Autumnal - Wednesday Wishes

Autumnal 

Wednesday Wishes

inspired by the new season that is almost upon us 

The Autumn Owl - Print by myfolklover

Timber and Tamber Rain Boots - Orange by TimberAndTamberBoots

Acrylic Nail Art Custom - Whispers of Autumn by JensDigitalNails

vintage amber apothecary amber glass bottle trio by epochco

The 'Autumn Sky' hand printed and dyed bamboo skirt

with gold leaf motif by FrancesBakerShop

Fountains, Candy Girls and Fringe World Frivolities

I recently had the good fortune to attend a Fringe World Event in the big city.  My friend and I walked to our venue and I am so glad that we did. We came across an amazing steampunk inspired piece at the Perth Cultural Centre. It was used in the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre production "Mechronos"

"Time stands still. Time flashes past in a second. The guardians of time have arrived on their ship Mechronos. Their purpose - to keep time alive - to keep Mechronos alive."

Mechronos is described as a monumental steam punk industrial performance machine that was created by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre on commission from FRINGE WORLD Festival and Lotterywest. After a few happy snaps, we ventured on to the The Brass Monkey Pub for some eats. 

There was lots and lots of tasty share plate goodness here.  

With bellies full, we wandered on to our Fringe World venue - the Lunar Circus Tent perched atop the Roe Street Carpark in Northbridge. Readers, you may know this venue better as the Rooftop Movies. 

There were darling vintage caravans, pink flamingos and strings of plastic basket lanterns strung as far as the eye could see! 

Then for the main event, the Candy Girls.
The blurb goes something like this : "mix three professional aerialists with candy and chaos and you get the Candy Girls! They will fly, clamber,swing and spin out of control while performing high skills high in the air. Performed by local and international artists, these performers know no boundaries to the tricks they can achieve, while putting their feet in each others faces. Cute, Choreographed, Cheeky and Comical, the Candy Girls will wow you hundreds of highly skilled tricks and hundreds of reasons to play tricks on your mates" . 

We were certainly not disappointed. These girls were fabulous, an evening of hilarity ensued, with many gasps and giggles from the audience as the show went on. There skills at both ground level and up high were sensational, even slapstick at time! Wow! 

There was lots of Candy inspired music which provided the backing track for the show - gems such as "Candy" by Iggy Pop, Bed of Roses (roses chocolates were thrown about to make a "bed" of roses) by Bon Jovi, Sugar Sugar (possibly) by The Archies and My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small.  

We then meandered back to our previous destination. The night lights of Fringe World were so much prettier and brighter on the way back through the Northbridge Piazza 

and we had a quick wander through the Urban Orchard venue at the Perth Cultural Centre. 

The Aquarius Fountain bar looked spectacular in the evening light, the fountain was so picture perfect! Yes that really is a working water fountain on top of the bar!

It really was an amazing night, filled with Fringe World Goodness, which I got to share with a really dear friend. I hope you enjoyed this little slice of Fringe World 2013, seen through the eyes (and camera lens) of Maddabling xo 

Friday Friends - DUSTy Divas - Bonjour Berry

Happy Friday lovely Maddabling Blog Readers, hope you are all happy and well. Have you had a good week? Travelling to the city for work this week, 

I was lucky enough to attend a Fringe World event with a dear friend - The Candy Girls which was held on the rooftop of the Roe Street Car park in the Lunar Circus Tent. "Mix three professional aerialists with candy and chaos and you get the Candy Girls! They will fly, clamber, swing and spin out of control while performing high skills high in the air. Performed by local and international artists, these performers know no boundaries to the tricks they can achieve, while putting their feet in each others' faces. After performing in Ireland and Perth's Royal Show, this trio are back for more with an extended show filled with more laughs, more tricks and more fun!" These girls were so incredibly talented, and had us laughing at their antics and gasping at the daring aerial skills they performed.  I will try to get a separate blog post up over the weekend with some of the snaps I took at Fringe World! 

This week it is my absolute pleasure to introduce a new Friday Friend, DUSTy Diva and fellow West Australian, meet Corinne of Bonjour Berry.

Corinne designs the most gorgeous stationary and printable party invitations. The designs are modern, sweet and unique. They really are the bomb. I want to share a few faves with you now. 

 I love the sentiment of "let the rumpus start" on these "Where The Wild Things Are" party invitations which feature Max and his crown. These printable PDF's are perfect for little boys of all ages. 

And why not personalise your little mermaids next birthday party with this fabulous "Mermaid Printable Party Kit with Invitation & Decorations" in a  "customized pdf" - complete with Cupcake Wrappers and Toppers, Thank You Cards, Drink Labels, Stickers, Folded Food Cards, Bunting and Invitations.

Or this lovely idea - a truly personalised digital printable file of a 4x6 inch or 5x7 Birthday Party invitation which is customized for your event. It features a postmark customized with the birth place and date of the birthday person. Corrine says that "this invitation works well with modern photos or vintage photos. If you have a colour photo I can convert it to black and white and add the sepia tones for you" What an excellent idea!

Dear readers, I now invite you to browse through the Beautiful Bonjour Berry Portfolio, I hope you find Corrine's story as inspiring as I did. Have a wonderful weekend everyone xo

The Beautiful Bonjour Berry Portfolio

Who is Bonjour Berry
My name is Corinne and I am a designer and illustrator. Bonjour Berry is the studio name for my line of customized invitations and stationery.

How and When did your handmade / artistic journey begin ?
I’ve always been into artistic pursuits. As a teenager I loved art and was always making my own cards for people. When I graduated from high school I decided to study graphic design and then advertising. I worked at an advertising agency for a while and then in an in-house marketing team. That led to a job in market research and from there a job working in statistics. One day I turned around and realised I had ended up very far away from where I had imagined I would be and even further away from the things I loved doing. 

