Left & Write

Back In 10...

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000Z

I'm actually not out at lunch and I won't be back in 10... I will be back though.

Just heading off to swap these grey skies for some blue warmer ones. So chat amongst yourselves and just fill me in on the goss on my return.

Any orders placed at Left & Write between now and the 30th Jan will be sent out on 1st February, 2012.

New Year, Fresh Start

2012-01-05T12:36:00.000Z

Firstly, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope 2012 has been good to you so far.

Well as you can see I've been a bit quiet on the whole Left &Write front, but that's because I've been making some big (and scary decisions), the main one being quitting my day job to 'live the dream' - or that's the plan anyway.

I decided to leave my job as Online Copywriter for Urban Outfitters and go freelance with the hope of being able to work with other cool brands and other industries that will hopefully make me a better writer and also a better creative.You never know, I may also end up with free time to do a lot more with Left & Write and my other side projects; either way it's all very exciting!

That's why when I saw Ian Coyle's 73 Letterpress project on My Modern Met, they struck a chord. Inspiring, encouraging, and funny; here are a few of my favourites:

One final thing, if you'd like to hire me you can view my online portfolio and get in touch. Maybe we'll get the chance to work together this year. Looking forward to meeting you.

Baby Talk Has Flown The Coop!

2011-10-21T20:49:00.000+01:00

Today marks a momentous day for me.
My baby (cards) have flown the Left & Write coop.

Who knew that in such a short space of time, they would grow up and venture out into the big wide world and sit on the shelves of a shop?

Well that's exactly what they've done!

You can now find my Baby Talk cards in So Tiny London, a little shop just off the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street filled with lots of things for babies and children.

Illustration by: Teresa Robertson

Don't worry, they are in good hands and I didn't send them off by themselves, Happy Cake Day went along too to keep them company.

So Tiny London, 64 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7QH

I Could Do That

2011-08-27T00:01:00.000+01:00

This tea towel by Craig Damrauer speaks the truth

I've often had the 'I could do that' thought over items and ideas that are clearly genius and I'm just gutted I didn't think of them first.

New Addition

2011-06-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

Have you met my friend Lord Garland Jenkins?
He's the latest addition to the family and is currently residing in our workspace / office.
I think I love him.

I may need to get him a playmate so he doesn't get too lonely. The hard part is deciding who to adopt from Berkley Illustration.

Crafty Downloads

2011-06-21T10:00:00.001+01:00

I've currently got this 'Toolbox' background by Emma Kelly on my iPhone 4 and I thought a lot of you fellow crafty folk may also like it.

It's like an illustrated version of Things Organised Neatly.

Downloaded from: Poolga Available for: iPhone, iPhone 4 & iPad

A Year In The Life

2011-06-20T10:00:00.001+01:00

After reading my friend's blog - Something I Made - last week where she showed off her new photo project of documenting the growth of her little'un with a monthly photo, it made me realise how ahead of the times my dad was with his photo documentation.

Yes yes, my dad took a photo of me every month for the first year of my life. Unfortunately, they weren't taken in a uniform way and are more a hodge-podge of places with a bit of paper pinned to me, not to mention these photos reek of the '70s!

However, I am so glad I have these pictures and that my dad took the time to do this for me. In fact, here's a little look into my first year on the planet. Don't laugh.

Hopefully when the time comes for me to pop some sprogs, I'll have the patience to embark on a similar project.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T23:00:00.003+01:00

Just wanted to say 'Happy Father's Day' to all the Dads out there.

I hope you all had fun and celebrated in style to let your Dad know that he's the best!

This is what I did today... recreated the past with my Dad and brother. It was hilarious! Needless to say we had to take the shot a few times as we just kept on laughing.

As you can see, not much has changed except now I just have a bigger face.

Now & Then (1984)
Photo by: The husband - Edward Barnieh

The Italian Job

2011-05-17T15:38:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Jesus and the Royal wedding, I have had an epic amount of time off. Woo hoo!
It would seem I have scheduled my holiday so well, I am only working one full five day week in the month of May. Double woo hoo!

This weekend a whole group of us took over the town of Certaldo in Tuscany for the wedding of our friends.

Last year the bride asked me to design the wedding invites, of course I said ~~'I Do'~~ yes.

She had a peacock theme and colour scheme, and had a clear idea of what she wanted; which was fine by me! What she did want were invites that I would design and gocco print the outside of, and then her and her bridesmaids could assemble. Nice idea right? I thought so.

Her friend hand drew a peacock which was then given to me to create the design for her invites. It was a lovely team effort. Here are some pics of the final invite when it finally came through my door.

The Details

The quote on the front was printed in gold (I love the gold gocco ink, it always comes out so well) and the peacock design was printed in a teal-y colour. These were printed using my trusty Gocco hand stamp.

Anyway, all in all a great weekend was had and the wedding was amazing - Congrats again guys!

The Happy Couple

VIP Guest

2011-04-27T17:24:00.002+01:00

Invited to the Royal Wedding? No? Me neither.
I had even picked out my outfit and accessories already as you can see. Oh well, maybe we'll all be invited next time to Harry's wedding.
In the meantime you can be a guest to my 10% off sale at either the LEFT & WRITE SHOP or on ETSY.
Just enter promo code: VIPGUEST ~~(Ends 1st May)~~ OFFER EXTENDED till 2nd May!

Enjoy the Royal Wedding!

Day Job Fun

2011-04-27T16:53:00.001+01:00

Sometimes, at the day job I'm allowed to leave my desk and do fun things like film this...

I do like a stop motion video.

Read more about Charlie

Thinking of Japan

2011-03-14T23:41:00.002Z

The damage that the earthquake and tsunami has caused leaves me speechless, but I know that in time Japan will be back more awesome than it was before.

