I think deer must rank amongst my favorite animals of all. They are so shy and so majestic. For me they are quite magical. Their silhouettes are wonderful. They are inspiring me a lot right now.

in the quiet, originally uploaded by slight clutter.
Some dear deer etsy finds. Click on the images for their etsy page.
I could spend a fortune, honestly. But right now I'm too tired, so off to bed I must go.

Yesterday David returned from a day's work in Bristol with a gift. It was this adorable coin purse from the shop Bloomsbury (which is an absolute treasure trove of goodies, it has mail order, check it out) and it was for lucky me. In fact I'm so lucky that whenever he goes away he more often than not comes home with some little treat. Like this Rob Ryan tile from a London trip which I LOVE. I'm spoilt.

Alice - A Very Fine Female
Here is my completed Alice - A Very Fine Female print. I'm so pleased with how sweet it looks especially framed up alongside the Elizabeth Bennett print. I'm so enjoying doing these and I've now nearly finished the third in the set, no other than Peter Pan's Wendy. The Wendy silhouette is coming on beautifully. It's so good to be making again!
Now it's time to take my Lola for a walk. She's driving me insane and I cannot take her destructive demands for attention any longer! Having a dog is blissful but having a bonkers one that needs long walks every day to prevent her turning from an adorable cutie into a maniac can be waring. But totally, totally worth it, she's such a sweetheart.

A is for Apple, B is for Bird...

This little print was created by me for my new baby daughter. It looks so adorable in it's frame, I love it! It reads Edie's Alphabet at the top because that's her name but that can be changed or removed completely. It's so hard to find time for my work with a little one to look after but then again every spare second is so precious I waste no time at all! Not like before when I could spend days procrastinating. The print is up on my Etsy site as of yesterday. I hope you like it.

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair... ~Susan Polis Shutz

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. ~Emma Goldman

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat


Perfumes are the feelings of flowers. ~Heinrich Heine, The Hartz Journey

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb

A beautiful day spent at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. The flowers were enjoying their very last days of bloom which made them all the more lovely. Petals falling away, leaves turning brown, goodbye to summer and hello to the new season.
I've a sweet new print on Etsy which I'll post about tomorrow.

Alice and Elizabeth

Here are Alice (Alice in Wonderland of course!) and Elizabeth (Bennett, Pride and Prejudice), two of the literary heroine silhouette pictures I made. I put them in little frames so that I can group them together on the wall. I'm pleased with the way they turned out. Behind each silhouette is text from the first page of the novel and below a quote from the heroine. Alice's reads Curiouser and curiouser, and Elizabeth's I am the happiest creature in the world. I think I shall make a start on Pippi Longstocking next. Who do you think I should include? Any ideas?

"I wish I hadn't cried so much!" said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. "I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However everything is queer today."

I'm working on a literary heroines project starting with dear Alice. Here she is as a silhouette I've drawn. And below are some of the other appearances Alice has made through the years.

'...by the sea that was lying down still and green as grass after a night of tar-black howling and rolling...' Dylan Thomas

Today last week I was staying just a stone's throw from Newquay in West Wales, which is one place the poet Dylan Thomas lived during his beautiful but short life. If you've seen the film The Edge of Love it's the village where , close by, Dylan and his wife Caitlin kept a house. Beautiful film, such eye candy. Woolly jumpers, silk kimonos, knee socks, victory rolls, dance halls, poets, afternoon drinking and windswept beaches.

Love, Peace and Music
As I'm back making a little here and a little there I've reopened my Etsy. Just one print in to start, my Love, Peace and Music. Three most precious things.

Back from a holiday in a hideaway cottage out West. Family, food, a beautiful nook in the woods by the sea, my gorgeous Lola, my little sweetheart. We lit candles and ate outside, we walked on the beach at dusk, we picniced by the sea. It was good. Lately I've had my troubles but I'm on the mend and there's lots to love.

Snow

I love the snow. I feel sad when it melts. Looking out of the window to see big, fat snowflakes falling from a white washed sky when you've got a cup of hot tea, woolly socks on and a good book to read is a beautiful thing.

These things happened in 2008...

