Trade Show Time!

ColourMeArt will be showing our full range at the Home and Giving Show in Melbourne from 3rd - 7th August in what is affectionately known as " Jeff's Shed". Come and visit and see what is new. Stand A33. See you there............

Happy Easter !

Happy Easter From ColourMeArt

 Easter is one of the best time of year to get creative with the kids and have a bit of fun with colour. We always do an Easter egg hunt , sometimes with written clues and even using map coordinates now they are getting older.
One of the favourite traditions in our family is egg rolling. We first hard boil an egg each. Add some vinegar to the water and they seem to harden even more . Bit like baking conkers ready for battle!

Then once they are left to cool, you can start the fun decorating them.
Using wax crayons ( or candles if you don't have any) you can draw on them. You can use inks ( or food colouring ) for bright colours. Glue and beads, string or paper for the more deconstructive creators.

You can add your own style and preferably your initial to make them different.  Best dressed egg gets a small prize in our house but then on Easter Sunday we meet up with friends and do our traditional egg rolling competition. A lot of fun and if you have kids that are older than each other , this is a family tradition that spans the age difference between children quite well.
You set the course ( on a hill obviously), rolling the eggs one at a time down it. The winner of each round is the egg that rolls the furthest that remains intact. You keep taking turns until the ultimate winner gets the first prize.
The Crows and Ibis like their Easter treat left behind and unless you have decorated your egg with something really unbiodegradable , you can leave them to feast while you go for a dip to work off your chocolate fest.

Happy Easter!

Red is for Love. Happy Valentine's Day!

So Valentines Day has come around again! Why do we associate the colour red with love? Well red, pink and those hot colours make our heart skip a beat. Just like love. Red is the end of the colour spectrum that make us take notice, it stands for danger, hot taps, red traffic lights, fast sports cars, warning signs, fire fire!

Next time you are at the supermarket just take a look at how much packaging is in red. Buy me , buy me now!!

The Chinese culture consider red ( and gold ) very good luck. I have designed many a bedlinen set based on this colour combination , traditionally given to newly weds.

Think of expressions like ' in the pink', seeing things through 'rose tinted spectacles', it's a very positive colour and if you are feeling physically low, red lifts the soul, cheers you up. The very basic feng shui rule on red is to put it in your relationship corner ( top right ), so think about growing something red or pink in your top right corner of your garden, put something red or pink on the top right corner of your desk, bedroom........ See if it makes a difference to your lovelife or sense of wellbeing. I know I was amazed to see a deep pink colour painted walls on the delivery floor of Royal Womens Hospital in Randwick but the sense of positivity , love and warmth when you step out of the lift is fantastic. Someone knew what they were doing when they chose that! Must have been a mum that knew a thing about colour theory!

Anyway Happy Valentine's Day whatever colour you are wearing!

http://www.colourmeart.com/colour-theory.asp

Made In Australia

 

So as Australia Day fast approaches, it would be good to think that the public knows what the Australian Made official logo means to a small business like ColourMeArt.

 

I always try and encourage creative friends and colleagues to get the Australian Made logo on their products whenever possible. It is a great selling point, when virtually nothing is truly made in Australia any longer. Any licensee has to sign an affidavit to promise their products are in fact made here. They have to pay an annual license fee based on turnover, and any merchandise like stickers etc is at a cost to that particular business.

 

Most customers and particularly tourists want an Australian made product to take home but whinge about the price in comparison with products made overseas. If the government really wanted to encourage particularly small businesses to keep production here in Australia, they should be handing out stickers, advice and there should be no fee for being a licensee in the first place.

 

ColourMeArt products are passionately Australian made, and will endeavour to continue to be wherever possible. Hopefully as customers become more discerning in their choices, they will buy more Australian made products. 

 

Happy Australia Day!

 

 

Very excited as my second colouring book is now ' in stock'. Feel like its much more grown up than my "A is for Australia." Artwork more professional and consistent, the perforations are slightly different and the weight of the paper slightly better. I think I will tweak the artwork for "A is for Australia" before reprint. Constantly learning new things! All good. You can look at some of the internal pages if you go to www.colourmeart.com/uk   

An Alien At my table

I found my youngest child having a chat to her alien mate that sits looking at her at every meal time. I think he looks more like a bird but still I was careful not to say so....

" Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world".............

Albert Einstein wrote that . Good stuff eh?

I remember seeing the face of a wizzend old croan in the wooden floorboards of the bathroom when I was a child, and talking to it every time I sat on the loo......
Its very easy to crush a child's imagination with organised playtime, strict school curricular, not being able to meander from what has to be taught. Not much time to smell the roses, play in mud or talk to the alien at your table.

This photo I took at a friend's farm at the weekend. The smiling rock. Now if I had had her childhood, I probably would have sat talking to that rock instead telling it all the secrets, joys and woes of my world.

Is White a colour?

Is white a colour? Most scientists will say black isn't but white is but an artist faced with a box of paints or pencils will say the opposite. What do you think?

White in most Western cultures signifies purity, light , goodness, innocence, virginity, faith and safety.
Its the colour of angels,  good white magic in contrast to black magic. In heraldry it stands for faith and purity.
Its the colour of hi tech, hospitals, doctors, sterility and cleanliness. See how many soap and toiletry products are packaged in cool white with blue.......... imagine how many adverts have scientific experts in white lab coats. Its the colour we trust as professional and safe.

Wearing white can make flesh look bulky unlike its black opposite. Contrastingly its a colour that indicates light weight, low fat, light as a feather.........

Spiritually its the colour of goodness and purity. A white wedding. And yet in many cultures is the colour of death. White lilies, white roses. Those more apt for a coffin wreath than a wedding bouquet. People that have been granted a second chance at life having had a near death experience often talk about going towards a white light. Heaven is always depicted as full of white pure light.

Where I grew up in the Wiltshire Downs, I think it must have been a magical colour in ancient times. The soil under the grass is chalk so white in colour when you dig down. Silbury Hill , the largest man made mount in Europe would have been a giant pudding of glistening white in great contrast to the rolling green downs. Likewise the calved white horses on the hillsides must have been very stunning. I still turn three times around on the eye of the white horse at Cherhill and make a wish whenever I am back in the Uk!

If you live in a climate lucky enough to have snow , a snow angel is always fun to do. This is a great photo of a perfect one.