London in the Rain

Images from Gavin Hammond (via Cellardoor)

Happy Friday! I cannot believe that today is officially the last day of summer, which means tomorrow is autumn (I love autumn and winter!). It has officially been our wettest summer for 100 years, so it hasn't exactly been a summer filled with outside picnics and late summer nights! I do actually quite like the rain normally but even I have got fed up of the endless downpours this year. Here is to an Indian summer perhaps!

I came across this series by Gavin Hammond and I thought it would be the perfect summer send off, London as seen in puddles. How cool is that? I love how they capture the well known sites of London through the puddles.

How has your summer been? Are you looking forward to autumn?

Collar Cool

Images from Call Me Mimi

 

In an attempt to save money, declutter and curb my impulse shopping clothing buys (hello teal skull/ Aztec print hoody that I am definitely taking back to the shop today), I am trying to build up a capsule-like wardrobe. Not a full capsule wardrobe, that would be way too hard! But my version of a capsule wardrobe- lots of neutral pieces that work well together so that you can accessorize them for different looks. So, I am thinking black and grey tops, not teal Aztec print. Honestly, I must have got rid of about 25 items from my wardrobe lately, I don't want to make those mistakes again! Ok, maybe 50 (ugh!).

 

So, I love the idea of collars to add interest to neutral tops! These from Italian designer Lucia in her shop Call Me Mimi are delightful! I love the heart print collar especially. And no Aztec print in sight!

 

What is your wardrobe like? Do you like to accessories? Do you too have random purchases hidden in your wardrobe?

Izziyana Suhaimi

Images from Izziyana Suhaimi

A while ago, I featured an awesome project from Izziyana Suhaimi. I love her work so much I am featuring it again! I am always really drawn to mixed media work and I am fascinated by embroidery, so this is totally up my street. And how can you not love that huge yellow bow?!

 

Actually, I have been wanting to learn embroidery for a while now. I love the art embroidery I am seeing everywhere lately and it makes me want to pick up a needle immediately! Lots of embroidery books are on my Amazon wishlist waiting. I will just add it to my other crafts I want to learn- knitting, crochet, screen printing, etc etc.

 

What crafts would you like to learn more about?

Heels on Wheels

Images from Clare Owen

How can it be Tuesday already? I hope you had a great weekend- we had our last Bank Holiday weekend until Christmas! So I took maximum opportunity of relaxing- lots of reading, eating and thrifting. It is always fun for Tuesday to be your Monday.

I love bikes and I love seeing people ride them. One of the main reasons why I want to move house is so I can live in an area where I can ride a bike everywhere! I am always looking at bikes to buy, even though I would have nowhere to keep one at the moment. So I really like these illustrations by Clare Owen- a perfectly illustrated guide to owning a bike.

Let's Play Pretend

Images from Lissy Laricchia

 

Seriously, how is it Friday already?Not that I am complaining at all, but this week has gone fast! I am really looking forward to an extended bank holiday weekend of not doing very much at all, just spending time with my husband being lazy really! I must sort out all my photos from my NYC trip too, else they will never get done.

 

I am pleased to get back to Friday Photography! When I saw these photos I was so excited, I really think they're amazing. Let's Play Pretend is a photo series by photographer Lissy Laricchia. They're really beautiful, don't you think?

 

What are your plans for the weekend? Have a good one!

Nani Iro Textiles

Images from Nani Iro

I love these textiles from Nani Iro. What better way to brighten up a gloomy, showery Wednesday afternoon than with brilliant patterns and colours?! I can never resist a rainbow colour scheme!

Sharing Ideas

Images from MFA Design

One of the main things I LOVE about blogging and all the great blogs out there is the fact that people share so many amazing ideas. So I love this design project! Illustrators and designers were each asked to illustrate one word from the idea 'Sharing my ideas makes them better'. I love it! See the rest of the words in the project here.

Do you like sharing ideas too?

Ballerina Project

Images from The Ballerina Project

Happy Monday! It's always a tough start to the week when you've had a couple of weeks off! I must still have New York in my system, because I totally love The Ballerina Project. The project grew from the idea of New York City being a magnet for creativity; each photograph of a ballerina is a collaborative work displayed against the amazing background of New York. Each photograph is amazing. I love it! And a shout out to Decorator's Notebook, who I think pointed me in the direction of this project!

So, New York was amazing.

Obviously! We had the best time ever- a week filled with thrift stores, book shops, subway,  skylines, seaside, pizza, art, bagels, Brooklyn, brunch and bridges. And humidity! Now I unfortunately have to get back into the real world and back to my real job tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a very Happy Sunday- normal service will resume tomorrow!

Stripes, Dots and Lots of Colour

Images from Jennifer Loiselle

Happy Monday! I just love the colours and patterns in these images from accessory designer Jennifer Loiselle, perfect for waking you up on a sleepy Monday morning! How much do I want the earrings?!

Happy Sunday

Image from here

Happy Sunday! I am so excited for this Sunday, as it is the last Sunday before our NYC trip on Tuesday, and that means I am spending the day doing one of my favourite things- packing. I have always loved packing and luggage and even just planning packing- it means you're going somewhere!

The rest of the time I have been absolutely glued to the Olympics! It has been amazing- go Team GB! Hope you're all having a great weekend. Here are some fantastic links for you- including an amazing school journey, a graphic novel of Paris and 36 hours in Toronto. Enjoy!

What was your journey to school like? This is an amazing story.

Are you enjoying the London Olympics? I love this photo series on London Cabbies!

This is just lovely- a graphic novel about Paris

I love all of these hair accessories

How could you say no to a graffiti marriage proposal?!

This fabric CV is fantastic. Would you use something like this?

Toronto looks awesome!

This post on the blogging pyramid is very interesting

My Parents Were Awesome

Images from My Parents Were Awesome

Yes, it's Friday! It's actually my last day in the office before two weeks off- I have been looking forward to this day forever so I am very excited. Don't you just love that last day of work before a holiday? What are your plans for the weekend?

I really love the photography project My Parents Were Awesome. My parents are awesome too and it is always fun to look at old photos of them, so I love the collection of old photos of various parents! Finding old photos is one of my favourite things ever, so I totally love this.

And to follow the photography theme, the work of Gray Malin who I featured last week is on sale here, if you want to grab yourself a great print!

Incredible New York Panorama

Images from Stephen Wiltshire

I can't believe it's Thursday already! This week is flying by. I am totally in holiday mode, so it's getting difficult to focus on normal things like getting up and going to work!

I came across these incredible panoramas this week. Stephen Wiltshire is an artist that specialises in drawing detailed panoramas and landscapes, including cities such as London, Madrid and Rome. This New York panorama was created after a twenty minute ride over the city, then drawn from memory. Incredible!

Tropical Birds and Lego

Images from Guardian/ Thomas Poulsom

I have a confession- I am pretty scared of birds. Something about their eyes and beaks freak me out. But I couldn't resist sharing these tropical birds made out of Lego by Thomas Poulsom. I mean come on, tropical birds made out of Lego! Brilliant.