Laikonik

LAIKONIK HAS MOVED!

2011-12-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, Laikonik has a new location. There is a gorgeous new website and blog together at www.laikonik.com.au

Come on over and visit! Lots of gorgeous new things and offers :)

See you there!
Kasia :)

Blue prints on raw hemp

2011-08-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am in love with the way the strong royal blue fabric ink came out on the raw hemp. The designs were once again made from paper cut outs and then screen printed onto the hemp. These are cushions which are currently available for sale in my online shop. Check them out, each one is different. Oh and some prints are purple! Delicious!

A wall hanging for Claudia

2011-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy lately working on a myriad of fabric prints. I've made cushions, wall hangings, table linens, bags. I've screen printed my doona cover! I will be posting about all my wonderful projects ovr the next week or so. For today here is a wall hanging that I designed and made for Claudia whom I met recently. She is a designer herself and was very keen on my work and requested that I do a wall hanging for her home, on the raw hemp in white. So here it is below as well as the process I use for most of my printing. You may find it useful if you're planning on doing some printing at home.

Cushions and more screen printing

2011-06-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

I have had a lovely time making these cushions out of some random pieces of screen printed fabric. I have been printing last week, pretty much anything that took my fancy. Most of the prints are from paper cut-outs. The fabrics are mixed and include: hemp canvass, silk/hemp, cotton, hessian. I am in the process of making lots of cushions, table runners, coasters and more fabric bags for the upcoming Lane Cove Alive Markets on Sunday 19th June 2011 from 9am till 3pm. Please come if you are in the local area.

This one is printed hessian. I like the way it comes out so rough due to the open weave of this textile.

Printing using a paper stencil

2011-05-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here is how I screen-print my paper cut-outs...

I start with the paper cut-out and make a mask out of brown kraft paper. See where I marked it with the pen?

Then I stick the mask onto the silk screen with stiky tape.

I place the paper cut-out onto the fabric where I want to print it...

... and position the screen with the mask over the paper cut-out.

I print through the mask and voila!

Off to the drying rack :)

More on these table runners next week. I'll be printing more colorus onto them.

paper cut-outs for screen printing

2011-05-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some lovely paper cut-outs I've just done. I am planning on using these as stencils through the silk screen and printing some more hemp with them. This time I'll be using different colours instead of the trusty red :) I'll post about the results soon.

On the washing line...

2011-05-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some more screen prints from last week. Still drying after a wash in the machine. I am not precious about the prints and like the way they come out all roughed up and looking well worn. I have not yet decided what I will make out of these. Possibly some more table linen as that is my excitement at the moment :) ... stand by.

Raw silk on the left and hemp canvass on the right

Screenprinting some table linen

2011-05-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

I am very happy screen-printing some table linen at the moment. I made a table cloth for my friend's mum's 75th birthday out of a hemp/silk blend (which is stunning) and was very happy with how it turned out. It's the one with the large red floral print on it in the pics below. To make the pattern I cut stencils out of architectural drafting film and taped them to a blank silk screen then printed through that. It was a bit tricky as I had to wait for each separate segment to dry before I printed another one.

I also made some table runners from raw hemp and another table runner also from the hemp/silk blend with the same floral pattern on it as the table cloth. Except with this one I deliberately didn't heat set it for very long and it gave this lovely washed out look. I like it a lot.

I made some bags!

2011-05-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

I got this exciting idea to sew some bags out of lots of pieces of lovely screen printed hemp which i have had for a long time. I made some samples and I will be offering these for sale in my online shop from tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday 3rd May 2011 Australian time). They are all made from 100% heavy weight Hemp canvass. (the super textile). There is only one of each in the shop so once it's bought that's it but I will be making some more in the near future. I'm testing these to see how popular they are. I had a lot of fun sewing them that's for sure and I like that they're all different.

Night Lights decorated with vegetable paints

2011-04-29T21:36:00.001-07:00

I just love love these lights. So simple to make. I used A4 sheets of water colour paper and vegetable paints to do the designs. The dark pink is beetroot juice. You basically just juice half a beeteroot and paint with it. That's it. The green colour you see is spinach juice, same thing you just shove lots of spinach leaves into a juicer. And the orangey colour is tumeric mixed with water. It's a bit stinky when you paint with it but when it dries there is no smell. So I painted the designs on and when they dried I stuck a piece of double sided tape along one side and then rolled the paper into a cylinder shape and stuck the sides together. I use large tea light candles under the lights. Please remember if you're going to make these (I know this is fairly obvious BUT...) you are putting paper and naked flame together so make your lights wide enough so that the candle underneath doesn't touch the paper. Or put your candle into one of those plain glass tea light holders and then put the paper cylinder over the top. Don't they look lovely?

The following two light's were painted with beetroot juice.

The one on the left is printed with one of my designs, and the one on the right is painted with spinach, beetroot and tumeric.

Decorate your own crockery

2011-04-29T20:27:00.001-07:00

I have been using Pebeo Porcelain Paint Markers for years mainly to decorate goose, hen and ostrich eggs for Easter. You can see some of my Easter Eggs from previous years on this blog. Last week I decided to give the Porcelain Markers a go on actual crockery. I love the result of these two jugs. Pebeo Porcelain Paint markers are available from just about any decent art supply shop such as Oxford Art Supplies or Eckersleys. They are so easy to use, you just paint your designs on then bake the crockery in the oven for 35 minutes at 150 degeres celcius.

The jugs you see below were plain and I added the red designs onto both of them. The taller one with the yellow stripe on the edge is a cheapy from Ikea and the other one is an antique clay jug which I picked up years ago from one of those antique shops in the country.

Cardboard houses

2011-04-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hello friends :)
I have been keeping myself very busy over the last few weeks following my own excitement. It's amazing how nice it feels to listen to your intuition and then do what it tells you. Sometimes I come up with seemigly random things such as a desire to make a little cardboard house. But what all these have in common is that while i'm doing these projects I feel happy and inspired. And who knows where this will lead? So here are two little cardboard houses made purely for the love of it.

Here's the first one I made out of magazine back covers. Frankie and Artichoke to be precise. Both always have such great imagery. This house is a response to the still existing graphic designer/lover of architecture in me. I used craft glue to put it together.

This is the second little house I built. This one is made from scrap cardboard and has been painted with water colour on the outside and markers on the inside. It is a direct expression of my love for Polish folk-art and those old Eastern European villages. I love it!

The roof comes off for easy access to the interior. I think my daughter will move her fairy family in here.

Some newbies

2010-11-10T21:10:00.001-08:00

Hello friends! Am I back to blogging? Well I am for now. I have found that blogging is a job which requires more time than I orignally thgouht I had. So I shall keep my blog writings to a minimum and upload as many pics as I can as often as I can. I've come to terms now with the fact that I will never be a regular blogger. And my hat goes off to all those who do it on a daily basis, even weekly even monthly!

For today here is something new. I've created some lovely new Christmas cards. They come in a pack and are available from my online shop. http://www.laikonik.bigcartel.com/

I made a papercut, in Polish they are called "Wycinanki" and I used the design to make the cards.

First I cut out the design. I make it up as I go along...

...then I scanned it into Illustrator, drew the design and created the cards...

...and lastly the packaging. I love the stitching on the side :)

Exhibition photos

2010-06-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

The exhibition opening night was fantastic. I know I said I was going to write about it the next day but.....

I will keep the words to a minimum and let the pics speak for themselves. The most exciting thing I'd have to say was meeting other artists who were interested in using eco materials and working with the environment instead of against it. This week there will be two sessions at the GAFFA organised by The Hemp Gallery in partnership with Jaspers Village. This is an exciting project with a vision for a sustainable future. Contact the GAFFA gallery for more info.

And now for some photos!

My wall, I set up my Hemp paintings on one side and all my commercial work on the right.

Daisy Prowse

Wearbeattie

Steve Woods

Exhibition tonight!

2010-06-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I am excited and nervous for tonight's opening at the GAFFA in Sydney. Yesterday I spent part of the day setting up with my friend Nathalie. Thank you Nat!! I saw the work of some other artists who are also exhibiting tonight. The standard is superb and all the work I saw was gorgeous. If you have an opportunity please drop in any time over the next two weeks. You can still make a booking for tonight and come along to the opening. Just go to www.trybooking.com/3664

Here are a couple of pics of me setting up. I will take more photos and post them tomorrow and tell all about tonight! Thank you to everyone who has been emailing me with support and encouragement especially while I was in bed with tonsilitis this week. A most inappropriate time to get sick!