What to do next? How about quit my job and convince my husband that we need to live in London for two years. It turns out that was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I spent some time volunteering at a not-for-profit photography school and also at a stock photography company. I started working with digital image manipulation and taught myself how to use Photoshop. I had the bug and moved onto teaching myself how to use Illustration software. I became completely immersed in computer graphics. I could apply a lot of what I had learnt from my uni days but the software had changed so much that I really had to start from scratch.

I used my two year sabbatical to find out what really inspired me and it gave me a chance to start the process all over again. We moved back to Australia and in September 2012 I opened my Etsy shop with my first range of invitations and stationery and I’m really pleased with how its going so far.
What inspires you ?
I started designing for myself because I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. So I guess I was inspired to fill that gap! From a design perspective I’m inspired by a range of different disciplines. I’m constantly making mental notes about colour combinations I see whether it be in textiles, magazines, on a blog or in fashion. My son inspires me to keep designing and growing my business. I want to show him that you can make a career from your passion with a little perseverance and a lot of hard work.

What mediums do you work with - do you have a favourite ?
90% of my work is digital. Sometimes I draw on paper before I begin but often my final design ends up being completely different. I tend to think “on screen” and find it easier to visualize and edit this way.

What kind of things do you make/create ?
Mostly I create stationery. This includes invitations for birthdays, engagement parties, baby showers, and bridal showers. I design cards, journals, artwork, pretty much anything that ends up on paper. I also design the odd logo or marketing piece but it’s usually for companies that have a similar style to mine and they are looking for something sweet, simple or artistic.

Do you have a favourite piece that you have made/created ?
I offer a custom invitation design service so people can get exactly what they want. I find that a lot of my favourite invitations come out of this. 

My customers get really excited when I deliver their invitation because they have often been searching long and hard to find what they want and they just can’t find it. I receive a lot of requests for kids birthday invitations and in particular 1st birthday invitations. Having just celebrated my sons first birthday last year I know what a big milestone it is for a family and so I really enjoy doing this type of work.My ballerina invitation and my raccoon invitation were both custom design requests and I love how they turned out.

What are your future plans/dreams/aspirations ?
I really hope I am still designing stationery in 10 years time! I hope to grow my skills as an artist and to expand my stationery line.

Dear readers, do you want to see more? Here is where you can connect. 

Read the Bonjour Berry Blog here : www.bonjourberry.com

Buy lovely things on Etsy here: www.etsy.com/shop/bonjourberry

and become a fan on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/bonjourberry

Sideshow - Wednesday Wishes

This weeks Wednesday Wishes - Sideshow - is inspired by the amazing Fringe World shows currently being held in the City of Perth. Enjoy!

Old Style - Crustacea Mini Sideshow Banner by YesterdaysTrashArt

GENIVIVRE Ruffle Opera Shrug STEAMPUNK Burlesque Showgirl by GothicBurlesque

8x8 Photo - Sideshow Alley - Vintage Inspired Wall Decor by 9thCycleStudios

Fire Phoenix Trashy Formal Bustle TuTu Adult by MTcoffinzUnderground

Twisted Sisters - 8x12 Glossy Art Print by FreakAlternative

Friday Friends - Local Artists - Eve Young

Happy Dance time lovely blog readers - it's Friday! Did you have a good week? I was spoilt by my lovely valentine, I hope you were too. This week it is my great pleasure to introduce a very talented local artist Eve Young. 

Eve's portraiture art is nothing short of sublime, beautiful creative works that are whimsical and feminine, yet with little touches that make them truly original. Nature is a strong influence, and I find some of the pieces Eve creates have surrealist elements. In short, I really love Eve's work. Here are a few gorgeous pieces that I feel compelled to share with you. I hope you love them too. 

Dear readers, I invite you to now take some time to wander through The Virtual Eve Young Gallery and learn more about the creativity and influences that drive Eve. Have a wonderful weekend everyone xo 

The Virtual Eve Young Gallery 

Hello! My name is Eve Young, I am a visual artist living in Albany, Western Australia.

I was born in England in 1985, and migrated to Australia with my family in 1993. I have always loved to draw, and as a child I was always encouraged to be creative and make things. 

Since completing my Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at Edith Cowan University in 2008, I have had 3 solo shows and exhibited in various exhibitions in Western Australia, Melbourne and Brisbane. My work has also been published in the Curvy and   Semi-Permanent books.

Most recently I've been creating artworks in watercolour and pencil, but when I have the time I love to use oil paints on recycled wood and other found objects, as I enjoy the history connected with these type of materials.

My work is autobiographical, focusing on my experiences and memories as a child and from my travels, using portraiture with glimpses of animals and plants from my surroundings. My images of birds representing migration and my yearning to travel.

Dear readers, would you like to see more? Here is how you can connect with Eve Young Gallery. 

Visit the Eve Young Web Page at www.eveyounggallery.com

and buy lovely things from the Eve Young online shop here: 

http://eveyoung.bigcartel.com/

Loves me Not - Wednesday Wishes

Loves Me Not 

This Wednesday Wishes Blog Post goes out to all those who don't like Valentines Day. Something for everyone - enjoy x

Valentines Schmalentines, Anti Valentine Button PIN or MAGNET from snottub

Anti Valentine Day Shirt by NudeAndLoiteringTees

Vintage Assemblage Anti Valentines Day Necklace, 

Heart In A Cage Necklace from Mystarrrs

Hand-stitched gingham heart card by fineprintcards

Stop Following Me,anti valentine Digital Print by Parachute425