Paula Mills Art

I have added some shots from around my house onto my flicker stream , we live in a rented house at the moment which makes interior decorating a bit of a challenge. I find I need to put my mark on the place to  make it feel like ours and sometimes I just need to cover the place with pattern and colour (it is a little drab). Anyway - happiness is when you are happy with what you've got.

A bit of a mess...I have always believed a messy studio must mean a very creative studio....getting ready for Camberwell market on Sunday! YAY! Busy making and collecting, too things Sweet William just love. My creative space hoted by: http://kootoyoo.blogspot.com cool thanks!

Found this little gem hiding in my paper drawer on the weekend - completly forgot I had it. Must have been a thrift shop find. decided there is no point letting it be a wallflower - it deserves to be shown to the world. I've uploaded the pattern onto flickr so you can find it there - so if you want to make the little bird - have a go - I have a special plan for it myself .... will reveal when all is done.

Here is a new illustration done by myself - blogged at: www.paulamills.blogspot.com for Illustration Friday. I have been thinking about this saying since seeing an article in Selvedge magazine (see image above - a wonderful source for all things crafty/beautiful) Anyway they have an article on the art of mending - isn't it sad that in our generation, if a sock gets a hole we just chuck it out and buy new socks? Maybe we should revisit the art of darning and mending - try and make things last a little longer before adding them to ever expanding landfills. Apparently it was the the needlework involved in mending that brought on the art of embroidery.

307: 12.4.07 , originally uploaded by girlhula . I love this shot. Posted by: girlhula on flicker. There is so much to love - the colour, the texture, the fact that these were found on the side of the road. I love random, unexpected treasure.

h ttp://www.lovelysweetwilliam.etsy.com/ http://www.blog.so-sage.fr/ http://www.farouche.etsy.com/ http://www.sycamorestreetpress.etsy.com/ We love all things paper - and always get a little thrill every time we walk into a stationers supply. We have made some lovely gift tags for our shop - and it got me thinking that the humble brown tag used for parcels has taken on a whole new life out there. (I can't remember when last I saw one on an ACTUAL parcel though). We love wrapping our gifts (and orders) beautifully and with care - it's an extension of our creativity. For some inspiration I found some special gift tags to make any parcel look fab. http://www.sushipotparts.etsy.com/

Just finished this illustration for a client in Florida - I am amazed by the internet, I live in Australia and I have just done some work for a craft fair in Florida! WOW. Our world is shrinking. Anyway it is always great to work with a fellow crafter anywhere in the world!

There are so many talented illustrators out there and its nice to know Paula's work inspires others - just as we are inspired. Kim Naumann of curiouser & curiouser - blogs about some amazing artists and we were so touched she mentioned Paula on her blog recently. Thank you Kim. An artist that we have loved for a long time is Daley Muller - based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work can be found at http://www.meu.co.za/ We just love her charachters - who have cute stories and are so simple yet full of great detail.

I love receiving and giving greeting cards. It is one of those lovely old traditions that may not have much of a practical purpose but we still love do - a bit like wearing a hat to a wedding, eating cake at a birthday party, a man wearing a tie, clapping, putting flowers on a table, collecting shell's on the beach, brightly colored balloons and drinking endless cups of tea. There are many, many things that we just do because we like to. We thought it would be nice for Sweet William to offer our prints a greeting cards. We have great fun making them up by hand and they are available in our on-line shops: www.lovelysweetwilliam.etsy.com and madeit in australia.

I recently felt like a real traveling salesman when I took some pieces to a shop we supply. I had placed the wood blocks in an old suitcase I had found on a recent thrifty scrounge. I loved the colour and the stitching detail and it looked like it could have previously belonged to a glamorous, updo lady. However, it was a bit lacking in personality so I decided to give it a little face lift. Around my guillotine there is always a little growing pile of paper off cuts, but instead of sweeping them up I used them to cover the front of the case.

here is a new illustration done by me - Paula Mills. It is available as a print in our etsy shop .

To celebrate Pauls being "pick of the week" on Ilustration Friday - " Lovely Sweet William" (our Etsy shop) is running a special this weekend only - Buy a print and receive a print of your choice free! Just drop a message in the checkout.

Yes, the Juniper berry is the one used to make gin, but it is also the name of a lovely shop found in Newtown, Wellington. I immediately recognised some great pieces from local crafters and designers and Mindy has been great at supporting the handmade community. The shop is one of my Wellington favourites because it is so carefully and lovingly put together. Each space is a montage of texture and colour. Sweet William is proud to have some of our items in it.

We love using old papers for handmade envelopes. We have a major paper fetish and there is something quite satisfying about making your own envelopes. The fun part is that you never know how it will turn out in the folds - its random and that has its own appeal . We were really pleased with this one - the fold was totally unplanned (its true) - but look at the result - how cool is that text! I love the fact that the fold on the top of the envelope says "miss Sophia Smart" - and the " ws Rockstro " is classic! Anyway, its such fun I thought I would share the scanned paper with you and you can fold your own envelope from it. If you want to you can find the template here .