Tales from Wonderlandia: 2009

Sunday, November 22, 2009

WEAR ME!

Now the little Diva's and baby Studmuffins in your life can stand out for all the right reasons thanks to our new Wonderlandia inspired clothing...

When working on our new clothing for Wonderlandia we were focused on two things first and foremost - quality & comfort then of course, style and indiviuality.

The features of Wonderlandia clothing includes:

All garments are overlocked for a professional finish
interfacing is included where required to assist the clothing in holding it's crisp shape
Any applique are attached with both fusible webbing and fully satin stitched to achieve maximum durability
100% cotton fabrics have been chosen for comfort and breathability
elastics used are as lightweight as possible whilst still providing the support needed to keep little pants and skirts in place
All our clothing has been created to be as long wearing as possible with adjustable sizing where practical and larger cuts to allow your ever growing little ones to get the more wear out of each item.
all our garments have excellent results when cold machine washed and line dried... so they are ideal for us busy Mums!

Creating the same thing over and over again is definitely not our thing - Mum and I love to put our creativity and love into each garment. In fact, most Wonderlandia pieces so far have been created as one offs or in very limited numbers which makes them all the more special.

We really hope you love what we've done so far, we've had a great time working with really fun bold bright prints and then changing it up with some sweet shabby-chic-esque floral prints...

Here are a few examples - please visit our Etsy store for more!

Where to start???

OMG! I haven't blogged in ages and it really might seem as though I haven't been doing much but it's actually quite the opposite...

Probably the most noteworthy things that I've done have been:

Collaborated with my very talented Mum to start a handmade Wonderlandia clothing and accessories range (including Jewellery, hair clips & room decor) - we are so proud of this and how it's evolving.
Had my first market stall with Allie's Attic at Hunters Hill on November 14th
Completed many new artworks
Decided to make my web and print media design business formal by quitting my day job and working only for myself (my old work has now become a client which is really nice)

Now you can see why it's been so hard to blog! Not to mention trying to balance all of this while looking after my little 8 month old son Jet - insane!

I can't wait to show you guys some pics and other info on our new creations - but rather than cramming it all into one novelesque blog I'll just do a series of little ones to get back up to date! I really hope you love what we've been working on please let us know what you think - feedback is a great source of inspiration and motivation!!

Oh and don't forget to check out our Etsy store I have added some clothing already and will be adding to it over the next few days!

Hey - how do you like Wonderlandia's new logo I made for our clothing tags?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Lookout Third dimension here I come!!!

Whilst working on Veronica (pics coming soon) I have accidently fallen in love with art that can be touched and admired from all angles and have consquently begun work on a prototype for a new line of Wonderlandian Dolls!!!

So how did this new fascination occur?

Well it's simple really, my mother (who is an amazingly talented woman, most often found sewing, knitting, crocheting, watercolour painting or lost in a book) came to visit a few weeks back.

On her visit we went on a shopping trip to collect beautiful fabrics for a patchwork quilt she was working on, when by chance I came accross some amazing doll making supplies! Now of course I visit craft stores all the time but this time for some reason the doll stuff really fascinated me and I think it's because I watched this lovely handmade portait of Sarah Faber on Etsy a few days before:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/handmade-portraits-black-eyed-suzie-3452/

Which led me to watch this;
http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/handmade-portraits-stacey-rebecca-3639/

Then this;
http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/handmade-portraits-mimi-kirchner-4405/

So, stocked up with fabric, ribbons, paint and some fake hair from a novelty store we set out to create Cindy from "A Lovely Surprise" (if you haven't seen it check out my etsy store).

This is what we made:

I wish I had a better pic to include where her clothes aren't all rumpled and you can see her sweet little shoes but my camera is out of battery and I have no idea where my charger got too!!

Mum (who did all the sewing) thinks I should paint the dress too so it really has the look of a 3D painting - I like the idea so I am going to give it a go and I also think I might try needle sculpting the face to get a bit more life into it...

I'll post the results as soon as I am done!

Monday, September 14, 2009

I completely agree...

Just a quick post - I stumbled upon this old article on Restyled Home's delightful blog and it really put my opinion on childrens decor into words more succinct than I could manage...

http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/2007/07/when-did-babies-stop-being-babies.html

P.s - How crazy is this little girls room - I love it!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Handmade Heaven is on it's way...

I am very excited to be able to let everyone know about Allie's Attic; a brand new boutique market specialising in all things baby, toddler and child related - including gifts, homewares, clothing, toys, art etc.

Behind the wheel of this amazing market is the very passionate and inspiring Allie Duval; who believe's that style has nothing to do with labels or how much you spend; and is tired of the great glut of generic, mass produced and souless kidswear out there.

I was delighted when Allie approached Wonderandia to be a part of her market and then for a second time when she asked if I would consider building her website and designing her cards and flyers (I am a marketing manager for my day job)... we are both really happy with the results; you can check them out for yourself below; and of course you can check out the website at http://www.alliesattic.com.au/

Allie's Attic Flyer (Click image to enlarge)

Allie's Attic Business Cards (Click image to enlarge)

The first market is to be held in Hunters Hill NSW on the 14th of November this year, then Paddington in December and Mosman in February; and I am going to be having my first ever market stall at Hunters Hill - so come down if you aren't too far away and say hi!

You can find out more about Allie's Attic or apply to be a stallholder in their upcoming markets at http://www.alliesattic.com.au/ - best get in quick as stalls are filling up.