I got pregnant!
I had a blast at Glastonbury
I flew to Portugal got ill and flew back
I got away from it all here

I grew up a little
I realised what an amazing thing the female body is
I rejoiced when my husband finally got the job of his dreams
I won a design competition
I wrote, drew and made... but not enough
I went to my baby brother's wedding
I kissed my dog far more than is healthy

I kissed my husband far more than is healthy (and look where that got me)
I was broke
I was a little less broke
I had my first wedding anniversary!

the old year

a new year

Another year

Things have been a tiny bit rubbish for me recently. I've been ill and then ill again- a wicked double dose- and had to abandon my holiday in Portugal and fly home. Oh, dear. But, hey, nevermind, I'm on the mend and it's my birthday today. And I've got such an amazing family and such wonderful friends that I'm feeling a little more smiley today and thankful that I'm so lucky.

These cupcakes are HUGE.

This is a gorgeous limited edition cup and saucer designed by Julie Verhoeven. A gift from my husband!


And a lovely gift from Tiffanys from my dear friend Rhianydd and a bracelet from another fantastic friend Louise that I shall use as a charm bracelet. I've wanted one for a long time.

I'm very lucky.
And the All Saints jeans I had from my mum split in a potentially embarassing place due to a fault in the stitching so I took them back and got a refund. Then I saw them in the sale a week or two later and so bought a new pair for half the price! I spent the other half on another pair with a different print so now I have two pairs! A faint leopard print pair and a faint zebra print pair. I love them and wear them ALL THE TIME. Like I used to wear my stone washed skinnies with zips up the legs all the time when I was a little girl back in the 80's. Anyway, so far it's a very good day.

Glastonbury was beautiful!

Back from an amazing weekend at Glastonbury! I had the best time and the sun actually showed up and hung around for a very respectable amount of time. I always book into a hotel (in theory camping kinda appeals to me but in practice I pretty much despise it) and so a drizzly and muddy Friday didn't worry me too much, but then Saturday was GORGEOUS! I loved it. I saw some fantastic bands. Goldfrapp blew me away. Alison Goldfrapp looked great as usual and her voice is amazing live. They came on at about 6.30pm and it was that lovely time of the day when the sun is begining to sink a little and everything is golden and hazy and gorgeous.


Foals played in the rain on Friday but were so tight and put everything into their set.

There were so many other great bands. Vampire weekend were so good, definitely one of my highlights, as was Seasick Steve, Amy Winehouse, Neon Neon, and The Raconteurs. Plus, my brother in law's girlfriend had a vintage clothes stall by the Pyramid Stage and so I even managed to do a little shopping. And when I say shopping I mean she very, very kindly gave me a couple of things I had my eye on for free! How could it get any better?

To keep and to treasure...

It'll be our first wedding anniversary soon and in honour of the occasion we've bought this painting from artist Amanda Blake. I adore her work. It has a vintage feel and is soft and muted and a little magical.
I think it would be nice to invest in something beautiful every anniversary. Something to keep and to treasure.

Zooey, looking as perfect as ever in this amazing dress.

I went to a wedding on the weekend. It was such a gorgeous day and the sun didn't stop shining. The day had a 'film' theme and as I was sat on the Breakfast At Tiffany's table I got to wear a tiara and a huge sparkley ring all through the meal. There was also a Moulin Rouge table, a Top Gun table and a Batman table (which was accessorised with, amongst other things, a cat mask not unlike the Luella version which I was a little jealous of. A good idea don't you think? I wore this Johnny Loves Rosie headband with a huge flower.
And a silk dress in this print. Don't you hate wearing heels on grass? I'm wedged in about 3in here.
My lil' brother is getting married in August and I haven't yet decided on an outfit. Got any ideas? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Too much, too many?

I'm tempted by the pink Rayban wayfarers. Except that I think they're way overdone. But aren't they sweet? Would you?

