Seasons Greetings!

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Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays or whatever you celebrate this season, and what better way to do it than with some talented designers.

In order of appearance (left - right):-
1st row: Adrian Johnson’s ‘Six Geese A-laying’; Darling Clementine's 'Candy Cane';
Tom Gauld's '4 calling birds' & Rob Ryan's G2 Christmas card.

2nd row: Jotto Seibold's 'Olive the other Reindeer'; Craig Ward's 'Season's Greetings'; Alison Carmichael's 'Baubles' & Christoph Neimann 'Let it Dough'.

3rd row: Yulia Brodskaya's bookcover for the 2009 Neiman Marcus 'The Christmas Book'; Kate Sutton's 'Robin'; Jessica Hische's '6 Geese are Laying' from her personal project & Frode Skaren's 'Opposites' Christmas card.

Have a great one everyone!

My So Called Scarf

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Wow has it really been nearly 4 months since I've blogged? That is shameful...I hope now that work has calmed a bit and with the break coming up, that I will be able to rectify this. I have a ton of things I want to blog about so please bear with!

So I will begin with telling you about my new scarf. Recently I've just got back into knitting, and there has been one pattern that attempted several times but to no success. So after 5 years, I decided that now was the time to try it again, especially as last winter someone stole my gorgeously long and cosy scarf one bitter December evening.

I found the My So Called Scarf pattern on this blog while searching for a fun scarf to knit, and it turns out that the pattern originally came from a San Fransisco knitting shop called Imagiknit. They were giving the pattern away free with any purchase of the Manos del Uruguay wool. I was drawn by the interesting pattern and the gorgeous colours but I just couldn't knit it! It actually turned out to be a very simple pattern, and one that I very much enjoyed knitting.

The best thing about this scarf is that with each purchased skein of Manos del Uruguay yarn you will be helping a woman support her family. The hand-crafted and hand-dyed Fair Trade yarns are each signed by the woman who made your yarn and the village she comes from, so not only is it beautiful, but you are helping someone as well.

The original pattern was knitted in Wildflowers (113), however I decided to go for Bramble (114) as it was more autumnal and I bought mine from Purl Soho. Get the pattern here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Anthropologie birthday card

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So in my birth month, August, I received a curious envelope from Anthropologie - inside contained a card with a perforated cupcake, plastic candle and a birthday discount. Turned out that the candle is part of a necklace! The front read:

"Happy Birthday! Make a wish. And treat yourself to something special..." and the back read "Your candle necklace is for you to keep. This little gift is for you and only you. And cannot be turned into chocolate, flowers or cash. It's a one-time treat...."

I love the detail this store goes in to - it gets me every time! The discount came in handy as I also received a gift card in the cutest gift card holder I've ever seen - a little monster! I don't know who created this little monster, but Lizania Cruz (who I blogged about on 3rd April 2010) created the 2009 birthday gift for Anthro - also very lovely.

Images from 2Sisters and Effortless Anthropologie.

Sweet Treats

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Today is my birthday, and those that know me, know that I love cake - I mean really love cake!! So I thought I'd give you all a sweet treat from the British artist Sarah Jane Szikora. Sarah's humorous and quirky paintings focus on larger than life ladies, skinny males, gingerbread men, edible treats and cats - each painted with a palette taken straight from the sweetest sweet (candy) shop. For me she shares a few similarities to the British institution, that is Beryl Cook, as both of their styles strongly feature subtle British humour and rotund ladies. I thought it was the perfect post for today - British and charming!

Background Noise

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I'm not a fan of wallpaper, in general, especially when a room has been wallpapered floor to ceiling. I've seen too many wallpaper disasters in my time. But if you must wallpaper, then an accent wall with a stylish pattern is always welcome. For me wallpaper should make you want to look twice which is why I love Dan Funderburgh's designs - which are available to buy here. He also designed some Moleskine covers which you can buy from Engrave Your Book.

Another wallpaper design that definitely makes you look twice is Paper Voyeur's flora and fornication range - as Lascivious so perfectly put it; this wallpaper imbues "European eroticism with a sprinkling of English reserve, these wallpapers nod to the florid romance of Mucha or Beardsley - an outline of the idea without the pink bits."

This unique collection of wallpaper was designed by the British design studio, DED and is popular with stores such as Agent Provocateur and Coco De Mer. Enjoy!

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Paperfinger

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Since my wedding I have developed an interest in calligraphy, and Bryn Chernoff - the very talented lady behind Paperfinger - is one of the best modern calligraphers that I've stumbled upon. What I also like about this Brooklynite's penmanship is that she also incorporates hand drawn designs which are great for extra personalisations to any wedding or event invites. Click the image to see the details and her beautiful lettering. Please check out her site and her blog too.

Images taken from Paperfinger.

Blog template update

I've been really lame at updating my blog recently, so I've been working on updating it and stripping it back bit to make blogging simpler and quicker. Let's hope I stick at it. Check back soon to see the new site!