kirin notebook - the blog of lara cameron

I like these things...

2013-05-05T14:00:00.003+10:00

There's a few things I'm quite liking at the moment...

Who Gives a Crap toilet paper

This ethical, 100% recycled loo roll is produced by the guys at Who Gives a Crap - a Melbourne based startup who crowdfunded their first production run and donate 50% of their profits to WaterAid. I also appreciate their attention to fine packaging! 24 rolls of this sexy toiler paper were delivered to our door at home and I reckon they're perfect for most workplaces too. I highly recommend getting some for home or encouraging your boss to get some for work!

Mr Wilkinson's Favourite Vegetables

Really enjoying this recipe book at the mo. Especially because it was written by a chef who's cafe, bar & produce store are literally around the corner from our house. We've got into a habit of doing our Saturday morning veggie shopping at Ceres (I know, I've turned into a Northside cliche) and then popping by Matt's new produce store for extra bits and bobs and ethical meats. Local food + local recipes = win.

Veggie garden progress - pak choi, carrots, broccoli and struggling silverbeet

Little kale

After a fair amount of false starts and trial & error my veggie garden is starting to resemble something that's vaguely productive! Not sure how it's all going to go but at least I'll be able to eat that pak choi sometime soon! I'm also happy about the fact that I grew them all from seed. For some reason it didn't seem right to grow from seedlings, I wanted to give this a go from scratch, I guess to prove to myself that I can.

xx Lara.

It's not your right to have a perfect life

2013-04-17T10:14:00.000+10:00

Over the last week I feel like there's been a common theme in a lot of conversations I've had and things I've read. And it's this:

It's not your right to have a perfect life.

It's not your right to have the perfect home. It's not your right to have the perfect job (one that satisfies you completely and is free of conflict with your workmates or boss). It's not your right to have the most fantastic holidays, adventures & experiences. It's not your right to have a life that's completely free of hardship, health woes, unexpected hurdles or relationship ups and downs.

The internet will tell you this is what you deserve (and what everyone else has) but it's bullshit.

In fact it is a privilege to have what you do have. A decent roof over your head, the ability to sit down at the dinner table with your partner or family or friends and eat a decent, healthy meal. A job that pays the bills, that keeps you satisfied and interested (but doesn't have to be your whole world and identity). If you're a creative, it's a privilege that you have the facilities to create your art, to any degree, whether it pays the bills or is just a hobby. Making money from your creativity is extremely challenging and rarely what you imagine it to be. If you want to make an income (even an modest one) there's always a sacrifice. That's why I come to work and push the squeegee back and forth, wash screens, send emails, cut and pack fabric every day. NOT design fabric (that's a rare and special moment when it does happen!).

The internet is great for fostering a false sense of community and closeness, but it's shit at fostering real closeness. Real closeness comes from sharing the shit stuff. Sitting down with a friend and talking about your tough relationship situations or the health of a loved one. Having coffee with a fellow business owner and talking about those behind-the-scenes challenges of managing staff, expectations and cash-flow that nobody ever sees.

How can I espouse all this when often I'm one of the perpetrators in this situation? Showing photos of pretty homes (mine and others) adorned with our textiles, hopefully inspiring you to do the same? I guess my justification is this - I still want my friends and customers to be conscious consumers. People who will buy one or two nice things that are meaningful and have ethical standards, rather than a tonne of mass produced bullshit that will fall apart or fall out of trend in less than a year. It is a privilege to be able to buy ethical, locally made fabric for curtains/upholstery/cushions and I feel privileged every time someone chooses one of our textiles for that purpose.

The tricky thing about the internet is that it's a great place for sharing. I love sharing things that move me, excite me, that I think others will find interesting/valuable/inspiring. But I'm not going to share all the shit things that go down because (and maybe this is just my hang up) I feel like it comes across as sympathy-soliciting whinging that reeks of unappreciation for all the good I do have. I'm sure many others feel the same, which is why we really need to take everything we see (especially on Facebook and design blogs) with a pinch of salt.

I find I keep chewing over this topic in various ways (like here, here and here) because each year it seems to get more and more relevant and intriguing. It's not cut and dry. But if I was to summarise my thoughts right now into a single sentence it's this:

Take everything you see with a pinch of salt, be a conscious consumer, take enjoyment from the small things in life.

And on that topic, here are some special things from the last week that I very much appreciate:

VERY locally grown eggplants - a visit to the new Pope Joan food store saw us leaving with a bag full of produce for one of Matt Wilkinson's recipes plus these eggplants picked straight from the garden on our behalf! How special did we feel! Plus they were delicious.

Since the start of the year I've felt about as creatively as a rock. Now that life is returning to normal I'm starting to feel a little inspired again. Over the weekend I started working on a new print (like I said, a rare occurrence!). Hopefully it'll make it's way onto textiles if I can turn the idea in my head into reality!

New (and much needed) curtains for the bedroom - one of the perks of our job which I feel very grateful for! I'd like curtains to make a comeback. They are about a gazillion times more energy efficient than their fashionable cousin the roman blind. But curtains can be sexy too!

Some good reads:

- Stop Instagramming your perfect life

- Forget fast foods, slow down for better well-being

- The importance of teaching kids about food in schools

xx Lara.

