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Introducing Techno Tuesdays!

Since I started learning how to customise my blog design I've learned sooooooo much! As a designer, my technical skills have always let me down and prior to starting this blog I had never been anywhere near HTML or CSS or any of that crazy stuff. But I decided with this blog I would learn as I went. Until recently I was getting along quite nicely with my simple Blogger template. But of course, I got restless. I got bored. I wanted to know more and I wanted my blog to be bigger and better and more awesome all the time. I'm not a perfectionist, but I hate stagnation with a passion. My theory in life is, if you don't know which direction to go in, choose one at random and go forth rather than waiting around to see what might be the best way. I guess you could say I'm impatient and nothing irritates me more than inaction.

So. I decided it was time to learn how to design blogs. I've done loads of research, read hundreds of tutorials, had a few teary phone calls to certain technologically-gifted friends and made a gazillion notes. My blog redesign is still a work in progress but I thought it would be good to share some of what I've learned with you guys.

I get the feeling many of you are like me, which is probably why you're here... you're into art and craft and adventures and all that good stuff but perhaps not very 'technical'. I'd like to think we kind of 'get' each other. Or maybe not. But either way, you're here (yay!) and whether you're interested or not I'm going to share my new found 'bloggess' wisdom with you. That's right - I am well on my way to becoming a bonafide, self-declared Bloggess! And so are you! Trust me. It's going to start real basic (sorry, but I'm going to assume you're as clueless as I was in the beginning!) and each week I'll share another tip, tutorial or incredible piece of advice that I've learned along my blogging journey.

Anyway, let's get started - a quick one for today...

Do you have a contact page?

I think it's really important that there's an easy way for a reader to contact you directly if they want to but I only recently set this up on my blog. And it's really easy to do!

1. Go to Kontactr and sign up. It's free and will take about a minute - just make sure you sign up with the email address you want your messages to come to. The great thing about Kontactr is contact forms is ALL it does. So it's super easy to use.

2. Once you log into your account, you'll get taken straight to a page with some code. It'll look something like this:

3. See that bit called AJAX Widget? That's the code you'll be putting into Blogger. You can customise it with colours if you want by clicking on the customise link to the right, but I kept mine in the default format - black text on white background.

4. Now open your Blogger dashboard and select the Pages tab in the menu. Click to add a new page and a blank page template will come up. Write the name of the page at the top in Page Title - this will be what shows in your tab so best to keep it simple and just use Contact.

5. It's not necessary but I think it's nice to write something here. See mine for an example but write whatever you like - just be you as that's why people are on your blog in the first place!

6. Now comes the fun bit. Back on the Kontactr site, select and copy the code in the box labelled AJAX Widget.

7. Back in your Blogger page, select HTML (on the top left of the toolbar) and you'll see something like this:


<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You can contact me with this form. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks x<div>
<br /><br /></div>
</div>

8. Put your cursor at the end of the code, hit return, then paste the code you copied from the Kontactr site.

9. Click on Save, then Preview to make sure it looks right. You can go back and change the text or put in more returns if you want to space things out a little more. It's up to you. 

10. When you're happy with the preview, click on publish and voila! You now have a contact page!

Did it work? Please let me know if you have any problems - this is the first time I've shared any kind of technical tips so I'd love your feedback if you found it helpful or confusing! Thanks!

Your bloggess-in-training,
Jen x

Personal Revolution Week 3 - Clean Up The Digital Mayhem!

So true and so appropriate - one of the many fabulous truths found
at the wonderful Maven Circle Blog.

It's amazing how digital our lives are these days! It's almost hard to remember how we ever functioned before the internet and smart phone, even though it's only relatively recently that they've become the norm rather than the exception. 

