Short & Curly!

I have had a manic week; in a good way (apart from being ill - AGAIN!)  Have got confirmation that my Fox Collars will be appearing in a book in connection with Mollie Makes mag.  Due out February 2014.  Also, we are having the house photographed for a magazine, which will be great, free publicity for me!  On top of general worky stuff I am desparately trying to get some stock ready for the Brighton Festival Open house I am in, in May. ( I generally like to leave it until the last moment they go crazy and work all hours!! )  Thought I could capture the frantic-ness (is that a word??) of my work room along with my new (again), darker, curly hair!!  Very surprised at how calm I look, and have not caught much of the work room chaos either!!  Not a frantic looking picture at all in the end...

Well Hello Dolly...

I have not posted for a while, as I am due to have a knee operation tomorrow and needed to get everything sorted pre-op.  I am really not sure how I will cope with not being mobile! 
Anyway, this post is really overdue.  I wanted to share this talented makers work with you.  I recieved this lovely doll for Valentines Day from my husband, via Etsy and the clever Rebekah McMullan www.forgottenstitches.etsy.com .  I am partial to a dolly and absolutely loved her; I had her in my 'favourites' for a while.  She has a gorgeous 1950's out-fit on, complete with a beret and merino wool hair.  She officially sits on the back of my sofa, along with a Sarah Young Bertha tea-towel/doll, and a boxed dolly, one of mine.  My little girl keeps stealing her to sit with her dollies too!

Oh Deer...

Is it wrong to fall in love with a soap dispenser??  I really like this Scandi design company 'Kikkerland', they make some very clever and fun products.  My bambi sits in the kitchen and has definitely been an incentive for children's hand-washing!

Happy New Year & Feeling Slightly Smug!

I hope you have had a good start to the New Year.
What is it about this time of year that makes one need  to sort/declutter/file/decorate/clean/reorganise/detox!!  Well whatever 'it' is, I have succumbed to it (apart from the detox that is!).  Please note my newly re-potted plants, my plate display (I have had them for years), my 'I can now shut the door' art supply cupboard, my pointless-but-sweet kitchen shelves, my recovered stool (again, had it for years), my wallpapered stair well wall (talked about it for years), my super tidy mini office (window cleaned), my blitzed work room.... am I boring you yet??

Pattern on Pattern...

I noticed the other day just how many 'patterns' I have at home; from ceramics to fabric, stationery to kitchen ware.  I thought it might be interesting to photograph them in situ, but at such an angle that they are not so distinguishable as separate objects...

I 'Heart' Apples...

I know I am definitely not alone when I say just how much I love retro 'apple' images.  Or pears, or cherries; in fact fruit n' veg seem to have a special appeal in the designs of the 1950s/60s.  At the moment I am coveting a rather lovely and simple apple calico bag by www.janefoster.co.uk, I 'sniff' out apple/fruit/cherry print out-fits or my little girl, or boy.  Here are some 'apples' I found around my home, I just know there are more lurking...

I 'Heart' Yellow!

Have finally got most of our hallway decorated, with the usual, and expected amount of i) arguing, ii) children fiddling and iii) paint spill!!  Never mind.  Thought I'd show you the little piece of vintage fabric curtain/window treatment (hate that term), that has taken me five weeks to make....ta dah!  Oh yes, and it's yellow, my favourite 'home' colour of the moment.

Knick-knacks...

We have just had our boiler replaced; very dull I know, but what this (very expensive) exercise has done is left  us with a 'free wall'!!  I say 'us' but really I mean 'me', the plumber had barely got out the front door, dust not settled, than I was measuring and planning what could occupy the space.  More pictures, more hooky-type-things, randomly attached post cards using washi tape....  I have decided on a new home/display shelf for my ever expanding wooden 'knick-knacks' (as me, my mother and friend Mr S likes to call them).  Ah, the joy of it all, just off to the flea market as we speak......Have a good weekend!

New Design Ideas and Flowers Galore!

I have been trying out some new simple flower designs; for prints or textiles, not sure yet!  It was with this in mind I realised just how much flora is used in design.  I personally LOVE floral patterns from the 1950s and 1960s, I especially like quite kitsch rose and carnation images.  I have a cut-out somewhere of someones fridge completely covered in rose pictures and postcards, I really would love to recreate it on my own!  Perhaps when the children are older, too tempting for little hands to peal them off!  Here are some random images from around my home...