iPhone photography: My desk in the studio. August 2010

Welcome to another day in the studio! Today I’m so excited and relieved to finally have got the printer to work!!!! I daren’t think how much time and money I’ve spent trying to get it to work ever since April! It’s been such a drain. Most of the time I love the independence of running my own creative business, but sometimes doing everything yourself can feel pretty heavy going and especially when you run into a silly technical problem like this one with the printer. Phew… I’m sooooo happy it’s been resolved!!!

Breaking Ice. Detail of art print

Breaking Ice, a painting I made at the end of March, came out beautifully on the heavyweight, matt paper with ultra sharpness that I purchased early on this summer! This paper really brings out the colours and gives the print a gorgeous, sumptuous feel and appearance. Oh, joy! I’m thrilled and nervous to finally be able to put Breaking Ice up for sale in the shop!

iPhone photography: Lunch. Sandwich and orange juice

It can only be downhill from here! At least today. We went for a swim in the lake after lunch. Dinner out tonight to celebrate that the printer finally works!

Leaves and acorns. Sketch and inspiration

Here’s a sketch and some inspiration for a new project I’m working on right now. (See the reflection of my iPhone that I used to snap the photo with, at the bottom of this picture?) Leaves, acorns, greens and simple organic shapes… I’m still playing around, following my intuition, seeing what happens and enjoying trusting the creative process. I’m not sure what I’ll make of it yet, or what it wants to become… Maybe it’ll turn into desktop art because soon it’s time for the Summer Edition of Club Marmalade Moon and something green and organic would be perfect for a summer desktop, wouldn’t it?

Tags: art, celebration, creative process, gratitude, painting, prints

iPhone photography: The studio in the summer

Summer at the studio (and this was what the studio looked like in February). Cups of tea in the sun. Crayons. Lunch out of doors. An open door. Bumblebees.

Tags: studio, summer, transformation

iPhone photography: Studio reflections in the window

Welcome to another peek into the studio. I’m having so much fun showing you my creative space that it’s going to be an ongoing feature, and so there’ll be lots more to come!

We all have little rituals and favourite thing that inspire us and keep us going. Here are three of the things that bring a lot of joy and inspiration to my working days. Fresh flowers, a simple note/sketchbook and this amazing birthday present, a one-of-a-kind BookBook hardback leather case for my MacBook Pro. And yes, there are still a few boxes and paint buckets in the corner behind my laptop!

What are some of your favourite things that put a smile on your face when you work?

iPhone photography: Laptop and tulips

iPhone photography: BookBook hardback leather case for MacBook Pro

Tags: accessories, studio

iPhone photography: The studio in the winter

This morning I could finally park my crutches in the hall and hobble off to the studio all by myself. It’s great to be back!

The studio has been entirely redecorated and there’s lots to do. Dust all over. Boxes to sort out, paintings to hang up, modem, printer and phone to reconnect and a brand new iMac to unpack! It’s very exciting.

Once the dust has settled, or rather been removed, I’ll post some pictures of the interior and give you the grand tour of the studio!

Tags: studio

A New Year Begins

Colourful Stationery

A New Year begins with a blend of old and new. I decided to actually use some of the scrumptious stationery that I keep saving for a special day, a special project. Why not start the year by making 2010 special, I thought, and broke in my orange leather note and sketchbook with some sketches for fabric designs.

One of my Christmas presents was a new diary from Swedish Ordning & Reda, whose range of funky, colourful stationery make your eyes smile!

For daily use, I like the calligraphy pen and packs of gel ink pens from earth-friendly, minimalist and innovative Muji from Japan.

Origami To-Do Notes

The box of delightful origami paper has been salvaged from my collection of paper treasures and I’m using it for notes and to-do’s. It felt like a bold step, but I wasn’t prepared for just what a huge difference it makes to my days! It’s a simple technique. I write down one thing to do on the back of a piece of origami paper, and when the job’s done the origami paper goes on my notice board, creating a beautiful collage, and a rewarding, visual payoff. It’s so inspiring and tactile to handle and use these gorgeous origami papers daily, and in a casual way.

A Personalised Computer Desktop

Now that my desk has a little stack of purple and orange stationery to keep me inspired and on track, I cleaned up my disastrously messy computer desktop and populated my current projects with Luminous Purple and Orange Folder Icons. Then I weeded out my RSS feed, e-mail subscriptions and bookmarks to a minimum.

Now I feel happy and wildly virtuous, and I think I’ll put-off sorting out my e-mail and have lunch instead!

A box of origami paper.

Origami to-do notes.

Tags: accessories, carpe diem, ease, getting organized, goals, icons, Japan, motivation, productivity, seize the day, simplicity