Casey Hardman

Pictured Mark & Casey Hardman (father & daughter)

I was horrified this week when I read the news that a girl I knew from work had died in a speed boat crash - Casey Hardman. I almost didn't believe it. I had to keep reading the news report over and over again, until it sunk in.

Words cannot express how much my heart breaks for Casey and her family. Casey's adult life was only just beginning to take shape and for it to be cut short ultimately by a lack of sense and judgement is nothing short of a tragedy.

Casey was always such a pleasant colleague as is her Dad, Mark Hardman. And my memories include glimpsing lovely father-daughter catch up sessions in the office tea room, when they would talk about the weekend or something that happened that day. You could tell that Mark and Casey were good pals.

My heart and thoughts are with the Hardman family.

Tall Lady

Following is another practice run using my Wacom tablet with Photoshop. I call this illustration "Tall Lady".

Squiggly Wiggle Ornamentation

Floral Ornamentation

Practice Round

This morning I practiced using my Wacom tablet in Photoshop, and the following picture is the result.

My First Wacom Tablet

I am so, so excited. For Christmas this year, from Dad and Jenny (thank you), I received a Bamboo Wacom tablet. I have wanted one for a couple of years. Ever since I found out that is what Claire Robertson uses with her illustrations, as well as hundreds of other professional artists.

I have big plans for my Wacom Tablet and will make good use of it.

Mmm! Donuts!

Do you have an appetite? If not, then you will now after seeing these delicious chocolate and strawberry flavoured donuts...

Emjie Zine Issue 1

On Saturday just gone I posted to Sticky Institute ten copies of my latest zine.

The zine is a compilation of my best and favorite artwork from the recent year. To cut down the cost of printing I lovingly produced the zine as a computer disk, and the design you see pictured herein is the actual zine holder.

So the next time you are in Melbourne check out Sticky Institute and have a look for Emjie Zine - Issue 1.

Where is Sticky Institute?

Degraves Subway

Shop 10 Campbell Arcade

Melbourne Vic Australia

When is Sticky Institute open?

Mon to Fri 12-6pm

Sat 12-5pm

My Mix Tape Prize

Today is a day for celebration for two very good reasons.

Firstly I won a Mix Tape giveaway the other week and my prize arrived in the post today. Thank you Mix Tape. I won a lovely plush elephant pattern, which was designed by Louise and Cathy of Audrey and Maude blogging fame.

Also today's entry marks my 100th blog entry on this site. I can hardly believe that I have done so much on this blog in such a small space of time. That is practically half a years worth. My next major milestone would now have to be 500 and then 1000. My goodness, can I truly make it that far???

Something for Gwen

Here is the end result of the shirt that I mentioned in my blog entry yesterday. It turned out quite nicely, and the fabric is so soft and clean.

The shirt and skirt look so cute together.

Feeling Crafty

I am feeling that crafty vibe at the moment. I think I will sew up a baby shirt and include a name to be transferred to the front of the shirt. I'll make this up for my future bub...

Pink Baby Achievements

Check out my latest creation: It is a pleated skirt, similar to a kilt which I have patterned and sewn to suit a 3 to 6 month old baby.

Note: Instead of a safety pin which would usually be placed on this sort of skirt, I have used press studs and a decorative bear button for a bit of 'baby safety'.

This is the first time that I have made an actual pleated outfit, not including the samples that I made during fashion school. Feeling quite pleased with myself.

Meme

I thought I would do the same survey that Pip from Meet Me At Mikes procured.

1. Were you named after anyone? I do not believe so.

2. Do you still have your tonsils? I sure do though there was a close call at age 12.

3. Would you bungee jump? Heck, No!

4. What is your favorite cereal? I am not much a cereal person, but if I had to choose it would be porridge with honey.

5. Do you untie your shoes when you take them of? Naughty, naughty girl. No, I do not. My shoes would surely last longer if I did.

6. What is your favorite ice cream? Oh, this is a toughie. How to decide! I will have to say chocolate.

7. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their face.

8. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My indecisiveness. I think, though I'm not quite sure about this one. Maybe I'll come back to this question.

9. What's the last thing you ate? Jam on toast.

10. What are you listening to right now? Nada.

11. Last movie you watched? Taken.

12. What did you dream about last night? I do not entirely recall. But I remember there being lots of tall trees and a plaza.

13. What book are you reading? Vanity Fair by  William Makepeace Thackeray.

14. Summer or winter? I am a bit of both, though maybe swayed more toward cooler weather. It really depends on the mood I am in, and what I want to do.