Returning to normal programming

2013-04-07T11:38:00.003+10:00

What a tough couple of weeks! Dave's surgery went really well, thank god, and we're both so glad to be finally out the other side. In the last week in particular it feels like a fog has been lifted. Life feels like it's slowly returning to "normal" and we're able to do and think about things we haven't been able to for months. Simple, little things that previously I would have taken for granted; being able to go for walks, being able to cook and sit together eating the same food, being able to go out for dinner, being able to socialise. I feel so so so appreciative of each day that starts to resemble something more like regular life.

It's also been nice to be able to feel a little inspired and creative again, see the world through a different lens. Here's a little snapshot via Instagram...

Pincushion Hakea in bloom - we spent Easter down at Fairhaven with my folks and my brother's little family, which was really, really lovely. This Hakea grows just outside the front door.

The path down to Fairhaven beach is always littered with interesting things; dry bracken, acacia & bottlebrush pods ... I love all the textures.

Little bok choy! My planted seeds have all of a sudden started to sprout! I had a few false starts (mostly thanks to that crazy heat wave) but now I've got lots of little veggie seedlings on the way. I just need to figure out how to fend off whatever has been munching them; sometimes little holes, sometimes entire leaves will be missing. Hmmm...

It's also been great to get back into the routine of visiting the Ceres organic market on Saturday mornings. This weekend we treated ourselves to some of the best gluten free bread I've ever tasted and some amazing raw honey.

Thank you everyone who left really lovely comments and suggestions on my previous post - every one was very much appreciated! xx

Hate ya guts.

2013-03-14T22:21:00.000+11:00

Tonight (and for the next 7 nights or so) I'll be sleeping at home on my own whilst the man I love sleeps in a luxury $800 a night twin share down the road.

Not quite.

Before I met Dave I didn't really know anything about Crohn's Disease, but for the last few months barely a day has passed in which it hasn't been the main topic of conversation. You see Dave's Crohn's is particularly severe, and if you know anything about Crohn's you know that it's an unpredictable beast, affecting different individuals in different ways with no sure fire answers as to how to best treat it. The last year or so has seen a steady decline in his health; in short he's had a pretty shit time of it (pun most definitely intended).

Dave doing his thing - To & Fro, Sunday nights on 3RRR

We've done a lot of research, oh have we done research - endless scrolling and turning of pages, seeking advice from all sorts of traditional and non-traditional practicioners - and although we've gained so much wisdom (hence my particular interest in food/diet at the moment), unfortunately as things stand right now the only way forward is surgery. Tomorrow morning a specialist surgeon is going to cut him open right down the middle and remove a section of his small intestine that's become so scarred and strictured barely any food is able to get through.

We're both pretty upset that it's come to this point, especially since this will be the third time Dave has been through this over the last 14 years. But, we're both feeling confident that with some positive dietary changes we can master this beast. That's all we can do right now; have optimism for the future and try to be as proactive as possible.

As I like to say from time to time: 'I love you to bits, but I hate ya guts' (and I'd really much prefer to keep him all in one piece).

I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that tomorrow all goes smoothly.

xx

A trip to Taranaki Farm

2013-03-12T09:47:00.002+11:00

If you're one of those fools who doesn't believe in global warming (which I'm sure you're not, if you're visiting this blog) then try living and working without air-conditioning over the last couple of weeks. The last few days been particularly exhausting; riding my bike in the heat from one rather warm house to one very warm workplace. I'm not surprised to hear research suggesting that recent increases in heat and humidity have lowered human productivity by 10%!

The long weekend saw Dave and I escaping the blistering heat of Melbourne for a couple of nights in the central highlands, with one very pertinent stop-off along the way - Taranaki Farm. What a bloody inspiring experience that was. If you have any interest in ethical food production (or even if you choose to keep your head in the sand about these things... actually ESPECIALLY you) then I highly recommend a trip to Taranaki Farm for one of their farm tours. For several hours farmer Ben Falloon lead us around his property as he eloquently and liberally shared details of their farming practices. Truly revolutionary, unconventional farming.

Taranaki Farm Tour with farmer Ben Falloon

Ben has drawn a lot of his ideas and techniques from Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in the US (which you might have seen on Food Inc) which I think is fantastic in itself - farmers around the world helping other farmers operate in an ethical and sustainable manner. All we need now is more farmers doing the same thing!

A happy wallower at Taranaki Farm - I swear she was showing off to us: "check out my wallow and how much fun I'm having, it's AWESOME".

There's definitely plenty of valid arguments to suggest that we shouldn't be eating meat at all, but I believe if you give people a choice between unethically farmed meat and no meat at all, the uneducated masses will just choose unethical meat. I believe it's important to bridge the gap between the undiscerning omnivore and the vegetarian; get people consuming less animal products, but ensure whatever they do eat is farmed in an ethical, sustainable and considered manner.

Further reading (and viewing!)

Polyface Farm [4 minute video] - Meet Joel and Daniel Salatin, the father-son team at Polyface farm.

Halve meat consumption, scientists urge rich world - it's not that hard.

Figuring out food...

