the power of the internet (it is very powerful)

So this morning I googled Littleclouds in the image section to see if any of my stuff would show up instead of photos of little clouds and it did! My airplane posties did twice, the first was from a blog (suburbanpenpal) that had featured them which I didn't know about (yeah good job Google Analytics, nice one) which lead me to find some really cool stuff like this

Owlyshadowpuppets

Which took me a while to figure out because I forget that Americans have to buy health insurance (crazy!) but what really struck me was the packaging! I use this type of tracing style paper myself to wrap stuff up but never thought to do anything pretty to it, I think its so clever!
Its cheap, simple, recyclable, easy to biodegrade & easy to change & customise, this is my kind of packaging.

Little finds - Cool flat in Hong Kong

Got this video forwarded this morning, I don't really get how it is eco but the design & ideas of the flat is amazing.

If clicking the video doesn't work, try here.

This kind of flat design would work well in any city where decent accommodation is pricey although I think its more of a mans pad, not to sound like a girl but all that shifting and lifting would leave me pretty cream crackered.

lightbulb moments!

I know how we're all environmentalists now and that but I still think customers prefer new packaging materials for their retail orders (I think I do, it seems part of the branding to me, unless your specifically an eco brand) so I love it when I get to reuse envelopes for things I'm sending home to friends & family. The above is just a bubble envelope turned inside out so no need for covering old markings, I think it looks spiffy ! <--- a word I've been trying to get popular to no success so far.
For the postally experienced you may immediately think 'ahh but where do you put the stamps because it won't stick to plastic' because that is what I thought until I realised you can turn the flap over to use hurrah!

As a buyer from any shop, does the packaging/branding of your order make a difference to you?

Feature - Decor8 blog

To my massive surprise I was one of the Etsy picks this week on Decor8 and I didn't even realise until a customer told me they found me through the feature ( I did wonder what the hell was going on because my stats were going mental!)
Other picks included Maranon, Sarah + Bendrix, Scarlet Fig & Carving My Initials.
To be in such great company makes me happy :D

Interview - Permaset

The nice people at Permaset interviewed me for their website where I am now a featured seller hurrah ! I do like my permaset inks, I've got a lot left from the UK but I am already wondering what I'll do when they run out because I've not seen them anywhere here yikes!
You can read the interview here.

7 things I love

photo found from this blog.

So I got tagged by April from therighthypotenuse where I have to list 7 things I love and then list 7 people to do the same so here we go....

1) dogs in silly clothes
I don't think its possible to not at least smile from seeing a cute dog in funny clothes, it should perhaps be used as a form of therapy even!

2) sleeping
Even though I can't sleep easily most nights, I do love sleeping. I think it is really important for health both physically and mentally. If I ever go to bed annoyed or angry I always wake up fine, completely forgetting the negativity from the night before, although this can't be said for when I'm worried about something but 2 out of 3 is pretty good !

3) demonstrations
Not of the rioting kind rather those demonstrations they do in supermarkets and shops where they demonstrate a new fancy product and then at the end tell you they are offering it at a discount only for today. It doesn't even have to be a real life demonstration I even like the videos. If I'm lost in a big store, this is usually where I can be found on the outskirts going 'oooh wooow coool' a lot. My bf always rolls his eyes and tries to drag me away, the fool!

4) TV / Cinema
I've never been much of a reader of books or even magazines, I like to skim too when I read :S so movies and programs are my way of escaping reality when need be.

5) laughing
When I start to get wrinkles I hope they were from laughing and not from frowning.

6) foods that are small
Dim sum, sushi, tacos, biscuits with cheese and dip, sandwiches cut into little triangles. For some reason food is just better when its small, plus it makes me feel like a big scary giant which is always interesting.

7) post
The idea of snail mail is quite romantic, a piece of someone sent to another crossing oceans and more, touched and stamped on by various postal workers, I love how they are a physical reminder of someone essentially saying 'hello'.

And now here are the 7 I've tagged - shagpile, thelostearring, kitschensink, shegreetstheday , peasandneedles, Lipeony & AislingLaw go team!

2 week recap - image heavy yo!

Woah its been nearly 2 weeks since I last blogged, can't believe how quick time flies.

Briefly recapping things I've been up to

• Finished my catalogue - finally wahaaaay!
• Got a freelance writing job (although yet to start & it is nothing glamorous!)
• Participated in a swap with lucy_davidson
• Been working on the following
  
  

• Sent my airplane posties to an postal exhibition which didn't get there in time :( (1, 2, 3, 4)
• looked at 10 flats because we are moving asap. They were all mostly tiny :S I got shown 'the master bedroom' in one place and actually laughed-out-loud...well more of a choking back the tears, disbelief type of lol.
  
• donated 20 badges plus the worldwide postage to HeartsForHaiti
  
• bought cute red gingham earrings from HeartsForHaiti shop (earrings made by OddGirlCreates)
• received my first custom order from a lovely customer. Going to make a 5 character plush pillow, its going to be big & huggable! Excited about seeing it completed :D
• got a tattoo ........ of the temporary nature :D (see more on my flickr)
  
• and that is about it *I think*

In future news we are going to foster another pooch and hopefully by this weekend, the idea of having a happy little fluffy thing sleeping by my feet again really makes me happy so I think it is about time.

Hope everyone is tip top !

something in the pipeline

Been playing around screen printing these doily designs but its not coming out as well as I'd like so might be back to the drawing board to improve these but other then that, still working on my catalogue, I keep waiting to add new ideas to it but I realised (in the shower of all places!) that basically I'm always going to have new ideas so its never ending & one of my resolutions this year was to stop faffing around, being indecisive & dragging things out/being more productive so I've made it my goal tomorrow to try and finish it so that I can send it out by the end of this week.

Lol moments

photo taken from FAILblog

This isn't really in keeping with what I normally blog about but the above photo made me laugh so much, over and over again (different occasions) that I feel like it deserves a permanent presence here so that in xyz years time I can look back and laugh some more.

At one point I was wheezing and then got a bit panicky that I might choke! (not that death by laughter wouldn't be the best way to go)

Some new doodles

Some doodlings from today. Tis been a while since I last drew anything that wasn't more graphics based. Not sure what I'm doing with these yet.

Hello to my first post of 2010.

I have tried to post numerous times but my internet has been mega slow to the point where its dangerous for my Mac & I to be in the same room.
I get angry and then I want to stomp my hands on something like a cavelady. I never said I was classy now.

Everything I wanted to post about feels so long ago now that its like 'pffff' but in short.

I went away and loved it > pics to yet be on flickr
I came back & slept a record 13 hours > I also loved it
Set myself some resolutions (1st time in my life!) > so far keeping to 1.5 of them
I've been in a productive slump since > Not liking it and don't know how to get out of it.

BUT one thing I have been doing is working on a catalog because this year I want to be proactive in getting more stockists instead of my usual waiting for them to find me and I don't really want to point people to Etsy etc as not everything is for wholesale.

As a side note, its been incredibly cold here, we even bought a heater because HK homes don't have central heating systems and when you have tiled floors it gets chillier inside than outside but looking at the weather its actually 14 degrees so to even imagine what it would be at home is insane (in the membrane, insane in the braaaain)