Gingerbread house.

Today I finished decorating my second ever gingerbread house. I thought it would be an improvement on last years but... alas not. I made it for my young niece and nephew who are coming to stay with us this xmas. Unfortunately my nephew won't be able to eat any because he has severe life threatening allergies, but he can have the special job of cutting the gingerbread house. I think he will enjoy that.

christmas e-card.

I revamped an old e-xmas card for a friend for her Facebook page. Her favourite colour is green. It's funny everybody at work has a fav colour. Juanita likes pink, Liz likes blue, Karen likes green and I like beige, although I have been advised politely to call it mocha, latte or capuccinno... sounds much better. I have to agree they are right.

Poster.

A friend asked me today to design a small poster to advertise a kids night out at a fish pub. It was a rushed love job that I put together in an hour. Sound familiar to you graphic designers out there?

Melting moments.

Yesterday I bought two beautiful little christmas cakes to give to friends. I thought they were fruit cakes but I found out later that they were actually mud cakes. I placed them in the car and headed off for home. I made a couple of brief stops on the way. I should have known better on a 38 degree day. When I arrived home and opened the cake box I was horrified to see that the cakes were oozing chocolate everywhere. The wording Merry Christmas across the top of the cake had completely disappeared and the chocolate icing was dripping all over the decorative ribbon around the cake and all over the cake board. I was soooooo disappointed but I thought I will just have to fix this disaster so back to the car and off to the shops to buy a cake topper and some new ribbon. I managed to rescue the cakes without too much trouble and I think they looked pretty good. I got lots of ooooo and rrrrrrrs when I gave the cakes to the girls today so I was pleased and they both preferred mud cake to fruit cake. Accidents can sometime be a good thing. Below is the "after" photo.

Birthday invitation.

I designed a birthday invite for a special birthday. It is just simple, light and bright.

Christmas post card.

My friend who owns Essenza asked me to design a christmas postcard to thank his clients for their support during the year and to promote his coffee roasting business. Some photos had been taken the day before which I made the most off as they are great photos, bright and cheerful and christmasy. Essenza coffee is delicious coffee. I highy recommend it.

Christmas card doodle.

Birthday cards.

I received two beautiful birthday cards from my neice and nephew on Friday. They arrived in a yellow envelope with the cutest picture of a lion hand drawn on the front. Not only were the cards beautifully drawn but they had a lovely personalised message on the inside.

Birthday cakes.

Well I have had a wonderful birthday. 4 birthday cakes!!  How lucky am I? (I have to admit one of them was made, well bought by me). Thank you to all my friends. I always think a birthday is not a birthday with out a cake. I did not manage to get a photo of the cake my husband gave me before it disappeared so I have photographed the left overs. (The pink one on the left).

Non bake lemon tart.

I took a birthday cake to work yesterday. As I don't do baking I purchased a lemon tart from the supermarket and plonked a yellow rose on it from the garden on it. Pretty cute I thought. So many birthdays at this time of the year. My sister and I are 11 months and 3 weeks apart in age so we are the same age for a week every year.

Medical Illustration.

I have been asked to design a poster for the Burns Unit at a children's hospital. The aim of the poster is to encourage parents to distract their children during a burns dressing to help make it a less stressful experience for the child.

Easy orange cake.

It is my Greek friend Mena's "Name Day" this week.  In Greek Orthodox tradition, nearly every day of the year is dedicated to a Christian saint or Martyr. When someone is named after a Saint, there is a big celebration on his/her name day. Traditionally food is given to celebrate the day. So... as I don't do cooking I decided to buy a cake and add my special touch by decorating it.  It is the thought that counts isn't it?

Christmas card design.

I am still working on christmas card design for the Department where I work part time. It is always a challenge to design something that suits everybody. We have a combination of different styles, tastes and personalities. I personally don't like using the traditional colours red and green and others really like that combination, so usually I end up producing 3 or 4 different cards and then everybody is happy.

Leaflet design.

My signature design style clean, simple and easy to read.

Christmas card design.

Oh no... it is that time of the year again. What am I going to do this time.  I have started with some xmas trees. Which one do you prefer?

Logo design

Just messing around with a logo I designed a few years ago to give it a fresh look.

Romantic Wedding Monogram.

I love the idea of monogrammed invitation. Putting your initials together is a fun way to introduce your new identity to friends and family and it can be used again and again long after the Big Day. 

Busy painting....

My apologies for not posting for a week or so. We are renovating our kitchen and every spare minute has gone into sanding, filling and painting. This is our third kitchen reno and it doesn't get any easier, but the reward of a fresh coat of paint is just amazing. We have been without a kitchen for two months so we have literally been camping in our own home. It's ok for the first couple of days when it is all a bit of a novelty but that soon wears off and reality sets in. After all that moaning though the "nearly" finished result is stunning. Wow, so clean and new that I don't want to use it. I just want to sit and look at it.

Cafe break.