2013-03-03T18:10:00.000+11:00

Food is a bit of a thing around our place at the moment. I wish I could say it's been in a good way (full of exciting cooking adventures and inspirational meals) but instead it's been in a tricky, restrictive, difficult-to-manage kind of way.

Both Dave and I have recently made some pretty big changes to our diets for various health reasons (more on that later!). Dairy is out. Gluten is out. Along with caffeine, alcohol, red meat… I'll spare you the extended list of all the things Dave can't eat right now, but suffice to say it's been tough.

Every now and then I slip up (cheese is very hard to resist, and gluten is a challenge when all sorts of delicious baked goods pass through our studio doors) but more often than not I really feel it - and regret it - when I do. It's amazing how once you take a bunch of stuff out of your diet you become so much more aware of the discomfort caused by those certain foods. Was that always the case? Did I just not notice? Was I attributing those symptoms to something else?

I also find it interesting how, once you have eliminated some of those big items from your diet (dairy, gluten, red meat) it becomes a lot easier to start thinking about eating ethically. It's not a far stretch to go from where we are now to eating only ethically farmed and/or organic produce.

On the home garden front, things seem to be progressing, although I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing:

Broccoli sprouts - possibly a failed attempt

I sprouted some broccoli seeds in punnets as they said to do, but realised maybe a bit too late that I should have thinned out the sprouts early on so there was just one in each compartment. Now they're long and spindly and looking more like microgreens than something that will actually grow into a plant. I'm going to wait and see, but in the meantime start a new punnet with fresh seeds and see what happens.

In other developments, my new worm farm arrived!

Worm farm from Ecoflo

I'm really excited to have a worm farm again, and this time I'm trying a different style. This one doesn't have the same sort of rotating trays structure of most worm farms, you just feed from the top and take from the bottom via the hatch or tap. Worm farms don't smell, so I've got this one sitting in a corner of our kitchen within easy reach.

Some interesting reading...

Urban Orchard - I love this concept! Grow something? Got too much of it? Take it to the Urban Orchard table at Ceres and swap it for something else. I cheated and took some of the back-laneway-figs, and picked up a Zucchini (of course) in return.

Wheat Belly - Some veeeery interesting insights into modern wheat and why it's making us feel crap (scroll down to the bit titled "WHEAT: UNhealthy Whole Grain")

Supermarket Bullying & Duopoly Power - if you're still shopping at Coles and Woolies, read this!

Who Gives A Crap - ethical toilet paper by some awesome Melbourne guys! Pre-order now :)

xx Lara.

beginnings

2013-02-24T21:33:00.002+11:00

So, I've had a pretty fun and productive couple of weeks since my post about a new perspective. First things first, I found this shipping crate posing as a raised garden bed on eBay:

Raised garden bed from eBay, here.

It was only $40 plus delivery which I thought was pretty good for 1 square metre's worth of garden-bed goodness! Whilst I was waiting for it to arrive I gathered some inspirational reading material:

Inspirational reading - The Little Veggie Patch Co & Animal, Vegetable Miracle

Since I am a complete noob when it comes to veggie gardening I've done a LOT of reading. The Little Veggie Patch Co book has been great, but I did a whole lot of googling as well. How to make a no dig garden, what I should plant, when I should plant it, what I shouldn't plant it next to and what I should. Etc etc etc. It was all a little overwhelming so I made myself a little chart and plotted out planting/harvest times and compatibilities for all the things I was interested in growing. Yes that's a bit nerdy but that's the way I roll. I found the Gardenate website (despite being rather hokey in design) quite useful in summarising all that info in an easy to digest format.

Once the garden bed arrived it was time for a visit to Ceres to get all the necessary ingredients for a no-dig garden. It was rather epic trying to get all this stuff into the car. Due to poor planning I ended up with the cow manure sitting on the front passenger seat and a boot strewn with debris from my desperate attempts to wedge a straw bale into the back of a '91 Corolla.

No-dig garden ingredients - pea straw, lucerne hay, cow manure and compost

Making a no-dig garden is kind of like making a giant lasagne. There seem to be a bunch of different ways to do it but the basic principle involves layering up different kinds of organic material to whatever height you desire, and over time the layers decompose to form a nutrient rich soil.

My 1 square metre of no-dig garden goodness, ready to go!

This is the finished result; not particularly exciting yet! I let it settle for about a week and planted some seeds this evening. Fingers crossed something will pop up in the coming weeks! Proof will be in the pudding. Or lasagne, I guess.

In the meantime I've been satisfying my desire for home grown produce by 'borrowing' figs from a tree growing over the fence in our back laneway:

Neighbourhood figs in endless supply right now!

xx Lara.

Forte Living Festival this Fri & Sat!

2013-02-19T19:05:00.001+11:00

It's not every day that an opportunity like this comes along. Ink & Spindle has been asked to fit out an eco friendly apartment from top to bottom! How awesome is that? Of course we've rallied together a bunch of our favourite local & sustainable businesses to pull this off, and we feel so chuffed about everyone's enthusiasm and willingness to help.

There's more info over on our blog, but if you can make it down to Victoria Harbour the apartment will be open for viewing this Friday & Saturday as part of the Forte Living Festival (which is part of the Sustainable Living Festival!) and also by appointment for the next month.

