French Fancy

Hello! You know how I love Momiji dolls? Well, I found out about a competition to design 3 new dolls and this is my first one. She's called French Fancy and loves crusty french bread with a selection of cheeses- camembert is her favourite!
On the 'no TV' front things have gone well. I've only had a couple of relapses when I have really wanted to watch the news as I feel like I don't know what's going on in the world! I also confess to watching one documentary about Baby Bible Bashers which made me feel really sad and I wished I hadn't watched it!
The TV ban has really made me realise how much utter rubbish is on TV and how I really can do without it. I've gone out more during the week- last week I went to the Duffy gig in Leeds- without having to think "oh, I can't go out because so and so is on!" (Which sadly is sometimes how I used to feel if I was addicted to a certain programme!) I am going to go back to TV but will be choosing what I watch much more carefully and tuning in a lot less often. Try it yourself- you CAN do it! x

Blogs I like

Sharing blogs is part of the fun of blogging and often you think you may be the only one who knows about a blog. So today I thought I would share the Book The Cook blog with you.
If you've not heard about him before David Hall was on Masterchef last year and has set up his own business where you can hire him to cater for you if you're holding a dinner party. He will come round to your house and cook and judging by the recipes on his blog it would be a very delicious meal! I only know about him as he is a friend of a friend of James! His blog is great to read and he's very passionate about food so even if you're not going to attempt any of the recipes, have a look!
Since we started the TV ban over a week ago we have been cooking from scratch more often and last week we made the spicy pea, mint and apricot stew. It was really tasty and we will definitely be making more from the blog. I should have taken a photograph but we ate it up far too quickly!

Berlin

Nice new noticeboard

Yesterday afternoon with my new found time (see post below) I covered a magnetic noticeboard with this quirky, seventies style fabric which I bought from Frau Tulpe in Berlin. Now I have had this noticeboard (from a well known Swedish furniture outlet) for at least 10 months so I am very glad I've finally got it covered! Next on my list are some cute magnets and then I can use it!

No TV for a month

Do you think you could go a whole month without watching any TV? That's what James and I have decided to do and we began our quest on Friday evening.
Now I do like my TV- documentaries, comedies, cookery programmes, a bit of reality TV, the odd soap and the news- and during the week a typical night has been spent flopped on the sofa watching around 3 hours of TV before going to bed. Our excuses? We are tired after work and it's the easy option during the dark winter nights to just crash out and switch the TV on.
Meanwhile, we always complain that there's never any time(!) to do the housework, do exercise or go out for the evening. Craft projects I have been wanting to do for ages remain untouched and my blogging has also been rather sparse.
Now maybe it's the fact that we've just returned for a great holiday in Berlin, our favourite, creative city that has got us all motivated, but whatever it is as long as we stick to it I think our lives will become more interesting and our time much better spent. Already we are feeling happier and more positive about all the time we've now 'found' to do whatever we want. It sounds ridiculous but I'm feeling quite excited about our evenings now and how we can spend all this lovely, free time we'll have. And it's as simple as not pressing a button!
You'll be hearing from me very soon.

Peaches

Ooo what an awful few days at work...these floods have caused real havoc and it took me 2 hours to get home last night which is double the usual time...then this morning I had a horrible early start of 5.45am to make sure I got to work on time as all the trains were cancelled and I had to get a rotten coach instead! And then I get home tonight all tired and moody, only to find I've been sent a beautiful new friend from the lovely, generous Ladysnail.




Thanks Ladysnail! She will be a big sister to this cute keyring I got for Christmas.

Looking after Chip

This afternoon James and I went round to look after a very cute little bunny called Chip. He belongs to our good friends Kate and Si and is their new house rabbit. They're away in Paris for the weekend so we agreed to pop round to feed, water and entertain Chip. Do look at Kate's website by the way, she's a very good illustrator and she has a lovely hand writing style too. Even the note she left for us is done in her quirky, illustrated way.

Anyway, onto Chip. He was very difficult to photograph as you can see...
Leave me alone!