Until tomorrow friends :)

Sneak peek at the exhibition paintings

2010-06-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

I have been 'busy' painting and getting ready for the exhibition on thursday. It has been extremely fullfilling to paint every day. I LOVE the results of the work I have done over the last few weeks and cannot wait to hang it in gallery on wednesday. If you would like to join me on the opening night please go to www.trybooking.com/3664 and book yourself and friends to come on the evening. There will be 10 other artists all exhibiting work on fabric as well as some beautiful jewellery design.

Here are some details of the paintings. I will upload them all on thursday 17th. Comments welcome!

Before & After offer

2010-06-06T17:50:00.001-07:00

My friend recently sent me a photo of a bare wall space in her home. She asked if I could show her what the Laikonik Wall-hangings would look like. I super-imposed the wall-hangings in Photoshop and below are the results. She loves the chocolate brown one.

If you would like to see what a Laikonik Wall-hanging would look like in your home before you buy one, just email me a photo of a room in your house where you are thinking of hanging something on the wall. The photo must be a front-on shot, not sideways or on an angle and must contain a large portion of the wall to fit the wall-hanging. I will email you back with a pic of your transformed room! Don't forget that your kids and especially babies rooms look great with the Wall-hangings. Especially the white one for a nursery. So send away!

Before

After, both look good but my friend went with the brown.

Stop being busy

2010-06-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some very wise words from a blog I follow regularly. It is called Zen Habits and Leo Babauta writes many inspirational and very practical things about life. Here is something from his post today. As a result of reading it I have been NOT BUSY making apple and pear pies :) Please visit his blog it is well worth it.

“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”

~Lao Tzu

Stop being busy and your job is half done.

Think about how busy we are, and how it has become a way of bragging: I’m so busy, I must be important.

“I have a million things to do! I never have time for anything! I can’t slow down — I’m too busy.” This is thought to be a good thing in a society where we must be productive, active, occupied.
But it’s a fool’s game. Busy is simply noise, action without meaning, lots of little unimportant things rather than a few important ones.

Stop being busy. Just decide to stop, today.

Now you’re halfway done. You’ve decided to slow down, and to focus on what’s important. All of a sudden, your schedule clears up, and

your to-to list shrinks down to almost nothing.
Now you just have one or two things to do, instead of a million. You clear distractions, and focus. Get all the goodness »

A new design

2010-06-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

The other night I did three drawings. One of a face, one of a womans body and one of feet. I loved the results. The drawings came out of me effortlessly and it was very relaxing and a joy to do them. I have just transferred the design of the face onto some hemp and painted it with some colours. I love it. Her face looks joyous and makes me smile when I look at it :) I will be doing more of these in different colour ranges. I can't wait!

Some recent work...

2010-06-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

I have been busy painting again and have enjoyed the process very much. I have noticed that without consciously attempting to do so Ihave been focusing on colour and form. In a very graphic way. Big shapes sitting firmly on the fabric. Painting these three pieces has felt a bit like I'm stomping and letting out frustration. I certainly felt better afterwards. Art helps!

I have decided to upload these images only in black and white and will show them in full colour when I'm sure I will do no more to them. Also seeing them in black and white helps me notice the heavy forms and graphic elements better. What do you think?

Beautiful photography by Beata English

2010-06-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

I want to share with all my visitors a link to a wonderful photographer from Canberra. I have always loved photography and do all my own product shots, but I visit lots of photography sites and blogs for inspiration. Beata English, a Canberra Photographer specialises in childhood photography. Here are a few of her stunning images. Visit her (also beautiful looking!) website and blog. Beata also stocks my Once-A-Year books and has a fantastic special on offer at the moment. Click here to read about it.

Beez images and design

Inside Out feature!

2010-06-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

What an exciting day. I have just got my copy of the Inside Out July/August issue which features one of my wall-hangings. The styling by Vanessa Colyer Tay is gorgeous and I love how the wall-hanging presents itself. The magazine is out now so grab a copy, there's a lot of beautiful stuff in this issue :)

Inside Out Magazine

More on my Wall-hangings

2010-05-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday my Hemp Wall-hangings will be featured in the July/August issue of InsideOut magazine. I am thrilled to bits and can't wait for it to hit the stands. I had a sneak peak on friday from a friend who gets the issue early being a subscriber. The feature looks gorgeous! I will do a post about it on wednesday, for now here are other ways in which I've used my screenprinted hemp around the house. I've pushed the contrast on the photos deliberately. I'm liking the darkness and the depth.

A black screenprint which I stretched onto a canvass frame

A white screenprinted one which I am using as a covering for a chest of drawers

I made one into a big floppy cushion which is loved by us all at home :)

Inspiration from Colette Calascione

2010-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love looking at the work of Colette Calascione. All her paintings are awe inspiring and I could stare at each one for hours. Please look at her work here. It's awesome.

All images from Colette Calascione

Visiting Betty the Florist...

2010-05-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

The Most Beautiful Florist

2010-05-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

In Lane Cove there is a most beautiful florist shop. I go past nearly every day and never has it failed to take my breath away. The shop is called Indulge and you can also order flowers online here. Betty Tane (the owner) also stocks my greeting card range as well as many unique garden and interior pieces. You can see some in the photos.

There is always something amazing to look at inside. The display of flowers out the front is always stunning. Betty says she displays the flowers depending on how she feels. Knowing this I like to guess what's on her mind :) Yesterday I took some photos of the shop inside and outside. I just love it.

Work in progress

2010-05-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

I have been photographing this piece while I paint it and it's interesting how it is evolving. I started with no particular concept in mind other than I wanted it to be long and vertical. It is still being worked on. I will post the final image when I decide it's done :) I am very happy seeing the evolution of it in photos.

Inspiration from 'Dear Ada'

2010-05-26T04:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a fantastic blog that I have recently discovered. I visit often to get visually nourished by the work of so many amazing artists. Here is one I found recently on Dear Ada. It is the work of Alyoisus. Isn't it beautiful?

Alyoisus, originally found on Dear Ada

Alyoisus

It reminded me of one february evening when I decided to decorate parts of my body inbetween painting eggs for Easter. Here are the results.

Interview on Calico & Co

2010-05-24T03:41:00.001-07:00

I am so thrilled to have been featured and interviewed by the lovely Amanda Fuller of Calico & Co. A graphic designer and creative blogger, Amanda's blog is well worth a visit. Especially now! Read all about it here.

And be sure to check out this gorgeous post about Blanca Gomez here.

Green

2010-05-22T22:49:00.001-07:00

Green inspiration form around the house. To continue on the colour theme I have photographed some of my favourite green things.

My first exhibition

2010-05-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about my very first exhibition which I have coming up in the middle of June. I have been invited by the Design Institue of Australia to exhibit some of my work. The exhibition is called "Interwoven" and the work displayed by all artists is on fabric. I will be working with my beloved hemp which I buy form the fantastic Hemp Gallery. If you're looking for a good hemp supplier call Beatrice or Sandra. The quality and service is outstanding.

So I have started doing a few paintings to get some momentum going and I am thrilled with this first set which has inspired me to no end. The first is a photo of the whole painting and the subsequent images are close up shots of sections of the same painting. I just love how so many artworks have come out of just one. And the possibilites of looking at one painting are endless. I could have easily continued taking photos of this one painting for the rest of the day and I would have been just as excited about each shot as I was with these. I will keep posting about what I'm up to in preperation for the exhibition.

Blue

2010-05-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

I feel so inspired. It's wet, cold and rainy outside. The light isn't very good but I just had to take some photos of all these beautiful blue things which I have recently acquired. I did not plan on all this blueness. The sheer dress was given to me by a dear friend, the table cloth I've had for many years and the rest I recently bought at St Vinnies. I love these images :)

Laikonik Photograms

2010-05-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

Hello again, today I am posting about my Photograms which I have been selling for a little while and which are becoming very popular. I have added them to my online shop and they are now ready to purchase directly from me. The Photogram is for sending a letter, four photos and a gift all in one to someone you love. It opens up like a little concertina and can be stood up like a frame to display the photos. There is space at the back to write a brief letter to someone and it also comes with a beautiful postal wrapper ready for sending. I send these to dear friends on special occasions or to my family overseas. They make great birth announcements or even wedding thank you's to special guests. Also fantastic for Christmas. So pop into the Laikonik online shop now.