Hope to see you there :)

xx

Open Studio - this Saturday!

2013-02-11T16:14:00.003+11:00

Would you believe it, it's time for Ink & Spindle's first Open Studio for the year already! Where did January go??

This Open Studio is going to be a little more exciting than usual in that our lovely studio buddy Abby Seymour is going to have her wares for sale also. Not only will her gorgeous current range be available but she will also be selling some of her beautiful ex-season stock at pretty generous discounts.

Hope you can make it down to the studio next Saturday 16th Feb - 11am to 1pm, with a printing demo at about 11:30!

xx

2013 - a new perspective

2013-02-09T18:56:00.000+11:00

A new perspective for 2013 (literally, too)

I have to say, 2013 is off to a strange (but good) start. Where do I begin?

First and foremost, being in Nepal - completely separated from home and work and routine - was a bit like pressing one big reset button. It was the first time in 5 years (or more) that I felt like I completely detached myself from my work. Usually a part of me is always conscious of what's going on back in the studio. This time? Nup. It was a strange feeling, and when I got back to Australia I found that I didn't want to put my head right back into work mode again. I wanted to keep myself slightly separate, because I felt like only from that detached vantage point could I look at my life and see it slightly more objectively.

The other big thing that has happened is that I've moved house - again! I know it's pretty customary to live with your partner before getting engaged but due to share-house commitments (and a bit of impatience!) it just didn't work out that way. Within less than a week of me returning to Melbourne, Dave and I had signed the lease on a little place of our own. I LOVE it here. It feels really good to know that every night I'm coming back to the same place, the same face, surrounded by things that inspire me. This has also helped give me the sense of a 'clean slate', and a bit of a clearer head.

Our new home. Love all the natural light and the ivy filled, north facing windows!

So what has this clearer head space and new perspective brought to light? Here's a summary:

It's time for a break from design blogs

Being constantly in touch with everything that's going on in our creative community via the interwebs can sometimes be inspiring, but it can also stifling, draining and subconsciously limiting. This article summarises things quite well. I love this quote:

"Have we turned our time online away from digging, exploring and unearthing secrets, to passively letting ourselves be entertained by thoughts we already agreed to and build on ideas we already had?"

It's for this reason that I've finally decided to unsubscribe from a whole lot of my (much-neglected-anyway) blog feeds. What a weight off my shoulders! The most popular blogs at the moment seem to be more about curating than creating, the byproduct being the constant celebration of mostly just fads and trends. I find those sorts of things distracting and not really in line with my business ethic anyway, so why torture myself by being exposed to them every day?

It's time to dedicate some of my energy to new passions

So what do I actually want to be doing/learning/achieving? I still love textiles & interiors and will continue to put energy into my work, but there are a host of other things that I'd like to explore. For one: I'm stupidly excited to learn a bit more about growing my own food. The courtyard garden here is tiny, but there's a perfect spot for a raised veggie garden. It's a very small start, but a start all the same.

Duck eggs for lunch from one of Dave's colleagues - I can't wait to one day have chooks/ducks of our own

It's time to encourage change

My dislike of trends, my passion for sustainable textiles, my desire to learn more about growing my own food - it all stems from one very obvious place! Living a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle is the only way forward, for all of us. Instead of being creatively stifled by design blogs I'm actually learning a lot about useful things. I'm thinking that this blog could be a great place to share some of those discoveries. Such as:

No basket-case: Tasmania on the bumpy road to economic sustainability - (LOVE this article, really interesting stuff!)

Taranaki Farm (these guys are doing great things. We're booked in to go on a farm tour next month, can't wait!)

Food Inc – why it’s so relevant for Australian audiences (and if you haven't yet watched Food Inc, the movie, you should!)

Thoughts?

xx

On internships & industry...

2013-02-07T19:02:00.000+11:00

One of our past interns Lauren, printing a two colour repeat design

I'm taking a little break from my usual programming to talk about something a little controversial at the moment - internships. Sparking into a bit of a hot topic in the media and twittersphere in the last few days, Fair Work Australia are cracking down on internships that might be deemed illegal if they're not conducted as part of an 'authorised educational training course'.

Of course the topic is pretty close to my heart because at Ink & Spindle we engage interns on a fairly regular basis. Some of our interns are requesting a position as a compulsory part of their degree, others are coming to us entirely of their own volition. They might be a full-time parent looking to return to work, or a student who has studied something entirely different and now are curious about changing career paths... to us it doesn't matter what their background is so long as they're keen.

A very blurry Robyn, printing a single colour repeat design of dutch houses!

I think that yes there are instances in certain industries where internships are exploitative - big companies offering long term positions when they could afford to pay someone but choose to substitute a paid position with a free intern. These situations are unethical and set a bad precedent in their industry. But there are other situations such as ours where we simply can't afford to pay an extra person. We aren't dependent on interns - our business functions fine without them - but if there are individuals keen for the experience we'll gladly take them on board. We might not have a lot of spare cash but we do have a wealth of knowledge to impart. There are a lot of menial tasks to be done around the studio but we try hard to ensure that the positions are mutually beneficial.

