Run rabbit run

I found this image on Pinterest a few weeks ago. It's been sitting on my desktop waiting for me to find an excuse to blog about it and show it to you. Today, after staring at it again, it inspired me to go on an Etsy hunt for wabbits. Here are the sweetest bunnies of the Etsy bunch... in my opinion. x

Stylish storage for all that art!

If you have kiddos, you know what I'm talking about when I say "all that art". We've got boxes full of the stuff! It started with shoe box sized boxes. Once we filled a couple of those I thought the problem required a bigger solution so I bought a few of those really big ones from Ikea (each one is equivalent to around six shoe boxes), but even they're filling up fast and the boys aren't even at school yet! Well, I've come to a couple of conclusions... 1. That I need to be a bit more ruthless curating the collections, and 2. If we have to keep this stuff (which I do treasure but need to whinge about occasionally), we need to find a prettier way of storing it. Soooo....

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Good idea huh? Three good things I can think of about these immediately. 1. Boys won't be able to open them. 2. They'll only hold so much (which will make me be a more ruthless curator). And 3. They'll store more easily than huge boxes! I'm sold. This is on the list for the next trip to Officeworks.

It's all in the presentation - food art to inspire healthy eating

If you thought my post about The gutsy Challenge was a good idea and decided your kiddo should take part, you're going to love these food art ideas. If not, you're still going to love these food art ideas...

To get involved in The Gutsy Challenge hop over here...

Lego men that draw!

Okay, so they don't actually draw - but you can draw with them! Would you believe these perfect little lego replicas are crayons?! They probably wouldn't hurt as much if you trod on one either!

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Brock's brocc house

Once upon a time, there was a man named Brock. Brock always wanted to build a cubby-house for his little boy. He wanted it to be high up in a perfect tree, and he wanted it to be grand. Sadly though, Brock and his boy lived in a high density apartment building with no garden of their own and such a dream was just that - a dream. So one night after his son had gone to bed, Brock set to work with the most perfect stem of broccoli he could find in his fridge. He planned and he carved and he cut and he glued, all night long until the sun came over the horizon out his 11th floor window. Just as the boy woke up and sleepily wandered out of his room, Brock completed his task. He presented the miniature cubby-house to his son with tear-filled eyes, for in building this gift, he also fulfilled a dream....

Well, that's the story I'd like to believe is behind this clever creation. The man who made it really is named Brock (ironically), and he did build it for his son because he couldn't build a real one, but that's where the truth of my story ends. Somehow I like my version better... I like to fill in the gaps...

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3 talented friends...

I guess it's not uncommon that people with similar interests should be friends... With that said though, I still need to acknowledge how incredibly humbled I am to be surrounded by such incredibly talented friends... These three girls - my friends - astound, impress and inspire me.

Kate Clarkeson paints the most stunning landscapes and still lifes (above) - her style is a whimsical blend of neutral and earthy tones highlighted by pops of vibrant colour. She does these gorgeous paintings on natural linen that I love... and the landscapes speak for themselves... Her home is a gallery of sorts in itself, heaving with beautiful paintings of her own hand, and by the emerging artists she loves to discover and support. Kate's work is mind-bogglingly well-priced for original paintings and one of these babies certainly won't break the bank if you'd like one for your wall. Check out Kate's site here.

Tara Davy has just designed her first range of fabrics (above) and it is amazing. Tara is making her debut at the Craft & Quilt Fair which is on right now at Darling Harbour in Sydney. If you happen to be down there, pop by the Kelani Fabrics display for a sneek peek, or, if you're feeling crafty and fancy making yourself some cushions or bunting, you can buy Tara's designs by the metre over at Kelani's website from next week...

And last, but definitely not least, Chris Bellamy's paintings (above). Special aren't they? They make me think of a carnival in a dream... I met Chris too many years ago to mention. I was art directing Dolly magazine and Chris was an incredibly talented illustrator who I commissioned at every opportunity! Who knew that all these years later we'd still be firm friends and more importantly, that Chris would be one of the hot emerging talents on the Australian gallery circuit? Colour me impressed. Chris is having her first Sydney exhibition from August 4 at the Iain Dawson Gallery in Paddington - maybe I'll see you there? For more pictures of Chris' work and details about the exhibition, pop over here.

