New! Flora Postcards! + Sale! Ends Soon!

Due to my blanket Twitter and Facebook coverage of these things you're probably already aware but just in case there's a few of you that have missed the news - above is the result of something I've been working on for a little while, and something I'm rather pleased with. Flora notecards are now available in my Jorpins Handmade shop on Etsy - only US $5.50 for a set of three (there's eight different sets to chose from). 

And to make room for more stock like this I'm having a one week only massive half price sale on a bunch of stuff! There are so many great bargains to be had (including moleskine notebooks at ridiculous prices!). 

Once the sale ends on Sunday evening, all this sale stock will dissappear from my store forever, never to return! So if you like the look of something grab it now while you still can! 

New listings + Discount (yay!) + North Korea (boo!)

I've finally found some time to list a few new goodies in the Jorpins Handmade shop - pom pom gift tags (these are so happy and bright) and the lovely sakura mini cards (featuring Japanese fabric sakura against a textured paper background). 

And in celebration of the new additions (and in a nod to current world events) I'm offering a 15% discount on the entire shop - just use the code  SEAOFFIRE at checkout. If shipping is disrupted by resumption of the Korean War I'll let you know. 

But seriously...I am a bit over all the hyped-up reporting on Korea right now. Everyday I see headlines shouting about Korea being on the 'brink of nuclear war', when often the article that follows is actually quite a measured, balanced assessment. It's unsettling for me, and it's especially unsettling for my family back in Australia. 

Seoul is very calm right now (apparently so is Pyongyang). But yes, people are concerned. They may have been through this all before but this time there's a few differences which are a little unnerving. But - people are going about their daily lives, and the vast majority of South Koreans don't believe a war is likely. 

I think Andrei Lankov nailed it in this op-ed when he says 'the farther one is from the Korean Peninsula, the more one will find people worried about the recent developments here'. That's not to say there isn't a risk that it's all going to go pear shaped, and that I'm perfectly relaxed about the whole thing. I'm not, but I still believe that an attack by North Korea is incredibly unlikely (all of their war rhetoric thus far is prefaced by 'if you attack us...then we will turn Seoul into a sea of fire etc'). And  anyway, this article reassuringly suggests that if they do attack statistically there'll only be about 200 non-Chinese foreigner casualties. (No mention of dachshund casualties though.) 

I could go on and on - I've been reading a LOT of news and opinion lately - but I won't bore you anymore than I already have. Right now we're all waiting for North Korea's 'imminent' missile test. I'm not sure what that's going to bring, but for now things are good. Well, aside from the Spring sleet/snow, that totally sucks!

So...back to the Etsy pretties!

Photo gift tags + Polkadot notebooks : New in the shop!

I've been beavering away in the paper workshop (aka my dining room table) and as a result have two new products in the Etsy shop which I'm rather pleased with. Above is the new photo gift tags - my photos, blown up and turned into fun / abstract / pretty present toppers. Below is the new hand stamped polkadot notebooks. What do you think?

What I Wore : Etsy About Page

If you're an Etsy seller you'll no doubt be aware that some time back they introduced a new feature - the 'About' page. Basically it's a space that lets you tell potential customers a little more about who you are, what you make, and how/where you make it. So a little while ago, before the crazy travel times really got started, I put together my about page. I'm quite pleased with how it all turned out (you can have a look here). 

In the shots of me (which were taken with a self timer whilst my camera was balanced precariously on the kitchen bench) I'm wearing one of my favourite dresses from Sydney shop of awesome made590 (alas, they no longer sell this one, but they do have lots of other great stuff...). The white belt is from Zara.

Good Things...

Kicking off another batch of good things with the heart-stoppingly awesome Uniqlo x mt collaboration. Uniqlo is a prolific collaborator, and they tend to find some pretty great companies and people to work with, but I think this kicks it to a whole new level. Look at those prints! Look at those colours! 

Unsurprisingly I've been a little swamped with t-shirt requests from my Australian friends and family, but I'm only too happy to oblige - got to make the most of Asian shopping while we're here! (Oh, and if you're buying these in Japan apparently each tee comes with a roll of tape!)

Next up is the fabulously inspiring book Street Photography Now. I've been increasingly obsessed with street photography over the past year or so, and have recently even plucked up the nerve to try my hand at it. Street Photography Now offers a great introduction to some of the best photographers working the streets right now, as well as a bit of an overview as to how the art has evolved over the years. Not only is it chock full of witty, poignant, beautiful street scenes but it also contains a number of essays which I'm loving reading. 

The first essay 'Stare, Pry, Listen, Eavesdrop' discusses the legal and moral issues of the art, and provides some insight in to the mind of a street photographer - it's reassuring to read that most practitioners feel some degree of nervousness about shooting strangers. I also liked that Nils Jorgensen often won't 'look at my street photographs for many months after taking them - years even - only coming back to them when I want to and feel its right'. Hey, if it works for him... 

(There has been some angst around how sources are cited in this book - it does have a list of further reading/blogs at the back but doesn't directly cite sources for quotes - but I get SO excited about all the creative possibilities every time I look at it, I'm kind of turning a blind eye to that...)