I can't help but feel that the issue of unpaid internships is largely a 'first world problem' and seems to occur largely in 'desirable' industries, e.g. textiles, music, fashion, design. There seems to be an abundance of willing workers and not enough jobs for all of them. To me that's not just an issue of exploitation but equally an issue with our education system. Here we are providing an gamut of exciting higher educational opportunities, giving people the illusion that they can work in whatever field they desire, but without any accountability from our educators with regards to finding work in the chosen field after study.

Intern work - stencils on the lightbox

Textiles is a classic example. Perhaps it's my ignorance but sadly I just don't see where all the jobs are for the students who are studying textile design. Yet our universities keep producing new graduates; students who are passionate about design and are lead to believe there'll be work at the other end. And when there's not, it's no surprise they're willing to do unpaid work to give themselves an edge.

In my opinion the best way to find work in our field is to make your own job. That's what we did. So when our interns come through we focus less on 'textile design' and more on 'small business' - how our business runs, how we make it work, the ups and downs and challenges. These are valuable insights for anyone, not just a student of textile design. Interestingly most of the successful creative individuals I've met are those who first studied something else entirely different. I think that's awesome.

Hello from Nepal #2

2013-01-10T21:13:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone!

It's been an epic couple of weeks over here. Whilst all my friends back in Melbourne have been struggling with 40+ degree days, in Nepal it has been cold, cold, cold. As much as I am experiencing some really amazing things over here I won't say it hasn't been tough in equal measures.

I knew before I came here that this trip would be difficult for me, and that's a huge part of why I decided to come. I am a person who likes my relatively familiar, comfortable and simple life. I am proud of my home, my work, my family and my relationships back in Melbourne. I don't feel the need to uproot myself to find wonder and amazement somewhere else. Melbourne is my home and I feel proud of the fact that I've really build something great for myself there.

Here on the other hand I am faced on a daily basis with things that I inherently find difficult. unfamiliarity; being away from home, loved ones and routine. The cold; oh man it's been cold. Patience; things happen on "Nepali time" here, and often in a seemingly absurd and confusing manner. People; I am naturally introverted and sometimes I have to push myself to be around people and make conversation.

The other day I was feeling so upset at myself for struggling so much whilst I've been here. Not being able to "live in the moment" all the time or find everything spectacularly amazing and wonderful. But then I had a realisation that maybe I'm actually doing okay. For the most part I have been happy here. I've had some teary moments and homesick moments but for the most part I am making the most of it. I could be doing a lot worse. I can't expect myself to be like everyone else so I should be happy with the fact that I am doing the best I can.

Anyway, that all aside, here are some more photo snippets of the great things we've done in the last few days!

First and foremost, a visit to the Foundation for Sustainable Technologies which was established by a man named Sani Kaji, possibly the most endearing, enthusiastic and inspirational person we've met here. Sani has dedicated the latter part of his career designing sustainable alternatives for the Nepalese people, in particular his unique "Briquettes"which are made from a compressed combination of waste paper and biomass (sawdust, grass, leaves or rice husks etc). 1.5kg of his briquettes is the equivalent to 5-8kg of timber in terms of cooking capacity, and he is training people to make their own.

Social entrepreneur Sanu Kaji in his greenhouse

Sanu Kaji's briquettes

Making briquettes from paper pulp and biomass (sawdust, grass, leaves or rice husks etc)

Next up, a trip to Chitwan National Park! We floated down the river in a massive canoe made from a single dug out log (past 3m crocodiles!), went trekking, and slightly contentiously went for an elephant ride through the jungle. I'm not 100% sure about the ethics of elephant riding. It does seem very different here to places like Thailand; most of the elephants seem to be cared for in people's back yards amongst their chickens and goats which is nice. Not sure if that makes it ok though. I do know that the elephants are largely used for conservation in the jungle as it's the safest way for the rangers to patrol the area. But it has also definitely burgeoned into a tourist attraction and I don't think elephants being raised for that kind of life is necessarily the best thing.

A rhino in Chitwan National Park

Thanking my elephant for the privilege

On the way back from Chitwan we detoured to the very rural district of Gorkha. Visting Gorkha has to be up there in terms of the most difficult experiences of my life, mostly due to the cold and lots of waiting around in the cold due to "Nepali time". Whilst Kathmandu is sunny during the day, the mountain areas were foggy the whole time we were there. There isn't much distinction between outdoors and indoors and certainly nothing resembling heating (not even a fire to huddle around). That said it was beautiful to witness the simplicity of rural life. And it certainly made returning to Kathmandu feel like a luxury.

Rural living in the Gorkha district

Last highlight of our trip - teaching a class of students at the local school! They were gorgeous and so enthusiastic and asked for our autographs at the end, funny!

My class of kids at Precious National College

Kids at Precious National College

6 more days and I'll be back in my beloved Melbourne town. I'd best go make the most of it. See you back home soon!

xx Lara.

Hello from Nepal!

2013-01-05T13:29:00.003+11:00

Hello and a Happy New Year from Kathmandu!

