So, I wanted to stop by to thank you all for your encouragement after my last post about opening up a bit more over here. Who knew you'd all love a bit more of the personal stuff? Well, you did, obviously. Anyway, as a thank you, here's a list of things I really want. I know, I'm too good to you. Jokes aside, thanks for allowing me to not feel like a massive idiot for the offer of being a bit more sharey (yes, it's now a word) and for reading my blog. It means a lot to me. Oh, and if any of you are feeling extra generous, I would like one of each of the above please and thank you kindly. Ok, have a great weekend, friends and see you back here next week? Date, done. 1. Shirt - Zara2. Scarf - Imogene + Willie3. Earrings - Erin Wasson4. Publication - The Gentlewoman5. Art - Ethan Cook6. Tea Bowl - Tabuchi Taro7. Jeans - COS8. Lingerie - Roseanna 9. Necklace - Maslo Jewelry
For a couple of years now I've had recurring neck/shoulder and back problems, stemming from trapped nerves and screwed up joints throughout my body. I live in pretty much constant pain but over the past two years I've managed to somewhat control the pain with regular osteopath appointments and a bit of yoga & pilates here and there (although I'm nowhere near as dedicated as I should be). However, last week things took a bad turn again where I could barely move my neck. It's the kind of pain that makes you want to vomit and pass out (sorry!). Quite frankly, it's a bitch. I also always wear cross body type bags & satchels which I know are adding to the problem, so the time has come that I will give in and buy a bag recommended by my osteo. It has to be a rucksack so the weight is evenly distributed etc etc... Anyway, onto the good part, I need to choose a decent one. And I need help! I've found the ones above which are all pretty damn good looking I think. I'm right, aren't I? Ha! Do you have any good ones you use or know of?
Do any of you have similar issues?!
Any suggestions extremely welcome!
The goods: 1 / Camper Satchel by Sketchbook 2 / Petite Hobo Pack by MimsMaine 3 / Ivory & Beige Canvas Backpack by BagyBag 4 / Geometric Mountain Backpack by Depeapa (discovered via the great Elephantine blog) 5 / Black Stripe Backpack by Kawanila 6 / Show Business Leather Backpack by Grafea England
'Tis Summer alright. And as such, I want this camera, this bathing suit (and who am I kidding, her body too, please) this print from Mr Gresty (he's ace) and this clutch from Clare Vivier (she's ace too). Shame I'm on a massive personal shopping ban... Happy summer weekend!
How perfect are these colours for summer? VERY. 1 / Beautiful fabric & metal necklace from The Vamoose. Kathryn's work is great - I have one of her citrine drop necklaces and it gets me lots of compliments, so, you know, that's always cool. (Plus her collection was the inspiration for this post). 2 / Wonderful exhibition 'You Are My Favourite' taking place in 15 countries over 1 evening. Best thing of all, it's all female photographers. LOVE. Found via the lovely TWO TWO OH FOUR blog by Ismay Ozga. 3 / Perfect summer necklace from Cursive Design. WANT! 4 / Amazing Elie Saab dress. Where was this when I was getting married?! Perfect. Via I love Wild Fox. 5 / Dang nice 'Crystal Matrix' ring from Adina Mills via the DNA shop.
Having given myself a week off for an impromptu holiday in July, it appears my blogging hiatus lasted somewhat longer than the predicted seven days. But I shan't apologise because it was just what I needed: a few months to really get on with some work and to enjoy what little summer we had here. As this is my first post back after over three (three!) months away, I was going to share some photographs from our summer, mainly taken on film, but having got them back from the lab there were weird lines all over the images. So, while I wait for them to be rescanned, here is a Most Wanted post of all the things I think are perfect for these last few days/weeks of Autumn. Think cosy self indulgent evenings spent reading in your favourite chair, drinking spiced tea and eating something terribly rich, probably involving cheese...yes? I think I would actually kill (you heard me) for any of the above. KILL. That's how much I want them. Anyway, here are the goods: 1 Timeless Blanket from Seasalt Cornwall 2 Winter edition of Acne Paper all about Manhattan, from Très Bien Shop 3 Glasses from Lunettes Kollektion 4 Sweater by Isabel Marant 5 Moon Phase Stud Earrings by Erica Bradbury from Cisthene 6 Holly Pleated Dress by Charles Anastase 7 Thumbprint bowl by Object & Totem 8 Paulistano Chair 04 from I/Object 9 Hand made leather backpack from The White Pepper 10 Aran Knit House Sock from Toast
PS Thanks to everyone who has stuck around during my break and I very much look forward to catching up on all your blogs really soon!
