so that was november...

From left to right:

* Geering up for Christmas at Trinity West with a scalpel workout, 'Blue Peter style' for our advent series.
* Best bonfire night I've ever had, from the comfort of my own sofa, glass of wine in hand.
* I always get sad about the lack of flowers winter brings but these potted cabbages cheered me up. A clever winter alternative!
* Longest stint spent apart followed by a lovely date day to put things right.
* A whole year in Shepherds Bush and our little flat. It's flown by!
* Sometimes I try to remember what life was like before our DSLR camera. This little friend has had some serious use this month, for work and play. It's also over a year old and I haven't dropped it yet. That's good going for me!

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date day

This probably sounds a bit lame but hey ho, that’s me. Nick was away at a conference last week and it happened to be the longest we’d spent apart since being married. It was only five days but I was so ready for him to be back by Friday evening! It made me really thankful for being in a season where my husband doesn’t really have to go away on business trips. I wouldn’t enjoy that. Nope. 

We have date night or date day every week if possible because lets be honest, it’s easy for the busyness of a week to swallow up time to actually connect. It often just consists of dinner and a film or coffee and a chat but I decided to welcome him home with a day of simple things he enjoys. I even made tickets. Luckily Nick finds my creative quirks cute rather than creepy...phew.

It may sound a tad girly but it’s not just me who likes granola in our house. Nick is a big fan and has often asked me to make a homemade batch. In all honesty I didn’t need much convincing and followed this recipe for Brown Butter, Pumpkin Seed and Espresso Granola, adding even more coffee for luck hence the dark colour. We washed it down with banana, coconut & honey smoothies that were so thick the straws seemed liked a misjudgement but tasted yum. Then we tubed off to indulge Nick’s ever growing love/obsession for good coffee. I may well be the only creative londoner who doesn’t appreciate good coffee but I do love food and fun branding so going along for the ride is always a good idea. We ticked off another spot on Nick’s list and walked off our lunch via St Paul’s, the Thames and borough market of course, where Nick felt it necessary/essential to have his third coffee of the day. Basically it was a lovely, chilled day and so nice to catch up properly. Dates can so often be less than lovely when you’re both holding out to spend some proper time together and come to the table with different expectations of a perfect afternoon/ evening. Cue grouchy arguments or huffy sighs. Last Saturday however was a good one and reminded me how blessed I am to have Nick in my life, whether we are spending cute romantic days together, hanging out the laundry together or sorting our online banking together.

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Hark!

It's fast approaching carol season! It's our first proper carol service at Trinity West and I was very happy to design the postcards for the event.  I was equally great to have a bit of time to illustrate, something that so easily gets shoved to the bottom of the design pile. Anyway if you are near Shepherds Bush on Sunday the 15th December than we'd love for you to join us at 5pm for carols, mulled wine and mince pies. Details are on the postcard back below and you can also find out more about us via our website. 

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keep your eye out

Two weekends ago I paid this year's Renegade Craft Fair a little visit. I'd always wanted to go, having followed all the beautiful fairs held in San Francisco, L.A, Austin etc and now living in London I had no excuse not to. It was a pretty inspiring trip all round and lovely to get opportunities to chat to the designers themselves. Its also free (winner) and a really great place to score some cute and quirky Christmas presents so if you didn't get along this year then do go next year. Here are some of my favourite stalls... 

I've seen these gorgeous prints from Paper Moon bouncing their way around the blog world and had already even pinned a few. I think her colour palettes won me over on first glance!

Aren't these beautiful?! Gorgeous illustrations turned into badges and jewellery from Kayleigh O'Mara.

I was already following this talented lady's work but it was great to see all her lovely products laid out together on the Oh no Rachio stand. I love the simplicity in her design and the build your own succulent kits were a highlight. Had to exercise some serious self control to not buy one.

I stared at Lui's necklace selection for a good long while, imagining one of these bad boys round my neck. Stunning colours that would definitely make a statement.

These illustrations probably excited me the most! I'm a sucker for collage as you may have already realised so the Lucy Driscoll stand was a real draw. They're all so thoughtfully put together and yet retain a sense of

spontaneity.  

