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

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.