Another day, another new sketch..!

I did this drawing on the weekend & decided to work in some water colour as a bit of a challenge. I'm really loving the random compilation of brush strokes with painted polka dots - it feels kind of new & exciting for me - I think I reallt like like where this is headed.

I feel like I've gone a little crazy using pop colour with my last few illustrations so this soft, pretty colour palette makes for a nice change.

I've got lots some more illustrations in the works, as well as a top secret, killer collaboration with a fellow designer that I'm really looking forward to sharing, so stay tuned, there's heaps of fun stuff on the way..!

Hope you've all had a great start to the week so far.

Laine

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I've been working on a few new illustrations & this is the first one I've finished. I'm trying to challenge myself to work outside my comfort zone, so this sketch was one I tried to do fast.

I wanted it rough, sketchy & raw... & I have to say I really like the scribbled lines & the overall rough, imperfect feel. I added in the watercolour overlay to give it a bit of a fun twist & if I'm honest, I'm more than a little surprised by how much I like it..!

Despite this week being shorter due to the long weekend, the last few days at work have been chaos so tonight I'm looking forward to some quality time with the couch..!

Oh, & before I forget, it's Wednesday, so happy hump day! I think that calls for a mini celebration - it means we over halfway through the week..!

FJM

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So this is one of my latest illustrations & surprise surprise, I kind of like how it's coming together.

The last 2 weeks have been super busy - last week I was lucky enough to enjoy a sneaky trip to Sydney for Semi Permanent & this week I've been playing a manic game of catch up as a result. Semi Permanent was amazing - there were some crazy inspiring speakers. My top picks were the guys from The Hours & Sandra Dieckman, both of whom were not only ridiculously talented, but full of personality & incredibly humble at the same time.

This weekend I've got a bunch of illustrations to get through so I best get to it - sad as it may seem, slaving over a pile of pencils & a piece of paper actually sounds like a pretty decent Friday night to me..!

& on that now, I'll wish you a Happy Friday & leave it at that.

Laine

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Exciting news - Amy from eatdrinkchic has featured some of my illustrations on her gorgeous blog..!

 I've been a huge fan of eatdrinkchic for several years now, so it goes without saying - I'm thrilled to be featured on such an amazing, inspirational blog. I absolutely adore Amy’s taste - her sense of style and colour is amazing, she has such a great eye for beautiful product & design.

If you're not familiar with eatdrinkchic make sure to skip along over & suss it out - it'll be love at first sight, I swear.

FJM
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More ideas than time... SERIOUSLY.

I love, love, LOVE this quote. It’s one of my faves because it just rings true to me. Sometimes I feel like I have all these great ideas for art & design & god knows what else, but finding the time to actually get the ball rolling & start putting the ideas into action - that's the real challenge.
 
I put this quote alongside one of my recent watercolour sketches as a little reminder to myself about how important it is to stop making excuses & instead, start ticking off the 1.5 million things on my 'to do list'.

Fingers crossed it sparks a little something & inspires you too.

FJM
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These are a few of the quick snaps I took on my recent Bali trip. My husband & I made a deal that this holiday was all about relaxing, having a good time & just enjoying some time to ourselves, so unfortunately taking photos kind of fell to the bottom of my ‘to do’ list... So apologies, these photos are really pretty average.

 I’m still kind of living off the high I experienced when I was away. I think one of the reasons I love Bali so much is because it’s such an amazing, inspiring hub of creative activity. Whether you’re an artist, designer, stylist, photographer, model, whatever - it feels like the opportunities there are endless. To start a business in Bali as opposed to Australia, the risk is much smaller, as the money for shop rent, manufacture of product, etc is just a portion of what you’d have to spend here.

So as a result, I was pretty much beside myself at all of new boutiques & galleries to shop. I bought a black leather jacket (its perfection, I love it), some killer vintage boyfriend tees and singlets, an amazing huge leather shopper tote (again, perfection, it would have been rude not to buy it), dresses with the most amazing prints & an abstract neon painting that I'll share in one my next posts. All in all, a pretty successful trip.

