What is the essence and vision of your shop that you strive to bring
to your customers? BLANK was created to provide creative souls with an ever-changing
toolbox for personalised goodies, projects and creative play. Our simple but inspiring
range of BLANK packaging and project supplies allow you to create and decorate just
the way you like. We also love sharing ideas and inspiration on how to have fun
with our products.

Who shops at Blank? What brings customers to your store?
Creative souls who love to make, bake, give and decorate. Predominantly
women of all ages – planning for their weddings, craft groups
(old and young), party and event planners, stylists, home bakers, mums,
Grandmas and Aunties looking for kids gifts and projects.

Our customers love to visit our store for the inspiration and ideas.
When you select a BLANK product to view you will see a gallery of images
showcasing creative ways to use our products. Customers soon start to
imagine the possibilities for personalising our products!

What is the best thing about owning your own business?
Doing what I am passionate about, being brave, growth, and realising
my dreams. I also love meeting our customers at the markets.
They inspire me as much as we inspire them.

How much of your style flows into how you live, how you dress,
what you read? BLANK is pretty much reflected in most areas of my
life – most of the time I am making, creating and day-dreaming
of possibilities!

I love to cook, bake, entertain and put on the best birthday parties ever
for my girls! I am addicted to Pinterest and Instagram and love to create
craft projects with my two daughters. I read mags and blogs all related
to design, craft, interiors and cooking. BLANK is an extension of
how we live.

We know what we love about Blank but what do you love
about Paper Runway? Paper Runway celebrates and shares my life
long love with paper. I am grateful for Paper Runway introducing me
to a world of wonderful paper goodies and amazing creative talent.
Thank you!

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out? BLANK is only
6 months old – so there’s plenty of ‘colouring in’ to realise our vision.
I am very excited with the product ideas I have on my BLANK wishlist .
This is a big motivation for me every day!

What makes you happy?
I discovered Hailey Bartholomew’s 365 grateful project
(www.365grateful.com) and decided to work on my own! Taking these
daily photos transformed my perspective on life – and now I bask in the
small stuff – the details that make me smile.

I also cherish working in my studio with my buddies! Working at home
alone for days can make me crazy!!

Which blogs do you read daily? Your best blog find?
I don’t read blogs daily – it’s usually a regular blog ‘binge’ that can see
me up to all hours of the night! My top five faves are

http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/
http://hand-made-love.blogspot.com.au/
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/
http://kitkadesigntoronto.com/

I think my best blog find is a French blog featuring artwork and projects
for kids. It’s beautifully designed and so inspiring!
http://ringoatelier.com/

What is your favourite paper product?
I would say kraft paper/ board – it’s easy to use, not too precious and
there’s a world of possibilities. It can be sophisticated or playful and
can be transformed into amazing projects. There’s no better backdrop
when decorating with coloured gel ink pens, washi tape and neon stickers!

I also love our coloured BLANK gift boxes. The pretty colours turn a
simple cardboard box into something more special. I also love using
them for packaging my baked goodies!

What is your relationship to paper?
I pretty much have had a crush with paper ever since I was little -
dreaming in the stationery department of the local newsagent! Paper
is my longest lasting pal – always an important ingredient to my creative
endeavours – graphic design, illustration, collage and image making
and craft projects and now with BLANK.

How different is working on paper to working with any
other medium? Compared to working in a digital format, paper is
an accessible, affordable and tactile material. It can be nostalgic
and precious. And best of all, you are only limited by your imagination.

What freedoms does it allow and what are its limitations?
Working with paper is the freshest form of creativity for me. It keeps
my creations free and spontaneous. The flipside with paper is there is
no Command Z!! Once printed, painted, cut or glued that’s it!

http://www.blankgoods.com.au/

How long have you been a photographer? And why did you choose photography as a career?
I learned the basics of photography when I was in high school, in the late 1980s, and have always been
making photographs since then. When I later became a print journalist, honing my photography skills
became a natural extension of what I was doing anyway. About 15 years ago, photography became
a more important part of what I was doing for a living and gradually, photojournalism replaced writing
as my main job. If there is a point to all of it, I guess it’s the fact that I enjoy telling stories and I feel that
images can do that effectively.

