Posts Tagged ‘family’

no normality just yet

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

on raph’s return home, i had counted on things returning to normal. by normal, i mean shared pick-up of children and dinner/shopping/domestic duties which then allows for a proper working day. with the studio starting to get busy again, and loads of inspiration and plenty of new ideas i want to try, i have been positively itching to get some solid studio time in, and had thought now some real work could get done. 

but, i was mistaken. first of all, both the girls who help us out with ari could not work this week. then, on his daycare days, ari got sick and stayed home instead. generally, i would compensate this type of situation with late working nights, but of course, after a long dry spell in my social life, this was the week when i had something on every night. then, our washing machine died, which spells d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r in our house. and its been freeeeeeeeezing in melbourne town – hail storms and snow on nearby hills – it feels like winter will never ever end. plus my computer is misbehaving and i fear also on the verge of death. (might be getting off track at this point, but if you’re going to whine, might as well do it properly)

and just to add the icing on my annoyance cake, i dragged a crying, coughing, spluttering, snotty ari (who also now has a very black eye), to the supermarket and was confronted with more than a few suspicious looks. the only thing stopping me from screaming ”it was a playground accident – OK?!”, was that i would then possibly look like a psycho who did hit their children. 

i guess to put it all in perspective, things definitely could be way more awful – all family is in check (no deaths or life-threatening situations) and on the whole relations are good. but regardless, the past few days have been filled with nothing but cold, frustration, nights of coughing and trips to laundromat. joy.

anyway, here are some things which have been fueling my desire to do what i do (despite my current circumstances):

office ttable stationary – my lovely sister came to vist this week bringing with her lots of these lovely things for myself (thanks em!). so beautiful it makes my heart ache

office_ttable

jason rosenburg’s studio tour on sight unseen – his use of colour is amazing (in his work and his studio). plus he is a self-admitted hoarder, likes to collect things off the ground and is “way into mushroom subculture”. he also says “it’s always nice to find an eames chair, but I’m much happier if I find, like, a pile of notebooks from 1975″. a person after my own heart

jr_3jr_4

jr_!jr_2

 

(pics: sight unseen and mr.rosenburg’s website)

for the birds by luke bartels and jeff canham - an exhibition of collaborative pieces at the curiosity shoppe in SF. i am doing whatever i can to try and own one of these – so clever! 

birdhouse_1birdhouse_2birdhouse_3

hello sandwich’s tokyo apartment -  our folk face cushion has never looked so lovely! how can one girl have so many great colour combinations in such a little space?  

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i am rushing off to get some fluoro orange polka dot pillow cases right now, surely that will make everything better? 

hope you are having a good, frustration-free week x

this week i:

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

re-organisefabricsariraph_deskpapersunshineUS_gifts

took down our studio wall-collage to make way for a new one

brought/found fabrics to for new lounge room cushions

have one child with a black eye (ari – over-zealous climbing accident)

started re-organising raph’s office with bonnie (our awesome new helper!)

had much fun with cut paper

enjoyed a brief moment of sunshine (hurry up spring!) 

was spoilt with presents from raph – welcome home papa! we missed you xx

deserted again

Monday, August 16th, 2010

i am back in single-parenting land. one week after returning from splendour, raph left for another 10 days. this time it’s a holiday, which started in portland (oregan), and continues with driving down the coast to LA with one of his best friends. raph is claiming its “research“, as portland is home to a big food truck population, although when he is texting me about swimming in lakes surrounded by mountains, and driving along beach roads which lead into a redwood forest, the “research” bit is pretty hard to take. lucky for him, i am a good wifey who can tolerate such things, and will have a solo holiday credit up my sleeve when he returns.

between single-parenting and work, there has been little time for much else, and i don’t have much to report (unless you want to hear about packing school lunches and my eternal struggle to get children places on time, which i am sure you don’t). we did manage a short field trip to the life in style tradeshow last week and i got to see some amazing things from pony rider, lark, via alley, world weave, made 590 and printink, which was inspiring to say the least.

i do have a few exciting projects yet to be confirmed, so more on that soon. but in the meantime here is a print i made last week. its a little hint to my new beci orpin collection - 

bear_print

also special thanks to pete, who did work experience with us the past 2 weeks – such a champ! thanks pete!

dinner suggestions?

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

dinner-

as always after a holiday, i am finding it a bit tricky to adjust back into work mode. the studio is operating at a mellow pace right now, lots of nice smaller jobs but none of them very pressing, which meant last week i got to spend a few days re-organising the studio and re-planting and de-caterpillaring my much neglected vegie patch. i have also been spending my nights reading my book instead of in front of my computer – almost feels like i am still on holidays! although its been relaxing, i am such a sucker for punishment i would have preferred to have hit the ground running, and come straight back into a huge job and a some urgent deadlines. i like the perpetuation of that type of working. 

one good thing about the return to work after a holiday – i have plenty of inspiration (blog post on that soon) and a stack of new ideas. now i just need to stop procrastinating (and finish my book) and put them into action.

