Cranberry Deer

Visit to QGOMA

2016-04-03T18:46:00.000+10:00

Here are a few photos I snapped whilst visiting the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and the Queensland Gallery of Art. Enjoy!

Melissa Castrillon Interview

2016-03-19T11:05:00.000+10:00

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Cambridge based illustrator, Melissa Castrillon. Enjoy our chat!

+ What/who influenced you to pursue a career in art?

I believe there's been a number of people who have influenced me to pursue art,

when i was young it was a mixture of my photographer father and my art lover mother, they both were very supportive of my early ventures from crayon to pencil. And also the competitive nature of me and my older brothers relationship also spurred me on to be better than him at drawing and never give up. My bloody minded determination developed from quite an early age ;)

I then a lot later fell in love with books and illustration and many of my tutors whom inspired me made the dream to become an illustrator become an attainable thing, which was important for me getting to become a freelance illustrator.

+ How did you develop your artistic style?

A lot of my work has a narrative or story within it, which comes from love of books and most of my current work is saturated with a lot of flora and fauna, as the natural world is a constant inspiration. lastly screen printing has reinforced my love of colour and use of layering flat colour within my illustrations. So i'd say my love of books and the natural world and screen printing have been huge inspirations. I'd say they are my main influences and together they have helped me develop my artist style.

+ What are some of the projects you have worked on?

I've been lucky enough to work with some wonderful clients such as Ohhdeer, Simon & Schuster, National Trust & Djeco, on projects ranging from editorial work, toy design, book jackets, and picture books.

You can find out more about Melissa by visiting: www.melissacastrillon.co.uk

Levi Jacobs

2016-03-12T09:33:00.000+10:00

The following are awesome works by Netherlands based illustrator Levi Jacobs.

Check out more of Levi's work at: www.levijacobs.nl

NANNA Interview

2016-03-05T09:32:00.000+10:00

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Vienna based illustrator NANNA. Enjoy our chat!

+ What/who influenced you to pursue a career in art?

I have been in love with illustration since I was a little girl. Nobody in my family or surrounding is working in a creative field, so I don’t know how I came up with this idea. My mother read out a lot of children’s books to me, so it might be that she was the one who introduced me into the world of illustration. However I’m very happy with the way things are going now, it was definitely the right decision to choose a creative life.

+ How did you develop your artistic style?

I tried out many different techniques to find out which one workers best for me, through a learning by doing process. It took a few years until I found the perfect mix, it combines the texture of analog acrylic painting with digital paper cutting. So I’ve kind of developed my very own technique, I call it the 'digital paper-cutting' ;)
I’m still trying to make it better and better, so the progress hasn’t stopped right now, maybe it never will.

+ What are some of the projects you have worked on?

There were many exciting jobs since I’ve started to work self-employed in 2014 such as book covers, packaging for food, wrapping papers and some nice editorial projects. As well, I really enjoyed working on a children’s book called 'Ganz schön super', which I also wrote by myself. It has been was published in German language last spring.

To see more of NANNA, check out:

+ www.nannaprieler.com
+ Instagram
+ Facebook

Christopher Delorenzo

2016-02-27T15:38:00.002+10:00

The following are some very cool artworks by Christopher Delorenzo.

Check out more of Christopher's artworks at: christophermonro.tumblr.com

Kathrin Honesta

2016-02-20T13:09:00.000+10:00

The following are works of 2015 by Kathrin Honesta.

Check her out at www.behance.net/kathrinhonesta

Nimura Daisuke

2016-02-13T13:00:00.003+10:00

The following are some awesome artworks from Japanese artist Nimura Daisuke.

Check them out at nimuradaisuke.tumblr.com

Desks

2015-11-23T20:21:00.000+10:00

My desk is tiny. It is cramped.

So these school holidays I am planning on upgrading to a larger desk, but what desk? I have collected some desk inspiration for myself, and for anyone else looking for a desk upgrade, or some pretty ways to decorate their workspace!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

What's your ideal workspace?

It's been a while!

2015-11-14T20:39:00.000+10:00

Hello again!

5 months it has been since I posted to this little blog. I realised that I had lost any motive to blog and blogging had become a chore, sadly. So I left for a while, just deciding whether or not to keep blogging and to see if the things I was blogging about even interested me anymore.

Well they still do! And since Australian school holidays are coming up I will have plenty of time to blog.