This makes me feel old, but I remember when I first moved away from home in 1996 I met a guy in my class at art school who bought a mobile phone. I thought he was crazy! Why did an art student need a phone? And how on earth could he afford it? A few years later when I left Australia and spent a few years travelling overseas I didn't have a phone. I used calling cards and payphones to keep in touch with my parents and about once a week or so I'd find an internet cafe, have a coffee, and answer the handful of emails I may have received (my mum, my sister and possibly a friend or two I met on the road at most!).

When I came home in 2001 and went back to uni to finish my abandoned degree, I carried a floppy disk with me so I could write up assignments on the computers in the library. Two years later when I went back to Europe for a while, I still had no phone. I had arranged to meet a friend in Paris weeks earlier and did so, at the appointed time and place, without having to text message each other a dozen times. When meeting my folks in Antwerp, I soon discovered (when they didn't show up) that I was at the wrong place. We found each other by both calling my sister in the UK on a payphone. Ah the old days!

My point, which has been a little lost in my pre-technological age reminiscing, is that these day everything is digital, and while that makes many things easier it comes with it's own problems, not least of which is we have so much digital crap in our lives it can be completely overwhelming! I wrote a post here last year called
5 ways to clean up your life without losing your mind, and I think it's time, as part of my revolution, to revisit it. So if you're in on this week's challenge, go here and read it. I did a lot of cleaning up back then but lately, I've really let things go again. My Gmail has 5233 email in it. My pictures folder is 47GB. My external hard drive, which I use for back ups, is completely full. My desktop, which I diligently got down to one icon last year, now has 32 items on it. And somewhere along the way, the peaceful image I had there got replaced by icky microsoft blue! Clearly, things need to change!

The Challenge
Spend 5 - 10 minutes a day doing the steps in this post for seven days and lets see how much cleaner our digital lives are and how much clearer our poor overwhelmed minds are as a result. I'm also going to search for some great downloadable desktops to help us all keep fresh, inspired and motivated. I'll share these in a post later in the week so if you're doing this challenge you can check them out (or even if you're not!).

Now to get started, I'm changing my desktop background to that fabulous image and quote above! Thanks Jena and Jen for your constant inspiration!

How did you go last week?
Last week was all about water. I think I did ok, although a couple of days I fell short of my target. I still jump when my water alarm goes off but it does really help as every time it goes, I've refilled my glass. How did you go?

Good luck everyone! Please let me know how you go and share any other tips you have in the comments!

Jen x

PS You may have noticed a bunch of things changing around here.... I'm doing some redesigning on the blog and as I'm new to this it's a bit of a trial and error process. So bear with me! I'm also trialing sponsors and ad swaps on my sidebar. If you're interested in sponsoring or ad swapping, check out the new sponsor page! And please let me know if anything goes awry!

PPS The Red Parka & Pirdy 100 Posts Giveaway ends tomorrow! So if you haven't entered yet, head over here to get involved!

Friday On My Mind #2 - coffee, shoes and fabulous kitchens!

It's been a really busy week here at Red Parka Global Headquarters and one of the highlights for me was finally being happy with my new blog header! I must have done over 10 designs before I was satisfied - finding the right mix of colour and white, simplicity and interesting design and choosing the right words to reflect what the blog is about presented quite a challenge. But I think I got it right in the end - what do you think?

I've been super distracted this week as well and had a lot of fun bookmarking cool things for this post - that's the beauty of Friday On My Mind; it turns procrastination into work! Yay! Man, I love my job!

So, on my mind this week:

This swoon-worthy kitchen - those pop shop boxes and the orange and green - love it! There's a whole lot more fabulous kitchens to check out on JustB.

These great prints by Michelle Tavares of Calamari Studio. I'd love to have these on my wall to inspire me everyday to never stop exploring and imagining!

I love reading DIYs on blogs but rarely find time to actually do them. Maybe this cool rug DIY from A Beautiful Mess will change that!

Now, I am not a shoe person. It's not that I don't like shoes as much as the next girl, but I don't go nuts for them. In fact, I only have about 5 pairs, and that's including my puppy-chewed sneakers and a pair of thongs (flipflops for you guys in the northern hemisphere!). But these awesome boots from Ugglebo have me drooling. Seriously. Especially those fabulous red Seattle ones. And the teal Philly ones. And... well, you get the picture!