i do have a different type of work keeping me busy – single parenting. raph has driven the beatbox kitchen up to QLD for the epic splendour in the grass festival. to say i am jealous is an under-statement, but its equally as good to have some solo time with the kids. its also strangely liberating (for the first few days anyway. sure it will wear off soon). and what i am lacking in studio busy-ness i am making up for with house-work – i have been baking like my life depended on it and our washing situation has never been so organised (tyke actually has 4 pairs of folded matching socks in his top drawer at the moment – wonders never cease!).

when it comes to dinner though i am often stumped. unfortunately i am just not a baked-beans-on-toast kind of girl – i like to have a proper dinner every night. and working from home usually this is achieved. what-to-have-for-dinner discussions start early in the day and cooking commences soon after. raph and i share the cooking – he is a really really good cook and tends make more asian and meaty-type dishes. my cooking is more in the mediterranean/modern australian/comfort foods department. but when the pressure is solely on me, my cooking imagination suddenly disappears and we end up eating a pasta every second night.

so… i am looking for suggestions! we have one dietary requirement and that is we don’t eat pork. but other than we eat pretty much anything. well, ari can be still be a bit fussy, but he does well for an almost 3 yr old. if you have any child-friendly favourite recipe links i would love to see them.

also on a completely different note – i have a special giveaway planned in the next few days! stay tuned!

tokyo!

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

1.buskichijojiguineapigs_1boatsice-creamghibli_2fish_turtlesari_hanabibeetle_2patterncup_ride2cat_puzzlehara_donutsice-cream_parktatamifete_rubbishmacaroonsasakskacat_rollerrainpierre_hermeari_teppeityke_bikeduckpatternspark_1swan_boatspark

highlights included:

* beautiful green-ness and serenity of kichjoji (my new favourite place in tokyo)

* studio ghibli museum

* riding bikes around our neighborhood (see masami’s awesome BMX with childseat above. so cool)

* hanabi at teppei’s daycare summer fete

* eating cold soba noodles accompanied by a kirin or sapporo almost everyday

* drinking late night champagne with masami

* eating an ispahan macaroon at pierre herme with shauna (possibly one of the best things i have ever eaten)

* paddling in a swan boat in inokashira park

* kitchen shopping in kappabashi

* catching fish and turtles at an asakusa festival 

* watching tyke and ari loose there minds at kiddyland

* discovering cute stores around nakamichi street 

* hara donuts and ice-cream

* spending a ridiculous amount of money on stationary and stickers at loft 

* sipping iced lattes with ebony at this cafe

* being constantly surrounded by awesome graphics 

this trip showed me a different tokyo to my previous visits, but i still loved it just as much, maybe even more. i cant wait to go back!

i’m back…

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

and still coming back down to earth and feeling slightly surreal after our tokyo rendezvous. as expected it was amazing, inspiring, delicious and super-fun, and also at times sweaty, exhausting and exasperating (mostly due to travelling with small children in a huge and humid megalopolis with A LOT of stairs). i am still sorting through my photos but will be posting about all my favourite parts and discoveries soon.

in the meantime here is one of  my favourite discoveries – textile company tafca.  i happened across a display they had put together in parco books (pictured below), where i couldn’t resist buying a scarf in the “dancing” print (also shown below). most of their site is in japanese, but there is an english description in the “concept” section which is so sweet – have a read here

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more tokyo soon! 

p.s this is my 100th post!! who would have thought? not me! as i have said many times before i am loving the blog-life – apart from providing a way to show new work its also been a great form of therapy and support for me. thanks to anyone out there for who takes the time to read my excessively wordy babble xoxo

rounding off nicely

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

i am major countdown mode for our holiday – in a few days i will be exploring new toyko neighbourhoods, eating onigiri from 7-11 and buying ridiculously cute homewares. its been perfect timing with work in the studio too, as today we were able to sign off on lots of recent jobs: a project with japanese company GAS (designing credit cards! more soon!!), textile print for local store grace, an illustration for monthly column in readers digest and the justine clarke tour posters and advertising. and the absolute icing on the cake was a final approval for a very long and equally as frustrating job i have been working for a few months now (have mentioned it before) – cant tell you the relief it gave me to see that leave my inbox forever. 

leah, noe and miso will be holding the fort while we are away, and there is still lots to keep them busy too (well maybe not miso – he will just be getting spoilt rotten by our house-sitters).

one thing i will be sad to miss out on while we are away is MARKit at fed square – a market focusing on illustrative design. not only do i love a good market, but it’s our first ever time taking part in one! we will have all our products at special market prices, plus some other goodies too. and there are lots of other great stall holders as well including zaishu, third drawer down and the lovely victoria mason jewelery. its on sunday 12th of july, 9am -5pm. 

markit_logo

speaking of our products, the love tree was featured in july/august issue of inside out. thanks to styling genius vanessa colyer tay  and photography genius  sharyn cairns – its never looked so nice! 

inside_out

and one more thing to check out… irene grishin-selzer (aka iggy and lou-lou) has a solo show of new ceramic works at outre gallery titled “i threw a kiss in the ocean“. the show opened tonight (was planning to go but unfortunately 2 grumpy kids, rain and a ton of washing made it tricky) and is on until 18th july. i really love irene’s work and have no doubt her new things will be beautiful.

