Don't forget to check out her online store.

Enjoy!
Michelle

* All images taken from Kathy Panton's etsy store

At The Races

harry and simon

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We went to the races of Saturday and had a really great day - I had a win ..... $3.30 after betting $1 on the nose! Oh yes, and the buzz did go to my head (or was that the bubbly?) it was all downhill from there I'm afraid - all up coming home I think I was down $6 - still it's the fun of it isn't it!!!!

It was a welcome break from the last jobs we are trying to finish on our reno. Yes, we are so very close to being finished now, just a few painting jobs to be done. Then apparently we can sit back and relax ...... do you think I could really do that?
You never know what the future may hold ...

Here's to a week of lovely blue skies.
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.

Website & Facebook Launch

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that I have now officially changed my trading name to Paper Art Studio and have a new website to match - it's still a bit of a work in progress but I'd love to know what you think so if you have time take a look here. Of coarse I will have to eventually change my blog name etc. over too.

I also finally have gotten over my facebook phobia and have put the business on there too - I'd love it if you joined me there by clicking on the like button on my sidebar. Just another way we can all keep in touch (about time I caught up with technology!!).

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned.
Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

This Wednesday I am featuring Spun Mud by Bec Lindemann. Bec lives at Mothar Mountain, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Queensland, where she creates beautiful ceramics from her studio.

Her retro and paisley pots are individually thrown on her solar powered wheel. Each pot is decorated with original screen-printed transfers and then hand painted.

All of her Stamp Bowls are pressed with carved clay stamps featuring images and patterns from pop culture, or patterns influenced by fretwork found in beautiful Queendslander homes.

Designs are then bisque fired and gloss fired with clear glaze in her gas kiln.

Along with featuring at the BrisStyle markets Bec also has a permanent spot at the Eumundi Markets every Wednesday. Her designs are available for purchase through her etsy store.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week.
Michelle

Meg Ryan's Beach House

image 1

After reading one of my Mother's magazines, I couldn't help but share with you the wonderful images of Meg Ryan's beach house. She is one of my favourite actresses and I just love what she has done with this gorgeous place. Enjoy

image 2

image 3

image 4

image 5

image 6


It's a long weekend in Queensland this weekend. I hope you all have a great weekend no matter what you are doing.
Michelle

All images from here

Wednesday Wicked Design

It's that time of the week already!

On Sunday at the Racecourse Road Carnival I was really lucky to be next to designer Racheal of Penelope and Pip. Fellow BrisStyle designer Racheal is a Brisbane based illustrator who draws pictures of a girl called Penelope, a cat called Pip and their ever-increasing list of lovely friends!

Her original designs are drawn on paper, in photoshop and illustrator. Each unique print has it's own story attached, allowing the purchaser to immerse themselves in the world of make-believe that is Penelope and Pip.

Ensuring that she treads on the planet lightly, Rachael uses Hahnemuhle fine art archival paper made from sustainable forestry practices and produced with green energy. Rachael also reproduces her gorgeous designs onto fabric made from organic cotton, certified by Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS).

Penelope and Pip designs are available for sale through etsy. Some of my favourite designs are shown below.

love in they key of G

it's a long way down from here

I would wait forever to be with you

if I could sail away with you honey

kitten friends fat quarter

Racheal's website shows a wonderful gallery of her works. It's where she updates you on which markets she will be at, and is a place where you can follow her on her creative journey.

Enjoy!
Michelle

all the fun of the ..... carnival

Hope you all had a great weekend! It was Carnival weekend here in Brisbane, well, at Racecourse Road in Ascot anyway!

We all had a wonderful day in the sunshine - there were lots of people about and I really enjoyed talking to you all. Thanks so much for stopping by and having a chat with me. All of your comments mean so much to me, and give me the encouragement to carry on creating!

Thanks also to the fab girls of BrisStyle - you always make the markets enjoyable.

Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

This week on Wednesday Wicked Design we share a little Hey Harriet love! From the quirky to the divine, the expert photography of Hey Harriet brings us beautiful images shot in a unique and original way.