Found this illustration from Chibird Tumblr - I think it aptly sums up everyones thoughts and prayers for Japan.

Ready, Steady, 2011!

2011-01-08T01:48:00.003Z

So the new year is here and it is now 8 days old. What have I done? Not much, after all it's only been 8 days.

I suppose I've gotten organised at the day job by buying my work diary - the faithful Muji diary.

My pride and joy though is my new personal diary that I got from the Husband. A lovely Smythson... I am liking this new tradition of getting a Smythson diary for Christmas.

I took down our Christmas decorations. I had to. As much as I loved having our handmade paper decorations up, I didn't want to be one of those weird houses that still has their Christmas stuff up in April.

Don't worry, I took some pictures of them adorning the wall. I made paper snowflakes out of left over origami paper and the Husband even helped out. I think he even enjoyed himself. I also made some paper chains to drape around the tree and off the bookcase. It was so much better than tinsel and it was the only way I was ever going to use up the origami paper, as it turns out I possess zero paper folding skills.

Snowflakes up...

Snowflakes down

Paper paper and more paper

Other than that, that's pretty much all I've done.

I hope your New Year has gotten off to a great start and thanks for visiting me here last year and you're always welcome to pop by again this year. You never know I may just surprise you!

All I Want To Be...

2010-11-21T22:48:00.001Z

By: Clifton Burt

Nuff said really.

Read All About It

2010-11-06T14:17:00.002Z

Since I got my Kindle, I have become obsessed with finding the perfect cover for my precious new reading machine.

Nothing that Amazon has had to offer so far has taken my fancy, until I saw these Kate Spade covers on Amazon.com featuring designs of literary classics by the in-house design team at Kate Spade.

Which one to choose?

The Importance of Being Earnest

Great Expectations

The Great Gatsby

Unfortunately they are not available on Amazon.co.uk - Boooooo. However, I think I may have found something on good ol' Etsy.

Vintage Covers takes actual book covers from as far back as the 1920s and turns them into covers for your iPad, Kindle or Sony Reader. The choice is overwhelming, which is why even though I've had my Kindle for about a month, I still haven't been able to pick a cover.

I might just have to eeny meeny miney moe this decision.

London Calling

2010-06-17T10:05:00.001+01:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged about these prints before, I mean I've only been ogling them for about a year.

Well, last week I finally got round to buying Famille Summerbelle's 'London' print. Love it. I bought it in the bright London bus red and cannot wait for its arrival.

The print is based on an original hand-cut paper map they produced, and depicts areas and attractions in and around central London. They even have maps for New York and Paris - which of course I want too!

I'll post up pictures once it arrives and is taking pride of place on our wall.

In the mean time have a browse over at their shop, or a read of Famille Summerbelle's blog.

Paper Schmaper

2010-05-10T09:00:00.002+01:00

Hello I am Jess and I am a paper-oholic. Ok, that sounds silly but what I'm trying to get across is the fact that I am a complete sucker for anything paper or stationery related, as you might know if you'd have happened to stumble across this post I'd written last year.

So it's quite an obvious assumption to make that I would loooooooooove these lined paper and graph paper design tea towels.

Thanks Better Living Through Design for bringing them to my attention! - Where would I be without RSS feeds and Google reader eh?

So if you want them, I'll race you over to this German site who are selling these paper looking delights. Better get them before I buy them all up!

Lovely Bunting

2010-05-04T22:04:00.001+01:00

Sometimes you just want to look at pretty things so well done to Urban Outfitters whose store on Oxford Street has windows full of lovely colourful bunting!

Forget trying to sell products in your windows, make them as fun and as nice as these, and I'll come in and buy stuff.

If you can't make it down yourself, here are some pics for you too oooh and ahh over.

Did You Have Something From The Mini-Bar?

2010-05-01T12:39:00.002+01:00

What should I do with any spare time I may have? Oh I know... start another blog of course.
If you like travel or just looking at hotels, have a look at Did You Have Something From The Mini Bar?

Feel free to have a browse, add it your feed reeder or whatever.

Don't worry, I'm not neglecting Left & Write. Just giving you something else to read.
Enjoy!

Spell It Out

2010-04-19T09:00:00.004+01:00

I've had my eye on these letters since Anthropologie opened on Regents Street.

I mean just look at the fabric, the pattern, the colours! How could I resist?

I finally took the plunge and bought some letters last week and hung them up at the weekend.

The letters now take price of place over the kitchen counter. We spelt out F-O-O-D to add a little colour and now I can't stop looking at them.

Taken with the Hipstamatic

You can get them in store at both the Regents Street and new King's Road store, or you can buy them online on their newly launched European Anthropologie website.

What are you going to spell out? Hmmm, what else can I spell out?

Where Have You Been? Where Are You Going?

2010-04-18T16:33:00.000+01:00

I know I am not alone in my love a map, and this map from You and Me The Royal We is going straight to the top of my 'Want' list.

A signed hand drawn map that comes with 202 pins to chart your global domination - places you have been and places you will be going too.

What could be more satisfying that planting a pin in a new location, or more exciting than having a new place to look forward to visiting.

So you could get this map to plan your route, and then you can take my Wish You Were Here cards on your travels to let people know where you are.

Smells Like... Le Labo Scented Notebook

2010-04-16T08:30:00.003+01:00

Dear Diary... Have I ever told you that you smell nice?

Yes that would be a weird thing to write in your notebook, but if it was the scented Le Labo notebook, that is what you would be writing.

Le Labo's Santal 26 leather bound handcrafted notebook has been infused with Le Labo's cult scent that is released every time you write. A real life scratch n' sniff!

Made in France from all natural eco-friendly materials - so not only is it good for the environment, the lovely scent will make writing more fun!

