Today Is Wild And It Is Yours

Hey guys!
It's been a while..greetings from Melbourne!

It's been just over a month now that I've made Melbourne home and man is this city ever great. I swear there is something cool hidden around every corner. Wether it be an awesome lane way of graffiti, a quirky hole in the wall cafe or an amazing vintage shop or market stall of hand-made trinkets..I'm continually discovering new spots I love.

I wanted to write this post though, to share a recent little project I've done here, for an online T-shirt company based in Montreal. Mister Dress Up was started by an community of artists in Montreal, Quebec to showcase their work and the work of designers and artists from all over the world, of all ages and all walks of life. Weekly, new designs are being added to their online store and this month I am one of the featured artists!

It's pretty awesome to be given a project like this, free range to do whatever you want..
but at the same time with so much freedom how do you ever choose what to do!!

I was indecisive for awhile, my usual. But then remembered a sketch I done awhile back of the words "Today is wild and it is yours". This quote is great and thought it would look sick on a shirt, so I
re-created it a bit and voila!

Obviously Im a sucker for quotes and I love rendering type and playing around with pattern so this piece is very much, me. But I love how it is a reminder to never stop looking at each day ahead with excitement..curiosity..wonder. Because today is all we have, why not make the most of it?

This notion has never been more significant as it is recently, with the passing of such a beautiful and special person I had the pleasure to know..and her equally beautiful mother. Both taken from us far too soon after battling a hard fight against cancer, I am still in disbelief that such a tragedy struck so close to home. Although my heart is filled with sadness for them and their families, I have never felt so grateful to be alive, and be healthy and to be able to travel and explore everyday. Far too often we forget how lucky we are.
Ashley and Roxanne, you're truly an inspiration.

Check out my profile and T-shirt, its for sale here until April 24th !!


Until next time,
thanks for reading  x

DAY 28 // Music Monday: Remixed

Well, It's Monday again...Sunday still for all you lucky Canadian bastards indulging in Turkey.

Unlike yesterday, today will not be a sappy, make your mom cry, kinda post. I decided I'd do another music post because I enjoy sharing new songs I hear and sounds that I like with people that may enjoy them too!

I've been getting my ass in gear here on the farm, as far as running and staying fit goes. Cam and I both are sticking to running three days a week (plus ab workouts and the occasional yoga sesh) in the afternoons when we are done our work. It's been challenging because some days we cannot even fathom the idea of going for a run in 35+ degree heat after a day out on the fields. BUT three days a week is a fair goal and we've been doing well.

I decided I need some more upbeat running tunes for these laps. Music is a big part of keeping me moving and bad songs can totally through me off.

So I've spent the night scouring playlist after playlist on 8 tracks and found some pretty cool remixes. The playlist that I found the most good stuff on was called "Lets Get Crazy" if anyone wants to look it up. solid.solid. name...

Now I know there's a lot of remix haters out there..arguing that the originals are always better and "why mess with a good song" and this may be true..but I'm still all for them. I love the creativity and mixture of sounds and beats that go into a good remix, but I also just like hearing a good song that i've become a little bored with done differently. Its refreshing.

So here are a few of my faves. I have also attached the youtube link under each photo if you want to check em out right here and now.

I had fun with the graphics tonight. Decided to use some "out take" photos from the first farm shoot I did with Camille.. she's probably not going to like that I posted these but I think the fact that they're a bit silly and crazy works perfectly with the remix theme. They're different. And they're awesome.

Enjoy! Thanks again for reading xo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeZbU3WIhpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLcdEcXdW34

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr3yM_l_qgQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQxWg92Ux4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdEbiFH8S78

DAY 26 // A New Project

I apologize for yesterday's lame post !! But not sorry about the quote. That quote was solid.

Today is a new day and it has so far been a great one. Roaming around town with Cammie, we discovered the "Civic Centre" which is kind of like the town's Community Centre, with tennis courts, a gym, pool ect. We watched some rad little kids do some bike tricks in the skate park and did our usual stop at Cafe Aroma for coffee.

For my creative bit - there's two parts.
First, I bought a new pen and sketchbook today so I was excited to start drawing. I saw this video posted on facebook by a talented graphic designer friend of mine and it inspired me to do some more type rendering. Type nerds like myself will appreciate this, Check it out!

http://vimeo.com/72832799

And this is my type rendering.

