A much needed break...

After a very hectic few weeks (hence lack of posts again) we escaped to one of my favourite places The Yorkshire Sculpture Park today. It's a fantastic place to visit - there's always a good exhibition or two on, the cafe serves very yummy food, the shop is fantastic and full of inspiring things and then there's all that open space to wander around and let a two and half year old run free!

The sun was shining today and casting the best shadows of the artwork onto the walls. The Donna Wilson exhibition was vibrant and full of woollen creatures and shapes. I loved the framed woollen trees and flowers. Her colours and patterns are superb.

In contrast was the Jaume Plensa exhibition which was calming and filled the landscape and gallery space with illuminated sculptures and lots of lovely letters - so I was in my element! The best bit was the 50 metre curtain of poetry which comprised of steel letters hung on wire which acted as giant wind chimes.

A good day out but now on with the next phase of orders before Christmas. I've been adding Christmas cards to my shop and notonthehighstreet shop tonight. I've nearly done them all (shamefully late - but I have been very very busy). They'll all be on there by the end of Friday and I'll do a proper post about them over the weekend.

And the award goes to....Emily Sutton

While flicking through my latest copy of Elle Decoration I was really pleased to see that the 2011 Elle Decoration design award for Best British Pattern Design had gone to Emily Sutton for her 'Curiosity Shop' fabric for St Judes. I've met Emily a few times when she was student at Edinburgh College of Art. She always stood out as a very talented illustrator and I'm not surprised to see her in Elle Decoration among such other talents. Her whimsical designs use artefacts and vintage ephemera to re-create a very mid-century feel. I'm also a big fan of St Judes and keep an eye on their blog. They work with a very talented group of people (one of whom is my old head of illustration from ECA - Jonathan Gibbs).

One of the winners from last years Elle Dec design awards - Donna Wilson - has an exhibition at the

Yorkshire Sculpture Park starting very soon (19th Nov). I'm planning a visit to see her lovely textiles in such a great gallery space. It promises knitted trees and other curiosities so I look forward to it.

Slight bit of trumpet blowing

I posted some months ago about my first run of litho printed cards which were ordered by Paperchase for their Christmas card range. It seems a long time ago since the order enquiry nearly bowled me over in Feb/March (my immediate thought was - 31,500 cards - how on earth am I going to print and pack all of those!........Obviously I quickly came to my senses and realised that this would not only be stupid but impossible so I found a printer).

And here they are in York Paperchase today. I've learnt a lot about dealing with quantities through having to do this order. It doesn't make the small orders from all my lovely independent stockists any less important as they are very important to me - I just wanted to share the journey with you.

Oh and I had a lovely day with my husband and daughter. Lunch out and a wander around York with a tired toddler - stressful but very happy to spend some time together.

Orange

I happened to be re-printing some book covers today which coincidentally perfectly matched the time of year and the weather - a lovely autumnal shade of orange. The sun even obliged giving a fantastic glow to the orange I was printing with. I love all the burnt reds and vivid oranges right now. If I ever find the time to photograph it the tree outside our house is a lovely shade of orange/red at the moment. It makes me want to print everything in these colours.

Hooray for Hello Polly!

The Hello Polly online shop has opened it's virtual doors and is packed full of fantastic art, design, gifts and accessories all of which have been carefully picked by Sarah. She's worked very hard sourcing lots of lovely things for the shop and the site is looking brilliant - well done! Pop along to the shop and see for yourself. There's also a few of my prints and cards in there too.

I've picked some of my favourites from the shop -

Top Left: Triangle box bag - Kate Sheridan, Top right: My Favourite Place Pillow -

Lucky Boy Sunday, Bottom left: Congeries print - Verity Keniger, Bottom right: Swan cushion - Mengsel.

Bicycle Pendant - The Yellow Owl Workshop

Hello World baby birth certificate - The Small Object

'A' print - Elsie Dodds

Muddy puddles & fresh air

I've been feeling a little dreary all week. What with the gloomy turn in the weather and a general lethargy and lack of enthusiasm on my part it's been a dull week.

So it was nice to end the week on a good note. A walk in the woods with my daughter, my sister and her twin boys. Lots of splashing in muddy puddles, collecting of leaves and running after small children. We were tired but a big slice of cake each (and a big coffee for my sister and me) perked us up a little! It was lovely to have some sunshine and to get outside and spend some time together. I need to get out more often and blow away the cobwebs once in a while. (Note the spotting of a little bit of type on a tree - the bird/owl boxes are all numbered and I quite like the bits of random codes/type popping up on the trees!)

Blog posts have been few and far between again. I've had a distinct lack of time and news again I'm afraid. As always I hope to change all that.

In amongst the usual card printing, folding, cutting, packaging and sending orders that makes up my week I made a small start on my new collaboration with Snowhome. When its progressed a little more I'll give more away...... but in the meantime all I'll say is the ink brush and pot are coming back out again!

The Power of Making exhibition at the V&A

The Power of Making exhibition is a collaborative exhibition by The Crafts Council and the V&A opening today. Featuring over 100 eclectic crafted objects from around the world the exhibition explores the importance of being skilled and the potential that these skills offer the arts and creative industries.

"For many people, making is critical for survival. For other it is a chosen vocation: a way of thinking, inventing and innovating. And for some it is simply a delight to be able to shape a material and say 'I made that'. The power of making is that it fulfills each of these human needs and desires."

-I couldn't have put it any better myself.

This looks like a fascinating exhibition and I'm glad to see that it runs until January so there's plenty of time to try and squeeze in a visit to London to see it.

For those who don't make it there's an accompanying book to the exhibition.

The Power of Making

6th September 2011 - 2nd January 2012

Porter Gallery, V&A London