I'm actually nesting...

I'm getting rather large with baby no3 on the way and sitting at my desk for hours on end is pretty tough. I seem to need a mountain of cushions to get comfy! I've also decided to invest in a macbook so I can work in the evenings from the comfort of my sofa/nest of cushions/bed/anywhere in a horizontal position. Mmmmmmm, new gadgetry for my nest.

Bring on spring (pleeeeeease!)..

I am so utterly desperate to feel some warm sunshine on my face, hear insects buzzing again and birds singing in the trees, I'm going bonkers.

As a bit of a kickstart I've got all my windowboxes full of little green shoots promising to burst out into colour in a few weeks. Sometimes at night when I'm reading, I turn my reading light by the window onto my shoots on the windowledge and say hello to my little friends.

The house is also full of hyacinths and smells amazing, all I need now is a bit less snow and a bit more sunshine. I can recommend blue hyacinths and Jasmine as a heady mix.

studio plans...

I'm very excited as our lovely builders have been beavering away (well actually they're a bit more zen and ploddy than beaverinsh) in our cellar. I will soon have a fab new studio space. I get to do that lovely planning and decorating bit - I can't wait. I did interiors for 8 years so it's great fun to get stuck into my own project. It's going to have limited daylight and i'm on a really tight budget so it'll be junk shops and flea markets all the way which is much more creative and inspiring anyway.

I want to go for a white gloss floor and zingy limes with a bit of retro pattern. I'm loving these 2 interiors shots with oranges, limes and whites, they look really fresh and bright. I might actually get round to making some soft furnishings with my vintage fabrics!!!

A return to the blogosphere...

Hello my very neglected readers (if you're still out there?). This post marks a return to my very sad and sorry blog that I've been neglecting whilst baking bigger business pies.

Here are some of my new designs, there's 18 in total. I'll be uploading them all on my folksy site soon. The good news is you'll be able to buy Design Rocks! cards on Amazon. Yes, I've been invited to sell with Amazon, so we'll see how that goes. There also other interesting developments afoot, so I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.

I feel like I've been in a washing machine for 2 months with such a massive workload (and massive bump, only 3 and a half months to go until baby no 3 arrives!). It's great but I'm glad to finally be able to do fun stuff again like reading, blogging and visiting galleries. I'm also really looking forward to meeting up with my lovely crafters and designers this weekend at the Craft Centre on Tib St for hot muffins and tea and a mooch round the N Quarter.




There's a fab conceptual wallpaper exhibition on at the Whitworth called 'Walls Are Talking'. Go and see it it's brilliant, there's everything from Warhol to Sindy to bloodsplats and barbed wire wallpaper.


Finally I leave you with Lola's Room, adorable photography by a gal with a great eye for colour and composition. I think her snaps would make great greetings cards actually. You can buy her pics from her folksy shop.

Wooo Hoooo!!!!

Just a quick post to say Top Drawer was a phenomenal success!!! I'm so excited and super happy! After all the determination, frustration, hard work and (many) tears - it's all paid off and I can finally make a living doing something I absolutely love.

I had tons of orders (actually quite overwhelming now) and more than 50 leads to other great retailers and developments. Some included John Lewis, Mamas and Papa's, Amazon and many many more. There's so much to get my teeth into.

People were so lovely and lots of people complimented the stand (pics coming soon) and said my cards were really different and stood out which is a relief because the greetings card market is HUGE so that's really important.

I was so tired after the show, standing around with a now rather large bump was a bit tough but I ran on adrenaline and had a great time. I'm still walking around with a smile, I'm a very happy bunny.

I've got a new website too so have a look if you want to see my new designs:


www.designrocks.co.uk