Make it Cosy.

With last weekend probably marking the last one before the madness of Christmas takes over, following on one of the busiest work-weeks of my life, I took the opportunity to make the most of my down-time and really relax.

From a couple of long lie-ins to a roast dinner and a short, leisurely stroll around the town, everything about last weekend was about being in the slow lane - and I think that's really necessary sometimes.

Now Monday is here and it's back to being in full-swing of designing the digital brochure that's been my main project for the last few weeks. It's so nice to be busy again, thinking about the last 18 months and comparing it to the last month or so and I can see how bored and unmotivated I was. It's amazing how far a little bit of praise and finally allowing myself to ease in can go, it's pretty good to back.

Tuesday Tabs. #3

I don't think that I know how to deal with my life at the moment, it seems like the second that I lose my motivation is the moment that I suddenly get loads on at once, weird. This happens every few weeks and in my 'lack of things to do' this morning, I sort of noticed a pattern... Shut up.

Anyway, there's a lot to do now. No, stuffing envelopes is not what I would hope to be doing but at least it's a sustainable job that allows me to save up some money for my upcoming internship.

This should be a good week, I'm seeing my favourite band of all time on Thursday and then I'm meeting my friend Abbie for a day in Shoreditch on Saturday, exciting.

Poor Chrome is so backed up this week, I totally put it down to hanging out and cat-sitting at my Gran's for the majority of last week. But sometimes being on the Internet is fun and you can find some really neat stuff. I kind of really love how my blog has morphed into this scrap-booky place where I dump cool things I find and my wishlists, it's going to be fun to refer back to once don't feel like I'm on borrowed time, which is totally what I'm blaming my terrible nerves on. ♥

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(via Design Cove)

Dragon necklace, £30, Tatty Devine

So, to celebrate the fact that it was Chinese New Year yesterday and the fact that this year is the Year of the Dragon, Tatty Devine have released this cute dragon necklace. Slightly different to their normal stuff but still pretty cute.

(© Holly Exley)

I've liked Holly's work for a while now but recently I've been really into it, and loving the work she's putting out there. This image, and a selection of great other ones are available to buy on her Society 6 page, I think this one and it's brother are definitely must-haves for my future kitchen.

Chocolate Wicker Bag, £11.88, Circus Bear Vintage

Semi-fallen for this wicker handbag on Kaylah's (from The Dainty Squid) Etsy shop. I think it would be lovely for spring and I've been looking around for something similar for a little while now. Circus Bear Vintage also has some of the prettiest shoes, but I think I have too many, luckily I'm not too hot on working out the size differences.

Umming and ahhing over whether to buy tickets to see him in October, where will I even be (probably still here)? But I thought this was yet another great video from him, I really hope that the 'talking' cat is a reference to 'Beginners' because that would be nice.

Slowly but surely discovering the immensity of Kitties & Bullshit.

(via Being Little)

These are all over London, I think they're great and they're so neatly organised. I think this one is my favourite.

(© Gemma Correll)

(via Interior Porn)

Shelf Porn.



Best episode of 'New Girl' so far. Dammit!

(© Marc Johns)

I think it makes everything better when you have a healthy amount of Marc Johns in your life.

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Link love: ♥

Design Cove — A really great blog I found which features some great branding and graphic design. I can't find much additional information about it because it's in 'new Blogger' format, but it's worth a look if you're interested in design and fonts, there are some pretty inspirational pieces.

We Are Handsome — Awesome bathing suit designers who have perfected the art of bringing together photographs and swim wear, classic. For those who don't have enough bear on their swimwear.

The Girl with 7 Horses — Interesting photography series combining clothing, imagination and beautiful landscape. It's tough to explain, but it's also a bit brilliant.

Etsy Play On: Being Alive — A great blog series that I must pay more attention to. This one is presented by illustrator Julia Pott as she guides us through a playlist featuring the likes of Rob Ryan and other neat artists that show us how great it is to be alive.

Noted: The Unseen Tours of London — Definitely going to start reading the Etsy blog, I feel like it's very important.