Kasia :)

beautiful screenprinted cover featuring my own design

The photogram stands like a frame displaying all four photos

Use the postal wrapper to wrap your Photogram, address it and send.

Write a brief letter on the back

Photos displayed in the Photogram

Drawing nature

2010-04-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

I love drawing nature. I enjoy looking at an object very closely that I found and then drawing all its little details often distorting them. Then I like to create new designs using those details. Here is an example of a day at Balmoral beach in Sydney, last year. These drawings lead to the lovely Chestnut Tree below. I really like it. Background colour added in Photoshop.

Free Girl

2010-04-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hello.

I was up till late last night drawing. I am very happy with this picture of a girl that I created. I called her "Free Girl" because that is how I am feeling at the moment. Full of inner freedom. It feels great. I added the background colour in Photoshop.

When I went to bed, very late, and I closed my eyes I had a myriad of images flashing through my mind, as though projected onto the insides of my eyelids. I was seeing all the patterns that I drew that night but they were all mixing together. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope. It was a wonderful thing to fall asleep to. When I got up this morning I decided to make some more images using the designs from the "Free Girl" drawing. Photoshop is a wonderful thing :)

Once-A-Year Book in detail

2010-04-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

The new books are looking fantastic. I have spent part of today taking some more photos for shops which stock them as well as my own online store. These images are details of the books if you'd like to see more that what is available in terms of photos in my online shop. The little girl in this book is my daughter Isabelle who turned 6 in january this year. I can't believe we already have 7 photos of her in our book!

BECOME A SUBSCRIBER TO

RECEIVE A SPECIAL OFFER

WITH YOUR PURCHASE OF

A ONCE-AYEAR BOOK.

EMAIL ME NOW TO SUBSCRIBE.

laikonik@optusnet.com.au

First page where you fill in your babies details...

Last page...

One of the pages close up...

New Once-A-Year Book designs!

2010-04-09T18:00:00.001-07:00

The last time I designed new covers and bags for the Once-A-Year books was back in 2008. You can see some old designs here.

Towards the end of last year I set out to create some new ones again and they are finally available to buy from various retailers who stock my products as well as from my own online shop.

In case you aren't familiar with the Once-A-Year Books here is a description:

Chronicle your childs first 18 years in this beautiful and easy to keep book. Insert just one photo per year and add a brief description of that year on the corresponding page. Also included is a 'Chatter Book' which is a small notebook for keeping a record of the childs first words and funny sayings. Each Once-A-Year Book slips into a beautiful hemp bag which has been silk screen printed and features a Polish inspired folk-art motif. The books are hand made in Australia using eco-friendly materials and high quality acid free album pages

Yesterday the printed covers and the hemp bags arrived from the screen printer and I was delighted with the lot. I love the designs on the books and on the bags but I also love, love, love the new fabrics I am using.

Firstly I have started using hemp canvass for the bags. Hemp, for those who don't know, is an amazingly eco sustainable fibre. It can be grown with no pesticides or herbicides, uses much less water to grow than cotton and is four times stronger than cotton! On a yearly basis Hemp produces more pulp per acre than trees! If you'd like to read more about the amazing super-powers of hemp read here.

The book covers are covered with a fabric which is made using recycled plastic bottles. I was amazed to have found it. It feels like a strong muslin and has a beautiful texture to it. Here is a close up shot of a cover.

So today I am starting to fill all the orders I have been receiving for the Once-A-Year Books. If you'd like to order one please visit the Laikonik online shop at www.laikonik.bigcartel.com

The books are available in 4 designs

Red Horse

White Horse

Red Bird

White Bird

Till next time!

Easter Table Setting

2010-03-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

In Poland we decorate baskets at Easter and take them to church for blessing on Easter Saturday morning before breakfast. The church looks very colourful with dozens of baskets filling the steps up to the altar. The priest blesses them, we take the baskets home and eat a morning feast. The breakfast is always started by the family sharing a cut up hard boiled egg and wishing each other a Happy Easter, following that we sit and eat. The table always has the Easter basket in the middle which is decorated with ribbons and greenery (often bilberry leaves) and contains usually the following: plain hard boiled eggs, salt, bread, meat, yeast cake, horseradish, pepper, painted eggs (pisanki), a lamb figurine usually made of sugar, ham, cheese, a candle. Not everyone has all of these items in their baskets. The staples are the eggs, meat, bread, salt and a lamb figurine. Traditionally we put into the baskets what we will be eating on Easter Saturday. We will eat the food that has been blessed and I have found that the contents of baskets will vary according to regional traditions.

So below is my own basket for this year. I bought the basket at Vinnies for $2! To fill it I'm using: a square of hessian, some leafy twigs from the downstairs garden, A hard boiled egg, my own hand painted goose Easter Eggs, salt, bread, cheese on a muslin cloth, baby capsicum (this is a replacement for meat since I'm a vegetarian), a sugar lamb and some ribbon.

I weave the twigs and the ribbon around the edges...

And here it is. A beautiful Easter basket ready to decorate the table.

I have also learned that this tradition actually stems from a pagan ritual, not surprising, which celebrated the spring equinox and the sprouting of the summer crop. Many different descriptions exist about the type of ritual celebrated and one describes the offering of lamb and bread during a full moon to ensure a good crop yield.

If you decide to set your Easter table with and Easter basket as the centre piece, what you put in it is ultimately up to you. I know that some of the items in the basket symbolise different things such as; salt for longevity, bread for fertility etc. I will ask my children what is important to them and what they would like to put in their baskets themselves. I have a feeling we may end up with some Star Wars figures and nail polish in the basket!

I hope you enjoy your Easter this year. May it be a safe and happy one or all.

Egg baskets now on sale

2010-03-24T19:52:00.001-07:00

The discounted baskets of eggs are now available for sale in the Laikonik online shop.

Easter Baskets

2010-03-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have a bowl full of miscalenous eggs which I have painted over time. They are very colourful but have been rejected from the sales department due to imperfections, smudges etc. Some only have one coat of colour which makes them a bit flat looking, and some are just experiments which are too nice to throw away and still look lovely.

I have grouped them into sets of three and will be selling them through my online shop at a discounted price of $39 - $69 per basket. I will do my best to upload them by this afternoon. If they're not there please check tomorrow, (thursday 25th March)

They will look delightful as a table decoration during Easter. And within the next few days I will show you my ideas for an Easter table decoration and talk about the Polish traditions at Easter. Stay tuned!

Ostrich eggs

2010-03-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

So, painting this ostrich egg was very satisfying. The large surafce gave me loads of room for tons of colour and thick black lines. It was like a big canvass. I'd like to more of these for next year. The actual shell of the ostrich egg is very hard and almost ceramic like. The first time I received one in the post from Angie's Eggs (which is where I get all my eggs from) I thought she sent me a ceramic egg! And by the way this is a good time to mention that Angie from Angie's Eggs has a wonderful supply and array of not only different kinds of eggs to pourchase for painting and decorating but also tons of egg decorating tools, books, stands, paints etc. Check out her site. I have never been dissapointed by her service.

Easter 2010

2010-03-07T18:59:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! I won't even start with why I've been away for so long. Let's just say my life has taken a whole new turn and I am past all the difficulties.

I have been extremely busy painting Easter eggs for this year. Here are some snaps of what's available for purchasing in 2010rom my new online shop yay! It's called Laikonik Easter Egg Shop, check it out.

With my designs I got inspired by a wooden handpainted plate which I keep at home. It is from Poland and features an image of a 'Lajkonik' which is where the name of my business comes from. I will have some more later on about the story of the 'Lajkonik'.

I have no idea why this image uploaded sideways! Sorry!

What inspired me was the use of strong black outlines and autumn type colours. I wanted the designs to be bold and simple but full to the brim with colour of course.