15. Do you have any special talents? I am highly  imaginative.

How do you say cute?

I recently checked out the website for the line of Harajuku Lovers fragrance, which happens to be an offshoot from Gwen Stefani's L perfume and an extension to her growing place in the world of fashion. Yay for Gwen!

You can check out the very clever and cute website for this series of perfumes at Harajuku Lovers Fragrance.

Patch Works

It has been a long while since I have prepared a patchwork quilt and today was feeling inspired to doodle up a mock in Illustrator. The below image is the resulting mock up.

I might try to make this patchwork quilt in the new year. Perhaps it can be for the baby's room, or even be used as a travel quilt.

Rogue & Gambit

Herein is a rough illustration of two X-Men from the Marvel comics. They are Rogue and Gambit - currently my two favorite X-Men characters.

Enjoy the Show

Incey Wincey Spider-Girl

Yesterday I worked on my hand drawn illustrations* and the theme was none other than the future daughter of Spider-Man ~ Spider-Girl!!!

* It feels weird to call these illustrations hand drawn, because when I do my computer art that too is done by hand. It just happens that when working off a computer based art program I am using a mouse. And when drawing straight to paper I am using a pencil. So how different is it really between a pencil, a paint brush, scissors or even a mouse?!? I think that all of these mediums are simply an extension of our own thoughts. And not one of these mediums makes what we create any less artistic. Whether I draw directly to paper or to computer screen the outcome is the same for me - total satisfaction.

Lady Oceania 3

Lady Oceania 2

Meet My Chub Babies

It has been quite a few weeks since I have felt inspired enough to create fresh artwork. It feels great to have done something after such a long break. When I get that creative block it often leaves me feeling restless. I cannot stand that feeling. In an idea world I would be able to move from project to project without pause.

What names should I give my Chub Babies?

My Nanna

One day ago my Nanna passed away.

It is difficult because I only really just started to get to know a bit more of her history. I already miss her.

Nanna's name is Elizabeth and is sometimes known as Betty. She originally came from, Portarlington, Ireland. She twice lived in England and later moved to the state South Australia where she spent the remainder of her adult years. Nanna married Timothy Garry, whom came from a neighbouring village back in Ireland. They met at a local dance hosted by the village that Nanna lived in.

My memories of Nanna...

• She kept a pressed flower set and because of that I began a childhood hobby of pressing my own flowers between the pages of books.
  
• Nanna grew strawberries and she used to let me have a couple each day for morning tea when I visited for the holidays as a child.
• She had a collection of willow china. So now whenever I see willow china I associate that with Nanna.
• I have a collection of postcards in my old photo albums that came from Nanna whenever she visited Ireland. The below postcard was the last bit of mail that I received from Nanna.

Colour Madly

Feeling Sort of Blue

This is how I am feeling today.

Blue Moment

I am having one of those blue moments, where I just can't see it happening for me. Darn those rejection letters! What they really should be called is "infection letters", because those singular pieces of paper have such a paralysing affect. Words are so potently powerful and even if written politely a person can still be thrown off balance and are left feeling doubtful in their own artistic abilities.

I wonder if Andy Warhol ever felt like this. Were there moments when he considered throwing in his screen printing inks after reading an "infection letter"?

Fashion Illustration Sunday

These are my contributions to  today's "Fashion Illustration Sunday".

For the majority of these illustrations I began with a grey lead, then added the colours, and finished off with black pen for a more striking effect.

Fashionable Apple Blossom Girl

This is my Saturday morning contribution to my blog. The more I have fun in Photoshop, the more I learn.

Fashion Illustration Sunday

I am starting a new art project. I will dedicate my Sunday's for my hand drawn fashion illustrations.

And beginning today I bought a little sketch book from which the above illustration is my first practice piece.

Pleasant Surprise

I have had a bit of luck today in Photoshop. I already knew how to create a brush, but I did not know how to manipulate the brush into complex patterns beyond the standard stencil effect.

So today I did some fiddling around in Photoshop determined to uncover it's hidden treasures. The result of which has been this image which was one of my first samples of a scattered paint brush effect.

This is a very proud and happy moment for me.

Get Well Soon Loobylu

This is a get well response for Claire Robertson (aka Loobylu). I hope you feel well soon and that this illustration helps you to feel better.

Do take care of yourself Claire!

