7 things

Jessica from Oscar and Ruby has asked me to share 7 things about myself with you all but before I do I just wanted to let you know how great this girl is.

You may remember recently I posted about a Dinosaur Designs sale in Sydney that I couldn't go to, and lovely Jessica offered to pick something up for me when she went herself. I gave Jess a little idea of what I liked, how much I wanted to spend etc - and here they are in the pic above. Didn't she do well, they are perfect, I love them. Thank you Jess!

Ok, Seven things you never knew you wanted to know about me, here goes :)

I am a true Piscean, always daydreaming, always thinking, emotional - affected by every little ripple in the water around me (just like a fish).

I have zero co-ordination. I bump into things all the time, it's crazy, and frustrating.

Despite being allergic to cats (and horses too, weirdly) I actually live with two of them. I find that the more I am around my cats the less allergic I am. 

I have a palate for savoury/sour food more so than sweet. I am particularly fond of a good mexican feast complete with a shaken margarita (with the salt).

I am more comfortable as the listener, than the talker. I like to sit back and take it all in. 
 

I keep my nails quite short. I like to be able to touch things with the tips of my fingers rather than the tips of my nails.

I don't drink coffee or tea, in fact I don't drink any hot beverages whatsoever, not even hot chocolate. 
 

Image: Olive & Joy

sky series by eric cahan

Today I would like to share with you these beautiful fine art photographs I came across recently called The Sky Series by photographer Eric Cahan. I was actually looking for another image that Eric had taken for an interiors magazine a few years back when I stumbled across his Tumblr. The Sky Series are photographs taken at either sunrise or sunset (as I have shown here today) of the sky at beaches in New York State and various other locations. Aren't the colours amazing, like a gorgeous watercolour painting. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

“The pictures I make only exist on the paper surface. I try to capture an unseen or rarely witnessed element in nature, hoping to lift the spirit and empower the viewer. I want the viewer to be drawn into this world, and be, for a time, completely absorbed in rather than separate from the image” - Eric Cahan.

Images: Eric Cahan

tea towel giveaway

This week at Olive & Joy we are going to hold our very first giveaway! How exciting, I've always wanted to host a giveaway. As you may know I have been printing away and working on new tea towel designs for the Olive & Joy online store opening later this year. I'd love to give you all the chance to win your choice of tea towel from the three linen tea towels above. They have all been hand screen-printed by me onto beautiful linen using non-toxic, water-based inks (the inks even smell good!). 

To enter the giveaway you need to answer two simple questions in a comment below:

Firstly, please leave a comment with your suggestion for a new tea towel design. Your answer can be as simple or detailed as you like.
For example:
-  A flamingo; or
-  A flamingo printed in coral pink on white linen.

Then, secondly simply state which tea towel you would like to win as seen in the above photo, from left to right:  
A.  "A little birdy told me" - Black on Oatmeal Linen
B.  "Cross" - Red on Oatmeal Linen
C.  "A little birdy told me" - Watermelon on White Linen

The giveaway closes Sunday 3rd October at 11:59pm AEST (GMT+10). I can post the prize worldwide so everyone has the opportunity to enter. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced the following week. Please don't forget to answer both questions, and please enter your email address and/or blog url when commenting so that I have a way of contacting you if you win.

Thank you, I can't wait to read your suggestions for a tea towel design. Good luck!

Image: Olive & Joy

walnut hang-it-all available in Australia...soon!

  

I thought you may like to know that Living Edge in Australia will soon have some of these limited edition black and walnut Eames Hang-It-All's in stock. Truly! Early November I am told and I just gave into temptation and placed an order for one. I think they are beautiful and a great investment. These limited editon Hang-It-All's are only being produced for about six months so will be a rare item in a few decades time. A stylish choice for someone who likes the original Hang-It-All but a more refined colour palette. Personally I like both. Anyhoo, just thought you may like to know as it is cheaper than airfreight from the US even with the exchange rate (I know, I spent some time crunching the numbers).

Image: Herman Miller

tea towels

Good morning. It is a rather rainy morning here - as it has been for the last few days actually. I want the rain to stop so I can get some screen printing done. Last week I managed to practice my printing and I was actually pretty happy with how it went. I needed to get my technique sorted so I cut out a simple little cross and printed onto calico in a gorgeous yellow ink (no pics sorry). When I was confident enough I printed the cross onto tea towels. Very simple but I really like it. I can imagine it folded over an oven rail with just the one cross showing. Sometimes less really is more. The red is beautiful on the natural linen. Black would also be nice, as would a deep blue.

I then decided to resurrect my design that I printed in the screen printing class I took with Thea back in January, tracing over my tea towel to get the pattern. In doing so, by mistake I actually created the reverse design to the one that I printed originally. I think this design might actually work for my store - what do you think?

I also printed the black on natural linen again. Classic.

And then I mixed up a custom corally-pink colour for printing onto the white tea towels. A fresh spring colour.

