Made in Mumbai

Creative Review magazine comissioned taxi artists Mistry and his son to create this for the cover of their magazine - the process is documented here. I didn't know this but "there were rumours that taxi art may be under threat as the city government sought to tighten regulations with the introduction of more modern vehicles. But, as they explain in our inter­view, the Mistrys are hopeful that their work will be allowed to carry on. It would be a shame to lose such a rich urban art form to bureaucratic conformity."

The Adventures of Lapin de Lune

This little bunny arrived on our doorstep last week and has quickly become a favourite. We always get 'wows' when we go out with her. When my daughter is asked where she got her from she says, "Lou Lou and Oscar sent her to me!"

This photo was taken just before we all left for the supermarket, and oh no! Suddenly there was great panic because Lapin was missing from our cart! She wasn't at the Lost and Found either. We were sad, but we tried not to cry by thinking about how happy the person who found her would be. Well, that night I got a call saying she had been turned in! We were so happy. Lapin is now safe home and tells us stories of her adventures in the supermarket.

Spring Break

Work is on the back burner this week as my kids are on Spring Break. I'll be posting some pics from our days at home...





























Breakfast today was boiled eggs with 'sprinkles' that we got from the Japanese supermarket - seaweed, sesame seeds and various other yummy things which make a boiled egg even more exciting to eat!

The Winner!

Comment #2 from the right answer - Black and White animals! Congrats, Cary - you won a set of Baby Art Cards! Thanks everyone for being such a good sport.

Baby Pictures

Our favourite pics are ones that mamas take. Here's one that was taken by a psychologist mama who has a wonderful blog - she is doing a wee gallery giveaway at the moment so in case you are interested, go here:

New Cards in the Works

I have been working on a new set of cards to be released in the Fall. Can anyone guess what this collection is going to be?! I'll pick someone randomly from the right answers for a free set.

As soon as this post has 10 comments, I will get my kids to pick one number out of a hat - the winner will have the choice of getting a free set when it is printed, or they can choose one that's in stock now if they don't want to wait!

Ceramic Decals for Display Only - Tutorial

A couple of months ago I discovered this decal paper which allows you to print out graphics on a home laser printer and apply it onto various surfaces. My love of vintage ceramics made me excited to try this out on vintage plates, and the perfect graphics were Helen's lovely drawings. She kindly agreed to send me some, and here is the result. Unfortunately, these cannot be eaten off, but they are great fun for display.

STEP1: PRINT OUT GRAPHICS ON LASER PAPER


















STEP 2: CUT AROUND GRAPHICS












STEP 3: IMMERSE IN LUKEWARM WATER 30 SECONDS TILL THE DECAL RELEASES












STEP 4: POSITION ON PLATE












STEP 5: SQUEEZE OUT AIR BUBBLES - I used a small piece of paper towel. The decal tends to curl at the edges, so this step requires the most patience.












DONE: THE LITTLE GUY IS READY!












I finish by spraying a sealer otherwise the decal is liable to come off with a little bit of poking around.

(In case you weren't already familiar with this one, Skinny Laminx has a great tutorial for ceramic decals which are fired in a kiln and are therefore food safe.)

Teddy Chalkboard

Is that colour for real?

Those are the plums we got this week at our co-op. Unbelievably p-l-u-m.

Give me Third World

I brought one of these back from my last trip to India. I remember a lot of our school textbooks having illustrations like these.













My favourite is the 'Cleaning the Room' one with the father relaxing, reading the paper while the children dutifully dust the furniture. I think we need to move to India.

Orla for Surya!

The Orla Kiely Collection for Target is lovely. I bought a tablecloth (amongst a lot of other things), but couldn't bring myself to use it after remembering the fate of many a favourite tablecloth becoming curry-stain-ville after 5 uses. So I decided - I'll make cushion covers instead! That way I can stare at them all day, and even give them an occasional feel-up. It took me a week to gather up the strength to put scissors to amazing fabric, but once that initial hurdle was crossed, it took about an hour to produce three wonderful cushions. Since I am not a fan of hemming, I remembered to use the already finished edge of the tablecloth to my advantage and so only a square had to be sewed. I'm lazy like that. And my cushion covers ended up looking pro with the Orla label and all...






















































































Thanks Grace, for featuring this on Design*Sponge!

Amazing Teething Toys

Available here on etsy.

Pillowcase Dress

I made a 'night-dress' for my daughter out of a vintage pillowcase. Chopped a hole for the neck, two for the armholes, cinched them up and sewed them over with Fold Over Elastic, the virtues of which have been extolled by The Angry Chicken here. It was easy, and looks pretty BUT next time I will make sure I order the 1 inch one instead of the narrow one coz it was a pain to get all the cinched fabric into the elastic firmly. And it looks like it will fit her till she's 15!

Alphabet Animals

Sketching some ideas for an alphabet poster... or maybe fabric...

Awesome Etsy

I just received my sandwich bags from Evelyn Fields' shop. So so pretty and really well made, I'm excited to start using them! Thank you Evelyn!

Mr Salt and Mrs Pepper

Animal Faces

Having discovered ceramic paint via Martha Stewart's blog, I'm going crazy painting on ceramics. Best part is that the paint recommended on the blog is food and dishwasher safe! Inspired by the masks on this post.

Fly

Scenes on vintage frames.

Another Hang Around design

I've been wanting to make one of these forever

It was surprisingly easy! I vaguely followed the dimensions of one of my daughter's favourite pairs, and dropped the crotch a bit, and made the waist area a little bigger. They are perfect as my little girl is petite of waist, so this made her look all chubby and cute! I made the little 'tag' from a piece of ribbon made by Rosa Pomar, so that she knows which side goes at the back.

Animal Masks

These beautiful masks were made by a very talented mama - see more right here.

Greeting Card Mobiles

I'm working on a new series of cards that would 'hang around!' The idea is to create something festive around this exciting event of a new baby.

Nani Iro Fabulousness

Such a great resource - free patterns by this brilliant designer available here.

New Images for the Letterpress Prints

Thanks to one of the most talented and sweet people on etsy - Jimin from Smallville, we now have new and beautiful product photos of our letterpress prints!

Here is one of Jimin's wonderful creations.

Patch Testers Needed!

I have made some applique patches that we showed at NY Gift - the response was very positive, but we need some product testers that will give us feedback on how they actually work. If you would like to receive a couple of these appliques to test them out and give us feedback, we would really appreciate it!

You can either do it through etsy if you have an etsy account, but do not pay for it at the paypal stage. Otherwise leave a comment and we will contact you for your shipping information. Thank you so much!