Then we have the artistic stylings of Lena Wolff - an 'interdisciplinary' artist whose influences include folk art, American craft traditions and the natural world. She works largely with paper, but often treats it in the manner of fabric, with references to textile art and quilt making in her work. All of which adds up to awesome. The work above ('Night Flowering Tree') is a paper collage, and the one below ('Mariner's Compass') is a piece of precisely drilled wood over a light box filled with hundreds of tiny light bulbs - amazing huh?

It's been out for awhile but Jon Klassen's kids book 'I want my hat back' is so very good it has to be a part of this post. It's not just his fabulous, personality packed illustrations - it's one of the funniest picture books I've ever seen (possibly even surpassing 'The Happy Hocky Family' in sly hilarity). And no, I do not have young children (and the dogs don't read), but this doesn't stop me from enjoying books for young children (or movies, for that matter). Also, in other Jon Klassen news, he's done the cover for the current issue of UPPERCASE. Nice one.

And lastly, a little dose of blatant self promotion - after a hiatus of several months Jorpins Handmade on etsy is re-open! Hurrah! The card above is one of the new range of photo note cards that I'll be listing over the coming days. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out - what do you think? There's also note books and gift / party favour tags (more tags in new colours coming next week!), and some push pins, magnets and more in the works... Exciting times!

A new year, a new discount!

Writing the looking back, moving forward post really did prompt me to have a good hard think about what I do want to achieve in 2012 (all you 'write your goals down' type people are on to something I think!).  As a result I've decided to put my Etsy shop into a kind of cryosleep for a month or three (or maybe more) so I can focus on other stuff.

But before I do that, for one week only I'm putting everything in my shop on SALE!  Hurrah! That's 30% off EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop for the next 7 days!  If you've ever had your eye on something, this is your chance to snap it up!

New in the shop...

I have so many blog posts floating about in my head at the moment, but I just can't seem to find the time to actually put any of them together, which is rather frustrating.  But never mind, because what's not frustrating is that I finally figured out how to make my own banners and avatars and what not (thanks picnik!).  So you might have noticed I've been playing around a bit with this blog a bit, and with the graphics for Jorpins, my Etsy shop.  

Plus I finally got around to making and listing the stencil note cards that some of you saw a sneak preview of on Instagram an age ago.  At the moment I've got three sets in the shop 'Happy' (the one above), 'Hello' and 'Love'.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out - they look even better in real life I think!

New in the shop! Plus, I need your help...

Hello!  How is everything going?  Are you enjoying the guest blog posts?  Found some new favourite blogs yet? Well, whilst I'm lying in the sun poolside neck deep in gelato and with some sort of fruity alcoholic drink in my hand rising at 5 each morning to do yoga and spending my days visiting culturally and historically significant sites across Europe, I thought I'd give you a little update on my Etsy shop!  Introducing the groovy new layered flower range!  The gift tags above are my favourite so far, I can't wait to make some more of those.  And I think the cards have turned out pretty sweet too.

But here's where I need your help!  I am not so good at describing my products and I'd really like to give this range/design a name but I have no idea what to call it or how to describe it without sounding like a total loon/loser.  So please!  Any suggestions, adjectives, names you might be able to throw at me would be so very helpful...brain storm away my friends!

New things...

I'm a bit obsessed with this mod flower shape at the moment.  Especially when I put it together with some lovely bright colours.  Maybe it's the anticipation of spring?  Whatever it is, I've been having a lot of fun using this motif on cards, tags and notebooks.  You can see more in my Etsy shop, if you like.

I find I go in waves like this, getting fixated on a shape or a colour.  The last obsession was hexagons, which I still have a soft spot for, I must admit.  Do you get stuck on things like this?  Do you find you just have to use some design or shape or colour in what you make for a while, and then you move on?

New in store: gift tags!

I've been madly making gift tags the past few nights - oh what fun!  I love the process of coming up with different combinations, playing around with variations on shape and colour.  Plus - these are the first product shots with my fancy-pants new camera.  Am I happy?  Yes, I am!  It's going to be a good year for craft, me thinks!

Also, most of you are no doubt aware of the mad crazy floods happening in Australia at the moment, some of you may even be dealing with the mess of it all right now.  I know there are all kinds of horrible things going on all over the world all of the time, and there's only so much we as individuals can do.  But there is something about it being in my home country and affecting people and places I know that does pull at the heart strings more than usual.  And every little bit of help does indeed count.

If you feel like doing your bit to help the soggy people and animals of Queensland there's a ton of ways you can.  Here's a few links to get you started:

Give dollars here.

Give dollars to help animals here.

Buy handmade stuff here.

Donate handmade stuff to sell here.

UPDATE: I see the wonderful Lexi at Pottymouthmama has a post with some extra links to giveaways and events targeted at raising funds for QLD.  Have a look here.

And Pip at Meet Me At Mikes has a fantastic round up of everything that's going on in the field of flood fundraising here.

Plus - ANZA Korea are dedicating their first Global Cafe event to help with fundraising efforts.  Find the details here.

Spring!

Yesterday I was feeling a bit flat, but today is a new day people!

Do you remember a little while ago I mentioned the Creative Collective's Spring craft project?  Well, here's my spring inspired piece!  The design is based a little bit on the stylised blossoms you often see featured on kimonos and origami paper.  Do you like it?  I do!

And ps. you have until October 30th to submit your Spring inspired pieces, so it's not too late to join in!