31 January 2012

wee willie winkie



After doing my big food shop on Saturday morning I called in on my parents. They were about to go into town and mooch around the Saturday market, charity shops and junk shops - I was about to go home and clean the house. Theirs seemed a better idea, so I joined them. So glad I did because I stumbled across this adorable little bedside lamp. It's really small only about 12 cm tall. I think it dates from the 1920's. 

30 January 2012

last week Nobrow popped-up




Last week was busy (work wise) I had a deadline on Friday which I'd been working toward since before Xmas, I went into the office most days as toward the end of a project it's easier to be working in-house alongside my colleagues, but this means more of my week spent on and waiting for trains! I'd get home late have an hour or so before heading to bed ready for the the next day. By the time Friday lunch arrived I was in need of a treat, I hadn't been out of the office for lunch all week and I could easily waste another hour in front of the computer had I not forced myself out of the door and across the river. 


I'd read about Nobrow 'This Is Not a Pop Up' at the Hayward Gallery, and thought it sounded like my cup of tea. And it was! Nobrow is an independent publisher specialising in illustrated and graphic titles. Everything is beautifully printed in amazing colours on paper you want to touch. I bought myself a selection of postcards (top image) as well as the book Rise and Fall illustrated by Micah Lidberg. It's fantastic, a concertina that opens out to show the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and the subsequent evolution of mammals. Micah's illustration is really cool, absolutely packed with detail - check out his website to see more of his work. Unfortunately the Pop Up store is now closed, so you'll need to hunt elsewhere to see their beautiful books.


Postcards clockwise from top left; Tom Clohosy Cole, Gwenola Carrere, Clayton Junior, Tom Gauld, Nora Krug, Luke Pearson, Till Hafenbrak and Micha Lidberg.

26 January 2012

doodle-oo


Everytime I come to do a post I get frustrated! It's the fact that I don't have a proper camera and my images look so poor compared to those on the blogs I read. I'm suffering with major camera envy of pretty much all of you! I've got my iphone and a little instant Casio type that was a hand-me-down from D's mum, so really nothing great. I love my iphone, the handiness of it always being there, the fact I can enhance my images with a whole host of different apps - it's great, but the quality just isn't there for everything I want to photograph. So I'm saving up and will soon (I hope) be able to treat myself to a decent camera! I just can't wait. But what do I choose? What do you use? Tell me please - I need any help and advice you can give, it's been years since I even entered a camera shop and I'm slightly scared.

So today's post is illustrated by a simple doodle, this is the type of thing I used to scrawl across exercise books as a kid. Oh I forgot how much fun some simple scrawling could be, especially on the computer - better than blue biro I think!

21 January 2012

a cup or two...


Can you have too many of one thing? I really like cups and mugs and we have a cupboard full - despite there being just two of us, but I can't resist them. I can't think of many things better than a nice cup of tea in a nice cup or mug. My favourite at the moment is my Jansen mug (front row, second in from the right) in blue and red, it's so simple and so beautiful - a xmas present from D. 


But too many of one thing doesn't end there! I'll show you more of something else another time.


Have a lovely weekend! We're off to the London Art Fair shortly - can't wait.

19 January 2012

pictures in the post

I mentioned these Roald Dahl stamps here the other day and said how I hoped to go and buy some - well I did, some first class and some 76 pence stamps (for sending abroad). The illustrations are by Quentin Blake, Mr Dahl wrote the stories though it's Mr Blake's illustrations that spring to mind when I think of them.

But I didn't stop there, I went through the whole book of stamps at the philatelic counter and picked out any that took my fancy. I now have quite a collection, so lots of letter writing for me this year I think! 

Aren't they beautiful and far better than one of those printed label types? I'm not sure if all post offices sell them now, but if you're ever near Charing Cross, the post office there is well worth a visit as they have the whole selection. You just queue up at counter C, I've never had much of a wait except the one time I got stuck behind a real collector and wasted a whole lunch hour before giving up. 




17 January 2012

amaryllis



I've had my amaryllis a few years now and each year he's flowered beautifully, looks like he's had little babies this year (growing on the side) I hope that means he'll still flower for me. Let's wait and see.