(A cute piece from one of my favourite illustrators, Emily Isabella)

So what have I been doing for the last 5 months that has kept me so busy? Mostly studying, but also spending lots of time with my beloved guinea pigs (!!) and some other things. I completed a volunteer program at a local animal shelter, built some sets for a high school musical (no, not 'the' high school musical, a different one), and adopted a 3rd guinea pig from my local guinea pig rescue, among other things!

I have been watching a couple of YouTube channels:

Post Modern Jukebox: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScottBradleeLovesYa

This channel is super cool (how did I not know it existed earlier?). They cover modern songs and fit them into various eras. Some of my favourites:

Little Adventures: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDd21vf-O4Ay6A3X7WPPvEw

Even if you don't have guinea pigs, this is an adorable channel to watch! Frieda, Sylvester, Pebbles, and Little One are some super cute guinea pigs with fun personalities. I love watching them every week and keeping up with the vlogs!

Also, I am currently working on my final art piece for my visual art class! It is a 3D artist book focusing on the sense 'sight'. It's full of flowers, bushes, and vines. I won't be taking art next year so this is it! If it all turns out well I will have a picture up on the blog in the next couple of weeks.

(Floral by Yao Cheng)

What have you all been up to? x

Packaging // 2

2015-06-27T07:30:00.000+10:00

Hello! So for Part 2 I thought I'd choose a few book covers and package designs I thought were cute! Enjoy x

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Which one's your favorite? Have an awesome week x

Floral // 1

2015-06-21T18:06:00.000+10:00

Hello! So I have been back on Pinterest after months and I have found a heap of cool florals that I thought I would share!

I will be doing a few short collective posts over the next couple of weeks, each with different fun themes. Hope you enjoy x

Sources // 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Have a great week x

Book Festival P2

2015-06-07T18:42:00.001+10:00

Hello! So it has been a whole month since I posted to this blog. A MONTH! During that month, I have been very busy at school (exam week this week!) and going to book festivals! I have been to 2 Lifeline Book festivals this year, and one local library book sale. I definitely have enough books to read!

These are a few books I picked up at the festivals!

Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park // Tales of the Unexpected - Roald Dahl // The Fault in our Stars - John Green // Wonder - RJ Palacio // The Festival by the Sea - June Loves // The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton

Have you read any of these books? I would love to know your opinion! I am hoping to start The Luminaries soon.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald // The Beautiful and Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald // Mary Bennet - Jenifer Paynter // The Mind's Eye - Oliver Sacks // We are all made of Glue - Marina Lewycka

I chose most of these books after reading THIS post from Buzzfeed to get some book recommendations. Do you have any book recommendations?

And I finally found The Virgin Suicides!! I have been looking for this book for AGES after watching a book recommendation video of easy reads by Booksandquills and Essie Button. Every book fest I go to I look for the books they have recommended and I have found a few so far!

You can watch the video here:

Also, I thought I would take a few close ups of the bouquets I made! I took a walk/run in the park and collected the prettiest flowers/leaves I could find. A few are Australian natives but there are definitely some (very pretty) weeds. I had to dodge ALOT of spider webs to get these flowers!

Isn't that pom pom flower above so cool? In my local park there is a tree filled with them. And bees! There were bees climbing all over the flowers and buzzing about. You can even spot mini bee hives among the bush. And the little buds look like raspberries, don't you think?

So have you guys read any of these books or do you have any book recommendations for me? I would love to know for the next Bookfest! Have an awesome week x

(Oh, and if you live in the Brisbane area the Lifeline Brisbane Bookfest is on until Tuesday 9/6/15 if you want to check it out)

Bryt

2015-04-28T19:05:00.000+10:00

Hello! So a little while ago, the awesome Natalie Cope let me know about the Manchester clothing company Bryt (that she and James Foster founded) that is Kickstarting today! It's all about brightly coloured clothing to satisfy those with a love for very VERY bright colours. And to bring colour happiness to all!

To kickstart this new brand, Bryt will have a whole range of fun and colourful socks available. Each pair of socks have a unique name, there is....

Frankie

Charlie

Poppy

Eden

and Sam!

(and more of course)

All socks are made with narrow combed cotton fibers (comfy!) in the UK. 9 sock designs are available on the Kickstarter, however if Bryt are able to exceed their target their will be 25 designs available AND an entire underwear collection (all will be super colourful, and bright of course!).

