"Rob collects ladybird books and had some shelves made especially to house his collection!"



amazing

from design*sponge sneak peaks. (www.designspongeonline.com)

Rachel Denny

wow.

from racheldenny.com

wild young things

YES WOW YES

company

ARGH BEST SHOP EVER











com-pa-ny

p.s. check out their prototypes. they look like they have a really fun job. chair man is particularly inspired. and the duct tape "jesus" chair

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lego

They're having a lego event at work soon. YES. So exciting.



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regional assembly of text

Saw this on design*sponge. looks good enough to eat. lolol




and their bricks and mortar shop looks so so lovely in the photos on their (equally lovely) site.

assembly of text

stationary makes my world go round.

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douglas coupland

Coupland's house is incredibbbble.







more photos HERE. I'm not tidy enough to have a house devoid of general clutter, but I can still envy.

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the book club

I'm in the first stages of planning a clubnight. The first stages being getting giddy and thinking about how fun it'd be. I want it to be called the book club and loosely have a bookshop/library theme (geek)...people will be stamped with a date stamp upon arrival and the music will be "influenced by literature or books" haha so basically anything with words. I also would like to wear animal costumes but that might be asking too much of your average punter.

I'm excited about possible flyer designs. To start with I was thinking of making it like a vintage puffin bookcover with orange stripes and have the bands in some really cheesy font in the middle. But now I'm thinkin that I'd like to encorporate some kind of totoro inspired character eating books. This is cute...



oui xx

everybody wants to go to Japan

everybody just hold hands

I wanna go back. Please.









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bigger better cuter

I'm feeling very inspired by these felt instruments. I'm going to think bigger, and sew bigger.






http://www.pulsewidth.etsy.com

I'm currently embarking on a VERY exciting project involving puppets of animals. Watch this space. Eeeee!

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buttons

buttons buttons buttons

vintage buttons on card look SO GOOD. I love them SO MUCH.



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miranda july

Miranda July doesn't seem to post much on the internet at the moment, but I'm going to assume that she's a busy little worker-bee. I hope she writes more books, I really loved no-one belongs here more than you.

And this film is so cute



hmmm you might want to watch it on the actual site because my page cuts off the edge. oh and ignore the advert at the beginning, I keep thinking I've accidentally posted flight of the concords but I haven't.

http://www.vbs.tv/watch/vbs-meets/miranda-july

teehee

xx

trees

I want this wallpaper more than anything in the world (ok. I exaggerated but I like it).



It's from finelittleday.blogspot.com

Yet another person whose life I envy after peering in regularly via their blog. What a funny world it is.

silly billy

I like silly



http://www.staceyrebecca.etsy.com

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sew tired

Been busy busy bumble sewing stuff for the craft fair this Saturday. But also listed a couple of newbies on etsy, and re-listed some unsold stuff

go see go see




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back from indietracks

Indietracks was fab. super-dooper. I'm smiling just thinking about it. I sold lots and lots of brooches to lots and lots of lovely people. Everyone there was so so nice. I think it managed to be my FAVOURITE ever indietracks. Toot toot! I don't even mind that I missed a few bands I'd really wanted to see, playing shop was fun.

It was definitely my drunkest indietracks though. I sure managed to get through a lot of cider. It was too lovely and fun for me to be embarrassed about manically dancing and talking absolute rubbish to new people. I had a moment of rosy-cheeked shame when on the second day I was manning (or woman-ing) my stall and saw a couple of smittens and suddenly remembered talking to them the previous night extremely drunk. I remember going on and on about how big America is, and I think I kept forgetting if they were from Canada or America and asking over and over. God. I am a silly little thing when I'm drunky. But in summary, it was great! Oh god, I should also apologise to any of the several Swedish people I insisted on talking to (or rather talking at) about how I've been to Stockholm. Amy, they don't CARE. I met so many nice people, what a wonderful indiepop world it is. Even the rain didn't dampen my spirits too much. Dancing til dawn has taken it out of me, I've eaten a whole pack of rich tea's since getting back and at some point I have to face that it's time to sew some more brooches before Saturday. I'm tired.


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Indietracks

Toot toot! It's that time of year again; when a bunch of lovely indiepop fans party like no-one's watching among the steam trains of Derbyshire. I've been hidiously last minute about the whole thing and only just found out that I got the time off work, but somehow it's all coming together. Badges are sewn. Tent-pitch is booked. Train-times have been glanced at. I haven't even sorted out what to WEAR yet, or bought any little tubes of toothpaste and shampoo, or made TENT SNACKS. Jeez louise. What a crazy adventurer I am. I have been watching bear grylls though so I'm prepared for most eventualities.

I seem to have completely lost touch with the music world mostly because of silly technology...this laptop doesn't have my itunes on and is so old n slow that I can't stream music on it. So lots of the bands at indietracks will be a big fun suprise for me. Yay! I've just scrolled through the band listing on the website, wow wow I'm so excited! So much cuteness!

http://www.indietracks.co.uk

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p.s. but I'm going by MYSELF. scaredy scaredy scared.

they're a hoot!!

Listed some new (and old) owl brooches on etsy. Having a bit of a purge. I've got handfulls of the little guys hanging around slowly loosing their shape hidden away in bags. Aw that sounds so sad! I feel awful!!



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Rachel Harris

This is ace.



http://www.rachel-harris.com

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Ian Whitemore

I like this a lot.



His channels series is a cool idea too

www.ianwhitmore.com

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waiting

Etsy is down when I need it dearly. Not to post new items, but to window shop and distract myself. I tell myself that browsing etsy inspires me and so isn't just window shopping...but essentially I just want to burn some time. I'm waiting by the phone to hear if I have a new job or not and I really really really want it.