Didn't you hear me??

Ok, you can photograph me but I'm going to move.

You may be holding me but I can still turn my head away!

Mmmm...hay!

He was very well behaved at first and we let him out to run round the flat. I think all the attention Chip got made him over excited as he then had a mad pooing session and we had to put him back in his cage and quickly clean up so that Kate and Si won't suspect anything when they return! Shhh, don't tell them!

Happy New Year

A new year is like a blank canvas, just like these Russian dolls I got for my birthday. January is a great time to decide what you will change this year and to reflect on the past year. I don't make resolutions but I have decided that I need to make time for myself to do crafty, creative things in my spare time. I have lots of craft projects which I never got round to last year so I am going to make sure I do them this year, I MUST! I have want to make cushion covers, a sock monkey, a jewellery stand, recover my noticeboard and also do some illustrating.
My first project is to paint these brilliant Russian dolls. They are quite small- the smallest doll is about 3cm high (or should I say short)!

One of my Christmas presents was this beautiful book illustrated my Mary Blair and published in 1961. I love the illustrations which are quirky and stylised and yet I think they still look fresh and modern too. I love the sweet little song sheet at the back of the book!If you are interested, you can see some more of Mary's gorgeous work here. Mary was an American artist who did work for Walt Disney, working on Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. She also illustrated packaging and greetings cards. It's really lovely stuff so do look if you get the chance.

Vintage fair

Ooops! Is it really that long since I posted on my blog? Yes. Sorry. I'm always so busy with this full-time work malarkey and most nights by the time I'm home I just want to flop onto the sofa and drink cups of tea (always with biscuits.) But I've been meaning to blog about my finds at a vintage fair I went to about a month ago at Leeds Town Hall. It was great and I could've spent a lot of money so I had to restrain myself. There were lots of beautiful things there from bags to clothes to collectables and I did fall in love with a mirror compact that was £110. I didn't come home with that but I did get these:


A black glove box decorated with a painting of a bird and some flowers (I have a mild obsession with birds!) and a pretty mirror.
These aren't vintage but I thought they were cute:


And James bought this fully working retro phone:

Ladysnail strikes again

Look what the lovely Ladysnail sent me on Saturday! Along with a good luck card for my new job she gave me these fabulous momiji stickers. I love them! Anything Japanese sends me into a spin but these are extra special as they were a surprise from a lovely blogging friend. Do check out Ladysnail's blog and Etsy shop which sells cool toys and she has just added some handmade cards which are gorgeous. By the way Ladysnail, I have the Peaches doll so now she has her own sticker too! Thanks x

Take a sidestep to your right

Now, everyone has a list of blogs they like and always visit and that's fine. But it can all get rather incestuous with everyone having all the same blogs on their lists and so I thought it would be great to find a blog I've never read before and share it with you. Then you can discover new blogs and maybe introduce me to some too. It's taken just three clicks to find this blog. I clicked onto Monkee Maker's blog (which is really funny and one of my faves and definitely worth checking out if you want a laugh), then I chose to click on Little Cotton Rabbits, which led me to Little Thing's blog which is truly lovely.
Hope you think so too. Where will three clicks take you?

Somewhere over the rainbow

Well. My first week is over and I am loving my new job. Here are some reasons why:
1. Lovely people
2. Very interesting, exciting work
3. Lots of freedom to create
4. Money
5. 9- 4.30, yes, you read that right!

I haven't been this happy in months. I feel like I have finally found the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow.

My first day at work

was FAAAAAAAB! No time to say any more as just going out now to see New Young Pony Club.

Home Treasures

Your grandmother's wedding ring? Darts trophies? A special photograph? If you had to grab one item what would it be?

I love this photo of my Grandma with my sister and I taken a year ago. My grandma died this February and this photo is very important to me.

These paintings are also special to me. The pink camel was painted by my friend Marie and she gave it to me for my birthday and few years ago. I painted the painting of my Grandma when I was doing GCSE art, so about 12 years ago!