Photos by Wade except for Baristas in Action courtesy of Pilgrim Coffee

Wade and I tried out a new cafe today (one of my favourite things to do), one that opened here in Hobart while I was living interstate. Cafe culture has come a long way in Hobart since I left and having coffee at Pilgrim was testament to that - we loved this place and will be back for sure (once we've recovered from our morning hit of three soy flat whites for me and four strong lattes for Wade)! Best things about Pilgrim? Apart from the coffee of course -  the fabulously coloured crockery! For those of you reading this locally, if you haven't been to Pilgrim yet you should check it out! Maybe I'll see you there as I suspect this place has just become our new favourite!

I'm planning to do some more redesigning of my blog this weekend so bear with me if anything goes funny while I do it! And tomorrow we'll be back at the Salamanca markets. What are you up to this weekend?

Jen x

Illustration Crush - Tutti Shafir

This week I am totally in love with these gorgeous drawings by Israeli artist Tutti Shafir. Tutti means "my strawberry" in Hebrew, which seems appropriate for this sweet and very talented artist whose greatest passions in life (apart from art of course!) include chai tea and cookies! Yum!

Inspired by the simplicity of country life and childhood games, Tutti's work is quite simply a joy to look at. It makes me feel peaceful. Do you get this? Peaceful and happy, like all is right with the world.

I love the one with the children looking over the wall at the ocean, or perhaps it's a bridge over a river... I wonder what they are looking at? Fish? Waves? And seriously, how adorable are those bloomers?? The little boy with the duckling reminds me of similar moments in my own childhood too. So beautiful.

There is so much more to see in Tutti Studios so please take a look. Thanks for sharing your work with us Tutti! I feel inspired and at peace and ready for a big day of creativity now!

In case you missed it yesterday, don't forget to enter our 100 Post Giveaway! It's open til next tuesday and you can win a Red Parka print as well as some gorgeous handmade jewellery by some of Red Parka's friends!

Have a beautiful and productive Wednesday everyone! I'm heading to my sister's house for a day of website designing work! What are you up to?

Jen x

100 Post Giveaway! CLOSED

It's time to celebrate another blogging milestone - this is my 100th post! I feel good about this - I didn't know when I first tried blogging if it would be for me, if I would enjoy it, if anyone would read it.... but the truth is, although I was hesitant at the start, I've grown to LOVE blogging! It really does enrich my life and I'm excited about how my little blog has been growing of late too!

Big things are afoot - a new design on the way, more interesting features, more fabulous illustrators to check out! I'm working with my sister to learn about wordpress and migrate my blog over there so I can do more things with it and incorporate  my blog and my website into the one site. The shop too will get an overhaul! I am feeling full of energy, possibilities and inspiration right now!

To celebrate I'm having a giveaway - one lucky reader will win an original Red Parka print, a cute pair of handmade earrings and a fabulous Pirdy brooch! Not a bad swag of goodies, huh? (Total value $50.)

I am using Rafflecopter for the first time to host this giveaway. All you have to do is visit the Red Parka Store then leave a comment telling me which Red Parka print you'd like to win.

Important! Once you've done this, don't forget to click on the 'Do It!' button and go through the process there to confirm your entry and get more opportunities to enter!

Have you used this system before? Please let me know what you think! Is it easy for you guys to use? Does it make you more or less likely to enter?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open internationally so get to it!

Thanks for being along for the ride with me and my blog! You all make the experience so much richer by sharing it with me. So thank you. Jen x

Personal Revolution Week 2 - Drink up!

Original photo by Jon Rawlinson

Do you drink enough water? Chances are you don't. Just like me!

Like last week, this week's personal revolution challenge is as obvious and it is simple - DRINK MORE WATER!!