Bryt's plan is to 'Be Bright. Be Bold and Create Change'.

So if you too think Bryt is pretty cool and you want to support their goal to sell ONLY bright coloured clothing head over HERE to their Kickstarter and show them some loooove. (the kickstarter goes live 1.30pm on the 28th of April)

If you are interested in Bryt you can check out their:

+ Instagram

+ Facebook

Have and awesome week x

Recent Stuff

2015-04-19T18:21:00.002+10:00

Hello! It has been a really long time since I last posted. I decided to take an unannounced blogging break because I just wasn't feeling motivated or excited to blog, and had too much school work to be able to put out good posts. But I'm back, and I thought I would write about a few things that have been happening while I haven't been blogging!

I got this really cute phone case based off of Japanese milky candies. They are available for a whole range of phones (even my 4s!) from ALOT of sites but I got my two of eBay.

I have never tried these Japanese milky candies but I'm guessing they taste similar to Chinese white rabbit creamy candies? They are pretty yum.

(white rabbit candies! source)

Also... Cotton on! I barely shop here but while browsing online I found some really cute socks they have (all for $5!)

Strawberry socks!

Lips and heart socks!

And... Carla Hackett. Carla's a very cool Melbourne based letterer. She creates some of the awesome-est hand crafted type from the shared creative space Little Gold Studios. Look!

I love this poster she made for Frankie Magazine, It's hanging in my room now.

Now I'll be honest, most 'inspirational' quotes make me cringe a little so I love these prints from Heather Buchanan. Especially Heather's description of them, 'Ok, a lot of amazing talented people make super cool prints featuring lovely inspirational quotes. They're lovely and pretty and pleasant. But they're also EVERYWHERE. So I made this for everyone who, like me, needs to giggle at these sorts of things'. Thank YOU for making these Heather!

Check them out HERE.

And that's all! Have an awesome week x

Book Festival P1

2015-03-02T20:59:00.001+10:00

Hello! So sadly, there will be no miss March calendar, as I have been to busy with school work to create one, BUT! Do not fear as I am planning an awesome miss April ^_^

Recently there have been a whole heap if book festivals in my area, some in libraries and some in HUGE convention centers. The most recent largest book festival was the Lifeline Bookfest, which are a series of book festivals (some of the biggest in the world!) spread across Queensland, Australia, and all proceeds go to charity. So of course I had to go, and my family and I were there from 11 am - 4 pm (ish). I was starving and tired by 1 pm, but shared a small Greek salad and carried on booking my way through the (what felt like hundreds) of aisles.

Sooo, to show you some of the books I found, I thought I would break it up into separate posts, since I think cramming all the books into one post is a bit overwhelming.

These are some of my favorites of the books I found! and some flowers I was given (so pretty, I have now put them in a flower press).

This is an awesome little book I found in the $2 section! Of course I was originally attracted to it by its cover, but it is actually really interesting! It's full of 'creative non-fiction', basically little creative essays on moments from people's lives. It is great for flicking through and having a short read.

I FOUND IT. I have been looking for this book for ages and found it. IN THE $5 SECTION (!!!) It is so pretty and fun to read. And the pictures and illustrations are so cool!

And lastly is 'Like I give a Frock' which is full of funky illustrations and fashion anecdotes. Such as a little story about the meaning of deja shoe! (read to find out...)

And of course, I had to include a few close ups of this pretty pink flower! Look out for Book Festival P2! Have you been to any book festivals recently? x

Pretty Fonts

2015-02-24T21:22:00.000+10:00

Hello! So here is my second font collection, and all six of them are free! Check them all out below (the download links are below the image). Enjoy!

Lily Belle + Sweet Pea + Frontage Outline + Tall Films + Vincent + Vincent Street

Which one's your favorite? x

Internet Hunting

2015-02-16T21:49:00.000+10:00

Hello! So I haven't done one of these posts in AGES even though internet treasure hunting is one of my favorite things to do. So here are a few little gems I found recently while internet hunting!

+ Cotton on Kids room decor

Yes yes, it's for kids, but that doesn't stop it from being super cute, affordable AND older-person appropriate! Cotton on Kids stock everything from pillows to bed sheets to wooden houses. And all for under $70 AUD (whaaaa?) Check it out HERE.

