Warm Wishes!

Merry Christmas to all my fellow bloggers!  Hope you all have a fabulous festive time! See you in 2013...

Here's a couple of snaps of our Christmas tree.  It's a little one, high up on the sideboard out of Jimmy's reach but he is really captivated by it for the first time this year.  I absolutely love these fuzzy pipe cleaner santas, some of them came from my Grandma and Grandad and I remember being really fascinated by them when I was little.  I was really pleased to find a box of them in a charity shop a few years ago so now we have a complete set.  So simple, yet so charming!

Love Cats!

Happy Valentines Day!  Here's a cute cat couple - Clarence and Clara, bud vases made by Wade in the 1950's. They sit on my mantelpiece and make me smile:) I have a lot of vintage ceramics on my shelves and how that will mix with a boisterous boy in the house only time will tell...!  Have a great day everyone:)

(Suit)case Histories

Here are those luggage labels I mentioned in my previous post.  I have had these for a long time and they came from my late great uncle Robert along with lots of other ephemera from his travels abroad in the 1950's.  I have one of his old suitcases too which has remnants of labels stuck on it and I find it fascinating to imagine all the destinations he visited back then.  I love the design and typography on these old labels and I think the Norwegian viking is particularly fun!

Nesting!

Sorry to be a little quiet on my blog of late, I've been busy nesting and preparing for a new arrival...
We are expecting our first baby, due in 6 weeks!  So I've been sorting through a ton of my stuff to make some room for our new family member, and found lots of old work in the process.  This little couple in a nest were part of an old commissioned piece on family trees in the days when I used to make 3d work.  They also slightly resemble me and Lee,
if we were made of wooden pegs!

I'm also sorting through a lot of my old 'treasure' from the loft, much to my husband's delight, some of which I'm hoping to sell in a new vintage etsy shop, opening soon......

Matchbox Labels No 10

 

I haven't posted any of my matchbox label collection for a while so I thought I'd pop this little Czech set up, all featuring different occupations.  I was curious about the text and with the help of good old google found out: ' 'take care of your feet, wear rubber boots in the wet'

Well it is a holiday weekend here in the U.K so whatever job you do I hope you enjoy the extra day off on Monday.  The weather isn't looking too bad so hopefully there won't be any need for the wellington boots!

Illustration Friday - Journey

Here's a little spot illustration just published in the April issue of Cincinnati Magazine.  I thought it would be quite appropriate for this week's topic, as it's about the journey from green coffee bean to cup!

I have a little obsession with drawing faces on mugs and cups, probably inspired by my love of the Bourn-vita advertising campaign from the 1950's.  The bakelite sleepy faced mug was produced as a promotional item at the time and I had wanted one for ages, I finally found one without its hat and then a few years ago my brother in law bought me a complete one as a gift and I love it!

Mother's Day!

I couldn't resist posting this cute pair of piggy banks as it's Mother's Day today!
Funnily enough I bought the big one from a charity shop recently and then just the other day in a different charity shop in another town I found the little one, seems like it was waiting to be reunited with its mum don't you think?

I really like this type of cute and kitschy vintage pottery and these are now happily at home on my studio shelf!

On the Record

Two posts in one day, whatever next! Anyhow I found these old 45 rpm records in a charity shop yesterday and was drawn to them for their groovy graphics, probably from the 1940's.
I do have an old 1960's portable record player so I will have to dig it out to have a listen... I particularly like the abstract design on the green cover and may just pop it into a frame...

Matchbox Labels No 9

I've been a bit slow with my blogging this year, must make amends, so in honour of Chinese New Year here are some Chinese animal themed labels from my collection.
I couldn't find a rabbit but I think these are really stylish and I love their simplicity, but I think the abstract black cat is my favourite!

Matchbox Labels No 8

 I haven't posted any of my vintage matchbox labels for a while, so here's a cute little Dutch set featuring alcoholic drinks for your delectation - enjoy!

A stitch (back) in time!

Here's a new illustrated proverb from my hand lettering series in progress... I'm not much good at sewing but I've always loved sewing ephemera and have a collection of old knitting patterns, mending cards, buttons and needle books etc.  I love the graphics on these and I've framed them in my studio for inspiration.

Matchbox Labels No 6

I haven't posted any matchbox labels for a while, so here's a little Czech set featuring fab fifties furniture. How's that for alliteration!

Illustration Friday - Double

Well I've been neglecting my blog a little of late, so I must make amends!
Here's a little image for Illustration Friday.  This week's theme is Double, so being an identical twin myself I had to draw twins!  My sister and her family were up for a visit this weekend which was lovely.  Despite living quite some distance apart and leading very different lives we still have a very strong bond although it's a long time since we looked like this and we don't do much skipping these days!

Here we are in glorious 1970's technicolour.  Just look at those cool
matching outfits and ragdolls!  That's me on the right, so now I know where my love of orange comes from!

Vintage Children's Books

I recently spent a lovely few days visiting my parents and while I was there I found these 2 fab books which I had collected years ago and forgotten about.  It was great to rediscover them and bring them back to the studio to join all the rest of my books.

I particularly love the bold illustrations in this one, and I've just found a flickr group dedicated to the work of Bernice Myers. Take a peek for some fantastic vintage illustration...

Matchbox Labels No 5

It's such a beautiful sunny day here today, not a cloud in the bright blue sky!  Summer is here:)
I thought I'd share this little set of Czech matchbox labels from my collection.  These have such a great summery feel and I love the bold graphic style.

Shelf Life No 1

I thought I'd share a little photo of a few of the cute characters who sit on a shelf above my desk.  The one on the left is a Carlton Ware pepper pot and the middle character is a strange mouse, rabbit hybrid, wearing blue eyeshadow!  I spotted it in a charity shop many years ago and had to bring it home with me.  They certainly make me smile on a daily basis!