Poppytalk finds

Spot color poster by sfgirlbybay

Have you ever paid a visit to Poppytalk Handmade, the monthly online street market curated by Poppytalk? I love it, there's a new market each month and at the moment the theme is 'Home Sweet Home' running to August 15. Poppytalk have the knack for finding really original emerging designers so I always fall in love with something. I have to admit that several pieces have caught my eye this time, including

She embroiders by Mary's Granddaughter

Knife picture holders by Monkeys always look

Three old French pharmacy bottles customised with wire by De Beaux Souvenirs

(I absolutely adore all of this woman's work)

My favourite market finds are these beautiful photographs by Bucks County Frames






I started looking for some nice photography for Dylan's bedroom last summer when we moved. He's thirteen and being arty has good taste (barring the head-to-toe, wall-to-wall Che Guevara trend, but ...). We've found a few pieces of vintage signage and some old French automobile posters so far. These photographs would be great - for his room, our living room, our kitchen...
They're so beautiful and there are so many more on the photographer's site, it's difficult to choose really. Bucks also sells fabulous handcrafted eco-friendly frames with no nasty VOCs. Fine photography in fine frames, sounds perfect!

Love it!

I was admiring Virginia Johnson's (of Roddy&Ginger fame) chalkboard wall the other day over at OpenHouse. I thought it might work well in our kitchen too, we'll have to see...

Then I came across this idea over at Tea for Joy, originally found via Ideal Home's blog HomeShoppingSpy


This chalkboard calendar looks great! If you're interested in having a go at home, look here.

Scottish delights

Ceramic birds by Hannah Turner

Hang about horses by Andrea Williamson

Knitted beads by Lorraine Linton

Tape-measure make-up and wash bags by Erin Hensley

Foxy shade by Lush designs

ALL FROM BOO VAKE



Egg cosies by INTO


Knitted, felted hot water bottle by INTO

Turquoise and pink dotty mismatch earrings by Kaz



Turquoise circle by Catherine

Dolly birds by Claire Nicolson


ALL FROM PAPA STOUR






Classic Mary Janes in red by Robeez

Stripey tights by Phister & Philina

Skating Bunny shopper by MayMayKing

Squirrel card by Kelly Hayatt for Lagom


ALL FROM BOHEMIA DESIGN

Hurry, hurry

before she goes...

papier mache to-do list

Today I'm on a mission.

- I want to make sure that you've all seen the first issue of this wonderful online children's magazine from Australia.

- I want to be certain that you've all taken out a free subscription (yes, you heard me, free).

- I want to put my mind at rest - surely, I'm not the only one still reeling from so much gorgeousness, dazed by so much eye-candy, the fabulous fashion features, the sneak peek, the illustrations, shopping ideas and art (I love Meredith Gaston's work)???

- I want to find out if you're dying for issue no. 2 and are willing to lend a hand to make it grow from strength to strength?

Right, those with full marks read on....

I have some fantastic news found over at Bodie and Fou's stylish and informative blog, later confirmed by the pm team. papier mache have decided to add a supplement magazine with issue 2 devoted to children's rooms, to be released mid-November, and are looking for submissions!

If you think that your kid's room looks great and has that certain je ne sais pas quoi that would appeal to papier mache readers, send your photos to: hello@papier-mache.com.au before the end of October.

Righty-ho girls, roll up your sleeves, cameras at the ready, there's work to be done!

Hedgerow delight

Good Morning! Some bright bramble sweetness to start the day. I spotted these four colourful paintings by British contemporary artist Louise Gains in a magazine years ago. Being a hunter and a gatherer, I tore out the article and saved it for the right moment, as one does...

Louise's Hedge series of oil paintings were inspired by wild plant growth in the Wye Valley. These four "details" were then printed onto cotton and framed. I think they're beautiful. Her work reminds me of my favourite painter Kurt Jackson's Cornish hedge paintings.

Other "details" include the gorgeous Dandelion Sea and Parsley Shake collection.






Louise's earlier and more recent work can be found here. She has also created the mousespotter's guide to find sugar mice in strange places.

Move over Barbie

Framed tattooed lady doll by Sarah Young

Just what is it with Barbie? Why an earth are little girls and boys inevitably drawn to the whole Barbie universe? I personally don't recall ever wanting one, more of a Tressy kinda a girl (remember, the one with the long hair whose wavy locks you could twist back into her skull to create a cropped Jean Seberg look???). I've made a conscious effort to steer my kids away from all things remotely connected to Barbie & co so I understandably cringed in horror when a sweet French lady gave Savannah her daughter's entire unsold collection at the end of a local car boot sale a couple of years ago. Lots of gaudy plastic shoes, boots, hairbrushes, party frocks...

Yesterday, I caught my three children playing with Barbie and Ken on the balcony. The game consisted in placing the two bods in Barbie's big blue car without strapping their seat belts then sending them hurtling down all twenty odd steps at full speed. Needless to say, K+B did not fare well. I smiled to myself, remembering a brilliant post by one of my translator friends Gail Armstrong, on her excellent, now defunct, blog Openbrackets. How right she was...

There are so many beautiful, original dolls around at the moment so I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you some of my poupée finds, after all, Christmas is not that far away (did I really say that?)

Articulated paper-doll set by woolandwater

Papier mâché doll by Paola Zakimi

Hanging lavender-filled Russian dolls by Beaky

Reusable, removable paper-doll style wall decals made from fabric by Mae


Primitive folk art rabbit doll by PieCake Primitives


Pretty fairy pegdolls by The Magpie and the Wardrobe

Custom-tailored peg doll families by Goose Grease