Paula Mills Art

Dear lovely blog readers. Shelley and I have had a wonderful year with Sweet William - we have been flattered by some great features, our online sales and markets have been amazing and we have thoroughly enjoyed all the positive support. Sweet William started as a small creative outlet for the two of us and we are proud of how it has grown into a something that enables us to keep being creative and passionate about what we do. We are taking a break from now until the 10th of January. ( I am going camping with my family and Shelley is finishing off her house!) We wish everyone a blessed and creative Christmas and all the very best for 2012. Here are some shots of my lounge room in all it's pink and silver hand made Christmas glory! Paula x

I will be in Brunswick Town Hall at the Sister's Market this Friday evening and Saturday. Here are a few Christmas pieces that will be at the Sweet William stall. After a pretty busy season I must say we are looking forward to a well deserved break - Sweet William's on line shops will be closing on Sunday the 18th until the New Year. Hope everyone is enjoying getting into the festive season.

This post is in loving memory of our mother - Beryl, also known as Bertie Green Beans, who has given us memories full of love and laughter.

Can you spot the Sweet William 'touch the sky' card? One of my most favoured shops in Melbourne is Scarlet Jones on Auburn Road. I love how everything is thrown together so easily and makes such beautiful imagery, which has recently been posted on the Scarlet Jones facebook page . The good news is that they are open tonight until 9pm and are offering a 10% discount on most items! Yay. The other good news is that they stock Sweet William LaLaLand cards ! I hope all your Christmas shopping is going smoothly.

Gosh it has been pretty busy here at Sweet William! Now I find myself a few weeks away from Christmas, the kids are desperate to put the tree up and I am in need of some festive inspiration. Here are a few images that have caught my eye and will help me get our home and hearts ready for this special holiday time. I am loving all the candy stripes and pretty colours around at the moment - happy times! All links to these images can be found in my pinterest board here .

  Memi Designs at Magnolia Square  Sweet William stall set up and Lynne from Scarlet Jones below Just a quick post of Sweet William and some other retailers at Magnolia Square in Malvern Town Hall. Above are: beautiful products by Memi designs, Lynne in her lovely Scarlet Jones stall and Sweet William . It has been a wonderful event so far - we are there until 4pm on Saturday. I have had such lovely and supportive comments from people, repeat buyers and customers coming especially to look for my new work. One lady stopped to tell me how beautiful her feather print, bought at a previous market, looks in a silver frame. It has all been very encouraging.

Sweet William is very excited about being part of the next Magnolia Square event. If you are around, pop in and say hello, I do love to have a chat and it is always so nice to meet lovely blog readers.

Sweet William will be at Fed Square on Sunday

This illustration is entitled Flower Circles This one is entitled Grateful This new print is entitled Flower Ring I feel like I keep typing the same thing - it is a busy time of the year! I put all the orders, postal deadlines, washing, tidying, bills and e-mails aside for a while so that I could concentrate on finishing some new work. These prints will be for sale for the first time at Mark It at Federation Square on Sunday. I find it quite challenging as our little company grows, to prioritise creative work. There are so many other things demanding my attention and I have to be pretty disciplined about making the time to simply draw or paint or doodle for a little bit...and then it is back to the more mundane stuff. These three new illustrations are inspired by my continued love affair with flowers, pattern and colour. They are available in our etsy stall if you are unable to come along to the markIt on Sunday which is sure to be fantastic - a really well curated ...

 Our Free Love print in Home Beautiful above and my lounge room with prints featured in Decor8 below Ooh a very exciting weekend here at Sweet William! Holly over a decor8 did a lovely post all about my new work, Geometric Love , which I blogged about here . Holly captured my feelings exactly. It is always a bit of a risk to put something up that you know may not have as much commercial appeal but is so necessary to be true to yourself. Thanks Holly. I then spotted our 'Love is Free' print in the December issue Home Beautiful magazine. It is really very exciting and flattering to receive recognition. I am beaming from ear to ear. We now have to get to the online orders that have come flooding in!

 Messy but pretty piles of stuff all around me that need doing  My vintage paper stash - ready for making into paper packs  My kids art work for exhibition at school  My messy studio Orders waiting to go out in the post Well it has been a little while since my last post - it is just crazy, busy around here! This time of the year is madness! I can't complain, it is all good - lots of orders coming in online, wholesale orders, magazine features, lovely markets... and then there is the family and house stuff which has to carry on - the kids seem to have a lot going on at school, my baby is preparing for prep next year (sob), I managed to break our  washing machine (you don't want to know) and we are looking forward to a weekend of camping at the beach with friends (which takes a little bit of organising). I find I am surrounded by piles of things that need doing - prints need packaging, bags need packing, washing needs washing, children need fee...