Birds

Image © Laura Towers

Image © Laura Towers

I had a house full at Christmas so I decided to make some name cards to break the ice between the in-laws. I got some inspiration from the Paper + Craft book and injected some patterned paper from Muji. I had some ribbon & small pegs in my box of tricks which turned the birds into decorations. The finishing touch (which is my favorite) is a pair of eyes & some rosy cheeks.

M&L Print

Image © Laura Towers

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, so I thought I'd start the year with a Christmas gift that I crafted for my boyfriend. I bought the letter tags from East of India via a lovely shop in Skipton and mounted them in a simple frame. It's a nice reminder.

Utility at Christmas

I received this lovely message from design store Utility today. I do like a good santa and this retro styled one made me smile, nice illustration! Check out their stores in Liverpool & London (near Kings Cross) or online here.

2012 Calendars

yumalum

junecraft

jill browning

 lotta jansdotter

Above are a few calendars taken from the lovely Print & Pattern blog. The author has blogged some of her  2012 Calendar finds, I've selected a few of my favorites above. I think the styles are really different, some focusing on fonts & lettering, others on illustrations & graphics and covering different themes & trends. I like Calendars that have all the months on 1 page. I use them more as an overview then as a planner. Maybe I should post what my ideal calendar would be. 

Pine Needles

“Pommes Schranke“ by Malte Bruns and Jyrgen Ueberschär, 2008, photo © Antonia Huber, Nadja Schoch und Stefanie Miller

“Kloh Tannenbaum“ by Johannes Müller, 2004, photo © Oh Tannenbaum!

“o.T.“ by Volker Albus, 2004, photo © Daniel Schludi

I saw these alternative Christmas trees on the website Style Park. They are part of an exhibition in Germany about the significance of the Christmas Tree but I just liked the looked of them & wanted to share them with you. If you want to find out more about the Exhibition click here. 

Yuletide Packaging

Osjecko Holiday Edition Beer

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 

Imaginaria Creative's Happy Holipeños 

Mi Happy Panettone

The lovely packaging website The Die Line has pulled together some seasonal delights, highlights of the seasonal packaging ideas, concepts & products that they've received this year. Above are a selection from the Yuletide Trending article. My favorite is the cheeky beer bottles for Osjecko.

Avoid the Walk of Shame with Harvey Nichols

I saw this advert for Harvey Nichols womenswear today and had fits of giggles. If you've every been a student or lived with a bunch of girls you will share both amusment & sympathy for all the ladies festive walk of shame - especially after going to Uni in Newcastle (upon Tyne) where coats are not optional. If you can do it can do it in style then its not as bad. Wrap up single ladies! 

Inky Advent

25 days

Day 4 

The talented Johanna Basford has created a beautiful digital advent calendar, which is available to view on her website. The calendar is a mixture of detailed inky drawings & QR tags. Simply find today's date and scan the QR tag (using a smart phone app) and wait for a little surprise.