Ok now the ladies of hml know that this seems insane but think about it people: one baby due any minute now, the other one due in early November, Christmas ranges to design, manufacture, promote and ship to stockists, a dwindling bank account due to child related expenses (you want how much for that pram/cot/bunny rug????), absolutely no spare time (with newborns we are more likely to be found in our pyjamas thanking foxtel for keeping our sanity intact than at the workbench) and then there's about 30 people (each) to get presents for - which even at a measly budget of $20 a gift...you do the math. So yes we have started making the christmas presents now..
Ramona has gone insane with leaf/potato/cork/apple printing. Above are a swish set of napkins for friends with a tres chic art deco house. Below is a set of pillow cases for a superstylin' couple who are overdue for a new housewarming present (J & A I hope you like them!)
As long as you have 100% natural fibres, sturdy leaves and fabric medium you can't go wrong...
It's not exactly Tricia Guild but they are made with love and Seasons Greetings! Only 147 days til Xmas peeps. Ya better make your lists and get busy.
WOO HOO! It's finished, and many thanks to the lovely ladies that contributed and supported it's production... YAY US! Now if the bloody pram would just arrive sometime soon we'll be set.
In honour of the beautiful weather on Friday (and the fact that the widget made it round the right way all by itself) we headed out to the Fairfield Boathouse for a celebratory Devonshire Tea... and you know how much we love a scone.
It might be a little pricey and yes of course it's also a bit of a tourist trap, but it reminded us that it's always excellent to spend some time outside being a tourist in your home town and that some of Melbourne's nicest bits are often located right on your doorstop. And really who is going to argue with hot scones fresh out of the oven, in the open air, amongst some beautiful scenery and only 15 minutes from home...
Especially when said hot-spot has also decided to fill the trees around the waters edge with hand made birdhouses? Not us, that's for sure.
Just when you thought there couldn't be more happening, as promised here's the other side of the design coin, and yes there are another million events to make you feel like your missing out, but fear not intrepid reader - here's our quick fix to ensure you have something to talk up around the water cooler. If you need more, or don't like our selection, or just want to see what you might have seen you can always check out the full array of events at 
Now you all know how much we love food, so this one is a dead cert. for the hml ladies, and thefact that it's another thing 
Converging – a landscape of memory, travel, material and magic
Anorther in store installation this time by three renowned Melbourne fashion labels, including fabulous footwear by Preston Zly, showcase works in their Gertrude Street shopfront and store interior. "A journey into the processes of the designers as they reveal some of the ideas, and inspirations that lead to the final products." had a sneak peak at this through the window of the tram, and while you're in Gertrude st. checking out Cottage Industry worth popping along to see. WHEN: Wednesday 16 – Thursday 24 July
Envelop features by one of Asia's most exciting young designers, Grace Tan. Grace continues to blur the lines between fashion, fine art and architecture. Working from the simple rectangle, she has developed her earlier experiments to give us meticulously crafted large-scale fabric sculptures that sit equally well on the body, as on the wall. Another freebie this one presented by 
If you're feeling like heading for the hills this weekend then this might be just the ticket - especially if you take the long way round and make the trip via Woodend to pick up a half dozen the best vanilla slices in THE WORLD (let us know if you're going we'll pay in advance). The Bendigo Art Gallery has on show The Darnell Collection, one of the largest and most important collections of fashion in Australia. Comprising more than 4000 items from the Regency period to the 1980s. The collection was amassed by Doris Darnell, a Pennsylvanian Quaker, and was later gifted to her goddaughter living in Australia. This exhibition features a selection of Victoria era fashion showing the development of women’s clothing from crinolines to bustles towards the more liberated body shapes of the twentieth century. We've been meaning to get to this one for an age, but it looks likely we'll miss it- don't make the same mistake!!
