Little Vintage Dresser of Joy..

I picked this little beauty up off ebay today! I've been having a massive sort out, and needed a nice storage/display cabinet for the boudoir. I had a moment of madness and just bought it - it was one of those gut reaction things.

Just think...you pay £100 for a solid wood vintage darling like this but if you bought new you'd have a super flimsy, rattly bit of rubbish. It's a win win - quality craftsmanship, environmentally sound and something I'll still have when I'm 90 as it won't date!

It looks a little Ye Olde Inn at the mo but I have big plans for it. I'm going to paint it a nice grungy neutral then wallpaper the back of the display shelves in a fab wall paper, or I'll paint a nice pattern or illustration to work with the displayed items. I love natural shades with patterns and colours that pop. A bit like my cards I guess. I'll show you the after when it's done.

A little gift to you all...

Hmm, I've had such a nice day I'm feeling in a generous mood! Here's a little book label for you to print and keep, if you print them 8 up they'll fit snugly on a sheet of A4. Either print them on to a sticky label sheet or just plain paper and stick them on with good old pritt stick.

Now you can get busy with a cute book labeling project and pretend you're back at school.

Enjoy, but remember people: this is for personal use only....and have a good weekend. Yay!

Happy Harrogate!

My God, people in the greetings card industry are SO lovely. I went to check out Harrogate Home and Gift to get an idea of trade fair set ups and a fresh feel for the market, before I take the plunge in Jan at Top Drawer. I chatted to a few of my competitors and I couldn't believe how friendly they were.

My two best show pals were: Iain from Hello! Lucky, here's their stuff. I've always loved the Letterpress stylie and these guys are definately one of the best so there was much scribbling and chin stroking whilst talking to my mini mentor Iain.

My other mini mentor/verbal sponsor is the lovely Alison from Aliroo. Not only is she always so generous with her time and knowledge, she does all this with a 10 week old baby in tow!

I think what I like the most is that these great people have the same outlook as me. I love helping people and sharing what I've learnt, I'm not guarded or defensive (or naive!). Supporting people on the way up is a two way street.

I believe there's a market out there big enough to support all these diverse companies so the best thing we can do is to support each other to make British design the strongest in the global marketplace. And I believe it is. Right. I'll get down off my soap box now.

China Town colour blast!

We went for the legendary Thai buffet in Pacific (go starving - there's a lot to fit in). After wards I had a mooch over to the mental craft shop in China town, it certainly blows out the cobwebs with the bright colours and mega kitsch merchandise! These are my colour inspiration pics from the Chinese Craft market.

I had to buy a lantern for the garden. I bought tons one year and hung them along the washing line for a bbq, only trouble was it was windy so I popped in to the kitchen to get some bbq fodder, when I returned the whole lot was on fire! A bit of a fire hazard with candles inside but they do look pretty.

UPDATE:

I'm putting on my heels and I'm off for a summery drink and an Indi film at the cornerhouse. I can get my fix of hustle and bustle down Oxford street.

Yay for a bit of fun!