Available in store at Liberty

Printing By Hand

2010-04-11T22:54:00.001+01:00

Before getting into Gocco, the only handprinting I had done was with potatoes and some other weird utensils when I was in primary school.

However since Gocco, I've wanted to be able to print with more things - screen printing, stamps etc. I think this book Printing By Hand by Lena Corwin maybe a great way to get started and see what's out there

I'll let you know if I get and it and I'll be sure to show you any experiments and forays into other methods of printing.

What method of printing to you like to use?

Printed Matter: Urban Outfitters Print Shop

2010-04-07T22:15:00.004+01:00

Is there anything Urban Outfitters can't do?

Ok so I may be a little biased, but you can't fault them for doing cool stuff.

Urban Outfitters in the U.S has joined forces with Society6 - an international community or artists from over 70 countries - to bring us the print shop.

Here you can choose your favourite image and have it printed as a gallery-quality art print, iPhone skin, or laptop skin - the choice is yours!

These are the ones I would like ...

Being Nice by Will Bryant

Laptop Skin

Work Hard... by Steph Says Hello

Hand Drawn Alphabet by Chris Piascik

Finally, I quite like this one. It's mainly because of the side swept fringe and the plaits. I mean come on! It's a tiger with plaits!

Rock Candy by Valistika

It Has A Wring To It...

2010-04-05T14:32:00.001+01:00

I will not be defeated by the last few drops of ink that refuse to come out of the tube... oh no, I will not be defeated.

I need to get my hands on a tube wringer.

Your Gran and Grandpa may have had one to squeeze out every last drop of denture cream, and I tell you what - they were on to something!

What's In Your Trunk?

2010-03-29T21:54:00.002+01:00

On a daily basis I not only daydream about dream living, but also about my dream workspace.

At the moment my 'workspace' is errm my lap and dining table as our spare room is currently a bit of a storage space right now, so my dream workspace is just that - a dream.

I saw this the other day and my jaw hit the floor... Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk by Timothy Oulton.

At $2995 it's not an impulse buy, but I would say if you have that kind of money spare - then how could you not want it?!

If anyone is feeling generous and would like to buy this for me, then please feel free to contact me. Thanks.

Dream Living

2010-02-28T22:20:00.001Z

My friend Chloe and I have a term for our side projects and wishing we could work on them full time, and that term is 'Dream Living'.
We talk about living the dream, where we can work on making stuff all day every day. Ohhh, one day.

Well this 'Live The Dream' print from Made By Girl sums it up nicely.

I Wish Everyday Was Pancake Day

2010-02-16T23:08:00.007Z

Hope everyone had a delicious pancake day!

I wasn't able to have pancakes for breakfast or even sneak one at lunch, but nothing was stopping me from having a pancake dinner, and a pancake feast it was.

The husband and I tucked into soft and fluffy Japanese pancakes - (I used Morinaga mix) - with bananas, strawberries, maple syrup, Nutella and cream on the side. Yum.

Love and Stuff

2010-02-08T00:30:00.004Z

As good ol' Lionel Ritchie himself sung 'Love, oh love, what a blessed thing...' and with Valentine's Day just around the corner it's time to start thinking how you can show your love or like (whichever level of feeling you are at) how you feel.

Don't worry I'm here to help you say what you feel.

Want to go for a fun and playful approach? Then go for this Kiss Chase card.

Maybe you want to go for something sweet and simple, then this Valentine's Cross Stitch card is the one you want.

Whichever one you go for, make sure you get your order in on time so that you get it in time to give to your Valentine.
Remember, posting your Valentine's message on someone's Facebook wall is not acceptable!

How Do you Spell...

2010-01-31T22:35:00.006Z

I love the internet and I love fonts, and I love biscuits.

So thanks to the internet - specifically my google reader - I was able to come across these amazing Helvetica cookie cutters by Beverly Hsu (via Made By Girl)
Needless to say I want.

Can you imagine serving these up? Oh what fun! You could spell out words to fit the occassion and then dive in and eat them all!
Yum.

Thank God For India Knight's Blog!

2010-01-27T22:12:00.002Z

Everyone today has been going Apple mad with the unveiling of the new iPad - the newest feather in The Jobs' cap. (I'm not to keen on the name though; it sounds like a technologically advanced lady product).

But talking of Apple products or in this case Apple related products, I must thank India Knight for her blog and pointing me in the direction of this AMAZING macbook case - BookBook. Look at it! It looks like a vintage hardback book. Why wouldn't you want to carry around your macbook in this?

From there I carried on looking through the Twelve South site and found more items for my Macbook that I want.
Next item to be purchased will be the Book Arc - a nice way to store and show it off at the same time.

Getting To Know You: Diana Mini

2010-01-19T11:00:00.004Z

Santa was very kind to me this Christmas. Ok, so it wasn't Santa it was my little brother who got me this Diana Mini 35mm camera.

I can't wait to take shots using the square frame and the half frame format. Now all I need is to buy the flash and I'll be all set.

Want to see what kind of lovely photos the Diana Mini can capture? Have a look at the Diana Mini Flickr Group

On The Wall

2010-01-18T22:31:00.005Z

For the New Year the Husband and I have decided to take on some house projects. I'm not talking demoliton or anything drastic, just a few makeovers to some rooms.

First up the bedroom. Basically, our bedroom is full of stuff (mainly my stuff) and we've decided it's time we (read I) clear out some things, rearrange some furniture, and make it more tranquil.

We started by moving out the TV - so no more late night infomercials for me - and that's as far as we have gotten.

The husband mentioned getting wall decals for the bedroom wall, at first I was a bit dubious as some of them that I'd seen before looked a bit tacky and naff... but I like the one he's chosen. I'm sure I'll post pics once the room is all done for you to see.

The other room that needs doing is the spare room. We're looking to make it a cross between a guest room and a work space/craft room for me (smiles). I'm very excited about this room.

