autumn garden

It's very easy to ignore the garden at this time of year. It's been wet and windy and not the most inviting environment. I have found little bits of magic going on though:

A miniature mushroom forest:

The spider web tree, which only became visible after  a morning mist:

Ivy flower pods:

 

Back inside, I've finally started the spare room/studio makeover. It's going to take a few days before it's finished as I need to paint, then juggle the furniture around, and then paint again, and so on until it's finished. Sadly we just don't have enough space to move everything out of the room - which would of course be so much easier. The walls are currently lilac - so I'm banishing them away in favour of White Chiffon - which is not a bright white, but a softer tone.

I'll no doubt post some 'ta da!' pics next week when I'm finished.

lovely saturday songs

Rarely, if ever a day goes by that I don't listen to music. The first thing I do when I get out of bed is put he radio on. Throughout the day I either listen to one of our hundreds of genuis mixes on iTunes or to the radio.
A couple of tunes that I'm really liking at the moment are 'that day' by Villagers and 'rinse me down' by Bombay Bicycle Club. Have a listen, they make for lovely chilled out, mellow Saturday songs:

raindrops and gumdrops

I thought I'd share a little of the surface pattern design I've been working on of late - called raindrops and gumdrops. This is still a work in progress but I'm pleased with the way it is coming along. My initial idea was that these designs would be for fabrics:

 click on image to enlarge

The palette was inspired by this advert from the 1951 Festival of Britain guide.

If I'm going to make it as a real life bona fide designer then I need to hear some feedback. If you have a moment please drop me a comment and let me know what you think. Constructive feedback is good - what do you like? what don't you like?

Harriet

I once knew a girl named Harriet. She was a boisterous, brash, tomboy type girl who you could always hear coming before you could see her. Thankfully she is not actually the subject of this post.
This Harriet is a whole lot different. This is Harriet:

In this Harriet's former life, she was nothing but a preloved cashmere jumper, a stripy lambswool jumper, a blanket and a few buttons, which were thrown aside in a tin - collected but probably never to be used. It's a sad tale, with a happy ending. All good things come to those who wait, and Harriet is waiting ever so patiently here for a new home.

Blueberry Park - one day half price sale!

It seems too good to be true, but today only, Blueberry Park are offering a staggering half price off everything in their online store
I've picked a few of my fave items to share with you, and yes, I did do a little shopping myself, so only feel half guilty about sharing the half price joy!

**Edit, Simply enter HALF at the checkout to receive everything for HALF price, whilst stocks last** Thanks Lucy

Patchwork heels

I've just come across these patchwork style shoes whilst doing a bit of online browsing:

 

I like them. That of course is totally different to me actually buying and wearing them.
I think these little beauties would be best admired on someone else. If you fancy a pair, you can get them here 

I also really like these pretties:

which you can find here

autumn palette

I was out and about in Black Park on Saturday taking photos of Mr Monda and his pals going ape in the tree tops. It was a sunny, cold and crisp day - perfect for climbing trees. I would have liked to be climbing the trees also, but as this was the first part of Mr Monda's stag do, I was only required to take photos, which is fair enough.
Whist there, I took a few snaps of the autumnal scenery, which made for some great colour palettes for my design work:

Black park is a really lovely place for a walk - highly recommended if you are in the vicinity.

Sagaform

Today I am mostly being inspired by these fab Scandi print ceramics by Sagaform:

You can browse the rest of their autumn winter collection in their online magazine here

habitat - love your home magazine

habitat have just launched a new magazine called 'love your home':

You can pick the magazine up in store. I'm quite fortunate in that I live very close to a habitat store, but if I didn't, I'd just flick through the imagazine here. Enjoy.

The bold and the beautiful

I've created a print inspired treasury on Etsy today. I love all the bold beautiful prints and patterns, and the mix of bright colours has certainly put a bit of sunshine into this dull autumn day:

If you want to find out more or visit the shops, you can view the treasury here

new in the shop

I'm making an effort to upload items into my shop each week. This week, I have some new tags, in my avian flora design

You can get them here or here

figgjo

On my journey back into the design world after 12 or so years in a non design related job, I find inspiration lurking in every corner. It was always there of course, I just think my eyes were closed to it.

I have a few pieces of vintage Figgjo pottery - the market design. I love the design, it makes me wonder what the story was that inspired it. I think about the ladies going to the fish market and what their lives were like in comparrison to the fisherman - they look quite fancy, don't they:

Figgjo also produced a design called Lotte in blues, which I also love. I don't own any of it though (yet!):

When looking for information on Figgjo, I found this lovely blog. If you like vintage pottery/ceramics, then you'll like this.

Dot

Wow! The world's smallest stop motion animation:

thrifty weekend

I visit the local car boot sale most weekends - it's quite a big one and there is always lots on offer - although you really need to be picky.  I tend to steer clear of the resellers of new items (aside from the man who sells stationery and packaging supplies) as they don't really tend to hold my interest.
I do enjoy picking through boxes that have come from a loft/shed/garage as this is where I tend to find the kind of thing I'm looking for, and often there are a few gems hiding under the surface.
This weekend I picked up quite a few goodies - some vintage embroidery threads, which also had a packet of needles tucked into the box, some vintage button cards from Jones&Co and what I can only describe as a pigeon hole cupboard, which will be prefect for the spare room/office/studio when it undergoes the planned overhaul (soon).

minimal waste

I really don't like wasting things that could be used for a purpose other than the originally intended one. This means I have a bit of a tendency to hoard things, as anyone with a 'stash' would no doubt appreciate.
Don't get me wrong wrong, I'm certainly no Mr Trebus and I do know when enough is enough and it's time to throw something away, or give it to charity.
I recently did a print commission, and as with most these things, I printed more than was needed for the job, for quality purposes - as I find it's far better to have too much and be able to pick the best quality, than not enough.
Overprints and additional card have now been transformed and made into gift tags, which are for sale here and here

I'm a bit of a sucker for all things wrapping. The way something is wrapped says a lot about a person, I think.