Going back to the whole pop up shops in Bali thing though - I’ve told Chappy (my husband) numerous times now, that I’m going to open my own store there within 5 years. He’s supportive, if a little skeptical of this grand plan of mine, but little does he know, the actual planning & research has already begun.

If any of you are going to Bali & planning to stay in or around the Seminyak area, please give me a shout out - I’d love to share with you my fave places to stay, eat, drink, shop, shmooze around, etc. I can even recommend the loveliest Balinese man to hire a scooter from..!

FJM
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Well this post is one that I'm pretty much beside myself excited about..!  

As mentioned in my last post (& as you can see in the images above), I've been working on my website for a little while & I'm super stoked to announce that as of today it has officially gone live! Click here to head on over & suss it out.

There's a little speel about me, some images of my recent design work, as well as a small collection of my personal illustrations. The online store is not quite up & running yet, but its definitely on its way. This is all really new to me so any guidance, advice &/or feedback regarding the site & my work would be very, very much appreciated..!

The images I've featured above are some of my favourite recent creations. The watercolour illustration of Jess Hart is a really simple piece that came together in a matter of minutes. I actually really like it, but to be honest though, I just love everything about Jess Hart, plain & simple. The pastel girl on the bottom right is another fave. I actually drew this a few nights ago when I was up late unable to sleep. In my deliirous, tired state I felt like mixing up the colours & going a little crazy... Surprisingly, I think it came together really nicely in the end.

Some other fun news is that I'm off on a little holiday tomorrow & I'm not even going to try & be cool about it - I've been hanging out for this holiday for months. It's no secret, Bali is one of my favourite places in the world & this trip is well overdue. It's been 2 years since we were last there & I'm honestly just itching to get on the plane.

I'm hoping to get some great photos while we're there so that I can come back & throw myself into creating some new designs. I've been thinking about creating my own little library of prints/yardages to use in my drawings. I'm thinking some reflected photographic florals might be interesting, so watch this space, there's a lot of fun stuff on the way..!

FJM

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Oh jeez... the last few months have been insane.

So just before Christmas last year I made a conscious decision to take a bit of a step back from my drawing & blogging so that I could take some time to really think about what I want my next steps to be both personally & professionally.  I'm not going to lie, it took a little while longer than I'd hoped, but I feel like as a result I'm in a much better place. I found myself doing some pretty extensive research/planning & now here I am - teetering on the edge of some ventures that I'm pretty effing excited about..!

The above snapsot shows some logos I designed for my lovely colleague Morgan. She makes macrame plant hangers that are no joke, amazing - I have one & I absolutely love it. Be sure to skip along & visit her website - you'll love it, I promise..!

I've been working on my own website which I'm hoping to launch in the next few days. At the moment I'm making some final tweaks to the site & also the online store (so exciting..!) where I'll be showcasing & selling a collection of my designs. I've also started working on a pretty amazing little side project with a crazy talented designer friend of mine which, while its still very much in its early stages, I'm telling you right now, if we can pull it off, it's going to be absolutely killer.

& on that note, I'll wish you all a happy easter & leave it at that..!

FJM

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Wow, it really has been a long time between posts... & what better way to start back in than with a quick sketch of one of my all time fave Australian models & style icons. Miranda is actually so stunning that at times I find it just a little infuriating. Is it normal for someone to be this good looking..?!

I'm enjoying a quiet, little obsession with neon pastel lace & baroque, jacquard prints so that's whats going on in this little sketch. I'm absolutely dying for Summer to arrive so that everyone starts wearing more print & colour... I'm feeling like this season is going to be absolutely killer in terms of colour, print & patterns so bring on the sunshine already..!

