Interior values

Doing what I do.

I've been sick for the last 10 days. I'm very bad at taking time off work but I've finally given in to the fact that I need to rest.

So I've been resting, and reflecting, and have come to a conclusion:

I'm starting to feel a bit jaded about interiors.

Once upon a time one of my favourite things to do was look at interior design blogs. Mostly as an observer but also partly as a participator, as I slowly worked on creating my own little space. But lately I've started to respond to what I'm seeing online with far less enthusiasm.

At first I thought that was to do with the fact that maybe I was losing passion for what I do. But that's not true. I still love my little business, I still love textiles and I still love creating things that end up in other people's homes. But I think what I'm sick of is the relentless competition, the relentless need to reinvent ourselves and keep up with what everyone else in the blogosphere is doing. It's hard to resist conforming sometimes when everything is triangles or geometrics or neon pink.

I've actually started to dislike house tours. Because instead of looking at photos of someone's home and thinking "wow, this place is just so full of memories and meaningful things" or "wow they've managed to make such a homely looking space without spending too much money" or "hey that's clever!" I look at these houses and think "fuck these people must have a shitload of money" or "wow that's very on trend... I wonder how it's going to hold up in 10 years."

I don't want someone to buy Ink & Spindle cushions to suit their currently-very-trendy-interiors-scheme, and then buy some new Ink & Spindle cushions to suit their new interior once they get sick of the old one. I want people to buy what we make because they are investing in something they are going to enjoy for years to come. Because it's special to them, because they appreciate the story behind it, where it was made, how it was made. Instead of an impulse buy I'd rather someone look at one of our designs for a year or two before finally splashing out on some meterage for curtains or a reclaimed and reupholstered chair.

I want what we make to be future proof. So I think I need to work harder to explain those values and maybe help people to shift their thinking and not get sucked into the vortex of current design. Hmmm...

xx

Modern Times Pop-Up Shop

 
Modern Times Pop-up Shop with Ginkgo cushion (photo by Modern Times)

Just a quick note to let you know that the Modern Times Pop-up shop on Smith Street is having a relaunch party tonight from 6-8pm! All new furniture and artworks and other bits of local awesomeness.

I'm a bit excited because not only do they have some of our cushions in amongst all the gorgeous mid-century furniture and art, but they also have a set of my Proteaflora prints! It's the first time any sort of artwork of mine has appeared a wall somewhere for sale, so I'm pretty darn chuffed about that. I was actually working on the Proteaflora prints around the time of the first Modern Times launch party (a few months ago), and I remember daydreaming about them being a part of it and thinking maybe they'd fit in quite well. So it seems pretty fortuitious that my pipe dream came true in the end :)

xx

The fleeting

You know, I was thinking about what it is that I like about Instagram. Apart from the fact that it's a visual medium and I quite like taking photos, I love the fact that Instagram is all about celebrating the small and simple things. Fleeting moments that we stumble across in our daily lives that we feel are worth pausing and capturing.

You know how there's those cynical people who talk about certain social media saying: "oh that's just full of people telling you what they had for lunch today or some funny shit their kid said". Well you know what? Maybe that's a good thing. Life doesn't have to be full of momentous, hard hitting events. We're never going to be happy if all we're focussing on is the next big thing, the next big holiday or big purchase. I'm big on goals and always having something to work towards but I've realised that my tendency to always set the bar higher and higher means that there's never going to be that feeling of completeness at the end. Instead I've found that happiness needs to comes from enjoying the now, the myriad of minutia, the briefly beautiful, the fleetingly funny, the simple yet striking.


A full double rainbow stretches over Clifton Hill; bright and cheery gloves from Cottage Industry to warm my morning commute; sunshine on the bricks of our Younghusband Building; a miniature garden between the pavers; the beautiful Mattt studio whilst working on a new digital collab; "hash" cookies made by my sister in law (too funny).

 xx

A little bit of new

We've been designing some new prints! And I've been having a great time taking photos of them all. Seriously getting some good mileage out of that sideboard. Best eBay purchase ever.