You seem to focus particularly on portrait photography, what is it about portraits that
you enjoy the most? I’m drawn to the human face, and despite how my friends often tease me about
being a grumpy person, I genuinely enjoy getting to know people and working with them to make images.
I believe everyone has a story, and these stories don’t have to be dramatic or “big” to be of significance.
I seek out these kinds of stories and they’re always present on the faces of those who have lived them.
Sometimes I feel as if I’ve gotten to the “nuggets” of a person after I’ve made a portrait of them.
And sometimes, those same people could recognise what I think I’ve just done. And those moments
are the most rewarding for me.

What has been your most memorable/enjoyable experience during your career
as a photographer? And why? I suppose this would have to be Sri Lanka in the first few years following
the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. I’d arrived in the country in August that year and had just started to get to
know it and its people when the tsunami happened. In Sri Lanka alone, the death toll was somewhere near
40,000 with an estimate of around half a million people displaced from their homes. Over the next three years,
I spent a significant portion of my time working to document the recovery process. It always struck me that
despite having very little and despite living comparatively tougher lives, these survivors have a sense of
resilience and for the lack of a better word … a spirit …than many of us. Laughter was very important
and people seemed very free with their smiles even if hardship is all around. Maybe that’s the secret to a
good life? This seems to be a common thread that I’ve observed: In some of the world’s poorest communities,
there are always easy laughter and smiles.

Recently, you established Eversley Studio to focus on wet plate collodion photography.
Can you tell us a little about why you made this move? I’ve always been attracted to working with
film and in a traditional darkroom. With digital, although it’s hugely convenient and efficient and easy,
there’s something missing for me. After a while, I realized that for work, I’d go digital, but for fun, I’d be
shooting film. It might be a Lomo LC-A with expired films or a Contax G2 with rolls of black-and-white
film or my lovely Hasselblad with some Portra. But that’s when I’d be having fun and getting rewards out
of every exposure. It might have to do with how much slower film work needs to be, and how every frame
has a cost factor. I’ve known about wet plate collodion for a while, but only decided to seriously workshop
and explore it earlier this year. It’s such a different way of making photographs, but at the same time,
the concepts of photography haven’t really changed in all the time since wet plate collodion was the main
way of making photographs. The process hasn’t changed, but it has simply become more convenient
over time. I guess with digital, it’s a lot more technology that’s doing the talking, whereas with wet-plate
collodion, a little bit of magic is required to get interesting images.

Tell us about the tintype photography process. Collodion was invented in the 1840s and was
initially used as a way to protect wounds. When poured onto a surface, the liquid quickly dries and forms
a “skin” that can close up wounds and keep bandages in place. An Englishman called Frederick Scott Archer
took this material and began to experiment with it for photographic purposes. He never patented the process
and introduced wet-plate collodion as a photographic technique in 1851. Scott Archer died penniless in 1857,
but the technique he invented became hugely popular. The process was significantly simpler, cheaper and
more effective than the daguerreotype, the photographic process it replaced, and as a consequence,
photography became available to a wider audience. The American Civil War was so well documented,
at least photographically, because of the existence of wet-plate collodion. Very briefly, the process involves
the pouring of collodion that has had salts added to it onto a plate of metal or glass to make a film base.
That plate is then submerged in a bath of silver nitrate and the chemical reaction that takes place inside
that tank turns the plate light sensitive. The plate is then placed inside a large format view camera where
a photographic exposure could be made. After that, the plate is developed, fixed and dried. If the plate is
a “keeper,” the collodion artist then varnishes it using a liquid made out of the resin of the Sandarac tree,
which grows in Africa, alcohol and lavender oil.

What brings customers to purchase a photographic experience by Eversley Studios?
The best way to answer that would be by describing what I offer: A handcrafted photograph that is a one
of a kind, that is archival, that is referential to an older period in human history, and that is a little magical
in nature. I mainly use plates made from aluminum that has a black enamel finish on one side. These produce
a positive image, and there is no negative for each plate. From start to finish, my plates need to remain wet,
which explains the name for the process. And those who model for me get to experience almost every aspect
of the process, which altogether takes anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes.