Now that we live by the sea (and having grown up here) I've always loved the smell of salt in the air and feeling free staring out over the water. It's a shame that we haven't been able to enjoy it this year thanks to the non existent British summer! So in lieu of any good weather here (and as we're not going away anywhere this year) I've been dreaming of escaping to a beach somewhere hot and sunny. When I was in my early 20s a couple of friends and I unexpectedly camped for a week or so on a secluded beach cove on the Greek Island of Corfu. With the tree covered mountains behind us and the sea at our feet, we would bathe in the crystal clear bath-warm water, go off on our mopeds to explore and return to cook the day's food on a small fire we made in the sand, watching the sun set over the water in total isolation. Such good memories! (and if I find any old photos from that trip I'll share them here). Which leads me to this week's Most Wanted goods, above. Inspired by my longing for the beach, they are: 1 Memory stick from Logical Art2 Wool blanket from Brookfarm General Store3 Enamel tumblers from Falcon Enamelware4 Fort Standard Triangle Trivet from Creatures of Comfort5 Seavees Bayside Sandals from Steven Alan6 Natural Wallet from Joshu + Vela7 Landscape print shirt from St. Anderswo8 Beautiful beach wedding photos (those colours!) from the always brilliant photographer and blogger, Jennifer Young
Since we no longer live in the city, I am unable to keep myself occupied with the urban sprawl I'm so familiar with. I miss it beyond compare and while nowhere will ever feel as much my home as London, I am at last feeling as though I'm able to fully appreciate where I live now, for what it actually is. It's pointless to compare it to the city because it isn't one, nor should it try to be. Nowadays when I leave my front door, turn left and walk for ten minutes I am at the sea front and if I turn right and walk for ten minutes, I am in the woods. I never realised until very recently how wonderful that is. Amongst other things it has reignited my childhood love of biking through the trees on a sunny day, and watching the tides roll in and out. Clearly it's inspired this week's Most Wanted, so here are the goods! Clockwise from top left: 1 Stoneware goblets from Little Wren Pottery 2 Skinny leather belt from Billy Kirk 3 Beautifully peaceful image of Connecticut by Amy via Instagram (@missnonsenseamy) 4 Klara 3 speed bike from Retrovelo 5 Botanical print from Miss Quite Contrary 6 'Sticks and Stones' necklace from Sophie Monet 7 Pewter plant ring from Makr Carry Goods
Recently I've been creating a new range of stationery, which consequently means I've been collating images like mad woman for inspiration. I noticed that today's 'old gold' mood board was fast turning into this week's Most Wanted, as it's pretty much just a list of things I want! So here it is. PS This is the last you'll hear from me until late next week as I'm taking a short break. My 31st (gulp) birthday is tomorrow which I intend to enjoy by doing no work, followed by a family BBQ on Saturday and Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Battersea Park on Sunday. And because the Queen has been on the throne for 60 years we've all been given two back to back public holidays on Monday & Tuesday here in the UK. No work til Wednesday... Go Queen! Ha. Have an excellent weekend, friends! Clockwise from top left, the goods are:
Ilana Kohn's Yellow Marble Print Scarf (hello summer!) Asplund Light Tray from Artilleriet Iacoli & McAllister Spica Light from Object UK/Netherlands reversible map from Present and Correct Artwork from Ekaterina Koroleva Penguin Classic's cover design for The Great Gatsby Industry & nature together using sunglasses as a makeshift camera filter (photo by me) A4 Tie Envelope (made from 'the same stuff as the label on the back of your jeans' - leather?!) from Muji Tourmaline quartz necklace from Nallik Lovely table setting from Christmas 2011 by My Little Fabric
I tend to go through colour phases and can just as easily fall out of love with one as quickly as I fell in love with it three minutes earlier. It drives me insane but it's one of the pitfalls of being so outrageously indecisive. Oh how I wish I wasn't! But one thing I do know I will never tire of is black and white. Obviously simple and completely inoffensive, monochrome is completely timeless and can never go out of fashion, can it? No...I'm saying no. The goods: 1 / The most amazing circular clothes rail from Anna Leena. (And that shirt dress/top is beautiful). 2 / I love this geometric cushion from Pillowation.
