childhood books

Whilst staying at my Dads for a " sleepover" with my children I though I would share with you some of my favourite childhood books (some of the photos are a little dark I'm afraid as they were taken in the evening)






A definate favourite... I can look at this book for hours, the illustrations are just enchanting.



My favourite rhyme, "As I was going to St Ives) from my favourite book!



Another favourite! We dance around our walnut tree singing this!



I just love sillouettes. My eldest can nearly read this on her own.



Oh, this one I love too, and is special to me. My Dad used to manage W H Smith shops (ahem, can you see where the love of retail, accounts, cards and stationery has come from. My mum was a manager too! I used to love being able to go "behind the scenes" of the big old high street shops, going in the staff room and my Dads office and wandering the shops whilst they were shut or during stock takes) He used to bring books home with him. I have some fun ones with covers upside down, missing dustcovers and pages out of order!






My mum used to read me this, which I kept (I keep most things!) and now read to my children, which they adore too.



I had Victoria Plum bed covers, curtains (I still have these!) and wallpaper!



This book has delightful illustrations, its lovely to look at to see whats happening in the picture... you have to make sure that you look closely so you don't miss anything!

I have many more books... I'll save them for another post, another day.

Louise
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Christmas Bakers Twine

Our gorgeous coloured Bakers Twine... all ready for our customers Christmas projects!


Louise
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coloured bakers twine

Here are some photos of our gorgeous coloured bakers twine in lots of yummy colours...









... all ready for the Christmas rush! (which is already starting!)

Louise
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tree harvest

... in the space of an just an hour from three different trees, in three different places, look what I found!







Lovely shining conkers that I have had my eye on for a while now, for the children (and me!)


Crabapples, well at least I think they are. They are now boiling on my Rayburn so we shall soon find out! They do smell lovely... yum crabapple jelly : )


and the walnuts, we are lucky enough to have a walnut tree in the garden which the children have a swing hanging from... you have to beat the squirel to them though. We only ever see the mysterious squirel once a year, they are his favourites too!

Louise
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Oh, what a beautiful morning!

What a beautiful morning it is today... and I couldn't miss a photo opportunity!

... cobwebs, everywhere. The spiders have been busy!











... nothing was left untouched, even my old Triumph Herald!


Louise
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Time for tea

Just unpacked my very sweet little "purple" Bodum Bistro kettle for my workshop. Very pleased : D (I photographed it on its side! although the photo dosen't show it true purple colour)

I've been slowly collecting gorgeous things for my workshop... which still isn't quite ready to use yet... but at least I have a very lovely kettle to make cups of tea! ... and its got a clever lid on it to!

Louise
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my dear little shop!

One of my ambitions / dreams has been to own my own "bricks and mortar" shop. I have spent years (honestly) looking for the 'right' one. The one that just feels right.

I even wrote about the kind of shop that my "virtual" online shop Purple Greetings Cards would be like If it were "real" on my about page!

"Think of Purple Greetings Cards as a virtual bricks and mortar specialist greetings cards shop, set on a back street (perhaps cobbled) which is a little hard to find with a wooden door and a bell that tinkles when you open it. With old floorboards and white walls (although one would have to be purple!) clear acrylic shelves laden with beautiful, unique cards and at the back a little wooden table with an old fashioned till sat on it. Each purchase would be individually hand wrapped with tissue paper and loveingly hand finished with stickers and other little extras that we feel were right at the time. A little area would be set aside as a studio, full of letterpresses and the odd Gocco and, brimming with inks, paper, card and envelopes in glourious colours... well, that's us, Purple Greetings Cards."

Well, back in March I put an offer on a dear little shop, in a gorgeous Devon village just a few minutes drive from my home... and it was accepted!

I kept it a secret though for many weeks, not wanting to tempt fate!!!

But, on 16th June I completed (just minutes after a rush to the doctors with my middle daughter, who had come out in what we found out was hives! We have allergies in our family, so that was quite a worry)

And... here it is, my dear little shop with my very own space underneath! (This is actually one of the first pictures I took of it all those months ago) Which I have been desperate to share with you.




I'm so happy! It's hard to explain the feeling, but you know when things are "just meant to be" : D

I'll fill you in more about it soon!


Louise
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more exciting times...

Another little peek at my new adventure... I'll let you know more soon!


Louise
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what I am working on at the moment

I thought I'd share these great photo's with you of what I'm working on at the moment...