There are small imperfections on them but I am learning so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. And it shows the hand of the maker, rather than some perfect machine printed tea towel. Which design/colour/tea towel are you drawn too, do you have a favourite?

Images: Olive & Joy

why I wish I lived in sydney

There are times when I really wished I lived in Sydney, here's why:

Oh my goodness, I would be there with bells on if I could!  

Have a beautiful weekend lovely people.

Image: Dinosaur Designs

having a few technical issues

Ok folks, we seem to be having a few technical is-sues. Please ignore temporary boring goth header. I have no idea why my photo in my header shows up for a few secs and then goes black. I am in the dark, literally. Moral of the story is don't muck around with your template when you have no idea what you are doing.

Julie
x


**update: It's all looking good now, I think (I hope!). Had to change my template to another new one.**

a wonderful insight

If you haven't already done so, please pop on over to The Design Files Guest Blog for a wonderful insight into the world of Signature Prints and the fabric and wallpaper designs of Florence Broadhurst.  Signature Prints' Helen Lennie is blogging all week, and I know you will just love it. At the moment I'm waiting for a big package from Signature Prints to arrive this week, very exciting. You can also find David and Helen Lennie's home on The Design Files today.


Images: Signature Prints via The Design Files

366 days ago

This day last year I started a blog, originally it was called Cre8tive Outlet and that is exactly what I wanted, or rather needed, it to be for me.  A way of expressing a need to be creative or at least enjoy the creativeness (is that even a word?) of others. At the beginning of the year this little blog morphed into what it is today - Olive & Joy. 

It's been a fun ride and I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you that have come on that ride with me. From my very first readers who followed me over here from my first blog, to the   awesome people that pop in and say hi, to the lovely lurkers who read Olive & Joy but are perhaps a little too shy to comment, to new readers who've found me - you all know who you are and I just wanted to say a big heartfelt THANKS! 

On another note, I'm in the middle of turning a room upstairs into our new office. It's halfway there, so I will be sure to show you more as it happens. At the moment I've borrowed one of our dining chairs to use until my retro desk chair is reupholstered - I can't wait to see it all newly upholstered in sunny yellow fabric. I've had the chair in storage for a couple of years now! It took me forever to find a fabric which was just perfect, well no that isn't true, I found the fabric I loved pretty early on. But the thing was that one couldn't buy the fabric, only the sofa covers made from the fabric. I guess you could say I went to great lengths and it took much patience in order to use the fabric I really wanted, but more on that another time. 

Thanks again!  

Images: Olive & Joy

out takes

Out takes from a little photo shoot we had here on the weekend for my husband's new business venture The Moving Box Company. I think it is also proof we have some pretty darn cute nieces - this is only two thirds of our little niece posse and trust me the other one is just as adorable. The little one walked around all day calling out, Juju, Juju (that's me apparently) which is something she picked up from our middle niece (the missing one). I get the feeling I'm going to be called Juju for a very long time. 

Images: Olive & Joy

every inch

An ebay store where everything in the room is for sale. We aren't talking someone's garage with lots of junk lying around and bad lighting. No, this is a room full of refurbished and carefully curated items making up a room where every item is for sale. I've been watching ebay store Everyinch for a few weeks now and was really impressed with the first 'room' I saw. Especially the lockers (now sold), how awesome are they! The last two images are from the current 'room'. A simple but brilliant concept and while I am already regretting writing this post - for fear of potential bidding wars - I do like to share the good work of others. Enjoy!


Images: Everyinch

spring

Our favourite time of the year is finally here - Spring!  Mother Nature seems to have gotten the memo as the temperature has crept up to a beautiful, mild 25 degrees today on the first day of Spring. My favourite part of Spring is the days getting that little bit longer every day - it feels like we have gained more hours in the day. Of course we haven't but I am always amazed at how differently I feel when there is more daylight.

I don't make too many changes around the home with the different seasons but there are times when I find something that really encapsulates how I am feeling at that particular moment such as the gorgeous artwork in this image. 

I discovered an artist by the name of Michelle Armas recently whilst reading Kirsten's blog. I cannot tell you how much I love her paintings, particularly the one above which is named Joslyn. It feels very much like Spring to me - fresh, light, optimistic - it makes me feel happy. I can see it sitting perfectly in my home - the colours are perfect - white, black, yellow, olive green and a touch of warm peachy pink. I've been wanting to bring some warm pinks into our home but have been stuck as to how to do it. Artwork is the perfect way to bring it all together. I really love the large scale of the painting, sometimes smaller works can look lost on a big wall.

It isn't perfect timing for me and this painting as I am investing so much into the new business, I will have to wait and see if it is still available when the time comes around. I noticed that Michelle also paints custom paintings so all is not lost if Joslyn has already found a good home. 

Are you planning on making any changes around your home for the change in season - which of course could be Spring or Autumn depending on where you are in the world? 

Image: Michelle Armas