Unpaid Internships: Rights and Wrongs — A fab guide to unpaid internships through the eyes of illustrator, Holly Exley. Really summed up the pros and cons on unpaid internships perfectly, and helped me put some personal things into perspective. Her blog is quite good anyway though, you should just have a look.

Top 10 Best Disney Sidekicks

Kitties and Bullshit — Bookmarks staple for any budding cat-lady.

How to Dye your Pet — I wouldn't, ever, but white is apparently a great colour to work with...

How to make an 'Up' pincushion

Wednesday Wonders.

Hello!
I've been feeling very out of sync recently and not really up for much. I've not taken any photographs since coming back from Cornwall really and I haven't been sleeping very well. I guess it's a combination of bewilderment over Christmas and the shopping experience and having to get people gifts, as well as the prospect of once again facing the Jobcentre twice a week for the foreseeable future. Perhaps one positive thing being that I can get back onto the job hunt wagon, but ideally it is not where I want to be and I'd much rather have a job than be looking for one.
I've done a bit of networking and I'm scouting out new things all the time so it isn't as though things have dried up yet, it's just that it would seem that I still don't have enough experience I can't really remember how to prove myself.

Anyway, enough of the doom and gloom, it's Christmas soon and it's a time for overall merriment. Moon and I are heading down to the Isle of Wight on Saturday for a reunion with all our University friends, which will be nice as everyone will be able to make it, I just hope I can pep myself up before then.

The last week or so has seen a lot about retrospectives, with many websites posting their 'best of 2011' lists and images from the year. My favourite compilation so far however, is a video by filmmaker, Barry Pilling. I've been following Barry's work in stop-animation for a little while now and you should definitely check out his Youtube because it's pretty neat. I felt this video was particularly powerful, it's almost easy to forget that all of this happened in the last twelve months.
*contains some graphic imagery*

(Barry Pilling)

You may remember a little while ago when I did my Keep Calm and Carry On post, that I mentioned a little shop on Etsy called 'Keep Calm Arsenal' that produces numerous parody, and actually quite good prints. Well, the subject came up today and I went back to the shop, which is sadly closed for the holidays, I did however discover that 'Keep Calm Arsenal' is part of a bigger network, Stay Gold Media. Stay Gold Media also has a variety of beautiful artwork for sale on Etsy and an awesome blog showing it all off, and it's so reasonably priced!

(Stay Gold Media on Etsy)

'Imagine, John Lennon Vintage Dictionary Print', 8x10, £4.63
'Forest Life Art', 8x8, £6.61
Following on (yes, another follow-up) from the wrapped trees from the series, 'Bound' by Phillipa Lawrence featured in a post from a couple of weeks ago. I recently encountered this stunning series by Zander Olsen, playing with nature and visible lines in the horizon. It's such a simple idea but works really well, I'm also intrigued by the fact that this series was created in Surrey, as well as Hampshire and Wales, but where in Surrey?

(Tree, Line - Zander Olsen via PetaPixel)

(The Maccabees, © Louise Haywood-Schiefer)

I'm unsure as to whether I have much else to say, but I thought it had been a while since my last post and my tabs were looking a bit clogged.

Other things I like this week:

The three-part Channel 4 return of Shane Meadows brainchild 'This is England' in the form of This is England '88'; love the fashion, the history and the story, I am hoping that poor Woody gets a break though.

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror; I still haven't got around to watching the first one, but Sunday's was brilliant, can't wait for the final instalment.

Buzzfeed's 45 of the Most Powerful Images from 2011

The National Geographic Photography Contest 2011; There are too many good images to choose from, I really like this one, but I also like this one, and they're completely different, whoever is judging these has one hell of a job!

This week's episode of The Simpsons was amazing!

Christmas Nails; These are my favourites I've seen so far but one of my current favourite Tumblr, The Illustrated Nail is coming up with new things all the time. My WAH nail pens have kind of died right now but I'm holding out for some new ones for Christmas, my lack of inspiration has sadly spread to my fingernails.

These shoes from ASOS

Things I must do by the end of the week (Friday):

Practice driving theory

Edit my Cornwall video

Stop putting off doing my portfolio, really, it's looking pretty sad right now.