+ Carlos Cactus

This is Carlos Cactus. He is a super cool non-spiky guy designed by Maria Flores in her Melbourne based studio. He's made out of flexiglass and available in 6 colour ways and 3 different patterns, so you can build-it-yourself. Check him out HERE.

+ Studio Ghibli Map of Japan

For any of you Studio Ghibli fans out there you're going to LOVE this. It's a map of Japan designed by Nat-Hime of Anime Lovers featuring some of Hayao Miyazaki's most famous films including Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and of course my beloved Totoro! Check it out HERE.

+ Printable Mini Super Stars
Here are some super cute free printable super stars from Oh Happy Day! Download them HERE and hang them all over.

I hope you found something interesting in this hunt! What's your favorite piece? Have an awesome week x

May Leong Interview

2015-02-09T20:03:00.000+10:00

Hello! Meet May Leong. May is a Sydney graphic designer and artist. She runs Seal Studio and the card company Cwazy Co, where she creates some of the cutest and quirkiest cards you will ever see. May was encouraged by her dad at the age of four to run a mini greeting card store for her close friends and family, and now she is running a much bigger card company!

May is planning to branch out her products into stationary, posters, and wrapping paper (oooh...) I adore May's work and was so glad to have the opportunity to chat with her.

+ Hello May! Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.

I’m May Leong, an illustrator/instagrammer. Design is the love that I love. I feel incredibly lucky to have a small studio, where the last thing I go to sleep and the first thing I wake up is design.

+ What lead you to become a designer/artist?

I started making cards from a very young age. All thanks to my Mum and Dad who were always encouraging me to draw and paint.

+ Is there anything/anyone that has had a big influence on your work, and if so, how?

I’ve always been fascinated by the 60s. The whole era has pretty much influenced my work. My work has an old and new theme. My style is whimsical with a dash of fun.

+ What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on during your career?

The most exciting thing would be collaborating with West Elm, Brooklyn, to create a bunch of artwork for their store.

+ What is your favourite card from Cwazy Co?

I’m in love with The Leafy Society and The Palm Story from Cwazy Co greeting cards. I'm a big fan of leaves!

+ Where do you hope to be in 5 years?

I’ve learned that most things are a work in progress. Who knows where i’ll be in the next five years? I love the element of surprise here!

Hope you enjoyed that! It was lovely to chat with May.You can find more of May here:

+ Instagram @mayillustrator
+ May + Baz
+ Cwazy Co. Facebook

Have an awesome week all! x

February Calendar

2015-02-02T20:38:00.001+10:00

Hello! Happy February. My apologies for the lack of posts! School's back and things have been super busy and stressful. She's a little late, but Miss February has arrived, and she has a fabulous flower crown.

Download HERE

Annnnnd.... there is little bonus this month! Here is the full Miss February, and you can download her as a desktop below.

Download HERE

Let me know what you think! If you have any suggestions for Miss March, comment below. Have an awesome week x

Room Roundup

2015-01-19T17:03:00.001+10:00

Hello! So when I read the results from the Cranberry Deer survey, I found out that a lot of you like my roundup posts, so today here is a bedroom roundup! I have been redecorating my bedroom recently and so I thought I would share some cool rooms I found.

First off, can we just acknowledge how awesome the Studio DIY headquarters are?

source

And this pretty corner!

source

How cool is Kate from Clover + Dot's room? She recently posted her room tour. Check it out HERE.

Had to include some Arro Home...

source

And these cacti! In such cool mugs!

source

This DIY door from Sugar & Cloth! So purtttttty...

source

Which is your favourite pretty room? Also, this is my 100th post! Wow! #omg

Sorry for the short post this week! I have an exciting post coming up next... so stay tuned for that x

Easy Pom Poms

2015-01-11T20:51:00.000+10:00

Hello! Today I will be showing you how to make some super easy pom poms, and there will be a little extra DIY at the end. Oh, and if you are bothered by chipped nail polish then I must advise you to not look at my nails!

You will need:

+ First, Begin wrapping the wool around your fingers. The more fingers you use, the larger the pom pom will be.

+ Once you have reached your desired pom pom thickness (The picture below shows how much wool is used for an average pom pom) move it off your fingers and loop it around your forefinger as shown.

+ Now cut of the excess wool into a long piece.

+ Use the piece to wrap around the centre of the loop of wool, and tie a double (or triple. or quadruple) knot. Make sure it is tight or your pom pom will fall apart!