Second. I have a new project in the works! My old boss at Organika, an amazing organic cafe and grocery store I worked at in Noosa, messaged me to ask me if I wanted to help him design a new summer menu for their new store opening. It's funny because when I left in August, I made them a card because they were such great bosses and I wanted to show them how much I'd miss them. It was a silly little doodle card..similar to ones I've made in the past for friends and family on their birthdays. I drew the front of the store and the two owners (josh and chris, who are brothers) in the centre..and I believe I drew a stack of pancakes, with bacon and maple syrup.. in the card, stating that this was my going away gift to them, "Enjoy Eh" and also writing a list of "10 things I'll miss most about Organika". It was solid ..and I wish I had a photo. But blah blah blah..moving on. They loved the card.

So when Josh messaged about the menus, he also mentioned this card and how he'd love a menu done in a similar style. I laughed because I never take my cards seriously, but I then got excited, because.. how awesome would a hand-rendered menu be, for a lovely business like theirs. Amazinggg. So now it's time to deliver. This afternoon I started some sketches and brainstorming ideas for how I think the menus could look.. and we'll see what happens!
Stay tuned for more progress.

Thanks for reading!
Until Tomorrow xo

DAY 25 // The World

Today, I'm not going to lie, I'm not feeling motivated nor creative. We all go through these days.. I need a solid sleep and movie night.

Farm Update:
Today was just a normal friday with the morning consumed with chipping weeds and dealing with Rick and the other two boys from town that come in to work sometimes. The afternoon consisted of cleaning the house..which sounds shitty, but it is loads better than being out on the farm..we sometimes even cheer when he tells us we're cleaning.

I made enchiladas for dinner, which were actually..super delicious. And relatively easy and quick. Had a bit of wine with dinner and now we're sitting down to watch the Hangover 3.

Here's a quote that I've been wanting to post for awhile. I love it, it's perfect and so very true.. no need to stay put when the world is waiting to be explored. Get out there!

Happy Friday,
Goodnight xo

DAY 23 // Hump Day Thoughts

Wednesday here. Hump day as many refer to it as. The mid-week hurdle.

I thought of the idea for this blog post today as my mind wandered amongst the weeds. This is where most of my ideas strike..either just before bed, or while chipping weeds. So I may make this a regular wednesday thing, or I may not..haven't decided yet if it's stupid of kinda funny/clever.

Hump Day Thoughts.
These are short one sentence thoughts of mine lately..whether it be today, or just this week so far. I love playing with typography and I like funny and random words/sentences/quotes, things you see on Pinterest that make you laugh or just simple words that you can completely relate to.

So here we go,
Enjoy.

and Happy Hump Day! xo

{Only the Backpackers reading will get this one}

DAY 15 // Reinvention

Farm Update for Day 15..here we go.

Today we did our usual, but instead of just me and Camille out there (and sometimes Ian) we've had Rick the last couple of days helping us out.

Rick is a rough looking dude, maybe about 55-60 years old with shoulder length greyish-brown straggly hair. He wears a brown leather hat with an owls feather in it and jeans that are virtually falling off his ass (hah). It's been funny having little chats with this guy because his aussie accent is as thick as they come..Camille just gives him blank stares half the time and I just laugh. The first time we met yesterday (monday) he introduced himself and continued to tell me how he was feeling a bit hungover from "drinkin' me bloody goon" the night before. Nice. When Cam or I hit the water hose and we swear while it sprays water every, he just laughs and says "good on ya mate - Ahh don't worry I'll fix er' up before Ian sees". It's nice to have a different character around to spice things up a bit out here.

Creative tid-bit tonight is just a quote that I really like by Henry Rollins. So much strength in his words along with so much truth. Cut yourself out of Stone. Brilliant.

Photo and Type by moi.

Enjoy and Goodnight friends!
Until Tomorrow xo

DAY 14 // Music Monday

Hello Monday.

Thankfully today went by pretty quick out on the fields because the weeds were out of control and Cam and I kept screwing up. Like accidentally hitting the water hose that runs through the ground to water the pumpkins (the "tape", they call it) with our chippers, puncturing holes in line and causing leaks. Or mistaking a pumpkin plant for weeds and chopping the whole thing off.. oops. Lucky for us Ian never gets mad and he usually laughs at us, making a joke that we're still a sleep or that we're thinking about boys..the problem is usually the sleep bit. Today I felt like a zombie.

I've been listening to music a lot out on the fields and I'm getting pretty bored with my playlists so I spent the afternoon downloading some new music, most of which I've found through 8 tracks (for those who don't know about it..heres the link: http://8tracks.com)

These are some of my favs at the moment. I feel a bit out of the music loop lately..I haven't listened to the radio really in just about 6 months. But that's probably a good thing too because the radio is over played with crap most the time anyways, right? So though these songs might not be "new", they are new to my little ol' ears.

