Greeting Cards

I'm very excited to announce that Finn & Fox now have our very own greeting card range available for purchase in the Etsy shop. All of the cards come with an envelope, and are blank inside waiting for your own personal message. I've used my original watercolour illustrations and I'm super impressed with how they have turned out.

 

The cards are $4.50 each plus postage or buy a pack of four different designs for $15.

Market Display

I held my first stall for the Sisters' Market at the Coburg town hall on Saturday. It was a little more quiet that I had anticipated but a good day none the less. I finally brought my camera along and took some half decent photos of the stall all sent up.

 

 

I love the easiness of the suitcases and how quick it is to set up and pack away at the end. However, I'm working on changing it up a little for the next market on the 8th September. I'm hoping to display my prints a little better and have some greeting cards as well. It's going to be a busy few weeks in the lead up to the next market.

MONA

Mr Harvey and I took a mini break to Hobart, Tasmania to celebrate his upcoming big 3-0. The main plan being we check out MONA, eat oysters and drink wine. Finn was having a vacation of his own at Nan and Papas.

After a super quick flight we arrived late on the Thursday afternoon. We checked into our hotel, found a great little Japanese place for dinner called Rin and followed it up by a nice pub with an open fire for a few drinks.

The next day we had breakfast at this amazing little bakery in battery point called Jackman & McRoss, a high recommendation from a good friend of mine who recently visited Hobart. This did not disappoint—the food was really well priced and tasty, and the coffee was good too. The surrounding streets were filled with beautiful old cottages. It's such a pretty city to stroll through.

Cake selection at Jackman & McRoss

Next stop, MONA ferry. This itself is a bit of a statement piece decked out with great artwork on the walls and painted in camouflage. The staff uniforms are military inspired this making more sense after visiting the gallery. 

MONA ROMA ferry

After a 20 minute picturesque trip up the Derwant river you arrive at the MONA jetty which leads up to 99 steps carved into the rock. On the left of the steps is the MONA owner's residence. What I'd do to get a little sneak peak inside. Apparently there is a section in the gallery where you can look up into his house. I looked but couldn't find it. I'm such a sticky beak! The gallery is the largest privately owned collection of art on display in Australia. The man behind MONA, David Walsh, made his fortune by designing and developing a gambling system which was used to bet on horse racing and other sports.

MONA owner's residents on the left

On entering the gallery you walk in and go down deep into the gallery which is somewhat disorientating. The collection itself is a real mix of old and new with some very interesting and rather strange pieces. A lot of stuff which left me going 'Wow! What the? Really? That is awesome!' It's very hard to explain but very well worth the visit even if you're not a bit arty.

I'm not sure I could say that the chapel was my favorite piece, but it was very interesting and really great to take photos of. It was located on the grounds of the gallery under a massive gum overlooking the water. It was made by a Belgian artist, Wim Delvoye.

The architecture is incredible, the gallery space is built down into the cliff face with a bit of a bunker like feel to it—hence the military uniforms I guess. After being led through a smorgasbord of different art works you end up back up the top for a well deserved ice cold Moo Brew and tasty lunch. Added bonus to MONA is the that gallery itself also shares the site with the Moorillia winery and Moo brew brewery. We had a 'flight' of beer and shared a delicious cheese platter while overlooking the grounds of MONA and the beautiful Derwent River.

Moo Brew beer flight

After a belly full of beer, wine and cheese we headed back down to the ferry to spend the afternoon exploring beautiful Hobart, eating yummy seafood and having a wine or three.

On the Saturday we checked out the Salamanca market, by which stage I'd forgotten that I had to take photos—I'm useless at this photo blogging stuff! So sorry there is no visual excitement for that part of the trip.

So I highly recommend a trip to Hobart and MONA. While you're there enjoy a bit of the awesomeness that Tasmania has to offer!

New toys

I have a stall at the upcoming Sisters' Market on Saturday 24th August at the Coburg town hall. I'm currently madly making some new toys for that. Not everyone has a name and story yet. I thought I'd share a few photos with you. I'm trying out different back drops as opposed to my safe and easy white background I have been using - what do you think?

  

 

Love Carli

A close friend of mine, Carli Foot, has just started up her own little business called Love Carli a boutique paperie and design studio, specialising in custom wedding and event stationery and pretty paper goods. 

When Finn was born she designed a beautiful welcoming notice for him which I absolutely love! So much so that I commissioned her to do one for another friend who'd just had her bub. 

 She more recently has done all of  my branding and business cards for Finn and Fox. It's exactly the fun and cute feel I was going for and I get so many compliments on the business card. Her work is absolutely stunning and with a real whimsical feel. 

So if you are looking for that special touch for your big day or a fun branding overhaul then look no further than Love Carli! 

UFOs in my cupboard

So I have another confession... I own a ship load of fabric! I love to fondle it, collect it, and sometimes—if I don’t love it too much—I cut it up! Crazy I know, but that’s just how I am! Before I started Finn and Fox I sewed pretty regularly, but then there would be a few months when my sewing mojo would go missing and I wouldn’t do a thing.

There are a lot of projects that I’ve started but haven’t finished—sometimes because I’ve found another project that excites me more. I’m never good at sticking to one thing. I like to jump from project to project. Which has never really bothered me in the past, but now that I sew as a job (I guess you could call it a job), I don’t have much time for my own sewing anymore. So I thought this month it was time to revisit old UFOs that have been lurking at the back of the cupboard or in that special neatly labelled box ‘Unfinished projects’. Yes, there is a box. So this is a bit of a show-and-tell and maybe if I say it on here, I’ll actually get some stuff completed!

So my goal for this month is to try and spend an hour or two a week on my first UFO – a single bed quilt for Finn. My aim is to try and get the quilt top finished and sewn together. That will give me a good five months to quilt it before he turns two and he’s evicted from his cot.
 

This is a Don’t Look Now pattern called Robot Riot. It uses all raw edge applique which is tricky but fun once you master it and a hell of a lot quicker than doing it by hand. The finished quilt top is going to be very different to the pattern because I couldn’t be bothered raw-edge appliquéing on a million robots. Originally this was going to be a cot quilt, but since Finn is 18 months (Whoops! When did that happen?) I’ve decided that it’s going to be a single bed quilt. I started this when he was first born and I would sew while he slept—often with him passed out on his vibrating chair next to me! I’ll check in next month with my next UFO goal! Have you got any dirty UFO secrets in your stash?

Introducting Prince George Bear

I thought in lieu of the newly born prince I'd make a bear to celebrate. I love the idea of using the spots for his arms and popping a crown on the George's head. He was lots of fun to make and I think he's lovely. I might even make one for Finn.

 

Prince George Bear - He likes drinking milk and getting his photo taken. He's a real royal bear with very lovely polka dot arms - perfect for cuddles!

I think I'll paint a watercolor portrait with a nice spotty back ground to go with him. I'm a bit of a sucker for all things polka dots.