Christmas ideas

Surfacing at last

Clever Zebra Designs has had a quiet spell over the winter. Now that spring has arrived I am keen to get back into creating and crafting and attending markets once again. It was a wonderful day at the Wynyard Tulip Festival on Saturday. We had  a great response from a wide range of people. It was great to get some feedback on the clipboards and new range of Alice in Wonderland notebooks and sketch pads. Thank you to all those lovely people who came by.

Lost in Oz

Every now  and then we need a little inspiration to get us back on track. Last week I discovered some wonderful new papers to inspire the creation of these new notebooks. There is something of the child in all of us and these designs made me stop and think about my childhood and all the wonderful old movies we used to watch.

Winter warmers

Clever Zebra Designs has been in winter hibernation of late. Things have ground to a halt on the creating front due to a number of other busy commitments. It has been a time to stop and reflect about how quickly the year is slipping away. It has also been a time to think of some new designs, creations and ideas. This weekend we will be at the Mummy Made it Market in Devonport, from 9.00 am - 1.00 pm. It will be wonderful to meet some other mums who are busy creating away. I will look forward to being inspired by their creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge.

Return from the market...

A wonderful time was had at the Apron Design Market last weekend in Launceston. The weather was clear and cold but the rain stayed away which was great. The mulled wine helped on the Friday night and the sunshine got us through the Saturday. It was lovely to see so many people out, and about and especially the return of a number of cutomers from the last market in April. The children's notbooks, clipboards and pencil sets were the big sellers at this market. It was the first time I had sold the clipboards so it was good to see they were successful. There was a lovely Christmassy atmosphere in the air and great to see so many people entering in to the spirit of the Christmas Decoration competition.

The vintage travel journals and brown paper notebooks were spotted by Amanda from The Vintage Rose in Launceston at the market. She is now stocking them in her beautiful shop in Tamar Street which is just wonderful.....

Off to market....

Choosing our words carefully...

I have been thinking a lot about journal writing..........of course......not just because I am making them, but why we have them. We record out thoughts, our lives, our dreams, our pain, and then what happens to them when we are no longer there tending to them, or guarding them under lock and key.
I was recently listening to an interview about the late Manning Clark by his biographer, and he was talking about the history that Manning created through his own journal writing. His biographer seemed to be saying that unless we burn our journals and therefore our thoughts they are left behind and read and in some cases, like Manning's, used to perpetuate his history. He thought Manning's journal writing was a well crafted and carefully constructed history that had been left behind for people to read, He seemed to indicate that it wasn't necessarily the truth, but the truth wasn't going to be told in what would eventually be such a public piece of work.
I had not given a great deal of thought to all those journals containing all my thoughts ever being read by someone...when I go. My journal writing is not something that is constructed for anyone else to see or know about, but one day it could in fact be just that (I'm not suggesting my biography will be written!)...but. will my daughters sit and read them when I''m gone and does that worry me if they do? I probably need to ponder that a little more...will it change the way I write and pour my thoughts on to the page knowing that they will share them. It's a bit of a confronting question in many ways.