Pretty Kitties

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm pretty mad about cats. Although my love for them is great, I don't often draw them because cats are really hard to draw! I've always wanted to draw a series of cats and recently I was super determined to do it. And this is the result - a zine with matching stickers and even a pair of earrings!





You'll find all three in my shop (you will notice when you click the link that I've reverted back to using my etsy shop primarily. Although I loved having my bigcartel shop, the cost was getting to be a bit of a burden so I hope you won't mind the change xx).

Wrapping Fun

I've been really enjoying doing more elaborate wrapping for presents lately. I never used to do a lot, just a bow maybe some hand stamped wrapping paper. I think I spent more time on the card since wrapping paper usually goes in the bin. But it's always nice to receive a beautifully wrapped present, it lets you know that somebody loves you :)

Home

Some photos I've taken around the apartment. I still have quite a bit to go before it looks presentable though!


I love Moomins! I got all these mugs as gifts from my relatives when I went to Finland a few years back.






When I received my package from Little Paper Lane, I peeled off the washi tape on the package and put it on my wall. It looked pretty cute so I kept adding more tape and then added some instax photos. I think I'll keep adding to the collage, it's just above the dining table so it creates a nice focal point.

Little Paper Lane

On the hunt for Life as a Magazine's "Little Book of MT Masking Tape" zine, I came across a lovely online shop called Little Paper Lane. As a stationery addict it ticked all my boxes, especially the box called "mt tape". I've been collecting quite a few designs now (which I'll share in another post!) and it's always nice adding new rolls to my collection.

I found the elusive zine as well as a couple of squeal enducing tape rolls. When I opened the package I was surprised to see my goods were lovingly wrapped in striped paper and decked out with tape!




Since the paper had a smooth surface I was able to peel off all the tape to re-use. Don't they look pretty all lined up like this?


These are the two tapes I bought. I love that they are collaged and one has gold on it!


And here we have the zine I was eager to get. It has a little bit of background history on what MT tape is and where it came from.


I want to cover a whole page with tape like this.


There is some collage pieces that Jenna has made from tape and images cut out of Japanese fashion magazines (which by the way always have amazing styling and fantastic layouts).


She includes some projects as well as extra ideas on how to wrap and decorate gifts.


And at the end is a nice collection of books about using tape in different ways.

I really liked how the zine was like a miniature magazine with the glossy cover and colour insides. It had great little tips and I loved oggling the different tape patterns. This zine is a must for the tape aficionado!

Home Sweet Home

It's been a while since my last post because I've been busy...moving house!! Mr A. and I had been looking for a place since the end of last year. At first we were looking to rent but the rent prices in our desired suburbs were so high even though the apartments themselves were nothing special and many didn't have their own laundry space. On a whim we looked at buying and found that the mortgage repayment and rent were pretty much the same. In February we fell in love with an apartment and it was ours by March! For the past month we've been settling in and slowly finding places for everything. Last time I moved house it was in 1996 and I was 11. Moving is so stressful! But we made it and it feels so good to have our own space.



Our front door



View from our balcony (it's so nice to see trees!! Where my parents live it's a new suburb compared to this one so whatever trees they have are tiny and boring)

Washi Tape Decorating

Ever since reading the Hello Sandwich blog I've become really obsessed with Japanese washi tape (as well as getting very nostalgic about Japan, I want to go back there!). Washi tape is so easy to use, it tears beautifully, comes in a large rainbow of colours and patterns and it doesn't leave a messy glue mark when you peel it off a surface. It's like magic!

Last week I went into Mt Lawley to one of my favourite shops Zakka Box and bought some flowery tape. Then in the city I was in the Art Gallery gift shop and they had tape too! So I got a stack of the orange ones. The pink pattered ones in the above photo I bought a long time ago from Kikki.k (another well frequented shop). Unfortunately they don't seem to do tapes anymore :( And the black ones are from the Art Gallery gift shop from a year or so ago.


I wanted new holders for my pens and remembered seeing some nice ones in Bunnings (their craft section is pretty awesome). At first I thought to paint them then I had the wonderful idea of decorating them with my washi tape! And ta-da~, this is the result. I first varnished the surface to make sure the tape would stick then I used a craft knife to trim the edges flush. The great thing is, when I get tired of it I can just change the tape! Next time I might try cutting shapes from the tape and make some patterns...I will need more tape :D

Hello 2012

Like last year, we spent new year's eve burning through sparklers and being silly in the back yard. And then we had a ball doing jumping photos, trying to emulate Yowa Yowa Camera (although nowhere near as awesome as her, do take a look she's amazing).