If I was going to have a wall decal in that room, I would like these hand drawn effect suitcases.

This is still a work in progress so I'm sure we'll have lots of ideas and change our minds often but I'm looking forward to the project.

Mac Attack

2010-01-12T23:53:00.004Z

So this is what 2010 looks like.

A new year, always gives us a sense of hope - a new year to do things we may not have gotten the chance to do last year or just a chance to try something new. That just sounds lovely doesn't it?

Well, I was all excited for the new year, new projects, ideas and products to put into motion. However there has a been a slight hiccup in the plan... the iMac is sick.

Basically, if I turn off it off, the chance of it turning back on are slim to none. Eeeks.

So I have gone old school with notebook and pen to jot down ideas and such.

The Mr recently got a shiny Macbook Pro - oooh ahhh - and I'm very tempted to get one too. That way we can work on our own projects side by side on the sofa; or at least be in the same room. That'll be very nice.

Here's hoping the iMac gets better or a 15" Macbook pro comes my way so that I can get on with blogging about proper crafty stuff rather than these kind of non-posts (sorry)

All That's Left To say Is...

2009-12-24T09:00:00.006Z

What a fun year 2009 has been.

I did my first stall event, I set up the Left & Write Shop , and I made many a new item. All in all - not a bad year.

I'm already looking forward to next year, because I've lots of ideas ready to keep you amused and hopefully entertained. But before we start talking about next year, I just wanted to say...

Eat, drink, and be merry! Enjoy and don't forget to put on the stretchy pants to accommodate the turkey, chocs, and other treats that will be consumed!

To get you into the Christmas spirit even more, here is my Left & Write Merry Christmas Mix (I'm sorry if you dont have Spotify)

To listen, either click on the link above (yep, just up there on that next line) or on the cassette image below.

*Track List:*
-Sleigh Ride / Santa Claus Party - Ferrante and Teicher /Les Baxter
-Jing-A-Ling, Jing-A-Ling - The Starlighters
-Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
-Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo - Alma Cogan
-(Everybody' Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag - Kay Starr
-Whaddaya Want For Christmas - The Young Playthings
-All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
-Christmastime is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
-Christmas Island - The Dining Sisters / Bob Atcher
-Happy Holiday - Peggy Lee
-Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens

I Make Things

2009-12-20T23:44:00.004Z

If you are dab hand at the arts and crafts and want the world to know, then this is the tee for you.

I can't resist a bit of Lazy Oaf, and whilst having a pre-sale browse on their website, I saw this 'mayzing 'I make things' tee.

It now has found itself on my 'I want' list which seems to be growing by the day - such is the power of the interwebs.

I Spy With My Little Eye...

2009-12-19T23:08:00.010Z

Something beginning with 'D and H'

Give up?

Yup it's my DIGITAL HARINEZUMI - my current BFF and camera du jour.

What is the Digital Harinezumi?
It is a nifty little creature that can take digital photos and video (no sound) with that oh so dreamy lomo effect. Brilliant!

It's soooo small, it has been coming everywhere with me.
Here are a few snaps I have snapped with it:

Want to see more Digital Harinezumi pics? Your wish is my command... Digital Harinezumi Flickr Group

Next on my camera wish list - The Diana Mini

Left & Write Christmas Mix

2009-11-30T08:30:00.006Z

The lead up to Christmas is the best time when everyone is getting excited about presents and decorations.

Some people of course get stressed by it all, but it's nothing Christmas music can't fix.

Is it me or does it just put you in a jolly mood?

So as a little treat here is the Left & Write Christmas Mix - well a taster version. Just a few songs to get you in the mood for Chrimbo - after all tomorrow is December 1st which is practically Christmas.

To get your festive spirit on - Listen Here

Keep an eye out for more L&W Christmas Mixes!

Enjoy!

You've Got Turkey!

2009-11-25T14:32:00.002Z

We're over in the U.S visiting family at the moment and look at
what our nephew made us- adorable!
We woke up to find his hand painted turkey Thanksgiving card pushed under the door.

Posted via email from Left & Write's Interweb Stuffs

Christmas Is A Coming

2009-11-22T01:17:00.004Z

Christmas is a coming... Hurrah!

I've already started listening to Christmas music and am getting into festive spirit already.

That means I got down to making some Christmas cards and I've now put them up in the Left & Write Christmas Shop

So feel free to have a browse and pick up a few to send and spread the Christmas Cheer!

PLEASE NOTE: I'm heading over to the U S of A next week and will be back on December 1st. All orders placed whilst I am away will be sent out on Dec 2nd.

Dresser To Impress

2009-11-21T01:36:00.006Z

Going to Anthropologie is both equal parts pleasure and torture.

I love practically all the homewares in the store, so much so I wish I could live in the shop, and it makes me sad as I can't have it all right now!

So when I saw this handcrafted sheesham wood Brigitta dresser in the new Regents Street store I nearly sobbed on the spot.

Just look at it...

I am going to pretty much stalk this piece of furniture until it is in my house.

Hello Pretty Things

2009-11-03T17:33:00.005Z

The words want and need must be used when refering to these diaries from Smythson, which happen to be a collaboration with Erdem!
If I could swoon over stationery I would, in fact, what the hell... *swoon*

I would really like the Butterfly and Garden print Soho diary pleeeeasssseeeeeeee.

Thank you.

Fashion Girl Diaries
Butterfly and Garden Print Diaries

Goo Goo - Gah Gah!

2009-11-02T09:30:00.001Z

Q.What do you do when you just can't quite find the right card in the shop?

A. Make one of course!

Well that's what I did.

My cousin recently had a cute baby boy and since I make cards, I thought it would be kind of cheating by going to buy a store bought card. Plus, since they closed the Borders near my work complete with Paperchase concession - it has been slim pickings for any nice cards.

