Last one 'til 2012!

Thank you to all of our faithful blog followers for sharing another fantastic year with us. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and see you in 2012!

Bill Granger's Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Thought I'd share this recipe as it's been the flavour of the month – literally – in our household. I had a friend send it to me after she made it for us. It's from a Bill Granger cookbook. It's a bit fancy with porcini mushrooms but I left those out and it was still outstanding! Best thing is you can freeze it easily and bring it out again and again, night after night. I'm not sick of it yet…

Serves 4

10g dried porcini mushrooms

500g skinless chicken breast fillets

60g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

25g butter

1 small onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

150g mushrooms, sliced

80ml white wine (or water)

125ml cream

1 tablespoon chopped sage

300g ready-made puff pastry (I used shortcrust)

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten, to glaze

Soak the dried porcini in 250ml just-boiled water for 30 minutes. Cut the chicken into 2-3cm dice. Combine the flour, cayenne, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat, shaking off any excess. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned and sealed (not cooked through). Remove and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and fresh mushrooms to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are coloured. Add the wine and let bubble for 1 minute. Chop the porcini and add with their soakage liquid and the cream. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in the sage.

Roll the pastry in a lightly floured surface until 4mm thick. Cut out 4 rounds large enough to line 4 pie tins, 9.5cm in diameter, and 4 smaller rounds for the pie lids. Line the tins with the larger pastry tops on the pies and press the edges together to seal, then crimp with a fork. Make a slit in the top of each pie using a sharp knife.

Pies can be made and refrigerated or frozen in advance to this stage. If cooking now, brush with egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

To cook after freezing, allow the pies to thaw in the fridge for several hours or overnight then brush with egg yolk and bake as above.

Serve with green salad.

Dunlin Home

Well if you're looking for gift ideas this Christmas, and hoping to find something with classic, understated and original style for your loved ones (or me... he he!), check out new Australian homewares store, Dunlin Home. It's a collection of elegant pieces inspired by the olden days in the country, when milk jugs were actually used to serve milk, and fruit from the orchard was collected in a pretty woven basket. Check them out!

Flickr Find

This prolific photographer from Bulgaria is a bit of an enigma. I can't find any information about her, but her work is astounding. With a large collection of self portraits as well as other photos and paintings, she calls herself "Foxe" on Flickr, and her photostream can be viewed here.

One of the testimonials on her profile page best describes this talented artist and her intriguing work: "Foxeto is a beautiful girl with the soul of a poet; the maker of images haunting and unforgettable. I love her work so."

Hurrah

It's been a crazy few months here at Boheem. Lots has changed, the days are flying by and somewhere amongst it all we found our work published. {Graphic Design} Australian Style Manual is the first textbook for tertiary students written with an Australian and New Zealand focus. In a constantly changing and inspiring design environment, it's good to see something like this available to young designers -and we're stoked to be included for our work on Everything in Common.

California Gold

I just came across these posters the other day and instantly fell in love with them!

The design duo who also happen to be a husband and wife team over at Lab Partners are responsible for these beautiful prints. This series is all about California's natural wonders, the mix of gold and geometric shapes are stunning and work so nicely as a series. All five screen prints will be printed with metallic inks. They're not available yet, but I'll definitely be purchasing them when they are!

Spoonflower

Do the words 'custom printed fabric' make your heart skip a beat?

A good friend of mind recently told me about Spoonflower, which we now (at Boheem) consider somewhat 'life changing'. This site allows anyone to design, upload, print and create custom made fabrics.

There is no minimum order, they have a selection of really nice natural fabrics, the printing process is eco-friendly and yes, they ship internationally.

The website is extensive, well organised, with thousands of samples of past prints and projects.

Spoonflower will even send you a swatch and colour sample book for just $2.

Amazing and definitely worth a look: www.spoonflower.com

Plank and Trestle

Whilst being away from the studio I've been creepily checking in on the progress of some of the projects which were underway when I checked out. Just hopped online to see if furniture designers Lana and Mike Hall had launched the branding for their new venture: Plank and Trestle. Sure enough – a spiffy new landing page. By the way, the range is stunning… I can't wait to order one of their pieces for myself!

Luca Turns Two!

Somewhere in the blur of the past 12 months Luca started walking, talking in sentences, selecting her own clothes, riding a scooter and can count to 10.

Her favourite colour is green.

She loves Greek yoghurt.

Carrots the rabbit still remains her most loyal friend.

Happy birthday big girl!

The Distillery Letterpress Excursion

On my past few visits to New York City, I have paid a visit to Greenwich Letterpress in the West Village (visit their blog greenwichletterpress.blogspot.com). I have wondered why we didn't have a similar printing press/store in Sydney, this was true until now.

