I love...

Okay so I love chairs.... Yes the more battered and warn the better, the older and nore tales they have to tell the better... I like chairs with character.

I am currently on the big deposit at the moment for my own house... but I still find my self looking in junk shops and on eBay for fab old chairs!

 I love both of these sets, they are both completly different but speak volumes. When I have my own home I would love to have a place full of mix and match chairs... There are way to many fab chairs out there to have matching ones!

 Look at this fab leather set... its super cheap to! I love the way that the leather is all warn and probably has loads of tales to tell...

How fab is this! Definetly a star piece for any room... could be a funny colour to fit into a room though.

Love this! A lady in my Gran's flats has exactly the same one!! Wouldnt it be fab in a clean fresh white kichen with fun pops of colour.

Cinema chairs... they definely need to sit in a big tiled hall... one can dream!

These are a real style piece but I worry that when they are all sat round a table 

that they may loose their impact? Pretty cool though...

Good old school chair with the desk arm, we used to have these in drama. I remember at the time thinking they were pretty cool but now I would love to own one of my own. How fab would it be as a old fashioned telephone chair... do people even sit on the stairs anymore on the house phone playing with the curly wire?

All these fab chairs all within a 30mile radis of where I am currently living!!

eBay is fab for chairs...

Nancy and Donald...

This morning while driving back from sunny Wales to the midlands I was glued to radio 2... yes I maybe 27 but radio 2 in the mornings is my station of choice... So Chris was chatting away about 'Nancy and Donald' an American couple who have been dressing the same for 35 years!!

I know couples often unintentionally dress in similar colours or that they try and link up for formal events... but this is just taking it to another level!

I wonder who decides each day which outfit they will wear? Do you think they ever have a day off or just think sod it today i just want to laze about in joggers and cosy clothes?

Nancy started making them matching outfits after Donald wouldn't remove his jacket on a date even although the weather was really warm... so she thought if she made him a shirt... he wouldn't want to a a fend her... and that was the start of it.

35 years later Nancy's dress making skills are going strong and the fabrics she picks seam to be as bold and bright as ever...

    I bet Nancy is really quick at wipping up shirts by now...

Even pj's...

... and the dog!

Not sure it's my thing but good on Nancy 35 years worth of outfits is a lot of sewing.

Oil painting inspiration...Floral dress

Did you see Amanda Holden's dress on Britain's got Talent at the weekend? Its super cute and I love the fact that the florals are beautiful and look like they could be part of a old oil painting...

The dress is one of J'Aton couture designs, its plunging neck line makes it sexy while the florals keep it classic. I wonder if the studded belt was part of the dress or if it is a stylists addition?

 I wonder if these beautiful paintings were part of the inspiration behind this dress? 

Illustrator...Mick Inkpen... Don't lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig!

I spotted this book on the dinning room table and it has to be one of the cutest storey books... beautiful watercolour illustrations with a lovely story...reminding little ones to take there time and do one thing at a time.

In the storey Wibbly has just been to a party and has been given a party bag... but he has two many things to hold and can't see everything in his bag and so he rushes and makes a mistake and his poor little to Pigley gets in to a spot of bother until... Wibbly stops and thinks and everything turns out okay in the end.

The illustrations are so innocent and the font for the text is so child friendly and bonces along the page perfectly to the story...

Fab watercolours...

Oooh what's in the party bag?!

How lovely is the font it looks handwritten in crayon...

Yay! Happy Wibbly Pig!

... it's not suprising it's sold millions of books worldwide!

Illustrator... Jill Tomlinson...The owl who was afriad of the dark.

This has to be another timeless classic, and one that is sadly falling apart on my bookshelf... yes I still have mountains of children's books, all collected or kept because of there beautiful and different illustration styles.

The 'Owl who was afraid of the dark'... is another one with pen and ink illustrations dotted through out the book but with a imaginative story line that any kid wishes they were part of. It's a lovely book because it is one that both girls and boys can enjoy.

...Plop, the main character who is a baby barn owl is afraid of the dark and its all about how his mother is trying to teach him all about the dark... and over a few nights Plop meets a number of people and other animals all who love the dark...one night he meets a friendly boy scout who shows him all about camp fires and hot potatoes... eventually Plop grows in confidence and shows everyone that he isn't afraid of the dark anymore...

The story at first sounds like it should be for little ones but the way it is written and the fun characters means it is a great book for all ages... especially at bed time for those kids who may be afraid of the dark themselves!

Lovely book that is slowly falling apart after years of being read... definetly getting better with age!

