New psychedelic 60's dangly earrings

Nothing like holidays to get you feeling all creative and free to make and do what you want. So I put on some cool beats and made some 60's inspired super big high polish dangly earrings. Just the type that some of my disco mama girlfriends love to wear on the d-floor.

Animal brooches forever

I wish I could spend all day everyday making silver animal brooches! Here is my new ad that I made a few days ago. Soon I will have to update the 4 web shops so that they are all branded the same way.... so much effort when all I want to do is make pretty things.

Style inspiration for porcelain studs

Here are the faces of the girls that should be wearing the new vintage porcelain studs.

Fresh out of the kiln

Looks what is still smoking hot and out of the kiln this week, vintage porcelain studs. We sold out so quickly last year so I have to get making earlier this year. Wonderful colour pops to sell at market. Yayyyyyy! 

Toxic Dye Poster- my ethical poster for today!

I made this poster because I am very concerned about the amount of dyes that get pumped into waterways by big fashion houses when manufacturing clothes. The overflow from dying clothes gets disposed of in local waterways in China. The rivers and deltas near the dye factories are completely toxic with all of the fish and animals dead. What a crying shame.

 Dyes, plastics and chemicals are also toxic to the poor people that wear these synthetic clothes too. The science shows that these synthetics cause cancer due to the skin absorbing the particles.

Greenpeace has been lobbying big brands like Zara, Calvin Klein, Adidas, Nike and Tommy Hilfigger asking them to use dye factories that dispose of their toxic waste properly. But at this stage they still havent taken any action. I am so upset and frustrated by this situation but what else can I do.... but make a poster. I hope people consider buying more natural fibres. I know brands at Big W use bamboo fibre that is a renewable source and is virtually undyed. I also know the Japanese brand Muji have known about this for over 20 years and have been producing organic fabrics. One more reason to move to Japan!

Folks, save water, any way you can poster.

Continuing on my theme of ethical posters this week, and considering that it is actually raining in Adelaide today, I designed this umbrella poster today. 

I moved all of my pot plants out to the edge of the verandah to try and catch every stray little drop. I also save all of my cooking water to put on the pot plants too. These are the measures you have to take when you are in the driest state in the driest continent of the planet.

Style Icon/ Muse- Elizabeth Taylor

Sometimes when I am designing jewellery I dream of Elizabeth Taylor and her classic elegance and cool charm. I just think of her beauty and millions of jewellery designs flood my head instantly. Here she is in all her amazingness so that you can see what I mean.

"The Big Sleep" Penguin book cover competition 2013

Here is my submission for the Penguin book cover competition for 2013. The book we had to re-design for the book "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler. This book is a bit of an spicy novel set in the 1940's and involves a lot of sex, guns and detectives. 

You wouldn't believe it but I almost lost this design 30 mins before the international submission deadline. Lucky that my sweet friend Chelsea found it on the computer

The Big Sleep (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by Raymond Chandler, the first in his acclaimed series about detective Philip Marlowe. The work has been adapted twice into film,once in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angeles, California.

The story is noted for its complexity, with many characters double-crossing one another and many secrets being exposed throughout the narrative. The title is a euphemism for death; it refers to a rumination in the book about "sleeping the big sleep".

In 1999, the book was voted ninety-sixth of Le Monde's "100 Books of the Century." In 2005, it was included in "TIME's List of the 100 Best Novels."

Greenpeace posters I made today

With my love of designing for non-profit organisations lets talk about Greenpeace....

Greenpeace evolved from the peace movement + anti-nuclear protest in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the early 1970s. 

On September 15, 1971, a local committee sent a chartered ship and renamed it Greenpeace for a protest to oppose United States testing nuclear devices in Amchitka, Alaska.

Greenpeace is described as the most visible environmental organization in the world. It uses direct action, lobbying + research to achieve its goals. 

Greenpeace has offices in over forty countries, with its international coordinating body in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Greenpeace has a team of 2,400 staff made up of ecologists, researchers + journalists + 15,000 volunteers globally. It does not accept funding from governments, corporations or political parties. It relies on 2.9 million individual supporters + foundation grants.

Greenpeace has also been a source of controversy. Its motives + methods have received criticism + the organization’s direct actions have sparked legal actions against Greenpeace activists.

Here is my first poster to help raise awareness about the fact that Greenpeace aims to help with international issues. It is some arms cuddling the planet.

My second poster based on Greenpeace's original rainbow logo. It is some rainbow hands around the globe.

AGDA Poster Bienniale Submission for UNICEF- "A mothers life is precious"

Here is my poster submission for the Australian Graphic Design Awards. The poster was in conjunction with UNICEF and was to the theme "A mothers life is precious". 

My concept was based on generic shape of a mother, in this case a matryoshka doll, showing that all women are equal in importance. Then each of the matryoshka dolls was tailored to suit each of the continents on the planet. They were then arranged in a love heart shape. I wanted the poster to communicate with people from all nationalities whether they could read or not.

Here were the specs:

Entrants are invited to be inspired and interpret this theme in any way they wish. Worldwide 287,000 mothers die each year. Over the timespan of the Australian Poster Biennale, that’s more than 500,000 mothers.

The majority of these deaths happen in the developing world and happen because of inequalities in the standards and conditions of women’s lives. Improvements to reduce maternal deaths, and maternal health in general, can be made if all women were educated, families could earn fair and adequate incomes, communities had access to clean, safe water, access to healthy food, stable living conditions, reasonable standards of hygiene and easy access to basic health services.

My "Wind in the Willows" 2013 final submission book cover

Here is my final submission for the Wind in the Willows book cover competition. I ended up doing a hand drawn illustration of things that you might find in an English woodland. 

The themes in the book educate children about traditional values  like camaraderie, honesty, support and friendship... so I decided that i wanted the book cover to have a warm and wholesome feeling.

Wind in the Willows Puffin/ Penguin book cover competition 2013

Here are some of my mockups for the Wind in the Willows Puffin/ Penguin 2013 book cover competition. I had a great time trying to resolve this design problem however I wasn't exactly 100% sure about which one to go with......

Some wonderful old book covers for "The Wind in the Willows"

I have been working on re-designing the book cover for wonderful classic children's novel "The Wind in the Willows". It is part of the Puffin Penguin Book Prize for 2013. Here are some lovely old book covers that I found on the internet.