Picking up the pieces of January

Hey remember me? I use to blog n stuff on this site.

Well life has been getting in the way - and it's been really interesting, so interesting that i had to ask my boyfriend if he was real and if this was a dream? It's just that I'm so out of my usual context that it's causing some kind of existentialist crisis...

Well then he pinched me and said "See! It's not a dream" but that didn't prove he was real so I pinched him back!

I'm living half my life in Armidale NSW, with my little office set up in the corner of a beautiful restaurant, designing fun things.

and then I flit back to Perth every month to shoot weddings and hang out with my family...

Sometimes I look through my phone to remember who my friends are (helps with guest lists for parties) and sometimes I look at the photos to remind myself what I've been up to.

Here are some reminders of my life that has been...

The chalkings for the production of artwork for Andrea Gibbs and her upcoming show 'The Allnut St diaries'.

The finished artwork.

The insanity that was me collecting dozens of Greek and Italian props for a wedding photobooth.

And the results...

Then there was the 'photographer that cared too much' deal sealer when I made a huge green triangle cake.

With my mother.

For the Greens Party member's magazine.

My company (Seedpod) is now the design and editing team for Green Magazine which will relaunch in 3 months.

So the upcoming months will see me busier still but I am now reading David Allen's 'Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity' to get more of a meditative grip on my working life.

[current mood] Haruki Murakami & Greek Salad

100 dolls, countless hearts!

 There's that little gap between pressing send on an email with an electronic PDF of a 200 page Indesign document and when it arrives in the mailbox to be unwrapped, revealing itself as a 3 dimensional glossy ex-tree smelling object!

I'm always impatient!

And it was a proud moment when I walked into the kitchen with my latest design in the pulp!

Here are some shots of the 100 Dolls, Countless Hearts book which I photographed and designed. You can see some of the 'making of' in my previous post Old chooks and dolls.

Buy it! It's inspirational, beautiful, just $30 and all proceeds go to orphans in South Africa.

As part of the design 'experience', I received many messages from the Uthando Project coordinator, Georgia Efford. She doesn't spare positive feedback when she's whipping me day and night with the most insane timeframe I've ever experienced! But I love Georgia's enthusiasm and relentlessly positive thinking.

Here are my favourites quotes of Georgia-inspiration that kept me going til the end.

"Jesus and all the apostles would be proud of you little miracle worker"

"I don't know truly how to thank you. Nat, it was way beyond the call of duty... and kept on being like that to the last gasp."

"Nat, you are a little humdinger, as my Dad would say."

"Nat, the book feels as if we are bringing some peace to the world."

"Absolutely thrilling Nat. I truly love your way of putting things together beautifully."

"You have accomplished marvels today Nat! xxx"

"You are most generous and are earning lots of Light Units"

"Hi Nat, the more i think about you juggling all these elements the more I love what you do and the can do attitude. In retrospect, the funniest thing was me confidently saying "Oh Nat we will have the text ready for you when you arrive!!!!!!!!!!" How did you cope with so much unknown all the time?"

That's my favourite. Real acknowledgement of the challenge. And that's what you want from clients. Awareness and appreciation.

And for such positive feedback, acknowledging my accumulating light units towards my ascension to heaven, I'd do it all again!

[current mood] detox high & the smell of yellow roses

Old Chooks and Dolls

Grannies, zulu dolls and a whole lot of "The Nat on the farm goes click click click".

(Quote from a song to get a child to pull a happy face for my camera).

This is my life right now. Most of it anyway.
I've been putting in the hard yards in the last week working on a book for the Uthando Project. (and woman on a mission - the radiant Georgia Efford).
Today was spent adjusting photographs, conceptualising the layout and borrowing mum's sewing machine to make stuffed letters.

I stuffed up the stuff, but it was just to show how we'll do the cover type for:

100 dolls
countless
hearts

Then exceptional artiste, Lynne Tognolini, started blanket stitching some felt letters which are looking super sweet.

I'm doing most of the photography and the design of this book which is due to print in two weeks. (!)

Here is a sneak preview.

The book will feature words from organisations in Kwa Zulu Natal - South Africa about the state of human affairs, children's lives and how dolls made by multicultural Australians are making a real impact in the lives of families.

Photos above supplied by NGOs in KZN

The book will feature a range of portraits of the doll makers from Australia, from all different backgrounds.

And all different ages

I suggested we mix up the portraits by asking people to bring their own background fabric, something with meaning to them.

Each maker will tell us a little about their childhood experiences.

