Kiwi Still Life Study

 Todays still life study of Kiwi fruits.  Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Random Friday

Firstly let me wish you a wonderful weekend, over here in England it is Father's day on Sunday.  R is expecting to put his feet up!  On the success of selling lot of my postcards, I am looking into making up some cards and trying to find some small frame solutions.  Hopefully I'll have them sorted before the Brighton Craft Alliance event that I am joining in on in July.  Hoping to work on my current series Floral & Fauna next week.  My random friday is all about these finds and catching some late afternoon light with this rose.  Hope you have fun this weekend, D x
PS. all photography by me!  The two top images leads to the Illustrators website.

Cards

 Alison Hardcastle

 Tom Frost

 Helen Dardik

Debbie Urquhart

Today is only the second morning of the school run and I am shattered, yearning for those holiday lie-in's.  Also R went back to work last week and he has deadlines looming, so the girls and I are missing him, as he is working late.  Stocking up on cards, two of my favourites and two new discoveries.
I have been a big fan of Alison Hardcastle for a long time now, her simple use of handwritten fonts, lovely designs and stunning colours just win me over every time.  Also love my Tom Frost for Betty and Dupree and Helen Dardik for lagom finds, in fact so much, not sure I will send them out, maybe frame them and hang them up!  As for Debbie Urquhart, I have been a fan ever since reading about her many years ago.  Her paintings have such a stillness to them and often feature still life and you know how much I love still things!  Hope you like them too....

Getting Ready

In the light of this seasons busy, excited and Christmasy posts, I must apologise that I am feeling a little deflated.  The house needs to be cleaned for top to bottom, boxes need to be unpacked and put away and we are desperate for our home to feel a little more ready for Christmas.  Our wardrobes arrive tomorrow, which means that clothes no longer need storing on our arm chair and sewing table.  Also the carpet goes in for the new bedroom and then things should start to take shape.  In the meantime, I visited friend to take photos of her cake creations for her website, which were such a delight to photograph.  C, your home is so creatively inspiring.  The photos will follow after the embargo date has passed.  In the meantime a little glimpse of C & G's surroundings, my little grey and brown paper decorations waiting to go up and my assisted styling by my youngest Miss C.  Fingers crossed that we will have the house a little more sorted before the week is out!

Magpie and Mustard Framed!

In case you didn't see these over at our Magpie and Mustard Blog, I thought that I would share it over here.  We have found a super fabulous framer in Brighton and we are getting ready to sell the framed versions online.

Could I get away with this?

So when I was seventeen I bought my first second hand satchel and then ditched my obsession in my twenties.  However over the last few months I have rekindled my love for this style.  Admittedly it has been kick started by this lovely back to school range created by French Label Bakker with Love, found on the little zebra website.

Preparing

I have been excitedly and nervously reading the handmade marketplace by Kari Chapin.  We pick up the  posters today and the last four months is starting to feel like a reality and there is so much to think about. So I distracted myself by snapping these lovely poppyseed and sesame wafers and playing with the arrangement for my letterpress storage.  Also this photo of the girls at Knoll makes me smile.  What are you nervous about?

Sweetling

In a matter of months, it will be two years since I cut down how much television I watch and a year from deleting my profile on Facebook. The main reason was to use my time wisely. I have noticed the benefit, more sleep, a little less chaos, more time to enjoy things and discovering the art of conversation. By chance I stumbled upon a lovely programme following the world of buying, and hearing stories of those hoping to get their work/product realised in a consumer market. A particular story touched me, two sisters-in-law set up a range of training bras. Recently in the UK there has been so much bad press about how retailers are exploiting our young with padded and push up bras. The brand that is sweetling could not be more timely. The designs are so pretty, unlike the bland pack of two training bras that my mother bought me.

Images taken from Sweetling website.

Shepherd Huts

If money was no object I would be fairly tempted to invest in a Shepherd Hut. Our garden is a work in progress, is what I keep telling myself. We have little time to enjoy it and lacking in the creative design. Also the idea of having a reading nock or a make area is a wonderful daydream. The above images, are taken for a Sussex based family business that restore Shepherd Huts.

For further information please visit http://www.roundhillshepherdhuts.co.uk/

Thrilled

Ever since I first learned of Samantha Robinson's ceramics, I have loved her work. I love the patterns, designs and colours. While R was away in Australia he stopped by Husk and bought me these two cups. I love them and hope you like them too!

Primrose and Plum

We have a lovely family friend staying with us. It is a shame that the weather has turned so very grey. So I thought I would briefly pop a post on about this rather stylish lemon and grey blanket. For more finds visit Primrose and Plum.

Wishlist

Rockett St George is one of my favourite online stores. They have even managed to persuade me to think about getting some artificial flowers! There is a couple of dark corners in our house (landing areas) that could be brightened up with a few flower displays. Also my thing for gnomes is not passing, so I am about to order one to place on my desk or kitchen window. As for animals in clothes, ever since Barber I cannot shake this love either. If you have some birthdays coming up, I recommend a visit.

All images taken from Rockett St George

Sneak Peak

As promised a little sneaky peak on our kitchen transformation and pictures waiting to be put up. I am especially loving the downpipe on the back doors and the dark wooden floor. I picked up the birds print from a student selling at an art fair, as a joint project present, R nd I invested in a vintage tube/carriage map. Also as a Christmas present to R, we found this reclaimed tractor seat bar stool. These few bits are adding a sense of home to this new space.

Table Lamp

Confession time, I have been utterly distracted by Pinterest. It is so easy to access countless images and ideas that create fabulous mood boards. Anyway this morning I pinned my latest find from Abigail Ahern. I am especially fond of the pelican lamps and the grey walls!

Kitchen Table Wishlist

With Christmas fast approaching we are saving our pennies towards present buying. I have put together meal plans in order to minimise fridge content waste, cut back on magazines and we have cut back on eating out. In my search for Christmas presents for friends and family. I have found a few pieces that grabbed my attention. Firstly, the wonderful duo that is James and Tilla, and there stunning and simple ceramics. I especially like the pourers, it is a must for any table. Secondly a simple white coloured glass vase by Brissi, and finally to place it on, a runner for my pine table by New House Textiles.

Planning

So presently we are planning a kitchen refurbishment as we have never had a fully working heating system in ours. As it has been three years in the house we thought that we better deal with it. It is hard to visual Richard and my 'wants' as we are so different! Also I do like to put out that he is at work five days a week and not in the kitchen as much as me. Hopefully I will get a move on with my mood board and come with something we can both enjoy. In light of all this planning I have been distracted by searching out some vintage handkerchiefs for a similar feature wall.

Photo Credit, sadly I don't have one, I think that I may have found it via decor8 or design sponge, please let me know if you know!