Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Our weekend. Better late than never

Sydney siders were very lucky to be blessed with amazing weather on the weekend.
What did we do?

cute as a button

























we went swimming in our pool.


















we went bike riding


















we watered our little seedlings. They are even bigger now.


















and watched them grow


















celebrated my nieces 3rd birthday at the park.

Add caption


















Angus was just as excited as the party girl.




















Took the older two kids to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Capital Theatre.

and... went to a Spanish themed dinner party at a friends house and danced the night away. No pics of this one. Jack and Liv had play dates, Stu did work on the new house... my god we did a lot.


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Colour psychology

Following on from my recent post on branding I thought it would be helpful to share some basic thoughts on colours. This is a brief outline describing colour theory and their meanings. This is something I studied way back when at design school but it is a great thing to know, even help when you are thinking of something to wear.

Red - bold and draws attention. Shows confidence and passion
Orange - unity and harmony
Yellow - cheer, more mellow yellows display stability
Green - growth development and motivation
Blue - introspection and tranquility
Purple - creativity and spirituality
Pink - soothing and nurturing
Gray - balance and safety
Brown - grounding and security
Black - mystery, authority, depth and strength
White - trust

What is your favourite colour?




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Branding your blog and your business

I will be going to this...perfect timing. thought I would share it 
although it has nothing to do with by post.














































did that get your attention? he does have a strong brand identity as it happens


Invest in your brand—with money, time, and creativity



what is a brand and how do you create one? Basically this is an easy one to answer... a brand is anything that differentiates you and your business from everyone else. It says who you are, what you do and in some ways how you do it.

A brand is so much more than a logo.

I recently read this article at pro-blogger
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/11/21/branding-your-blog-youre-doing-it-all-wrong/

I love the tip about going to Starbucks and having a coffee if all you have is $5 to spend on a logo. (this is a bit of fun) Have a read as there are some real juicy bits to this article.

As a designer and owner of a creative agency it does my head in when companies come to us wanting a logo but not willing to pay for the strategy, research and thought that goes into designing a logo. A lot of companies believe that it is 'just' a picture. A logo is the beginning stages of creating your brand, it should simply sum up what you plan to deliver and promise.

If your logo looks unprofessional, cheap and not polished then that is the message that is going out there for all the world to see and once your name is attached to this then it is hard to gain back the credibility. Creating your identity is every bit as important as creating your product.

So be careful and do it right the first time, save money somewhere else is my advice.  Any successful blog or business pays a lot of attention, time and money to this most vital step. It is an investment into the life of your new venture. Do it right and you have a much greater chance of success.

I know I go on about this. See my previous post. But I strongly believe in it.
 http://loopylu-loopylu.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/whats-in-brand.html

my logo... my brand message is quality, cost effective children's clothes sold online







Fabric design

my pantone colour guide for fabric



















Colour, colour, colour that is the question.
So I have studied design, have studied colour psychology and colour theory... So why when it comes to designing fabric do I find colour combinations so difficult.

I love colour and I think have a good eye for colour combinations but I have so many I want to use, I am struggling with finding the right colour way.

A colour way is a range of fabric that can be used together or as part of a collection. I want to be able to have a couple of great designs in a variety of colour options.


screen grab from my computer - what I am working on at the moment


































So what do you think? What grabs your eye?

HELP!!!!!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Loopylu update
































Monday morning and lots to do. About to go for a walk to grab a coffee, clothes are on the line, kids at school, house cleaned... well not cleaned but everything put back where it should be.

LOOPYLU UPDATE: 

I am hoping my clothes will be here in Friday. Fingers crossed.

Doing business in Indonesia certainly has its challenges. The most obvious being the distance... the second and unexpected is the cultural differences in the way we do business. As you know I have run a Graphic Design business for 13 years so I know a thing or two about running a business, managing staff, managing suppliers, servicing clients and keeping an eye on the books. The area that I focus on with my client management is open COMMUNICATION. Let people know what is going on, every step of the way. If there is a problem, tell them the problem and then follow it up straight away with the solution. In 13 years I can't recall a problem that couldn't be fixed or a situation that caused major concern to the client. As long as they were kept in the loop then things always worked out and if anything the relationship became tighter. From my experience if you work with your client to solve a problem and offer reasonable solutions you gain the respect and trust from that client quicker then if that relationship never hits a snag.

So what has this got to do with loopylu.

Well.... I hadn't heard from my manufacturer for over a week. She promised that the clothes would be leaving Indonesia on the 5th November and the 15th came with not a peep from them. Of course I am thinking the worst. They have taken my money and done the runner.... No, finally after many phones calls, texts and emails I got a response. They had made a mistake with the amount of fabric required for the board shorts. So they needed to source another 70m of fabric and have it printed and then sewn into the board shorts. In my books minor problem. Source the extra fabric and your on your way... let the client know what the problem is and what you plan to do but there will be a slight delay. Not a problem... but instead they go into fix it mode, can't admit problem, they just want to solve it and not let the client know. This is the way they do business. I explained that I can't work that way. I need to know everything ... this cultural difference in doing business in Indonesia what unexpected but then I was told to expect the unexpected. I have asked them to keep the lines of communication open and if I ask for an update I need an honest and realistic response. No point telling me it will be all ready tomorrow when they know full well it won't be until Friday.

Anyway fingers crossed that the clothes will be here on Friday and what she told me is indeed correct. Not like I can just jump on a plane to check.