I am offering this kind of photography to the public because I believe there are people out there who value
handcrafted items. It’s a contrast to today’s mass-market, hyper-consumerism mentalities. Plus…
the process can produce photographs that are visually interesting. My exposures are long and can be
anywhere between three and ten seconds depending on the conditions I have to work with as I make
the photographs. People have to remain as still as they can. In a way, each collodion session is like
a little trip back in time.

What is the best thing about owning your own business?
I guess it’s the freedom to choose what to do and how to do it. The challenge is to find something that
people can tap into, that people can appreciate enough to the point that they’d want to take advantage
of the products and services that you’re offering.

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out? I love people watching. I find interesting interactions
happening all the time and all around me. There are always stories there, and I think this one of the
things that drives me.

What makes you happy? A good roast-pork bun. It’s a good thing I live in Melbourne, where there are a
few places that make some really excellent buns. In seriousness … Many things make me happy, but I
suppose in the context of what we’re talking about, I should say that finding unique things or concepts
that people have put some thought into … that people have put some passion and energy into …
is very rewarding. I guess it’s something that I want to show to others right now in connection with my
collodion plates. I love doing them, and I want that passion to be infectious to others.

What is your favourite paper product? I stumbled upon a website with patterns for pinhole cameras
made out of paper and I’ve made a few of them. They are very cool and obviously inexpensive, and they
let people experiment with alternative photographic processes. In many ways, these represent ways in
which people are trying to experiment with photography and to find alternatives to the digital process,
and for me that’s something that adds value to photography.
http://www.thecoolist.com/pinhole-cameras-10-paper-cameras-for-photograph-purists/

Which other photographers/artists inspire you? Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian photojournalist
who has produced some of the most important stories I’ve seen. I think he’s extremely dedicated to his
subjects and their stories, and that passion shows through in the pictures he makes. Another idol for me
is August Sander, a German documentary and portrait photographer. If you look at his pictures,
you not only see his subjects but also feel a sense of the time and the place that had been captured
in those photographic frames.

What advice would you give someone starting out in photography? I wouldn’t presume, really,
to give advice to anyone. I can share what I like to do instead. I look at the works of others very often,
and the process can be somewhat meditative for me. I’m not looking to criticise, but mostly to appreciate.
I think by looking, we also learn. There are two other things that I value, and these aren’t just useful in the
photographic sense, but also in the everyday: I ask questions because sometimes I get interesting answers,
and I never hesitate to admit that I don’t know something.

What is next for Robert Go/Eversley Studios? I have some interesting plans for the studio in the
coming months. In addition to private commissions taken at my studio, I’m developing portable collodion
sessions that would suit being a part of corporate events, parties and other public occasions. The idea is
that as the main event is happening, I would have a little corner where I can make collodion plates for
subjects to take home with them at the end of the events. It’s like a photobooth concept, except it’s
entirely chemical and even more old school.

How can people be a part of Eversley Studios?
I’m at 0431 779 191 and can be emailed at robert@eversleystudio.com.
The website for Eversley Studio is www.eversleystudio.com

Paper artist/crafter Marsha Golemac has created a mini paper wonderland for her exhibition ‘Enchanting Form’ in association with Craft Victoria’s Craft Cubed event. If you’re in Melbourne, you must check it out but be careful you don’t miss it, not only is her exhibition in the smallest of windows but it also runs until September 1^st – so DON’T MISS OUT! Enchanting Form will delight, inspire and have you dreaming paper dreams.

Craft Victoria’s annual Craft Cubed event is an experimental, skilled, ideas-based craft and design festival. It features exhibitions; open studios, workshops as well as professional development sessions. Thousands of makers, artists and designers participate and attend, and more than 70 venues, studios and galleries are activated all over Melbourne and Victoria.

For more information on Marsha’s exhibition and many other incredible events visit http://craftvic.org.au/ and to learn more about Marsha’s work check out her blog http://threenationsblog.blogspot.com.au/

We welcome Sally from New Zealand brand Newbies. It was love at first cardboard
sight when we spied them in Sydney (between them and their neighbour
Flatout Frankie our eyes were nearly popping from our heads!)
The endless creative possibilities of cardboard for packaging and toys is
truly inspiring.

What is the essence and vision of your business Newbies that you strive
to bring to your customers?
Newbies is a New Zealand design company with a strong focus on creating unique homewares
for kids and grownups alike. Newbies represents the childhood innocence of believing that anything
you dream is possible. It’s a brand that values new ideas and fresh perspectives that are integrated
into clever designs. We love what we do and we know that it shows in our products.

