New stock

Hi there, it's been a fair while since I've been on here and I have a lot to catch you up with.

As I said at the end of last year, this year is all about new designs and new ideas and I have been really busy developing these....

I have finished some clothes, which you can view on the Facebook page for now. We will be doing a photo-shoot next week to prepare for sending out the new clothing designs. All items are eco-friendly, sustainable or recycled - NOTHING BOUGHT FROM CHINA.

This has been a huge issue on my mind lately, as much as people are getting excited about hand-made I have noticed that a lot of the components are still being bought from the mass producers including the Chinese market-place. I find this to be such a shame as we all put a lot of time and effort into our work and the thought that some people are risking their quality and name on externally produced details, when this is their direct competition upsets me. It is hard enough to break through into the market without this happening. A lot of us generally aim to produce better quality designs than those on the budget market currently. But the hand-made melding with these "bad" products is not reflecting well on those of us who make 90%-100% of our items from scratch, I felt a little soul-destroyed today when I went into a predominantly hand-made gallery only to find out that the requirement is only 50% hand-made components. Perhaps it's just me... thoughts anyone?

Rant over and moving on...

I also put out a new design this week, it is a simple lined fold-over clutch purse. All the components are 100% recycled. Available at: www.pixieinthepark.com/store

This design is in anticipation of the collaboration between UrsaLady Creations and myself. We will have some great designs coming out in the next month. UrsaLady Creations can be found on the Logan Road strip in Stones Corner, only 10minutes from Brisbane CBD.

I will be at the Laneway Festival in Brisbane on the 28th January 2012 with the Suitcase Rummage.
Come and join us all from 11am -6pm. There will be music and drinks and lots of great stalls on the day.

Store...Coming along

So... Slowly does it as they say.

The new website is up: www.pixieinthepark.com

The shop is coming together one painful day at at time: www.pixieinthepark.com/store

Postage is calculated at the current Australia Post postage rate and you can view postage by:

Adding an item to your "Bag"
Heading to "Checkout"
You will see Tax/Shipping Cost and click on "Choose My Address"

Once you add your address postage will be visible for all items.


If you live in Brisbane and you want to save some postage you still have time to grab a few items before Christmas you can find my work at:

-Incube8er in Fortitude Valley
-Good Concepts in West End
-Ursa Lady Creations in Stones Corner
-Reverse Garbage in Woolloongabba

Go do your last minute Christmas Shopping.

NO B.S.!

I don't know about you, but I have finally had enough of all the B.S. from every company/shop/sales-rep/estate agent and so on that I deal with. What ever happened to good old fashioned honesty and transparency? How about when I request a quote you quote me the full cost instead of giving me a price I can budget for then adding GST and shipping on top. Or how about if you tell me that I don't have to pay for something then you bill me for it... you have the courtesy to let me know.

Or how about this.... you sell me the product that you told me you were selling me instead of selling me something completely different then showing no remorse for lying. Or when you print something you check the design before you send it to the client and apologise for screwing the client around...

Ok, so basically I have had a very bad year with dealing with companies. And in light of this... welcome to the new way in NO B.S. companies...

My aim is to be 100% honest with each and every one of you and be completely transparent in all that I do. This has always been my aim, but not it seems ever more crucial to make a statement about it. Each product will be labelled with it's material content and with the new look and complete content overhaul of my stock, this blog and the website: www.pixieinthepark.com I will be publishing a report on where my stock comes from, it's environmental impact and include a list of all of the new products that I use. This will be available for anyone to read. You will be charged the ACTUAL postage rate that I get charged from the post office, plus the cost of the packaging. I have a feeling the new website makes you put in your details before you see the shipping, so I will add a price list for the postage.

I really appreciate any and all of your feedback. If you have bought something you're not happy with - I need to know... If you've bought something you love - I need to know. If you think I'm hiding something - I need to know! You can email me any time.

If you too are sick of the B.S. make a complaint to the company direct or go above their heads to the Office of Fair Trading, don't let them get away with it anymore, we deserve a lot better!

Changes and Thank You's

It's been a very long few weeks, and we have all been busy bees...

Unfortunately this week the Men of the Trees fundraiser and the Kerbside Lane Market were both rained out. That certainly made for one very drowned Pixie this morning!


While I have been working away at my desk for over twelve hours a day to try and keep up with Christmas demand I have managed to find some unsuspecting victims to help me out with the things I don't have time for; what does this mean I hear you ask?

A new logo from the wonderful Lena:

The new packaging is being phased in (to reduce waste) and new business cards are coming next week (printed by Print Together, who use recycled/sustainable materials and processes and are Australian based). 

I'd also really like to thank:

The hours of hard work by Sarah doing marketing and organising.

Many more hours from Kate buried under piles of fabric and sitting next to me listening to me whinge and moan; much of the same from Emmanuel and Casey. 

Thank you to Jo for helping cross pollenate with her new business: Butterfly Host Plants

And the brilliant Gerrad for the brand spanking new website and FUNCTIONAL shop!

Please go and check out the NEW WEBSITE at www.pixieinthepark.com

I would love to hear some feed back about the new look, please comment here or email me and let me know your thoughts.

Media

Saturday night marked the first West End Twilight Market that I have been involved in, and it was truly a pleasure. The two lovely organisers Sally and Scotty made the night a true pleasure. The market was packed to the brim with food stalls, families, live music, hand-made items and vintage re-sellers. The vibe was something I have not experienced in Brisbane before. I look forward to becoming a part of the furniture at the markets and you can find me there for at least the next two weeks; from 4-9pm on Saturday the 10th December and Saturday the 17th December.

