Free Girl

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

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!

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

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

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

Easter Baskets

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

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.