Nesting

 

As the year unfolds we have found ourselves collecting and foraging beautiful gifts from nature on our walks on the mountain and also from our own small garden. We are lucky that many of our friends often drop lovely gum nuts, seed heads or moss that they have gathered and saved for us, on our doorstep. We realise, too, that we have developed quite a keen eye for natural treasures that might be perfect for our nests, so we often walk rather slowly to carefully observe the garden and bush around us! We always carry a small collecting bag where ever we go because you never know what you might find but only ever pick up what has fallen and no longer living if it is not from our own or a friends garden.

The making process then begins with sorting which of our finds will work well with the nest we are making at the time. I create a nest shape using the vines and twigs first, let it settle and then begin to weave in small elements to the nest. It always amazes me that each nest seems to have a definite mind of its own that determines which seed pods, dried flower heads, twigs and feathers it actually wants! This makes the nest creating process always interesting and ever changeable, which I love. 

The most recent nest (pictured above) measures approximately 25cm in diameter, so it is quite large. It is on its way to the lovely store at Salamanca Place in Hobart called Wild Island Tasmania.

The Christmas season is fast approaching!

We love Christmas and all that it is associated with - family, spending time with friends, the joy of gift giving and making special memories. We also know that it can sometimes be a stressful and somewhat complicated time, so we have tried to simplify things and make sure we have the time to concentrate on some of the more important aspects of Christmas.

This season we have intentionally created only a small number of new products as our family has had numerous health issues that have impacted our time and capacity to produce all our usual goodies. We have a new range of lovely simple hand stamped gift tags which feature gold eyelets as part of the luggage tag style and we have also updated our lovely 'heart stones'. For a couple of years we have made our 'tiny tags' which are perfect when you don't need to write a great deal or when you just need to add a little festive designer touch to a wrapped parcel. Recently we have been making some more of our signature nests and have been thrilled to send one across the country to Western Australia. Locally you can find them at the lovely store in Cygnet - 'Cuckoo Etc' and at 'Wild Island Tasmania' just up from Salamanca Place in Hobart. 

We will be making another post closer to Christmas but we hope that everyone has a calm, productive and joyous lead up to this very special time of the year.

xx

Winter

We often find that because winter in the southern hemisphere is in the middle of the year, it is a good time to be still, read, cosy up by the fire and generate new ideas. In Tasmania, we have been lucky, thus far, to have had some gloriously sunny, crisp days as well as a dusting of snow on the mountain. 

Recently we were fortunate to bring one of our large nests into a beautiful local store 'Wild Island Tasmania'. This store celebrates all things Tasmanian and has a nature and conservation focus in the artisan goods it stocks as well as their exhibition programme so we are feeling very lucky to have our nests there.

This nest measures approximately 28cm wide and is called 'Autumn Crown' as it has lovely bronze and orange tones as well as a central stone with a golden heart hand painted on it.

We have also been making some smaller nests ready for Spring and this Winter we are also trying to design some new Christmas products. It is hard to believe that before we know it the Christmas season will be upon us! 

Heading into Easter!

We are in the final days of a very beautiful Summer in Tasmania and we are excited that Easter is just around the corner. It is definitely one of my favourite times of the year because it means the Southern Hemisphere is in the full swing of Autumn. In Tasmania we are blessed with wonderful Autumn colours and gentle warm days as we brace ourselves for the winter months. Easter is usually one of our busiest times of year as we make our popular vintage book paper covered eggs and smaller nests for various stockists and for our own bigcartel store. This year, however, we will only be making a small supply of our nests and eggs due to my troublesome neck and back issues that have been plaguing me for the last few months. 

.                    

                    

Our apologies to those who have been waiting for new stock to arrive in our online store for Easter but you will be able to find a small number of our handmade eggs and nests and stamped stones at the lovely store in Cygnet, Tasmania - Cuckoo Etc. Keeping my fingers crossed that my back and neck start to behave so we can get back to some serious making again soon!

We hope you are all well and traversing this unstable time in the world with care and safety. xx

 

Tags and Reindeer!

 

These little birch twig reindeer have made there way to the lovely store Cuckoo Etc in Cygnet https://cuckootasmania.com.au/shop. We have made a family of reindeer with a little one and its 'mother', shown here, and a larger one as well. Created with birch twigs from our garden each one has its own unique character and personality. We really love using natural materials and bringing them to life in new ways.

 

 

We also had the joy of making a large order for the lovely store Hearth. Co in Palm Beach, New South Wales https://hearth-co.com/  . This is our second year of sending Christmas inspired gift tags and cards to this very special store.

We also have a delightful little local store, Habeo, in Battery Point https://habeo.com.au/  selling our small Christmas tags, so it is lovely to see them nestled amongst their other beautiful Christmas wares. 

It is wonderful and heartwarming to have stockists who truly support handmade artisan products. 

Christmas Lead Up

 As we head into the rush of the Christmas season my daughter and I are consciously slowing down this year. We have just completed a large box of our popular vintage paper baubles for our lovely stockist "Cuckoo" in Cygnet recently but we are now putting a hold on any other large orders just for this year. Due to back and neck problems I am not up to the intense workout they receive when making all our handmade products this year. We are, however, still selling through our online Bigcartel shop for smaller orders and we have just created a new lux gift tag using gold lustre paint gently echoing a Christmas tree shape, that we hope you will enjoy. 

I have also been making a family of quirky reindeer made from birch twigs that I will show you in our next post. There is something so special about a natural Christmas of handmade decorations and cards isn't there. We also have a small range of hand painted Christmas tree cards available online this year too. 

We hope the lead up to the Christmas season is a peaceful one for you. Look after yourselves and enjoy that lovely festive feeling that is beginning to take a hold on us. xx

Winter - thinking time

Winter has always been a good time to hunker down, take a moment to plan, recalibrate and recharge ready for all the new beginnings in Spring - just like much of nature does. This winter we have put our making on hold due to my ongoing neck and back issues, so I am hoping that this time will provide a chance to heal and come right! It may also mean that I need to change my creative output to something less problematic for my neck and back issues too I suppose. But change is often a good thing. 

In the meantime I have been able to document some site visits to the midlands in Tasmania where I have been commissioned to create a large scale eagles nest. More on this to come in future posts, but it has been lovely to work on a small watercolour 'diary' of this projects progress to date.

We hope those of you who are in the Southern Hemisphere are staying warm and toasty this winter and that everyone, where ever you are, has their creative juices flowing with inspiration. 

xx