Read more about all the new stuff over at the I&S blog! It's Friday afternoon and I've run out of blogging mojo to write any more words :)


New prints and cushions in the shop.


My new "Blockprint" design - in Persimmon & Juniper (ceramics by Abby Seymour)


My new "Watercolour Stripe" design - in Toffee.


Watercolour Stripe and Leuca seem to make good friends.

Have a great weekend!! xx

Design Made Trade 2012

Ink & Spindle at Design Made Trade 2012

Back from Design Made Trade and amazingly still alive. It was rather epic, but so worth doing, and I feel so good about how the stand came together. I feel like it finally resembled something of a professional standard. New branding, nice furniture, some new prints (a rarity indeed), and generally looking fairly cohesive.

The only down side is that I know this feeling of "good enough" is only a fleeting one and it won't be long before I set the bar even higher. What's with that? It would be nice to just "be" for a little while, and just feel okay with what I/we have achieved. Sometimes I suck at perspective.


My beloved sideboard getting some love - yay! And Teegs' new Grevillea print on some refurbished Fler Chairs. And a rug by Patchy Rugs. And new prints on the cushions.


Instagram! Ceramics by Abby Seymour, Mustard colourways, Cut fabrics, The gorgeous REB, Paddy the Caddy (thanks Sass!) and my new iBark iPhone case.

xx

Design Made Trade this week!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that I'll be at Design Made Trade this week with Ink & Spindle, and we're so excited about it! DMT is definitely our favourite event of the year - the perfect mix of local established and independent makers and a great opportunity to push I&S more in the direction we want it to go. You should see how much gorgeous Mid-Century furniture is going to be on our stand this year. Ohhh yeah.



There are trade days and also public days (we're allowed to retail wares) so please come visit and say hi!

Design Made Trade
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton
Trade days: Thursday 19th & Friday 20th July
Trade & Public days: Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd July.

xx

Hiding on Instagram

Sometimes it's hard to find opportunities to take proper, "blog worthy" deemed photos. Sometimes the words just aren't flowing. For all those times, there's Instagram, and I love it (no surprises there). That's where I'm hiding most of the time, when I'm absent from this blog for weeks on end. You can find me under the username "laracameron".

Here's a snippet:

Work and making

 Home and surrounds

Hope to see you on there xx

Whipup guest post

The one in which I wrote a guest post for Whipup and hope I don't sound too much like a wanker.

Whipup Guest Post as part of the 2012 Guest Series

On business, life, ethics, values, priorities...hope you like.
xx

A brief foray into digital

Digital textile design job for Kayell

It's the strangest experience, engaging in a design process that has barely any contraints. Especially after spending the last 4 years designing textiles for screen printing, which has limitations out the wazoo. Typically I enjoy those contraints; they provide a framework and a starting point for my creative thinking and a host of challenges to overcome.

But as I seem to be saying repeatedly on this blog of late, I've been looking for ways to push myself creatively and step out of the box that I've built for myself. Hence a little bit of lighting design, some digital art prints. Quite fortuitously however, another opportunity to do so recently fell in my lap. A couple of months ago the very lovely Jeremy from Imagescience called me into his office when I was there to collect some prints. A supplier of his was in need of some digital textile design services; would I be interested or did I know someone who would be?

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I took the job, excited about the opportunity to push boundaries and experiment more with colour and texture.

Digitally printed 100% linen cushions

Amongst other things, Kayell sell large format fine art printers which are capable of printing directly onto fabric - silk, linen, cotton and a nifty repositional adhesive backed nylon-ish material. Kayell had a trade show to attend in a months time and wanted to showcase the capabilities of the printers in a real world setting. So I took to task designing cushions, lamps, wall hangings and wallpaper, which were all printed by Imagescience, of course. The results were pretty stunning. I was so impressed with the colour saturation and the level of detail.

Digitally printed 100% silk wallhanging, and repositionable wallpaper.

