lovely bit of stuff...

One last bit of illustration, I have just been finding some really interesting artists recently - I promise to move onto other things for a while now! " )

Rodrigo Francisco is graphic designer from Brazil. He is only 19 but has already worked with a whole host of great companies.

I have picked four examples of his work here, in my opinion the best from his portfolio. Love the colours and the way they have a dreamy watercolour feel to them. A very talented designer, I'm looking forward to seeing what he works on next, definitely one to watch I think.




All images © Rodrigo Francisco

behind closed doors...

All images from Design Sponge

Today a peek inside the home of Sibella Court - care of Design Sponge, a great site for snooping around other people's lovingly styled homes. Sibella has a shop in Sydney which is a cross between a haberdashery and a hardware store. She specialises in textiles, homeware and furniture, check out the online store, here. These shots are from her home which is above the store. If these images are anything to go by I would love to have a roam around her shop and see what fantastical things I could find.



The kitchen shot is my favourite, all those utensils stacked up in one place. It has a happy sense of chaos to it. So eclectic and 'real'. Not styled or contrived, just the evolvement of somebody's life and the things they accumulate as they journey through it.

many hands make great work...

All images © Orgut Cayli

I love clever and witty illustration, and the ones shown here are a great example. I found this guy Orgut Cayli's design and illustration work on Flickr. Cayli is an art director at Publicis Yorum, a design agency in Istanbul.

The pieces shown here are from a nifty little notebook he has designed. Aren't the illustrations fantastic? I admire how has taken an animal to represent each of the human characteristics and then woven in different shaped hands to make up the outline of the animal, inspired.








For more of Orgut Cayli's design and illustration portfolio click here.

boxfresh...

All images © Fold 7

A spot of packaging/marketing here from Fold 7 for your Sunday afternoon viewing. Fold 7 are a communications agency, founded in 1995, they focus on bringing brands and products to life.

The great project featured here is for the launch of Nike’s new skateboarding trainer, the Zoom Tre. Fold 7 designed the packaging for promotional pairs sent to a select number of skateboarders as a gift. The tag line ‘Don’t Handle With Care’ led the look and feel for the packaging. A clever take on the ‘Handle With Care’ packaging we are so used to seeing. Loving the grungy styling and bashed up feel.

If you like this and want to see more of Fold 7's portfolio click here.

down at heel...

Beautiful ruffle shoed loveliness - £85 - Dune

Glory me, I am loving all these lower heeled shoes at the moment. I love a heel, unfortunately I look like a new born foal when I try and walk in them. It aint pretty. So I am squealing with glee that demi heeled shoes seemed to be de rigour at the moment.



From top left clockwise: Metallic courts - £70 - Bertie; Purple Mary-Janes - £20(!) - Office; Black die-cut - £125 - All Saints; Brown zipped - £60 - Faith; Black courts - £40 - Topshop; Red retro - £58 - Office.


Check out these little beauties! My fav's are the Dune ruffle shoes, devine. Finally, I can walk tall without the fear of breaking my neck.

sunny California...

Ah, I have been away for ages, so busy with work! Here's some more pictures from our wonderful California road trip.


Los Angeles

First stop was LA. Meh, not so impressed as I thought I would be. The weather wasn't great, perhaps that was it, I was expecting sizzling sunshine like they always seem to have when LA is on the TV. But no such luck. We saw the main sights, another main disappointment was that you couldn't get closer than this to the Hollywood sign! I felt robbed! If you squint really hard you just might be able to make it out.


Palm Springs

Next stop was Palm Springs. A beautiful little town in the middle of the desert to the east of LA. As I understand it, it's where LA folks go for a weekend trip away from the city. The Coachella music festival is held around here. And its hot, hot, hot!! Check out these beautiful desert flowers we found blooming along the roadside.


The Pepper Tree Inn, Palm Springs

This is the beautiful little boutique hotel we stayed in during our stay in Palm Springs. Its called the Pepper Tree Inn, and wow, just the nicest place we stayed the whole trip. We ate in a fantastic resturant called The Falls, amazing steak and fish dinners.



Grand Canyon, South Rim

The Grand Canyon, on of the most awesome sights I have ever seen. It took us seven hours to drive there! But is was definitely worth it.


Vegas baby!

And of course Las Vegas, every bit as cheesy, plastic and fake as I had hoped. You need to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the tackiness of it. We had a fantastic time in Las Vegas, I even did a spot of gambling and won the awesome amount of $15! Woop!

There are a few more pictures to come, I will post them up soon.

Has anyone else ever done a road trip anywhere?

doctor, doctor...

From left to right: Cleansing Cream - £14.28 - 50ml; Clarifying Toner - £22.46 - 100ml; Normalizing Day Oil - £21.44 - 30ml; all Dr Hauschka


I don't know if you've ever heard of Dr Hauschka? I hadn't until about a year ago, a German friend mentioned the range to me and I checked it out. Best move I ever made. Dr Hauschka products are completely organic, maybe a bit more expensive than your usual products but they last for ages and the results speak for themselves.

I have some seriously moody skin. Well I did before the Dr H. I am a poster girl for greasy, problem skin, I might not get as many wrinkled in later life, but right now all I want to do is stop my make up sliding off my face before midday. Believe me, I had tried all sorts of make up primers and long lasting foundations - nothing worked.

I tried the Dr Hauschka Normalising Oil. I was a little concerned, putting oil on my already slicken skin? Yikes! But Dr Hauschka works on a homeopathic principle that 'like cures like'. As I was putting oil on my skin, my skin now longer had a need to over produce it. The results were and continue to be fantastic.

I use the rest of the oily range, pictured here. My only gripe is the cleanser should be bigger, I get through one a month at the moment, which is a little harsh on the purse, but I think it's testament to it's benefits I keep buying it and wouldn't dare go back to harsh cleansers.

All the products come in trial sizes so you can test them out before you invest in a larger size and there is a handy little kit if you want to try more products together.

See other ranges from Dr Hauschka here.


Daily Face Care Kit for Oily Skin - £15.31 for 6 items

graphically speaking...

Graphic is a cool little bar in Soho. Every six months it collaborates with a new graphic artist and Graphic use the bar to showcase the artist's signature style. The bar wins - it looks great. The public wins - they get to see great creative work they may not have been exposed to other wise. The artist wins - they have a six month showcase in an alternative venue to the traditional gallery space. Everyone's happy!

Graphic is currently showcasing the work of graphic artist Ben Allen. He is based in Brighton and works with a mixture of different media and materials. His influences include comic book art, surfing, skateboard culture, Japanese graphics, typography, nature and the human condition.

I have picked my favourite pieces, but for Ben's full portfolio click here. Aren't they great?





All images © Ben Allen


Graphic interior with Ben Allen graphics

my very own wonderland...

I was lucky enough to embark on an amazing Californian road trip for my honeymoon last year. While we were out there we spent some time in Yosemite National Park. Hands down the most beautiful place I have ever been so lucky to visit. Miles from anywhere, stunning scenery, peace, tranquility and calm. Here are some pictures from the time we spent there. If you ever get the chance to go, grab it with both hands. I'd go back like a shot.

More pics of the road trip coming soon...







And this was the view from our hotel room. We stayed at the Yosemite View Lodge, just a short car journey from the park entrance. Check out the river view!