"Design:Made:Trade is a new trade event showcasing Australia's small manufacturers, product designers, and design makers. It is specifically created for designers seeking collaboration with manufacturers, retail and export buyers. Product Design, Graphic Design, Textiles, Lighting, Furniture, Fashion & Accessories, Hand Made Objects." Ok so that's the official pitch, it should actually be pretty interesting given the range of peeps with work on offer - Marc Pascal, Gregory Bonasera, Tim Fleming, Julie Patterson/Cloth, Ilias Fotopolous, Volker Haug and Buro North to name a few. We'll be heading in as 'registered guests' on Friday, but it's open to the public on Sunday for a fiver. Check out the full list of exhibitors online 
This is literally one of the busiest weeks in the year, it's pretty insane really and there is clearly far too much stuff on (especially now we have competing design weeks at the same time here in Melbourne) so we're warning you right from the get go you WILL NOT be able to see everything. Don't worry though neither will anyone else in town! We've decided to give you a small section of craft/design fusion events (ha!) mostly free and in no particular order. Hopefully something on the list will tickle your fancy. Today we'll concentrate on what's on as part of the program from the National Design Centre and tomorrow we'll do the same thing for the State of Design festivus. 
It's a stick up: The 4th Australian Poster Annual which asked designers to respond to the Festival Theme, Strength in Numbers, and the Festival Manifesto, on show at BMW Edge, Federation Square, 17-27 July, free and always worth a look.
Dont Sweat it: the Dont Sweat shop invites young people to re-evaluate, re-imagine and re-create the consumer experience by designing an item of clothing from recycled or sustainable materials. The free four-hour workshop will take participants through a process of deconstructing, reconstructing, screen-printing and finishing their own 'designer' item. Sounds cool to us and it's free. Date: 2pm - 6pm, Saturday 26 JulyVenue: ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne. Bookings are essential via the website 
Circle Work: Circuit presented by Milly Sleeping - starring our own fabulous doily obsessed miss pen pen (thanks for the pic) this group of three shop front installations pitches Circuit as both an exhibition of wearable design considering the ongoing feat of creativity and a means for contributing designers to represent their own interpretations of circularity, symmetry and interdependence. Inspired by a Plato quote this one promises some excellento works. On between the 17th and 27th of July at Milly Sleeping, 157 Elgin Street, Carlton, Since Grey, 122 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy; and our particular fave, Cottage Industry, 67 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, and yup this is a freebie too.
Theres a chair in there:18 Chairs Escape celebrates the classic No.18 Thonet chair, globally recognised as the most successful cafe chair design. For this special event, 18 designers representing nine disciplines of design will be given a No.18 Thonet chair to make a new design piece using their design expertise. The event represents 18 chairs escaping the showroom and their traditional confining form and invites the designers to deconstruct, manipulate or use any part of the chair to create a new design piece. Participants include Grant Amon, David Hicks, Richard Daniell, Sacha Allen, Material By Product, Simon Murray, Round, Bonnie + Neil, Katzinka Tschierschky,Vivek Subramanian, Carl Breitkreuz, and Jasmina Krupic. Sounds tops, and considering how tired you'll be by the time you make it to this particular event an excellent venue for a quick sit down. Thursday 17 July – Sunday 27 Thonet, 237 Napier Street, Fitzroy and again it's FREE.
to market too market:
OPEN STUDIOS:
fashion: Established in 2005, Von is the Icelandic translation for 'hope'.The Melbourne-based fashion label is fascinated by commercial patternmaking and manufacturing methods. Just think, it could be like your own private viewing of Project Runway - although there'll be no Tim Gunn to tell you to 'carry on'. To register your place email 
graphic design: tin&ed (Tin Nguyen and Edward Cutting) set up their studio in August 2004. Their work demonstrates a use of narrative that is sometimes earnest, sometimes whimsical and equally adaptable to illustrative and photographic styles - we think anyone willing to make a cardboard wolf head with paper teeth is worth a look in. Register to visit 
everything else: Of course as we said there are heaps more things on, including forums, workshops, awards and even a vertical garden project so check out the website for more details: 
There's a new shop in town (well Northcote anyways) called 
At the moment its all about the breakfasts here at hml headquarters, we've been working the short stack buckwheat pancakes, eggs every which way but coddled, avocado and toasting it up a treat and consuming enough baked beans to be honorary members of the heinz family. But the winner all round has to be the mushroom. Our reccomended 'breakfast of the week' (although by the time we've managed to get it on the table it's more brunch than breakfast) consists of pan fried portobello's on hoummas smeared organic cornbread toast with a rocket side salad. Delicious.