First chapter...

Plop talking to the artist who wan't to draw him...

I love how simple these illustrations are....

Boy scouts teaching Plop about camp fires...

The illustrations a beautifully simple a very stylised defiantly not like kids picture books these days... oh geez I am showing my age... but if you ask me illustrations when I was little left far more to the kids imaginations... which has to be a good thing!

Nail art... Cornflower blue

So in the last two weeks my nails must have changed colour at least 4 times!... I know this is what happens to you when you are single... way to much time on your hands.

So I have had these patterned blue nails now for nearly 5 days and they havn't chipped or marked at all so I am pretty pleased...and no top or base coat... I know, I know... I should... but I don't own any so...

First I applied two coats of cornflower blue nail varnish... then I used the black nail art pen to draw the geometric patterns... this design just developed as I did the first finger... I didn't realise how much harder the right hand would be than the left.

Day 5... starting to chip...including four days swimming

The nail varnish... Gelly high shine/ Barry M

Nail varnish score ... 8/10

It applys smoothly and only needs two coats to create a solid smooth colour. 

It also dried quickly and has warn very well.

 Nail art pens... Kelly Brook

Nail Pens Score... 7/10

This is the first time I have used nail pens, so partly this was me getting used to how they fast the flow.

Over all I was very suprised at how easy they were to use. They have warn really well and I like the way the nail pen varnish sits flat on the surface rather than being a raised mound. These are really easy for beginners and I would definetly recommend them in the future.

What shall I do with my nails this week?

She's got style...

 For this weeks she's got style, I have decided to look at Kate Hudson. Mainly due to her fab relaxed style. Her outfits seam to come together with ease and her palettes are kept very simple.

For a mum of two little ones she always looks great... yes I know she probably has loads of people around her helping her out with everything but I like her style...

Easy plaid shirts... fab maxi crocheted dress... it all looks so thrown together with ease

Chilling in white in the summer sun...  I have to say I am a bit of a fan of a white shirt and jeans, it just works so well for any occasion... I love love love her white dress on the left, definitely a holiday dress!

Easy outfit building with simple natural palettes... natural colours always look timeless and classic

Rocking the yummy look with style in the black...

This really isn't my kinda jacket but Kate seams to carry it off with style.

I love this white backless dress all I need now is a ball to go to... oh and a hot guy to go with...

Looking pretty in yellow, after the flim 'How to loose a guy in 10 days'... I  wanted a yellow dinner dress, Kate even looks great in the middle picture when heavily pregnant!

'How to loose a guy in 10 days'... this dress is dreamy.

Well the girl has style... either casual and laid back, little make up and relaxed stunning hair... or... dolled up to the max!

Illustrator... Shirley Hughes... 'My naughty little sister'

Illustration is a real passion of mine and I am often found doodling people while sat in a cafe or making up children's story books. I started a illustration degree when I left sixth form and completed the first year before realising that maybe I should go in the textiles direction... but the illustration styles and passion will always be a part of me.

One of my favourite illustrators is Shirley Hughes, she has a lovely changed sketchy style of drawing and you can really imagine the characters behind her stories. I love the way all the characters look so real... there clothes are always a bit out of place there hair is never perfect... the houses or streets in which the stories are set are very 'everyday' lived in.

A few years ago I meet Shirley Hughes in Oxford and she signed a book...she is definitely a illustrator I admire.

One of Shirley Hughes many books she has illustrated is 'My naughty little sister' by Dorothy Edwards.  It has to be one of my favourite childhood books and one that I have read over and over again since, it was one of those books with a few rare black and white illustrations dotted throughout the story... just enough to let the characters be put in to your head but for the mind to imagine everything else! In time these are definitely illustrations I would love to frame and have up in a future house... they are just so cheeky and naive.

   

I love the fact that the library was selling it off and it became one of my favourite stories.

No coloured illustrations but the story was lovely and you can imagine this naughty little girl on all her adventures...

Beautiful warn and loved pages...

                                     

My favourite chapter...

Meeting the guard... who will look after my naughty little sister on her trip... on the train all on her own... this shows how long ago the story was written. I remember when I was little thinking how exciting this would be, imagine putting a four year old on a train on there own these days!

Stunning pen drawings... this makes me want to sit in a cafe all day people watch and draw!

 The beautiful back cover... Don't you just love her little outfit and the suitcase 

(If I remember right this is my naughty little sister after 

she returns from a sleepover with the lady next door!)

I am going to try and post each week about one illustrator as many great children's book illustrators are forgotten about!