igs

well, thats about it for me for now. i may have neatly finished off my work, but now the family pre-holiday organisation frenzy begins – pack everything for everyone, clean the house, write instructions for house sitter, set auto-respond on my email, give miso some extra pats, and oh, dont forget to buy cat food. and plane snacks. and something to sedate the children (JOKING). and remember to get to sleep in time for a 4.00 am wake-up to catch the flight. geez, my mental lists are already getting the better of me.

i am fairly sure i will be blogging while i am away (although our laptop literally just died on raph as i was writing this post!), but if not, i have a good excuse and rest assured there will be plenty of japan adventure stories & pics on my return.

oyasuminasai xxo

monsters

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

mmmmonsters

 by me and by tyke.

perfect saturday night

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

in my eyes, its a perfect saturday night at the orpin-rashid’s tonight. i have a banana-coconut cake in the oven, a glass of tempranillo in hand, just finished watching a DVD and the house warm and full of food from today’s market shopping and also surprisingly (sort of ) clean.

if i would had read this of myself (or anyone else for that matter) 10 years ago i would have scoffed and thought “how utterly tragic”. 10 years ago a perfect saturday night didn’t start until at least 1am, involved much more than a glass of tempranillo and definitely didn’t involve baking. on occasion i miss the sense of anticipation and possibility that i used to have before a night out, and of course the general spontaneity of my pre-parenthood life, but on the whole i would say i am pretty happy with this domestic state i am now in. 

5 other things that have been making me happy: 

1. supermarket sarah

supermarket_sarah

i am sure this is one of those things everyone in the world knows about this except me. online shopping on whole new level. founder annette’s selection is amazing. she does live just around the corner from portobello market, but still, you need a good eye to seek out such awesome-ness. made even better by her hand-drawn”your deserve it” and “buy now” signs. too good. this week supermarket sarah featured the talents of another design gem donna wilson. but my absoltue fav thus far was her col-ab with uber-fantastic patternity.  no wonder just about everything sold on their page. 

2. karen walker’s runaway A/W collection

KW_AW

its like ms walker has been in my head and designing exactly what i would like to wear right now (with these two outfits in a particular - even down to those cute yellow boat shoes). now on the hunt for both of these outfits.

3. choo choo’s at the toff

choo-choo

on the nights i do manage to go out – the toff  is one of the places i like to go. having worked for owner camillo for a long time, and knowing a few folk who work there, it has a family vibe for me. this week the toff re-launched their restaurant, re-naming it choo-choo’s and changing the cuisine from 70’s inspired gourmet snacks to contemporary thai food designed to share. 

technically, i am not sure if choo-choo’s is actually making me happy, as i am yet to try the food. but… i did design the new logo and menu (which i have read in depth, and subsequently my drool caused my already mal-functioning keyboard to become even more broken), and have eaten karen batson’s outstanding thai food many times downstairs at cookie (in fact, we love it so much we had our wedding there!), so deliciousness (and happiness) is almost guaranteed. and rumour has it, its been packed every night since the re-launch! i’d book ahead if your thinking of trying it. 

4. my sisters blog

elfi

this is purely selfish reasons really – em lives in seoul, and now with her blogging i can easily keep track of what her and her cute puppies elfi (above) and ferdi are up to on the other side of the ocean. but aside from that, she is a great writer and is sure to cover all things good, crafty and otherwise. take a peek!

5. holidays!

800px-Cherry_Blossom_Inokashira

after weeks of frustrating location, date and budget discussions (ending in a day of tantrums from myself) we have  booked a family holiday and will soon be departing for 2 weeks in tokyo! i have been lucky enough to travel to japan many times before, but its been over 3 years since my last visit. have so many things on my “to do ” list – one of the first is to hire a cute duck boat and paddle around inokashira park enjoying the tokyo summer humidity. i also cant wait to make good use hello sandwich’s tokyo guide (fingers crossed might even get a personal tour from the almost tokyo-resident miss sandwich herself!) 

oh! my cake is just about baked. hope you are having a perfect saturday night too xx

leah’s exhibition

Monday, June 14th, 2010

my studio right-hand-lady leah bartholomew is having an exhibition which opens this thursday 17th june at gorker gallery in fitzroy. it’s titled “these are the days” and will feature prints, collages and paper sculptures. the blurb on leah’s show (written by the amazing amanda maxwell) describes the work  as “nostalgic, personal, ethereal and precious”. i’ve had a little sneak preview of it and what i have seen looks just that. her colours and special techniques look pretty lovely too –  

BARTHOLOMEW_FLYER_FRONTleah_dancing_A4

after sitting next to a very over-tired leah for the past few weeks and i know how hard she has worked and it’s sure to look beautiful. (cant wait to see the paper sculptures leah!). 

“these are the days” opens thursday june 17th 6.30-8.30pm, and runs until 27th june, at gorker gallery – 395 gore st fitzroy (crn kerr st). gallery hours 3-7 wed-fri, 11-7 sat-sun.