The state bird of washington is the goldfinch and we've added this pretty little print to our etsy shop.

A new print added to the etsy shop today, just in time for Christmas. A London pigeon with a vintage map of the city. Available from the creative monsoon etsy shop.

When I think of recycled car tyres turned into planters I always shudder and remember those tacky swans - you know the ones, all the rage in the 80s. But on a trip on Melbourne last weekend I came across these very stylish pots which remind me of La Chamba cookware. They are available from UBeauty Pots and Plants.

I managed to pic up two big old atlases this weekend at a garage sale. Plenty of pages to play with so keep an eye out for some more artwork soon. Love this idea of covering one of those cardboard deer heads with maps. Unfortunately the link for this wasn't working so I'm not sure where it came from originally.

The new puppy mandala print - dancing dachshunds is now available in three new colours. So apart from the black you can choose, pink, aqua or grey :)
Let us know what dog you'd like us to do next

I've decided to go ahead and put the first of my puppy mandala prints into the etsy shop. This one is the dachshund or sausage dog.
It's something I've been playing around with for ages and hopefully other dog breeds will be added later. Let me know what you think and feel free to suggest which doggie design I should do next.

Still continuing to work on my Lake Tekapo project. I have a few works on the go at moment, but yesterday I finished this one.

I started this with another work in progress - a mountain range made of security envelopes then layers of tissue paper and lace with washes over the top for the water. I took a photo of that on my iphone with the hipstamatic ap. It desaturated the image quite a bit but gave it some nice added texture. I took that image into photoshop, adjusted the levels and added a damask pattern to the water and few more layers of texture. Flipped the mountain range so there is a subtle reflection in the water and boosted the colours back up. And voilà - as yet untitled Lake Tekapo digital mixed media collage.
You can purchase a print in our etsy shop. Feel free to suggest a nice title for it.

I thought I'd have some fun this afternoon and design myself a new iPhone case, I got a little carried anyway though and designed loads. I'll share them over the next few weeks but here's a fun one - a concrete iPhone. Very urban.
Available from the creative monsoon store on redbubble

I cant tell you how excited I get now when bills come in - I just want the security envelopes! I've added a new work to the etsy shop, a pretty paper crane design.

I woke up the other morning and I really wanted the make feathers from the security envelopes I've been collecting. Who knows why. But I think they turned out really well.

How super pretty are these hot air balloons made from old light bulbs? Unfortunately the link doesn't work anymore so I don't know where they came from

While I was playing around with maps a few months back I came up with a really beautiful idea to put the vintage maps I've collected inside bird shiouettes. I thought I'd start with US states and match the state birds to the maps!
Here are the first few now available in my etsy shop.

I came across a beautiful etching in a little gallery in Darwin today by artist Jorg Schmeisser. I love the layers of drawing and the mix of notes and sketches, a bit like a travel diary. I think it would be a great starting point to remember each trip just making notes, drawings, studies of flowers and building etc all on one big sheet. Could also add in photos, prints and maps. His work reminds me a lot of Horst Jansseen and a little of Joshua Yeldham.

The picture just doesn't do it justice, a beautiful work by Joshua Yeldham, my favourite at the Archibald and Wynne Prize this year. Stunning blues, purples and pinks.

Love these photos by fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø, they remind me of a piece I did back in uni which I really must make again.

So Im not exactly sure where I took this photo, except that it was near Tekapo. This is the start of a work where I'm going to experiment with mixed media on a photo. I've started by printing it out large format onto some lovely 100% post consumer recycled paper that I have. Masked of the sides and painted in most of the water.

Loving the work of Kathe Fraga. Her work resembles aged decorative fresco panels, adorned with birds flowers, vines and leaves in a modern Chinoiserie style.

Tidy up the edges and it's finished. Sticking all the layers down was the tricky bit, making sure they were done in the right order and getting everything to line up across three panels. But pretty happy with the end result. What's missing from the pic is all the different textures in the paper which looks really nice.

A few things I learnt from this one.

• To get a really smooth glossy finish for the sky I'll probably need to sand the board a few times first. It's a little too rough at the moment.
• Thick paper layers with thin layers over the top need to run the full length of the piece or be added to with paper of equal thickness. Otherwise the thin paper folds over the thick and you can see too much of a line.
• Damar varnish takes a really long time to dry! Don't pick it up too soon. 

via pinterest

Pam Toll