So this is the result - my own version of 'New Baby' cards. Done in classic baby talk lingo too!

Available at my shop Left & Write

What I Wore On Halloween

2009-11-01T01:31:00.004Z

This is Halloween-y as I get.

I'm only in it for the candy. Yum.

Posted via email from Left & Write's Interweb Stuffs

Trick Or Treat...

2009-10-31T12:22:00.005Z

Costumes and candy at the ready?

Move Over Barney

2009-10-18T18:27:00.002+01:00

... There is a new friendly dino in town.
He's small, likes to travel and spread some cheer - what's not to love?

All now available at www.leftandwrite.co.uk
Look out for more Dino themed stuff. Now everybody say - ROAR!

I Wish I Could Draw Like This...

2009-10-14T21:30:00.004+01:00

I heart Gemma Correll's illustrations.

However it is her blog What I Wore Today... In Drawings that is currently taking pride of place in my Google Reader.

It's like a street style blog, but not as you know it - it's better! It's a record of your outfit, but instead of a photo it is a drawing. Genius!

I love looking through all the submissions to the blog, and as well as loving some of the outfits, I am totally inspired by the illustration styles. It makes me wish that I could draw better.

Oh well, I suppose I better start practicing unless Gemma is willing to accept a stick figure version of my outfit.

If you want to see more, you can at the blog of course, but also in the What I Wore Today Flickr Group

Oui, Oui

2009-10-08T22:00:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! I'm feeling all French after coming across this lovely Parisian Font.

Unfortunately, 'bonjour' is as French as I get. Anything I learned at G.C.S.E level has long left me; which is a shame.

However, that French inspired font has set up a theme for the day and these collectors edition 'Paris Bourjois' eyeshadows (as seen on Kiss & Make Up) fit in nicely.

I'm not too fussed about the colour of the eyeshadow, it's the packaging I'm after!

Where The Nice Things Are

2009-10-04T21:09:00.006+01:00

It seems everyone is going mad for the highly anticipated Where the Wild Things Are movie, but my favourite take on the whole thing has to be Opening Ceremony x Where The Wild Things Are collection.

However, that's not what I wanted to tell you about. I wanted to share with you the WoCo Gallery as this is where the nice things are.

The blog consists of a personal selection of prints and products - nice design in general - that the folk behind WoCo Gallery like. With their good taste, this is definitely one to bookmark, add to your RSS feed - or whatever you do to keep track of your online favourites.

Paper Chase

2009-09-18T23:08:00.004+01:00

Whilst waiting to settle down to a night of TV and potentially watch the last few episodes of 'True Blood' Season 1 (so excited) I thought I'd squeeze in a blog post.
After a quick browse through the internet I came across these paper inspired products.
I love graph paper and actually prefer it to regular lined paper, so I totally want these please.
Graph paper napkins, £3.50 - (Available at Colin Dowd)
Now you can doodle to scale!

These are also quite ingenious - wallets that look like a folded sheet of binder paper complete with authentic looking scribbles.
By Dynomighty Design USA, and available from: Design Boom

They also come in the guise of folded paper maps, or one of my faves - Airmail envelopes.

Clever no?

Well anyway, it's TV time now off to melt my brain with Vampire fodder. I love the fact that TV season is back - lots of new shows to look out for.

Porto-Belly

2009-09-15T17:03:00.013+01:00

With all this rain and return to grey skies, it would seem that last Saturday may have been the last day of summer.

So I'm glad I made the most of the sunshine with a trip down to Portobello Road with the husband and my brother to fill our bellies with good grub and take in the general hub-bub of it all.

We had some very tasty Ghanaian food from Spinach & Agushi Yum.

I wanted some Churros for dessert, but alas we did not find anyway.

So along our trip up Portobello and on the walk home, I obviously took a few snaps:

All 3 of us on our phones - they were checking some football scores on their phones, I was just taking the pics
But the things that caught my eye, were all the bright coloured mosaics that seemed to be all over the place.

I liked how this mosaic even went across the front of their door.

and more...

It's nice to see lots of splashes of colour around LDN town especially as it seems it may be next year before we see some sort of bright blue sky.

Like A Kid In A Candy Store

2009-09-11T22:00:00.007+01:00

Like a kid in a candy store is exactly how I felt this evening when I went to take a peek at the new Lomography Store on Newburgh Street.

It was only a little space but it was filled with lots of Lomo goodness - cameras, books, accessories, and film! All you could want to get you hooked on Lomography or help feed your addiction.

I'm sure this won't be my last foray into this shop - so thank goodness it's only a stones throw away from work.

If you're still not tempted to take a trip to the store, here are snaps...

Gay Pareeeeeeeee

2009-09-09T22:00:00.003+01:00

Where have I been you may be wondering (or not), and the answer is I've been off on mainland Europe.

I was in Paris at the beginning of August for my First Wedding Anniversary - or as I called it - Paperversary.

If you follow my Twitter you'll know that I have a slight obsession with cameras - and so on this trip I took my Canon G7, my Holga K-200N, my Konica Revio Z3 APS, and my Polaroid One600. Let's just say my bag was not the easiest to carry around.

We were only there for a few days, but here are some pics from the trip taken with my various cameras, as well as a nifty collage compiled by the husband of my ensembles from the trip.
Click on the pic to get a better view if you want

All in all I had a lovely time.

Coming up next... my trip to Athens. Kidding I won't bore you with that just yet. I'll give you some time to get over this lot of holiday snaps, but I'll be back.

Sharpen Up

2009-08-17T21:26:00.004+01:00

More genius stationery related stuffs... Stationery inspired jewellery.

I want please.

First up, are these pencil necklace, keyring, and even pencil sharpener ring from Whistles.

and second...

