Stuff for stockings

A selection of small gifts for stocking-fillers


Handmade and embroidered felt brooch by Yalipaz

Little Fellow Bookplates by The Bad Apple

Shakespearean Insult Magnets from Shakepeare's Globe

Cut Out Jumping Jack from Benjamin Pollocks (I could buy the entire shop...)


Set of 8 Urpo and Turpo postcards from Fine Little Shop

Tiny colouring book and set of mini-pencil crayons by All Things Small

Set of 30 animal postcards by Junzo Terada from Analogue Books

Tate Thames flip book - Tate Online

Little Museum - from the Little Book series by John Dilnot (another of my all time faves)

Build a Mini-Cooper set from the Museum of London

Diorama Theatre card from Benjamin Pollocks

Badges by Cosas Minimas - la Famille, from Mr Minouchet

Upside down tops from Benjamin Pollocks

Mikro Man - Off the Road by the brilliant Sam Buxton
Small fold-out metal sculpture, start collecting now!

Although perhaps too expensive for a stocking-filler, couldn't resist showing you this set of 8 Red Ridinghood mini ephemera blocks by the wonderful Sushipot.

Nigel Peake

Section through shed VII

I have long admired the work of Nigel Peake. As you know, I am drawn to collections of things and love colours, patterns and textures. Irish-born, illustrator/artist Peake is a former RIBA silver award commended architecture student from the University of Edinburgh, where he has also tutored and assisted in the design units. I discovered his work via the ever-excellent Analogue Books, and am intrigued by his choice of subject-matter. Nigel Peake's hand-drawn, highly-detailed ink and watercolour drawings explore the architecture of nature, its lines, boundaries, motifs and structures. They open my eyes to the beauty around me in every day life.

Ghost Houses
A set of drawings of Ghost Houses inspired by a trip to Philadelphia.

"Past the noise, glare and pop of South Street Philadelphia there is a church that is now a thrift store on every third Sunday. Where the congregation would have once knelt and prayed is now bundled trash; stacked and reinvented".

Maps book by Nigel Peake
Fields, paths, forests, blocks, places and surrounds

"Documenting small time adventures and excursions outwith a mile radius from where I call home. From train rides facing backwards, to crammed bus rides in tiny hill-top towns, to bike rides through the backyards of Europe. Records of the vast, unyielding concrete miles of Shanghai, to the paths between mountains and forests in late night French countryside to the old paint splattered wooden floor in London that I sleep on from time to time."

A Guide to Fifty Nine Fields Drawn by Nigel Peake

"A world renowned field expert, let Nigel open your unseeing eyes to the fields that surround you. Whether it's a field of leaves, bikes, beehives, or a conversation of birds, after familiarizing yourself with the Nigel's chart, a world of fields will reveal itself all around you".

Take a peek at his beautiful books on sheds , birds and patterns.

Nigel Peake's books are self-published or are published in collaboration with Analogue Books.

Penguins and Pelicans

Don't you just love old Penguin and Pelican books? Do you remember these? Fabulous covers with bright, bold illustrations.


Like many, I prefer books from the 60s/70s. This Pelican has to be one of my all time favourites from university.

I know it's not fresh news, but if you're a book lover and are interested in seeing how jacket design has changed over the years, Things Magazine has created a fantastic gallery of Pelican books dating from the 1930s to the 1980s.
I also found a really interesting post on the development of the classic Penguin logo over at one of my new favourite design blogs delicious industries.




UK graphic designer Littlepixel has produced some great work reimagining classic records as vintage Penguin books. Really first-class.


I was also drawn to Julian House's prints shown at his first exhibition "The New Spirit Happening" seen over at the brilliant Analogue Books' store. Julian is co-founder of Ghostbox records who records under the name The Focus Group. He is an acclaimed graphic designer with Intro, known to most for his work with Primal Scream, The Prodigy, Oasis, Stereolab and Broadcast.
Julian's exhibition took the form of a "collection of ephemera, screen prints and moving image that hints at the supernatural phenomena and events taking place at the new spirit hall in Belbury, a fictional provincial English town". Definitely a strong Penguin influence there!