I think 2011 was a little quieter than 2010. It was still a good year and I had fun...
+ With my friends we started the Montage Collective and did not 1, but 4 pop-up shops!
+ I got to watch Gemma Ward in her first play "The Ugly One", she is so stunning.
+ A friend had an engagement party which was actually a wedding! Apparently everyone had figured it out...not me, I was completely duped.
+ Went to Hong Kong in May for a week, love it there so much.
+ Got accepted into the On The Wall exhibition at the Sydney Finders Keepers.
+ Did my very first Upmarket in November!

Last year I made a lot of promises for 2011 which I unfortunately didn't keep. It's always like that with new years resolutions. You make them with the best of intentions, you do fine for a few weeks, at best a couple of months, then they just fall to the side and get consumed by the larger things in life. So for this year I won't promise anything except one thing:

I'm going to be positive.

I am quite a pessimist and sometimes I'll convince myself that things are so so bad that I'll never get out. It's an awful way of thinking and I'm trying to change it so I can stop being sad and just be happy with the present. So hopefully by the time it's 2013 I'll do a post about how happy I was in 2012? Only time will tell :) xoxo

Instagram

I got an Ipod Touch for Christmas and have been downloading apps like mad! Instagram was of course one of the first to be downloaded. There are so many cat photos on there I'm in heaven! If you want to see my cat photos (and eventually other non-cat related photos) have a look here or follow me @eevamargita xx

P.S. Any other apps worth downloading?

I hope you all have an amazing day and get to eat until you need to unbutton that top button hehe xoxoxo

Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers from mac premo on Vimeo.

Another one of my heroes, alongside Shaun Tan. Oliver Jeffers draws the best penguins and you can learn to draw one by clicking this link.

On the Wall

Just a quick post to let you know I'm part of the On the Wall Exhibition at the Sydney Finders Keepers market!

I'm sad I won't get to personally see it, but if any of my readers live in Sydney go have a look!

Shop is Live!

My official online store is now live and ready! My etsy shop has also been updated if you would rather shop there.

At the moment there is a selection of cards, brooches, hairclips and the 2012 calendar. No jewellery is up yet, I'm saving it all for upmarket but once that's done I'll put it up online :)

Eeva Margita Calendar

2012 calendar is here! There's a special girl for every month and I tried to match each one with a month that I felt resonated well with their personalities.




They can be pegged on a line, pinned onto your inspiration board, stuck onto your wall, put on your fridge, anywhere you like. They are a handy little A6 size so will fit in discretely with your decor.

At the moment they aren't in my online shop, but if you would like one please email me eevamargita[at!]gmail.com
My next market is Upmarket at UWA on the 27th November. I'll have a whole bunch of new things so I hope to see you there :)

Breathing Life

Breathing Life
I love how this one came out! It was really fun doing the little details as well, it was like I was dressing the bear in finery.

New Illustrations

I've been promising these for a few weeks now! I'm almost out of my busy schedule, just a couple more days and I'll have a bit of a break. I'm exhausted after being on the go since July. And it looks like it will start up again at the end of November. So while I'm having a breather here's a look at a few of my new illustration (it's been a while I know! But I feel like I finally know what I want to portray in my work and how to do it).


Mr. Fantastic


Kinoko (kinoko=mushroom in Japanese)

I had one more but when I uploaded it the colour was all out of whack so I'll have to fix it. My brain is too dead to bother right now, so you'll just have to look forward to it next time :)

I've been really liking working on the computer rather than using traditional medium. I just like the cleanliness of the lines and the vibrancy of colour that I can create. Also it means I get to be lazy and not bother hauling my paints and colour pencils out! And I thought that since I'm striving to show my cultural background (Japanese/Finnish) in my 'eeva margita' brand, why not do it in my illustration too. So that's where I've been getting my inspiration from and I love drawing the little folk-like patterns.

I'm also really excited to reveal my 2012 calendar!!! I created an illustration for every month, it's at A6 size and I'm so proud of it. I promise to show it to you very soon :) xx