I also had a bit of fun sourcing mid-century furniture from Modern History, to complete the picture. Much nicer than your usual expo hire furniture options.

Silk hangings as a work in progress in the studio - love the translucency

So yeah. Big thanks again to Jeremy for sending this job my way. I learnt a lot from this job and I think it has provided a shift in thinking that has ultimately affected my design process for screen printing too.

xx Lara.

Cressy Sideboard

Just popping in to share my excitement over my recent eBay win. I'd been cruising the 'bay looking for some nice mid century furniture and when I saw this one it was love at first sight. I managed to score it a mere $20 below my maximum bid:

Cressy sideboard - my new love (photo by ccmodern)

I can't wait for it to arrive (coming all the way from Sydney!). Australian made in the 60's by Cressy Furniture - they really knew what they were doing back then.

It's going to be great for product shoots too :)

x

Proteaflora

Proteaflora print series (looking curiously small here, though they're actually quite big!)

So you might have picked up on the fact that I've been feeling a wee bit creatively flat over the past little while. But it recently occurred to me that I've been putting a whole bunch of restrictions upon myself as a creative individual, mostly subconciously. These subconcious thoughts were telling myself that I should be designing textiles, because that's what I do, end of story.

But then I thought back to times in the past when I felt most creatively fulfilled, and that was when I was designing/making just for the hell of it. Not for commercial purposes, not as part of my business but just for fun. So the last little while I have been exploring that, and it's been so, so satisfying. I feel like I've rediscovered a source of happiness in my life that has been sorely neglected.

On that note, this print series is something that has emerged from my creative ramblings and I'm quite happy with them! I had fun experimenting with blending a bit of vintage poster style with bold geometric shapes. Originally they were just for my wall at home but the girls have encouraged me to edition them and put them in the shop. So why not. The very lovely Jeremy from Imagescience printed these for me on a wonderful, achival Bamboo stock, and the results were stunning. Thanks Jeremy!

They're quite large though they don't necessarily look it in the photos! These ones are A1 in size but I'm also printing them in A2.

'Proteaflora' in A1


'Leucadendron' in A1

'King Protea' in A1

Hope you like! xx

Windows

A little bit excited this week to spend some time in the windows of my favourite stores Wilkins & Kent. Those guys are just so talented, and their stores are just so gorgeous thanks to their great team. It was quite a priviledge to be asked to do a little display for them.


Timber love seat in the window of the Brunswick St store


Vessels of southern hemisphere natives - I'm glad this random idea from my head actually turned out okay!


W&K city store - beautiful timber queen sized bed featuring Moochie Lou bedlinen.

xx Lara

The less cycled path

Bicycle related oddities - knitted bike hoops and a bicycle tree

Currently my bike route to work has lots of detours in place whilst council works to reconstruct sections of the path. Strangely this is feeling very much like an apt metaphor for life right now.

As much as I long to follow my safe, reliable, well trodden route (and can see exactly where I want to be beyond the signs that are directing me elsewhere), I also concede that a detour is a good way to discover new things; open my eyes to new sights and experiences. Who knows, perhaps I'll end up somewhere completely different and much more exciting than where I wanted to be in the first place.

Textures and colours. I love old signage in all it's forms.

I like this colourful bridge in it's unlikely setting, sandwiched between freeway, commission flats and muddy creeklands.

 
This strange undulating grassland always catches my eye, it's very odd- what used to be here? And these overhead triangles, they make nice shadows in the morning.

xx

A bit of light experimentation

Lasercut lamp holder

Sometimes you need to make something different just for the sake of it. I feel like I've been boxing myself in, telling myself that I should be designing textiles and textiles only. But I think back to some of the most inspired times of my life and they were when I felt like I could design anything. Not for commercial gain, just for fun.

