gert + uwe tobias

I recently saw a painting by German twins/artists Gert & Uwe Tobias in a newspaper and immediately had to track down more of their work. A lot of it is woodblock printing and draws on folk art traditions. All of their work is untitled.

I DIG IT!

olivetti

In a typical, 'I don't care if it's useless, it looks nice' move, I recently purchased an Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter. And actually, it's not broken-useless as it's in great condition and you can still buy a universal twin-spool ribbon for it. It's useless because it took me two hours and three attempts to finally GIVE UP trying to type a letter on it. One slip and you're toast. Or 'toady', depending on your left-hand placement. And it hurts. It's freakin' heavy and you have to pound those keys as hard as your forearms will go. However, je ne regrette rien! The show must go on! Seize the day! I will persevere! I WILL TYPE!

birthday booty

Thanks to the gentlest, the barest, whisper of a hint on this blog about my birthday, I scored some totally, totally cool presents this year. Good work, team!

I rounded them all up for a photo, made sure no-one was blinking and said, all together now, 'CHEESE!'

(top photo, clockwise from top left)

'Voyager' print by Blanca Gomez

'The Oversized Alexa' by Mulberry

Brown shoes by Faguo

'La petite reine' bicycle necklace by Les Neriedes

'Accordion Crimes' by Annie Proulx

Striped linen shirt by Aubin & Wills

'Allo Allo' tea towel by Darling Clementine

Thank you mum and dad, for traipsing in a disorganised but determined fashion around Paris to track down my whims and fancies; to my sister and sister-in-law, for getting it bang on; and to Stephen, for blowing every other accessory I own out of the cosmos with a Mulberry, a bloody MUL. BERR. EEEEEY!

We also spent a great night out in Glasgow at the Blythswood hotel and I had myself a wee cocktail named after a Duchess of Somewhere - generally thought to be nice, but a bit sweet. We'd recommend their 'Scrapple from the Apple' for yumsome freshness and the 'Treacle' for the three-glass, luxe madness. The hotel was chic and I now refuse (foot-stomp) to stay anywhere else in Glasgow.

This birthday has ruined me.

Stukenborg

all images via stukenborg's etsy shop

I'm on the lookout for a one-colour screenprint to put in the guest bedroom and came across these while on an etsy-trawl. (I've been doing LOADS of etsy-trawling since I discovered the 'suggested shops' tool in Favourites). These letterpress prints by Stukenborg are made from hundreds of dice arranged into geometric patterns, which he then uses directly in the print press. SUCH a great idea! They remind me of the patterns you find on japanese printed papers that I'm addicted to and can't bear to actually use. The yellow one at the top is my favourite, but they're all pretty cool and available here.