The book will tell us the power of these little dolls to enable a child to grieve, express, understand and feel the love. The doll 'experience' runs deeper still as the makers teach other makers, here and in South Africa. The dolls are also used as a medium to teach psychology principles to caregivers and highlight the importance of play for a child's growth - and as a child's right.

To quote Anne Sorenson "I've got the doll addiction, but it's a good addiction to have".

The book will have all the patterns you need to sew or knit dolls from babies to grandmas to warriors.

Essentially, it will be a resource for organisations around the world, as it presents a template for making culturally relevant dolls and how to work with the caregivers and communities.

To find out more about the Uthando Project visit www.uthandoproject.com

You can even buy my documentary film there for a $10 donation. I made it a couple of years ago in South Africa.

For now, I'm head down in the book, but there is always time for some music and dancing on set.

[current mood] Pills Shaking in the Bottle & Leftovers

I heart my wedding card

It took me some months, but I finally pressed 'PRINT' on my wedding photography cards.

They are on a Dalton boxboard stock with a grey brown pantone ink AND super spunky pink metallic foil.

It's near impossible to photograph a foil well because however it catches the light makes it look flat, so to show you I took a series of photos and animated it. So, you can see how pretty it is to play with in the light.

I'm now sending them out to folks who can pass them on to prospective couples.
Know anyone? Want some cards? Email me your postal address and how many you'd like.

I'm also making little concertina fold out samples. A lot of love is going into these so they're for venues and wedding suppliers and folk that can show future husbands and wives. If you would like one, please email me!

I've just featured one of my latest weddings on my website.
I make up names for the pages, so rather than "Alicia & Shane", I've called it Fall: In love.

[current mood] The best (and only) pumpkin soup I ever made & B B B Benny and The Jets

Ooh La La! La Latina

It's not every day that one of your best friends opens a cafe. It's one of those dreams I have, that all my friends have groovy bars and delicious cafes that I can just hang out at. Well I've got ONE now.

Cristina and her business partner Bel have opened La Latina Providores an authentic tapas cafe (and catering). They're based at the Subiaco Markets, Perth.
And it's REAL tapas, affordable and home-style. It's the kind you'd find in a Spanish bar.

And the reason I'm blogging about it is... I did the logo!

Cristina had visions of nouveau and a mature feminity (La Latina means The Latin Woman). I love that Cristina said "I just get her" and she is thrilled with the design. I like that statement because a designer's job is to GET you, no matter how different you are to them, in this case Cris and I think alike but I like to morph myself to think like the client and put them into the design as it's not about me is it?

I like seeing a design of mine utilised in dozens of ways.

And the cutesy loyalty card still brings me joy.

[current mood] Healthy Smoothies & Gerry Rafferty

Postcards from Oscar 2

I bring you another couple of Oscar Postcards from the Sunshine Coast.

Scraping in with an hour to blog before midnight (as per promise to blog every day)... woohoo!

[current mood] New Kings of Leon & Rosemary Tea

Postcards from Oscar

Oscar is overdue for a 'segment'.

Hence I bring you the first in a series of Oscar Postcards from Queensland.
(We live here now!)

We stopped at The Big Pineapple. Oscar thought this pun was great! He's sending it out to mum, dad, chris and mike. And all the dog sitters, beach trip takers and exes out there. xo

Up the top of the range, Oscar took a leak. This is where home is now, Flaxton. It is snuggly nestled between Monteville and Mapleton. This card is for all future vistors. We can't wait to see you! xo

DIY postcards are the best!

[current mood] Daggy 'Glee' songs & Carob covered Licorice

A Dinner Party in France

If you're going to have a 60th birthday party in the south of France with your 50 closest friends, it's certainly a fabulous idea to have place settings that tell each other from where in the world you've all come.

Useful not only to know who speaks your language, but as an immediate icebreaker. "So... Francoise, from France are you? What are your favourite hors d'oeuvres?"

But what would be even more fun than that?

Put some trivia on the back!

And then, hold a quizz after dinner.

I can see their faces now as they read their cards, chuckle and share the facts with the nearby guests. Naturally, the 'did you knows' are catered to appeal to the person whose card they're on.

It's about as close as I'm going to get to designing a board game I reckon.

Although now I'm tempted to make my own little party games.

[current mood] Hot Baths & Hot Soups

Jack of All Trades. Master of Fun.

I'm coining this term. But I'll just google it first...

oh, it's actually quite well documented. crap. They've even made a movie with it as a title. But let's just ignore that and pretend I am the first person to ever say it.

