textures

I am still experimenting with wallpaper patterns, it's all looking a bit flat at the moment so I want to introduce some texture. Feeling uninspired I have been looking around the house, starting with some studio pottery and Penguin poets.

twiggy shelves 2

My twiggy shelves are leading a glamorous life of their own and have popped up in this months Elle Deco (how? I don't know!) I remember puzzled amusement from family and friends when I brought these hand crafted rustic shelves home from the junk shop - ha!

flower show

Oh how we love our gardening and the British weather! At last we have had proper rain here in London which is all good for the garden and our sadly neglected allotment. Our skinny sixties house has various ledges and flat bits, one of which is the balcony and I have to say it is looking pretty spot-on at the moment. I am awarding myself a gold medal in the tiny urban balcony category (sponsored by Ikea!)

up the wall

I finally had time this week to experiment with my new obsession - wallpaper! I am hoping to go into production with a tiny range for Autumn. I am still fiddling around with the repeat and alternative colours but here is a sneak preview of the first hand printed prototype. Log pile in a smokey blue. I was ridiculously exited when I rolled it up and it looked like a proper roll of wallpaper!

waiting for a train

Don't drink a bucket of overpriced frothy coffee when you are waiting for a train at Kings Cross station, go round the corner to Drink Shop & Do on the Caledonian Road and take tea (or cocktails!) in vintage style in a converted victorian bathhouse. Everything in this happy tea room is for sale from handmade crafts to vintage tea sets, even the tables and chairs. They also run activities and workshops which are often free and require no skills whatsoever - we nearly missed the train!

in fashion

  

Yes, it's me - hanging around with the high heels and handbags in this weeks Grazia mag. As usual I am feeling a little embarrassed but my daughter (who knows about these things) tells me it's all good PR.

a teak habit

After a fantastically busy open studio weekend we made the epic trip to Newcastle and back yesterday to collect Lucy and a car load of her stuff from university (terms seem to end before they begin these days).
We had a look around Jesmond where she will be living next year (huge improvement from slummy halls of residence). I couldn't resist a beautiful vintage teak bowl from the Oxfam shop there, because you can't have too many teak bowls. Then I got it home and realised that you can.

end of a long day

I printed these log pile tea towels yesterday for my open studio today. It has been a busy, busy day playing at shopkeeper and meeting lots of really nice people. I now need to raid my cupboards to replenish my vintage table.

Open again on Sunday 11-6.00, details are on the Dulwich festival website along with listings of other events and artists. Or email me for information if you can't find it on the website.

day out in Brixton

I get a lot of my fabric from Brixton market and have been noticing it's transformation lately. Although you can still buy six inch African snails ready for the pot and all your fruit and veg and plastic buckets, there is now a new generation of vintage shops, cafes and delis in the covered arcades. A bit too trendy for some but I think it's lovely and a great day out. You can eat your way around the world and pick up vintage bargains like this tapestry handbag. I added an orange leather shoulder strap so that I don't look too much like a Welsh granny.

Don't forget open studio here this weekend, details are on the Dulwich festival website along with listings of other events and artists. Or email me for information if you can't find it on the website.

say cheese

There's no mistaking the contents of these 70's TG Green storage jars and it's good to know I will never loose the cheese again! The splendid cheese dish was smiling at me in a seaside charity shop along with a pretty Midwinter soup bowl and a stack of folksy plates. The plates will be for sale at my open studios event this weekend (14th-15th May) along with prints and textiles and some other bits of vintage that I can bear to part with!

Details of the open studio events are on the Dulwich festival website along with listings of other events and artists. Or email me for information if you can't find it on the website.

open house 2011

It's open studio time! Once again I will be taking part in the Dulwich Festival Artists Open House event and opening my home studio just for the second weekend, that's the 14th and 15th May. I will be selling prints and textiles, seconds and mishaps and a few vintage bit and pieces, a bit of a jumble sale really! It would be great to see anyone who can make it to deepest southeast London. Details are on the festival website along with listings of other events and artists. Or email me for information if you can't find it on the website.

paris

Paris Sketchbook by Ronald Searle and Kaye Webb, the perfect present for my parents' Diamond Wedding celebration. They spent their honeymoon and anniversary in Paris and this book, published in 1950 evokes the atmosphere of the city perfectly. The sketches by Ronald Searle capture the bohemian spirit of Parisian characters and café life. Unfortunately their favourite Restaurant des Beaux Arts although still unchanged after 60 years was closed on the night - another reason to return!