Now I'm sure you know the facts - that drinking enough water is important to maintain health and vitality! It aids concentration, increases energy levels, improves efficiency (both in mind and body), it helps us have more glowing skin and healthier insides, flushes out toxins and strengthens our immune systems, and also helps us lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Phew! That's the boring stuff.

All I really care about is this - drinking more water helps you feel GREAT!
Because that's what this is all about, after all.

This week's challenge is the old two litres a day trick. Or about 8 - 10 glasses, depending on size. To help me achieve this I'm going to fill up my water bottle every morning and keep it on my desk, so it's handy all day. I'm also going to try to start everyday with a big glass of water. Before I have a shower, even before I put the coffee on!! This is serious stuff now!

If you need a bit of extra help, you could get a water app for your phone! I've tried out a few over the last couple of days and my favourite is Daily Water Free. It's super simple, has a kinda funky brown and blue interface, allows you to set reminders to remind you to drink up and makes a funny gurgly drinking noise when you add a glass! There are plenty more though, free and paid, to try if this one doesn't take your fancy. I'm going to use this to track my water intake this week and see, in actual graphs and hard data, exactly how well I'm doing.

How did you go last week?
Last week I challenged myself to walk for at least 20 minutes everyday with Benny. I did this and although it's only been a week I can't deny I feel a smidgen better for it. I'm going to keep it up, and some days I'm going to try and go a little further as my fitness improves. Benny has been loving it too and as we've done a little bit of training on each walk he's getting better at behaving himself out in public as well!

This is my favourite Instagram (@redparka) photo of the week, taken when Benny and I went walking along the waterfront in Battery Point one day last week. I am so in love with this dog!!

What are you're tips for remembering to drink more water throughout the day?

Jen x

Friday On My Mind #1 - Budgies, Twin Peaks and 50 Shades of Grey...

I love reading the Friday favourites posts from some of my favourite bloggers each week - I guess it's because I follow blogs of people whose style and interests are similar to mine, so of course I tend to find lots of really cool things through these posts.

And now I've decided I want in! I want to tell the world about the great stuff I find each week too! And perhaps this will mean I get a more excited response from you guys than I do my husband, who very patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) sits through my ramblings on a daily basis about the awesome Twin Peaks pencils, fabulous DIY about herb gardens or '10 Tips To Simplify Your Home' that I found online. It's not that he's not interested. It's just that, well, we like different things. I know my eyes glaze over on occasion when he's telling me about the fall of Rome or his theories on poltergeists, which certain;y doesn't change how mad crazy in love with him I am!

But I digress (how unusual!)... the point is, I'm starting this new weekly feature where I get to tell you about the fabulous things I've found! Fun, no? If you do a similar post on your blog be sure to let me know in the comments! I'd love to see your finds as well!

So, let's get to it.... On my mind this week is:

This amazing craft station! When I look around me at the chaos that is my studio I can't imagine having a desk like this to work at - I love it! There's a whole bunch of other inspiring studio set-ups over here.

I meant it about the pencils! These are seriously the best pencils I have ever seen.... thank you Elycia (from Love Elycia blog) for showing me these. For those who don't know it, Elycia's blog is lovely - take a look!

This very topical 50 Shades of Grey card by the ever-on-the-ball GeekAmour - I literally was told about this book at a dinner party on Tuesday night (thanks Rasa!) and then saw this the very next day! Not sure if I even want to read it but I loved this card for it's pure cultural relevance.

This stunning budgie pattern by Johanna Burai - we had budgies growing up so in this image I see George, Cindy, Ozzie and Lucky! Did you have a budgie as a kid? What did you call him/her?

Hope you enjoyed my first Friday On My Mind post! Have a fabulous weekend!

Jen x

Illustration Crush - Belen Segarra

I first stumbled across Belen Segarra's fabulous work on Pinterest, a site I LOVE for finding treasures like this! I got in touch, became Facebook friends (don't you just love the virtual world!) and now I'm excited to share the work of this talented and lovely lady with you guys out there!