Oh and by the way - if you are in need of any design work from a new banner for your blog to a full website, please contact me at nicemanda@yahoo.com.au and I'll get back to via phone or email with a quote.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Burning the candle

My apologies for seeming a little MIA (missing in action) of late! In addition to my regular job I have actually been working on a special project for Allie Duval of Allie's Attic. I'll post some pics and info on that a little later today.

So back to the real reason for this post - I am delighted to show you the finished Elvira! I really hope you find her as magnificent as I did when I first saw her.

Although, I must say my real fascination came about only after meeting her - Elvira explained so many amazing things about her race to me, for instance; Did you know that butterfaeries don't need to eat? Apparently they drink moonlight through thier wings and turn it to food (in a similar way to plants). However, the compound they utilize can only be found in the light of the Wonderlandian moon so they can never leave! (Not that they seem to want too anyway).

Having a moonlight diet affects so much of the butterfaeries way of life; in fact each full moon they have great festivities with dancing and games; as this is when the moon provides them with the greatest feast of it's cycle and they find themselves very powerful and energetic. However, when the moon wanes the butterfaeries generally won't wake or leave their beds during the day, as they prefer to conserve their limited energy until the moon grows again.

Oh I could talk about Elvira all day, but this post would end up a novel, so I'll leave the rest to your imagination... for now :)

I'll be adding Elvira to my Etsy store as a limited edition A4 print later today so be sure to go on and check her out!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

All pencils are not created equal...

My beautiful new Polychromo pencils arrived at 10:20am last Friday (which was even earlier than I predicted), I met the postman at the edge of my driveway and in my excitement almost took off without signing for them! They were so good looking, all perfectly sharp & the same length... I almost didn't want to use them!

The first to be coloured by my glorious new friends was Benji in his little fishing boat - I did him first so I could compare the results against my old pencils and I am so pleased to say, I am delighted! The new pencils are so much easier to blend and have a smoother and more consistent flow (even on the much more heavily textured paper I chose this time). Also the oil based leads leave no waxy residue on the surface of the paper so the artwork ends up with a much more rich and vibrant finish because it isn't clouded or too shiny.

I learnt alot through completing Benji about working with these pencils and I am really looking forward to completing Elvira now there are a few things I am going to do differently.

In the mean time I am going to add the new Benji to my Etsy store as a limited edition print - there will only be 15 available and it should be up tomorrow.

I hope you love him as much as I do - I'd love to hear what you think!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Still waiting...

Sadly, I am still awaiting the arrival of my new pencils. I do have a good feeling about tomorrow though, I'm predicting they'll show up around 2pm - I'll let you know how that works out for me...lol.

In the meantime, I've been working on a portrait of another little winged Wonderlandian I met in my travels, named Veronica.

To explain Veronica is a simple charge - she's the most energetic and open hearted faerie I've ever met, I'd even go so far as to say she's the personification of fun. Why, the first time I ever laid eyes on her was when I first arrived at Brandysnap Forest; it was a fiercely blustery day in Autumn and I was a struggling to carry my all my travel bags & keep my footing on the uneven forest floor. I had to squint against the wind while I looked around for someone that could point me in the direction of my lodgings, but of course no one was about; they were all safely indoors wishing summer would come back! And that's when I spotted her.... having a fantastic time riding falling leaves from the big black oaks as if they were magic carpets!

That's Veronica really in a nutshell... she just doesn't know how to be miserable.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Fresh from the sketchbook...

So as usual my sketchbook is just bursting with pictures I have drawn on my travels through Wonderandia... my favourite at the moment would have to be the pretty little butterfaerie Elvira - she darts around so quickly it was almost impossible to see her, but I was lucky enough to meet her - and I must say she is a very interesting character indeed! But more on that later, for now I am going to concentrate on getting the colours just right so you can all see what a lovely creature she is!

Etsy Success!

I am very excited to announce that I had my first Etsy sale yesterday, it is so uplifting when you get that email from "Etsy Transactions" - it made my day!

So thankyou very kindly to my fellow Dust team member and number one buyer FeliciaFairy who also happens to have an amazing store selling handmade dyed and patchwork goodies you can check it out here:

http://www.feliciafairy.etsy.com

Oh and ff you haven't already please visit my Etsy store at:

http://www.wonderlandia.etsy.com

Better pencils required...

So "Gone fishing" is finally complete and I do love it, but I think it lacks a little punch and so I've decided not to put it on Etsy - I am going to do it again.

I am thinking that I need some better pencils, I am embarrased to say that all I have are Derwent Studios and I can't seem to get the punchy vibrant colours that I am dreaming of out of them.

So I've done a little research and decided against upgrading to Derwent Artist pencils due to thier poor lightfastness and instead I've decided on Faber Castell Polychromos which sound amazing! I am so excited about them and I found them for a good price at the Smart Art Club & I am going to get the 120 set - I can't wait!!!

http://www.smartartclub.com.au/shop/scdproducts.asp?CatID=2520

Once I get my new pencils I am going to re-do "Gone Fishing" and post it up here - fingers crossed it will be stunning because these pencils are quite a bit more than my old Derwent Studio's were and I am going to have to really strain my tiny little art supplies budget to fit them in!!!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Gone fishing... (work in progress)

To express my love for coloured pencils and thick textured papers, I have decided to create some coloured pencil artworks for my Wonderlandia collection...

For my first new addition I am currently working on a delightful piece featuring little Benji.

A very relaxed Benji is soaking up some sunshine in his red dingy, while throwing a line out into the divinely choppy turquoise coloured waters of Wonderlandia's famous Shell Bay.

I am finding that the more I work on this picture the more jealous I am becoming of Benji! Can't wait till it's finished.

I have posted two progress shots above... I'll post the completed one as soon as I am done.