I think I'll go back to reading my book. I'm reading the summer book by Tove Jansson. Tove is better known for the Moomin stories...which I'm sure that anyone who is vaguely interested in whimsical books, design, or graphic novels, is well aware of and in love with. The moomins would make everything seem okay right now! But the summer book is great too. It's aimed at adults (although the moomin books are definately suitable for adults too!!) She tells the story of a little girl and her grandma living on an island for the summer. It reminds me a little bit of the books I've been reading by Amelie Nothomb, mainly because the main character is a young girl and we're treated to a view of the world from their creative little eyes. The grandma character in the summer book is great too, her human faults are laid bare and the book feels very real.



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stamps

I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to stamps. I love collecting the stamps from internet-purchases and snail mail with friends. And I like other post related items too...the post office "post-pak" stationary with white and red print is suprisingly stylish. Maybe I'm a sucker for practical European-looking design.

Any way, on to stamps of the other variety. I remember getting a little amy rubber stamp at school and stamping all my homework with pink ink all over round the heading and down the margins. Teachers were amused to varying degrees. I was 16 so maybe a bit old for messing up my essays with my name in pink.

These stamps are far more attractive, and useful too





and the little wooden suitcase to carry them around in...stamping on the go!

link: karaku.etsy.com

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pandas

I seem to have deviated slightly from my panda obsession. I assure you that they're always on my mind.



lil cuteys

link: crywolfclothing.com

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tape

Imagine these amazing tapes wrapped all around a brown paper gift. No matter what was inside it'd be the best present since sliced bread. I'm excited just thinking about what else I'd use it for...maybe just tape up all the windows and doors and live in a magical little cave of tape-flavoured joy. How are all these characters by Japanese designers so very Japanese but yet so French. Oh to live in this perfect JapanoFrench world and never grow old...









all from cottonblue (who also stock loooovely fabric)

Julie Pollen

These brooches are so sweet. Makes me wish I was a bit more creative in thinking of new directions to go in with my work. from: juliepollen



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eric carle google

Follow up on the eric carle post...I just saw this...



cutey x

Spring sprang sprung

top row: stephieD , cabin + cub , orientalfabrics
middle: OhMyCookies , darlingclementine , CircaCeramics
bottom: thebuttercup , blancucha , sweetbeets

the sun is a shining, the birds are a singing, the flowers are a blooming, lets go outside


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easter chic

One of the perks of living in Manchester for the time-being is that I can go and drool over products in a big paperchase store. I love stationary. And when all lined up in colour-co-orinated height order...sighhh. And they've got a really impressive range of stationary with interesting prints.

Any way, some of their easter stuff is really sweet. a real tweet. (sorry). My absolute favourite is a little set of chenille chicks. I've realised that I'm a sucker for silly little chenille characters. I bought some little chenille santa's from barnados at christmas and I can't wait to stock up on more this year! The idea of things made out of pipe-cleaners is so so sweet! I'm a child. The paperchase website doesn't have the chicks online but I found these fellas on a site called easter parade...





can't believe I'm going awwwwww at a snip of yellow pipe-cleaner.


And this bunch of chicks on etsy have got me all mushy, they look like they really do just want a loving home



from: schmetterlingtag.etsy.com

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cute as a button

I'm a button enthusiast. For anyone who doesn't know me/hasn't seen my arms...I have three little buttons (although one a litle larger than I'd intended) tattooed on my left wrist. So this stool is perfect for me :) So cuuuute



Designed by Josef Frank in the 50s and now back available to buy from svenskt tenn in Sweden. If anyone wants to get me it. I like that it looks like real furniture and not just a "fun" item. If you get what I mean?

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eric carle

Today I saw an interview in the Guardian with Eric Carle and it reminded me of shelving and smiling at his books while working at Waterstones (*sob* those were the days). Of course pretty much everyone knows and loves the very hungry caterpillar, but what I didn't realise until working among the wonderful world of children's books, is that some of his other characters are even better. His illustrations of bears and other creatures have the style of collages; their limbs look hinged and thus they come alive. I can imagine exactly how they would move if animated.





He also seems to make lots of really quite magical "merchadise". At charistmas there was a pop-up advent calandar thing, and I remember seeing some loooovely animal flashcards for learning ABC. He seems to appreciate the art of papercraft as well as illustration. Look at the pop-up santa...he looks like an old tin robot :)



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T-rrrrrific

See what I did there...T-rrrific...a post about t-shirts...nevermind.

Everyone knows threadless is the best place for t's online, but I've come across two other shops which rival. If only because they fulfill my seemingly endless need for wacky animal related tat.

link : RECESSACALIOUS (found via design4mankind.com)



Check out the other t-shirts too...the dog-headed creature in the desert is my close second favourite.

I've just found out the t-shirts at the other shop I intended to blog about have sold out. So here is a picture of a sold item...it needs to be shared even if lusting after it is pointless...



from the now empty : http://www.meow4ever.etsy.com


Happy Wednesday

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petit affiche

What a quaint poster from le train fantome
link : http://www.letrainfantome.bigcartel.com


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kitty kats

I've had a little etsy sesh jumping from favourite shops to favourite shops following a trail of ever wierder and odder finds. Two shops in particular have caught my eye...



link : http://www.memonster.etsy.com



link : http://www.schmooks.etsy.com

The second shop (and to some extent the first) reminds me of the series 'I am not an animal', which was a series made by the BBC a few years ago. Steve Coogan did the horse's voice...if that jogs any memories. I'd reccommend it highly...very funny and very silly.



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