What brings customers to purchase a product by Newbies?
Newbies injects a bit of fun, curiosity and inspired design into the customer’s home.
Whether it’s a swarm of our acrylic Wall Planes, or our wooden Jewellery Tree laden with
a little girl’s treasures, our designs will catch your eye whether you find them in a busy store,
online, or at a friend’s house. Our customers share our love for products that are
unquestionably practical and overwhelmingly good-looking.

What is the best thing about owning your own business?
Even though owning a small business brings new challenges every day, it’s also very rewarding.
At Newbies we don’t feel limited by anything other than our imaginations: all our designs start
at the kitchen table, and we have so much fun brainstorming crazy ideas, most of which never
see the light of day! The best thing, though, would have to be when we see our ideas turn into reality,
and then when we receive fantastic feedback from people who really ‘get’ Newbies and
enjoy our designs.

How much of your style flows into how you live, how you dress, what you read?
It’s impossible to separate my own personal style from the Newbies aesthetic. I am in awe of
clever design, I love filling my life with beautiful things, and reading edgy and relevant
publications such as Paper Runway. Running a business and a family means that my living
and working environment has to be functional too. I dress stylishly but casually –the same
goes for my home- and both are built to withstand the destructive powers of my children!
This combination of practicality and style is what Newbies is all about.

We know what we love about Newbies but what do you love about Paper Runway?
Each issue is a piece of design in itself! Paper Runway’s unique aesthetic is handmade and
soft but uncompromisingly stylish and current – and this has a lot in common with our design
philosophy at Newbies. In particular I love the colours and the beautiful layout of Paper Runway.
I also love the magazine’s focus on the achievements of incredibly talented individuals
and small businesses – it’s so inspiring to read these success stories.

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out?
Everyday things in my life often give me the best ideas of all – creativity seems to just come to me
when I least expect it. Every successful project inspires me to start a hundred more!
My children are a constant source of humour and also motivate me to make unique

and interesting products both for their ages –and anyone else who is a kid at heart!

What makes you happy?
Family and friends are very important to me – I love spending time with them as they keep me real,
while I juggle the challenges of running my own business. Seeing my business grow and finding
that others appreciate what we do at Newbies gives me continued enthusiasm.
Also a tall gin and tonic is a great end to a busy week!

Which blogs do you read daily? Your best blog find?
I’m lucky to be friends with heaps of design lovers, who are always posting interesting new
links for me to follow. Last week I discovered herblester.com, which is amazing. There are some great
kiwi blogs out there, like thewaytobe.co.nz and thedesignalphabet.blogspot.co.nz. Surfing through
local and international blogs is such a great
way to connect with like-minded creatives – even though it can be addictive!

What is your favourite paper product?
Our new Bully Bank (about to be released in August) is heaps of fun. A funky take on the piggy bank,
our money-stashing bull is made from cardboard. He comes flat packed so kids can construct him
and decorate him using stencils.

What is your relationship to paper?
An everyday, many times a day relationship – very close!!! I couldn’t live without it – it is malleable
and incredibly functional. All our packaging is made from paper, and it can make or break the initial
perception of a particular item. In fact we put as much thought into our packaging as we do into the
products themselves – it’s an obsession of mine! One of my favourites is the paper boxes that our
wooden butterflies come in, which you can see on newbies.co.nz
The way they open is exceptionally pretty.

How different is working on paper to working with any other medium?
Paper’s possibilities are endless compared to other mediums which can be much more limiting.
Paper is familiar and intimate but has the potential to be transformed into the most valuable treasures
and high-end design objects. Newbies makes the most of paper’s very tactile nature,
which ultimately determines the way the product feels to someone when they first see it and touch it.

What freedoms does it allow and what are its limitations?
Paper allows the ultimate freedoms, as it can be cut, moulded, folded, bent, rolled, decorated printed,
dyed, bleached or be left to look natural depending on the impression we want to make.
Newbies packaging style varies for each of our products, but the fact that they’re all paper
helps keep them tied into the Newbies world.

