A beautiful New Year...

Happy New Year!

These delightful notecards are by Tamar, perfect to celebrate New Years Day with.

I hope everyone had a wonderful night seeing in the New Year wherever you are around the world and made lots of fabulous new years wishes. I always found the first day of the year so exciting as a child, a new beginning, an adventure and I would already thinking about buying new books for school (stationary obsessed from a young age). I woke up this morning with the same sense of adventure and excitement about the coming year. I am so inspired after my holiday I can't wait to share my ideas and creations with you in 2009.

I have already been busy in my little studio making some very sweet fabric 'I heart' brooches inspired by my favourite things. I have introduced eight new designs to the collection with a variety of themes including: lomography, knitting and art history. These eight designs can be found in my shop now. There will be plenty more to come as I have so many favourite things and they are just so much fun to create. Here are just a few in the collection...

I heart Vintage Fabric Brooch

I heart Journals Fabric Brooch

I heart to Knit Fabric Brooch

I heart Art History Fabric Brooch

I had a lovely surprise yesterday afternoon, the mailman arrived with an unexpected parcel. A few days before Christmas I was delighted to win a giveaway draw held by the very talented Shariyah Garner. This incredible artist has recently relocated to New Zealand where she is creating some beautiful artworks. I was very fortunate to win a beautiful art block print 'Mother Earth' which is now taking pride of place in my lounge room.

'Mother Earth' my beautiful prize.

Please go and check out Shariyah's work, she has some wonderful paintings for sale and has recently added some beautiful and intriguing jewellery to her fabulous shop.

I have also completed one of my most ambitious challenges of 2008, filling a page a day in my moleskine journal. I was writing until 11:56 last night to complete the last page and was filled by so many emotions when i was able to tie a bow around my whole year of work. I will be featuring some of my favourite pages from my year in my next post.

Moleskine '2008'

After completing such a vivid documentation of my year I am now beginning a new moleskine with a whole new year of adventures. I love the idea of writing your life, keeping it safe for a rainy day in many years time when it is discovered in second hand store or in a dusty attic box and the cycle of collection begins again.

As the beautiful Joyce Carol Oates once said, 'Write your heart out'.

Wishing everyone a fabulous New Years Day, bask in the sunshine, drink copious cups of tea, find a piece of paper and a pen and write a letter to yourself outlining your extrodinary year to come.

Much love
xxx

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Holiday Snaps and New Year wishes!

What a fabulous holiday we have had! The time just seemed to fly by! We got to catch up with our whole family and just loved seeing our niece and nephew! We had a wonderful time over Christmas with beautiful presents, wonderful company, plenty of backyard cricket and lots of fun all round!

Christmas Day by the pool in Surfers Paradise..

Drinks and Pressies!

My sister and I in our new Christmas hats and sunglasses!

A few days before Christmas my hubby and I had great afternoon at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where my sister is a photographer. It's a must if you are ever in Brisbane!

Cuddle a Koala!

Getting a little too friendly with an Olive Python..

This Emu seemed to be very fond of us!

A very cute Joey..

Having a chat to the Kangaroo..

My very favourite animal, Smidgy the Barn Owl.

I can't believe it is New Years Eve today, how quickly the year has flown by! Thank you so much for your support and comments this year, I can't wait to bring you more adventures in 2009! I'm off to spend some time this afternoon in my little studio creating some lovely bits and pieces for my shop. Hopefully I will have some photos later in the day.

Have a wonderful night whatever you may be doing to see in the New Year and may all your wishes and dreams come true!

PS. Thanks so much to the lovely ladies from Etsy Cottage Style for featuring my Ocean Song brooch in their latest showcase.

xxx

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On the Eve of Christmas...

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, full of peace, love, joy and champagne!

I have had a fabulous day pottering around the antique stores in Paddington, Brisbane searching for some lovely vintage bits and pieces for my new pieces I'm currently dreaming up. Just thought I would share with you some of the beautiful things I found.

The best Antique store in Queensland!

Miss Posh Poodle- for everything vintage!

Beautiful embroided napkins, ribbon and stunning white gloves.

Close up detail of the napkins

Vintage fabric..


Vintage French hair slide..

Thanks so much to the lovely Rebecca from Edward and Lilly for the wonderful feature of my fabric brooches on her blog. My signature brooches will be available almost as soon as I return from holidays on the 30th of December. I am currently taking orders so if you have a lovely quote or favourite book you would like on a brooch please email me at sophieisobeldesigns@hotmail.com

Well I'm off to have a lovely evening with my family, we are having dinner at Salon, a stunning restaurant at Teneriffe.

May you enjoy many Christmas carols, cards and cuddles!

xxx

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Shopping List Saturday (on Sunday)

After a 4:30am start and a 2 flights I'm very excited to be home in Queensland. My hubby and I are having a delightful time catching up with family, enjoying lovely walks on the beach and even doing a spot of shopping. Inspired by the idea of 'home' this week's Shopping List is all about houses, homes and beautiful little nooks.

1. Houses-Limited Edition Print by Carambatack Design
2. Europe House by Trendyphotos
3. House Tag 1 Print by Linda Solovic
4. Bird House by Corisa
5. Tree House -Print by At Whim

Many thanks to my sister Phoebe for her help finding the beautiful photography for this list. Please pop over to the ever delightful Fancy Picnic to check out the other amazing lists for some last minute Christmas shopping.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous holiday season.
Peace, Love and Joy
xxx

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Tis the season!

Well the countdown is on, I officially finish work tomorrow with a lovely Christmas party and then Ben and I are off to Brisbane on Thursday for two weeks to share the festive season with our families. After a wonderful, adventurous and tiring year, I can't wait to kick back and spend some quality time with all my favourite people!