Lust in the movies

This morning I was first in line with my popcorn and Diet Coke for the midday showing of Sex And The City the movie. Nearly two and a half hours later it was all over and I was left feeling overwhelmed and yet a tiny bit disappointed as I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. I cry at almost anything in movies by the way, but this film got me more than once, when I visited the ladies at the end I wished I'd bought my sunnies to hide my bleary eyes, rather embarrassed to be caught weeping at what was, really, an extended advertisement for designer labels, coffee shop chains and Vogue magazine. But, oh what a beautiful advertisement! At the beginning I was eyes agog at Carrie's loved up life with Big- the most amazing Penthouse appartment, the most gorgeous shoes, the BIGGEST WALK IN WARDROBE EVER. It was all painfully perfect. But of course it doesn't last. Not to give anything away that the trailer doesn't.
The materialistic elements of the film are true fashion and lifestyle porn for us girls and guys who love to shop, play dress up and drink champagne (or Cava depending on the state of our overdrafts) and you can easily lose yourself for an hour or two in a blur of Westwood, Vuitton and Chanel. However, I was disappointed in Carrie's style, she's lost nearly all of the eclectic fun in her fashion sense. It was all grown up labels nearly all the way. I left the cinema with little inspiration. Nothing new or exciting. Just stuff you can buy if you're loaded.
The film is darker than the series, which is probably a good thing in order to maintain the drama over the length of a feature film, but it seemed to me that the girls don't seem to have much fun anymore. The dialogue was as snappy as usual but it didn't make me laugh much. I was too busy drooling over apartments and shoes and crying over... well, go see the film.
I, for one, plan on opening a bottle of Cava tonight.
And the plans for my version of Carries walk in wardrobe (the original, from her East Side apartment, not the uber movie version) are coming on nicely. It mostly consists of a distinctly unglamorous sounding clothes storage system from Ikea, which should be arriving sometime at the beginning of June.
Yum.

Kissing Wilde

When ladies (and some gentlemen, I'm sure) visit the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris they like to leave their kiss on the headstone of Oscar Wilde. It's covered in a smattering of lipstick kisses. But apparently the fats in lipstick make it impossible to remove from stone. Is it vandalism or a romantic show of love and respect?
I haven't left a kiss on Wilde's grave. I don't wear lipstick and I think it would be more elegant to leave a note perhaps, or just blow a kiss. But I think he would've adored it. After all, he was the man who said;
'Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.'
'Life is too important to be taken seriously.'
and
'There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.'
I wonder why Wilde has inspired such devotion amongst people today? Is it because he was ahead of his time, and we see him as being like us? Hedonistic, pleasure seeking, vain and shallow, but with buckets of charm, passion and, of course, his renowned wit.

I just can't help myself...

Having no self control when it comes to the high street I've been spending money I haven't got once again. But when it's buy-one-get-one-free in Topshop it's a crime not to have a little look. Unfortunately that little look can be fatal especially when last month's pay failed to materialise in my already malnourished bank account. And so I returned home with this studded dress and the shoes below for a sum total of £25.But the most exciting purchase was the All Saints jeans my lovely, lovely mum bought me for my birthday (which is two months away...). They're a leopard print with an black over-layed dye and ever since I saw my brother in law's missus with a pair I've been obsessing over them. And now I've finally got my mitts on them! Haha!

Tagged

Miss White of White Writing tagged me for the six quirks meme. So here goes...

The rules are:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules in your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

1- I wake up in the dead of night and see things that are not there, like spiders all over my bed, a hand holding a spoonful of sugar over my head and a floating pair of knickers. Not all at once though, that'd be weird.
2- I passed my driving test a long, long time ago and haven't driven since. I'm no good.
3- I've not ever, never killed any living creature on purpose. Not even a fly, not even a slug or a spider. I once killed a caterpiller by accident but I'd rather not talk about that.
4- Every time I go to the States I get stopped and interrigated at immigration by mean men who accuse me of a crime I didn't commit back in the late nineties in NYC. It lasts about an hour then they let me in. They won't tell me exactly what I'm supposed to have done which is very annoying. But I definitely never did it.
5- I got married in Vegas. There's more to that story but I haven't the time or the inclination to go into it.
6- Things break off in my hand all the time. I break things all the time. I lose my keys/mobile/cash card all the time. I'm always late.
That last one was supplied my ever loving husband. Cheers darling.

These things are surprisingly hard aren't they?
And now I'm gonna tag these ladies. (Actually I'll add that bit tomorrow as I have a DVD to watch.)

