Catherine Campbell

badges and badges

My studio has temporarily turned into a tiny badge making factory! Making and designing badges is lots of fun... I think they look like little pieces of candy, all shiny and sweet. Here are my latest designs, available right now in my store.

First up is the 'Quiet Please' badge set using the characters from my original collage, they are available right here. This next set (my favourite!) I have called the 'Pattern Book' set. There will be no two of these sets that are identical as her little dress is cut from a tiny piece of material and the accompanying badge uses a matching section of the same lovely fabric. Come and have a look at them here.

icecream and berries...

I had quite a weird and tiring day today, I won't bore you with the details as the point of this post is to express my glee at realising, after such a long day, that I had icecream and berries in the freezer! Before I started to munch I popped the bowl into my new miniature light box photo studio (which I learned to make here) and da dah...

Donna Hay eat your heart out! Wow when you actually write 'eat your heart out' it sounds kind of intense... no offense dear Donna, I do quite like your recipes.

Anyway, the other piece of news I thought I'd mention (much more exciting) is that a shop in Melbourne by the name of Douglas and Hope are now stocking some of my work in their city store. Any Melbourne people out there, you really need no excuse to visit... they are the most lovely, heavenly stores!

You can check their website above for address details of the City and Fitzroy stores.

mumblings...

I went to see a film this afternoon called The Lives of Others and it is definitely a five star, most excellent film. I know it has been out for a while, but you can see a little snippet here.

Today one of my bunnies got into my well guarded vegetable patch and ate everything! I was quite sad, but to tell the truth, my vegetables weren't really growing very well in this cold frosty weather. I hope he enjoyed his feast... mmm hopefully something may sprout up again.

Also I had to post about this beautiful jewelery piece that I bought recently from Etsy seller Paraphernalia. I fell in love with it at first site and thought it would most likely be well out of my price range, I was very happy when I saw how affordable it was and can't wait until it arrives!

Tonight I'm going to be packaging a few orders myself. Running a little business is a very new adventure for me and I think I'm slowly getting into the swing of things. I borrowed some design books today because I have ideas for some pretty packaging that I want to make. It is strange, you have to learn to be a professional photographer, graphic designer, accountant, marketer and mailman (woman) all at once... while still finding the time to make lots of stuff.  Speaking of making stuff, I have to get on with things as in 12 days a new shop/gallery/showroom is opening in Melbourne that I'm going to be part of. I haven't seen it yet as the shop itself is still being created but I hope to report back good things...

little papercut pin set...

I have made my first little badge set! A group of Little Papercut girls, they are for sale as a set of all eight, so you needn't miss out on your favourites. They are very cute and I'm sure would look lovely on any outfit! Available right here in my store.

exhibition opening...

The exhibition opening went very well. There was quite a large turn out, due to the fact that all the galleries on High St were open for the Northern Exposure festival, so it gave the whole night a very nice vibe. We were running late because we couldn't get the car to start and ended up having to call a cab, but the exciting part of that was that my two little works sold before I even got there! Afterwards we went across the road to the Regal Ballroom to attend a Winter Solstice party, with lots of finely dressed people having lots of fun...

ten little thoughts...

I have finished the second canvas! Ten little birds for ten little thoughts...

Here they both are together, despite being the same the colours look slightly different in each of these photographs... the weather seems to be getting more and more overcast!

Also, yesterday I was playing around and I made some very cute little things... here is my first attempt at making some badges, using my little papercut girls.

I love them! Very soon (after I have some sleep, some food, and a couple of days of calmness!) I plan to make a few sets for my store, I have lots and lots of designs in mind so (if you like badges) keep a look out...

lover, lover...

Well I'm finally on my way to filling these two blank canvas... talk about leaving it to the last minute, they are due tomorrow! I decided to create an image on linen and then stretch it over each canvas, here are some pictures of the first one (a bit dim I'm afraid... it is overcast today!).

I have called this one 'Lover Lover', hence the embroidery up the top. I also sacrificed a beautiful hand made doily for her dress but I think she wears it well... so I'll let her keep it. Now onto the next one! Hopefully pictures soon.

modamuse...

I had a lovely little surprise from the people over at Modamuse yesterday... it's a great blog that showcases the work of 'modern Australian and New Zealand designers, artisans and crafters'. You can have a look right here!

kyoko okubo...

