Blog hop challenge!

Hello! Long time no blogpost..again! Which is why when the wonderful Georgie St Clair recently nominated us to take part in a blog hop I jumped at the chance of having something to actually write about, meaning I could blow the ol' cobwebs off this poor bloggy. We've met Georgie and her family a few times at craft fairs where she's been a customer (and has kindly bought prints from us!) and it's been fantastic seeing her own beautiful illustration work develop over time. Also I love seeing her desk shots and work in progress photos as they're always so effortlessly stylish they look like they're straight out of a magazine editorial. Seriously, go check out her blog for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

Back to it! This post is a little insight in to our creative process, inspirations and work/life balance. Here we go...

What have you been making at your desk this week?

Mostly we have been making badges! We are total big kids and we had both wanted a badge maker for AGES so we were super excited to finally get one earlier in the year. It's so much fun coming up with designs and being able to turn them in to a product which you can wear really quickly (badges aren't just for small people you know!) Mostly we've been designing groups of animals...i.e. bears, tropical birds and safari animals. We also have a dinosaur set which have proved to be very popular! One lady has bought loads of different packs to have on the tables at her wedding this month...now that's our kinda wedding! 

Apart from badge making we've been screenprinting lots of orders for our Etsy and Not on the High Street shops and in general starting to stock up for the Christmas rush. We live in a small flat at the mo so all of our screenprinting is done on our kitchen worktop...which is fine as long as we remember to tidy up before dinnertime!

Where are you currently finding your inspiration?

It sounds like a bit of a cliche but we do tend to find inspiration everywhere and anywhere! We're constantly doodling and jotting down ideas which we bounce off each other. If both of us get excited about an idea rather than one of us being enthusiastic and the other violently shaking their head then we know we're on to a winner! We're constantly trying to keep up with our to do lists but we try to frequently go and hang out on the beach (luckily for us just a 5 minute walk away) or to go on a day trip to see an exhibition. We recently went to see Matisse's Cut Outs at the Tate and it completely and utterly blew our minds. Truly one of the best most inspiring shows we've ever seen! 

Also a constant source of inspiration for us is the late Alan Fletcher. His playful and ingenious way of designing always makes us smile and think, even when we've seen the pieces a hundred times before.

Alan Fletcher's designs

How important is being creative to you, and how do you blend this with your work/life/family balance?

For us being creative is absolutely everything! I think we're incredibly lucky that we founded and run hello DODO together, it must be tricky sometimes running a creative business which your partner isn't involved in. On the other hand, because we ARE both involved in hello DODO there is no balance really...we're constantly thinking and talking about it, making plans, screenprinting orders, working on new designs, promoting ourselves... It's very very rare that we take a full day off and when we do we tend to feel really guilty about it! We even took a sketchbook on our honeymoon and spent most of the two weeks working on new designs! Growing hello DODO makes us really happy though so I don't think we'd have it any other way... Our main issue right now (and actually has been for the last few years) is complete lack of space. Our tiny flat is FULL of big silkscreens and boxes of t-shirts, totes, drawers full of prints and cards...it's a bit bonkers! But we are planning to move soon and to have a dedicated studio space and then we can have an actual living space to relax in and possibly maybe occasionally switch off :o)

Passing the Blog Hopping Baton

Right! We've decided to nominate two of our favourite Brighton based small businesses!
First up is designosaur! As I'm sure you are already aware Karli and Jacques make the most amazing awesome laser cut jewellery in the World (of which I have quite the collection!)
My second nomination for the blog hop challenge goes to I Like Cats! Toby makes fantastic hand drawn jewellery, cards, prints, pencil cases all with...you guessed it...CATS on! His work is really quirky, unique and makes us incredibly happy. Check out both designosaur's and I Like Cat's blogs!

Shoreham House Boats

Shock horror! A blog post! Those who follow us on twitter and instagram will know we had a busy couple of months..just y'know..getting married and stuff. But before any blogposts on that whole shebang and all the other things to blog about queued in my mind here's a random post about Shoreham and the wonderful house boats there! We visited for the first time yesterday after lots of people had mentioned how lovely they are but I don't think we'd quite prepared ourselves for how INCREDIBLY AMAZING they are!!

It's a large community of houseboats of all shapes and sizes including barges, tugs and quite a few ex-millitary vessels. Each boat has it's own quirks and character, most of them showing the creative nature of the residents. There's loads of colours, plants and vegetables being grown, chickens and gorgeous cats (the one above seemed to be giving us a tour!)

 

Fluffy chickens!