These paper plane and notepaper necklaces from Enfant Terrible

The notepaper necklace though doesn't need to go on my 'I Want' list - as I already have it. Huzzah.

Prints Charming

2009-08-13T20:27:00.004+01:00

What to do in a lunch hour around central London?

Visit the Prints Charming Liberty Print exhibition of course!

Luckily I only work 5 minutes away, so off we went.
Obviously when in Liberty you have to browse and oohhh and ahhh over everything.
I came out of there without any purchases, but with a list of 'I wants' as long as my arm.
However, by the time we reached the exhibition space on the 4th floor the ooohs and ahhhs didn't stop.
How could they when we were faced with lots of lovely floral goodness... from notebooks, hats, hairbands, furniture and more... (excuse the camera phone pics)

They had lovely furniture by Zoe Murphy complete with liberty print fabric lined drawers... so nice. I want in my house please.

There was also some information on who Liberty had done collaborations with, including Kate Moss, Nike, Opening Ceremony, APC etc al.

My favourite part though must have been the wall of swatches. Who needs wallpaper when you can have a little bit of everything to cover your wall!

To compliment your swatch wall, you could always get a lampshade to match...?

It was a lovely way to spend a lunch hour, and I not only got to see nice things, but I also got to test out my new iPhone photo editing app. What do you think?
From this...

to this...
(Pics are of the Liberty lights in store)

Anyway, if you are in the area it's definitely worth popping in to see. The exhibition is on until 2nd September.
After the Liberty lunchtime frenzy and being overwhelmed with nice things and florals, I was drawn to this maxi-dress in New Look.

I didn't get it as it was a bad fit, but the print was nice.

Finally...
I was a bit miffed I was unable to get to the floral fash-mob Liberty had at 6pm, but they've put some pics up on their blog.

I wish I'd worn my Nike Liberty Print Blazers today... oh well, there is always tomorrow.

One Year On

2009-08-03T23:07:00.005+01:00

Two more days and I am off to Paris for my 1st wedding anniversary! I cannot wait. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by so quickly.

As the date approaches, I am feeling all nostalgic about the event and actually am missing a bit of the planning and little things that had to be done. Not only was my wedding an event for me to look forward too, it was also a little bit of craft project for me. I got to make my invites, place cards, seating charts and favours - I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it did mean a lot of late nights.

At least I have 'Left & Write' to fill the crafty void.

If you want to see what I made, you can read back over my previous post - There Goes The Bride

Here a few silly snaps that from the day that make me smile.

Saturday at The Tabernacle

2009-07-21T22:08:00.008+01:00

So as you may have read previoulsy, I had my first stall experience with Summer Fever at The Tabernacle last Saturday.

In the lead up to it were frantic evenings filled with inked gocco screens and the making of stuff.

My main worry was 'have I made enough stuff?' but I needn't have worried - as it turns out I did have enough stock. The constant battle between the sun and the rain meant that visitors were a bit thin on the ground. It was also the Lovebox weekend which was a bit hard to compete with.

Anyway... I set up my little table with my new card stand and spotty table cloth and laid out my wares. It was weird to see it all together ready for sale. I had even managed to put together a little shop sign and price list.

A few people stopped by the stand and asked me about the cards, how I printed them etc. which was nice, and the colourful box of badges made from old stamps, origami paper and random patterned finds drew people in for a rummage.

In the end I managed to sell a few cards and some badges - but that was to a friend who arrived just after I'd packed up because the rain had beaten the sun into submission. Oh well a sale is a sale and I'll take it.

All in all it was a good learning experience and it made me make some much overdue new items.

So until the next time I wheel out the Left & Write wagon...

Gifts From The Postman

2009-07-21T21:34:00.003+01:00

I love when I get parcels through the post, and look what arrived today.

All the way from Japan - a selection of hand painted rice papers which I think I may turn into badges.

From good ol' eBay some Swarfega - apparently a good alternative for the Gocco screen cleaner. Will have to test it out and report back.

Lastly, also from Japan this Gocco Screen Correcter - obviously when I saw this I was intrigued. Will also have to give that a try and let you know how it goes.

That was all for today; not a bad haul if I say so myself.

Sneak Peek

2009-07-18T10:00:00.009+01:00

The last week has been a blur and frenzy of making stuff (and not a lot of sleep) ready for Summer Fever - which by the way will be the first time I've had a stall to sell my stationery - eeek!

So as well taking some of my existing cards, I have a few new ones to add into the mix.

I'm going to give you a little sneak peek here, and then they'll be available at the Left & Write Shop soon for you to get your hands on and send to others!

STEVIE CARD

WISH YOU WERE HERE

HI!

HAPPY CAKE DAY

You like?

I'll also have some badge sets, Moleskin notebooks, and some rosette printed canvas bags - look...

Well still got some last minute prep to do, so I'll leave it there for now.
If you can't make it down, don't worry I'll hopefully be able to Twitter from the event - so feel free to follow me.

Over and out.

Who Needs Pen and Paper?

2009-07-17T11:13:00.008+01:00

My mind has officially been blown!

The Husband showed this to me last night and I have nothing to say except O-M-G!

This girl is amazing!

Britains Got Talent uncovered Susan Boyle - meh. Whilst the Ukrainian version of the show found this girl (sorry I keep calling her girl but I don't know her name - I think it's Oxana, but I could have also made that up).

This is actual talent!

I don't know how she does what she does - but I wish I could draw like that!

Watch the video and watch you don't dribble as your mouth will be hanging open in awe.

For a little background she is depicting the Ukraine in war and times of peace using sand! Yep, sand.

A, B, C, D, E...

2009-07-15T17:42:00.002+01:00

Yes! My Letraset book arrived today causing much jealousy amongst the graphic designers.

Am I excited about this book? Ummm... Just a little.

It's little gems like this that make me love eBay.