This collection of rainbow fun would be enough to brighten up even the bleakest, rainy days (which that Saturday was). Hand Over Your Fairy Cakes is a quirky range of perspex accessories set to put a smile on even the saddest of faces and even more impressively this talented lady is self taught.

Gold, leather and pompoms anyone?...100% yes! Benu is owned by Pauline who loves working with leather. I hadn't really even thought about what a versatile material it was until I saw these. Each design was fun and bursting with personality.

Scout Editions had some really eye catching prints, my favourites being the Bird Series. These are printed using a risograph, which I'd never heard of but it creates a lovely affect and the pops of neon colour caught my fluro-magpie attention.

What a clever idea this is! Ceramic glossed gems look almost good enough to eat, especially in all these powder shades. You'll find them at Made By ME ME ME.

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glow

I know that each time I give you a DIY idea I make a point of telling you how simple it is to make but this one really is the easiest and quickest project ever. So if you have the craft skills of a 5 year old then never fear, this ones for you!

You will need to get hold of some glitter sticker paper (a totally genius creation). I found mine in Paperchase and was encapsulated so the glitter ain’t budging but you can also find it here and probably many other craft shops and websites. 

You’ll need:

• Glitter sticker sheet
• Metal ruler
• Card
• Pencil
• Scalpel
• Cutting mat 
• Clear glasses (look for a flat bottom to sit the candle in)

To make:

1. Draw an elongated triangle onto your card. Make sure you measure how tall it needs to be for the size glass you have. Then cut the shape out to make a template.
2. Draw around your template onto the back of your glitter sheet.
3. Then scalpel each shape out, using the ruler to guide you.
4. Take each shape individually and peel of the backing paper. Adhere to you glass, lining up the bottom of each elongated triangle next to one another.
5. When you are getting near to making it the whole way round, work out how many more triangles you can fit in. I had to trim a little off some of my end shapes to make them fit snugly. Alternatively you could use a tape measure to record the circumference at the start and size your triangles accordingly but this is far too technical for my enjoyment!

Now you can light your tea lights and set these glasses a-glowing! They make lovely tables centres and it turns out they look pretty festive (not my intention) so they’ve come right in the (St) nick of time! 

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a diy christmas

envelope advent calendar // geometric tree beading // bristle brush snow globes // gingerbread mug huggers // driftwood Christmas tree // printable advent boxes // rosemary wreaths

Despite having been designing Christmas since July in my job, the festive season seems to have somewhat crept up on me. Suddenly there's gift sets at the front of every shop and the coca cola advert graces our screens and all completely unapologetically, despite not even having made it past mid November! There's always tons of stuff to buy everywhere you look at Christmas but I always think it's a great excuse to make things Here are a collection of DIY ideas I've found online to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes the simplest ideas are actually the best. Happy making! 

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something for your screen

Hello! Tuesdays don't generally have much to offer. You aren't at the start of a fresh new week and yet not quite at the middle either and certainly nowhere near the downward slope and wind down to the weekend. So here's some desktop love to put a smile on those faces or at least a smile on your machine's screen. These wallpapers were inspired by the fact that I feel super duper inspired at the moment! If only I had the time to do all the things swimming round in my head! I'm learning (perhaps too slowly) that that just ain't possible and THAT'S OK! Download your free desktop wallpaper here.

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So that was October...

From left to right:

*Putting together an online portfolio is something I've been putting off since Summer. I get tired just thinking about it but at least I took the first step by shooting a load of stuff with Nick last weekend.
* So the much talked about Uk storm came and went and I slept right through like a baby. The next morning Autumn lined the floor rather than the trees and it looked kind of beautiful in the aftermath Sun.
* Tea drinking and slipper wearing had been on hold for a while but October left me no choice but to take up these activities once again.
* I'm sure I bake every week anyway but I felt like I baked a whole lot more this month, trying out new recipes and rehashing classics. Baked desserts taste a million miles better than bought!
*A whole month in our new church venue and hoping to stay on much longer. I'm so thankful for God's provision and I'm pretty sure the kids are chuffed about the extra running around space.
* I got new glasses! Hurrah I can see again! Been having a great time reciting shop and sign names from yonder distance just because I can.

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