So life has been pretty crazy over the last few months & to put it simply, work has been absolutely manic as of late. In amidst of all the chaos, we've actually started planning an exhibition for early next year in Melbourne which will be nothing less than amazing, so watch this space, more details to come...

We're also in the process of planning a couple of renovations around the house (so exciting..!) & I bought a lovely, shiny, brand new car which arrived just a few days ago. It's actually changed my life in more ways than you can imagine - I've never had he pleasure of having a brand new car so as you can imagine, I'm absolutely beside myself at the voice activation features, all the new hidey holes for my stuff, the new car smell & the cup holders - ohhh, what a treat they are.

I hope that you've all had a great weekend & that you have a lovely week ahead of you.
 

FJM
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I heart Alexa, & I know I'm not alone with this particular girl crush.

I don't know what it is but she just appears to be so goddamn cool. It could be her slightly offbeat, effortless sense of style, the fact that she's stunning & unique in terms of beauty in her own right, or even just the fact that she seems to ooze cool.

I've added in the pastel, minty greens & violet hues as I liked the idea of 'pretty-ing' her up a little. I'm toying with the idea of doing a mini series of a few of my favorite it girls. Alexa, Miranda & the third I'm still deciding on - any suggestions are more than welcome!

Ohhh thank god it's Thursday - I'm so ready for the weekend it's not even funny. I've got drawings to do, some freelance design work on the go & an afternoon of drinking at the footy on Saturday so it should definitely be a good weekend for me, fingers crossed.

Hope you're all well & having a lovely week so far..!

FJM

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 As mentioned in my previous post I'm really into all the floral that's about at the moment, but I'm starting to feel just a little bit bored with some of the prints. I'm really loving the newness of softer, hazy, blurred florals & reflected out digital prints, so I'm really liking the floral I've put in the girls' pants above. I'd totally buy those pants if I could get my hands on them, enough said.

This morning I started working on a new, slightly more detailed illustration & I'm kind of stoked to say it's coming together nicely, so stay tuned - I'll be posting it sometime over the next few days.

I hope you're all having an amazing weekend so far. Fingers crossed the weather tomorrow is a little better than it was today..!

FJM

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I'm back to drawing babes & this one has got to be one of my faves. This colour palette and print feels like the perfect combination of being soft, pretty & feminine without being too sickly sweet. I love the addition of the large scale floral as it feels playful & fun, while at the same time the print is quite bold & feels really fresh & new.

The floral trend hit its peak a few months back & while I've invested in some floral leggings (topshop), floral print jeans (zara) & a pair of floral print heels (zu), I'm yet to find myself the perfect floral blazer. Who knows - this trend might come & go before I find exactly what I'm looking for..!

I hope you're all having a lovely week so far. God, it's only Tuesday & I'm already counting down the days until it's the weekend..!

FJM

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It feels like its been forever since I’ve drawn one of these illustrations & I didn't realise until now just how much I've missed it. This style of illustration just strikes a cord with me & I think it’s to do with the delicate, simple combination of shape, colour & texture. I’m also a total sucker for anything with watercolour spots & sequins.

I hope you've all had an amazing week - TGIF, that's all I'm saying.

FJM

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My poor little laptop was out of action for a while there but I'm pleased to say that it's finally back up & running..! I did this simple sketch a little while ago & had a quick play with it adding in some pop colour & stitching. It's not quite there yet but I think I kind of like where it's headed.

Hope you're all having a lovely week so far..!

FJM

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Here's a little mood board I've done showing some items I made & purchased for the wedding. The craft paper bag, the invites & the bunting flags all utilized a stamp I designed & had made. The 'love is lovely' design was kind of our logo for the day & thankfully it was very well received by all of our guests..!

I absolutely love the photo strips from the photo booth - that was by far one of the best things we organised for our guests to enjoy. The booth was always occupied & we now have hundreds of amazing photos of each & every person that helped celebrate our day.

That's all for now - I hope you're all having a great weekend..!

FJM

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