I've been reminiscing about my
student days in London a lot lately. Of course, I'm just back from a holiday in the UK but we didn't manage to go down and see the bright lights this time, unfortunately. I've promised Dylan a weekend away in the autumn, if he gets his brain back in gear and concentrates at school - those difficult teenage years - so until then I'll have to make do with my city-in-a-bag from
Muji's and dreams of buying just one teeny, weeny roll of
Lizzie Allen's fabulous hand-screenprinted wallpaper for the kids' bedroom (if you're seriously interested
Pedlars has a great sale on). The good news, however, is that Famille Summerbelle's next
London print will be in Ladybird red - hurray! I know what my family will be getting for Christmas!
I'm not going to start getting patriotic (Union Jack's seem to everywhere although I do like these paper chains from
Creative Flourish) but once you start delving you realise just how much fantastic artwork London has inspired. Take
M. Sasek, for example, his fabulous books are enjoying a revival and he even has his own new
website.
Binth's colourful London city cards and prints would look great in a nursery or child's bedroom.
Papergrain, one of my favourite UK addresses for stationery, also has some beautiful writing sets, notebooks and greetings cards, my favourite being the Greenwich Observatory having lived in Blackheath and Greenwich for three years.
The London Transport Museum's online shop has an amazing range of London-themed products, including clothes, homeware, books, maps, toys and posters. I could write several posts on their poster collection alone. UK linocut printmaker
Paul Catherall's Four Seasons are among my favourites, and elsewhere work by
Gail Brodholt.
My very special London find comes from
Verandah, a collective of designers and craftmakers based in Norwich in the UK. These soldier concertina cards are just perfect!
* London Calling print by Inkspotts
I came across this sweet vintage record over at Three Potato Four's blog the other week. I think these old record sleeves make great wall art for kids' bedrooms, as well as providing hours of enjoyment, away from the TV. We pay regular visits to charity shops as a family and Savannah and Miles picked up a lovely vintage circus record on our last trip. I found these two original records within five minutes on etsy:
Amazing vinyl record laser-cuts from Carlos Aires
