Petal & Pins

Category: Fashion Illustration

March 4, 2020

Budding Genius

While autumn has begun here in Australia I’ve channeled  spring vibes for this photo with my copy of British Vogue’s Spring Fashion 2020 issue.

As a fashion design student long before the age of internet, the arrival of the latest issues of international fashion magazines on the newsstand was cause for excitement. Vogues from France, Italy, the US and UK, Harpers Bazaar, Donna and the then new edgy publications ID, The Face and Details.

If you knew someone going overseas you would ask them to bring magazines back because that ‘Air Freight – Just Landed’ sticker wasn’t as quick as it implied and as a student imported magazines were expensive.

Of course now the latest collections can be seen in an instant on a device in the palm of your hand…but there’s something intrinsically enjoyable about flipping through the pages of a magazine – it makes you slow down and encourages you to take a moment for yourself (maybe with a cup of tea or a glass of wine) and aimlessly flipping or working your way through it from cover to cover depending on the mood you’re in.

In my styled spring Flat Lay are roses from my garden, petal & pins Blush Rose greeting card from the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe Collection, Vintage Rose handkerchief and some of my favourite accessories.

 

Last European spring I was delighted to have my Aquilegia & Rose Dress art print featured in UK Bride magazine’s The Pretty List after the editors saw us exhibiting at the Top Drawer London tradeshow.

Alas my efforts to track down a physical copy came up empty handed but at least I have this digital image to share because it was a proud moment to be included alongside so many pretty floral things…and being called ‘Budding genius’ no less!

 

 

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December 23, 2017

The Fairy & The Farmer

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Two of the highlights of my year have been about collaboration.

In April Lisa Britzman, a ceramic artist and sustainable boutique farmer in the Huon Valley of Tasmania got in touch to see if I would be interested in having some of her autumn blooming saffron flowers to design my minature botanical couture with.

Mr Petal & Pins and I drove down to Campo de Flori Farm which is picturesquely located high in the hills. It was facinating to see saffron growing  and Lisa showed us how it is harvested. I brought a basketful of the striking purple flowers home and designed a mini collection of dresses that has kicked off the Farmgate Project by petal & pins.

Recently we went back to the farm for olive blossoms and culinary lavender – and of course we were only too happy to come home with some freshly baked lavender shortbread biscuits too!

The other wonderful collaboration began in the Spring of 2016 when Carolyn  Turgeon editor-in-chief of Faerie Magazine interviewed me by skype for the The Faeirie Handbook – ‘an enchanting compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes and Projects’.

In winter this year I got a sneek peek at the proofs for the pages featuring my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe® and the beautiful cover featuring Euphaeidae from the Wonderland series by Kirsty Mitchell Photography but of course had to keep it a secret until its release.

The book launched in November and I was very excited when my copy from publisher Harper Collins New York office arrived!

It’s an exquisite hardback book with silver edged pages and I couldn’t be more proud to be featured within it.

There’s something for everyone who loves a bit of whimsy and magic of any age with chapters on Flora & Fauna, Fashion & Beauty, Arts & Culture and Home, Food & Entertaining.

So let me know if you see The Faerie Handbook in your local bookstore…or if you have a suggestion for a collaboration why not get in touch!

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My limited edition prints can be purchased from the petal & pins online shop and selected stockists. Wholesale inquiries welcome.

The Faerie Handbook is available from bookshops worldwide and online through Amazon, Booktopia, Dymocks and the Faerie Magazine online store. 

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March 12, 2017

Challenge & Inspire

International Womens Day 2017

I celebrated International Womens Day by chatting to my dear friend Deb on the phone while we both had a cup of tea – it’s a bit of a tradition now that we do this on International Womens Day and you can read about how this tradition grew in my post Serendipity & Teacups.

 I’ve met and been inspired by a lot of amazing women over the years teachers, colleagues, customers and peers and I met a whole new bunch of amazing women recently when I attended Katie Hunt’s Paper Camp  in Los Angeles.

Paper Camp Tradeshow Bootcamp is a 2 day workshop for small independent stationery designers wanting to wholesale  their designs in the US and thinking of showing at the National Stationery Show trade fair in New York – (a girl’s got to dream!)

It was all sorts of amazing – the practical and insightful program delivered by Katie and the other wonderful ‘camp councillors’ generous with their knowledge and  experience , the open armed friendliness and conversations with the other ‘campers’ over meals and a wind down glass of wine each evening.

Two days of stationery talk and learning with other people as passionate about it as me was more incredible than I could have imagined and importantly SO useful for turning ideas and dreams into plans and moving forward.

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Our list of stockists is growing and this year includes our first UK one! – Atelier 19 in Chelternam and a new US one, Lavender Hill Florals in Indiana so if there isn’t one near you yet hopefully there will be soon.

To see if there is see our stockists list or browse our range on the petal & pins online shop – we ship worldwide!

PS. the lady with the violet hat is from our new Atelier Pétale range and of course the perfect floral choice for International Womens Day!

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February 1, 2017

Greenery

greenery

Pantone announcing Greenery as the Colour of the Year 2017 has inspired me to look at all the foliage in my garden.

I had fun combining leaves from about five different plants, focusing on texture and shape to design two new dresses for the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe™ now available as limited edition art prints.

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November 19, 2016

Sweet Cécile Brünner

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We’re having such a great season for roses in Hobart and one of my favourites is the sweet Cécile Brünner.

I love to pick petite posies of them whilst still in bud and their size is perfect for creating my miniature flower couture!

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October 23, 2016

Pop! #2

petal & pins pop up shop at Town House Gallery

We’re heading to the north of  the state this coming week for a 2 day pop up shop at the Town House Gallery in Launceston.

