Clutch

Do you remember my frustration at having a design idea in the early hours of the morning but not having time to bring it into reality? Well, I managed to carve out enough time to make up these before I left on holiday. Even if it meant not packing until a couple of hours before we left.What? Packing was less important...

If the scheduled posting is working properly then hopefully by now I will have delivered one of these to the birthday girl (as I write I am leaning towards giving her the blue one), and I will be making good use of the other one.

These are the prototypes of one design line for my shop, so shhhhh! They are constructed from sturdy white linen and individually embellished by me and my trusty little sewing machine. The interiors are 100% cotton with an elastic closure over a vintage button. The buttons are selected from a supplier in the Noordermarkt in Amsterdam.

I am besotted with them. They are absolutely my favourite way to dress up an outfit for the weekend. Spacious enough for the essentials (24cm across the bottom) and lovely to hold due to the compressed fleece between the exterior and interior fabrics.

Let me know what you think.

P.S. Apologies for the lighting in the photos. It was late and I have no time to edit before we leave.

Slipping away

Time is escaping me today. We leave tomorrow for America. I have not packed. I still have errands to run. One hundred little things I meant to do will not be done. Also, several possible projects snuck into my brain in the small hours of the morning and I won't get a chance to try any of them before I go. I could beat my fists with frustration. The good news is that these ideas, if I can pull them off are a big enough push to get my Etsy shop plotted for my return.

I have scheduled several posts while I am away to keep the blog ticking along. I hope you enjoy them, but please don't be offended if I don't comment until we get back. This will be an internet free holiday for me.

See you in two weeks.

A Shop Opening

Sandra from Pepperberry & Co. is launching her shop on Etsy today. Her snap wallets are gorgeous and the close up photos allow you to see all the hard work that went into them. I'm hoping she will also list some of her notebook covers as well.

Please stop by and check her shop out.

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

I received lovely things in the post yesterday.

First up a beautiful print from Olivia Jefferies of Restless Things. Olivia specialises in work she produces on found paper. This particular piece reminds me of coral and was originally printed on a page of Howards Way, complete with pencil annotations from a reader who was struggling to understand the meaning of the text. It is utterly charming and I cannot wait to get it framed in chunky white wood and a brilliant white mat. At the moment it is destined for the wall in the study of Number 75 where it's literary undertones will be at home with all our books.

Olivia also has a lovely blog which can be found here.

My second parcel came all the way from Hong Kong to the Netherlands in just 5 days. Excellent service. It was so elegantly packaged it felt like unwrapping a gift rather than bag making supplies.

Gorgeous. I will definitely be re-visiting Meowcraft for more supplies in the future. I am such a sucker for beautifully wrapped parcels.

Perfect Peacocks

I love peacocks. The colours, the varieties, the plumage. Ok, maybe not the unbearable squawking but otherwise, I'm a fan.

I would love to incorporate peacocks into a room design in some small way, if not a display of feathers (I've heard it is bad luck) then maybe in some other way.

Some Etsy inspiration...

All images courtesy of the Etsy shop owners. Each image links to the shops when you click on it.

So Very Happy

I have been coveting the So Very Happy print from Studio Mela for some weeks. I can't decide whether I want it in the kitchen (by the coffee machine) or in the office (for constant reminders!).

And then there's the choice of colours... Version 1, 2 or 3.

Decisions, decisions.

Images from Studio Mela

Paper Impressions

I love stationery, I love it so much that I have a tendency to hoard it and never let it fulfill its purpose of putting a smile on the face of the person it should be sent to.

While hunting through Etsy one day I came across Simple Song Designs and promptly fell in love with Suann's Blind Impression Notecards. So far I have ordered two sets for me so far and a set for a wonderful letter writing friend (for whom Suann specially sourced envelopes in my friend's favourite shade of purple).

The card stock is beautiful soft but sturdy, textured but a joy to write on.

Image from SimpleSongDesigns

Antler

Over at Decor8 Holly posted a real find for a grey Monday morning.

Antler Magazine's mission is to compose "a collection of beautiful, inspiring ideas and designs from all aspects of life" and with their debut edition they have certainly fulfilled that.

I was absolutely captured by the range of the magazine and especially by the article on Emily Ryan (whose Migration Shift dress may have stolen my heart a little bit).

Image from Emily Ryan