I also have some new designs for my card range. I will be posting some more photos of eggs, cards and general fun from my studio over the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Lino printing trials

2009-08-02T04:21:00.000-07:00

I'm having a go doing lino printing. The printing is not so hard, the cutting I find a bit tricky. I guess it's a matter of getting used to it. I can't say I truly enjoy the actualy cutting of the lino. I am impatient and want to get to the end quickly. I can see how lino cutting for me would be a fantastic excercise in practising patience, letting go and paying attention. It's not that I want the image to look a certain way, it's just that the printing is so much fun. My favourite part of this technique is the rough edges and the cut marks that occasionally show themselves here and there on the print. It adds character when it's imperfect. i really like the one on the brown kraft paper.

Decorating

2009-08-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share some fun decorating tips with you. I will put paint and/or texta to just about anything. When I purchased these mini storage units from IKEA I couldn't resist decorating the plain exterior. I used plain black and brown textas and was very happy with the result. Incidentaly those gorgeous spools of orange and red twine inside one of the drawers were purchased during the recent Magnolia Square market in Sydney from HEAVEN IN EARTH. They are a garden accesory business and have beautiful products.

Round bits of timber which I picked up at a construction site next door. I painted them and put some twine through the holes. They now hang on my wall in the dining room. Something differet. Again just texta on wood.

I picked up this old drawer from out the front of a nerby house during a council collection. There were 4 other drawers like it and I couldn't decide whether or not to take them, I thought about all the junk I already bring home and then don't know what to do with. I cleaned it up and of course painted it. I loved the result. Unfortunately by this time the council truck had already picked up the remaining 4.

This is a little wooden tray that I picked up at my local St Vinnies. I absolutely fell in love with it the moment I saw it. There is something so homely, warm and comforting about it I find. I can't stop looking at it.

Colourful fabric bits

2009-07-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, back from the illnesses that have gripped my family and myself for nearly two weeks. The silence from the lack of coughing in our home is lovely.

A little while ago I wrote about some fabric bits and pieces that I have left over from some experimenting. I also wrote that I was going to put all the pieces together and make some wall hangings. That is still the plan I'll just have to wait till I find the time! For now I'd like to share with you all the results of all my dabblings with fabric, paint, lino, brushes, fabric markers, stencils and a silk screen. One thing I must say about them all is that I love each one. None of them are particularly ambitious pieces of art. They were not thought out or designed. I made each one because I felt that I wanted to and I used the medium that suited me at the time. I had no particular expectation of any of them and just accepted each one as it turned out. I'm not good at drawing but I'm good with colour and the older I get the less I am bothered about the abilities I supposedly lack. This is something that I have only just recently realised about my work and it has deepened my love for it. I realised that I really don't expect wonders from any piece that I undertake. I noticed that I allow myself to draw or paint however I see fit and don't WANT a "result". Does that make sense? It frees me to think about my approach in this way. And the freer I feel the more I love what I do. Anyone can recreate any of the pieces shown below and if it will give you joy please feel free to copy any of the designs shown in this post. Or make your own. All you need is some fabric and some paints or markers and of course freedom in your artistic heart :)

These are all drawn onto the fabric first and then filled in with fabric markers. Inspired by Polish folk embroidery.

These were cut out from a stencil paper available from art shops. It's like a plastic kind of paper that gives you a sharp edge when you print it. I put the cut out onto the fabric and then squeegied some paint through a silkscreen. The one below uses the same method.

These were just painted straight onto the fabric with a brush.

Again drawn with a fabric marker and then filled in with more fabric markers. I then stitched it onto some nice orange fabric.

Drawn and painted again.

These two are my favourite because they're so happy and vibrant.

More cutouts stencilled onto fabric.

The one on the right is a lino cut printed onto calico.

That dreaded flu

2009-07-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick hello today to all my wonderful visitors. I don't know anyone in Sydney who isn't sick with some type of cold or flu. My children, partner and I are all sick and we are taking it easy until we recover. I have not seen a flu epidemic like this before. I hope where ever you are the nasty flu virus won't get you and if it has I hope you get well soon. I will blog hopefully in the next few days. Take care and stay warm if you're in the winter season!

Changing styles and colours

2009-07-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

When I started Laikonik 3 years ago I had no idea of what exactly it was that I was going to be selling or making, who I would sell it to or where I would sell it. The very first things I made and sold were these small hand made photo albums which were covered in hand painted cotton. I fell in love with the process of painting on fabric and have never really deviated from that too much.

My very first stall was at the St Ives Heritage Craft Fair market in Sydney. Only my friends who came to the market to share my excitement bought from me. No one else did. But that wouldn't stop me. i loved making and decorating things. Anything really but the whole thing about paper and fabric and painting and gluing and creating something useful made me feel great inside. So below are images of the very first albums and notebooks that I ever made.

I haven't looked at them for a long time and when I dug out these images today I realised just how much I adored seeing them all together on my little market stall each month. I also just realised that colour is what I love most about my designs.

These were A4 dry mount photo albums. I made the pages in different colours to make them different from the standard black.

Smaller photo albums. Also dry mount but A5 in size.

Notebooks covered in hand painted cotton which was always fun to paint. These notebooks were stitched by hand and included a button for winding the cotton around and "closing" the book.

These were great and always sold very well. Tiny little pocket books about A6 in size with multi coloured paper inside.

Mixed collection of all the photo albums and notebooks.

Later on when I started making the Once-A-Year books (for chronicling the first 18 years of a child's life) I would hand paint the covers. Since I was only selling about 5-10 books a month I could get away with that and the covers were always different. Below are some of the designs I used to sell. Now I have the designs screen printed onto the fabric in various different designs and colours. The books now sell all over Australia and in Belgium and have been featured in several popular printed publications as well as on other blogs.

The very first Once-A-Year book designs.

Later I made the designs more elaborate as I started having fun with fabric paints and fabric paint pens.

These designs were a short fad, although I always loved them they were too labour intensive to keep up on a regular basis. By this stage I started thinking of screen printing.

A few more of the early hand painted range.

What I realised having looked at all these designs from the past is that I truly love colour. And so I have decided to start injecting more of it back into all my new designs which I am working on at the moment. Will keep posted about this...

If you would like to see the current design range of the Once-A-Year books please visit my website http://www.laikonik.com.au/

I am also planning on bringing back notebooks and pocket books for possibly this Christmas. If you'd like to be notified of all my new products and special offers please go to the website's contact page and email me to join the mailing list.

DIY flower crown

2009-07-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago I made this flower crown as a gift for my daughters friends 5Th birthday. The crown was modelled on a traditional headpiece worn by traditional brides from the Lowicki region in Poland. (see image below).

My crown was nowhere near as decorative or beautiful as the real thing but I figured it would be something a little 5 year old girl would love. It was made more special because my daughter and I made it together.

The crown is made entirely from felt. The flowers, hearts and felt ribbons at the back are just cut by hand with no particular stencil or pattern. The actual crown piece (in orange) is cut from a heavy weight felt that I don't know the name of. I bought it in Spotlight (a large fabric store in Australia) and they didn't know what it was called either. If anyone knows could you leave a comment? It kind of feels almost like a felty carpet. All the decorations are just stitched on.

We cut the flowers out first and then matched up the colours and decided where they would go by placing them onto the crown piece while it was laid out flat. We glued the flowers on lightly with little dabs of glue just to position them into place and then I stitched each flower on. From the inside you can see that I covered up the stitches of each flower by gluing a felt spot onto each cross stitch. This is not a difficult project but it's time consuming. Set aside an afternoon especially if you're doing it with your child :)

Most importantly the birthday girl loved it!

DIY wallhangings

2009-06-29T03:31:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I did a post about my new wall hangings that I now sell through various Australian retailers. I love wall hangings and always have. And I think they are very easy to make and hang in your own home. All you need is some fabric, some fabric paints and a sewing machine. I used calico for all these. The ones pictured below are some of the many I have made in the past.

The Elephant. I made this one by first drawing the design onto the fabric with a pencil and then redrawing the lines with a permanent marker. Every time I paint directly onto the fabric I always water down my paints instead of using them straight out of the tub as they are. The thicker the paint is the slower it will go onto the fabric and you'll find yourself painting using tiny strokes and constantly re dipping your brush. The watering down allows the paint to flow better along the fabric. The back of this wall hanging is left plain and the whole thing is sewn like a big pillowcase. As you can see I added felt tabs at the top just to make it a bit more interesting. Put a stick through the top and you're done! This one was for my sons room but he didn't like it so it now hangs in the entrance way.

