Vessels and Wares

Vessels and Wares is the featured seller on Etsy at the moment and I just love her stuff. I'm a big fan of porcelain and ceramics and also cake stands so I can't get enough of it! It's all just so sweet!

Japanese masking tapes

I found this link on sfgirlbybay's blog to this cute online store called happy tape selling Japanese masking tape. They look so freakin cute! I love that such simple things like masking tape can be made to look so pretty and funky and it saddens me that our masking tape is so bland and meh.

My brother is teaching English in Tokyo at the moment so I promptly sent him the link and said "pleeeeeeeeease!!!!"

Some of my favourites

making lists

Wow, been a while. Sorry, I've been really busy with the shop recently and have been neglecting my blogs a lot. But this post has come about as a result of all the stuff I'm doing (or should be doing) for the shop.

I have always made lists, even lists of lists. In some way I think it gives me some vague feeling of organisation and control in my crazy, hectic life. But then I do find that I spend the time I should be actually actioning the list by writing more lists or just re-writing the same lists over and over...I'm sure there's a problem there somewhere under years of repression but for now I'm loving these to do lists I found on Etsy:

Very cool Octopus to do list by boygirlparty

Sweet "For the birds to do" to do list by notebooksetc

Love this Little Red Riding Hook list - available as PDF template - by Thompsondesigns

Pretty - by withlovecsunsweetie

Stranger than Fiction

Another one of my favourite films. It's about Will Ferrell's character, Harold Crick, who is a very by-the-book IRS auditor who suddenly starts hearing the narration of his life as he goes about his day. Then he falls in love with one of his free-spirited auditees, Ana Pascal (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Then he hears the voice narrate that he is to die imminently and so he is set on a mission to prevent this and that's pretty much it.

Of course, there is a food aspect to the film - Maggie Gyllenhaal's character runs a little indie bakery and makes some yummy sounding sweets.

I love Will Ferrell's awkward acting in this film and some excellent lines from Emma Thompson. Go watch!

posters

I'm on a hunt at the moment looking for posters for my new shop and I've found lots of lovely ones on Etsy, so I'm a bit spoilt for choice.

I'm looking for something bright and kinda girly at the same time and with a happy vibe to it. It will be put in an entirely white room so it will stand out quite a lot. So far I've come up with these:

By Farouche

By Summersville

By Letterhappy

By Blulima

Modcloth

Oh my days I am so freakin excited by this one! I've just stumbled across this amazing online shop called Modcloth. They have some really pretty and unusual dresses which fit in perfectly with the "new Yvonne" look I'm working on (finances permitting). I've so far eyed these and will be having an internal debate over whether I should be buying them a little later tonight:

Side swept fringes

I've been looking for a new hair do for ages now, it always seems that after the first post-hair-cut wash, my hair just looks the same as it did before. So I'm thinking about getting a fringe cut so there will be at least some noticeable difference once I've undone all my hairdresser's work. I've been admiring these fringes:

Reese Witherspoon has been rocking the side fringe thing lately

I like this on Ashlee Simpson too

Loving this lady's general "I have great hair and I didn't even have to try" look

Rosanna, Inc

Rosanna, Inc. is an amazing tableware company founded by Rosanna Bowles (how about that for the perfect surname?!) based in Seattle.

As well as crockery, she also sells candlesticks, bottles, things for children, glasses, teapots and there is a massive variety of styles, all of which are just stunning.

These are some of the things I've picked out for my dream house:

Les Girls a Paris collection


Beach glass bottles collection

Boho Holiday collection

Secret Garden collection

Desira Pesta

Another fabulous Etsy find. She is a self-taught designer and visual artist based in Brooklyn, NY and she makes some really gorgeous clothes made with handprinted fabric. She makes some really unusual and interesting pieces and is not afraid to use colour. She also is excellent at draping, which is a style that I'm quite keen on. Anyway, go have a look and judge for yourself:

Short Architecture Skirt


Flor Corsage Dress


Les Enfants Skirt


Shibuya gown

Philadelphia

It was one of the stops on our 2007 road trip and it definitely sticks out as one of my favourite places that we visited. I got a really good vibe from the city and there was so much to see and do; lots of museums and cultural and historical points of interest.

