Kickcan & Conkers: February 2011

Monday, 28 February 2011

Magic Cloak Print Giveaway

A5 Cloak Giclee Print by Lesley Barnes

I'm sure UK illustrator / animator Lesley Barnes needs no introduction. Many of you will remember Seven Little Houses, a marvellous short film she co-animated with Thereza Rowe , which I featured early last year. I am a fan of both artists and loved their collaboration. Lesley graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2006 and made her mark in the animation world thanks to her award-winning, must-see short Herzog and The Monsters "for anyone who loves typography, about a small boy who steals words, a forest full of monsters and lots of vintage penguin books".

Needless to say, Lesley boasts an impressive animation and illustration portfolio and her work is very much in demand. Recent projects include artwork and animations for jazz musician Kit Downes' new album Quiet Tiger.

If you've seen Herzog and The Monsters you won't be surprised to learn of Lesley's passion for books. In addition to her illustration and animation work, she has a small etsy shop where she sells handmade leather bookmarks and a few of her prints.

Lesley is kindly offering Kickcan & Conkers' readers the chance to win one of her beautiful signed and numbered A5 Magic Cloak giclee prints as well as giving two bookmarks for runners up. If you would like your name in the hat please leave a comment below. As usual, anyone who spreads the word via twitter, facebook or any other network gets an extra entry.

The giveaway runs until 6pm (18h) CET Sunday 6th March. I will announce the winners the same evening.

Good Luck!

Si vous voulez participer à ce jeu pour gagner cette magnifique dame toute en couleur de Lesley Barnes (impression Giclée, format A5) laissez-moi un commentaire, faisant attention de me laisser votre adresse mél. Lesley offre également deux marque pages en cuir pour le deuxième et troisième gagnant. Vous aurez deux possibilités de gagner si vous relayez l'info par twitter, facebook ou tout autre réseau social.
Fin du jeu dimanche 6 mars à 18 heures.
J'annoncerai le gagnant le soir même.

Bonne chance!

Black is Back

Sublime !

Talc's Summer collection

adopted

styled

and

caught on camera

Nouschine & Sons

All we need now is some sun!

Etsy Find : Faire Le Guignol

1950's French Guignol Puppet Theatre Set

Sadly, well out of most people's financial reach but beautiful vintage eye candy nonetheless! I am now on a mission to find one.

Inspiration: La Vie en Rose

I've fallen head over heels in love (it's the coffee...) with Linda Dacey's collages incorporating vintage French finds.

I've mentioned Linda's little vintage boutique before and am pleased to see her using her artistic talents.

Odd & Old -One to bookmark me thinks.

Coffee Time

Oh, what's up?

You look so sad.

Got the Monday morning blues?

Pour yourself a coffee

Have some breakfast

I want to see that smile

That's better.

Happy Monday!

images courtesy of:

Debbie Hill

Karen Barbé

Sunday, 27 February 2011

A-Leaping

I can't stop thinking about this beautiful mobile I saw on etsy last night.

I love the tiny white and black clay rabbits, leaping up high.

I think it's one of the nicest things I've ever seen.

What a wonderful heirloom this would make, perfect for a nursery or a quiet corner in the home.

Laurie Poast's shop ARTISANIEeurope is a special place

Look at her French maison set, Dutch canal huis and clay marbles.

Visual poetry.

Five Faves #46

Back to Basics!

Holiday time at last!

Dylan, Savannah and Miles broke up for two weeks on Friday and we celebrated with a long lie in, a leisurely breakfast and a slow, pleasant Saturday. Feels good!

Not so sure I'll be quite as fresh and upbeat tomorrow; it's almost 3 am here and I'm wide awake, beavering away.

I'll let you know if I find anything at the flea market in Montpellier, if I get up, I'm in the mood for some digging and delving - wish me luck!

Here are last week's Five Faves:

1) Favourite Handmade Toys, or should I say, Child's Accessory... - Varpu's felt houses

2) Favourite Craft Tutorial - Ann Wood's paper mache teacups, divine!

3) Favourite New Discovery - Lynn Jackson *

4) Favourite Children's Clothes - Bouille de Clown**

5) Favourite Laughter - So nice to see and hear you Ryoko Ishii!***

See ya later gaters!

* art room plantl

** babyology

*** a bonne vie de tous les jours

Saturday, 26 February 2011

Awfully Nice Alpacas

I discovered Japanese illustrator Hitomi-Murakami last year thanks to Hazel Terry's posts about her beautiful illustrations in these children's books. Needless to say, I fell in love.

I think this series of Alpaca prints is a wonderful way of introducing you to her work. I would have loved to have seen this exhibition and very much enjoy following her on Flickr (great children's art workshops!) and visiting her website and little shop.

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

Sarah Neuburger has been busy revamping her website and creating new products.

Lots of fun to be had with her Bernard & Tiption and Francine & Simone stamp sets.

The Choo Choo Train is definitely my favourite though!

Friday, 25 February 2011

Friends

Cat Folk Choir - PinPals

Friends, near and far, thank you so much for all your lovely comments regarding this Ohdeedoh interview, I'm am very touched.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Kalimagier

Etymology may not be your cup of tea but as a former translator living in a foreign country, it's something that's of interest to me, and something that I like to talk about with my children. Kalimagier, co-published by Les Editions Ricochet in France and Lazhari Labter Editions in Algeria, is a perfect way of introducing children to the evolution of languages.

Qahoua - Café

My children are bilingual (French / English) - two languages, two cultures - I believe this enriches their lives. I'm tempted to say that the whole family is trilingual because we've also invented our own "dialect", a mish-mash of both languages, "franglais".

Al-Roubaâ - Arobase

Kalimagier presents one hundred words in French and Arabic, clearly showing from which language the word originates as well as giving help on pronunciation. Quoton becomes Coton, Zarafa - Girafe, Canapé - Kanabi...

Rouement - Roulma

Of course I wouldn't be telling you about this beautiful book if you had to have a perfect grasp of French or Arabic. Kalimagier is a picture book, superbly illustrated by Marie Mahler, whose work I've mentioned before. The colours are splendid and every page is a delight, frameable in fact! It's most certainly worth the 17 Euros I spent at Christmas!

Amir al-Bahr - Amiral

This a lovely book for children and adults alike. It's clear, intelligent and richly illustrated. We all love it and I think it deserves greater recognition - hopefully it will make its way onto your bookshelves ?!

Kalimagier by Lazhari Labter, Nadia Roman and Marie Mahler

Available here, here and other good bookstores (K&C maybe?)

A nice overview of Marie's illustrations here

Etsy Find: Typewriter Pillow

I know I've said it before but Heather Shaw always gets it right.

Have you seen her latest addition to the Pi'lo collection?

Perfect!

A Balancing Act

Good Morning!

I don't know about you, but it's been a long and busy week here.

Are you winding down now, slowly?

I thought we'd start the day with a few soothing images of Caroline Swift's beautiful ceramics and glass installations. So calming and peaceful, perfect eye candy for super mums around the world!

via