I've been here only a week but it feels like months. We've done and seen so much that it feels impossible to distil my experiences into a single blog post. In short it's been a sensory and emotional overload. The streets of Kathmandu are as you would imagine - narrow, colourful, rambling, loud and chaotic. But strangely there's an amazing sense of calm and order in that chaos; not once have I felt concerned or unsafe on the streets here. Even though the roads are teeming with people and motorbikes and cars and bicycles all tooting their horns and weaving in between one another, it's all done with a cheery disposition. You never get the sense that anyone is anxious or aggressive. They just go with the flow and it works.

Nepalese people are renowned for being friendly and cheerful and that definitely seems to be true. They have an infectiously warm and positive nature. Their lives don't revolve around working, they are centred around family and community. Although these people might be 'poor' by western standards they seem truly happier. This might sound flippant and naive but it really does seem that the simpler your life is the happier you can be. As humans (particularly westerners) we find it so hard to be content, but having less opportunities, lofty ambitions or obsession with material goods can be somewhat liberating.

Poverty is another thing, and there are definitely degrees of poverty and injustice that just aren't good through any lens. The work that Seven Women are doing here is aimed at instances of extreme poverty and discrimination. Women with disabilities are hugely discriminated against over here, since the Nepalese belief is that these women committed sins in a previous life. We've had the pleasure of meeting some of the women that are now living and/or working at the Seven Women centre and they are truly lovely. I had such a fantastic time working beside these women teaching them how to make some new products.

I could prattle on for ages, but instead I'm just going to fill the rest of this post with pictures!

Hello from Hotel Moonlight, Kathmandu! Very cold here so I'm perpetually rugged up in mum's knitting - thanks to Ravelry for the patterns! (Copenhagen Cowl and Kabuto Hat)

The view from our hotel rooftop. Marigolds are everywhere here.

Working with Kumari and Selena on some new products at the Seven Women centre

Pink house with matching pink creeper - very Kathmandu!

A group of women making felt ball mats at the fair trade felt factory

Felt balls drying in the sun

A woman rolls felt balls at the fair trade felt factory

Walking down from Nargacot we visited this small rural village

Village children with their homemade street luge! (photo by Annelise Hickey)

Rural farmland on the hillside

Love this tiny rural farmhouse with it's goats, chickens and cows in the yard

View from the rooftop of our hotel in Bhaktapur

One of many, MANY fabric stores I've seen here. Lots of tailors too. How fashion should be.

Hope to write more soon! xx

Big happy news

2012-12-27T16:09:00.002+11:00

I haven't really talked much about relationshippy stuff on this here blog of late. I guess that part of my life hasn't historically delivered the best of times and I got a bit tired of documenting those ups and downs and sounding like a broken record.

But 7 months ago I met a particularly special someone. Someone I instantly connected with, became best friends with, have not had a single doubt about and love with all my heart. It hasn't always been easy, we've both had some pretty difficult personal/health woes to deal with, but as a couple we've been solid through it all. I definitely have that feeling of 'oh, THIS is how it should feel'.

Well it seems the feeling is mutual, because at 3:42am on the 25th December (our 7 month anniversary), the man I love walked around to my side of the bed, grabbed both my hands, knelt down in front of me and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes!

Lara & Dave, getting hitched! (and wearing my Nana's old ring)

As they say, 'when you know, you know'.

Now for the hard part - bidding adieu to my new fiancé (not sure if I'll get used to that word), jumping on a plane and heading off to Nepal for a few weeks. Talk about a contrast of worlds. Wish me luck!

xx Lara.

2012...

2012-12-16T22:32:00.000+11:00

Monochrome duvet cover in Leuca

So. 2012 hey. What a year. Another one that has positively flown by.

If you asked me if I've achieved much this year offhandedly I'd say 'not much' but when I take a moment to think about it actually a gazillion things have changed. It's been a year of much growth and revelations. Some major ups and downs. Some epic emotional and health related struggles but also some massively good things have come my way too. I'm feeling pretty fortunate at the moment and can see more great things to come in 2013.

The photos accompanying this post are mostly here to make it look pretty, but are also a little bit relevant. They partly relate to the fun that I've been having lately with styling and photography (still much to learn!) but they also relate to a pretty special person who's come into my life this year. I made this duvet cover as a birthday present, and because he happens to be a bit colourblind I thought a monochromatic theme was rather fitting.

Monochrome duvet cover in Leuca

Monochrome duvet cover in Leuca

I hope to post again before Christmas and my impending trip to Nepal, but if not I hope you all have a great relaxing break and come into 2013 with lots of energy and passion and potential for doing good things!

xx

Nepal fair trade fundraising AUCTION!

2012-11-28T10:21:00.003+11:00

Leuca Duvet cover - up for Auction right now. Help raise funds for a fair trade enterprise in Nepal!

My trip to Nepal is swiftly approaching! I know it'll be here before I know it and I feel like I have so much to do before I go. Eeep!

But... there's one big thing I have to do before I go for which I NEED YOUR HELP! Each person on the trip needs to raise some money for one of the enterprises we will be visiting. We each get to decide which enterprise to donate our raised money to once we get there, which is pretty exciting. I'm sure this will be a tough decision since they will all be very worthy causes!