Nick was very excited because of the Rocky movies, so he had a great time running up the steps to the Museum of Art, which he subsequently spent a great deal of energy and time turning into a video montage complete with music. Hmm. We also managed to catch some festival at the Seaport so there was lots of food, music and general good times - I also had my first snow cone. Very exciting.

We visited loads of places while we were there, the Franklin Institute was great, I imagine even better for kids but I loved climbing through the giant heart all the same. There was also the Rodin Museum, which I really loved because he is one of my favourite sculptors. Then there was the Mutter Museum which is a museum of medical oddities, probably not for the faint-hearted, there are lots of genuine preserved anatomical bits and bobs (tumours, skeletons, organs) including an entire chest of drawers dedicated to things that have been extracted from people's throats. Lovely.

And of course, the Philly Cheese Steak ... there are no words.

Stephen Fry

Oh so much. I want him to be my uncle. Do you think he'd adopt me? I think he is so funny and clever and I love his sense of humour. He's so dry and witty and I just love him to bits. He's definitely on my dream dinner table guest list.

I love watching QI, one of the few shows on TV these days that makes me really laugh - that snort tea through your nose kind of laugh - and it's always nice to know that there is something there in case I need that.

And then he went and did his America series which was almost what me and Nick did in 2007 so I feel a connection there.

Some favourite quotes:

"I think animal testing is cruel. They get nervous and get all the answers wrong."

"We’ve all met people who are supposedly incredibly intelligent but don’t know which way to sit on a lavatory."

"An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them."

Stephen Fry: "It's in the Bible..."
Alan Davies: "I haven't read it!"
Stephen Fry: "You should—it's hilarious."

"Well, bless him, when he arrived—I'm not wishing to sound patronising, but I've just said "bless him," so there's no way out—"

Keep 'em coming Uncle Stephen!

Frasier

I think it's probably my favourite TV programme. There's nothing better than sitting with a cup of tea and watching a Frasier marathon on Comedy Central. It is really witty and it really makes me laugh out loud, even if it's the 5th time I've seen that episode and heard that joke.

I love how pompous and stuck up the Crane brothers are and how they always seem to land themselves in ridiculous situations. Some are a bit unrealistically tragic but still, they make for a good laugh!

Some favourite quotes:

Niles: I do love Maris. Why, the other week I kissed her for absolutely no reason at all!

Daphne: Do you see where I'm going?
Frasier: Insane?

Frasier: Don't stare at me, Eddie. I'm a humane man, but right now I could kick a kitten through an electric fan.

Jerome: Your wife sounds like a carefree lady.
Frasier: Oh, yes, she's ounces of fun.

Frasier: I am so tired of your exaggeration! You always make things 50,000 times worse than they are!

Christmas decorations

All the shops are starting to gear up for Christmas now, and it's closer than we think it is (43 days!!) and so I've been starting to notice all the lovely Christmas decorations that are around this year. I love Christmas, I think it is such a nice thing to have in the middle of grim British winters and I could easily spend a small fortune on all the beautiful festive things out there. Here are some favourites:

Christmas lights by Hannah Nunn, available at Not On the High Street

Ceramic disc decoration by Paloma's Nest

Knitted stocking

and decoupage baubles both from John Lewis

Whiteowl

Another favourite Etsy find: Whiteowl by Spivak & Spivak. Two sisters from Detroit who make the most beautiful vintage inspired jewellery using reclaimed lace. Not too many words today, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Tryphena necklace

Marie Antoinette earrings

Cleo collar necklace

Blossom earrings

Go have a look at their Etsy shop!