What is next for Newbies?
We have just begun expanding Newbies within Australia, which will mean that Paper Runway readers
will see our products everywhere! Many more exciting products are in their initial design stages,
and our ‘ideas’ book gets fuller by the day, so we’re good for a while yet!

www.newbies.co.nz

Today we welcome Hannah & Ruth Moriarty, the brains behind new fledgling paper brand Rumpelstiltskin.
Discovered on a weekend mini break to Newcastle by Paper Runway’s Helen, Rumpelstiltskin products
are simply stunning. Some of our Paper Trail attendees were lucky enough to take home a Rumpelstiltskin 
paper crane pencil in their goodie bags. 

“Once upon a time Paper was misunderstood; bored with being used to wrap fish
and sitting idly in dusty books, it yearned for a greater existence.
We are Rumpelstiltskin.”

How would you describe your work?
A fusion of pattern and colour. Paper is our canvas and we love adorning and transforming it using
ornate methods such as origami. We leave a generous amount of room for experimenting.

How do you come up with an idea for creating a paper product?
Our ideas are heavily influenced by a combination of childhood memories, sparks of wonder
we see in the ordinary things found in the world around us, and of course our imaginations.

What inspires you?
Art.Teapots.Vintage Books.Family.Patterns.Travel.Brown Paper.Music.Kite Flying.Origami.
Nature.Black & White Films.Friends.Sunshine.Architecture.Laughing.Colour.

Which other artists inspire you?
Our inspiration is drawn from many sources. We attend a lot of local markets and are always
inspired by the vast amount of talent and creativity that people are sharing.

Is there something special about the paper you use?
Plainly put, no. That’s the wonderful thing about it; the paper may start off as a morsel from
the (recycling) bin, but after some love and attention it becomes a unique masterpiece.

What type of paper do you use and what is your preference?
We love experimenting with a range of papers, from delicate sheets of rice paper to thicker stock.
We then treat the paper to achieve our signature look.

What do you enjoy most about your paper  products?
That a simple piece of paper, through a process of time, care and creativity can become an object of decoration and delight.

Do you miss them when they are gone?
It is sad when they leave. Each little creation is one of a kind; sometimes we ponder pattern placement
and complimenting colour combinations for hours! But it is nice to know that they are making someone else smile.

Tell us about Rumpelstiltskin?
Once upon a time…Rumpelstiltskin  came into existence as a result of two bright eyed creatives deciding
to take their small scale creative projects and turn them into a unified body of work.

As two sisters moving to Newcastle and experiencing its vibrant handicraft culture, we immediately fell in love.
Having dabbled in various design affairs for years, we thought we should attempt a venture of our own.

What do you love most about your business?
That every aspect of it is enjoyable; from the cutting and folding, to the messages we receive from smitten customers.

What’s next for Rumpelstiltskin?
We are always looking for fresh ways to stretch ourselves. We are currently working on new pieces to add to
our existing collection, which we are very excited about. Due to popular demand, we are also looking to
feature at markets and cities further afield.

Were you given any memorable advice when you first started your business?
“Be sure people know in which sense of the word ‘crafty’ you are.”

What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Make what you love, and love what you make.

What are you most proud of?
The aesthetic look of our work. The treated paper gives our creations old world charm,
whilst the designs make them novel.

Do you have a “usual” day?
Not particularly. Because we are our own boss, work hours are rather flexible. However, a successful work day
would involve a substantial amount of folding, consumption of tea and strung cranes.

Tell us about your dream studio.
Size would be of little importance. In fact, so long as there were never ending balls
of twine and piles of glorious paper, it would be a dream studio.

How would you describe your style?
Archaic Sweets.

Who would you invite to dinner and why?
The man who invented paper…He was on to something.

Where can people find out more about  Rumpelstiltskin?
Find Rumpelstilskin on Facebook!

Black or White? White Tea or Coffee? Tea Heals or flats? Heels Short or long? Long
Sweet or savoury? Sweet Night or Day? Night

String of Cranes $18.00 | Greeting Card $8.00 | Crane Pencil  $6.00 | Single Hanging Crane $8.00

Stockists
Betty Mim, Darby Street Newcastle, NSW
Weekend Art Markets in the Newcastle area

GIVEAWAY!!! We have ONE Rumpelstiltskin goodie pack to giveaway
to the first person (Australian Residents only) who emails us their
name and address to design@paperrunway.com

Photography: Katie Waddell

Import Ants all started when Kim Robinson and her desire for Fair Trade and all things paper discovered Elephant Dung Paper. Today we chat with Kim and learn more about what inspires this business woman, what is next for Import Ants and a bit more information on Elephant Dung Paper!