These next three I made for my daughters room and she actually liked them! I made all three like patchwork quilts out of old bits and pieces of fabric that I hand painted a long time ago. I had a lot to chose from so I decided to do one in all pinks one in all blues and one multi-coloured. For the centre panel on each one I used a piece of her old clothing that she no longer fit into. Like the front of an old top or a summer skirt. In fact when I finished these I thought it would be great to make one huge wall hanging completely out of her old clothes. I may still get around to it. She has many years left of growing out of clothes. I also liked this idea as it made these wall hangings special and personal. And the sentimental me imagined that she may one day like to hang them in her own daughters room. Or better still add another few panels from her daughters old clothes or her own hand painted bits of fabric. Oh the possibilities of heir looming are endless!!

This blue one was put away as my daughter did't think it suited her room anymore. Please forgive the wrinkled state of it in this photo!

Over the next couple of weeks I will be making another wall hanging, again out of some left over pieces of hand painted fabric. I will post next week about the bits and pieces. For some time now I have been painting on and off and experimenting with different styles and techniques. So now I've ended up with a bag of squares and rectangles and as I like to say: "when in doubt make a wall hanging."

Till next week!

The winners!

2009-06-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. It's moday morning and as promised here are the winners of the give away. I put everyones names into a box and asked my children to fish them out! Please email me your postal addresses laikonik@optusnet.com.au

Thank you for visiting and commenting! I hope you like the papers :)

veri maz
Sarah
Freckles
Barb Fisher
sneakycrafty

First ever give away!

2009-06-21T17:04:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. I am loving these new wrapping paper colours so much that I have decided to do my first ever give away and share them with some of you :)

It will be my way of saying thank you for visiting and reading my blog.

I have five packs of four colours to give away, see the picture below. Each sheet measures 760mm x 570mm and is a good quality 80gsm brown kraft which has been hand screenprinted. If you like the idea of wrapping up a present for a loved one in one of these just leave a comment here and next monday, 29th June I will announce the five winners. I am happy to post anywhere in the world :)

Cheerio!

New wrapping paper colours...

2009-06-15T03:54:00.001-07:00

Is it June already!? I am embarrased that so much time has passed and I have not blogged. I hope you all haven't abandoned me out of boredom and lack of interesting reading material. I have a few new things up my sleeve and also over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the things I have been dabbling in.

For now here is a sneak peak at the new colours of my wrapping paper. I am delighted with how they came out. The red and the white are the same and I now have a gorgeous light aqua blue and a mustard available.

This friday I will be emailing out a special offer for everyone on my mailing list. If you're not yet part of it please email me laikonik@optusnet.com.au to take advantage.

Handpainted curtains

2009-04-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, another long break. I have a good excuse! I have been very busy over these school holidays finishing a project that I volunteered for at my childrens school. When the kindy class needed a set of curtains for an opening in the wall between two rooms I immiediately put my hand up with a brilliant idea....... a set of handpainted curtains..... double sided. Having finally finished them I realise now I had NO idea how long something like this took. Now I know. These took me between 30-35 hours in total. But I do love the result. They look exactly how I wanted them to look.

SO.... if you are thinking of doing a set of handpainted curtains for your living room here is what I learned that I can shere with you:

Do measure correctly even if you have to do it three times to be sure. All four panels of these curtains were 30cm too short so I had to sew seperate hems to the bottoms. I chose to paint them solid so as not to hide the fact that they were a later addition.

Find a large enough floor space where you can lay each panel out flat. A garage is great just lay down some clean paper or a drop sheet so your fabric stays clean. I, for some reason thoguht I could do them at home on the dining table. that would mean painting in sections, constantly moving the fabric around, putting everything away at the end of each day and making sure the chlidren dont use it as a canvass. Floor is best.

Use correct fabric. These were double sided so each panel had two lengths of fabric and I couldnt use a heavy weight. I used calico which was ideal for this. If yours will be single sided a heavier fabric will be good.

You can find good fabric paints in any decent art supply shop. I watered my paints down to the consistency of a smoothie, bit runny but still sticking to the brush. If you use the paint straight you'll be painting one sqaure inch at a time and continuously dipping back and forth because the fabric just sucks it all up.

I had a vague idea of the design I wanted and drew it up in my sketch book. I used a symmetrical folk art style design so it was easy to draw it onto the fabric.

I first drew the design on with a lead pencil. This allows for making mistakes and going over them without having to remove the lines off the fabric. You can still see some faint pencil lines on these but they dont bother anyone. I used a fabric marker for the outlines and when I ran out of that I used a permanent marker for the rest. Then the painting. That was the easiest but took for ever. It was at this point I thought "why do I always come up with these great ideas and then volounteer to do them!"

The curtains were sewn like any standard curtain: a giant pillowcase turned inside out and ironed for a long time to get it all perfect.

This project is not hard just amazingly time consuming. If you feel inspired and you fancy trying something similar you could start off with something smaller like some cushion covers. Even ready made ones, just paint straight onto them. It's advisable to slip a piece of cardboard inside so the design doesnt go through onto the back of the cover.

After all my tiredness over this project I have been eyeing my living room curtains which are just plain off white......... watch this space!

I will try to get some better photos of the curtains and if I manage I wil post some more. These are not very good, taken at the end of a school day when lots of kids were running about.

Thank you for visiting!

Last Easter Eggs

2009-04-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this and you're getting bored of Easter eggs I promise this is the last lot I will be talking about this year. I forgot I had these and since I bought them I have been wanting to feature them on my blog because I find them SO beautiful. I love these eggs because they are so basic in their design. The wood grain that comes through gives them a natural earthy feel which suits the colour choices perfectly. I bought them last year at Babushkas. It's a beautiful shop at Darling Harbour in Sydney. You can visit their website here. They have a stunning collection of Christmas baubles, Easter eggs, wooden boxes, shawls, nesting dolls and many other colourful Eastern European gifts. If you have a chance please visit as it's well worth it.

Even More Easter Eggs

2009-03-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

It is Easter Egg season so I am excusing myself for featuring and talking about so many eggs. These here are by Carla Tomaszewski. An American egg artist skilled in Eastern European egg decorating techniques. Pictured below is her scratched Easter Egg range. A technique which I have attempted several times and left alone as Ihave found it too time consuming and at times frustrating and difficult to master. Carla tells me one egg can take her three hours to make. I'm not suprised judging by the level of detail. I have been greatly inspired by these eggs and will be having another go at this technique. I love these especially because they look exactly like the traditional Polish eggs. Technique and design is true to tradition. Something Carla is very passionate about. Go to her website here and you'll see a great deal of information about Poland and its history and traditions.

image source Carla Tomaszewski

More Easter Eggs

2009-03-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Taking a turn away from traditional Eastern European Egg decorating I'd like to share these beauties from my friend Lisa Tilse's studio. I love these black chalkboard eggs. They are so different and fun and make a fantastic gift if you're over the whole chocolate thing. Although you can still give a chalkboard egg AND chocolate! Come to think of it they don't even have to be given as an Easter gift exlusively. I can see these as a fun gift all year round. The eggs are ostrich and are painted with chalkboard paint all ready for you and/or the kids to have fun on. Check Lisa's blog for more info and how to buy them.

image source: lisa tilse, the red thread

AND I absolutely love these. I loved them from the moment I saw them. They are so subtle and soft and very much Lisa's style. These are goose eggs dyed with natural vegetable dyes and painted in white designs. Again check out her blog for more on these. In fact just check out her blog alltogether because it's gorgeous and full of breathtaking inspiration. Thank you Lisa for letting me share these with my blogs visitors!!

image source: lisa tilse, the red thread

Easter Eggs

2009-03-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Alas Easter! I feel somewhat sad coming up to this Easter. It is the first year that I can remember that I have been unable to paint eggs like I usually do every year. I did do a few, some for me to test out a new method and a couple for a friend of mine who ordered them way back in January. I am delighted that all my other products have been selling so well that I've found it hard to keep up but the downside is that I will have no eggs to sell this year. I send out my apologies once again to all of you who emailed me wanting to place orders. Next year will be different.....(famous last words!)