SO, in collaboration with the VERY lovely and generous Olivia of Moochie Lou, we have made one very gorgeous, ethical, organic duvet cover to auction off for this very good cause!

Leuca Duvet cover - up for Auction right now. Help raise funds for a fair trade enterprise in Nepal!

Leuca Duvet cover - up for Auction right now. Help raise funds for a fair trade enterprise in Nepal!

Leuca Duvet cover - up for Auction right now. Help raise funds for a fair trade enterprise in Nepal!

The duvet cover is queen sized, made from 100% organic and sustainable fabrics and comes with two matching scatter cushions.

The auction is being held over at the Ink & Spindle blog. If you'd like to place a bid, just leave a comment on that post!

Thanks so much!

xx Lara.

Nepal study tour

2012-10-14T16:13:00.000+11:00

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

A lot of you probably know that my biz partner Teegs is off to Mexico for an artist's residency in less than a week (so soon!). What you might not yet know is that I'm off on a similar(ish) journey to Nepal at the end of this year!

In December/January I am heading off on a study tour of the main fair trade enterprises in Nepal. Over 20 days, group of 15 will be visiting, learning, volunteering and getting inspired. The trip is run by Steph Woollard, founder of Seven Women - a not for profit enterprise that employs marginalised and disadvantaged women to make handcrafted items that are sold in Australia.

I'm simultaneously excited and terrified. Having never been to a developing country before this is going to be such an incredible, eye opening and challenging experience. Steph has a long standing and intimate knowledge of Nepal, it's people and culture, so this trip will be far from tourist-like.

The thing I'm most excited about is the fact that we will be volunteering at the Seven Women skills training centre with tasks that are based on our personal areas of expertise. I am very lucky to have gained Steph's confidence in taking on a product development role. I am so excited about using the skills and insight I have in the Australian design & craft scene to help develop products that will appeal to the local market. And to work intimately with the women who will be making those items - teaching them, even - that is an experience that I could never have dared hope for!

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

The trip isn't till the end of December, and I need to do a little bit of fundraising between now and then to donate to one of the enterprises that we will be visiting. So stay tuned for more on that!

More pics of the Seven Women skills training centre below - I can't wait to meet these women.

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

Seven Women skills training centre - Nepal (photography by Kim Cartmell)

If you're interested in participating in a similar trip, Steph is taking another group mid 2013. Shoot her an email if you're keen!

xx

Behind the lens

2012-10-09T16:26:00.001+11:00

Monochrome, timber & mustard - experimenting with styling

As a Melbourne based designer, right now what it feels like I should be doing is working with colour. Crazy amounts of colour. Colour out the wazoo! And as much as I appreciate all the splashes of brightness I'm seeing around me lately... I have to admit, I really much prefer a bit of monochrome. Especially when it's coupled with warm timber tones and a bit of mustard! It's not very "summer" I know, but I love it all the same.

The other thing I've been enjoying is playing around with styling. I've always enjoyed photography and making nice interior spaces, but I've never actually tried to "style" a shoot. I have to say at this point: THIS IS NOT HOW MY HOME LOOKS AT ALL. You'd actually laugh if you could see what's behind the camera in this shot - all our usual living room furniture and things crammed up against the opposite wall, my house mates relegated to armchairs pushed into the corners to eat their dinner and read their books.

Monochrome, timber & mustard - experimenting with styling (circle shelf by Bride & Wolfe, rug by Armadillo & Co)

I think the "styled" versus "reality" is a very important distinction to make - life behind the lens is rarely what you think it is, and it's important not to get sucked into thinking that what you see on people's blogs, Instagram and Facebook is a true reflection of their lives.

I had a funny moment actually when taking these photos - a couple of girlfriends of mine were visiting at the time and having a big discussion/confession session about their relationships and all the behind-the-scenes tough times they were having. One pauses to say to me "wow, it's different looking at a photo like this when you know what's hidden off to the sides". I thought that was a very fitting comment, given the topic of conversation...

xx

4th Birthday and Open Studio - with cupcakes!

2012-10-09T14:58:00.002+11:00

It's pretty hard to believe that Ink & Spindle is almost 4 years old. FOUR YEARS. Four years of making a living doing what we love without compromising our ethics! It hasn't always been easy but we're proud to have reached this point, and would love for you come celebrate with us! It'll be the usual open studio type shindig but this time there'll be celebratory cupcakes!

Hope to see you here! xxx

Darwin you stole my heart

2012-10-01T15:08:00.002+10:00

On the road to Litchfield in the Suby; swimming at the top of the falls at Greenant Creek; a classic NT moment, road trains and 130 speed signs; a territory full of unique native flora

Today is my birthday, but I'm not 100% into it. Yesterday Dave and I returned to Melbourne from a brief five day trip to Darwin and I'm pretty sure I left a big chunk of my heart there.

There's something truly magical about a place that is so connected with nature; nature that is everywhere, rambling and pervasive. Darwin is a place where the boundary between indoors and outdoors is blurred, where walls are filled floor to ceiling with louvred windows and geckos on the ceiling are the norm, where footwear is optional and fashion is a carefree mishmash of colour and pattern.