Paper Runways’, The Paper Trail were lucky enough to have Import Ants as one of their sponsors and the kids goodie bags each had a pack of Elephant Dung Paper included, plus some very lucky workshop attendees got the grown ups version with an Elephant Dung Paper journal. Thanks Kim!

What is the essence and vision of your business IMPORT ANTS
that you strive to bring to your customers?
My passion is for Fair Trade and my love of paper led me to discover Elephant Dung Paper and to start Import Ants. I want to give my customers a beautiful sustainable paper that combines recycling and fair trade and that gives back to the communities that make the paper. My vision is to have fair trade and eco-friendly products easily available in a wide variety of shops to allow people the choice to buy ethically. I believe that these choices make a difference and can build a better and more sustainable world for all of us.

What brings customers to purchase a product by IMPORT ANTS?
It’s often customers that are looking for a recycled paper for invitations that first attracts them to the paper, however as they discover the story behind the paper and how versatile it is they see its other benefits.

Tell us about the Elephant Dung Paper.
Eco Max Elephant Dung Paper is 100% recycled handmade from elephant dung and office waste paper manufactured in Sri Lanka by Maximus. Elephants are vegetarians, consuming a diet rich in plant fibre and an adult elephant eats 180kg of vegetation and produces 100kg of dung daily. This waste product is perfect for making paper using tradition handmade paper production methods.

In Sri Lanka, elephants and humans compete over scarce land resources causing casualties on both sides. To help solve this problem Import Ants and Maximus have created a sustainable industry that employs villagers to make the paper and the finished products. The production of the paper directly contributes to the villager’s income and a percentage of the profits go to the Millennium Elephant Foundation, affiliated with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), which provides a sanctuary, medical services and care for working elephants. The Millennium Elephant Foundation is committed to the preservation of the endangered Sri Lankan elephant.

How much of your style flows into how you live, how you dress, what you read?
Being passionate about Fair Trade I always try to buy fair trade when I can. If not I look for sustainable/recycled or upcycled, so my clothing has lots of natural fibres and op-shop pieces and at home we recycle everything. I’m conscious of my impact on the planet, I’m not perfect and could always do more, I would love to have solar panels. I do grow all my own herbs and some vegetable and have a rain water tank for the garden. In my business I we reuse all the packaging and customers will often find Sri Lankan newspapers as packing in their boxes.

Most of my reading these days is on the computer, with a small business to run there is not as much time for reading as I would like but I love to read and on holidays or whenever I’m flying I devour books, mainly novels, it’s my escape time.

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out?
I live close to the city in Sydney and walk most days in the morning along the Cooks river, it gives time to think and being around nature inspires me. I love to see the changes in the seasons, the patterns and colours. Also being involved in the Fair Trade movement means that I meet people who are doing amazing things with small communities all over the world, their stories and the stories of these communities are truly inspiring.

What makes you happy?
I love to hear the feedback from my customers and to see the beautiful invitations they have created with our paper. There are so many amazing creative people in Australia that it inspires me. I also makes me so happy to visit our suppliers in Sri Lanka and to see the difference that Fair Trade industries make to their lives. To see the women smile, their children in school and know that the little bit I do really does make a difference.

Which blogs do you read daily? Your best blog find?
I read http://www.stateofgreen.com.au/blog/ and http://www.howdoweknowwhatsgood.com/
My best blog find has been Katie Hosmer’s Blog on My Modern Met
I really loved the 3D Paper Sculptures by Jill Sylvia made from financial data and transactions. It’s amazing.

What is your favourite paper product?
My daughter when she was little made paper dolls on sticks and would plant them in the garden. I still have two of them and treasure them as they remind of a child’s delight in simple things and of her unbounded creativity.

What is your relationship to paper?
I love the versatility of paper, the feel and texture of it. It can be strong and bold or soft and fragile. It draws you in and makes you want to touch and feel it. It never ceases to amaze and inspire me. But most of all I love it’s accessibility, that it can be used for high end art and design but equally enjoyed as a craft.