Summer Fever

2009-07-08T22:26:00.011+01:00

Come the 18th of July between 4pm - 7pm I will be selling my wares at The Tabernacle.
It's all part of the music event Summer Fever.

So I have been making like a busy little bee and trying to get myself ready for this event - and I still have quite a bit of work to do.
If you read this blog or pop by the Left & Write shop from time to time, you will know that I haven't made any new stuff in a while. Tut tut to me.

Well that's about to change...

Once I have everything done and made I'll no doubt blog about it, twitter about it etc etc.

Before I get back to the making, I just wanted to show you what arrived in the post today - my card stand which will take pride of place on my little stall/table.

Anyway, pop down and see what else is going on on the day - I know oneoffpinkribbon will be there selling her bows, as well as photographer Michael Donoghue will be there selling some prints.
It should be a fun and hopefully sunny day!

Look What I Got...

2009-07-04T23:14:00.003+01:00

After I first saw the Mulberry Rosettes way back in March, I wanted one, or two, or three...

Well guess what?

I finally got my grubby paws on not one, or two, but three! Yey!

I love the bright colours (even though my poor camera on my phone has failed to capture the colours properly) - I got an orange and yellow one, fuchsia and green one, and a purple and yellow one.

Haven't yet decided where I'll stick them too, but for now they are just nice to look at.

Hello Petal

2009-06-15T22:17:00.004+01:00

It's been a while...

I've started so many half drafts of blogs, gone back to them and cannot remember for the life of me where I was going with that particular post.

Then I came across this one, which I figured I had to share.

After blogging about the first flowers of spring in Regents Park , I thought I'd let you know that they've changed them!
After all the reds and yellows, they are now more pinks and purples. Lovely.

I couldn't resist and snapped away.

Kind of reminded me of my outfit.
(Excuse the poor quality mirror pic - I'm no Style Bubble)

And on a final petal related note... Look at my shoes!
Taken on the the Thames Clipper home from Greenwich. I think my shoes went quite nicely with the bright blue of the floor.

Gocco's Got a Brand New House

2009-05-16T20:26:00.003+01:00

I thought it was time to get my PG-11 a more permanent home, along with space for all my screens, bulbs and other tools; as multiple plastic bags just won't do!

Well my drawers from Ikea arrived today and - Ta-dah!

After spending a few hours putting it together (it was harder than I expected), my Gocco now has a nice new space to live in - it's a perfect fit!

The Pen(cil) is Mightier Than the Sword

2009-05-13T22:54:00.005+01:00

Because what would I do with a sword?

My current stationery obsession is this Zebra mechanical pencil that looks like a real pencil! Genius.

So I have been trawling the internet for somewhere to buy them, but they don't seem to be available in the UK, but I've found some on eBay so all is not lost.
I feel like buying a couple of boxes, which should tide me over nicely.

On another note, should you ever be bored of the sporadic posting from Left & Write, you can always pop along and see what else I've been doing at my other blog - the more the merrier.

Fish Face

2009-05-11T22:58:00.008+01:00

I finally finished the roll of film that has been in my fisheye camera since 2006!

As you can imagine it was a pleasant surprise getting the photos developed, as it had snaps on there from Las Vegas, Barcelona, and all other random places and events I had forgotten about.

So here you are, some fish face snaps...

To see more, visit my Flickr.

Now all I have to do, is finish the film in my APS camera. Yep, that's right,my drop and load APS, and my Smena 8M.
Can't wait! Who knows how long that film has been in there?!

Greetings From...

2009-05-07T23:16:00.004+01:00

With Left & Write I get to play with different coloured pens, fiddle around with Photoshop, and generally doodle stuff in books.

Meanwhile during the day, I play with words.

So since I have been a bit slack with Left & Write stuff lately, I might as well tell you about the day job, where we recently launched a new project - the U.O City Pages!

Yup, that's right. With the help of some rather fun people, we have put together guides for the European cities that we have Urban Outfitters stores in. It has the featured persons suggestions of where to go, what to see, where to eat and drink, and most importantly, where to spend your cold hard cash (or plastic) - you know, general guide stuff.

At the moment we only have London, Manchester and Copenhagen up; and Dublin should be going up this week - with more on the way so feel free to pop back and have a look from time to time.

I got the chance to speak to Tommy, the girl behind the blog Notes By Naive, as well as Phil Oh from streetstyle site Street Peeper - which was nice.

So now the search goes on for more people to feature, to keep the City Pages fresh and up to date. Should be fun... and interesting.

New New New

2009-04-17T16:44:00.009+01:00

Yup... it's all go go go here at Left & Write HQ - a.k.a my bedroom.

I've got a new greeting card design to show you, and the new Left & Write shop on Big Cartel is up and running. Exciting.

Hope you like it - the card and the shop!

So here is the bit of the post that may sound like a sales pitch...

Hands up if rather than sending an actual card through the post to greet someone a Happy Birthday or maybe Congrats, you instead write it on their Facebook wall?

I know I do it. (Hangs head in shame)

I say lets get back to sending greeting cards and putting a smile back on someones face. Give them something to look forward to in the mail, rather than just bills bills bills.

Kick start it by sending them this - 'You're Lucky' greeting card. It's blank inside so you can use for it any occasion.

And it's only available in my NEW SHOP --> Left & Write : Stationery and Stuff!

New Look

2009-04-14T00:51:00.007+01:00

I'm not talking about the high street store, I'm talking about the new look banner
for the Left & Write Etsy Shop

I thought it was time I got rid of my clunky attempt at a banner, and called in the professionals at MAUstudio

Nice, isn't it?

Well I may have to call on their help again to maybe get a new banner for the blog since the shop one looks so nice now; I can't have it feeling left out...

Every Kid Should Have One!