This boat and it's neighbour below were definitely the craziest! Every where you looked you noticed something different...buses, washing machines, baths, caravans all cleverly incorporated in to the boat's design. So amazing!

After visiting Shoreham we hopped on the train to Worthing where the tide was out soooo far! We spent a while walking underneath the pier and finding little crabs.

More blogposts soon I promise! Have you visited the Shoreham house boats before? If not we HIGHLY recommend checking them out!

25% SALE BEFORE OUR HONEYMOON :o)

To celebrate getting married and jetting off on our honey moon early next week we're giving you guys 25% OFF any orders £5 or over. We go early next week so get your goodies as soon as pos before we shut up shop and jump on our plane to Greece... :o)

www.hellododoshop.etsy.com

Hijack Children's Festival 2014 - Brighton & Hove

We're SUPER DUPER excited about this awesome family event springing up in Brighton and Hove between Saturday 12th – Monday 21st April. If your looking for fresh, fun and cool kids events over the Easter Holidays this is perfect for you!!

Hijack Children's Festival puts Brighton and Hove into the hands of children and families. Taking over venues, libraries and Jubilee Square. Hijack is full of interactive and innovative events created by fantastic artists, especially for 2-11 year olds (and their adults). With tons to choose from over 10 days, experience something a little different during this Easter holidays!

We've really enjoyed working with Emily and the Hijack team producing the design for the festival and just like the events themselves you'll spot posters and mini programmes all over town :o)

Heres a run down of some of the exciting things to go, see and do during the festival this month:

Sat 12 – Mon 21 | Jubilee Square & selected community libraries

ProstoRož want to know what Brighton and Hove’s children wish for their city. With hand crafted maps of our different communities housed in five libraries, throughout the festival you are invited to place your wish for a particular place on the map. Maybe you desire for more trees to climb, or perhaps a place in your park for open air gigs, you might just like to see your community centre used in a different way? 

Over Easter weekend a giant textured map will unfold in Jubilee Square where each wish, and new ones added by passers by, will be displayed, beautifully illustrating the aspirations of the children who took part.

 

This is a  FREE event for  3-11 Year olds so be sure to pop by Jubilee Square and the other community libraries during the festival. For more details click here.

Mon 14 & Tues 15  |  10am & 2pm (5-7yrs) / 11.30am & 3.30pm (8-11yrs)  |  KOMEDIA

Step into Mr Watt’s metal world and see his flying machine, his mechanical universe and his cardigan of doom! Does his crab’s bicycle work, could his Jack Russell juggle, and did he escape from the runaway train? In these workshops metal artist Jon Mills brings his e-book characters to life with demonstrations, sparks and hot metal! Read about Mr Watt’s adventures see into his dreams and then sit back and watch as the next catastrophe unfolds! Why not peek into his world beforehand at mrwatt.biz

Don't miss Mr Watt, Grumpy Man of Metal and book your tickets here.

Sat 12  |  2pm  |  KOMEDIA

The Sundae Club’s house band The Swing Ninja’s return for a very special gig especially for the swinging kids of Brighton. Featuring the best selection of toe tapping, hip waving, leg kicking tunes, this afternoon of top tunes will get Hijack Children’s Festival off to a magnificent start.

Don't miss this very special event by The Swing Ninjas and book your tickets here.

Fri 18 & Sat 19  |  11am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 4pm  |  KOMEDIA

It's you and your friends, in one room, and Ground Control is asking for your help. Here’s the situation: at some point, we’re going to start living on new planets, and it’s up to you to come up with some ideas about how that’s going to work. Technology is placed into your hands, and you’re going to have to get creative.

If you had to start from scratch, how would you decide on the name, the laws, the national anthem? What do you love, what’s important to you, and what is everyone going to wear?

Get involved and book your tickets here.

Thurs 17 & Fri 18 April  |  7pm  |  25mins | World Premier! LIVE in your home :o)

You are tucked up in bed, or snuggled together on your sofa along with other families scattered across the city, whilst critically acclaimed company Fevered Sleep broadcast their beautiful film for 3-5 years into your home at bedtime. Brilliant is about the deep emotions, the magical imaginings and the secret games that are conjured when the lights go out, when it’s time to go to bed.

Find out more about this exciting World Premier and how to download your own brilliant moon here! :) 

Sun 13  |  2pm  |  KOMEDIA

Get your first taste of a gig with the energetic-noise-punk duo The Downing Street Years, playing drums/guitar and vocals; they keep each show unique, raw and unpredictable. Support from the lo-fi dream pop project No Middle Name.