How different is working on paper to working with any other medium?
Before Import Ants I did visual merchandising and I was always limited by the shapes and feel of the products I was working with. With paper I can create whatever shape and feel I like. I love the freedom that it gives.

What freedoms does it allow and what are its limitations?
Each different type of paper has its limitations and that is the freedom of paper that with its variety and an open mind there are always solutions for most limitations. Working with the elephant dung paper has been as much about learning its limitations as it has been exploring mine. By collaborating with different artists they have overcome my limitations as an artist and have open up new avenues to explore with the paper.

Xmas Swing Tags on our Elephant Dung Paper 

What is next for IMPORT ANTS?
I have found a wonderful new supplier in Sri Lanka that makes handmade paper from banana leaf and we have arriving soon wedding favour boxes and bags from the banana paper which I really love. I have also been working with Q Art Studio in Melbourne which employs talented artists with intellectual disabilities and we have produced a range of Christmas Swing Tags on our Elephant Dung Paper with their wonder designs of which 10% is going to Q Art. They will be in stores this Christmas.

www.importants.com.au

Welcome to Milenka & Georgie, the two Australian ladies behind the inspirational cult label TMOD.

“TMOD output experiential Australian design. Led by multidisciplinary artists Georgie Swift and Milenka Osen, TMOD’s interactive stationery and jewellery stories have transfixed a cult following. After graduation from the college of fine arts (COFA, UNSW), the duo established TMOD as a vehicle to explore design boundaries and challenge expectations of functionality and purpose. Blending materials and processes, TMOD’s manifesto is to design without constraints. Across graphic, fashion and product design they celebrate the unexpected and consider the experience of every design outing. Their animated products trigger emotions, transport feelings and create memories.”

What is the essence and vision of your business TMOD that you strive to bring to your customers?
At the heart of TMOD’s philosophy is ‘design without constraint’, to merge the boundaries and challenge the expectations of functionality and purpose. TMOD strives to bring fun to the everyday and challenge people’s expectations. All TMOD products require the human touch and tactility so at the essence is interaction and creating an experience.

What brings customers to purchase a product by TMOD ?
Customers are generally looking for something out of the ordinary and unique

What is the best thing about owning your own business?
You can manifest anything creative you want as you choose what to design. We can have creative freedom to design within our own values and philosophy. Also, the flexibility is great too. We work hard when we need (which is most of the time), however we can also plan to take time off when we need and also factor our travel and adventure into our work lifestyle. We love to travel so we can factor that into our planning too in terms of overseas trade shows.

New Love scratchie packs of 10 that each have different love quotes revealed beneath the silver.

How much of your style flows into how you live, how you dress, what you read?
We both have a similar style (vintage, bohemian, designer ) which flows through all aspects of our lives. Our houses/studio looks like one of the scenes from our scratchie cards and we are characters from these landscapes that we have created through our TMOD designs.

We know what we love about TMOD but what do you love about Paper Runway?
Paper Runway is the best paper magazine around. It’s inspiring and a delight to read and touch. There aren’t too many magazine that make us excited to get our hands on them, especially in the physical sense as we love the tactility as much as the content itself!

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out?
Living a balanced healthy life, sunshine, a morning swim in the ocean, yoga, surfing, music, a good film, a trip to the markets, making delicious studio lunches, including experimenting with food for our new project the Veggie Patch Van.

Which blogs do you read daily? Your best blog find?
http://thedailysmudge.blogspot.com.au
http://www.seesawdesigns.blogspot.com.au
http://www.designworklife.com
http://mynewroots.blogspot.com.au
http://myloveforyou.typepad.com/my_love_for_you/
http://thedesignfiles.net/

Our pinterest
http://pinterest.com/tmoddesign

What is your favourite paper product?

Yellow Owl Workshop stamps.

What is your relationship to paper?
I’m constantly amazed by paper, the plethora of things which can be created with it.
Paper is such a great material to experiment with both in 2D and 3D and it just keeps surprising.

