Beci Orpin’s Blog

there has been so much going on and things i would like to write about lately, i am not even sure where to start. i had intentions of doing several blog entries this week, all which were cast aside when current hectic nature of my life prevailed and took over. anyway… after an exceptionally lovely sunday afternoon/evening spent enjoying pimms & lemonade, raph’s cooking and winter sunshine with friends in our backyard, here i am trying to figure out what to write about first… sigh.

well, lets start in chronoligical order…. so first, my favourite things from my design ventures last weekend. this is not a design market turned out to be really great – so impressed with quality and variety of products! my favourite things were pillowcases from sunday morning design (see below), super soft cotton tights from OKOK, bespoke quilts from skapa bilda and height charts from co-op, who shared a stall with the foundry, which also has a great selection of other beautiful paper products (check out these from katsumi komagata. mind blowingly awesome.)

to be honest, i found design made trade a little disappointing… feels like organisers are still finding their feet, and couldn’t decide who best to pitch it too – retail or industry. but, it did lead me to discover arkit kit studios and houses. the house designs were simple but so nicely considered, and finishes where beautiful. although i am no expert in the world of architecture, this seems like quite a reasonably-priced way of attaining an architect-designed home.

after briefly talking to owner craig chatman (well, at least, i think it was him?), who showed me a 3 bedroom plus studio model, i immediately started to conjure up visions of my custom design arkit module on a block of land somewhere in semi-isolation on rye back beach. as soon as i got home i was on realestate.com looking up vacant blocks, working out how i could run our studio from down there, as well as how to convince leah and noe to commute for 4 hours a day to our new beach home. i can get very easily carried away. i soon realised that actually, i loved my house and neighborhood, and the beach house will just have to wait. hopefully, not for too long. 

next up – our manic week in the studio (am i forever stating things are manic in our studio? sorry if so). as well as working on new prints for built by wendy, preparing for built by wendy book 4, and designing new prints for sleepware label jethro and jackson, this week majority of our tiny mammoth winter 2010 samples came in. receiving final samples is both exciting and nerve-wracking – its the accumulation of at least 4 months of work, and by this stage, if things are not right, its too late to change. we had a few disasters (its the norm), but on the whole, i am REALLY EXCITED about how this collection has turned out. unfortunately, i wont be able to post any pictures until collection goes into store next feb, but i will be posting about tiny mammoth summer collection shortly (instores in august!)

also, tiny mammoth got a nice shoutout in current issue of ANORAK magazine. this is the best magazine for kids out there - i often talk about how hard it is to find interesting, independently-minded stuff for kids, so when i discovered anorak magazine, i immediately subscribed! its based in the UK, and put together by rob lowe (of supermundane fame) and cathy olmedillas. it comes out 4 times a year, and every issue has a theme, (this one is the bike issue – check out “my first bike” page for extra laughs!). its full of great illustrations, funny stories and activities. you can subscribe direct through their site, or you can buy in australia from kidostore.

this week we have also been working on final pieces of my new beci orpin line – its also getting exciting! all our products are almost ready, and we will be showing them to retailers in august, and hope to have them instore in september. we are also currently building our own online shop, which will sell a selection of beci orpin product, as well as a few other surprises. this should be launched end of august too. 

and last but not least, ari and i went for a walk yesterday morning, and i was delighted to notice the first blossoms starting to appear on trees. i am obsessed by the weather, and find the change of season exceptionally exciting (even when global warming is making everything a bit out of whack). i think winter into spring is the best one too…

have plenty more things to write about (including 2 particularly major announcements – no, i’m not having another baby), but will do so later in the week. enjoy your start to the week!