Happy holidays!

Photo credit: Able and Game

Well it's that time of year again - time to wake up wayyy too early, unwrap gifts, eat chocolate for breakfast and too much of mum's cooking for lunch, followed by a snooze and a dip in the pool, and maybe some gingerbread house for dinner. It's also time for the Seam Team to take a break for a few days and spend some time with the people we've been too busy for all year.

But before we rush off to the seaside town we call home, we'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and say thank you for all your support this year. Thank you to all the creative folk who appeared in and helped out with issue one and thanks to our advertisers and the 30+ stockists who took on our little mag. We hope you have the most swelegant silly season possible and we'll see you again all sparkly and refreshed very soon.

Happy holidays!

Hello, Twenty Twelve.

Photo credit: Lola's Room

Planning on making a new years resolution? Well, you might want to consider getting your hands on one of these babies to keep you in toe! We’ve compiled a little collection of cute and clever calendars to get you through the new year...

Anne Nicholson and The Whittler - Vintage nature is revived through this stunning illustrated calendar offering twelve unique months of flight inspired bliss. These beauties are a limited edition and all natural, printed on recycled card stock and using wax based inks - perfect for the eco-warrior!

Catherine Campbell - This Melbourne based artist brings us a wonderfully illustrated calendar featuring a series of stylish and intricate portraits. It's fashion illustration meets Alice in Wonderland, a mystical realm of beautiful gardens and little creatures dressed in stylish threads. A must have for twenty-twelve...

Emily Ann Designs - If your new year is looking a little uneventful, we've got the perfect calendar for you! You'll be taking up twelve new hobbies this year as a different art is celebrated each month. With some neat drawings by Miss Emily Ann herself, and complete with a little description, you'll be inspired to get busy!

Lola's Room - This pretty pastel gem celebrates beautiful photography allowing you to breeze through the months enjoying candy shops and vintage wallpaper. The mini calendar contains thirteen images all taken by Brighton based photographer, Cassia Beck, and is sure to bring you a picture perfect new year!

Saisir le jour!

Book Nook: HipsterMattic

Photo credit: Allen & Unwin

After reading HipsterMattic by Brisbane author Matt Granfield, I've come to the conclusion that I am definitely no hipster. It's wayyy too much effort (ironic, much?) and I prefer a Townie to a Fixie (prettier, less skinned knees). But while I'm not rolling in likeness to Matt's triangular-tattoo-inking, Korean-grunge-band-playing, flannelette-dressing ways, I do enjoy a well-crafted coffee, picnicking in New Farm Park and reading books in quirky cafes... though I couldn't bring myself to actually take this particular book to a cafe to enjoy over a double ristretto soy latte. That would just be too much!

Matt's quest to become the ultimate hipster, comically trots through transformations in his fashion sense (rather, channelling the homeless), learning to knit, pretending to be a vegetarian, and getting high on 12 different kinds of coffee (Matt's not a coffee drinker). I happily nodded along to his Brisbane references and let a few out-loud laughs loose when his hipsterdom attempts reached the ridiculous. His writing style is casual and easy to read, speckled with some fine wordnerdery for good measure. New favourite words include hipnicking (hipsters picnicking) and tindie (a touch of indie), and I do hope more males pick up knitting as a result.

WIN!!
We've got two copies of HipsterMattic to give away! If you fancy yourself the ultimate hipster or would just enjoy a fun read about the decade's latest subculture, pop your details in an email to winstuff {at} seammagazine {dot} com. Could be a good Christmas present for that witty book worm you know, yes? Winners will be announced on our facebook/twitter on Monday.

Other loveable hipster references can be found here, here, and here.

The Olive Tree Market

Photo credit: The Olive Tree Market 

Well look what we have here, a market just in time for Christmas... How conveniently festive! The Olive Tree Market has been launching creative talent in Newcastle since 2008. The market includes some regular punters including fashion, recycled goods and creative homewares, with the addition of some quirky yet welcomed new stalls of print making, zines and leather goods. If you have been a little late on the present uptake this year, you really must get down and check out their Christmas Market on Saturday 17th December, we guarantee you'll out do even ol' Papa Noel. But of course let's not forget about the food! With a range of great food from around the globe, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. If you can't get down to The Junction Public School this weekend, never fear, this little gem is a monthly affair, running from 9am-3pm each Saturday.

Taste Bud Tuesday: Owl Cake

We stumbled across this little beauty and decided to make our own gluten-free version, what a hoot!

Ingredients (serves 10)
250g butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
2 cups almond meal (ground almonds)
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tin betty crocker white icing
3/4 cup flaked almonds
2 pecan nuts
2 pitted prunes
1 tablespoon raw or brown sugar

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm deep, 22cm round cake pan and line with with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition then stir in the almond meal and flour.

3. Spread mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Finally, decorate using the nuts, prunes and sugar. You can copy this design or get creative and design your own...

Bon appétit!