Last Thursday evening, Chantel, Kat, Mei, Jo and I went on excursion to the grand opening of The Distillery Letterpress in North Sydney.

The smell of ink greeted us, and after a short demonstration where we saw the 1959 Heidelberg Windmill Press in motion we were sold! There is a special place for letterpress in every graphic designers heart, the textured, pillowy paper subtly debossed brings design to life.

We were impressed by the team at The Distillery, they really seemed to know their stuff - and their passion for the fine art of letterpress was inspiring.

To put it simply, letterpress printers are to printing what artisan bread makers are to baking - yum!

www.the-distillery.com.au

100 Days of Typography

Spanish designer Lucia Soto set herself the ultimate challenge when she set out to create 100 posters in 100 days using fonts that could be downloaded for free from the internet. I love some of the work she's come up with and it's interesting to see how each font has inspired the style of each poster. See all of her posters here

Sasha Hearts Paper

I recently stumbled across these beautiful geometric patterns by Sasha Prood. Sasha is a designer, illustrator and artist based in Brooklyn. She creates detailed illustrations, patterns and hand rendered typography using pencil, pen and watercolour. Her work is organic and natural with an amazing use of colour!

It's a girl!

Claire and Aaron welcomed baby D'arcy Ruth into the world during the early hours of Saturday 10th September. 4 weeks early she took us all by surprise, but we are so happy she arrived safe and sound.

D'arcy is as cute as a button, and has become the 3rd Boheemian baby girl to add to our growing list.

Regular visitors to the blog will realise Claire does most of the posting for us… However with Claire now out of action for a few months, you are stuck with the rest of us! We are not as articulate as Claire and are sure to have apostrophes' out of place and possibly the odd spelling misstkae, but stick with us and hopefully we will come up with some insightful bits and bobs.

Just a thought, if anyone would like to be included on the Boho Bandwagon send through your info and a couple of pics to studio@boheem.com.au

PS 'It's a girl' featured card can be purchased at

www.etsy.com/listing/47710894/its-a-girl-letterpress-notecards-set-of

On Saturday...

Kat and I headed to The Papermill on the weekend for our type drawing workshop with Gemma O'Brien. We spent three hours working through some pretty fun exercises with Gemma and 20 or so other creatives - and we left feeling inspired and like we'd achieved a lot for a Saturday morning! It was lovely to get off the computer and use our hands to generate type - and it definitely made us want to draw more. This is a not-so-great photo of the result of Saturday's final exercise where we each had to focus on a letter. Bet you can't guess which ones are ours!

Periodic Table of Typefaces

This is typography nerdism at its absolute finest. Click on the image if you'd like a larger version. Unfortunately I can't find the name of the designer, who I'd love to credit. But well done, whoever you are! Although, is that Gill Sans I see in the heading? Can we just forget that font was every invented please??!

Gemma O'Brien Workshop at The Papermill

Bright young spark, Gemma O'Brien (aka Mrs Eaves) is currently representing we designers and lovers of type, and residing at The Papermill in Angel Place. She's running a "Drawing Letterforms" workshop 10th September, which Kat and Chantel have signed up for. Check out Gemma's blog: fortheloveoftype.blogspot.com/.

RawSpace

Stumbled across this site the other day, and have added it to my list of places to visit when looking for the perfect gift idea. A great variety of homewares and goodies at a wide range of prices. Actually, some of the prices seem a little odd to me – I'm pretty sure the replicate Eames Rocker shouldn't be $549 for example...! But anyway lots of great ideas in one place – I'll definitely be heading back to Rawspace this Christmas.

Mats Ottdal

This is a self-initiated conceptual hand-drawn typography project by Norwegian designer and illustrator Mats Ottdal. I love the colours he's chosen as much as everything else.

Clip Art

Found this recently in an online image library. It's just one of the many treasures to be found under the clip art banner. Who knew.

Bondi Beach House

I'm always telling people how lovely Kass's home is, and what an amazing eye she has for interior styling. I thought it was about time I shared some pics of her pretty little pad online. She took these photos as a bit of a keepsake, because she's (+ her man Matt + daughter Luca) on the move. Their 2nd floor art deco apartment is currently for sale – pass it on!!

Fancy joining the Boheem Team?

All good things must come to an end, or so they say. Bec's moving on at the end of the year: so we've begun the steady, careful hunt for a replacement. It's not going to be easy! But we're hoping that an oober-organised multitasking manager extraordinaire is out there, somewhere. If you think that you might just be that person, please check out the position on Seek to find out more.

Orange Poppyseed Cake

This recipe originally came from Jane – and I've been meaning to share it for a while. It was a crowd pleaser at a recent family birthday party...