Thanks to the wonderful Ullabenulla, I have found my new most favourite artist! Kyoko Okubo's work is dreamily, beautifully lovely. Here are a few of my favourite things...

Of course I can't go past birds in the hair and bunny rabbits... soaking in the tub! You can take a look at Kyoko Okubo's website right here.

Limited edition prints...

I have been making some limited edition prints over the last couple of days. They have quite a short print run of only 20, and are printed on beautiful archival Hahnemuhle paper... my favourite! Each is numbered, signed and dated, and I have a few available for sale in my store. Here are two pretty little ladies...

'The Adventure'

'For It Was a Very Dull Day'

Both of these can be found right here!

design is mine...

I have added a lovely blog to my list over there on the right hand side called Design Is Mine. It is full of lots of beautiful eye candy!

pretty in pink...

Here is the third mail tag... she is made with some of my new mulberry paper that I picked up a couple of days ago. New paper always inspires me!

At the moment, I'm having a bit of a warm and fuzzy blog land moment. I can't quite believe what a lovely little supportive and creative community blog land is... well the land of blogs that I am happily taking up residence in! I have to say thankyou to decor8, creature comforts and happysilly, for your very lovely words... they did make me smile all weekend!

off to see the sights...

This weekend I'm making lots of work for a little store that may, fingers crossed, be interested in selling some of my work. Here are two little mail tags framed and almost ready to go (I just need to remove my fingerprints from those frames!).

I have called them 'Off to See the Sights' (1 + 2) as I think they look set for a pretty interesting adventure. Hopefully I will have one more of these and some other little things finished by tomorrow. Here they are in a little bit more detail.

i heart design*sponge...

Yesterday evening I had the most wonderful thing happen, I logged onto design*sponge, as I do most days, only to see my little characters staring back at me! Well, you cannot imagine my excitement!! Particularly as Grace (the lovely lady who runs the show) wrote such a nice little comment about my work and added four of my images, which I thought was very generous of her! So... well... yay yippee yippee yay! Please go and take a look if you like right here.

my favourite mirror...

Today I got a lovely surprise in the post! I ordered this from My Favorite Mirror a little while ago and I'm very happy to have a tiny Jen Corace in my bag...

p.s. I have just added the "Off to Grandma's" set to my store.

They can be found right here.

little girls...

My mum came for a flying visit this morning and she brought me some lovely images to look at. These first three are beautiful paper dolls made by Australian fashion design Akira Isogawa. I love them and they have inspired me to make some more of my Little Papercuts!

These next ones are a little hard to see but she took them at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. These are very early works by Warhol, and again I'm in love... and inspired!

spooked...

I have a small obsession with doileys at the moment, so I thought I'd post an image of where it all began. About a year ago my Grandma gave me her collection of doilies and they are all beautiful. I can't believe how delicate some of them are and all are hand made (some by her). One of the best parts is how they are kept, in between two very thick pieces of board with this on the cover...

Today I also finished this little drawing, hares in the grass... I have called it "Spooked". This can be found as a new print in my shop...



Available here x

bird tales...

Today I went and had a chat with a lady who owns the most heavenly store, and it looks like she might want to stock some of my work... yay! So hopefully more to come about that soon :) For now, I have just finished two little drawings to add to my own store. These are originals on the pages of an old Enid Blyton book, they are made using ink and watercolour and I  have called them Bird Tales (1 and 2). 

They are available right here.

blog lover...

I'm slowly getting a list of favourite blogs going... over there on the right hand side. I do love reading blogs as they are such a wonderful source of inspiration, and looking over at that list (which is not nearly finished) it seems like I must love a lot of blogs! Thanks to a little fairy who introduced me to bloglines (yes... what is the virtual equivalent of living under a rock?) the reading of blogs has become a lot more... streamlined :)

off to grandma's house...

Well along side trying to work out my tribe of marshmallow girls... I have had to start making lots of work as some future projects may be on the boil (is that the right expression? Occasionally I tend to get my cliches confused). Anyway, here are three little "things" I finished off yesterday. I say things as I'm not exactly sure what label to give them, they remind me of a cross between a tea cup coaster and a doily that you might find at your Grandma's house! Ideally I would like to see each of them in a little box frame, mounted slightly off the backing board so they cast a tiny shadow... but there's plenty of time to sort that out later in the week.