Show & Tell

In the run up to leaving my job, I became even more lost in my world of thoughts and fears. I was exhilarated, excited, weightless yet slightly fearful. Eight years at the same place, at the age of 31 is a fair amount of time to have worked in one place. A huge amount of change had happened to me in that time. One husband. Two children. Three houses.

The end of a chapter was closing and I felt the urge to record this via the old fashioned medium of pen and paper. I got scribbling. Half way through, I decided I wanted to donate my sketch to some of my work friends, as a little token of something to remember me by. Or rip up.

It was a page of doodles. Little sayings. Little thoughts. Some things I already do. Some things I would like to do. Y’know, rules to live my life by, life’s little instructions. I think the people I gave them to liked them. They said they did. Secretly, they probably think I’m a right weirdy.  A try-hard hippie.

And for the second part of today’s Show & Tell, I also picked up a flyer from the nursery the children go to, advertising the Magical Menagerie, as part of the IF: Milton Keynes International Festival.  Originally commissioned in 2008 by the French newtown of Sénart, The Magical Menagerie – or Le Manège Carré Sénart - has toured through Europe including Spain, Portugal and Belgium, charming visitors with its mechanical herds of strange beasts from exotic fish and brightly coloured insects to oversized buffalos.

The flyer caught my eye, not only because it winked at me, but also because of the style of illustration. Its the epitomy of French Art-Nouveau, so nicely created. It’s even got an old grainy tea-stained back drop.

Stumbling upon treasure & where are you, my friend?

I am addicted to surfing the internet. I know I’m not on my own, people. I love it but sometimes I resent it. Purely for the reason that I don’t get anything done. Like tonight, for example. I sat down, to write a post about asking you to let me know where you are in the world. That post hasn’t been written, because I’ve just been trawling through an eclectic mixture of  sweet, sweet websites. And now I’m writing about something totally unintended. But that’s ok.

Plus, I should be in bed. I promised myself I would finish my book tonight, so that I can start my new book club book, A Gate At The Stairs by  Lorrie Moore. ( I know. I am actually, like, in a book club. Made up of two whole people. Ahem.)

Anyways, one new diamond in the rough I in particular, which I wanted to mention is Cathe Holden’s Just Something I Made. What a clever, clever lady. There are so many thing to look at on her site, I think I’ll be here till Monday.  Her studio is my studio in 2 years. It is exactly as I see it. The stuff she collects is the stuff I collect and want to collect more of. Its quite uncanny. (Or is it?)

It’s one of those kinds of studios where everything collected has a special memory, a romantic connection. It’s what you would see if you could delve into the depths of the left side of this ladys brain. That’s not supposed to be freaky. Right now, I’m a five year old in an old fashioned sweet shop. I can’t believe my luck.

Ok, so I may aswell combine this post with the one I was actually supposed to be writing, which was to encourage you to leave me a comment on this site, letting me know where you’re checking in from. I’m really curious to know. And even more curious, because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have a little map thingy to the bottom right of the screen, called MapClustr, which tells you and I where my web hits are coming from. I’m 1) surprised 2) totally flattered to see that I have visitors as far away as Japan. How cool is that? Thank you whoever you are for visiting. It truly excites me when I login to my little stats screen. I don’t know who you are, I don’t know exactly where you are, its all very vague right now. But if you have a spare second, I’d love it if you dropped me a line using the comment box at the end of this post, telling me your town, county and country where you live. Maybe even how you came across my site if you like. If not, no sweat. It’s just a bit of fun. (I’m smiling)

Ok, well, I’ll hopefully see you soon. Nighty night.

Some nice things to look at on a Friday

I stumbled across some images I’ve been keeping on my computer. I kept them because I liked them and thought I would use them in moments where I’m struggling to come up with something original. The reality is I haven’t looked at them since I stored them away. Some use that theory was. So, instead, I share with you. Voilà.

I don’t know where I got this image from, but I love it. So simple. If someone reading this knows, please get in touch so I can reference them.

A beautiful antique Victorian calling card design. Amazing penmanship.

I think I came across this when I was looking for inspiration for designing my Lovebird logo. Again, sorry for not referencing the source but if anyone can help out on this, please let me know.

Dreamy Sonoma County in Northern California. Mother to the Mayacamas Mountains and the Sonoma Mountains. I would give my big toe to be bouncing along on a bench seat of an old Chevy pickup, windows down, picnic on board. Yes please.