Ingredients:

250g butter

1.5 cups caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

2.5 tsp baking powder

.75 cups milk

.5 cup poppy seeds

1 tsp vanilla

Finely grated orange rinds from 2-3 oranges

2 eggs

Dark chocolate shavings to decorate

Glaze:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange

1 cup caster sugar

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add eggs and milk, individually beating well after each

3. Sift flour and baking powder, and fold into butter mixture

4. Fold in poppy seeds, vanilla and orange rind

5. Spoon into greased round tin or ring tin

6. Bake 180c 40-50 mins

7. Stand in tin 30 mins and turn out to cool

Glaze

1. Combine in saucepan and stir till dissolved

2. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes

3. When cake is cool, pierce all over with a skewer and pour half of syrup over cake

4. Serve cake with cream or syrup

Shortlisted!

Just a little cheeky brag to end the week: Boheem has been shortlisted in 4 categories for this year's Desktop Create Design Awards. We are tickled pink. These are the images which went with our entry for the Sustainability category, which is judged on "how the entrant is improving their “Triple Bottom Line” – social, economic and environmental footprint". Check us out in the Sustainability category, Identity, Commercial Print and Creative Print. Winners will be announced 22nd September 2011.

Next book: Water for Elephants

For anyone wondering what book we're reading next, it's Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. Get amongst it people! We're shooting for a Thursday 8th September afternoon cuppa and review.

The Burning House

Here's a thought: if your house was burning, what would you take with you? These charming little arrangements are made by contributors from all over the world, and then posted to The Burning House. They're snapshots about what's valuable, sentimental, beautiful and practical. Or maybe they're just expressions about people's 'personal brands' and the objects they feel best represent them.

Quite possibly, many of us have heard of the Renegade Craft Fair... the luckier of us will have experienced the hand-made spectacle first-hand. But did we know that the Renegade also has an outstanding online store? At renegadehandmade.com you can see all the goodies listed here, plus many more. 1. Paper Series Print by Gold Teeth Brooklyn: $50, 2. NYC Rubber Stamp Set by the Yellow Owl Workshop, $12, 3. Coin purse by Calico, $20, 4. Alphabet poster by 1 Canoe 2, $39, 5. Thank you cards by 1 Canoe 2, $12, 6. Hello Vase Throw Pillow by Leah Duncan, $54

The Decemberists

I've recently taken a liking to the folklore-esque music by The Decemberists, an indie band from Portland, Oregon. Today I thought I'd have a look around to see if their album and poster art are as creative and intriguing as their music... and happily, it is. Seems that the band employs a host of illustrators and designers for their many shows, and the result is a varying and charming collection of posters from around the world, which is apparently continuing to build.

Blue and green should never be seen...

...And yet sometimes these two said colours really do work well together, don't we think? This is the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition Strategic Plan, and it's hot off the press. AYAC is funded by the federal government and undertakes a range of activities including advocacy, research and policy development, youth sector development and youth engagement. We love an opportunity to get the felt tip markers out and have a play with some crazy typography!

Sketchbook Project: now online!

Remember this? In December last year I shared with you some of the visual delights created for our team's entry for the Arthouse Co-op's Sketchbook Project. Just this week they've launched it online; you can see it here.

THe Writers' Group website

We've recently completed a website for The Writers' Group, a collective of corporate copywriters who 'share a passion for words'. We're really enjoying working with the director, Siobhan, and are thrilled with how the site has come together. Check it out here.

Bluebirds fly

Just because Joplin, Missouri happens to be an American mid-west town close to my heart, I thought I'd share these lovely prints. St.Louis Based Moosylvania put together a series of posters to benefit relief efforts in the recently tornado-stricken city. Each poster is signed by the artist and screen printed by hand to order. All proceeds will be donated to the Southwest Missouri chapter of United Way to aid in the economic reconstruction.

Support UnitingWorld in the 2011 City2Surf

Asking any of the Boheem Team members if they're interested in running the City2Surf is like asking if they could please run a quick errand to North India. I put the question out there, and all it does is start a conversation about what running "used to be like", and the comparing of notes of when the last time any of us actually ran for a bus.

I digress. Rob Lutton of UnitingWorld is taking one for the team and running the City2Surf to help raise money for Relief and Development and their work among those living in poverty in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Click here if you'd like to donate.

Dear Photograph

Ever looked at your old pictures and wondered what happened to your favourite treehouse, park or the front porch of your first family home? This blog is dedicated to user submitted photographs re-shot in the same location as they were originally taken. The result is a cute glimpse into past childhood memories and family moments. It's amazing how little some things change. Can't wait to dig out some old photos and try it myself!

http://dearphotograph.com