Apple Blossom Girl

This is my completed Apple Blossom Girl artwork. On and off this piece of art took me about a week to create. The original concept sketch for this piece can be seen here.

Yep! Feeling pretty happy with the outcome.

Apple Blossom Girl - In Progress

This is a rough concept sketch for my latest piece of art. I roughed this sketch out last week and on Sunday I began developing the layers in Photoshop.

This will piece will take me a while longer to do than many of my previous pieces. This is simply because I intend to take a less basic approach and place a lot more enhanced detail into the final image. Ultimately I want the final piece to be almost realistic but still belong to the world of comic book candy colours.

Apple Blossoms

This is a paint brush that I have just created in Photoshop. It is based on a photo that I took of an apple blossom plant in my garden.

This image kind of reminds me of when I used to hobby in pressed flowers. Only in this case I am creating the pressings digitally.

The Mists of Bamboo Island

This is a new piece of Photoshop art from moi. It is titled "The Mists of Bamboo Island" or alternatively "Bamboo Island".

Get Sticky with Book-o-bundles

Rather proudly I can talk about my little Book-o-bundles that I created a few weeks ago. Nine of these wonderful and colourful fold out books make a fantastic gift for a loved one, or even for yourself. The bookend designs will make your day, and the inside is just waiting to be filled and doodled in by whomever buys these.

And, these little books are available at Sticky, the zine shop in Melbourne city. 

Sticky: Degraves Subway

Shop 10 Campbell Arcade

Melbourne Victoria Australia

So if you are interested in these fabulously fun books... 

best to move quickly 

and get yourself to Sticky.

Tropical Shower

This illustration is an early concept of mine that I had for an invitation to a Baby Shower. Seen as how my baby will be arriving in Summer, I thought it only too appropriate that the party to celebrate be called a Tropical Baby Shower. Hence the tropical background and the rainfall. The two people in the illustration are meant to be both myself and my husband M-Boo.

Started Something

Last night I got back into pattern making for my Bonnie Bunny plush doll design.

You can see here a link referencing back to when I first made mention to my Bonnie Bunny concept.

If I keep at it I should have some Bonnie Bunny dolls ready for display and possibly for sale in a few weeks time. Stay tuned folks.


La nuit dernière j'ai obtenu de nouveau dans le modèle conduisant à ma conception mignonne de poupée de peluche de lapin.

Vous pouvez voir ici un lien mettre en référence de nouveau à quand j'ai fait la première fois mention à mon concept mignon de lapin.

Si je garde à lui je devrais avoir quelques poupées mignonnes de lapin prêtes pour l'affichage et probablement pour la vente dans le temps de quelques semaines. Gens accordés par séjour.

I Made This

Today I crafted this lovely bedroom door sign for the baby room. The end result is stunning and I suspect I have a talent for creating collages. Hmmm... perhaps there is a future for me in making collage wall hangings. Something to consider.

Punk Dolls

More doll concepts: These date back to January 2006. I can hardly believe that these concept sketches date back almost three years ago. How times does seem to fly. At the time I was considering sewing together some rebellious looking dolls that followed a British punk theme. 

Lady Beetle! Lady Beetle!

I completed my Lady Beetle illustration in Photoshop. Hooray for me. I am quite pleased with the end result. There is no end of fun when I am creating my visuals in the Adobe design packages.

I wonder what I shall achieve next? I am on a roll this week and I don't want to break it.

No Doubt it is Gwen

This is an acrylic painting that I had created earlier this year. I was completely inspired by Gwen Stefani and simply had the urge to paint her. This is of course my second Gwen painting to date.

New art in the pipeline

Burgeoning

I am burgeoning. Burgeoning into someone new. My illustrations are burgeoning. My life as a parent to be is burgeoning. My crafting desires to be a domestic goddess are burgeoning.

Life is simply burgeoning!

Early Morning Doodling

This is an early morning doodling I did in Photoshop this morning, before I head off for work.

I always feel so much better about my day if I can start it with a bit of creativity like this. I had planned to do some artwork last night but just felt so buggered. So it didn't happen, and I disappointed myself. It'll be a whole lot easier then if I do this sort of thing in the morning before heading out to the office.

Rosie or Roz?

Herein is a concept I recently had for a doll. I liked the idea of making a doll whose hair was made of flowers - specifically roses. Originally I named this doll Rosie. But now I am thinking she is more a Roz.

Each Sunday I will aim to sketch up a new doll concept. And who knows. One day I just might have time to make one or all of these designs. Here's hoping.