Anyhow here is a selection of eggs I have painted in the past that I wanted to share with you all. If you're into egg painting or want to have a go I hope some of these may inspire you. I get ideas and inspiration from all sorts of disciplines of Polish and eastern european folk-art. I never worry about getting anything perfect. None of the designs on any of my eggs are perfectly symmetrical or even. In fact much of it is lopsided, lines are unevenly thick and thin and the colours are never smooth. However having seen a lot of other folk-art I have been delighted to see that it's not all about getting it perfect. Much of the art is made by common folk in their homes next to fireplaces and with relatives and friends. It is all about the tradition, the process and the cultural practices. The end result is a colleciton of works with soul and substance that you just won't get with mass produced work. To me the whole egg, the process, the love of doing it and the overall finished effect when you have a dozen colourful eggs in the basket is what makes me smile in the end. Having said that there are some incredibly talented egg artists out there. The kind that ought to have their eggs displayed in museums. (and some do). I admire those people to no end as they posess skill and talent acquired over many years and practice as well as through the teachings of other masters before them. Enough talk here are the pics...

These are from 2003. I painted them using basic acrylic paints. I prepared each egg by coating it with a good layer of gesso. This helped the paints to stick nicely to the egg surface. Also I used some little beads to finish off the top and bottom holes made by hollowing out the eggs.

This lot is from 2006. It was my greatest glory as I had these featured on the front cover of Good Living magazine. I will keep thanking John Saxby (editor) until I die. You can see the front cover on the "press" page of my website. Acrylic on a base of gesso once again.

These are from last year. I tried a new method this time as I was after a glossier finish without having to varnish them in the end. So I found these porcelain paint pens by Pebeo. You can get them in nearly all art supply shops. I base-coated each egg with a creamy coloured acrylic. I wanted all the eggs to have the same base colour and as you know eggs come in many different shades of white-brown. I was very pleased with these and enjoyed doing a monochrome range.

These here are goose eggs. I wanted a totally different look with these. I was after an earthy, rough kind of feel. I wanted these to be matt as opposed to all the glossy ones I'd done in the past. Again I used acrylic paints but this time I first sanded the egg lightly to make the paint adhere better to the surface. Then I painted the design on first in just one colour (mainly brown) and then sanded it back until it looked just like a grainy veil of colour and then I applied a second coat of acrylic over the top. This brought the grain out from undeneath and muted the colours that went over the top. I like this result as well. Although if I did a lot more and mucked aorund with more colour combinations I know they'd look a hundren times better. I will be getting back to these.

The most recent. I did these for my friend Helen who asked for some eggs many months ago. This is the style I was going to go for this Easter. Full bright colours and big bold patterns. I was really plased with these and will definately return to this design style in the future.

New Wall-hangings

2009-03-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

WOW I'm back and delighted to be back! I didn't think it would take this long to get back into the swing of things after Christmas but it did. I have been very busy with new retailers and new products and my two children one starting school and the other pre-school which has been a very big deal in our house. We all seem to be settling into a routine now so I thought now is a good time to get back to my blog.

The wallhangings pictured below have been a long time coming and finally I can say that they are available for sale. It's taken this long mainly because I have been searching for the right type of fabric to use for them. I tried canvass, different types of cotton, raw silk, hessian and was never 100% satisfied with any. That was until I went out and bought some heavy weight hemp. I am absolutely delighted with the result and even more so since learning of all the wonderful ecological and health benefits that hemp has to offer. I get supplied by www.hempgallery.com.au and if you visit their website you can learn about all the qualitites of hemp and never look back! I am now in a kind of hemp trance and want to get rid of all the bedsheets in the house and replace the lot with hemp!

The wall-hangings are printed on heavy weight hemp canvass and are finished off on the reverse with double stitched herringbone tape. They measure 65cm x 90cm (appr). The design printed on them is a traditional polish-folk art motif which I designed late last year for the wrapping paper. The wrapping paper has been extremely popular and people from all over have been saying that I should use that design on other things. I am not fond of recycling my own work but must admit I am very happy with these.

I also have a special offer available on these until the end of march. If you'd like to take advantage or get onto my mailing list send me and email laikonik@optusnet.com.au.

That's all for now :)

Such a busy time of year!

2008-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

If you've been visiting regularly you may have noticed that I havent posted anything for a while. I'm not sure about everyone else but no matter how I plan for it December is just a crazy month. I will be posting some new goodies as soon as I can and for now I apologise to all those who come to visit and find nothing new! Don't give up on me I will be back!!

Make your own Christmas decorations

2008-11-25T02:18:00.000-08:00

I'm really into making my own Christmas decorations, always was and no doubt always will. This is probably because when I was growing up we used to make our own decorations every year. My grandfather would get us kids started and we'd have loads of fun. The decorations were always simple and made using basic materials such as coloured paper, ribbon, straw. It was the process I remember more than anything else. The relaxed happy atmosphere around the table with lots of paper mess on the floor and no one worrying about it. So every year (or near enough) I've been making something or other to decorate the tree. And since having had children the task is made even more meaningful and fun. I'd like it to become a tradition in our house.

This year I am making a few things all of which I will share here. I've made some VERY simple paper decorations using fancy scissors, glue, ribbon, single hole punch and paper shape punch. I love blue on a Christmas tree as I think the colour really stands out against the green and in particular this vivid blue. I also love it because the blue and red combinaiton is very common in Polish folk art. These decorations do not require step by step instructions, but I'll write a brief description for those who'd like it:

1. Using the scolloped edge scissors cut out the desired shape.

2. Using the single hole punch go around punching holes in any pattern you like and add a larger or different pattern using the shape punch (in this case the larger holes).

3. Take the ribbon and thread it through one of the holes making sure the decoration hangs neatly and symmetrically.

4. Once you're happy with it secure the ends of the ribbon using glue.

5. Additionally I glued the ribbon together at the hole where it's threaded for extra hold. I then added a small blue spot (out of the hole punch) just to finish it off.

The great thing about these decorations is that you can make them out of any paper and ribbon combination you like. you can cover your entire tree with one style. It's a cheap way of making a gorgeous tree and you can get together with other families and kids and decorate the tree in your own handmade gems.

I do occasionally make some fancier decorations if time permits. This year I made some handpainted goose eggs. These were originally intended for my tree only but I have had many enquiries about them and have made them available for sale through my website. The goose egg shells eggs came from www.angieseggs.com.au . A fantastic egg and everything to do with egg decorating supplier. Angie is very helpful and has outstanding customer service.

I painted these eggs using porcelain paints from Pebeo. The paints are great to use on an eggshell as they dont streak and give a fantastic even finish. I finished off each egg with two small wooden beads and satin ribbon. To make something extra special I finally painted this old urn that I've had for nearly ten years. I've been wating to paint it for a long time and at last I found a good reason to do it.

I collected some azalea branches from the garden and tied them together to make this twig like tree. I really like the result! If you'd like to purchase some of the hanging goose eggs, email me via my website for a special offer that runs out at the end of this month.

I hope you enjoy making your own decorations. I'd love to hear from anyone who makes their own and what they do.

NEXT WEEK MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS AND AN ADVENT CALENDAR

Polish folk ritual for November

2008-11-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner... well nearly, but before it comes I wanted to tell you about a wonderful Polish tradition that dates back to the 16th century in Poland and to the 12th century in central Europe. It is the popularly celebrated St Andrews festival on the 29th of November. The traditions followed on this day were focused mainly on young girls foretelling their future romantic prospects. I remember doing all these rituals when I was a young girl but I have no recolection of any particular future being revealed to me. The rituals are fun and make for a great get together. You don't have to be religious or believe in fortune tellers. St Andrews festival can be celebrated by anyone who wants to make a fun night of trying to see into the future. Here are some popular rituals to be done indoors or outdoors after sunset...

Pouring of wax...

You will need a bowl of cold water, a large old key and candles. Each person takes their turn to melt some wax (you might do this in a metal bowl to make it easier to pour the hot wax) and then pours it into the bowl of cold water through the hole of the key. The wax hardens in the water and forms a shape. The shape is taken out and held infront of candle light to reveal a shadow on the wall. The shape of the shadow is then interpreted to reveal what might happen in the near future for that person. For example a car shape implies travel, a flower a visit from a stranger, a coach foretells a wedding. The idea is to interpret these personally and intuitivelly.