After a successful debut at the West End Twilight Markets on Saturday 3rd December, could this week get much better? I grabbed Brisbane's daily free newspaper this afternoon and what popped up on the inside cover....

I am still taking Christmas orders. Please email your order or head over to www.pixieinthepark.com and complete a custom order form and I will get back to you within 24 hours with a quote.

Orders are available for collection from any of the up-coming markets: 10th - Men of the Trees Fundraiser at Ferny Grove, 9am onwards. 10th - West End Twilight Markets, 4-9pm. 11th - Kerbside Lane Markets, 1-6pm. 17th - West End Twilight Markets, 4-9pm. 18th - Marky Markets, West End, 11-4pm.

If you are interested in the gift-bows, please let me know as I ran out again last week! Same goes for any other stock, let me know what you'd like to see there and I'll get onto it!

Glastonbury Creek

So, as you may (or may not) know, I spent the last five days out at Glastonbury creek at an un-manned, un-powered campsite; just my mother, the dog and I with the power of the sun and a half empty gas bottle.

I seem to have lost the ability to relax, so this trip was all about the both of us bonding (as I have been out of home for a few years now) and remembering how to relax.

What did I get up to?

I read a book - Abarat by Clive Barker. He is a phenomenal author, by far my favourite (thus far); I have to say that Weaveworld is my all time favourite book. But Abarat may have crept up closely behind. I recommend his books to anyone who likes twisted, uncensored, gorey fantasy that still maintains a feel that you could be living each page. Not only that but throughout the books you feel as though the story could end there but it never does, it goes on and just gets better and better.

My mother is a fantastic artist (though she will never admit it), so of course we sat and did some painting, we chose water-colours as it's something I have never been all that good at and I really enjoy challenging myself by sitting next to her and trying to produce something to her standard. This was easily the closest I have ever been :) I am very happy with how they came out:

Now that I am feeling a bit more confident about using the medium I now have to work on shadows and perspective, something that I used to be really good at, but that's what happens if you hide the water-colours for years and years.

Something else I haven't done in years is sketch. I sat down on a rock in the river and did this:

For some reason the scanner did not pick up all of the detail, but it still came out ok.

Finally, after being given a set of Prima Colour Sketching pencils I was determined to start something in my sketchbook, I have a fish that I have owned for about three years so I thought I'd draw him as he's quite interesting to look at:

I used a selection of 2H pencil, black Biro, water-colours and the coloured pencils on acid-free sketching paper. It is officially the first finished picture in my new journal. I am still thankful to Jane Davenport for her inspiration on journaling!

I'm not a big fan of my actual "art" as such, but I have finally gotten over the fear of imperfection, so I am happy just drawing/painting until I come up with something good. Plus it's fun to get off of the sowing machine for a bit!

I have lots of catching up to do, so off to work I go :)

Busy Bee

Well, it really has been a busy couple of weeks! For those of you who follow me on Facebook you'll have some idea of what is going on; for those of you who don't... you should ;)

So, a bit of a catch up:

Today I handed in my submission for the Reverse Garbage end of year exhibition "I Heart Handmade". This one is all about sustainable gift giving. All pieces will be available for under $50 and there are about 15 different Brisbane artists work's on show and available for purchase throughout the night, there will be the usual beverages for purchase, live music and free nibbles! Plus all sorts of entertainment and the chance to meet some of the artists exhibiting.
Come along on the opening night to be part of the festivities and for the best pick of the goodies.
The exhibition will be a long running one and will not close until Revere Garbage closes for the holidays on the 24th December.

I also entered the inaugural Mystery Bag Challenge, which I am quite excited about. I was given a sealed paper bag with some hand-picked goodies from Reverse Garbage and had to use every item to come up with a singular or series of gifts for the exhibition. Come along on the night so have a look at them!

Along with the submission the beautiful Rosina asked me to do the photo-shoot for the promotion of the Exhibition. The photo will be printed in colour in the Brisbane MX (free daily city-wide newspaper) some time before the 26th (their words not mine), so pick up a copy and keep an eye out for my ugly mug and the chance to have a sneak peak at my submission.

This may possibly have been in my box for Reverse Garbage:

Photo (c) Yun 2011

So that takes us up to the 26th...

From then on; the 3rd, 10th, 17th December I will be at the West End Twilight Markets on the corner of Wilson and Boundary street. I can have any custom orders put in before the 1st available for pick-up at the market on the 3rd all orders after that all orders will have to wait until the 20th December. I am hoping to have a selection of journals ready for these markets.

"West End Twilight Markets is a specialty marketplace, featuring an eclectic mix of treasures, tucker and performance.

Open every Saturday, 4pm–9pm. (at) Reclaimed Hangar - Corner of Wilson and Boundary St, West End, Brisbane." - From the West End Twilight Markets website.

The 11th I will be making my debut at the Kerbside Lane Market from 12 - 5pm.

"Held in the laneway leading down to the back of the bar off Ann street, the markets showcase local art, design and handmade & vintage clothing ...and accessories. Market goers can expect up to 15 stalls from creative stall-holders. With some great local music to entertain you throughout the day. The market is free entry and open to all ages." - from the Kerbside Lane Facebook.






In the mean time I am also offering one-on-one beginners sewing classes followed by four project classes throughout the week and on weekends. Sewing machine and materials provided. Please send me an email to book.*


I think that if I'm not completely exhausted after all of that I may get around to finishing the website, making the shop fully functional and adding all of Yun's photographs along with coming up with some new designs.

On that note; what would you like to see me bring out in the new year?






*Due to some inconsiderate cancellations (after class was supposed to begin), you will be required to put down a small non-refundable deposit.