But here's the first pic of Audrey as Coco Chanel in anticipation of the forthcoming film. Looking forward to seeing the finished thing in 2009...

Time flies...

Oh, how fast a month flies by. Usual excuses for not posting. How boring it is... work, decorating, studying- humdrum. All my good intentions out the window. But now I'm back! Although I'm just off for tea and to watch weeks and weeks of Sky Plus-ed Gossip Girls at my friend's house so tomorrow will have to be my first real post...
But I've just finished this book by Sophie Dahl and it's very good and very lovely. I was impressed. (Now I'm giving myself away by admitting that I've had time to read a book but it was read in the car on the way to London and back, so there.)

Oh la la!

I've been watching way too many films that are set in Paris. In fact, 'Don't rent anymore films about Paris' were the last words my guy uttered as he left for work this morning.

Amelie, oh, it's my all time favourite. I don't care if it's sappy and 'feel good', it can only be miserable sods who don't want to feel good when it comes to Amelie. I love the story, I love the colours, the green and red theme- you'd think it'd look ugly but it doesn't! It looks divine!
Before Sunrise and Before Sunset- again, such beautiful films. If you haven't seen them then do. Both star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who meet in the first film and fall in love during a sublime day spent in Paris. The film finishes with them promising to meet again in six months. There's not much plot, just walking and talking but it's fab. Watch it. Watch both.

We've also just watched Paris J'Taime, a film made up of 18 short films by 18 directors. It was watchable, but not mind-blowing. Cute poster though.
And lastly Two Days in Paris. An enjoyable enough way to spend an evening as long as you have wine or chocolate, or wine and chocolate.

My favourite things to do in Paris
Eat macaroons.
Sit on Pont Neuf in the sun and eat cheese and baguette and drink wine.
Sit outside cafes in sunglasses and people watch.
Browse the thrift shops and spend some euros.
J'adore.

Miu Miu at TK Maxx Thrill

I think this bargain is the best I've ever had. Miu Miu trousers in the clearance from £349 to £23. How beautiful is that?
Otherwise eating ice-cream with maple syrup and drinking ginger cordial with fizzy water. And I started 'training' for the Race For Life. Which entails me putting my trainers on instead of my wellies when I take Lola for a walk and every so often breaking into a trot.

Nesting

Doing up my house has been a long and drawn out saga with a lot of procrastination, a little hard graft and a few tears (due to a traumatic carpet experience that occurred last week- according to the carpet guy I bring a whole new dimension to carpet fitting). But it's slowly taking shape now and I've been inspired by the blogs of stylish homely types to take on a few projects.
This is something I've been wanting to do for, oooo, around three years now.
Turn this-

Into something resembling this- image taken from Famille Summerbelle
Now I've posted about it I might, just might, get around to doing it in the dim and distant future.
Love Anna X

I love specs

I love Tatty Devine's jewelery and my current fancy is their glasses necklaces, particularly the Jarv Specs Necklace below which are HUGE. The size of actual glasses in fact. Jarv Specs Glasses £35


These are adorable too if you'd rather something a little more subtle.

Then there's these nerd-tastic 3-D specs.

And these bubblicous heart shape glasses.
Let's be honest, I want them all.
Love Anna X

Hand drawn text is miles better than Times New Roman

Here's some new work produced by my husband for Goldlion. It's a hand-drawn piece containing the titles of all the tracks on the Velvet Underground album The Velvet Underground and Nico. We've both been hung up on hand-drawn font for ages now. I love creating beautiful, unique text that's so different to formal text.
Plus, my winning badges have arrived from Stereohype and I'm very much pleased with them! I'll take pics asap. We've just ordered a badge making machine for Goldlion so we can experiment with a load of new designs when it arrives.
Love Anna X

Julie Verhoeven- so inspiring...

Once again I've turned to my beautiful Julie Verhoeven books for inspiration. She creates the most beautiful images. Julie studied Art and Design on a Fashion Diploma course and began her career by working for Galliano before setting out as a fashion illustrator and textile/accessories designer.




I have two of her books, Fat Bottomed Girls and Julie Verhoeven. These books are beautiful, beautiful and her images manage to be both lovely and dark at the same time. I think her stuff is so unique, don't you?
Love Anna X