Now, when I say "working on" I don't literally mean using! Not yet, anyway! I am just working on cleaning off the old ink... to start with!








When I received this old duplicator, inside was like a grown up's lucky dip! Everything was carefully wrapped up in newspaper, so there was lot's of ooohs and aarhs upon unwrapping!







It was wonderful to uncover a machine (I can't tell you how excited I was!) that had'nt been used for years and that has been so beautifuly made (in the UK might I add, which makes it even more special)








I found this delightful little glass bottle in the little yellow box, it still has it's original cork (complete with contents still inside, I dread to think how toxic it may be!) Inside the bottle you can just see it's tiny brush.









The outside wooden case is very solid and has lovely features.






I found the handle carefully wrapped up inside and have managed to refit it... at least now I can store it on it's side and carry it a little easier, as is quite heavy.

I have lot's more lovely photos I took which I'll put onto another post, as it's such a fantastic piece of history, I would love to have seen all that it had printed over the years. I can't wait to use it myself one day too.

Louise
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Card board creationist LINVS

I would like to introduce you to card board creationist LINVS. I joined him on his latest shoot where he plays the Bearskin from the Brothers Grimm's Fairytale. LINVS likes to play a variety of different characters all of which can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/linusishere/4721036030/.

The location of this particular shoot was a derelict old hospital on Cheung Chau island just off the coast of Hong Kong. I have captured the afternoon on camera for your enjoyment

I even had the honour to star in one of his latest shoots where I played Mrs Fox from the Brothers Grimm's Fairytale The Marriage of Mrs. Fox

He is open for commission and has most recently art directed the music video for Poubelle Internationalhttp://vimeo.com/11869688 - quite a creative little creature

Till next time

bakers twine - loganberries

I picked a huge colander full of delicious loganberries from our garden this afternoon. It's been a great year for them (I won't mention my sad looking srawberries, which haven't had such a great time!) I thought I'd drop some round to my friend who lives just down the road and just had to show you my sweet pictures of them, which I took on my way.



On our board ready to go...


I could'nt resist hanging them on one of our apple trees (well, loganberries are yummy in an apple crumble! mmm, my favourite)


I added a loganberry leaf to the old jar and a recycled tag... just in case I had to leave them on the door step!


... the Bakers Twine also made a dear little handle (as well as looking pretty) And was rather handy to hold when walking down our lane.... have you ever tried pushing a pushchair and balancing a glass jar!

Oh, how I love lazy summer afternoons!

Bakers Twine and Recycled Tags available to buy from www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk

Bakers Twine also available in green & white and blue & white.

Have a great weekend.

Louise
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Some doodles, Asian fusion and lots of bunnies it's a big hello from Miss Poochie

Hello my name is Claire (aka Miss Poochie) and I am July's new guest author here on *pur-ple I was very excited when Louise offered me the opportunity to contribute to her blog - and am looking forward to keeping you inspired with a feast of fabulous snippets of info from my life in one of the most hyperactive cities on earth Hong Kong along with features on artists/designers who are currently grabbing all my attention.

So first a little bit about me, after graduating from a graphic arts course up in Leeds in 2007 I jetted off to Hong Kong for a career in graphic design and art direction.

You can see my work on my website at www.misspoochie.org, i have incorporated a playful feature onto the site where I upload a new doodle each day. I like to capture the humorous idiosyncrasies of human nature, in characters which amuse both children and adults. My doodling is all about observation. I am always looking for the little oddnesses in people/things to draw upon.

I have recently been working on some paintings centered around rabbits which have grown into a complete exhibition of different animals which I am currently showing in a dessert boutique in Soho, Hong Kong. The exhibition is called Art-liscious, and has been running throughout June and now into July, displaying both my paintings and my doodles. My paintings and prints are available to buy from the exhibition but for those who can’t make it to Hong Kong they can also be purchased from my website and from my store on Folksy:www.folksy.com/shops/misspoochie

So join me next time when I will be showcasing the work of Hong Kong based artist LINVS, who prides himself on a wide array of very FANCY costumes

Till next time

a few of my favourite things

These are just a few of my favourite things that I use daily...


My Orla Kiely box which I use to hide away some of my paperwork.


My tapes and tape dispenser.


To the left of the dispenser is a cute little blade to cut your tape.


Oh... and my sillily expensive but beautifully gorgeous Ole Jensen dustpan and broom which I (erh hem) haven't actually brought myself to make dirty yet!

What are your favourite things that you use whilst working?

Louise
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