Town House is more than just a gallery – it’s an indie store, studio and curated pop up space and it fosters a sense of community with artist run workshops.

Started by textile designer Meredith Ireland, it champions Australian art & design with a focus on the makers who call Tasmania home.

I first met Meredith online when she got in touch with me about writing a guest blog post for Create & Thrive in January. It was not something I’d done before, and we were busy in preparations for our first trade fair appearance so it presented a lovely opportunity to look at what had got me to that point and so I called my post ‘How a Head Full Of Dreams Became petal & pins‘.

That first guest blog post turned out to be a fitting representation of the year to unfold – a year full of ‘firsts’ – our first trade fair, our first big interstate design market, our first pop up shop.

On Saturday we took a drive up to Launceston and finally met Meredith in person and got to see the wonderful space we will transform into all things petal & pins next Friday & Saturday!

In August we showed at our second trade fair, in November we head back to the Bowerbird Design market and next week at Town House will be our 2nd pop up shop!

It’s a lovely coincidence that something towards the end of this year connects me up again with Meredith, it’s been a wonderful, busy, exhausting, exciting year and with only two more months to go I’m now dreaming about what’s next.

You can now find petal & pins whimsical designs in over 45 stockists – mostly in Australia (but we’re working on that!) as well as our online shop.

If you subscribe to the petal & pins newsletter you will be the first to hear where we’ll pop up next, get subscriber only offers and a special welcome gift. Subscribe here.

And, if you happen to be in Launceston next Friday or Saturday, come and say hello!

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September 17, 2016

Romantic Decadence

tree peony flower

I was quite enamoured by this peony when I saw it, the velvety centre ‘fringed’ in gold and those streaks of magenta on each petal (perhaps applied by a garden fairy’s paint brush!)

The bushes were covered in blooms and my friend gathered a bunch for me to design with.

My own tree peonies are also in the midst of their annual display of romantic decadence which  serves as a reminder that my blog has a birthday – number 4!

Thanks for following or simply stumbling across it and stopping to look around and if you happen to know the name of this peony variety I’d love to know.

peony centrespetal & pins peony dress

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August 23, 2016

An Invitation

“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck”
Emma Goldman 1869 -1940

Hobart designers Sandra Alcorn & Amanda Sheen celebrate spring, friendship and its connection to the garden at Salamanca pop up shop  from 22nd September – 5th October.

Designer Sandra Alcorn’s garden inspires her miniature flower couture and under the petal & pins label she designs and produces a range of greeting cards and art prints featuring these ephemeral dresses.  For spring 2016 petal & pins launch their Garden Party Collection and new print range Atelier Pétale featuring floral millinery.

Jewellery designer Amanda Sheen brings her hallmark style of organic shapes and playfulness to design a range of jewellery, objects and accessories using silver, gold  and mixed media from classic pieces to statement collars that will add an air of haute couture to the simplest little black dress.

Sandra & Amanda often spend time together in the garden – they celebrate summer days with a gin & tonic, autumn with fruit bottling sessions, their birthdays together in winter and spring with flower adorned teacakes.

No matter what the season there is endless conversation and most likely champagne! From all this sprung the idea of the shared pop up and they invite you to come and see their work.

Space 008 Salamanca Arts Centre Hobart Tasmania

22nd September – 5th October Mon to Sun 10 to 4

Opening night  Thursday 22nd  5pm to 7pm

petal & pins pink hellebore and purple iris cards

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August 8, 2016

Atelier Pétale

Atelier Pétale by petal & pins

Last week petal & pins launched a new range of limited edition prints at the Life Instyle trade fair held in Melbourne.

I’ve designed hats with geraniums, violets and hellebores to grace one of my fashion illustrations – I invite you to take a look and let me know which is your favourite!

We ship worldwide from the petal & pins online shop and they will soon be available from some of our lovely Australian stockists (international enquiries about becoming a petal & pins stockist most welcome!)

 

View the collection –

Atelier Pétale Spring 2016 Collection

 

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July 4, 2016

Return To The Source

It’s yet another rainy day in Hobart so since it’s not inviting to be in the garden picking flowers I thought I’d share some photos of making a dress with the hydrangeas from my autumn post gathered.

starting a petal & pins dressdesigner Sandra Alcorn starting one of her Garden Fairy's Wardrobe dressesleaf detail on a petal and pins dresspetal & pins autumn hydrangea dress

If you’ve been following the petal & pins blog for a while you may remember that back in February we were planning for our  first trade fair, well now we’re busy preparing for our second – this time in Melbourne!

The theme for this one is Return To The Source and it was inspiring to hear futurist, curator, event designer Genty Marshall talk about the inspiration and motivation behind this seasons event theme at a workshop in June.

‘provenance – what is true – materials – tactility – essentialism – legacy – the idea of journey’ – all these things are important to us and what we do at petal & pins from the designs I create, the paper stock we choose and the decision to print locally in Tasmania.

Our garden not only inspires but also  provides the materials for my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe dresses, so the seasons, and like today the weather influence when and what I have to design with but that unpredictable and sometime elusive nature is part of the charm for me – it inspires me to try and ‘live in the moment’ more.

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We’ve added some new dresses to The Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe card range and last week I went to see them start to roll off the press – I can’t wait to share them and some of the other creative ideas I’ve been working on!

If you’re a retailer who  loves flowers, fashion and a bit of whimsy we’d love to show you through the petal & pins range – come and say hello – you’ll find us at F24 in First Instyle.

To know when the new designs will be available online and in stores subscribe to our newsletter here.

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