a quick post..

Hi everyone,
just a quick post to show what I have been upto lately.
This is a flyer I designed for my parents bed & breakfast.
We had it professionally photographed so it came up well.
If you would like a closer look here is the link to the website.

New Fabrics for VixenLily Heat Pillows

I have been sourcing some new fabrics for my heat pillows. I am trying to mix it up a bit with some different themes and even get some male designs in there. This is what I have found so far!!

A bundle of mischief...

I am very jealous that my sister bought the cutest little puppy, my personal favorite, a miniature daschund. His name is Dexter and he gets up to lot's of mischief but it's hard not to love him.

Bella Beads

I love coming up with new card ranges at work. This is a range I designed a few months ago called Bella Beads. I tried new techniques in photoshop to create a painted/water colour effect which has come up well.
Hope you like them :)

Europe Trip

Sorry guys, it's been a while again since my last post, I promise they will become more regular again, now that I'm settling back in. But I wanted to share some exciting stuff I have done over the past few weeks.

I have been lucky enough to travel with work to some major gift fairs held in Frankfurt, Germany. We visited Christmas World and Paper World, has anyone heard of them or been? Well, can I just say, Amazing!! You will find so much inspiration here, it's really unbelievable how massive these fairs are. Take a look at some of the things I saw...

Following my work trip I spent a week in Zurich, Switzerland.
Apart from the beautiful old town and cute country village of Appenzell, my favourite stop was definitlely Mt Zermatt. For those of you know arn't aware (I wasn't) this is where the one and only Matterhorn can be found. The views are really beautiful here and we had a great scenic train ride on the Glacier Express. If anyone is thinking of taking a trip to Switzerland I would defintly reccomend doing this.

Bertha's Bed & Breakfast

My parents have spent alot of their time restoring this old derelict miner's cottage on our property here in Warrandyte. When researching they found that a lady, Bertha Brown used to live there hence they will be naming it "Bertha's Bed & Breakfast". The cottage was featured in the Herald Sun a few years back (black and white photo) and as you can see alot of work has been put in to restore it to it's original form (as close as) and I'm just happy that this once loved cottage will now be used and loved once again.

Welcome Back!

Well the Christmas period has taken it's toll. I have been very slack and haven't spent any time doing my much loved hobby, Blogging.
But today it ends!! Fresh for 2011, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and happy new year!

Over my christmas break I spent a week at the beach with my family.
It was really great to all get together. Amazing weather, good company and a few too many glasses of wine was what the doctor ordered.

Of course when I was away I had to check out the local stores for any goodies. I came across some very cute home-ware stores and made a small purchase.

Along with a scarf for my mum and a pizza cutter (chosen by my boyfriend) I bought these two adorable owls. They have taken haven
on my bathroom counter for the moment, I love them :)

Donating for a good cause

Wow, it has been way too long since I blogged last. With the lead up to Christmas things have become hectic. The thought of Christmas shopping is eating away at me and I'm finding it really hard coming up with the perfect gifts for everyone.
But enough about Christmas, recently I was contacted by a friend to take part in a charity art auction for the Lighthouse Foundation. This meant donating one of my pieces to be auctioned off.
I am excited to be doing it, not only will I be helping a great charity but I have the chance to get my name out there as an emerging artist.

The event is being held at ACCA in Melbourne,
on Thursday 2nd December.
If anyone wants the chance to bid on some great artworks then come down, food and beverages are provided so it should be a good night.

You can find more details about the night here Lighthouse Foundation Charity Auction.

The piece I have donated is Daschund, 330x330mm

Roses from a cottage garden

These roses were picked from the cottage garden that surrounds my family's newly done up miners cottage. My mum has always kept a beautiful and established garden and I hope to one day have the same passion, but until then she will be a great gardening encyclopedia for me

Kaleidoscope

I have had this idea in the back of my mind for a while,
so I thought I'd whip something up while I was thinking of it.
I want to create a range of similar retro inspired patterns
that give a kaleidoscope effect.
This pattern is made up of only one shape,
but when repeated and layered becomes really effective.
I'm looking forward to playing around with this!!

and the winner is....

Sorry it took so long, I have finally drawn a winner

for my giveaway that ended on Friday. 

And the lucky winner is....

Jess is a graphic designer with a cute and creative blog called

Feast & Stitches. Take a look!

Thanks to everyone who entered, I really appreciate you 

taking an interest in my creative and artistic ventures :)

GIVE AWAY! Last Days!!

Hi guys, don't forget to comment on my give away post to have the chance to win one of my pieces. All of my followers are eligible to enter so get in before time runs out, I will be drawing the winner on Friday.
Thanks for all your lovely comments so far, I love hearing from everyone! Good Luck!

Kat Macleod

If you haven't already experienced the amazing work of Kat Macleod then you are missing out! Over the years I have admired her work through Michi Girl and her publications, 2 that I have are 'Like I give a Frock' and 'The Cocktail'. Both are full of her amazing illustrations. Her technique is unique to herself, often she uses sketchy pencil line work, water colour and collage of paper fabric and more.

You can find a detailed interview with her at The Design Files

and below is a video of her design process.
Hope this inspires you, it has certainly inspired ME!


Kat Macleod's Process from Jacky Winter on Vimeo.

Finders Keepers

What a beautiful weekend we just had here in Melbourne and what a great day it was for the first Melbourne Finders Keepers market. Held in a shed on South Warf in the Docklands, this market promotes and sells goods from a whole range of upcoming and well known artists, designers and creators.

Fineders Keepers market is held in both Sydney and Brisbane and you can find info for upcoming markets here http://www.thefinderskeepers.com/

Here are a couple of shots I took of the market and its surrounds.

I highly recommend getting to one of these markets if you can!

Maree

It has been a while since I have posted something brand new, so I did some doodle-ing tonight and turned them into this. The characters stem from some doodles I did a while back (you may need to check my older posts to see) and I drew a few other characters as well, so check up for future posts of my little doodle characters! I call her Maree after my mum. In the 80's and 90's she got a few crazy poodle perms that reminded me of this :)