16 January 2012

liebster blog ♥




Andrea from little buckles has kindly nominated nice kind of blue, as one of her favourite blogs. Thank you Andrea! I've only been blogging since September so this is quite exciting for me : )
 
The rules for this award are easy-peasy. If you were tagged and would like to join, write a post with the links to the person who tagged you and to five of your favourite little-known blogs and inform those you tagged. That's it.

So, here are my five favourites (I'm sure you'll love them too, you might even know them already):



Lottie Loves
Pregnancy, Joy, and Other Things...
Fast Times in Munchen
Something I Made
Toot as in Foot

P.S. Image of my desk.

a frosty reception

It seemed to take a while to find us, but now winter is here. I was freezing in bed last night, one of those restless nights when you feel you spent most of the night snuggling and trying to get warm - I'll remember to fill the hot water bottles tonight. 



As always with cats, Shelley made a wise decision today and decided to go back to bed!




It's lunchtime now, the ground has mostly defrosted and the sun is doing it's best to cheer us up from our winter blues. The winter aconites are starting to bloom along with snowdrops around the garden, in a few days even more will have poked their little heads up through the soil - I can't wait.



14 January 2012

yesterday




I was at work yesterday, Friday. My friend Charlie knows how much I like to gaze out of the window at the setting sun, so yesterday he suggested we take a trip to the 10th floor (the top floor) and see the sunset there. Well by the time we'd got there and checked the coast was clear for us to venture onto the balcony we'd kind of missed the sun set, but hey what a view! It was amazing, up high looking out over London at some of the best landmarks; Parliament, Big Ben, the Wheel, the Bridges, the river, the Shard, the Gherkin, Canary Wharf, St Paul's and more. It was strange, as though floating over the city, the sounds were different I could hear trains crossing the bridges and other more mechanical sounds, no voices, no people. Quite beautiful.


Shame I didn't have a better camera, just my phone.

12 January 2012

pleasure in the post




I'll collect anything, well not just anything but I am a bit of a hoarder. I started cutting the stamps off my post years ago and have been doing it ever since. I love the stamps, I love turning them over to see the colour and any patterns on the inside of the envelope too! I don't just keep the pretty ones, I love them all. The top picture shows just a random pinch from one of my jars, what a mixture - aren't they great? As well as collecting them from the post I take a trip to the post office every now and then and join the queue for the philatelic counter. I'm not interested in first day covers or anything fancy I just buy the ones I like the most and I can use on the post I send. I see the latest stamps from the Royal Mail are Roald Dahl stamps each featuring one of Quentin Blake's wonderful illustrations. Perhaps I'll pay a trip to the post office tomorrow.

flowers from D


D bought these beautiful orange tulips home for me the other day, along with a bunch of punchy purple carnations. He knows me well, I love them.

9 January 2012

a night away


It was D's birthday on Friday, despite having to work during the day we had a lovely meal out in the evening at a local Indian restaurant, delicious food and the best company - my D. It was just the start of our fun-filled weekend, I'd booked us in to a hotel in London as a surprise for the following night so on Saturday morning we took the train to London. 


We had a super time, eating, drinking, wandering, riding on buses, browsing and shopping as we went. Amazing how just one night away can feel like a real break. On Sunday we celebrated our 13 year anniversary, which made the whole weekend even more special. 


Didn't really take many pictures, just a few. 1&2) Coffee and breakfast at Patisserie Valerie's 3) Riusuke Fukahori - Goldfish Salvation at the ICN gallery 4) Maiden, window display 5) Phlegm artwork 6) more street art 7) my neon nails 8) my new oversize shirt 9) my new boots

5 January 2012

happy 2012 : )

Another year, of course it's not really that different. Except I can't quite get used to; being back at work, going to bed early, getting up early, and the wind - it's just SO windy! Our house is still a mess from Xmas - tonight we will take down the decorations wrap them in tissue paper and pack them into boxes. I'll write and send thank you cards to the givers of my gorgeous presents (which I must show you all soon) and then perhaps I'll feel fresh and ready for this year to begin - hope so.