Next in line...

In order to reveal who amongst all the ladies present (widows and divorcees included) will next get married each lady must remove one shoe. The first shoe is placed with its heel against a wall pointing in the direction of a door. Each subsequent shoe is then placed in front making sure the heel of the next shoe touches the toe of the last shoe. The shoes are thus lined up until one crosses the threshold. Whoever the shoe belongs to will be the next to get married. If there aren't enough shoes to make a line from the wall to the door, the first shoe may be taken from the back of the line and placed in front with all the other shoes following the same pattern until one reaches the door.

Whats in a name...

If you want a clue to the name of your beloved, whom you obviously are yet to meet, this ritual may reveal just that. Each person takes an apple and peels it carefully making sure the entire peel is in one piece. They then stand up and throw the peel behind them and turn to read what letter of the alphabet the peel has made. That letter is the first letter of their soul mates name.

These are just some of the many rituals that were practised for centuries. If you plan to make a night of it add to the tmosphere by dimming the lights or doing it outside by a fire. Most of all have fun and have a laugh and who knows what fortunes foretold may come true. If you know of any more rituals or have memories of practising these I'd love to hear from you :)

TOMORROW...CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Wrapping presents

2008-11-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

I love wrapping presents. Each Christmas one of the things I look forward to the most is the pleasure of wrapping presents. It's something I start thinking about even before I start thinking what I'm going to buy for whom! This year I've decided to use the simple and old favourite brown kraft wrapping paper and decorate it with cut out shapes from my screen printed paper (see "wrapped with love" post)

You can have a lot of fun with the patterns on this paper or any other patterned paper. Remember the pattern should be large enough for you to be able to cut it out without too much fuss.

I'm starting with the basic plain brown paper, scissors, sticky tape,

glue (you can use regular stick glue), twine and Laikonik wrapping paper.

Start by wrapping all the presents in the plain brown kraft paper.

Cut out the desired patterns, shapes or images that you'd like to use.

Arrange all your pieces so you can clearly see what you've got to work with.

Glue the back of each piece and stick it onto the wrapped gift in a pattern of your choice. It's a good idea to lay out even a bit of the pattern before you glue it on so you can see what's going to fit and what won't.

Wrap string around each present or ribbon if you prefer.

For something different write on the side of the gift instead of using a seperat gift tag. You'll be able to write a longer greeting and won't have to fuss about with a tag! And there you have it, a gorgeous stack of pressies ready to go under the tree!

image source: Real Living magazine, November 2008, (p 59.)

Also have a look at this amazing paper. It's called Juliette Paper in Blue and it's from Pepe's Paperie.

HAVE FUN!

Chatter Books

2008-11-03T04:45:00.000-08:00

I love hearing my children talk. I admit sometimes I need a break from the constant chatter that comes from my three and four year old but for the most part I am fascinated by how they express themselves. In particular how they get around explaining things they don't yet know much about or don't fully understand. The funniest ones I find are the twisted words or names of things which they can't quite remember but they know what it is so they call it something else. For example, with great seriousness our son referred to the film "101 Dalmations" as "ten thousand dogs". It's things like that that make me dive for the wooden draw where I keep their little Chatter Books.

I keep two little books one for each of my children purely to record the wonderful things they say and how they express themselves. The books are nothing fancy, just some paper with a design on the front which has all been handstitched together. They are as small as a regular notebook and I always keep a pen handy. I would encourage ANYONE with kids to keep one. I only ever record one sentence at a time. Sometimes I write nothing in it for a few weeks and sometimes I'll write in it everyday for a week.

When they were learning to talk I recorded what words they knew at what age. Then came the expressions and now the really funny, interesting and profound stuff. I will continue this for as long as I can. You'll be suprised how quickly and easily you end up with a wonderful record of what's been going on in their heads. In the same way as the records I keep for each of them in the Once-A-Year books, the Chatter Books will give them a wonderful insight one day into how they developed their thinking and expression. Perhaps it may help them to know themselves better when they are adults. Isn't that what we're all after? To know ourselves deeply and honestly. Now some may think that the things kids say are mostly trivial or just cute. But I would argue that children can give us an insight into ourselves and can help us see simplicity and truth if we just listen. So I'd like to share with everyone this idea of the little Chatter Books. I've scanned in my two and as you can see they look pretty worn, but it's the content that makes them beautiful. Below are a few of my favourite entries...

"Mummy I was so upset that I lost my memory, and it fell out of my head and into my tummy!" 5 minutes later: "I got my memory back again! I just squeezed my tummy and squeezed it back into my head!".

"I have an eyebrow ache from all that blinking".

"When you're out of breath you should wait for a windy day and open your mouth so that the air goes into your lungs".

"Mummy come and watch me do a poo, in the end it's going to be amazing!".

Stanley insulting his sister:"You compost fairy!!"

"When you die you turn invisible. That's what happens".

Wall hangings

2008-10-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well I've got the bug. Recently I have been hyperactive with desire to decorate everything around my home. I have to hold myself back as we are living in a rented property and of course I can't just go and paint a huge mural on the outside wall. God knows I'd love to do it. For now I have to satisfy myself with other decorative items and some new products. I've just done this wall hanging for our bedroom. Wall hangings are a big thing in Polish folk culture with many traditional interiors having little blank wallspace left due to all the decorations.

Traditional Polish village home in Zalipie, Poland

image: "Polska Sztuka Ludowa", Aleksander Jackowski

Having recently done some new wrapping paper I loved the design of it so much that I decided to use it to make a wallhanging. I'm reluctant to overuse the same pattern on too mnay things but I couldn't resist this wall hanging. I used 100% raw silk and screenprinted directly onto a large piece. The edges are stitched to give it a neat finish and the bottom is freyed to keep in style with many other traditional wall hangings. A simple stick from my garden through the top and some twine to hang it. I'm pleased with the result and will do some in other colours too. I must say a huge thank you to my friend Lisa from http://www.theredthread.com.au/ and check out her fabulous blog too http://www.theredthreadblog.blogspot.com/ for allowing me to use her home and her sensational camera to photograph this wall hanging recently as well as all my other products. Thank you Lisa!

Old Polish Folk-Art

2008-10-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very excited right now. You know the kind of excitement you get when you can barely stay still inside your own skin? That's me right now. I have just come from the decor8 blog and read Hollys post www.decor8blog.com/2008/10/29/turkish-delights-ideas-for-new-motifs . I was thrilled to read about her own love of traditional craft from different cultures and how much she valued work that had deeper meaning that just wanting to be "in" with the latest trends.

All my work at Laikonik has been about connecting me back to my own Polish culture. I have spent a lot of time recently reading about the cultural habits of the Poles as well as the creative aspect of their daily lives. One thing that came up again and again in the books I'm reading is the idea that the folk art was created out of a sense of tradition and belonging to a culture and a group. There was no personal authorship and no one person strived to stand out for the sake of fame or money. People created their art and craft out of a basic need and desire for an aesthetic environment coupled with cultural meaning behind patterns, colours and shapes. This is what I believe gives the work such purity and innocence. If you have a look at most of it there is no attachment to precision or perfection of line or shape. Have a look at the dowry chests. They have a beauty in their imperfection.

The basic need for aesthetic is, I believe, something that we all share. We all surround ourselves with beautiful things. We decorate our homes and our bodies. We like to see beauty, it is part of being human. It's precisely this kind of philosophy and approach to creativity that drives me. I can not stand anything that is created because it will sell or because it follows current trends. I will be posting some more examples of work from these wonderful books in days to come. For now I hope you enjoy some of these images.

Dowry chest

image: "Folklor", Bosz/Art

Dowry chest

image: "Folklor", Bosz/Art

Traditional village homes decorated with floral motifs

image: "Polska Sztuka Ludowa", Aleksander Jackowski

image: "Polska Sztuka Ludowa", Aleksander Jackowski

pouring of sand outside the home during a religious holiday
image: "Polska Sztuka Ludowa", Aleksander Jackowski

Traditional interior
image: "Polska Sztuka Ludowa", Aleksander Jackowski

Wrapped with love

2008-08-27T04:09:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted at my latest development with my new wrapping paper. I've been working on this for a few months on and off and finally I'm happy with the design and outcome. The wrapping paper will be available for sale through various retailers from around mid september. Check the Laikonik website for stockists, www.laikonik.com.au

This project has been a labour of utter love for me. All my products are made with love but this one was special. Firstly I saw the wrapping paper sheet as a canvass for a big folk art design. Secondly I've always been inspired by the embroidery on a collar of a particular mens coat. It's a traditional Polish coat and the embroidery has never ceased to draw my attention and amaze me. I've always wanted to do something with it.