...hanging in the studio

We redesigned the shop section of our studio at the start of the year and this was the last piece of the puzzle, finally done. My good friend Sass from next door planted the seed of this idea and I ran with it. It was the technical design process that I enjoyed the most; I lost myself in it. I've missed that feeling!

x

Birdwood

Birdwood Sandal by Wootten

I should really make more of an effort on this here blog to write about awesome creative things made by people I know. Like these gorgeous sandals. The nicest bit of footwear I've ever owned and made by my friend Jess (who, as it must often be stated, is a boy).

Birdwood Sandal by Wootten

It probably would have made more sense to buy these at the start of summer than the end, but hey, life sometimes gets in the way. And now that you've seen them (and doubtless want a pair) you can spend the next 6 months saving up and looking forward to getting some made for next spring. Because lovingly & locally made wares are where it's at, folks.


Birdwood Sandal by Wootten

The Birdwood Sandal comes in black, brown or tan (or if you're special, maybe even yellow!). Head into Wootten bespoke shoes to try on a fitting pair and Jess will stitch a pair up for you! How awesome is that.

xx

Being mindful

 

Ginkgo. Sunlight. 

Living in the moment is something most of us find nigh impossible. We know it's good for us to do so, but generally we suck at it. It's like we're programmed (or society has programmed us) to always want more. Always be pursuing. Always be focussing on the next step. The next challenge. The next life goal. Career. Partner. House. Kids. Better house. More kids. More money. More stuff.

I do love that Dalai Lama quote that's been floating around the Internet of late:

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

It's so apt isn't it?

Currently, I find myself in a particular place in my life where I very much need to be able to live in the moment and practice mindfulness. The future right now feels like an ambiguous one, I feel suspended, in limbo. For someone who has spent much of their adult life in relationships, always either trying to fix things or focussing on that "next step", it feels insanely impossible to shift my thinking and just focus on the here and now.

But slowly, slowly I'm getting there. I think. I hope. I have moments that are just good. Good for how they are right in that moment. Nothing more. Not as part of some grand plan. I'm going to hold on to those moments and cross my fingers I can master this art.

x

Flowering Gum duvet cover

It's kind of crazy to think that in one week (on March 20th to be precise) it will be the 5 year anniversary of my very first print run of fabric. 5 years! I still remember that feeling of terror I had that I wouldn't be able to sell a metre.

I think it's also kind of crazy that it has taken me a full 5 years to get around to making myself a duvet cover from my own fabric. It's quite nice to finally replace those faded, threadbare sets that have been gracing my bedroom for the good part of a decade.

Flowering Gum Duvet cover

 

Flowering Gum Duvet cover

Of course in true Ink & Spindle style the fabric I used to make this set isn't available anymore. But we have a very similar Flowering Gum in Black & Greylead (grey instead of white branches) which would look equally great, and the Dashes in Snow is still available for the edging.  The pale blue fabric is a GOTS certified organic cotton sheeting from Organature. You can buy it by the metre to back the duvet cover and if you're slightly-more-sane-than-me you can buy a flat sheet and fitted sheet from Organature pre-made. There's a time saving idea ;)

xx

Hello Autumn

It's Autumn! How did that happen? Hmm it's been almost a month since I've posted here! It's been a weird and exhausting kind of month, there's been good stuff and not so good stuff. I have moments where I feel really grateful for all the good things in my life (friends, family, living in a nice home & neighbourhood... and work of course), but other moments where I feel like I'm constantly just trying to make lemonade from lemons and it'd be nice to just have a break and be given some mangoes or something.

But on a more positive note, one thing that's definitely making me smile is the new collection of textiles we've just released over at Ink & Spindle. I'm actually hesitant to use the word "collection" because that's not how we do things, we don't do collections or seasons (you might have noticed), but I can't think of a better word. Anyway, here's some pics from the photoshoot we did earlier this week, more pics over at I&S :)


New textiles in the shop

Photography: Eric Ronald
Model: Camilla Mckewen
Studio: Manysquaremetres

It's been so nice to produce something we're both really proud of. After taking a step back over the Christmas break and having some head space to think about what direction we want to take the business, we've ended up changing things quite a bit. We've discontinued a whole chunk of our stock range and products. And it feel really good - now we'll have the time and (hopefully) finances to pursue new things. Yay!


x

A collection of locally made

Jewellery hanger by Stämpel

Looking at my wall the other day, I realised that my jewellery hanger is an homage to an assortment of melbourne jewellery designers and makers. Which is really nice. I feel so lucky to be a part of this local creative community. At the end of the day that's what makes coming to work so fun - it's the people we get to interact and collaborate with, share advice & wisdom with, and drink tea and eat tim tams with.

