Art and Outgoing Mail

Here are a couple of recent sketches in my sketch book! I've been working on a different style, and I've been really enjoying playing with my Sailor fountain pen from Japan. I haven't done much drawing with it before now! What do you guys think of this style?

I've had a couple of splotchy problems with the fountain pen :P. I wish I hadn't blobbed ink on this poor kitty! I had a lot of fun painting him and inking the lines. I'd like to do a bigger painting like this! What do you think?

I love gouache paints! And I had a lot of fun mixing this pastel palette.

Here's some outgoing mail to a pen pal in Japan. She kindly asked me to draw her some fruits and vegetables. She likes a simple style of art. :) I think it goes nicely with the herb themed letter set!

I love writing cute letters on San-X stationery. And my clipboard is so handy for writing a letter out in the garden, or the lounge room, etc.! ;) 

I hope everyone's had a fantastic week!

Little Pink Cactus xo

Front Door Succulents

This is our little collection of succulents/cacti at our front door, featuring Little Pink Cactus of course. :) I think they look so pretty all together in the sun!

New

I finally got myself a little 'mail centre' type tray organiser. It's a gorgeous teal colour and has two trays or shelves. I'm going to use one for incoming and one for outgoing mail/documents. I also bought this super cute gold skull ornament!

I've been replying to some of my recent letters today. I love mail and pen palling so much, and hopefully this will help keep track of what I need to reply to!

The skull has little diamond eyes which I think is cool. Right now I'm using it as a paperweight, but it also has space in the top for a tea light candle!

I have it on top of my stack of drawers rather than my desk, which frees up desk space. I can't stand clutter on my desk when I'm trying to create something or write a letter. I got both the tray organiser and the skull from Daiso, where I work, so they were cheap too!

P.S. Currently reading Peppermint magazine! ;)

Little Pink Cactus xo

Drawings + Kitty

Here are some recent doodles of mine! I'm working toward getting some simple cute designs together to print on stationery, like note cards, maybe note books, etc. What do you think?

While I was taking photos of my drawings, along came my cat Finn...

And he ended up just sitting right on top of my sketch book, of course! 

From Little Pink Cactus and Finn xo

DIY Painted Pot

On the weekend I got some aloe vera plants from our local community garden. I bought a new pot and decided to paint some simple white polka dots on it to make it a bit more interesting. Mum potted hers in the green pot.

I've always been a big fan of cacti and succulents and I love that they are so popular right now!

To paint this it was very simple. I just took the pot (while it was still empty!) wiped it clean and used a small paintbrush and some acrylic white paint to paint on the dots while I rotated the pot. I did a couple of coats and it took me about 5 minutes. I don't mind that my dots are a bit messy! Of course you could do any design you like - stripes, dots, a face, lettering, zig zags, triangles, diamonds. And of course you could use any colour. I'd like to use some blackboard paint on a pot sometime!

On a side not, I love how the sun has sun-bleached our citronella candle into this pretty pale pastel mint colour. It was bright green!

Little Pink Cactus xo

Pinspiration

I've always loved looking at pictures of gorgeous work spaces and offices. I always go to that section of the Ikea magazine first! These are some of the work spaces I've pinned recently.

1. This is minimal and beautiful, and I love the polaroids and the cactus (of course!)

2. Through this pin, I actually discovered the wonderful A Little Birdy Blog! Such a cute work space, such a cute blog!

3. Everyone loves gold dots.

4. A bunny magnet board would probably beat my very old pinboard.

5. I am definitely feeling this right now! Working toward having a career/job that I acutally love! And with an office like that, who wouldn't love to work in it?

Little Pink Cactus xo

Outgoing Mail + Stationery of the Moment

 Here is a recent outgoing letter to my friend living in the U.S! She sent me the bookmark of the girl a little while ago and I've been using it in my journal.

I'm in love with these notebooks at the moment. They come from a whole matching series from K-Mart that includes sticky notes and badges and other stationery items. These notebooks come in packs of two (for only $2!). Hope you're having a good day!

Welcome

This is Little Pink Cactus. Nice to meet you! I'm going to be blogging about stationery, style, DIY, illustration, quirky design, incoming and outgoing mail, and my personal life. I love paper, cute things, cats, skulls, citrus, tea & coffee, doodling, stars, polka dots, triangles, fruit, and cacti.