Belen's work is so sweet yet kind of sharp, her characters are simple yet have depth and I think she uses colours and pattern in perfect measure.

This bird in particular tugs a little at my heart. So sweet and sad and gentle.
Belen has a Society6 store where you can look at a whole lot more of her work and purchase if you like, as well as a website and blog where you can keep up with her latest work.

Have a great Wednesday folks!

Jen x

Personal Revolution Week 1 - Get Moving!

One of my favourite pics of me and Benny, even though I'm not sure who's taking who for a walk here! Photo by Wade Skelly

It’s possibly the most obvious piece of advice anyone can give you - get off your butt and go for a walk! But how often do we not heed this simple (and excellent) piece of advice? For me? Always!

I have a puppy who LOVES to exercise and when I actually get out there with him for a good walk I love it too. But all too often I feel a bit tired, depressed or preoccupied and instead I’ll throw a ball around the yard for a while, thinking, ‘I’ll take him for a proper walk tomorrow’. Sound familiar? Even before I had a dog, it was a similar routine of procrastination leading to inaction.

Now I know deep inside that a walk (or a swim or whatever) ALWAYS makes me feel better. But most of the time, I put it off. And I know I’m not alone. And so this is where I’m going to start with my Personal Revolution - I’m going to GET MOVING!

For me, this means that I am going to commit to walking Benny for at least 20 minutes EVERY day this week. Rain, hail or shine. No excuses. Not even the ‘I’m too depressed to even find my sneakers, let alone go for a walk’ one. I know Benny will be a happier dog for it and I’ll be a happier human!

There are lots of other ways to incorporate more movement into everyday life, like doing half a dozen squats each time you make a cuppa, or doing bicep curls with soup cans while reading your morning emails (yes, I have really done this!). Basically, I'm going to be more mindful of incorporating movement into my everyday life as it's way to easy for me to get so caught up in what I'm working on that I spend the entire day sitting in a chair in front of the computer. Not good!

So are you in on the revolution? What are you going to do this week to get moving?

Jen x


PS If you missed the post introducing my personal revolution you can check it out here.


PSS Here's a link to a cute video post by the lovely Mayi Carles if you need a little more inspiration to get moving!

Why I'm Turning My Life Around And Starting A Revolution!

Photo by Kelsey

Over the last few weeks I’ve slowly come to the realisation that I need to change my life. Not in the sense of what I do with it, or who I have in it, but in how I live it from day to day. You see, I love what I do for a living, even when it doesn’t pay the bills. And I love my husband, my puppy, my family and friends. I love that we’ve just moved back to Tasmania. I love what I see out the window every morning. And yet, I feel unhappy. Why? All I can think of is that I’m not doing all these things properly. I’ve become complacent. I’ve let my tendency toward depression take over and I've been listening to those mind gremlins again. I’ve allowed issues in the wider world to invade my inner sanctity. I’ve lost a bit of hope that everything is going to work out and find myself staring at the computer screen with no idea what to do, even though my to do list is overflowing and my ideas folder is brimming with inspiration. Basically, I think I’ve just lost my spark.

Do you ever feel like this? How do you overcome this feeling?

I’m a fairly drastic person by nature and these thoughts have been brewing for a while so I’ve decided enough is enough. I’m going to spend this weekend planning my own personal revolution. Then on Monday morning, I begin the revolt!

I know that changing habits is hard work, and so I’m going to tackle everything I want to change in my life one by one, week by week. I don’t want to risk failing by overwhelming myself, so baby steps it is.

Do you want to join me? Each monday, starting on 16th July, I’m going to post about my revolutionary action for the week. Some of them will be tiny, others not so. But over the coming weeks I intend to work on getting happy, improving my health, rediscovering my lost inner peace and increasing my productivity. I’d love to hear from you if you want to join in! Or if you have your own ideas to add to mine for ways to turn your life around, come see me in the comments!

