sunday

Soothing tired nerves with hand work is a good thing. I'm working beautiful balls of angora and alpaca wool into a something useful. Hopefully....

My quirky 2012 calendars are now available at Mr Kitly. So if you're local (to Melbourne) and would like one pop on by. There is so much beauty in that sweet shop.

Some of my giclee prints are now listed with Fair Artisan. Much goodness abounds there too.

Edible Austin have illustrated a lovely article about zen and food and cooking with a woodblock print of mine called tea in black + white. It brings me a lot of happiness knowing my print is sitting there alongside such wise words.

What are you reading? I'm enjoying 'You'll be Sorry When I'm Dead'. Watching? Bright Star about the poet John Keats and his lover Fanny. Quite a moving tale.

carving

It's been slow going these last few weeks but this morning I managed to put the first colour of this print design onto wood and start carving. I decided to rub the design onto the block with a boning tool & tracing paper instead of with carbon paper (my usual way). There are tiny little elements to this design so I need to carve carefully. One slip and the wood I want to keep will be gone. Patience + care.

Forgive me for using hipstamatic again but I'm loving these smokey yellow shots at the moment.

This article about Cibi and Mr Kitly in Saturday's Age made me smile. So beautifully written by Dan Rule. I'm so happy two of my favourite places in Melbourne are getting some media attention.

ten thumbs + wooden moments

Some items from my small collection of wooden kitchen items from Japan. I'm very particular about chopsticks and will only use Japanese style ones at home (they have a narrower, more delicate end than chopsticks from other countries). It drives me mad to have to use chunky non-Japanese chopsticks in most Asian restaurants (other than Japanese ones) in Australia. I feel like I have 10 thumbs with those clunky things. Is this ridiculously fussy or what?

Lucky for me (and for you) that we have Mr Kitly to keep those of us outside of Japan stocked up with gorgeous Japanese wooden items.

of white & blue

It feels quite fitting with my current egg obsession in illustration (pics below) that I should now be the owner of this beautiful egg vase by Melbourne based ceramicist, Anne Ronjat. Really, how lovely is this? It's gorgeously thin and delicate - an example of very good crafts-person-ship. Ask any potter, it's not easy to make pottery this thin. Bought from a place not to be missed if you're in Kyneton, Victoria: the Stockroom.





Mr Kitly has a beautiful raffle of Japanese products going on to raise money for disaster relief in Japan.

iro iro

I finished printing and sewing up the tea towels. Succulent blossom in black on natural linen/cotton blend.

The opening of Mr Kitly last Thursday was fun! Such a sweet space filled with beautiful Japanese inspired zakka. If you're in Melbourne do go see. It's on Sydney Rd in Brunswick.

All my new summer reading has just arrived via post from the Book Depository. Happiness!!! One of them is Jonathon Franzen's Freedom. Has anyone read it yet?