arrow + triangle jewellery

Continuing my obsession with arrows and triangles, I am longing for some of this jewellery.

In the top photo, I'm wearing a brass arrow necklace I bought from etsy and it's totally cool.

The arrow ring and necklace below are by deka ray; next is the 'Scale' necklace by Laura Lombardi; the glorious work by Samma (my favourite of the lot); ; and finally a gold triangle ring by diamentdesigns.

This post has been sponsored by the letter 'a' and the shape 'triangle'.

breton stripe hero 4 - margaret howell

I have long been in love with Howell's clean and cool aesthetic. She started designing after finding a vintage man's shirt with a perfect fit, so she took it apart and followed its construction to make a new one. She makes clothes that endure, both in terms of quality and style.

Her s/s 10 collection is nothing new, I suppose, but it is all so simple, beautifully made and practical that I want to wear every last bit of it. Love the straw boater, the tan belts around the waist, the crisp cotton shorts and skirts, the socks'n'sandals faux-pas, the knotted scarf...

I have found my uniform for spring and it will only cost me a small fortune. Oh well.

awesome embroidery

all images by maranon

These geometric embroidered necklaces by spinthread are so, so, so cool. The colours are electric and they remind me of lego or wooden building blocks or (work with me here...) little pieces of mathematics homework drawn in crayon. They are handmade to order from spinthread's etsy shop here.

I love the way Maranon styles her work in her photos, although I think the main selling point is her hair. It is a gorgeousity to behold. As my hair is never going to behave in this wild bohemian manner, I can only hope her necklaces are enough to liven up my t-shirt+jeans=lifestyle.

alice melvin

One of my New Year's resolutions for twentyten was to put one piece of art on my bare, bare walls every month. In January, my sister gave me this uber-adorable poster by Shinzi Katoh (thanks, sis!) and this month, I have a poster by the illustrator Alice Melvin. It is from her exhibition of bird screenprints, 'Alice's Aviary' with the Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh and you can buy it from her online shop for a bargain £10. Tweet!

toast catalogue spring 2010

The Toast catalogue is a small joy that awaits me on my doorstep every season.

Maybe it's the feel of the grainy, recycled paper printed with vegetable-based inks. Maybe it's the stunning photography and the wondrous landscapes and locations. Maybe it's the simple, beautifully-detailed clothing and carefully sourced accessories. Man, they know how to get a girl going...

Anyway, this is my mis-matched selection of favourite images from the new season.
p.s. How cool are those basket weave bangles? They're ARROWS!!

aran cardigans

While walking from work this week, I spotted not one, not even three, but FOUR ladies looking extremely cool - each one scarved, booted and rocking an oversized aran cardigan instead of a coat.

How did they all know this would look so awesome? Did I miss something? Hey ladies, save a space on that bandwagon for me ! I want on!

Above: Vintage aran cardigan from VonlenskaVintage on etsy. (who has the best clothes)

breton stripe hero 3 - my folk lover

My third breton stripe hero is this impeccably chic girl from My Folk Lover. These oh-so-wonderful illustrations are from a series called 'Little Papercuts' and you can buy them, as i did, from My Folk Lover's etsy shop.

a collection of arrows

I am completely obsessed with arrows at the moment.

First up, these handmade arrows by Fredericks and Mae look so pretty - that one above is so elegant. I love that they are committed to creating a very beautiful version of a simple, utility object - like a modern Arts and Crafts.

The photos of the Spartan shop by Michael Muller on Arrow and Arrow are beee-autiful. They have such great stuff, lots of arrow-shaped things and triangles too (second favourite shape of the moment).

And lastly, some extremely cool vintage wooden arrows, as spotted by the lovely Kate Miss on for me, for you.

>>---> Arrow shape, I love you.

welcome home

Yesterday I visited this shop/gallery/workshop in town called 'Welcome Home'.

It is filled with lovely objects and I ended up taking this clutch bag and notebook home with me. I am loving native-style clothing and accessories right now, so this bag was totally vibing me.

breton stripe hero 2 - pablo picasso

Picasso by Robert Doisneau

I first saw this photograph at a poster stand on the riverbank in Paris. It's so funny! Picasso must truly be a genius artist to have painted so many masterpieces with croissants instead of hands.
And, of course, he has a breton stripe top. Definitely a genius.

folding paper cranes

I was pretty obsessed with making paper cranes after finding this animated tutorial. I'm rubbish at following instructions, but this is like having someone show you how to do it. The white one was my first attempt and the second one is made from some Neisha Crosland wrapping paper.

I only need to make another 977 of these to get my wish!

Vanessa Bruno + Lou Doillon

Vanessa Bruno is one of my favourite designers and, oh, how I love this film. The beautiful clothes, the stop animation, the flour-stomping dance...could it be any better?

You can watch it (in much better quality) on her website.

little paper planes

Las Sirena Debajo del Agua no Tienen Orejas by Paola Guimerans Sanchez

White Mountain by Brandi Strickland

Full Venus and Fawn by Alyson Fox

Here's a small selection of my favourite prints from the wonderful little paper planes.
I really like the harlequin paper cut-outs and I am inspired to try and make my own collage, using my lovely new scissors from mieke willem's shop.

I think the Alyson Fox print is adorable and the cat one makes me want to crack open a fresh pack of felt-tips and go wild.

all prints are available from little paper planes.

Bonjour!

Welcome to breton stripe, a blog named after my favourite of all the striped patterns.

I begin with my all-time favourite image of this humble, but perfect, stripe.
By my all-time favourite photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson.

I'm so excited - my first post! I think it went ok?
I'll be posting some knitting patterns and photos of things I like and stuff I'm doing.

Hold on tight, it's gonna be awesome.