How different is working on paper to working with any other medium?
What freedoms does it allow and what are its limitations?
We apply our same design process irrespective of our materials as we work across several mediums (bags, jewellery etc) However there are many things to consider with paper, as it is a material that is so soft and fragile, yet can be so strong in many ways. It is flay and brings life to illustration and 2D, yet it can take a form of its own intrinsic beauty too.

What is next for TMOD ?
TMOD has a new product range about to launch. This includes our new chalkboard labels kits which come as a packet of 12 stickers with borders and a stick of chalk and can be used to label just about anything. Jars, folders etc. We also have a new scratchie product: Love scratchie packs of 10 that each have different love quotes revealed beneath the silver. They are perfect for place cards on weddings or as a gift to a loved one. There are also many other Christmas specific interactive stationery designs coming soon including scratchie bonbons with a limited edition of red scratchie ink

www.tmod.com.au

Flatout Frankie sponsored a series of workshops at the Paper Trail in Byron Bay,
where they got to customise their own castle/house and then took it home for play!

Introducing Flatout Frankie owner & designer Sarah Gardner…

What is the essence and vision of your business Flatout Frankie that you strive
to bring to your customers?
To give our little customers a creative base, or an idea, they can take our toys any place they fancy. They are all made of cardboard, and while they look pretty darn cool sitting all pretty in their white graphic state, we fully encourage people to go nuts decorating and turning them into their own little pieces of art – in this way the toy becomes more of an experience.

What brings customers to purchase a product by Flatout Frankie ?
I think a lot of time it is a nostalgia thing, most people have at some time in their life turned a cardboard box into a great toy, and so they get them, and maybe by buying one of our toys will inspire their kids to do the same. Also, without doubt, the environmental aspect, not a piece of plastic in sight! Its really cool to see kids play hard with our toys and then recycle them, and so it goes around.

What is the best thing about owning your own business?
Seeing people smile and be really enthusiastic about our toys, you know then the hard work is worth it. Also, getting to design pieces that I would want my kids to play with, and not compromising on the idea.

There was some serious love of these cardboard toys by children & adults.

How much of your style flows into how you live, how you dress, what you read?
Goodness, I wish my desk was as simple and clean as my designs… I love the idea of not filling my life with lots of things, so I guess flatout frankie embodies this idea. I would say I dress with a splash (often a tiny little drop) of colour on a pretty neutral background, hmmm, yes, this is like my toys except I am leaving the splash of colour to the kids – it has to be, because it’s personal.

We know what we love about Flatout Frankie but what do you love about Paper Runway?
I love the simplicity and ease in which everything works together, a sign of great design. And I simply love holding the magazine, I have a bit of a crush on Envirocare you see, have had for a long time.

What enlivens your creativity day in, day out?
My kids… definitely. If I have been working on a new design I call my 5 year old in and ask what she thinks, she is pretty honest. If she orders one up for her room, I know it could well be a winner. I really think about what they would want to have in their room, or what they would love to pull out when their friends come over. I am also totally obsessed with Scandinavian and Japanese design.

One of the Flatout Frankie cardboard toys. The range includes a princess castle, oven, aeroplane and dollhouse
PLUS a collection of products to be released this week. Excitement plus!

What makes you happy?
My family, having a good laugh, friends, coffee, good design, peeking out the window in the morning and seeing a clear sky, never ceases to put a skip in my step!

Which blogs do you read daily? Your best blog find?
I always look at Design Files, and Mama Likes This – she finds some super good stuff, when I have a chance I definitely head to the bloesem blogs. There are so many amazing things going on.

What is your favourite paper product?
Well I would have to say flatout frankie toys right? After all I am living and breathing them, especially at the moment with our new products being launched this week.

What is your relationship to paper?
I have always been very passionate about paper, this comes from being a very print focused graphic designer pre flatout frankie, so many paper stocks, not enough projects. Cardboard has been a new thing for me, and I love it just as much.

How different is working on paper to working with any other medium?
With paper you have to be very sure of what you are designing and the final file which heads out the door for print, you can’t go changing anything easily once the ink hits the page.

What freedoms does it allow and what are its limitations?
I love sitting down and figuring out how a piece is going to work, how it will fold. I know there are limitations, and I sometimes get pulled back because something is not going to work, but then we sit and figure it out and more often than not I get they design to work exactly as I wanted it to.

www.flatoutfrankie.com