My definition is that being a jack of all trades is more fun! You've mastered diversity in your skill base and your daily life experience. Yep, sometimes I wouldn't mind being the world expert on just one thing, or at least in the top 5, but I'll settle for a life full of creative variety over a full immersion.

Here's a sample of my week that shows my trades (and my fun!)...

I wrote a sugar coated article for Spice Magazine on Dessert Club.

I took editorial photos of Dixie Marshall (Channel 9 newsreader) for Offspring Magazine.

I drew cute things for a WA community gardens website - coming soon!

I've been working on an indigenous music label 'TOO SOLID'.

And my grotty feet held down a tomato sauce typeface I made for a WA touring aussie comedy show called 3 Blokes & Their Barbies.

Now how could you just choose one?!

[current mood] Mexican food accompanied with Calexico

Weaving Papua New Guinea

This is a (slightly silly) introductory video I made with an old friend when we were in PNG a year ago. I edited this together in my cabin in Goroka to pitch a documentary to Australian Business Volunteers. No luck. They were 'restructuring' and couldn't commit. So now I wade through endless footage - enough to make a feature film. Any buyers?

I thought it overdue to share a tasty slice of my experience with you. For six weeks I worked with village weaving women. Virtually all women in PNG are weavers and for many, the sale of their weaved bilum bags is their sole income.

I was brought in to develop their weaving designs to appeal to an international market. We focused on the bilum bags and developed a collection.

Here are some of the women that made the collection...

I asked them 'what is your dream?' They had never been asked that before, some were stumped and I had to get them to imagine that they had a million dollars and the freedom to do whatever they wanted, and after some time, they whispered their dreams to another woman to translate to me. I think their humble wishes really put things in perspective.

                                                                                                               

	SANDY SASAE I am 38 years old with four children. I was fed sweet potato as a child and I still love to eat it! I enjoy working in my garden when I'm not weaving. My dream is to earn enough money from weaving so that I can provide for my children.
	ROSA TIM I am 35 years old and I have one child. I love to eat my home grown sweet potato and one day I hope to own a trade store in my village.
	NANCY JOE I live in the village. I love to weave. I eat from the garden and hope to one day be able to sell enough bilums to support my children.
	UPASI AMERI My favourite drink is Fanta! I am 36 and have two children. I enjoy weaving Bilums and hope one day to make enough money to support my children.
	SAINA TUPUNA I have five children. All I want is to earn enough money from my Bilum weaving to put all five through school and one day to own a motor vehicle.
	SENISI AIZAUWO I am a grandmother. My favourite weave designs are Zigzag and Box. I am learning to do Fork. I like to cook sweet potato and greens. I hope that all my children do well in life.
	JENNI I love  to eat sweet potato, cooked any way. I have two children and I am 33 years of age. My wish is to be wealthy so that I can pay for my children's school tuition.
	AIYOPE SETI I am 42 years old with five children. I love eating chicken twisties and weaving. I weave bilum bags for sale in the markets in Goroka. The money I make is used to support my children.
LYDIA SIOTAGAU My favourite colour is blue and I especially love eating pineapples. I am 22 years of age and have two children but one day I hope to be a truck owner and be able to transport passengers and vegetables to and from market.
	NANCY FIKE I have one child. I am 34 years old and love the colour black and eating peanuts. I dream to one day experience flying in a plane.
	ANGELA WESON I am very busy caring for my five children and weaving. I love to eat cooked banana, rice and coconut. One day I hope to earn enough money for my children to be educated and successful.
	GANUWO PERO I love to weave. I aim to be the best! I most enjoy weaving the 'heart' design. If I could have anything in the world, it would be a tradestore.
	HELA EASTERN My favourite foods are Kumu (greens) and fresh pineapple. I love the colour red and wish to one day be a professional dancer and travel the world.
	JOYCE I am 30 years of age and have one child. My dream is for my son to be successful in whatever career he chooses. The money I earn from weaving will go towards his education.

Here are the women and I with the bags and cushions from our collection.

My eyes still well up when I think of how much I miss them. However the experience of flying in a tiny rickety plane over the highlands stops me short of heading back to hang out.

Without phones, postal addresses or email I can't keep in touch. I'm going to print 20 copies of this photo above and send it to a business near the bilum markets and hope the women receive it.

In one of my alternative life scenarios I'd take this project on whole heartedly and make it happen for these women. They really need someone there on the ground to manage the sales and quality control.

6 weeks wasn't long enough...

[current mood] Wedding Canapes & Lionel Richie