New fabrics!

Graph Paper in royal blue on a creamy coloured hemp/organic cotton (above)

Raindrops in teal on a lovely natural hemp/organic cotton (below)

Available soon :)

Spring

It's spring here in Melbourne, apparently (what that seems to mean is it's freezing, super windy, always raining - ie, a lot like winter). But there have been some lovely days. Here are some pics from a recent walk in the park. Amazing colours!

I've also been quietly beavering away, printing and sewing things for a couple of markets I've got coming up (the first for a year! Yes, I've been hiding under a rock.) I've also got some fabric panels that I'll be selling that I'm yet to get around to printing, and will be making some fabric packs too - fun! In the meantime, here's a picture of some of the fabric that's coming soon...

Gardening

Last Friday I had a long list of things to do (print things; get stocktake done; reply to emails; cook; clean - in other words: work, work work) but it was a lovely spring day and all I really wanted to do was plant some tomato seedlings and other herbs and chill out on my balcony and listen to some newish music, so that's what I did.

I went to the local (and inspiring) nursery and bought some potting mix and other goodies and repotted my lovely parsley, chives, thyme, mint, aloe vera and other succulents (they were in need of a bit of love) and planted new things - tomatoes! Basil! Oregano! And now some of the succulents, which multiply so quickly and easily, now live in the flat, which is super great.

Tomato seedlings

Chives, thyme and parsley

Happy house plant

Happy house plant

Happy aloe vera

More aloe vera 

New gift tags & cards

Have been having a lot of fun printing cards and gift tags and finally got a chance to photograph them today, and put them in my Etsy shop. The sun was hot, such a weird feeling! Hope it lasts for the weekend.

New Stockists

Just a quick note to say you can now find various Spin Spin goods at a range of shops around Melbourne town and the world. So if you're near me, you can go to the lovely Onabee in Kensington but if you're far far away, perhaps in Austria, you can swing by the sweet Stoffsalon in Vienna (where you can find lots and lots of lovely Australian fabrics) or in another direction, the delightful looking Dots & Loops Handmade in Nova Scotia, Canada.


Onabee, Kensington. Photo © Onabee.

Dots & Loops Handmade, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photo © Dots & Loops Handmade.

Stoffsalon, Vienna, Austria. Photo © Stoffsalon.

Cushion Mania

I'm chuffed to see my Graph Paper cushion included in the latest Frankie magazine and their cushion round-up. And mine's next to one from Donna Wilson House **swoon**. Other faves include Fine Little Day's Splash and Leah Duncan's Triangles, **double swoon**.

Clever person!

Cushions made by Raina, using my fabric, and the cute Scarlet!

A little while back I sold some fabric to, and got to have a coffee with, a lovely "customer" (feels weird to say that but can't think of a better word), the lovely Raina. She mentioned that she was going to make some cushions for her daughter out of the fabric and here they are! How clever is she, and how cute is Scarlet? I love the combination of colours and angles and the shape. Lovely, thanks for sharing Raina :) There are couple more photos here and here.

New things! And I'm in the paper!

Things have been very quiet on this here blog, but that's because I've been busy making things! Here are some of them...

'Apples' tea towel

'Apples' gift card

'Apples' and 'Grid Paper' cushions - I quite like them together!

It's so fun seeing an idea become an object - I don't think I'll ever over that thrill - and you really never quite know what it will look like (or if you'll like it) until you're holding it in your hand.

All are now in my Etsy shop, along with a few other new things like the T Towel in white on natural flax coloured linen.

Oh, and look what was in today's Herald Sun Home magazine - a write-up on me and my work!

Akzidenz full width - on pre-order!

You'd know this is you're on my newly created mailing list, but just in case you missed it - Akzidenz fabric is now available by the meter at full width, on pre-order in my shop. Yardage is the only thing of mine that I don't print - due to the size and scale - and this run is due back from the printers very very soon! The first batch is red, with others possibly coming soonish.

And don't forget to join said mailing list, if you're not on it already and are interested in hearing about specials and other bits and pieces.

Winter Orchard and Apple Love

It's certainly winter time here in the Southern Hemisphere. The other day I went to my favourite orchard to buy some apples, my favourite fruit, before they disappear and this is what I saw - fog in the afternoon. It did clear not long after but brrr, it was cold.

To celebrate my apple love I've also been drawing them. This is something I've done a lot of in the past but have never been happy with the result. This time I made myself persist (something that I can be either really good at or really bad at) and then I stepped away and did something else. When I went back to my desk a little while later, with refreshed eyes, I changed a couple of things and then really quickly had my new tea towel design. Here's a sneak-peak of a corner of it, and its paper-based inception.

Bundle of tea towels

Here's a bundle of tea towels that are to be sent off for a fundraiser for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, which is being organised by a lovely blog reader. I'd not usually pack a random selection of towels like this but should do - it was kinda fun. 

Cards! And a limited edition natural Tree Towel!

Just a note to say that I've just put some new things in my wee Etsy shop - cards! There's a blank 'Trees' gift card with envelope (also available in a pack of five for a nice discount) and some new polka dot gift tags with cute scalloped edges - red on white or white on recycled card. I must say that making these was super fun and a nice change from fabric. Can't wait to work with some more ideas soon.

Oh, and there's a limited edition new colour of the Tree Towel - charcoal on natural. Love the natural linen and can't wait to do some more printing with it too.

Autumn

It's pretty nice looking in Melbourne town at the moment and I've been collecting leaves, poaching quinces, wearing gloves and hats and am about to start baking some bread made with my own sour dough starter, that's been a week in the making. Fingers crossed it works! Ah autumn, you are kind of good.

It's a discount code

To celebrate the fact that Spin Spin is now on Facebook (um, what decade am I in? Oh well, better late than never) I'm offering a wee short promotion - 15% off everything in my Etsy store (including new things, oh ah) for the next two days. A good time to stock up on Mother's Day gifts perhaps! Here are the details -

Promo code: APRIL11
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/spinspin

I've also done some wee tweeking of this blog, including increasing the width, again (so I can put in better sized photos) and adding some info pages (including About, Links, Stockists and Press pages, which are still a bit basic but better than nothing, have been meaning to create them FOREVER). It meant I sat at my computer for hours, concentrating a lot and forgetting to eat lunch...and ignoring the fact that a major media "event" is about to take place.

Happy Easter

For me this Easter has been about sitting around listening to a lot of music that I love, drinking lots of coffee and a bit of beer, being reasonably productive and doing some work but also relaxing, making buns (3x batches, none of which I remembered to photograph) and wishing there was more time for holidaying at home. And it's nice and sunny at the moment, yay. Oh, and how lovely are these eggs that I received? Packaging heaven and they taste amazing (from Shocolate.)