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

Autumn Musings

As Autumn draws to a close in the southern hemisphere this month, we have been thinking about all the wonderful things we love about this season. The fire has begun to be lit each day as the temperature is dropping and the leaves we have collected on our walks are pressing under books. At the end of our street we have a large old Rowen tree which has been absolutely bursting with divinely coloured leaves. Our own garden has been covered in a carpet of golden leaves from our paper birch tree and the Virginia creeper put on a splendid crimson display on our deck. Don't you just love the colours of nature!

We are planning a thinking time about some of the products we create and are going to use winter as a time for reflection and hopefully feel inspired for some new ideas to make during spring. We will keep you posted!

More nests and egg making!

 

As Easter nears, our home studio is a buzz with nest making materials and old book papers as far as you can see! We are so pleased to be sending these little nests and book paper covered eggs to the lovely store in Cygnet, Tasmania - Cuckoo etc, in time for Easter. We've packed our 20 eggs of different sizes and papers carefully into a box ready for delivery and there are a few eggs available on our own bigcartel shop too. This time of year in Tasmania is a favourite of ours as the days are mild and the autumn light is beautifully gentle. And, of course, it is also a time when families have a small holiday and come together to celebrate Easter. We hope you are all looking forward to this lovely time of year and although we make easter eggs that are not made of chocolate, I can assure you we will also be indulging in some chocolate ones too!!

 

A New Year Ahead!

We hope that the festive season has been a healthy and happy one and that everyone is feeling relatively relaxed and in holiday mode now! The 'Two in a Teacup' studio is on our annual break and we are very thankful to all the lovely customers who ordered through our online shop and to those businesses who stocked some of our products in their stores. We have been so lucky to have continued support from our Tasmanian stockists: The Black Hen online store, Cuckoo-etc in Cygnet, Habeo in Battery Point, as well as our new stockist, Mr Wolf in Devonport. On the mainland we have some new stores who now stock some of our products including Town and Country Gallery in Yarragon, Victoria and Hearth Co. in Palm Beach, Sydney. We can't thank you all enough for supporting small, bespoke and handmade producers like us. 

We hope very much that 2023 brings you a very happy, healthy and creative new year. 

Gearing up for Christmas!

We are in the process of adding some of our popular products to our Two in a Teacup Big Cartel Shop site to be ready for those people who like to be organised early for the Christmas season.

There will be new stamped stones with images that are perfect for Christmas and we have just added a gorgeous large reindeer on a pale stone to the shop. We are also working on a series of shells including a seahorse for those having a beach holiday and who love all things beachy. Our special 'Heart Stones' are also a beautiful treasure to give as a gift to people you love and so we have been choosing lovely stones to paint with golden hearts ready to upload onto the shop. 

We are also busily creating our much loved vintage paper baubles and also introducing a new one that is diamond shaped. We have a large order to fill for the lovely shop Cuckoo Etc, in Cygnet, who are always happy to post anywhere in Australia and there will also be a select but limited range on our shop to purchase too. 

More 'Strings of Hearts' garlands are being made too for both Cuckoo Etc and our online store and we will be making text and music Swallow' garlands as well.

The divine Black Hen online store will also have some of our specially created festive nests later in the year and these will add a unique Christmas touch to your home or to grace the Christmas table.  

Lastly, we have produced a new range of gift tags for the lovely homewares store 'Habeo' in Battery Point and these will also be available to purchase from our online shop.

It never ceases to amaze us how quickly we race along to the Christmas season! We will keep you posted with updates both on this blog and also on Instagram. We have been a little quiet on Insta this year, but will be posting a tad more regularly leading up to Christmas.

Until then, stay safe and well.

Spring is almost here!

Our home city of Hobart, in the south of Tasmania, has been experiencing some wild weather over the last few days with rain and strong winds battering our garden. But nature is so resilient and there is evidence that Spring is just around the corner. As we walk our small cavoodle around the neighbourhood we are excited to see that there are bulbs popping up everywhere, blossom trees are flowering, dormant bushes are starting to burst into leaf and the sun is setting later each day.  Along with the changes in the garden the birds are all starting to build their nests - there is quite a frenzy of activity!

So we are taking inspiration from the birds and have begun creating a new series of simple nests with a heart stone nestled inside. We are also painting more of our individual heart stones for the shop. These stones come in various sizes and shades but all feel lovely in the palm of your hand and are beautiful to use in many ways around the home or as a keepsake for someone you love. 

We hope you are all well and looking forward to the coming change of seasons.