3 / Baies Noir candle from Diptyque.
4 / Batik coffee scoops from Leif. I could happily home everything they have for sale.
5 / A design I'm currently working on and will be turning into a screen print soon.
6 / Not that I could ever pull these off, but if I could, I absolutely would! Shorts from Topshop.
7 / Oh those shoes. Those shoes. I would never take them off. Ever. From Marais.
8 / Not technically things to buy, but come on, how could I not? Kittens photo by Alexandra Sophie.
9 / Definite must have hand dyed Galaxy Scarf - Style G - from Hoakon + Helga.
The weekend proved to be much more productive than last week, thankfully. I think the guilt made me do more to make up for lost time! Studio time on Saturday was great - back to screen printing after a month off, making prints to eventually sell in the shop. As loneliness is such a hazard of being a freelancer working from home it felt great just to spend time with other like minded people. I can easily get lost in my own thoughts while I'm printing one after the other, after the other, after the other... But then I snap out of it and wander around to see what everyone else is up to. We all have quite differing styles & influences but we're all drawn together by the same medium, it can be really quite inspiring. Apart from being in the studio, I indulged in some awesome new paintbrushes (yes, these are my indulgences), Bill and I ate far too much junk food, spent many an hour sitting around chatting and just generally relaxing. Yesterday was glorious weather all day so we eventually decided to go out on our bicycles for some much needed fresh air and exercise... within about 5 minutes the rain started and then came hail like I have never seen before. It was, in a word, painful. Aside from that the goods above caught my eye this weekend. I would like them all, please and thank you. Hoping everyone else had a good weekend? Listing below... 1 / The Lorella Dress by Teatum Jones in Autumn Pink heavy silk.
2 / Love Cross T-Shirt by Zoe Karssen from Liberty.
3 / Beautiful Antler Drawing & Flower Photograph by wonderful photographer Kari Herer. 4 / Appropriately named Jazzhands Glitter shoes from Top Shop. 5 / Crystal Jersey Tunic Dress by Draw In Light from Liberty.
6 / Teardrop Terrarium by ABJ Glassworks.
7 / An Alphabet of London by illustrator Christopher Brown.
8 / Great British Food by the founders & chefs at Canteen, available at Liberty.
It's fair to say I am obsessed with jewellery. I used to own far too much of the stuff and ended up giving it all away as I went through one of my periodically ruthless spring cleans. I don't regret it because it was mainly just rubbish costume jewellery, once dubiously made and now tangled into a mass ball of broken beads and tarnished chains. I realised that I felt infinitely better about starting from scratch where I could support independent businesses who really love and care about what they make. And I don't think that things like this have to be expensive or designer or whatever. One of my favourite bracelets was found at a homemade fair in my local town for £5. It has a small gold woven chain with sparkling emerald like stones adorning the top, fastened by a simple golden lobster clasp. I try to look for pieces which will transcend future trends and last for years to come thanks to their timeless, understated elegance & undeniable craftsmanship. Which brings me to the beautiful pieces above! I have fallen in love with each and every one of them and believe them all to be made by wonderful indies, so without further chat from me, here are the goods: 1 / Arrow Ring from Paper & Chain2 / Dia Ring from Two Hills3 / Chevron Necklace from Paper & Chain 4 / Gold Dipped Bar Bracelet from Ayofemi Jewellery 5 / Zebra Jasper Fan Necklace from Deuce Fashion 6 / Fay Necklace from Elephantine 7 / Rough Diamond Earrings from Lex Luxe 8 / Terrestrial Agate Cube Necklace from Is Was And Will Be 9 / Alain Earrings from Elephantine 10 / Rosy Stone Bracelet from Ayofemi Jewellery
