In celebration of Megans Christmas print collection we wanted to learn more about Megan and how her young family celebrates Christmas.
With a young family and a baby on the way, how will you spend Megans Christmas this year?
We’re spreading out the family visits over a few days instead of trying to cram it all into one so that takes the stress off a bit. I’ll be in my 3rd trimester by Christmas and expecting to be feeling very big and very hot, so I’m hoping to take the weight off my feet and let everyone else do the majority of the organizing and cooking!
You can always talk me into a friendly ‘Corn-in-the-Hole’ competition though. I do love me a good lawn game.
Do you have any special Christmas traditions?
I’m big on Christmas crafting and baking. I love decorating the house all festive and making cheap DIY decorations, specially if I can repurpose household waste into something crafty.
Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are the times spent with mum baking Christmas treats or crafting cards. I love that I now get to do that with my own daughter. Making things together is an activity we both really enjoy.
We make enough to give as gifts for family, friends and neighbor. We always do gingerbread cookies and this year we will make fruit mince pies, which are my husband’s (and Santas) favorite holiday treat.
What’s your favorite activity to do in the Christmas Holidays?
I love to go for a stroll up one of the suburban streets that get really into the Christmas lights/decorations. It always has such a nice community feel and I can’t wait to do it with my 3yr old who is well and truly understanding the concept this year.
I also plan to be either chilling at the beach or lying under the aircon watching a cheesy Holiday moving eating and drinking cold treats.
Tell us about your print design process, what techniques do you use in creating a print?
When possible I love to work analogue. Thanks to the wonderful digital printing technology of Next State, I was able to stick to my favorite medium of gouache and paint the motifs in the design by hand knowing I wouldn’t be restricted by colour limits. I much prefer this method because of the hand-to-eye control I have when I do things by hand is just so different to digital painting. It has a texture and quality that is just so tangible and I find it more enjoyable.
As a print designer all the Christmas colours and famous icons must be a thrill to design with. How did you approach the designs for your Christmas collection?
Yes it was a lot of fun. I definitely wanted to capture the ‘classic’ holiday theme and bring in some of that vintage nostalgia.
Do you have a favourite print from your Christmas collection and why?
I think I’d have to pick the ‘Gingerbread Men’ design because they bring so much delight to my daughter and remind me of my favorite parts about the festive season.
Let’s talk Christmas tree…. Fake or real?
I’m sure it’s lovely to have the smell of fresh pine in the home (I know we used to get them with Dad when we were kids). But I’m all for the convenience of being able to pull out and pack up the fake tree year after year. I used to get serious about my art direction of the tree but something tells me this year I’ll be overpowered by my 3yr old who will want to put all-of-the-things on there! Haha
Favourite Christmas treat?
Well normally I love having a Bailey’s on ice on Christmas night but that will be off limits for me this year so I guess I’ll be reaching for the chocolates instead.
Pudding or Pav?
I’ve actually never been a big fan of either- just pass me a generous bowl of ice-cream!
Discover Megans Christmas prints in a variety of colours here