And the pace. The slowness. Darwin was a welcome break from the relentless pressure to be always doing / creating / pursuing more, more, more. I loved that. I needed a break from that so much.

An evening at Deckchair Cinema, so awesome; my most wonderful travelling companion looking like a hipster; our Darwin abode courtesy of the lovely Ange who hosted us; a little bit of NT (woven on Elcho island) brought home with me

I love Melbourne, you know I do. But Darwin you stole my heart... and I'll be back one day to get it.

xx

Just Keep Swimming. Designing. Thinking. Planning. Making. Doing.

2012-09-17T17:10:00.003+10:00

A new quilt design in the works - blues and greens

Wow. It has been a rather slow month. A slow month that happens to coincide with I&S signing a new commercial lease for 5 more years at 30% higher rent. Don't get me started. Yes they can do that (our old lease had no 'options') and no there's not much we can do about it. But we do get to stay in our beloved Younghusband building which we've worked hard to preserve as a creative hub, and provided the increased rent doesn't see our fellow artisans being replaced with accountants who want "funky" office space, we're grateful to be staying here.

But back to things being slow. It's funny, if you ask other small business owners how things are they'll mostly say "fine, fine" until you tell them you're going through a slow patch and then they'll confess "oh me too!". Not everybody wants to admit when times are a bit tough, but sometimes they are! The peaks and troughs are just part of small business. The tricky part is not letting it get you down, and maintaining the confidence that all will be fine in a few weeks. There's an art to that, I reckon. One that I haven't quite finessed, but I am trying to stay a bit zen about it all. The other tricky thing to balance is how much you talk about these kind of things. On one hand there feels like immense pressure to maintain a facade of confidence and all-is-well-ness, but on the other hand I really hate the pretence and not being able to be myself. There's enough lofty standards splashed all over blog-land at the moment. I think I'd rather be the one saying "hey it's not always great"... I'm not always very good at doing that.

Anyway, the good side of a protracted slow patch is the opportunity to get things done. There's the long list of to-do's that I've been putting off, but there's also a host of things I haven't had the quiet brain space to even conceptualize. I've finally managed to find a bit of that calm, quiet head space, and am now feeling quite inspired & full of new ideas. Silver lining and all that.

Above and below are some pics of a little something I'm working on. A design and instructions for a new quilt, that looks quite random but actually has an easy to follow pattern & instructions. AND, it can be made with whatever combination of printed and plain fabrics you like. More on that soon!

Pressing those seams...

Quilt top complete - mustards and neutrals

xx

Print and Process

2012-08-24T14:28:00.000+10:00

The other day I was reflecting about this blog and how it's changed over the years. I realised that I miss the days when I used to have more time to document and explain my processes. I've fallen into that all too easy habit of posting only the finished product and stuff that happens at the end of the process. I know the stuff that goes on behind the scenes is probably more interesting to some people, so I need to make more effort to pause and take pictures.

In keeping with this new mission, today I'm going to share some photos and info about the two new prints that I designed recently: Blockprint and Watercolour Stripe.

Tools for making the Blockprint design

As Blockprint's name might suggest, this textile print started it's life as a block print! There was nothing particularly challenging about this lino cut, just simple lines. I wanted to do something quite different to my usual illustrative prints. Something a bit more simplistic and geometric.

Lino prints hanging up to dry

I did quite a few lino prints of this design, I wanted to get as much variation in the print quality as possible. So some solid prints, some patchy ones. I really love the texture of a patchy block print.

Blockprint mockup

Next I scanned all the prints into photoshop and separated them out into individual triangles. I think I ended up with about 12 different prints. I then took these prints into Illustrator and started arranging, rotating and cropping them until I was happy with the layout and felt it looked balanced. Also during this process I set up the design to work as a repeat, and prepare it for screen.

Blockprint as a textile print

After that it was just a simple matter of getting the artwork printed onto film and made into a screen, deciding on colours and then printing it in the studio. I like how imperfections translated onto fabric and retained that block printed look - yay!

Watercolour Stripe in progress

As this name also might suggest (I'm never particularly adventurous with names) this design started off as an actual watercolour stripe! Really nothing fancy going on here, the hard work for this design was actually just getting to this point of simplicity. There was lots of playing around and experimenting with all sorts of complicated ideas before I realised that it needed to be quite simple.

Watercolour Stripe, digital processing

The next step was scanning the stripes into Photoshop and fiddling with contrast. I then played around with a halftone filter until I found the scale and texture I wanted. I like halftone filters but I prefer the square one to the dots. My aim here was to create a design that had interesting details when viewed up close, but when you looked at it from afar you could recognise the strips of watercolour.

Watercolour Stripe as a two colour textile print

It was fun to set this design up to work as a two colour print. The first colour is printed down the length of the fabric and then the second colour is printed with the same screen rotated 180 degrees.

So that's how those two prints were made! A far cry from back 4 years ago when my processes were purely digital and vector based. These were much more fun, and more sympathetic to the screen printing process I reckon.

xx

Interior values

2012-08-17T17:08:00.001+10:00

Doing what I do. Photo by Gemma Behrens

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

2012-08-16T09:43:00.004+10:00

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

2012-08-10T15:57:00.003+10:00

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