Welcome to my Personal Revolution!

Jen x

Why do you do what you do?

In my working life, I’ve been so many things - waitress, store manager, sandwich maker, bartender, copywriter, editor, tour guide, admin assistant, communications officer, music teacher, fish factory worker, barista, nanny, event manager and festival organiser. I even worked as a clown for kids parties for a little while! Some of these jobs were fun, to be sure, but I never felt like I’d found my ‘thing’. In fact, I never felt like I even knew who I was! I had fun travelling the world, hopping from job to job, house to house, country to country. Some of this was heaps of fun, some of it was really hard. But it was not until I started drawing (just after my 30th birthday), and then selling my drawings, that it dawned on me that I’d found myself. From there, my life has become a gazillion times more meaningful and I feel like I am finally being true to myself. I don’t doubt that I’ll do many more different things in the future, some I couldn’t even imagine now, but that’s the beauty of this adventure called life. At least now, I feel like I’m on my own adventure, not trying to fit into someone else's.

So the main reason I do what I do is because it’s simply the only thing I’ve done that feels right. There are other reasons, such as that I want to be independent, I want to earn a living without selling my soul or sacrificing my sanity, that I couldn’t handle the 9-5 career-oriented lifestyle. But ultimately, it’s just because it feels right.

Being my own boss is awesome. I love what I do - it's fun and challenging and exciting. I love that it rarely feels like ‘work’. I love the independence of having no-one to answer to except myself. I love being able to set my own schedule. I love that my work constantly brings me into contact with inspiring, creative and passionate people all over the world, yet I also love working by myself in my home studio where I can be the natural introvert that I am. Being a self-employed artist makes me feel alive. It’s simply who I am.

Why do you do what you do? xx

Illustration Crush - Cathy McMurray

I seem to keep finding myself back in Portland as I browse the web for creative people doing cool things! This week I'm so excited to share with you the work of Cathy McMurray. Based in Portland, Cathy used to teach art and then ran a shop selling art. Now, she is focused on her own art, and I'm so glad she is because her work is fabulous!

Spirit

I love the mixture of geometric patterns and the random lines of nature Cathy uses in much of her work. Her colour schemes, too, are divine - that perfect balance of natural tones and bright colours. It's just stunning, don't you think?

Glacier

Seasons

Cathy has a great blog (that I've just been lost in for the last hour) where she shares her work, inspirations and all sorts of lovely creativeness by others artists! Or you can find her on Etsy to see more!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Jen xx

36,000 feet in the air (and all about Brisbane Finders Keepers)!

My stall Red Parka Designs

I'm writing this from an altitude of 36,000 feet as I'm flying home to Tasmania from Brisbane - my first blog post from the air, even though I won't be publishing til I land of course! The last few days I've been in Brisbane, Queensland, to attend the Finders Keepers market and it's been so much fun! It was my first time showing Red Parka designs in Queensland and I got to meet a bunch of lovely people in person that I've met here on the blogosphere or on Twitter or Facebook. I love these opportunities to get together with the art & craft community... Such a creative, funny and friendly bunch!  

The market was a big success - lots of people, lots of beautiful stalls, fabulous coffee and amazing vegetarian food to keep up our stamina!  The market was held in a gorgeous old building, the Old Museum Building, which looks kinda like a castle and has quite a history to match. Unfortunately there was little time for looking around Brisbane any further but we did get out to a few bars near our hotel, albeit decidedly seedy ones (us tourists really did not know where to go!), for a few drinks with my mum, who came up to help on the stall, and some of my fellow crafters.  

Going away for my business like this is always exciting and I love that the time in transit allows me to think, brainstorm, plan and write. I always arrive home full of new ideas and inspiration. On this plane journey I've been brainstorming ideas for an upcoming blog series I want to do, planning how I'm going to streamline my online shops and writing this blog post. I've also had plenty of time to reflect on how lucky I am to be living my dream of being a working artist and to think about my plans for Red Parka. There's so much I want to do! I think the coming months are going to be an amazing time of creating, writing, drawing and scheming.... I'm really quite excited! 

