Sending Christmas Cheer

Well the silly season is upon us...so sending you some Christmas cheer for a wonderful festive season full of fun and laughter.

I am proud to say that over the past two months we have raised a total donation of $340 for Cure4CF.  When products are purchased from our online store, Messagemark makes a 20% donation to Cure4CF Foundation.

It is exciting to see this donation grow from small beginnings in 2009. Every little bit helps, so I thank everyone who bought our paper products from our online shop - you contributed to a great cause!

During the Chrissy and New Year period, the Messagemark online shop will still be open, however there may be a slight delay in delivery due to running on a skeleton staff member (me!) from 24th December to 10th Jan 2011. I will do what I can to deliver your cards within 7 working days, but do apologise in advance if there are any delays.

Wherever you are, however you celebrate your Christmas, I wish you peace, joy and happiness!

Substitute Tree

This is my substitute Christmas Tree. My real tree is currently sitting in the window at the Messagemark Studio, so I had to come up with an alternative for home. I had this mannequin standing in the corner of the lounge so thought I might as well decorate it! So one Christmas wreath, a few decorations and lights, and there you have it - our place now looks a bit more festive!

balsa wood mini tree

If you have a spare couple hours before Christmas and feel like doing something crafty, I discovered this ingenious balsa wood tree over at Design*Sponge. The full tutorial including photographic step by step instructions can be found here. (Thanks Design*Sponge, we love you!)

Unfortunately I have run out of time to make this myself, so maybe next year. My Christmas tree is currently sitting in the window at the Messagemark studio, so I have to come up with a quick alternative for home. Will post photos next week when I work out what to do!

Christmas Lights

Denis and I spent a bit of time at the studio today. We got a few niggly jobs completed - rearranged the layout in the studio, sorted and organised, mopped the floors, a quick product photo shoot, and finally put up some branding on the front windows (courtesy of The Alphabet Tree). My genius husband mounted some led lights in the window to create a soft ambient glow on my Christmas display. So now just a tad more external signage and the studio is finally complete.

Just planning my next window display. I think it might have to feature the new range that I'm launching next month.

Prop Envy

I had my friend Georgia over this week to do a photo shoot of her gorgeous linocut prints for some promo material. Many of Georgia's prints feature retro styled interiors so I delved into my wooden trunk full of retro goodness, and pulled out a heap of objects to use as props alongside the prints.

Georgia has a visual merchandising background and inspired me by the way she was arranging everything. I found myself looking at my random belongings through different eyes, and now am determined to find new homes for them around my lounge room. So the wooden trunk has a new name - the Prop Box! The props complimented Georgia's designs so well and she did say that she had Prop Envy!

Next project...we are going to do a photo shoot just for fun of all my retro collections to add to my Retro Delights Website. Maybe a fun task for the holidays.

Feeling Joyful

I'm having a joyful day today. I woke up to a lovely message from a customer who recently purchased a print and some Christmas cards from our online store. This is what they had to say...

Hi Kyrie,
I started to write out my Christmas cards tonight. I am not just saying this, but I am so impressed by the quality of the cards. They are so beautifully smooth to write on. I never buy cheap cards, but even compared to the expensive ones I have bought in the past, yours are a cut above the rest. I just wanted to pass on this very sincere feedback for a beautiful, quality product you are delivering. 
Thank you so much! With my best regards, Emma

That gives me warm fuzzies inside! Thanks Emma!

Shop4Kids Feature

Yay my friend Mardi from Little Luv and I (Messagemark) were both featured in the latest issue of Shop4Kids Mag! We feel the Messagemark retro inspired range of wall art really compliment Little Luv's Birdy Mobiles and Nonite Owls made from vintage fabrics.