+ Cut each end of the loop with a sharp pair of scissors.

+ There will often be little loops left on the pom pom so remember to trim these too! You may have to dig around the pom pom to find them as they are often deep down near where you tied the pom pom.

+ Once that is done, trim the edges of the pom pom to neaten it up.

+ Ta da! One super easy pom pom finished!

Okay, now for another DIY to make with all your pom poms. A pom pom garland! (Or hair accessory, if you wrap it around your head). You will need pom poms, a long string of wool, and a needle.

This is a quick DIY needle if you don't have one big enough to thread wool through. You will need scissors and a wooden skewer.

+ Firstly, cut your skewer into a needle size.

+ Then, cut the end of the skewer slightly (as you can see in the picture below).

+ Now, pull a piece of wool through your skewer and you have a needle!

+ Next, use a needle to pull the wool through the pom pom.

+ Then continue adding pom poms onto your garland until it looks awesome!

And that's all there is to it. If you decide to make this DIY please be sure to send me a picture via email or Instagram (@cranberrydeer) I would love to see!

Also, sorry for the late post this week! I have been waiting for my tripod to arrive so I could take the pictures for this post.

Hope your week is super duper! x

January Calendar

2015-01-01T13:23:00.000+10:00

Hello! Happy 2015! (I hope!) So as promised, here is the first instalment of the Cranberry Deer 2015 calendar, January! At the start of each month I will post one monthly calendar for download. For free, how great. Enjoy little miss January and her shmancy hair do!

Download HERE

How did you celebrate the new year? x

Lately

2014-12-26T15:59:00.000+10:00

Hello! So here is my first 'lately' post. Oooh... exciting! So what's been up lately in the life of Cory? Well I had a a lot of fun reading the survey answers from the last post, and many of you asked for some of MY own photos! So, here they are (for the first time, yay). I got a new DSLR camera so there will be many more pretty photos for you to gaze upon!

Update on old man cactus! (featured in THIS post) he is still going strong and is coming up for his 8th year. He has been through a lot, but has decided to grow two baby cacti next to him. Awww! Does anyone else find that cute?

Elizabeth Doyle (featured HERE) sent me the loveliest package! She included a few of her goodies and this awesome lips print. Thank you so very much Elizabeth ^_^

And, lets not forgot about Christmas! I hope your Christmas was great. I decided to collect all the bon bon toys and make a little flat lay. The spin top is awesome (and hypnotising!).

Also, thank you to my little sissy for this surprise gift! I love these autobiography/life-lesson books by woman doing cool stuff (Sophia Amoruso, Amy Poehler) and this is another awesome one to read! I have just started reading it and it's great so far, however it does have some (okay, quite a bit) of 'inappropriate' content so I would recommend it for 14 up!

This little moose I was gifted is also super cute! I thought it was a deer (to add to my collection) but the gift giver decided to spice things up and get a moose instead, in my favourite colour. Oooh...

And to finish things off, here is this printable strawberry treat box from Oh Happy Day that you can download HERE. It makes such a cute addition to any room or party!

Hope you enjoyed that posts! I am planning many DIY's for 2015. Is there anything you would like to see? Have an awesome week and a great new year! x

Survey Time

2014-12-21T23:18:00.000+10:00

Hello! So as the title says... it's survey time! Yipee yipee yay yay!! I have set up a quick survey that I would absolutely love for you to complete. I am really interested to get to know you all better and hopefully improve the blog from all YOUR awesome answers. Oh, and if you would like to take the survey another time, it is always available from the widget at the bottom of the sidebar.

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Thank you so much for completing this survey! I will do a survey update as soon as I have enough answers, and create a little 'reader profile' to share some of the feedback! Sounds exciting doesn't it? Can't wait to read all your super cool answers x

Gift Ideas

2014-12-15T21:41:00.001+10:00

Hello! So, it's almost Christmas, meaning Christmas shopping in busy retail stores! If you don't have any ideas for the gifts you will buy then here's a small collection of fun gifts to give to the cool people in your life.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Eeeee! They're all so cute. Which one is your favourite? And how will you be spending your Christmas holidays?

Also, thank you all so much for 245 entries in the Elizabeth Doyle giveaway! 26 hours to go, so make sure to enter HERE. The winner will be announced on the 17th of December (GMT+10:00)

I wish you all a very merry Christmas! x