Vintage letterpress montage

Posted on 04/02/2012 by Wendy
Poking about online as the weather is rather bleak outside. I’ve ended up on www.notonthehighstreet.com with its wonderful selection of personalised giftware and art. I always find myself drawn to letterpress pieces and there are a satisfying selection to coo at. If your name isn’t Sophy and you don’t have magical, charity shop, letterpress gem finding power, you can find these wonderful vintage letterpress pieces from Home and Glory on www.notonthehighstreet.com
The montage is £195, the keyrings are £9.75 and individial letters from £4.95. WWX
Posted in Art, Shopping | Leave a comment

The Rifle Paper Co.

Posted on 04/02/2012 by Wendy
For beautifully illustrated stationery visit The Rifle Paper Co. I love these two valentine’s cards! I love this hat collection print below. Very charming. WWx

Posted in Art, Illustration, Shopping, Web | Leave a comment

Browns in Tavistock

Posted on 03/02/2012 by Wendy
James and I have just returned from a lovely couple of Days in Tavistock, Devon. It’s become a tradition to take time out from work around our birthdays and despite the yearly threat of snow in early February, we planned a getaway. Determined to see more of Devon this year and fancying a drive over Dartmoor (and depending on the weather, get in a walk or two) we investigated hotels. After poking about on Tripadvisor and reading some reviews, the most charming boutique hotel we came across was Brown’s. We found an excellent ‘eat, sleep and breakfast’ deal and booked for James’ birthday.

The drive over the moors was as picturesque as you would ever hope, with the patchwork hills and highest tors thick with snow. The sky was totally clear blue and we arrived in Tavistock in just under an hour. We were offered a complimentary cuppa in the lounge on arrival, while we waited to book into our room. Once booked in we familiarised oursleves with all that our little room offered, which was quite a bit, and then hurried out into the centre of Tavistock. A beautiful, historically rich town with a wonderful selection of independant shops and a gorgeous Pannier Market. Well worth a visit!

Our evening meal at Browns was quite exceptional and worth the trip on its own. The kind of service and quality of meal we have only experienced at Gidleigh Park. Browns is now firmly on the ‘must go back’ list. WWX
Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

Broccoli and bitter

Posted on 08/01/2012 by Wendy
Well sort of broccoli, it’s actually Romanesco a member of the brassica family – it’s sometimes known as broccoflower and tastes much like a brocolli and cauliflower combined. After three years of trying we have at last grown a successful full head! Even more excitingly we have another two on the way. For two years we tried in pots in the Courtyard but we just had green leaves, thanks to the allotment we’ve done it! Ahh the fractal joy!
Even though it’s January the allotment is still given us decent amounts of winter veg. Including romanesco, swede, turnip, celeriac, sprouts, savoy and cauliflower as well as a decent amount of herbs!
It’s been a productive weekend – James has even made a start with his new home brew kit! Tasty bitter in just 21 days! Just in time for a certain birthday!
It’s been a good year so far! WXX 
Posted in Allotment, Diary, Gardening | Leave a comment

Spooled: retro cotton reel style earphone storage

Posted on 02/01/2012 by Wendy
I wouldn’t say I’m a careless person but I do have problems taking care of earphones. It’s never long after purchase that my earphones tend to meet a sticky end. These are probably my top three causes:
1. One ear dropped in cup of coffee, blob, blob, blob – loss of stereo :-(
2. Mac on floor, earphones plugged in. Take earphones off and hang over arm of office chair. Get up to do something, move chair and tangle around wheels. Cable breaks.
3. Handbag horror! Massive tangled nightmare in bottom of bag. Stress out trying to untangle. BREAK!
This simple little retro cotton reel style earphone storage, nicely named Spooled, seems like a good solution. Certainly for number 3! The earbuds are safely hidden in the centre and the wire wrapped neatly around the spool. Really clever and neat bit of design. Available to buy from The Other Edge or Amazon. WW
Posted in Design, Shopping | Leave a comment

Beautiful Dana Tanamachi paperweights

Posted on 16/12/2011 by Wendy
These gorgeous paperweights were designed by Brooklyn-based chalkboard artist Dana Tanamachi (who I’ve featured before in talent envy), they are part of her collaboration with west elm, the online and pop up store American retailer for beautiful home goods. They are perfect gifts at any time of year or just for yourself! One of these would be a very happy addition to my new studio! Available from West Elm for £5.47. WWx
Posted in Diary, Home, Shopping | Leave a comment

Anthology magazine’s winter gift guide

Posted on 23/11/2011 by Wendy

Anthology Magazine has just released it’s winter gift guide. It’s as well designed and edited as the magazine and is packed full of great craft ideas and gifts for Christmas. This online publication is a joy to read with no pesky adverts ruining the aesthetics! Great work again Anthology, it’s been a visually stunning first year! WW
Posted in Design, Magazine, News, Shopping | Leave a comment

Learn something every day

Posted on 02/11/2011 by Wendy
Learn something every day is a website (sadly no longer regularly updated) with a team of super talented illustrators working their magic to share a fascinating fact every day (pre August 2011). Happily their work hasn’t come to an end. You can now get a daily fix on your iphone! Get the learn something every day app from the app store. WWx
Posted in Art, Diary, Illustration | Leave a comment

Do want: Kinekt Gear Ring

Posted on 16/10/2011 by Wendy

Gorgeous jewellery design for the fidgitter! This patented Gear Ring designed by Ben Hopson and Glen Liberman is made from high quality matte stainless steel. Featuring six micro-precision gears it turns in unison when the outer rims are spun – see the video! Available from from Kinektdesign. WW

Posted in Diary | Leave a comment

VW: The “Think Blue. Symphony”

Posted on 16/10/2011 by Wendy

I love VW’s playful new illustrated advert. Great work again VW!
Posted in Advertising, Illustration | Leave a comment

Emotional bag check

Posted on 04/10/2011 by Wendy

Emotional bag check, a simple, clever idea – an invention of freelance website creator Robyn Overstreet.
Do you ever feel stressed out? have emotional baggage? there’s a new web service offering to ease your load. You just have to upload your issues to Emotional Bag Check - it can be anything at all – and in return you’ll get advice, from a stranger, in the form of a hand selected song to help you deal with the problem. However if you’re feeling emotionally sound and strong, you can be the listener – hear someone else’s troubles and send a song their way. This clever site plugs into Grooveshark so there’s plenty of tracks to ease those troubles. WW
Posted in Music, News, Web | 1 Comment