If you're curious, clockwise from top:

- Brooches by States of Nature
- Fimo necklace by Emily Green
- Wooden locket by So Little Time
- Ceramic pendant by Goldenink
- Sharpening necklace by Victoria Mason

xx

Ron D Swan

Summer in Melbourne is great for enjoying a blissful, car-free existence. I'm sure when the next bitter, erratic and squally winter comes around I'll be singing a different tune, but right now I'm loving the head space and sense of freedom and connection with my surroundings that I get from jumping on my bicycle to get where I need to go.

It's also handy that my home and work are both located just a stone's throw from the Capital City bike path; a 20 minute ride is all it takes to get to work versus 40 or 50 minutes on tram and bus. That's good motivation!

Anyway naturally since moving house I threw myself with enthusiasm back into riding my beloved (yet somewhat neglected) bicycle and requested a pannier as an xmas present from my family. Not just any pannier mind you, but a locally & ethically made Ron D Swan bike pannier that was made in Castlemaine!

Ron D Swan pannier on my bicycle

The extra cool thing about this pannier is that the hooks are attached to your rack rather than the bag itself, and it comes with a nice wide shoulder strap tucked inside. This means you can carry the pannier around comfortably like a normal bag when off your bike. Clever!

Ron D Swan pannier - as a shoulder bag and attached to the rack

Totally love it and highly recommend getting one ... and as a bonus you're supporting a small local business. Win.

x

Melbourne maker collab

In what turned out to be a bit of an unlikely incidental "collaboration" of sorts, my mum's Christmas present this year consisted of my Leuca print made into a shade by a lovely Melbourne company, sold by Wilkins & Kent, and then put together with a gorgeous turned base from Southwood Home.


Leuca drum shade and base

Hmm, timber and textiles. Just need to find a local furniture maker to officially collab with :)

xx

Hobart!

I am not very good at sitting still. Holidays intimidate me - that long stretch of nothing planned, commitment free time. This is some people's dream, but for me and where I am in my life at the moment, not so much. So for the first week I kept very busy. I built things, rearranged things, gardened, tidied, cleaned out my computer, saw friends. In the second week I kind of got into the swing of slowing down and spent some time on the road, on the beach and in the bush. Nice.

But throughout it all I was very, very glad that Dana and I had planned a little trip to Hobart. It was one of those spur of the moment "OK lets book tickets right now!" kind of things ... after we'd quickly made sure someone was free to look after Dana's kidlets and that we'd have somewhere to stay. And somewhere-to-stay we indeed did have. No less than the awesome, gorgeous, art-deco-granny-mansion that is Beth-Emily & Tom's South Hobart home. Have I told you how lovely these people are? We met Beth and Tom at a market in Adelaide and have been buddies since. Not only did they provide us with a comfy bed and delicious brekkie every morning, but they also spent three days showing us around their hometown and helping us eat Hobart. Because that's what we did. We pretty much just ate our way around town. And it was good.

Here's a little of our trip in pictures!

The home of Beth & Tom and the view from their harbour-side studio rooftop - I do love rooftops!

My gorgeous travelling buddies - Tom, Dana & Beth

MONA! Also known as The Place Where it's Impossible to Take Non-Blurry Photos

More MONA

Relaxing in beanbags on the hill at MONA, Tom my fellow photographer

Views and sights abound!

Food, delicious food! Highly recommend Ethos, Smolt, Garagistes & Piccolo

Yay, thanks Beth & Tom for such a great time :)

xx