What cultural business practices have you encountered....? Love to hear your tales.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

sowing the seeds

This morning the kids and I planted our seeds into little seedling pots. The plan is that the seeds germinate and grow into little seedlings ready for us to plant into our vege garden once it is ready.

We planted seeds for carrots, sunflowers, lettuce, garlic chives, broccoli and cucumber. We still have tomatoes, basil and parsley to do.

Liv and I bought the seedling trays and seed raising soil mix this morning from Bunnings. We then came home, after a coffee stop at Gusto's, to plan the seeds.

the stuff

putting the seed raising soil in the trays

planting the sunflower seeds

busy little gardeners


















stay tuned. Such a great thing to do with the kids... they can't for the seeds to sprout. Liv seems to think it might be tomorrow, most don't sprout for at least 6 weeks so around Christmas time. A life time for a 6 year old.

Friday, November 16, 2012

beads and peacock chairs

so what do you think of these gorgeous beads? They will be for sale on my online store once it goes live... hopefully in the next 7days. I have them for sale at $4.95 for a wooden or plastic bead bracelet, a great price compared to other major online retailers (which I will remain nameless) selling them for $9.95.


















and my latest obession is the gorgeous 70's peacock chair.
you can buy them here http://www.equatorhomewares.com.au/home.php
or here https://thefamilylovetree.com.au/_peacock-chairs/classic-peacock

love the candy colours. what would you choose?




































I don't what colour I would choose. I am all things yellow at the moment but I am so torn. All colours have a place in my heart. I probably won't buy one new as I am thinking I will search for a pre-loved one on ebay... I love a challenge, one I find one then I can decide on the colour. If by the time we are ready to furninsh (which is a good 2 yrs away I suspect) I will bite the bullet and buy a newbie.
In the meantime I will continue with my latest obsession of the fabulous and cool peacock chair.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Permaculture - a new project

I have been doing some reading on this topic of late. It started when I was researching what veges I can plant at different times of the year which lead me to some great permaculture sites. I find this way of thinking and this philosophy very interesting.

I don't think that I can live in this way fully but I know that as a family we can adopt some of the principals into our everyday way of thinking and doing.

So what is permaculture?
Permaculture is a practical concept applicable from the balcony to the farm, from the city to the wilderness. It enables people to establish productive environments providing for food, energy, shelter, material and non-material needs, as well as the social and economic infrastructures which support them. Permaculture means thinking carefully about our environment, our use of resources and how we supply our needs. It aims to create systems that will sustain not only for the present, but for future generations. definition from Permaculture International Journal

I recently found this site http://permacultured.com.au and this one http://milkwoodpermaculture.com.au
both are filled with loads of great ideas, tips and suggestions. I especially love the month by month planting guide in the permacultured site and their blog is fantastic as well.

The other thing I want to do at our new place is have chooks and I just found this http://www.rentachook.com.au/ what a brilliant idea. I have told several of my friends about wanting chooks and they all say noooo don't do it. they smell, they will attract rats, they ruin the garden blah blah blah... but friends that I was out to dinner with on Friday night have two chooks "Charlie and Lola' and they were so supportive. They love their chooks. I was so happy to hear support of my idea so thank you Bec and Anthony for the positive words.

hopefully i will produce this much one day

love it. what to name our chooks????

Monday, November 12, 2012

architecture

I am busy with lots of things at the moment and one of them is looking for inspiration for our new house. We don't move in until January but I want to have has many design ideas ready for my brother (who is the architect) to be able to design our home. I have worked out that I am not a huge modernist. Simple, classic and warmth are my key styles.

This is what I am thinking so far. What do you think? you can find more of my inspirational ideas at http://pinterest.com/loopylu123/


love the slate roof and the different levels

love an 'L' shapes back space

oh sunshine!!! and beams

seeing the water through the lovely windows





Sunday, November 11, 2012

happy birthday my princess

Today my little girl turns 6. She was so excited that she ran upstairs with grin from ear to ear to wake us up to tell us it was her birthday.

She is such a ray of sunshine, kind, caring, loves cooking, is a great swimmer (we call her a super fish), loves craft and drawing, loves school, is a thoughtful little sister and a patient big sister and bring such amazing joy to our family. We just love her to bits.

So happy birthday my little angel. Mummy and daddy love you so much and so proud of you.

We look forward to celebrating many more wonderful birthday and pizza parties. A tradition in this house that we have done since Jack was 1yrs old. So this afternoon/evening we will be cranking up the woodfired oven and rolling out pizza dough and making our famous pizzas for my family and Stus family.

Off to make the dough... If you have any topping suggestions please let me know. Always on the look out for good ideas for pizza topping. So please let me know your tips and tricks.

Olivia at different stages of her life




Sunday, November 4, 2012

Family Reunion

We have just returned from a fun filled very quick trip to the Gold Coast for my dad's family reunion. It was huge. My dad is one of 9 children so you can only imagine how huge it was. My kids had not met a lot of these people before and the kids had so much fun. They couldn't believe how many cousins I have.

It is so nice knowing that there are so many people in this world that I belong to. Although I don't see them often I know they are there for me and my family and would do anything for me. I feel so lucky and fortunate to have such a big, happy and nurturing family.

So we are home and ready for a big week. Liv's birthday, Liv's party, swimming lessons everyday at school for Liv, dinners with girl friends, dinner with old teaching buddies, date night with my husband, work, build websites and so much more.....

Need to have a good night sleep....

angus

olivia

jack