Goodnight!
xo

DAY 12 // RUYS

OK!

Gonna jump right into the creative bit for today, because Camille and I will soon be making some dinner and mixing up some gin cocktails before our first ever...night out in Biloela. Exciting stuffffff.

So, after doing our "Wild and Free" photoshoot last weekend, I have been going over all the photos we took and editing them etc etc. and I've been thinking about a school project that I did in my final year in Uni with a good friend of mine named Jon. We partnered up for a semester long "major project" which we chose to create a brand called "Grit & Spirit".

Just a little background: Grit & Spirit is a West Coast inspired clothing label that combines the dedication of country lifestyles with the spirit of indigenous cultures. The men's side of the brand is designed and constructed with hardworking and self-motivated lifestyles in mind - essentially inspired by farmers and country men. While the women's side of the brand reflects earth-friendly, handcrafted and free flowing designs inspired by indigenous styles and principles.

The purpose of the brand is to not only to produce and sell amazing clothes, but also to encourage people in Vancouver to live proactive lives and live with their own purpose. This idea is encompassed by the launch campaign "Roll Up Our Sleeves".

Read more about this project at: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Grit-Spirit/3753261

SO, even thought I feel a bit vain putting up more photos of myself... I thought that they would look awesome as some potential ads for the brand. Not only is the setting totally ideal, but the outfit I chose to wear coincidently lines up perfectly with the look and feel of the women's side of the brand. Earth-friendly hippie vibes all the way. And I gotta give another thanks to the gal behind the camera for these, Camille captured some really cool shots! 

Enjoy!

Until Tomorrow xo

DAY 10 // Missing the Sea

Helloo All,

Today was a scorcher once again, around 36 degrees. Maybe because it's almost friday and our bodies are giving up on us for the week or maybe it's just the intense heat but today seemed extra tough. One more day though and we've conquered week deux.

My creative bit tonight is inspired by my desire to be near the ocean again and the fact that I'm missing it like crazy. 

If I've learned one thing while being in Australia it is that I'm most happy near the sea. I'll always remember the week I spent couch surfing in Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast and Jodi and I were staying in this little beach shack apartment literally two minutes from the ocean. We would wake up early every morning because the sun was too hot to sleep in and I would head down to the beach for a morning jog or we would both walk down with coffee and just sit there and take in the salty air while watching the local surfers catch some waves. I loved it so much. 

So I pulled this quote from my collection and decided to practice hand-rendering type with it. I've always been a fan of doodling typography. And I think these words are lovely.

The ocean sets a good example for us humans.

Thanks for reading!

Until Tomorrow xo

DAY 7 // It's Monday, I Need a Coffee

Hi friends,
Its late so I'm going to keep this short and sweet as I have our usual early start on the fields tomorrow. There's no really farm update today other than..It's monday, and we chipped weeds. THE END.

As for my creative bit, I was a little stumped at first as to what I was going to do today... but I had remembered a post I saw on pinterest awhile back about Coffee in Australia and I thought, since it's monday I'd design a little fun graphic with the same concept as the one I saw, but with a completely cooler and more playful look.

I love coffee, and that is all thanks to my pops. The smell of coffee is always lingering in our house and a pot always seems to be brewed and waiting there to be consumed. For me, with plenty of sugar..even hot chocolate most the time. But when I'm out and about, a double double is how we do it. Canadians love double doubles, and we love Tim Hortons. It's shit, but its cheap and it does the trick.
Well, try asking a Australian barista for a double double.... blank stare. Even the words "just a drip coffee please" confuses them, so here ya go dad, get to know the coffee lingo before you come visit me in the land down unda !
Goodnight, Thanks for reading!

Until Tomorrow xo

DAY 1, 2 & 3: The Catch Up

OK, so here is post ONE. 

Since Im starting a bit late..(technically we are on day 3..) I will have to play a little catch up and post THREE little creative tid-bits to make up for lost time..the pressure is on now..weooo.

here we GO!

{1} I love quotes and I love typography and apparently I love vintage floral patterns.. I may have been inspired by the shabby chic, country decor in our little farm house at the moment. voila.

{2} Found this rug and this wicker table and married them together for a stylin' country pho'o. I like finding random jems like these in an old place. simply lovely.

{3} A got my camera out and snapped a few shots of the sunset tonight .. so beautiful. I'm pretty much sucking big time with my canon at the moment, but I managed to get a couple descent ones of the sun setting on the wheat fields. So far country life is pretty alright...

Alright, all for now, 6:30 am is going to come quick. Thanks for checking out my first post! 

Until tomorrow my friends... 

peace&love xo