Anyway, for you folks who weren't there, here's a few pics of some of the lovely products at the market!

Gorgeous products by lovely Australian designers! Top: Each To Own
Middle: Hungry Designs | Everingham & Watson Bottom: Pannikin | Minnen

I am so excited to get home tonight, to be reunited with my boys (husband and puppy!) and get on with the adventure!

Jen xx 

Illustration Crush - Lizzie Stewart

I first discovered Lizzie's gorgeous work on Pinterest and have since become a big fan. Lizzie, who is currently based in London, studied in Ediburgh and tells me she used to frequent a cafe, The Black Medicine Coffee Company, where I worked from 1999-2001. As the cafe was across the road from Edinburgh's beautiful old university, we had a constant stream of students and lecturers passing through.... I'd like to think that perhaps I made Lizzie a latte one day, long before I ever thought I would end up working as an illustrator or writing a blog like this! Anyway, I digress....

Lizzie Stewart is awesome. Seriously. I love her animals and the little stories she weaves with her drawings... it's no surprise to read that she is inspired by folk culture, music and novels like Wuthering Heights and The Shipping News. I love her sweet comic book styled stories like this one below, about swimming in a Scottish loch... makes me feel all cold and adventurous!

If you like Lizzie's work as much as I do you can see more on her website and also her blog, which is filled with lovely images and insight into Lizzie's work, inspirations and life.

I've honestly missed my illustration crush posts these last few weeks while I've been moving so it's good to be back! I'll leave you with one more of Lizzie's drawings now as it's time for me to buckle down into my own print production in preparation for my trip to Queensland for the Brisbane Finders Keepers this weekend!

Jen xx

Red Parka is going to Brisbane!

I am pretty excited about this weekend because I'm going to Brisbane for the Finders Keepers market! This is the first time I've shown my work in Brisbane so it's especially exciting. I hope they like my Red Parka creations up there! The next couple of days will be pretty busy organising myself... this will be the first time I've flown to do a big event rather than drive so I'll need to be super organised (as opposed to my usual method of just throwing everything in the back of the van!).

Do you live in Brisbane? I'd love to meet you if so... come find me in Studio 2 and say hello!

Hello Tasmania!

This is our house in the foreground and our gorgeous view over Hobart to Mount Wellington. 

Greetings all from my new home on top of a hill in sunny yet freezing cold Tasmania! Apologies if you've heard this 100 times this week from me already, but one last time: It's so good to be home!!!

So this first week back in Tasmania has not been smooth sailing - far from it in fact! We've both been sick and getting away from the mainland was extraordinarily stressful! The boat trip was ok, except we sat up all night in the cheap seats and didn't get much sleep before the three hour drive to Hobart. But now we are here, mostly unpacked, mostly well again and while we still have some settling in to do (we must find a bed as we are still sleeping on the couch!), we are pretty damn happy to be here!

Having a couple of weeks off from the blog and Red Parka in general has been frustratingly good - I'm feeling filled with possibilities for the future and brimming with enthusiasm to start making some new ideas happen! We got the internet connected today and my new studio is almost ready to roll... we scored some great furniture at our local Tip Shop for $5 a piece - chairs, desks, work tables, drawers. Combined with a few donated items from my parents and my sister, we've more or less furnished our new place for under $100! It's hard being poor but I love the fact that we are recycling things - it feels good to know we are contributing as little as possible to the constant production of 'things' by finding things others have given away. Of course, we had to give away a lot ourselves in Melbourne as moving across Bass Strait is an expensive business so it's nice to see the universe in action and things coming back to us!

Anyway, I'll be signing off for tonight and be back tomorrow to start getting this blog and the rest of Red Parka Land back into shipshape order and full of colourful, creative goodies for you! So excited!

Much love from my beloved island,

Jen xx