Grab your kids first gig tickets here!

Weds 16  |  2pm  |  Dukes at Komedia

Rewind back to the 1920’s with a rare opportunity to see three black and white films by the renowned Buster Keaton; Sherlock Junior, The Goat and Cops, with live piano accompaniment by leading silent film musician Stephen Horne. Dress up in your best 1920’s outfit for this special Hijack screening. 

Get your tickets here to see Buster in this special screening.

Tues 8 April at 5.30pm / Wed 9 April 11am & 2pm  |  Brighton Dome Concert Hall

As a pre-festival event and direct from the West End, Dinosaur Zoo brings awesome prehistoric creatures to the stage as you’ve never seen them before. Dare to get up close and personal with cute baby dinos and teeth-gnashing giants. Observe and interact with these extraordinary life-like dinosaurs in this imaginative and hilarious live show. But watch out - not all of these ravenous reptiles are as tame as they seem!

Dinosaur Zoo Tickets are available from the Brighton Dome Ticket Office 
and online here.

Hijack Festival is going to be an exciting 10 days full of fun and activities for local families during the Easter Holidays!! Be sure to book any of the above MUST- SEE events ASAP to avoid missing out!

For further information check out the Hijack Blog here

And for all bookings go to the KOMEDIA website

CRAFTIVISTS HIT BRIGHTON

This Saturday in the SUPER+SUPER window come and watch local Brighton crafters LIVE. Each item made on the day plus many others donated will be available to WIN in the raffle in which all profits made will go to the local disability led arts organisation Carousel. www.carousel.org.uk/

CHECK OUT THE LINE UP OF CRAFTERS:

11am
Jam and Ali of hello DODO (That's Us!!)
& 
Sarah of Rock Cakes

12pm
Claire of Cat-a-Cake Creations 
& 
Claire of Yellow Bear Wares 

1pm 
Melodie Stacey of MaidDolls 
& 
Kaylee Bones 

2pm
Vicky of Woah There Pickle 
& 
Kirstin Stride

3pm 
Anna of Anna's Drawing Room 
& 
Toby of I like CATS

4pm 
Ellen of B Millinery 
& 
Diane of Bella Does Brighton

5pm 
Emily of Cuttlefish Love 
& 
Amy of Miss Amy Phipps 

Come along and watch this Saturday 29th March. 
Here's exactly where to pop by: 

Super+Super
7 Kings road
Brighton BN1 1NE
01273 773910

BtnEtsy Talks #2 with Lomokev + Rock Cakes

Are you a Brighton-based maker? Does SEO confuse the hell out of you?! Then don't miss this awesome talk from the mega talented Lomokev and Rock Cakes! You can join the facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/579731635456365/

This is the 2nd talk from the Brighton Etsy Team...the first one which was on PR & Marketing went down a treat! You can read about it here: http://brightonetsyteam.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/first-btnetsy-talk-review/

Our wedding invites!

We've been wanting to share our wedding invites on here for AGES but we wanted to wait until everybody we've invited had pretty received there's so as not to ruin the surprise! We found it a pretty hard thing to design. Initially we had quite a few cute ideas but when we actually started to think practically about the amount of information that was needed on a wedding invite we soon realised we needed to tackle it in a different way. We WERE going to just screenprint the main invite page as a one, possibly two, colour print. Somehow (I'm pretty sure it was Jam's idea) we ended up screenprinting the whole shebang in not one but FIVE colours. Our wedding hasn't got a 'colour scheme' as most weddings do (unless you count ALL the colours) and so we loved the idea of people opening up this really bright and vibrant set of A5 prints. We chose gold as the one colour that was used on each page as you can't print magical sparkly gold digitally and it looks AMAZING, the pics don't really do it justice. Also the neon pink on the first page is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph, it's insanely bright in real life.

I don't know if many people when they look at our invites will understand the hours and HOURS of work that they took, seriously the five longest and most stressful print runs of our lives! It was pretty hard actually packing them up and sticking them in the post box by the end of it. But looking at them now we're so chuffed that we put all that extra hard work in...the colurs, the print quality, the overlays and little inconsistencies make us super happy :o)

We've had loads of RSVPs and so far they've all been very happy yes's and no one has admitted to being smelly! We're also really enjoying getting song suggestions for the party playlist, we've had some awesome ones so far!

And here's a bit of the actual print process...

We hope you enjoyed seeing our wedding invites! I'm really looking forward to all of the wedding related things we can blog about after the wedding which we're keeping secret for now!