New York Gift Fair

My greetings agent is off to the New York International Gift Fair this week so yesterday morning I adapted some of my designs to more tableware type product, plates, napkins etc etc.

I think the tablecloth is my favourite out of this set...shown in the background with the yellow present border.

New Mac and new work to follow!

I'm really excited to work on my new MacBook this week for the first time...it is very sparkly and beautifully designed...I don't think I can expect any less from Apple!

Not posted any new work for a while but with work needed by my greetings agent for the Spring Fair there will be some to show you soon!!

lost and found

Oh its been crazy the last few days!

On thursday Gary our cat didn't come home!

I was gutted he always comes home and is never gone for more than a few hours.

Although it maybe seen as a little premature I went on a flyering campaign the next day/Friday! (a good job my deadlines were over that week!)

It has been so so worrying, I didn't realise how distressing and upsetting it was to lose a pet!

We did more flyering on Saturday, posters up in local shops, pubs and post offices.

Then Sunday morning, the 4th day of missing Gary...by which time I was managing to gain some kind of perspective on the situation...things could be a lot worse...People have had their lives wrecked in Haiti...we've only lost a cat!

He just walked in through the bedroom window!!

We couldn't believe it! We were so so delighted! Hoorah!

What a fantastic end to the weekend!

We reckon he must have been trapped somewhere...he was very hungry and playful!

Ate 3 days worth of food all at once!

A Walk in New York

I do like a children's book now and then for lovely illustration inspiration.

This book caught my eye in the Tate Modern bookshop last week and couldn't resist buying it.

Its by an illustrator called Salvatore Rubbino, click here for more info and click here if you fancy buying this book.

As well as being a good story, with New York City facts included

(did you know that the ground under Greenwich Village is too soft to build skyscrapers on!?),

the illustrations are really wonderful with great use of colour and a charming hand drawn feel.

A blog award for me!

I had a lovely message earlier this week from Charlotte of Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics as she's awarded me a sunshine award along with 11 other blogs that she likes to follow.

The award is for bloggers who's creativity and positivity inspires others which is all very nice.

Thanks Charlotte!

Charlottes blog is a good blog to check out with a lovely mix of personal goings on, as well as ceramics and recipes! I love a good recipe!

There's a shop too...click here to see a lovely range of ceramics.

Think these brooches are my favourite....

a day off to see a show!

Me and my dad went to London for the day yesterday for his christmas present. We had such a lovely day, the morning spent wandering along the southbank, with a visit to the Tate Modern.

The bookshop in the Tate is fantastic, I could certainly spend an hour or two there.

They have a big installation there at the moment by Miroslaw Balka called The Unilever Series.

You're encouraged to walk into this huge contained space of pure darkness! We were wimps and didn't brave it further than about 5 metres!

In the afternoon we went to the Victoria Palace Theatre to see the Billy Elliot Musical. It was truly fantastic, a real emotional rollercoaster with such great performances from the cast. A wonderfully thought out production...the best my dad had seen so he said!

So a lovely day and good christmas present for my dad I think!

Now back to work!

icy UK!

look what happens when you put a magnifying glass over a recent satellite picture of the UK!!

he he! Its me all wrapped up and looking a little bit like a child in my daft hat!

snow creations from days gone by!

this is last years snowman and snowcat!

I remember being proud at the time, it was quite tall!

I'm hoping to get chance to do a much better creation this year!

Gemma Correll's daily diaries

I love love love this blog I've just discovered, its the illustrated journal from Gemma Correll.

The humour and images are just great.

Gemma has some fun items in her Etsy shop. I was kindly given the below 'you are my favourite' print as a print last year and it has a good spot on my gallery staircase wall!

Snow day!

With lots of school and work places closed today its a snow play day for many!

We seem to be having a proper winter!

The world certainly seems to look prettier with a sprinkling of snow

and to me it seems to bring excitement to the air!

Maybe I wouldn't be so excited if I had to travel in it!

new range instore now!

Here's a selection from a new range called Life on the Road

that I designed the print and embroideries for.

This was a really nice range to work on, I think the colours have come out great.

And yet again the talent that is the

Mamas and Papas design team have done a lovely job of designing the garment shapes.

Think this skirt is my favourite.

Now on sale both online and instore at Mamas and Papas.

See here and here are some ranges that I worked on for Mamas and Papas last year.

all copyright is owned by Mamas and Papas

Happy New Year

2009 was a such a fantastic and happy year for me, a year hard to beat!

I gained a lovely husband, had a fantastic wedding with all my loved ones around, moved into a new home, got a cat and an iphone!

What more could I surely want!? a year of contentment.

All sounds a bit smug I know but it is a year that I look back on very fondly!

Now for 2010! Lots of things to look forward to and share!

