On vacation

The shop is on vacation January 26-February 10.

I Spy Friday

On a dreary, rainy, cold day like today, I need to see (and hear) some bright and cheery things.

You can't go wrong with a Charley Harper print (or book, or game). I think Charley had a soft spot for cardinals, as do I.

Donna Wilson is a British knitting designer with a very quirky style. Her knitted monsters, cupcakes, clouds, and blankets are fantastic, but this huggable robin pillow caught my eye.

 

The etsy pick of the week is this ipod/phone cover from mareri. I have a laptop bag by her, and it's just lovely, as well as being beautifully made. I'm always wanting to show off my laptop bag, but hardly ever have the chance to lug it around town. Which means I really want this ipod case.

My lovely husband showed me this hilarious blog: Sleep-Talkin' Man. Seriously, you will laugh your butt off. Even if your canary just died. It's that funny. (But I should warn you that it also contains lots of swearing.)

I love this song, Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I've heard bit of the rest of their album and I don't love it. But I loooove this song. Even though they're dirty hippies who put some of my friends to shame. Yes, even those two.

I Spy Friday

This week's I Spy seems to have a kitchen theme, unintentionally. We're giving a dinner party this weekend, so maybe I've just got food on the brain.

The first selection is also this week's etsy pick, the Faux Bois tea towel from UrbanPosture. The wood grain design has been printed on a flour sack towel, which means it'll dry your dishes without leaving any lint behind. But don't use it for wiping down mushrooms or mopping up a wine spill: it's far too pretty for that.

 

I usually prefer something a bit more rustic for planters and other garden materials, but this herb planter from Normann Copenhagen is too sleek and practical to pass up. The scissors pictured, with leaf-shaped handles, fit between the two pots. Plants are watered by filling the detachable saucers shown, which means the plants take up as much (or little) water as they need. Since I always manage to starve or flood my plants, this elegant planter seems like a perfect solution.

I love the pottery designed by Sophie Conran for Portmerion. It's all beautifully elegant and perfectly practical, but this pouring bowl is probably my favorite. It's available from Cox & Cox.

In my stocking this year were two tickets to a Martha Wainwright concert at this tiny North London venue called the Jazz Club (isn't Santa amazing?). Probably the best part of the show was when she did a few songs from her new album of Edith Piaf covers, Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A Paris. She was seriously incredible, and you should all check out this album. It's not out yet in the U.S., but you can have a listen on amazon.co.uk.

I Spy Friday

The more I experience winter in London, the more I miss Boston. I never would have believed that I'd miss the land of the wintry mix, but snow here kinda stinks. It melts as soon as it hits the ground, and if it does stick, it's because a layer of ice has formed for the snow to stick on. Not very fun to go outside in. Impossible for snow balls or winter running.

So this week I've been attracted to items that make me think of winter as it should be. With giant, anthropomorphized rabbits, of course.

This is my favorite print of that famous, fabulous, fashionista bunny, Fifi Lapin. This print is called Last Night I Dreamt, and it pretty much sums up my longing for a real winter just now. It's available on the Fifi Lapin shop at bigcartel, currently closed for the holidays but opening again any day now.

Our etsy pick of the week this time is a pretty little pillow cover by suchprettycolors, called Hedgie Seeks True Love. The suchprettycolors shop is based out of Michigan, so she clearly knows a thing or two about winter. This one is also available as a print, but I prefer the pillow because I just want to give little hedgie a big hug.

Since my general goal this year is to live more sustainably, part of that should be cutting down on the "stuff" I feature in I Spy. Also, I should stop moaning about London, which is a wonderful city. So, here's a fantastic, free, sustainably distributed little item brought to you by the British Broadcasting Corporation:

In Our Time is an amazing radio show, also distributed as a podcast through iTunes, which discusses all kinds of different things in history, literature, math, and science. My favorite shows include The Number Zero, Fairies, Epistolary Novels, and The Great Fire of London. It's hosted by Melvyn Bragg, a hero of everyone in the family (including Max the Cat), who urbanely dissects that week's chosen subjects with three lucky experts.

But perhaps the best thing about In Our Time is that, if you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the panelists' tea cups and saucers clink slightly as they chat.

New materials

I've had four whole days in a row off from Anthropologie, and I've been able to take advantage of this free time to work on incorporating some new materials into my work.

The first one is this:

It might seem out of character for me to rip up a book--any book, let alone Jane Austen--but, as you can see, I had read this copy almost into the ground. Also, this Christmas Santa brought me this:

So, I've been able to create lovely new things like these:

I'm loving the pliability of this new paper. It's quite thin, since it's coming from such a large book, but it's also quite tough. Paper so thin often becomes transparent during the varnishing process, but this paper maintains its properties quite well. And it's less stiff than the paper I normally use, which means I can scrunch and crumple it into lovely shapes.

In this picture you can see a little better the other new material that I'm using. I bet you'll be able to guess what it is, but any ideas on where it came from? Anyone?

I Spy Friday

I love winter. Really, I do. I love the snow, the idea of a clean start at New Year's, the rosy cheeks, and the feel of cold air in my lungs. But when we're several months into the cold weather and long nights, and the excitement of Christmas is past, even winter-lovers need a reminder of what's so great about this season.

So, here are a few of my favorite wintry things:

A new year and a new start require a new calendar, of course. Cavallini's calendars, such as this desktop flip calendar, are always gorgeous. I especally like that they're printed on a lovely, thick matte stock. They're available at Amazon and many, many bookshops.

An on-going resolution in our house is to find eco-friendly alternatives for cleaning products. Aside from anything else, the horrible smell of bleach and cleaning chemicals grosses me out. The only problem is that those natural options tend to be a bit pricey. That's where Clean: The Humble Art of Zen Cleansing is helpful. This little book is a guide to using five common ingredients to clean everything in your house, including yourself. I found this on Spoon Sisters, but it's currently unavailable there. It can also be found at Amazon or other large booksellers.

We're also trying to stop using paper towels. I've found that flour sack towels are the best replacement. In fact, they do much more than paper towels can, because in a pinch they'll serve as a trivet, a cloth to cover hot food, a potholder, or a strainer. This set from Williams-Sonoma is made from organic cotton, so you can feel extra-virtuous when using them.

This week's etsy pick is the Winter Blossom Bowl by soule, a lovely reminder that even the starkest winter day can be beautiful.

And for those days when it really is too cold to be outdoors for long, the Winter candle by Linnea's Lights is a great way to bring a bit of nature inside. These candles are soy-based for a cleaner burn and poured in very small batches to assure quality. They're available at Giannetti Home, and several other retailers.