Winter is really here this week and the earth is parched with lack of rain. This week has been about finishing projects, visiting my Dad and driving though countryside this colour. What have you been up to?

My flickr three are from top:

La tardor als camps de secà – El otoño en los campos de secano 5 by Ferran Turmo Gort, Sunburst by the monk, Why so many keyholes? by Bert Werk

P.S. – you can also select my colour at sunset or #A17B61 to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

I’ve been doing lots of doodling on my iPad and experimenting with transferring those doodles into Illustrator. Once in Illustrator I use the Image Trace and Expand to turn it into a vector. This seems to work well and I’m sure over time I will work out how to reduce the number of anchor points as I have to work at a large zoom level to adjust my shapes, which is often. If you do this often and have any tips to share I would love your help.

I do love drawing on the iPad with a stylus and as much as love my Wacom tablet, I find it is quite an unnatural way to work because you can’t follow your hand as you draw. Does that even make sense?

So I took my little rain cloud and started thinking about how I could turn it into a pattern. I haven’t got it repeating yet but this is what I’ve done so far. What do you think?

It was raining yesterday (it’s been a while) and you already know my weather obsession so I thought rain clouds might be fun. When I’ve got a final pattern I’ll definitely share it with you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I thought this was a fitting colour for today, as I have just returned from taking part in my 5th Mother’s Day Classic 5km walk to raise money for breast cancer research. It’s hard not to miss my Mum today and although she did not have breast cancer my Mum did succumb to cancer and reading the many tribute cards today made me quite teary.

I’m sorry I’ve been a little absent from my blog of late. Life seems to have entered a little crazy phase with a lot of freelance work that isn’t leaving me much time for blogging and I really miss it. Thanks for hanging in there with me and I have a bit of a plan of working on and sharing some personal projects so I hope you’ll take that journey with me.

This week was about pitching ideas, recovering from our swim and guiding discussion. It was definitely a good one. How have you been?

My flickr three are from top:
Dirty ol’ pink garage door by Darwin Bell, Hotel venus by Pulpolux!!!, Untitled by rosemary*

P.S. – you can also select my colour look closer or #ED7EA6 to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

This is an appropriate colour today as I write this through very tired eyes after completing my fourth MS 24 Hour Mega Swim. I feel I’ve been staring at this blue for weeks in the lead up training for the event. I’m proud of my effort – 90 laps swum. Now it’s time for an early night I think. What have you been up to?

My flickr finds are from top:
Veduta da Capo Nord – View from North Cape by Gianni D, Untitled by Lars Kristian Flem, Ara Pacis-birds 2 by Maria Pardyova

P.S. – you can also select my colour beyond or #7AB0CF to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

This week has been about remembering, getting back to work, finishing assignments and many many laps in the pool. What have you been up to?

My flickr three are from top:

I like red walls by Karen, Side of a barn by slack12, Birdie/Ptaszek by Andrzej Szymański

P.S. – you can also select my colour fresh picked or #9C1F2A to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

This week has been about sleeping in, enjoying my boys’ company and watching autumn leaves. I think this is the reason behind my colour choice today. What have you been up to?

My flickr three are from top:

Hanging Bokeh Bulb by Mike Bitzenhofer, Untitled by minato, Rusted Box Series 2 by Pulpolux!!!

P.S. – you can also select my colour pumpkin harvest or #FDA954 to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

When you live in a country with little rain, there is a lot of cloud watching that happens. The BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) is my most visited website and it’s used to work out what I’m going to wear, whether or not I hang the washing outside and if I water the plants. You see I put an enormous amount of trust in the inexact science of weather predicting. Did you know my blog name is an homage to meteorology? True story. So it probably doesn’t surprise you to know that, without exaggeration, my father has kept a log of every inch of rain that has fallen in the 2 townships he has resided in over the last 40+ years. This may explain a little of my fascination.

I also love cloud motifs (and snowflakes and rain drops..) and I have recently been drawn back to them. They haven’t changed much since I added clouds to the sky of my childhood drawings. I really can’t go past their fluffy, irregular shapes.

Oh look, it’s cloudy outside – fingers crossed we’ll get some rain.

My cloudy finds are all via Etsy:

1. ORGANIC Cloud Pillow – Goodnight pillow from Juniper Wilde store
2. rubber stamps – CLOUDS from Citoyennes Illustrations
3. cloud teaspoon rest – 4 1/2 inches from jd wolfe pottery
4. Nothing But Rain, limited edition giclee print from Eloise Renouf

I’m a little late with my Flickr three post this week. I have been away helping my sister-in-law celebrate her 50th birthday, where this colour was featured in the decorations. It was a lovely break away. What have you been up to?

My flickr three are from top:
Lisboa – Parque das Nações by Jaime.Silva, Up Close and Purple by Baxton, Electric Fork 4 by James Gordon

P.S. – you can also select my colour home soon or #543487 to see it on my ColourLovers page. Are you a ColourLover? Let’s be friends.

I have been thinking about Sweden a lot lately. This is mostly due to a decision we’ve made to return to Denmark next year and finish our holiday. As some of you who read this often, our visit in 2011 was cut short with the sudden passing of my mother. To be honest I have struggled with this for months. It feels somehow wrong to yearn to return, when I remember the reason we couldn’t stay. My family has been nothing but 100% supportive and my lovely husband, instead of grumbling about money, is in agreement and excited to go back.

This time we’ve decided to change our itinerary slightly and start in Stockholm. This decision has made me somewhat attuned to all things Sweden and I seem to gravitate towards the talent in design that comes out of this country, like the illustrations featured above from Angelina Fredriksson and Studioelwa. I love how each of these illustrations achieve so much with so little; contentment, enjoyment, stillness and romance.

Just before we left in 2011 I was talking to the head of design where I am currently studying. He told me to embrace design while I was there and that designers are treated with more respect than here in Australia. He felt in Sweden, where he had also taught, designers were integral to the fabric of life in the same way as a doctor, electrician or office worker. He felt in Australia we tended to place our designers in a ‘corner’ to be called on when needed. I’m not sure I was there long enough to fully understand his meaning so maybe the return trip will give me more insight.

So if you are reading and have any recommendations on where to stay in Stockholm and what to see, let me know.

The illustrations are via Etsy and they are:

1. Good night mister Fox. (Hand made illustration in black and white.) from Angelina Fredriksson Etsy Store
2. Out walking. (Illustration print in black and white.) from Angelina Fredriksson Etsy Store
3. Poster dragonfly from Studioelwa Etsy Store
4. Poster couple from Studioelwa Etsy Store