One thing that I'm very exciting which should be released within a few months is the Print Pattern Book. I'm often very inspired by the PrintPattern blog so I feel very fortunate to have my work included in the official book, along with friend and fellow designer Rachel of RahRahRepeats.

Its here!

A big thank you to all who have been following my blog

and leaving lovely comments over the last year.

I been really enjoying posting and hope continue doing so throughout 2010!

I'm signing off now to relax and celebrate Christmas and the new year with my loved ones!

Hope you all have a great festive break!

take care and best wishes

pretty pictures....

Such lovely work on a recent post by stylist Polly Rawlings.

This is a shoot she worked on with photographer Sussie Bell

Well Christmas is very nearly here!

I'm braving the supermarket tonight...

thank goodness for 24 hour Tesco!

3 days to go!!!!!

nicola pearson

Here's some gorgeous illustrations from Nicola Pearson. Check out her blog here

This little band is part of some artwork that

she created for the Creative Northants website.

She really is such a talent!

excitement has kicked in!

I've awoke with pure Christmas excitement today!

Its time to get completely swept up by the build up....

there's snow on the ground, every other song on the radio is a christmassy one

and I'm off for a christmas meal and get-together this afternoon!

Hoorah!!!

A snow day!

well only a little snow so far today...

wouldn't it be lovely if for once here in England we had a blanket of snow on christmas day!

Recipe recommendations!

This is the first year we have hosted Christmas, we have guests on both Christmas Day and Boxing day. We're really looking forward to creating some feasts!

I love cooking so have been thinking about all this food for a while!

I still have to decide on what stuffing to do with the turkey...any recommendations are welcome!

Here's some of my recipe tips: Nigella's Bread Sauce, Red Cabbage with Cider and Apple, Cranberry Sauce (I didn't realise how fast it was to make!) and Brussels Sprouts

10 days to go!

oh Christmas is coming round fast now! I cannot wait!

I'm planning to take 10 days off to relax, enjoy, eat, eat, eat

and spend time with lots of family and friends! Hoorah for Christmas!

thank you Dee Puddy!

I spent what felt like hours yesterday wrapping presents last night while watching a very long winded X-Factor final! The present wrapping was the fun bit!

Its all thanks to Dee Puddy that my presents look so lovely....I bought these cute gift bags, just perfect toput smaller presents in and decorate with a little parcel paper tag and ribbon!

a festive activity for the weekend!

Look at this lovely post from Poppytalk.

A great suggestion for something to do over your weekends!

Hopefully I can find some time next week to make some snowflakes...I hope so!

have a great weekend everyone!

christmas cards...tick

This week has gone far too fast with not enough ticked off my to do list.

Though one thing that I have done is to get my christmas cards sent off which is pleasing.

I'm always a fan of Paperchase cards,

but I used the designs below to send out to the people

I've had the pleasure of working with over the last year!

I though it was best to make the most of my back catalogue of Christmas designs!

our tree is UP!!

we had a lovely evening last night putting our tree up!

We bought it from the Thompson Brothers grocers around the corner...

its a little bigger than expected so we had to do some cropping!

We love it!

I wanted a strictly white and silver theme but a touch of red was forced!

But begrudingly I agree it was the right decision!

Decorations are from B&Q, Dee Puddy and RE

next job....present wrapping!

A little gift guide from me!

I've still got some shopping to do for Christmas but most presents have been bought!

I'm very proud of myself this year...

with 32 friends and family to buy for I think I've done quite well!

I've done a lot of my shopping online...here's some website tips from me that will hopefully be of some use to last minute shoppers.....

Eclectic Eccentricity is a lovely website with a beautiful range of jewellery at reasonable prices. The delivery is always prompt and beautifully packaged.

These are some of my favourite picks shown above...Light as a Feather bracelet,

Cecilia vintage earrings and sing a little song for me necklace

I've been a big fan of RE for a while, they have such great products which are more often than not made of re-found and recycled objects.

I've bought the paper snowflakes ready to decorate our home, and we already have a couple of the picture frames shown above made from old tins. They would make a great present...complete with a little personal photo in!

Think a cardboard stag head would make a super gift for a man of any age!

I love todryfor! Their range of teatowels is fantastic! I've bought a few for gifts this year and plan to make some of them into cushions, perfect for friends or family who have recently moved into a new home or are planning to decorate!

Above are some of my favourites...

City skyline by Snowdon Flood, Teatime by talented Gemma Correll and Ice cream lollies by

Mr. PS

I love these crayon mugs from Gift Republic, they come in such a large range of fun colours...check them out here. Great price of £5.99 too!

So those are my favourite online shopping tips....along with amazon of course!

How did we ever survive without the ease of Amazon shopping!