STORY online store is now open for business!

Drum-roll please!!!

Monique Germon's new and elegant online store called STORY is now up and running and features a collection I've designed and hand made for her including these cushions and the two tea cosies I posted images of here previously.

Monique's philosophy is so down-to-earth and centered on integrity and beauty and she generously offers free postage within Australia for any purchases and includes a packet of Green Patch seeds with every parcel! What a lovely thing to do! (International postage rates are calculated at time of purchase/checkout...so wherever you are in the world you can enjoy STORY too)

I'm so in love with Monique's shimmery Emilia Earhart collar and look forward to being one of her first customers myself...it'll be perfect to wear to my sister's wedding next week!

Here is some information from the source:

"S T O R Y is the curation of ideas through product, word & the exploration of a new kind of narrative.

We take pleasure in exhibiting the work of individuals who make a significant contribution through the production of exceptional art & design.

We also take great pleasure in exhibiting the brands of like-minded others that produce items that transcend conventional market standards.

S T O R Y reveres authenticity above all & pays homage to this as a style unto itself. In other words, were born rural and remain so.

Most importantly, we honour the act of storytelling as an art form.

M O N I Q U E  G E R M O N
P R O P R I E T O R  / C R E A T I V E  D I R E C T O R"

And the practical info:
 W W W . S T O R Y - T H E S T O R E . C O M
Site link: http://story-thestore.com/

Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Story/152910184735457

Twitter Link: http://twitter.com/#!/storythestore

SUMMER BUSINESS HOURS
Phone/email communications & mail outs / Tuesday - Thursday 11 - 5pm
ALL INTERNET TRADE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS a day / 7 DAYS a week

The STORY story continues....

This is the second tea cosy I've made for my wonderful friend Monique Germon's new online store called STORY, which is planned to launch in early January. Its part of a collection of two tea cosies and four cushions, made-to-order (there are a couple of each piece in stock already).
This image shows the inside of this cosy which I've lined with delicious hand printed Pippijoe of Melbourne hemp fabric, called 'Buds'.

 A few details....hand embroidered text on vintage linen mangle cloth....

 Duchess silk satin 'finial' and binding...

 The teapot is stitched and appliqued hemp denim...

 The 'front' of the cosy, which is a made-to-order piece.
If you'd like to know when STORY is online and live, please sign up for emailed notification on the STORY website.

Far From The Maddening Crowd....& back in my studio!

Yes, that's right....Felix is now 9.5 weeks old and a super baby who sleeps for 3 hour stretches and is glorious when he's awake....so when he sleeps I work (I know I ought to sleep/rest too, though I prefer to make the most of studio time while I can).

This post features a recent commission for my very dear friend and fabulously talented Monique Germon, who is launching an online store of beautiful handmade treasures, at the start of November this year....and lucky me, she wants my work too!

Her new business is called STORY and showcases a more mature, pared back and elegant aesthetic which is going to be really exciting for me to work with, a real change! Here are images of the STORY Flagship Cosy I've just finished for Monique, from the finished cosy back to its beginnings as a pile of fabrics...oh, and a photo of Felix and I taken yesterday (you can see Felix concentrating on the computer screen as the laptop's camera took the photo!).



And a detail...


Other side & detail...



The work in progress...



Laying out the cosy sides...


Choosing the fabrics...


The inspiration/reference images...




And this is us, Tara & Felix...

Bienvenue chez 2010!!

A slow & calm start to the year, which is very uncharacteristic of me and matches my slower pace of life now I'm pregnant. I'm learning to embrace the transformation process and not feel guilty that I don't want to work 28 hours straight on an embroidery anymore!!

A couple of exciting things have happened to start the year off and they are:

A five page feature on my work, my home and me in Australian House & Garden magazine (February issue out now), from page 54,

AND

A couple of my Summer collection cushions are featured on page 46 in Vogue Living Jan/Feb 2010, in an image of the wonderful Monique Germon's POP-UP CO-OP store project with Sarah King & Tamara Maynes, in Bowral, New South Wales. My 'Tea For Life' cosy is in the second image.



Images courtesy of Monique Germon at PUBLIC OFFICE.

On the tea cosy front I have several half-finished cosies which greet me every morning and are just asking to be finished....so I'm working away at some retail orders and once they're done and mailed off I can 'treat' myself to some tea cosy stitching!
Can't wait!! I do wish there were more hours in each day and that I could afford to employ people to sew for me as well...this WILL happen, maybe next year if I don't lose my mind being a mother ;-)(Do I sound slightly apprehensive?!)

Tea with Friends...

I've decided to start featuring friends on this blog, and ask them to contribute images of their tea cosies, teapots, their most comfortable place to take tea...and any comments and information they would like to contribute.

This post is dedicated to the very talented Monique Germon and her new home in Bundanoon, NSW.


'Afternoon tea at my place consists of lighting the fire, making tea and either talking
to a friend or writing or reading a letter to/from one of my three pen pals;
Olga - an 89 year old Russian ex-mid wife, Sally - artist, writer & twin sister by fate
and Oliver - age 9 going on 29, residing in Stanley, Tasmania.'

A little background info on Monique:
Monique Germon is a hybrid artist-designer who works primarily under an idea-based practice of story-telling. This practice translates through photography, writing, design & installation often incorporating contradiction, irony and a tragicomic perspective. Her work nestles in amongst Humanist & Existentialist philosophies, mostly honing in on the constraints that accompany the prejudices of personal narratives. Monique currently lives & works between The Southern Highlands, Sydney (NSW) & Hobart (TAS).

Monique and I are in an exhibition titled 'Crafty', curated by Cat Badcock, which opens near the end of June 2009.

Monique also has a blog, Public Office where she investigates and expresses her passion for music, art, literature, correspondence, fashion and life, and the connections between these disciplines and a sense of place and geographical location.



I'm a huge fan of Monique's clothing also, and wear her divine antique mangle-cloth skirts based on Victorian-era work clothes...Monique's skirts are real treasures, total staples and I always feel great when I wear them!



The red knitted tea cosy was a gift I gave Monique after I had an exhibition in conjunction with Bundoora Homestead's Tea Cosy Exhibition and auction for the Cancer Council in 2008, and just seemed perfect for Monique's aesthetic...I'm glad it fits her teapot! It's so wonderful sharing the tea cosy love around...I can't wait to do another tea cosy giveaway!!