New instore

I've had these little guys up my sleeve for some time now, and it's time for them to make their debut! Those of you who came to visit my BrisStyle stall in December might have seen, or in fact bought, the few 'test' necklaces I had with me. Not sure of the response they'd get, I was pleasantly surprised when they were the first things to sell out! Now they are available on my etsy store, with more in the production line. A few of these are made from some fantastic vintage scarves I found.

Inspirational home

Beautifully simple and fun interiors. The work of Ethanollie.

Simple and stylish

All images via Jordan Michael Gray on Flickr.

end of a great year!

Well, we've done it! We've reached the end of 2009! With 2010 but hours away I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone that has been following and sharing your thoughts and comments on my blog over the last 6 or so months. It's been an exciting half year with so many new things happening for me - leaving fulltime employment to work for myself, sewing and patternmaking lessons, making and designing bag after bag and having people buy and enjoy them (a creature strange started out as a bit of a hobby but it has turned into so much more), attending my first market, and starting this blog and being part of a great online and Brisbane craft and design community.

So what does 2010 have in store?....a bit of travel, developing more a creature strange products, a few more market appearances and all-round general good times! Hope to see you lurking and grinning around the blogs in 2010!

Image via wardomatic.

Just not enough relaxing

I hope you all had a wonderful xmas break and plenty of time to spend relaxing with friends and family. I seemed to have dropped off the blog radar over this festive season, but I think I can be excused, right?

Apart from eating leftovers and lounging around I've been busy booking our overseas holiday. Looking forward to doing even more relaxing, trying some tasty (and probably not so tasty!) local food and shopping in the markets! Here's a photographic taste of where I'll be!

Images via here.

Gingerbread reindeer cookies

Today I had the pleasure of babysitting my almost 4 year old nephew, so to entertain him we decided to make gingerbread cookies (as well as make paper aeroplanes, draw food that started with the letter 'C', draw other food stuffs including a rotten orange (this was a black scribbly circle), make and eat lunch, watch and critique the wiggles, build marble racing towers....phew!). So here's the low down on these delicious treats:

{ ingredients }

125g softened butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg yolk

2 1/2 cups plain flour

3 tsp ground ginger

3 tsp cinnamon (can also add a bit of nutmeg if you like!)

1/2 cup golden syrup

{ method }

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat butter, sugar and yolk until smooth. Add dry ingredients and syrup and mix well to form a dough. Knead dough and divide into 2 batches. Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until about 5mm thick. Cut out awesome shapes (I opted for scandinavian forest creatures courtesy of ikea cookie cutters!). Bake on baking paper for about 15mins. Enjoy!

Poster...friday?

Ok, so I've been neglecting Poster Tuesday somewhat. It's the end of the year so I hope you can forgive me! Until I tuned back into the days of the week, here's a few goodies to keep you happy :)

Credits (from top down): Small by Alice L. Robertson, Nature by Samashton, Family by Craig Williams, & Science by Pat Bradbury. Via Don't Panic.

Guess who's going on holiday? Me! I'll let you know where very soon!

APT6 {part 2}

More images from the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art currently showing at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

APT6 {part 1}

Today I spend the morning wandering through GOMA checking out the latest exhibition, the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6 for short). It was great to see all the amazing artworks together within such a wonderful space (I love the GOMA building!). Since there was a lot to see, I'll have a few entries to cover all the great bits!

First up, my absolute favourite contemporary artist, Yoshitomo Nara. I'm a little obsessed with him actually, with numerous prints and postcards of his gracing the walls and shelves of my home. Below are images of a collaboration (YNG) of Nara with Japanese design group, Graf - Y.N.G.'s mobile studio. I really really wanted to get inside the van and drive away with it, up the coast, through the mountains, into the countryside...just me, the artworks and stuffed animals!

Stay tuned for more APT6 action!

my love of type

I admit it, I love typography. Especially the big real kind. Giant cut out letters really take my fancy. Maybe it's a graphic designer thing, maybe it's just me?! I've been collected type for sometime now and have letters scattered around my apartment, hanging on garage walls and patiently waiting in boxes to be unveiled. I day dream about stealing giant type from the front of buildings. These are the kinds of things I like.

From the top:

woodtyper

type candleholders

Type Tablet

Ampersand 1

M is for magazine