The wrapping paper design features elements of it as well as a fragment of a decorative butter mould. It's incredible how things used to be treasured in those days. That someone would go to the trouble of decorating and carving a wooden butter mould and then pouring the butter in, letting it set and serving it on some special occasion. Just imagine how much care would have gone into all the food being served and the table cloths ironed and the cutlery polished if just the butter was so beautifully decorated.

I will be using the design for the wrapping paper on other products amongst other things I'll be making small notebooks and propably other bits and pieces just because I won't be able to help myself. I'll add them to the blog as soon as they're done.

Keep visiting!

some recent personal projects...

2008-08-05T02:59:00.000-07:00

I've been going manic lately decorating anything I can get my hands on. We live in a rented property but I have been devising a way to get the landlord to let me paint a mural on one of the walls. Over the last few days I have been adorning all sorts of things in Polish folk art designs. In some way it has been a kind of cultural therapy for me. I always feel that my work connects me to my Polish roots which I sometimes miss living in Australia. Doing little projects like the ones below is a way in which I feel I revisit some distant Polish village from days gone by. No doubt it may sound a bit odd but to me creating something just for the simple pleasure of the task is very comforting. It's kind of like going outside for some fresh air. I'm including some recent favourite projects below...

These are some new paper cutouts I did a couple of days ago. I love paper cutouts mainly because of the symmetry which I am addicted to. I think I will dedicate a post one day to the importance of symmetry in my work. Paper cutouts are a very important and popular element in Polish folk art. They are used mainly as wall decorations in traditional homes. I am also planning on turning the paper cutouts into a Laikonik product one day. If you'd like to see some other amazing paper cutouts have a look at Elsa Moras blog http://elsita.typepad.com/ She is incredibly creative and her work is so inspirational.

Here is my latest craze: gourds. I have had these sitting in a basket at home for many years and only the other day did i pick them up and decorate them. I love the result and am now desperately searching for a gourd farm in Australia where I can buy some more. I'd be very grateful if someone could recommend where I can buy gourds from?

This is our bedroom lampshade. It has been white for a very long time and I have been eyeing it since I bought it, wanting to put something on it. Here is the result. I used fabric markers for the design.

And lastly I found some gorgeous bamboo spoons at a cafe recently. I couldn't stir my coffee with them and then just throw them in the bin so after buying four coffees for myself and my partner I brought these beauties home. Naturally they quickly became part of my "Decorated Objects" family.

Keeping childrens artworks

2008-07-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

Kids produce an enormous ammount of art. The stuff they bring from school plus the stuff they do at home quickly piles up into a mountain of paper and sculpture. I've been keeping a couple of plain scrapbooks, one for Isabelle and one for Stanley. All the special pictures go in there. Although I've found recently that if I keep going at this rate I'll end up with volumes of work!

I have two reasons for keeping a record of their artworks. Firstly I want them to be able, if they wish, to re-examine their creativity when they are older. If either of them decides to follow a creative path they'll have a reference of their own creativity to look through.

We often dismiss children's drawings as scribbles or label them "cute", but I believe that their drawings are full of the sort of freedom that as adults we so often lack. I know I often struggle to create something that comes purely on the spur of the moment and lacks any kind of desire to be a success at the end. So often when I draw I WANT the work to be a certain way when it's done. I sometimes find it difficult to just let go of it and create with a clear mind. I believe that's exactly what children do. They don't have preconceived ideas of what a princess on a horse should look like. They just go for it! Nor do they set out to create their artwork with a particular influence or style behind it.

Big bulgey horses body, then the legs, three wonky rectangles one skinny wobbly line, then the head, oops! no room for the head no problem the head will be disproportionally smaller and kind of to the side. It's great! I remember reading that Pablo Picasso strived to attain that kind of childish freedom of expression. I'm thus keeping my kids drawings so that perhaps one day if they need to they can see what they were like creatively when their minds were completely uncluttered by ideas of what's good and what's not. Don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting that every artist has no creative freedom just because they're an adult. Nor do I believe that everyone looses their freedom when they grow up. But I do believe that a lot of us are at least some of the time held back for many different reasons.

This brings me to the other reason of why I want to keep the kids artworks and that is so I myself can learn from them. I'm often amazed at the direction that their drawings take. The other day Isabelle was drawing a fairy princess. When she drew the dress she realised there was no room for the legs at the bottom of the page and so she drew them swung out to the side. Completely abstract but her fairy princess suddenly took on a marvellous joyous energy.

It showed me that she didn't think that a lack of paper should stop her completing her picture. She quickly found a way around a limitation and made the best of it. Heck she propably didn't even see it as a limitation.

So if you feel like keeping a record of your childrens artworks you can do so very easily. If you don't feel like doing the whole scrapbook thing; cutting, gluing, arranging, then just get yourself a large box. A3 size is best and start collecting! It's totally up to you what you decide to put in. No doubt when your child starts drawing you'll put everything in that box, and why not. After a while you'll find that your children will have some favourite drawings that they would like to keep. Or perhaps its a simple drawing with a lot of meaning behind it. Like expressing their emotion by use of pictures. You could add a note on the back describing what it is. If you're feeling particulary creative you could have a book made of their drawings. There are now bound books you can have made at photo developing places. You just hand in your images and they make a book for you bound and printed on high quality stock. I saw some very good ones at Harvey Norman.

I've just started a book of drawings for the kids. I will be adding to it periodically but the drawings will be scanned in with backgrounds cleaned up or background colours changed. I'd like to create a kind of fun illustrative work of their artworks. Here are the first few pages...

Sharing stories...

2008-07-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Well I've finally done it and created my own blog. Not much here to speak of at the moment but I am planning on starting some kind of journey that I can share with everyone about my own record keeping and story telling of my childrens lives. Since having designed the Once-A-Year Book I have been keeping one for my daughter and one for my son. The books open up concertina style and go for 18 years and on the back of each year is a ruled page where I will keep a brief written record of each year.

The Once-A-Year Book

And sharing ideas...
I keep other records of the kids such as the things they say (they are 3 and 4) and the art works they create. I keep a simple notebook for each one of them handy by the fridge and every time one of them says someting that makes me laugh or someting incredibly wise or loving I quickly jot it down. I will write more about this later on. I also keep a couple of standard scrapbooks for the drawings and paintings and photos of sculptures. I will be adding to this blog all my ideas about keeping records, storing photos and keeping photo albums.

Some of the photo albums and journals I have made in the past

Keeping records...
I have been keeping records, journal etc for many years. Passionately when I had the time and sporadically when I didn't. All in all I have collected a lot of information about my own life up to this point. I have nothing however about the first 18 year sof my life or there abouts. Nothing about my growing up and even very few photos. Many of which were lost in the moves from one place to another while migrating out of Poland with my mum.

Having two children of my own now I want to create for them a record of their gowing up years. They are too busy to think about the future now or how they will view their past. And good on them for being too busy as they are discovering their world and themselves and finding their place. I will keep records for them. I will write down all their little habits, their triumphs and sad moments. I hope that this endevour will help me know them better and help me slow down a little to observe more, listen more, do less and talk less.

One day they will want to know about their past and I just know they will be fascinated with a story of their own lives that spanned the first 18 years. I will include things not just about them but also about our world and what is happening in it. I hope that perhaps one day all that I have recorded may help them in some way to know themselves better.

I wondered the other day about all the things I loved to do when I was little. I could only remember loving to do crafty things which makes sense as it's now become my job running Laikonik and handmaking all my products. But I wondered if I could have discovered more about myself if somewhere there was a record of my childhood. I have heard it said that what we love to do the most as children is what we should be doing in our jobs as adults. I am slowly observing my son and daughter and I smile as I wonder where all the paper cutting and glueing and drawing intricate train engines and dressing up will lead...

A bird made by Isabelle out of found things in our garden