So I thought I best post a little blog with my latest antics before I depart for the sunshine state. First off I would like to share the little mixed media brooch I created on Saturday. Using one of my favourite shades of plum with a hint of raspberry I adored the creative process of finding just the right shades to put together this brooch.

Dreaming of Plum and Aubergine Brooch is now in my little shop.

I'm so excited as a little parcel arrived in the mail for me today from the delightful Edward and Lilly. I just couldn't resist one of the beautiful little bird decorations she is selling over in her lovely shop. Can't wait to add it to add it to the Christmas gift of a very special person (who might be reading this so they will remain nameless). Go and check out the other beautiful little creations that Edward and Lilly has in store.

(Image courtesy of Edward and Lilly)
The lovely little bird decoration I bought.

And the lovely Rebecca from Edward and Lilly was so sweet and purchased my Jane Austen collection brooches. I was so excited to see I had made my very first sale. I had a lovely time getting it all ready to send and bolted to the post office on Saturday morning to get it off nice and early.

Taking my little package to the post office.

~ So with only a few days to go my world is very busy.

I've got loads of washing to fold ready to be packed!

A suitcase that needs filling!

A pile of books that need reading. I'm lucky enough to be teaching Year 12 Literature next year and the book list includes these fabulous plays and novels. What fun! The problem is deciding what to read first.

And a studio that needs a little tidy up! Also some cute little brooches that need finishing...

In other news I will keep my little shop open while I am away and I will be shipping sales on the 31st of December. I'm also looking forward to buying up some lovely vintage bits and pieces in Brisbane to use in my work in the new year. With four weeks holiday I can't wait to spend some quality time in my studio.

I hope everyone is enjoying the festive season with family and friends. Hope to write a few blogs whilst I'm away and can't wait to do a little photoshoot of some of my pieces with my very talented sister.

Much love xxx

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Shopping List Saturday..

There is just something about the deep hues of aubergine that I simply adore. In my eyes the world should be filled with aubergine and my world certainly is! My favourite, purple shoes! So with shades of cream and aubergine dancing through my thoughts I have created my very first Saturday Shopping List.

1. Once Upon a Time Mixed Media Brooch from Little Brown Sparrow
2. 'Friends' Original Painting from Shariyah Garner
3. Suel dans le froid Print from Labokoff
4. Chair Oak Original Painting from Lisa Golightly

They are all just such delightful pieces, I'd love to find them all in my stocking on Christmas Day!

I'm so excited to be joining the lovely ladies who curate Shopping List Saturday, featuring fabulous creations from Etsy. Pop over to the ever delightful Fancy Picnic to check out the other amazing lists and get inspired for Christmas.

Well now I'm off to work in my little studio on some new treats for my shop and some Christmas presents. Might also get to do the rounds of a few local antique shops. What a delightful day.

Wishing you a lovely weekend xxx

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Everyday Beauty..

I took a moment out of the madness of my day today (filled with report writing and editing) to take a wonder around my neighbourhood and take in the beautiful overcast afternoon. I noticed as I took note of the details in my little town that everything in the world reflects beauty, it all depends on how you look at it.

I documented my walk in a series of photographs called 'Along the Garden Path' which I would like to share with you. I used the Lomography slogan 'shoot from the hip' to take each of these photographs as a way to find inspiration in the everyday.

This is how I see the world...

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the start of the festive season

xxx

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Busy Bees!

Well December is finally upon us! It is now daylight here until 9pm, which is lovely however at times just a little too warm. December brings with it, Christmas trees, decoration choosing, beautiful window displays and lovely pressies from students. It also brings with it report card writing. Not my most favourite thing to do with my spare time. So this is a fleeting post to say that my little blog will not receive any attention until report writing is over next week. As I am totally distracted by all the beauty in the world (particularly in the silly season) I thought I would quickly put up some of my favourite bits and pieces at the moment, before recommencing the report writing madness.

My favourite decoration on my Christmas tree...


This delightful little zine created by Champignons

A lovely piece of assemblage art by Melbourne artist Little Brown Sparrow

My most favourite print by the ever adorable Marmee Craft which would look adorable in my lounge room...

Finally this adorable purse created by Sydney designer Tabitha Emma

Well I hope you are inspired by all these beautiful pieces, with Christmas just around the corner what better time to buy delightful things!

Much love and cups of tea xxx

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Never from this Abyss..

Just a quick post to show you some photos from the first part of filming for the short film my friends Moana, Barrie, and I are entering into Tropfest. It's called 'Never from this Abyss' and is a strange and very twisted tale of two lovers told using T.S Eliot's 'The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock'. We had a great time filming this morning and I think the some of the outtakes will be even better than film itself. I got to chop wood, smash plates and cups and go crazy! All in a days work!

As we have set the film in the 1900's I had to find a costume suitable for the time. Of course Lifeline didn't have a 1900's evening dress hanging around so I spend last night, sewing and dyeing some curtain and a cheesecloth skirt to create my costume. Although not quite to period and perhaps a little more pirate than evening dress I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

I started with a few sketches of what I needed the dress to look like..

The curtain and 'hippy' skirt I had to work with thanks to Lifeline.

The dying process, with tea leaves and rose petals.

Moana got some great still shots from today to so I could show you our crazy antics and thank goodness we finished filming in the early afternoon as it has just started hailing! As the film will be in sepia tones I have altered the photos so you get a sense of what it will look like.

Filming a close up shot in the lavender.

Piano scene

By the fire reading none other than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

On the block about to cut up some firewood before the madness begins.

All we have left to shoot now are the scenes where we are in the river, so we are waiting a few weeks for the weather to get warmer before tackling these. Well I'm off now to finish my marking before doing some research for Literature tonight (watching a lovely film with my friend Joelene).

Much love, hope everyone is having a lovely weekend x

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