Some of my favourite images being sold through the Hey Harriet Photography etsy store are

using the TtV (Through the Viewfinder) method. Hey Harriet defines this method as “taking a picture of any subject through the viewfinder of any camera with another camera”. They use a Canon digital and an old twin lens reflex Argus 75 resulting in a square formatted photo with the characteristic black border. The image ends up with details like specks and blurred edges all contributing to the vintage aesthetic.

Images are also available on wood block. Each block has been lovingly cut from pine wood with the images being carefully placed on top. Just gorgeous!

Hey Harriet Photography also sell gorgeous prints taken from their illustrations. These are also available through their etsy store.

Hey Harriet Photography also has a gorgeous blog filled with wonderful images from many different photographers. Anyone interested in photography will really enjoy wandering through this site.

A fellow BrisStyler, Hey Harriet Photography is a local Brisbane based business. Along with being featured on the BrisStyle website, their photography and designs are also available online through Artfire and Madeit. Enjoy! Michelle

* Please note that all images shown are the copyright of Hey Harriet Photography

The Reveal

... and I say 'the reveal' because I cannot find my before pictures! You'll have to use your imagination, but when we purchased our two butterfly chairs (from ebay of coarse) they were covered in white chippy paint, and not in a good way in a bad way, they also had a lot of rust.

They had no covers and I immediately knew I wanted to use them inside so, after having them rust proofed and painted, we opted to cover them in cowhide. We used Adam's Allstyle Upholstery - the team were really professional and new exactly what I wanted.

As you may guess, we love cowhide - it's really really child friendly as all spills just run off. There was enough cowhide left over to have four floor cushions made up too ..... now I just need to figure out where I'm going to put all this new furniture! Eventually I want both the chairs to sit side by side, but for now they are apart in separate rooms.

We are thrilled with the results, and just love our new chairs! What do you think?
Hope you all have a great weekend lined up. Michelle

Wednesday Wicked Design

As you all know I love bringing you a new designer every week. I get so excited to find a new Australian talent, and am often amazed at their creativity. This weeks designer is no exception.

Quail & Co are also fellow BrisStylers who love to mix vintage and new to create a unique upstyled look.

I just love their super cute shoes .....

And their jewellery ....

A complete range of their designs can be viewed via their Etsy store.
Enjoy.
Michelle

Fallen out of love?

I was just flicking through the latest issue of Ikea Family Live, and besides all the lovely homes they feature (and every time I say to myself "that can't be ikea") they had this hilarious article about falling out of love with your home. Here is an exert from the article:-

"You've been together a long time. A long, long time. But suddenly, you've realised there's no spark, and you feel like the fire's gone out. After all, when you're not actually lighting a fire in your fireplace, you're obviously not enjoying time spent around it. As you walk around the void you deludedly call home, you might notice some signs that scream "hey, where is the love?".
taken from Ikea Family Live winter 2011

The article goes on to talk about preferring to be apart from your home as the relationship starts to die ..... it got me wondering, what do you do to bring back the spark in your home? For me it's new cushions (I have cupboards full of them), and perhaps a visit to ebay or the local second hand shop for a bit of an added eclectic injection. Lets face it we can't love everything about our home all the time - can we?

Michelle

Racecourse Raod Carnival

Just wanted to do a little advertising for the Racecourse Road Carnival that is coming up on 5th June. Those of you who live in Brisbane will know that Racecourse Road is a beautiful little coffee strip located in Ascot. What you may not know is that the carnival, formally known as the Racecourse Road Street Party (started in 1993), is back after a two year break!

The Carnival will block off Racecourse Road, run from Beatrice Terrace to Lancaster Road, then through the gates of historic Eagle Farm Racecourse … and into the Eagle Farm Fresh Food Markets. There will be over 120 stalls (of which I am happy to say I will be one), street entertainers, live music, children's entertainment, and of coarse all the gorgeous stores, cafes and bars along the strip will be open too.

What: The Racecoarse Road Carnival
When: 5th June 2011
Where: Racecoarse Road, Ascot
Time: From 9am to 5pm
Entry: Free

I'm really looking forward to participating in the Carnival with the lovely team at BrisStyle. It should be a really fun day out for the whole family ..... so mark it in your diary, I'd love to see you there!
Michelle

p.s. I think I have a lot of work to do between now and 5th June in preparation!