DIY: Art inspiration

As much as I love a gallery wall, I think it's nice sometimes to have a "piece" that hangs alone and "speaks" with room around it to "breathe". This is one of the most beautiful and evocative pieces of art I've seen on a wall in a while. It deserves it's own wall. And, being the "have a go" kind of girl that I am, I'd like to suggest it wouldn't be that hard to recreate... I'm off to the art store this weekend for some Canson paper - if I can find my old water colour paints I'll show you how I go...

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Art in the lead...

 Not exactly a project I'd take on myself, but inspired none-the-less. Take a look at the artworks of Dalton Ghetti. The man has the patience of a saint I tell you. He hand carves each masterpiece from graphite pencils with a blade and a needle his only tools! Amazing...

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How to: Make your wee one feel special

I just adore this idea! Blackboard paint is my finish-du-jour at the moment (remember the boys beds?), and this treatment is a gorgeous way to display kids artworks. Not only are they neat and tidy (much better than my magnets on the fridge!) but this would just make any kid feel like a budding Picasso!

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Gallery wall inspiration

With only one task left to be done before I can call the boys playroom complete, I'm on the hunt for gallery wall inspiration and these are getting major ticks! 

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Loving this gallery wall. The black and white theme is stunning, but I think it's a bit uptight for the kids. Better for the hall this one is... Irrelevant but how good is that paint colour on the wall?

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This is better. The eclectic mix is exactly what I would like to do...

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More eclectic...

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Ah yes. Only thing better than eclectic? Eclectic on a dark wall...

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Nice overall shape... and light... and colour palette...

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Love the ampersand in there.

Celery art

Ever thought about using vegetables to print your own wrapping paper? Beyond the potato print I mean...

This is genius! No fiddly carving potatoes or lame looking smiley faces here! Just gorgeous roses...

Just genius!

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Kids art that looks good

Who knew those multi-coloured scribbles could look so good? As always, it's all in the way it's presented. This kids art display idea from La La Lovely works so well. I'd love to have such cheerful art to look at above my dear Mr Mac...

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This one's great too. Another tried and true design philosophy "things always look better really small or really big". We always found this to be the case with our miniature page printouts in the olden golden Dolly days... Seems it applies to scribbly unidentifiable drawings too!

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Craft Room LUST....

Twice now since christmas I've tried to re-organize the boys playroom. And twice I have failed. Beaten by the limitations of the furniture we have in there and the way the room is set up. But since finding these three amazing spaces I'm feeling a little buoyed by the possibilities and a little bit inspired to give it one more shot...

The lamp shade cluster is just so cute and clever. I think I may need to steal this idea. 

Ikea's Skimra shades like these are only $4.99 each and it would be really easy to get a similar effect to this by glueing strips of contrasting coloured ribbon around the top and bottom edge of each shade and tying them into a group. If you were feeling particularly handy you could even put a fitting into one or two of them and making it into a functioning light. Plain fittings like these ones below from Ikea are under $15.

Then there was this. How good would those drawers be?!! One huge deep one for all the bottles of paint that leak when you have to lie them down and all those shallow wide ones for project cardboard and paper. The giant sized paintbrush and palette set the tone for the space and the wire display setup is functional and almost invisible.

While I love this last one for it's child-sized furniture and acres of storage, I'm not convinced carpet in the craft room would work with my two human tornadoes... 

And it would all look so much nicer with these sofas instead don't you think?

Craaftroom images via Real Simple

Kids prints on carpet!!!

Remember my Kids In Print post about Art Eater (the company that creates gorgeous coffee table books and shadow boxed prints out of your kids artworks)? Well this company goes one better. Bavarian company Carpetzz can ingeniously turn your little ones masterpiece into a carpet! All pieces are made from 100% New Zealand wool hand dyed and tied to match your artwork as closely as possible. At 150 Euro (that's roughly $200 Aussie dollars) per square metre plus shipping (which bear in mind might get expensive due to the weight of a rug) it's fairly reasonable for what you're getting.
Check out how great they are! (The ones on the left are the drawings - the right are the carpets).

Another way to save your kids artwork

If the Art Eater idea from Kids in Print didn't tickle your fancy as ways to preserve your children's artworks, maybe this one will hit the spot? Now, thanks to Formia Design you can have that delightful portrait made into a unique piece of jewellery! Too cute! They make pendants, necklaces, key chains and even bookmarks out of sterling silver based on the drawing you submit! I know! Right? The prices aren't ridiculous either. Not any more than I would expect to pay for any custom designed piece really - starting at around $125US for a small pendant and going up to $500 for the whole family's portraits (3 pieces)...  I'd love one of these!

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