My husband and I have been working hard for the last couple of weeks so we decided to treat ourselves to a mid week lunch. We decided to go to one of our favourite cafes, Boucla in Subiaco. It is greek, eclectic, cosy, dark, quirky and has the best authentic greek food. I always think every time I go there it would be a great place for a first date (not that I am in the market for that) but it was not to be today. It was crowded, bustling with people and not a seat in sight. So we headed off to another favourite...Piccolo's which is equally as quirky but in a different way. Love it. We had a yummie lunch, took in the atmosphere and returned home fresh and ready to get back to work. The first photo is from Piccolo's and the second if from  Murray Gill's art shop which is next to Boucla.

Logo design samples.

Wedding monogram.

I have been asked to design a monogram for a wedding invitation. I think it is a great way to personalise a wedding and the idea can be carried through to other items for the wedding like the menus, serviettes, table decorations, wax seals etc.... It could even be used after the wedding as a family crest.

Car photography.

Another car photograph taken by my husband for our friend Mena. Love the blurred, speed shot. Mena was delighted with his framed print and has hung it in his garage next to his collection of fab car photos. This is no ordinary garage. It is a work of art. The floor is painted white and is so clean you could eat your dinner off it. Every tool has its own special place. There is a coffee machine, air conditioning, a car lift etc etc. It is pretty amazing and even inspires me even though I am a girlie girl and not into mechanical things.

Time for a change of header.

Happy birthday print.

It is my friend Mena's birthday coming up soon and my husband and I are planning a present for him using some photos my photographer husband took for him a few months earlier. Fantastic photos.  I love them.  Mena does not follow my blog so I think it is safe to post. Mum's the word.

Blue business card.

This is the business card I designed for my friend Vicky who is starting a consultancy business. I wish her all the best. I know she will do well.

Cute dog sign.

I saw this cute dog sign on door while out walking.

Business card.

I have been working on a business card for a friend who is starting a consultancy business. This is not the final one chosen but just one of my concepts.  I won't post the final one until after it has been printed.

Dark landscape.

We went for a drive into the country with the MG Car Club on the weekend. The run is nick named the "Winter Woolies Run" and we have it every year in August when it is cold and wet. The rules are we start at silly o'clock in the morning and the roof of the car must be off, rain or shine. It's our opportunity to enjoy some cold winter weather which we don't have a lot of in Australia. On the way home we stopped to photograph a beautiful yellow field under a heavy dark sky. Before we know it it will be boiling hot again.

Blur the line between work and play.

Childs skeleton illustration.

I have been working on a poster for a childrens hospital to explain common orthopaedic terminologies to parents and patients. This is part of the illustration for the poster.

Rustic window.

We stayed in a tiny little country village in Hungary where I photographed these very cute windows. I think the sign on the second one says "school" but my memory is not very good. Should have written it down. Can anybody tell me?

Recycled lighting.

This morning we went out for breakfast to a cafe by the sea. It is the middle of the winter and freezing cold but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. It was a beautiful morning. The cafe was very cute. It has a seaside theme with brightly coloured miss matched furniture and quirky "bits". I was fascinated by the lights. Recycled "designer lights". One had sea urchin shells as the shades of the lights and the other was made of cut off plastic bottles or were they glass, I am not sure, but they looked good. Very unique. The typo behind the sea urchins was great too.

Stars and stripes but not red, white and blue ones.

Logo strip.

Words of wisdom.

Ferris wheel.

On our last night in New York we wandered around the city and came across this very cute ferris wheel. It was a wonderful warm evening an an excellent farewell memory.

My new promotional flyer.

I have used the same elements as my previous image but have just mixed it up a bit to make it a little more interesting.

More self promo work.

I will stick with my corporate colours of grey and blue, but I could not resist trying a different colour. Time to start on my flyer now.

Self promotion work.

I have started some self promo work. I would like to update my business cards and flyers. Here are some initial ideas. The top one is a contemporary look for the reverse side of my business card. The lower one is a combination of classic and contemporary. I am not sure which way to go yet. Maybe a bit of both.

Gift shop logo.

Yah..... I finally have some work to post. This is one idea I have had for a gift shop logo. Still working on a few more ideas, but I do like this one. I can see it as a swing tag.

Postcards from Budapest.

I have been too busy catching up on work since returning from my holiday so no time to do any work for my blog... so another holiday pic I am afraid.

Sacha-Torte

Thanks to my sister in-law we got to try the Sacha-Torte at the famous Cafe Sacher in Vienna. It was a special treat so I had to take some quick photos to preserve the memory. I felt a bit under dressed in my jeans, but what the heck you can do that when you are travelling.

Budapest.

This is a photograph I took while in amazing Budapest.

New York New York.

...well how could I go to New York and not post this photo!!! Amazing. I can not believe I have actually seen it.

Coffee grinders.

We had coffee at this great cafe in Budapest. One wall was covered in old coffee grinders different colours and styles. It looked fantastic.