Sophie Kyron on a Monday Morning

I have just discovered a super Australian talent Sophie Kyron, designer of STUNNING pieces of jewellery.

I have tried in the past to ween myself off busy, brightly coloured, full on jewellery, but I have come to realise that it is forever ingrained in me - I think I'm a little like a magpie, drawn to all things bright, shiny and colourful, so now I am embracing it!

I love how Sophie combines layers of beading, chain, fabric and bits and bobs to create beautiful pieces of art to drape around your neck, and not to mention some great marketing photography too.

Check out her site here for more pictures, info and stockists.

Up and Coming: 'Katya'

Over the weekend I went to Unwrapped, the designers market in South Perth specifically tailored to showcasing new, up and coming design talent.

I was totally blown away by the standard of work produced by this selection of very clever young women (and men), so I will share some of my favourites over the next wee while.

First up is 'Katya' by W.A. designer Karyn Koevert, a newly developed fashion label producing gorgeous, feminine pieces - I love the way she drapes her fabrics, and designs in a way that expresses how lovely it is to be a woman, there's nothing like wearing a super sultry, girly dress to make you feel spesh.

See more of her work here.

Tiny Art Director

Swim Ducky Swim by Bill Zeham

Well my afternoon has been lightened a little by the discovery of this blog, Tiny Art Director.

It follows an illustrator/artist under the 'direction' of his four year old daughter. The briefs she sets him and her subsequent critiques are quite hilarious, a good Friday afternoon read and giggle, especially if you know a little girl like this, which I'm sure many of us do!

Artisically Frustrated

My ideas & inspirations book - aka. the window to my soul!

Today I am feeling really artistically frustrated. This has been creeping up on me for a few months now, actually pretty much since I left NZ 4 months ago.

I am really down about the fact that I have all these wonderful ideas that I want to create and make and experiment with ( jewellery, artworks, sewing projects, prints, illustrations, clothes...) and they are building up in my ideas book (above), but at the moment I have no money or resources to produce them.

Putting a halt to buying lots of lovely crafting goodies is just an unfortunate sacrifice I've had to make since moving here, because not only is money tight, we are only here temporarily so I can't justify hoarding a whole lot of 'stuff'.

I miss my sewing machine and craft boxes so much it hurts, I don't know what to do with myself, there's a whole part of me missing at the moment and I'm not sure how long I can go on like this!

Starting up a creative venture is such a chicken and egg situation - I need to make the goodies to sell and to be able to develop my ideas and products, but how do you get the money together to buy your materials etc to make these things in the first place!? (Short of crawling to the bank for a loan).

So yea, feeling a little lost today...

A Train Ride Through Barcelona, 1908

This morning on Dark Roasted Blend I came across this beautiful piece of early cinematography - a train ride through Barcelona in 1908. It is a stunning visual flash back to the past, and I love all the men tipping their hats, what a different world we live in today...!

'Iva' Sounds

Ooh I've found some new sounds, always good to lock onto a new artist coming through -these good beats are by Sola Rosa feat. talented up'n'comer Iva Lamkum. Ahh missing that kiwi music!

Oh Hello Muscles...!

Image 'Lane Ropes' by Oreofuzzcat on Flickr

My girlfriends talked me into going swimming with them at one of the indoor pools in Perth night before last, and I thought, 'Oh yea, sounds like fun, haven't done that in a while....'. Well, I was rudely re-introduced to some leg muscles that I haven't been aware of or used since I was probably 12 years old! At first it was in the form of jelly legs, now I'm just very, very sore, and feeling very, very sorry for myself today, oh dear.

Modish BIZ Tips

Thinking more about business ventures, I wanted to give a mention to the fantastic blog Modish BIZ Tips, recently started by Modish blogger Jena. I have been following it since day one, (a few weeks ago) and am finding it such an insight into the world of developing your own creative business venture. Great ideas, tips, discussions, guest bloggers and all sorts, I highly recommend you pop it on your list of regular must reads if you have your own creative business, or even if you only have a wee inkling that perhaps that's what you're wanting to do - like me! I love clever people sharing clever ideas on a level I can understand, super!

Weddings Weddings Weddings!

I'm not sure if it's in the water, or maybe I'm just getting to that age where it's the thing to do, but everyone seems to be either getting married, blogging about getting married, going to a wedding, designing for a wedding... and that's me included!

No I'm not getting married anytime soon, (I don't think), but a friend of ours asked me for help in coming up with some colour scheme suggestions for her wedding, so naturally, having never done anything like that before, I said 'SURE!', and I actually had heaps of fun doing it, even if I did just throw it all together in some photoshop collages so I could email them back to her in NZ.

her favourite scheme

I had a blast pulling things out of magazines, scanning, sketching and googling. She was super stoked with my ideas, so who knows, maybe it's a new business venture, just to add to all the other ones in the pipe lines... oh jeepers!

'Cool Stuff' Envy

The people who own the company I currently work for not only create some very cool pieces of custom designed furniture, they also scour the globe for art, sculpture and nic nacs to sell in the store.

I have 'cool stuff' envy something chronic at the moment, as they recently brought back some old printing plates from India, which I have sneakily taken a photo of to share, as I want them so bad!

Thing is if I owned them, I wouldn't be selling them as ornaments, I'd be using them to print fabulous fabrics and stationary and all sorts... my mind runs wild with super ideas all the time!

Dr. Seuss Close Up

I recently stumbled across the most fantastic exhibition at the Linton & Kay Fine Art Gallery on King Street, Perth. It was a selection of paintings, sketches and hand-pulled lithographs by Dr. Seuss, including well known characters from his books as well as never before seen artworks from his own private collection.

Looking at the super illustrations in his books is one thing, but to see each image in it's own right, framed beautifully and standing alone as a fabulous example of graphic illustration was almost too much, I could hardly contain my excitement! The colours were so fresh and bright, every tiny brush and pen stroke was defined and clear. I must admit I had a small twinge of disappointment that I couldn't afford to spend $3000 for a stunning signed piece of his work!

My Nu Scarfy

I snapped up a cute wee scarf from Cotton On over the weekend, cost me all of one huge bajoolin' dollar so I am very pleased with my purchase- yay for bargains! I nearly got a nice wintery one too, but felt a little silly buying a woolley scarf in Perth while we're still having 35 degree days...!

Num Num Num

My boy was lovely over the weekend and cooked me the yummiest brunch - this wee delight was a cross between an omlette and a fritatta sort of thing, but jeepers was it good.

I'm always so envious of the way he can whip up the scrummiest foods and never use a recipe, unlike moi, the more 'culinarily' challenged!

Etsy Find

Found this on Etsy, hehehe so simple, so cute!

Good Morning World

We have spent the past week moving in to our new wee town-house in North Perth and I love it, there is a wonderful vibe about the place - it's super great when things feel 'right', don't you think?

Every morning I wake up to a beautiful view from our bedroom window, looking over the back fence to a Macedonian church, and I love to watch the vivid Australian colours developing as the sun rises and strengthens across the roof tops, today I share it with you. Enjoy :)