Little artists and weekend links

This weekend is brought to you by the decidedly unspooky but utterly adorable homemade Halloween costume series from Jordan on Oh Happy Day. It was so hard to decide which costume to show you on here. There are clouds and little French girls and robots and vintage pilots and so many others, but in the end I settled on these wonderful artists. Aren't they just the cutest little troubled geniuses you ever did see? Right down to Frida's monobrow. I die! Costumes like these make me want Madeleine to grow up quickly, so I can dress her in all of them. And then she smiles a toothless smile at me out of her sweet, dribble-covered face and I think DON'T CHANGE in a sudden panic.

Meanwhile, here are some lovely links to take you into the weekend.

* While we're on the subject of Halloween costumes, this dog is too cute for words * A touching story about blogging and connections * What would you say to the you of seven years ago? * This music paints a beautiful picture * Where can I find alpine strawberries in Australia? * A poignant response to the senseless murder of Jill Meagher * Swan wig! Oh yes please * Pip's free printable work-planner * The tastiest optimists v pessimists decider

Happy weekend, and may you have grand adventures and good times!

8 cute and clever designs

If you're one to spend hours on the computer tweaking the look of your blog; designing invitations, business cards or brochures; or just generally playing at making things pretty, I have good news for you! Creative Market opened its doors today. This is an online marketplace for "handcrafted, mouse-made design content," made by independent, creative folks all over the world. Think of it as Etsy for your desktop.

Here are eight of my favourite designs. What are yours?

More content will be added all the time so keep checking back. And if you are pretty nifty with a mouse yourself, you can always open your own shop in the Creative Market. Go here.

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And also, here I am lately on English Muse and iVillage:

Beautiful papercuts The new nesting Cartoons on reading Show someone you care

Post-it bombs

A funny thing happened on the Internet the other day. I typed "recipe for arnotts hundreds and thousands biscuits" into Google to see what would come up (side note: I LOVE those biscuits. Does anyone know how to replicate this flavour at home?)... anyhoo, via a circuitous interwebs route, I came across the blog of Queensland artist Fee Harding, Burntfeather. Fee lived in Japan for a year and while she was there, she embarked on what she called "the 100 post it note project." She drew sweet little pictures on post-it notes and carried them with her everywhere, leaving these tiny pieces of portable art in public places. She called it a less invasive form of street art, which I think is true and rather considerate of her, don't you?

I just love this idea, and Fee has given me permission to replicate some of her lovely, impermanent drawings here on this blog. Others have picked up on the idea, and there's even a PostProject Flickr group if you want to get in on the action (or see what other post-it bombers are doing). Neat, huh?

All images used with Fee's kind permission, from here.

Ink music

The wind is howling outside. All afternoon, from the back of our house, we watched the century-old palm trees that lined Canning Street bend and weave. Icy air is piercing through the cracks in our own old window panes and, after a week of short sleeves and cold drinks, the heater is back on and turned up high. I wish the wind would create this beautiful ink music on our walls.

irregular flow from ozan tekin on Vimeo.

Have a beautiful weekend.

The dream

All that we see or seemIs but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe

Paper Dreams from Kenneth Onulak on Vimeo.

Do you think this is what the pictures in galleries get up to while we sleep? This little movie kind of reminds me of the chalk-on-pavement world in Mary Poppins.

I like her hair

I like to pop over to New Yorker Joanna Goddard's blog A Cup of Jo from time to time, for a bit of a style top-up. It is simultaneously inspiring and intimidating to peek into the life of such a gorgeous, successful mother. Most often when I read Joanna's blog it is while wearing my fluffy, pink dressing-gown with Madeleine's milky spit-up down the front of it and, quite frankly, I don't know how Joanna does it. But I do know how she does her hair, thanks to the fabulous collection of hair tutorials on her blog. Joanna makes glamour look so easy. Which do would you do?

A song for rain

What do you have planned for the weekend? I think I will splash in puddles, tend to my flower garden and play hopscotch with a fox.

Here's a little something to take you into Saturday with a smile on your face.

the Song for Rain from Yawen on Vimeo.

Made in Melbourne (Etsy!)

Melbourne is a city famous for high fashion, hidden restaurants down tiny laneways, pop-up markets, art, literature and live music. At times it seems like every other person in Melbourne has a creative project on the go, and I just love the energy here. In such a creative city, it stands to reason that we would be well represented on that online hub of all things creative, clever and quirky: Etsy. So I’ve hunted around and brought you 20 of the best Etsy items, made or found right here.

Oh, and never fear! There are no bad hats, boxy shirts or dodgy downloads on this list. This is the Etsy that does my city proud: 20 of the most stylish, most creative and most take-home-able items from Melbourne’s top craft and vintage makers and curators.

Enjoy!

Sweater weather

Oh how I'm loving the early mornings right now. I wake up in the pre-dawn to feed little Madeleine and, most days, the sky starts to turn grey and then pink while while we cuddle together. It is a gentle start to the day, me and M cocooned in our warmth and love, with only the gentle sound of her breathing and swallowing to break an otherwise-silent bubble. Outside, the air carries ice and the wind twists trees bare of leaves into kinetic sculptures, sending pink camellia petals eddying across the road. Right now, the wind is positively howling, ghost story fashion, up and down the disused chimneys of my home, while rain slaps and rattles at the windows. But we are soft and safe and warm together inside. I just made tea and marmalade toast.

This is my favourite time of year, and it is most definitely sweater weather. If I had one sheepish girl's talent with needle and thread, I would carry a sweet embroidered sweater in my journal with me everywhere.

(Images of this adorable embroidered sweater used with the kind permission of One Sheepish Girl. I highly recommend her beautiful blog.)

And here I am elsewhere:

* On iVillage: Six triple-purpose tote-bags

* On iVoices: How do you wear your baby?

* On English Muse: Sydney street art

Secret small things

Hidden secrets. Tiny moments. Mysteries, morsels and messages: imagine holding these in your hand. Crafty decorator Jeska of Lobster and Swan has loved old matchboxes, and "secret small things" hidden inside, for years. She even has one with a typewritten message inside it from her great grandfather. How incredibly precious! Earlier this year Jeska started a project called #matchboxaday, creating tiny worlds inside vintage wooden matchboxes every day for a whole month. She then sold the matchboxes on her Etsy shop to help raise money for a charity run that her husband was doing.

The very first matchbox (pictured above) was Airmail! If only I had known, I DEFINITELY would have made this tiny world my own to celebrate my book. Then again, I am pretty much coveting ALL of these miniature marvels.

(All images used with Jeska's kind permission).