I found this treasure in an charity shop the other day and fell in love with it. I’m definitely a winter baby – I’m loving the bitter dry cold weather we’re having (the rain – not so much). Anyway, I’m pleased I’ll have a reminder of winter during the warmer months to come. A very shiny delicate reminder of winter :) My indestructible snowflake.

As well as charity shops I’ve been combing through all of my favourite etsy vintage boutiques and I’ve found some gorgeous things. I’ve been calling them my birthday treats to myself… admittedly my birthday isn’t for another week and I’m highly likely to find more treasures between now and then – especially now the Christmas market is here!!! But I love them and wanted to share pictures. First is an old french candy tin purchased from probably the most regular place I shop on etsy: littlebyrdvintage. Rebekah is a star and puts up with my constant postage related emails. She stocks such beautiful things too :)

The next item I came across was this stunning little painting purchased from a newly discovered shop called WinkingOwl. Full of treasures, I wish I had enough pennies to ship them over here :). The painting has such beautiful colours.

I’m going to cut this post a little short as I have to go an get myself ready. I’ll update it a little bit later on. Enjoy the eye candy though :)

It’s Christmas come early! Not just one new print but FIVE new prints soon to be launched in the shops! 5 lovely new ladies with ribbons in their hair and colourful creatures by their sides. I drew these while I was away over the weekend and I’m really REALLY pleased with how they’ve turned out. I was inspired by a random drawing I did a while back, which was posted on flickr (here). There was something about the partially coloured image that I was really drawn to. Splodges of colour here and there mixed with the simple black and white detail straight from the original illustration – lovely!

Anyway, the prints themselves measure 8 inches by 10 inches and come with an ivory oval mount* (as shown in the image below) so it’s all ready for you to frame. The image sits comfortably in the middle and framed beautifully within the oval. I’ll let you know when they hit the shops!

*The availability of the mount may vary in the future, I’m currently researching suppliers – for now the mount will be available for a limited time only.

Well I did as promised and brought back a post card :) or maybe 500 of them… I love postcards and nothing quite beats finding a shop with an old shoe box filled to the brim with beautiful old battered pictures. I thought I would share this one with you.

Everything’s slowly falling back into place, although I’m filled with guilt because I’m sat at the computer and not outside! (although in this weather, I’m starting to feel like it’s acceptable to stay indoors) In those short 3 days I got so used to getting up and out. Plotting routes on the metro, seeing some beautiful places, getting stopped and asked directions by the locals (which was followed by my  “I’m not French! I don’t know what you’re saying, ah!” speech). The weather was amazing, no rain, sunshine, blue skies, 17 degrees… I’ll shut up now.

Rather than bombard you with every picture taken I thought I’d construct a little montage summing up some of the 3 days: 1. I had a bit of a pilgrimage to visit Oscar Wilde’s grave in Père Lachaise. Beautiful place, massive too so be prepared – buy a map. 2. Some beautiful painted on windows we found on the last day as we were heading for the station (sniff). I’ll dig out some better pictures of them all, the colours were to die for. Love lovely. 3. Autumnal Pere Lachaise once again. 4. Chocolate – masses upon masses of chocolate… mmm. 5. Lovely rocking horse we came across in a beautiful Victorian arcade filled with shops and boutiques. The horse was situated outside a dolls house themed shop. 6. Slightly creepy window display from one of the many beautiful antique bookshops located in the previously mentioned arcade. 7. A painting I noticed as we left Pere Lachaise on the first day. 8. View from our hotel window one morning. Lovely golden light, blue skies… sigh. 9. One of the many many many coffees we drank on our travels. I liked the yellow cup.

This picture works better alone. An amazing display of mushrooms varying in all shapes and sizes.

We arrived back around 7 ish local time. I spent the evening colouring in some new illustrations (talk about diving face first into work related activities), I’ll do most things to avoid having to unpack. Unpacking is rubbish. Anyway, the reason I brought this up is because I’m too impatient to wait so I thought I’d show you a sneak preview of what is to come over the next few days!

What do you think? I’m very excited :)

Well it’s that time already. I’m off to Paris for a couple of days, a well earned break I’d say. I’ll be back on Sunday but it does mean that any orders made as of yesterday until Sunday won’t get processed until Monday :( Sorry about that.

I did the purchasing of incredibly expensive mini shampoos, conditioners and all that jazz. I was a bit miffed to find that an empty (as in, fill with shampoo yourself) travel bottle was £1.65!!! Whereby one with posh shampoo was £1.75!!! Take a wild stab in the dark and guess which one I went for. I’ve found my passport, which is in date – phew. I haven’t packed my bag – very unlike me – but it’s only for a couple of days and you pick the best clothes when you go on impulse. I’ve got my books all ready. I plan to take Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Decline and Fall’ and John Buchan’s ‘The 39 Steps’. I bought a new more portable sketch book yesterday…. which I’ve already started drawing in, ahem. My Camera is charged… my ipod needs charging… I think I’m nearly set.

And on that note, I’ll bring you back a post card ;)

Just a little note to say that some of my prints/illustrations can now be purchased on this beeeeyooouutiful site called Fey Handmade! Click on the screen shots to take you to the site. Such a wonderful treasure trove. Flattered to be asked to join in the fun. Enjoy!

ps- Yes I was watching time team online at the time of taking this screen shot…

I’ve definitely watched more than my tv and brain can take of Jonathan Creek… So much so that I think the dvd players about to pack up on me… got good! Spent the day trying to come up with some new badge designs too but I’m obviously in an incredibly indecisive mood. Circles or squares? I’m hoping they’ll be ready for the Kiosk kiosk stall at the start of December (I’ll have more details on that later on). Ah well…

Anyway, this was just a little note to say hello. What do you think? circles or squares?