2009-04-12T14:00:00.002+01:00

If you know any kids who have a birthday coming up, or maybe you are being super organised and starting to buy your Christmas gifts... look no further for the ultimate kid present.

Warning: The kids may not share this enthusiasm.

I think you can't put a price on nice penmanship.

You can find this genius of a notebook by dlaurengoods on Etsy.

This a reason to love Etsy.

I ♥ Stationery

2009-04-08T21:50:00.012+01:00

I took a different walk home today and went via the Stationery Dept in Selfridges.
I love it when lots of pretty stationery are all lined up ready for me to pick
something out, because that is what inevitably happens.

What caught my eye was all this lovely stuff from Cavallini & Co.

Lots of lovely vintage looking notebooks, travel journels, stamps, labels and stickers.

I of course picked the Map Stickers - over 200 stickers based on vintage maps.
Just look at them... How could I resist? Ooh what to stick them on?

If that wasn't enough the rows and rows of Moleskines in all the colours of the 'bow nearly blew my mind and sent me in to overload!

Mobile Blogging Software Rocks!

2009-04-07T21:12:00.008+01:00

Otherwise how would I be able to do this?

What a lovely walk home it was through Regents Park.

(Click on pic if you want to see it bigger)

Hopefully summer won't be too far behind.

-- Posted whilst out and about.

*Update*

I realised why I was loving all the colours of the floral blooms here

Lo-Fi Dubai

2009-03-30T22:31:00.004+01:00

It's been a but quiet on the Left & Write front of late, that's because I was in Dubai.
Not doing anything work related, just out there on holiday; soaking up some sunshine and eating some yummy food.

I am now suffering from a healthy case of post holiday blues. I may need another holiday to get over this.

Anyway, here are some polaroid pics from the trip.

Playing peek-a-boo with the Burj Al Arab

Burj Al Arab and the storm clouds approaching

Fancy water installation at Dubai Mall

Sky High - Unfinished Burj Dubai

I'll eventually put up some pics over on my Flickr!

In the meantime you can see some of the Mr's Photos here

More Rosette Fun

2009-03-30T22:17:00.004+01:00

I may have mentioned how much I like rosettes previously, so you'll understand why
I had to stop and snap this rosette neon light in the window of the Mulberry store
in St. Christopher's Place.

I wouldn't mind a light like this in my window.

This post is also a test for blogging on the go from the ol' iPhone...

What do you think? Me thinks... I heart technology!

-- Posted whilst out and about.

Oi Trucker! Want A Hot Dog?

2009-03-11T23:00:00.018Z

It's about time I sat down and made some new stuff for the Esty shop, so I did.

So here's what's new...
(Click on the pictures to take you straight to the product on Etsy)

Trucker Cards

Hot Dog Cards

Eureka! Gocco Printed Moleskine Notebook + Notecards

All available now.

p.s - you can now follow Left & Write escapades on Twitter

Stick It

2009-03-10T23:57:00.005Z

I love getting stuff in the post, and today my new stickers came through - woo hoo!
I love 'em.
They'll go very nicely with my new candy stripe packaging.

First Prize Goes To...

2009-03-07T17:30:00.008Z

Mulberry!

Why?

For this amazing wall of rosettes!
Just look at all the pretty colours and ribbons. I want one (or 20)!

(Sorry for the quality of pics)

It was the perfect day to see them, as I happened to be wearing my See By Chloe Rosette vest.
I love a rosette.

It was tough call choosing between the tee and the vest. As you can see, the multi-coloured rosette design on the tee was very tempting too.

My little obsession with rosettes doesn't end there though...

Here is a canvas shopper that I Gocco printed last year. It was my first attempt at printing on fabric and it didn't turn out too bad.

I currently use it everyday, and it has even been through the wash and come out fine.

Keep an eye for more of these canvas bags and other rosette inspired goodies appearing in my Etsy shop soon.

Happy Feet

2009-03-03T22:59:00.015Z

If my last post on my other blog is anything to go by, the emotional well being of my feet seems to be quite important to me. So...

Behold the 'Phoebe' Liberty print Nike Blazers!

These landed on my desk today and so obviously I am one extremely happy chappy (and so are my feet)!

This post has nothing to do with crafts or gocco, but I had to share how happy my feet will be. Just look at that print!

I can't wait to wear them, even though the other part of me would like to keep them nice and pristine in a glass case to just look at, and make me feel all summery when it's cold and rainy outside.

Words & Pictures

2009-02-28T17:12:00.005Z

I am loving the The Photographic Dictionary.

Best dictionary ever!

All words should be illustrated like this...

A is for Anonymous

Photo by: Sophie Curtis

B is for Birthday

Photo by: Kelly Burgess

R is for Reflection

Photo by: Julia Galdo

U is for Underwear - (Childish choice, I know)

Photo by: Laura Flores

Genius!

Falling like Domino

2009-02-15T23:25:00.009Z

For frigs sake. Not another one!

I got an email the other day saying that the current issue of Craft magazine will be the last issue that they print.

The good news I suppose is that the Craftzine site will still be up and running.

They said my subscription would be transfered over to Make magazine... but I'm just not sure it will be the same.

It's easy to see why this happens to some magazines; with the high costs of producing a publication; print costs, selling ad space and whatnot - it's still a shame though. Especially when there are other publications out there being funded and printed to spread their blah blah blah.

So after Domino bid us farewell, we must now say good bye to Craft.

Oh well, in order to get over it I may have to get the Domino Book instead.

Yes, I think that will do nicely please.

iseeheartseverywhere...

2009-02-08T16:24:00.003Z

... even in my dinner!
Which was egg noodle vegetable stir fry if you must know.

Actually, I don't usually see hearts everywhere but my friend does, and her iseeheartseverywhere Flickr photostream is the proof.

If you see any, feel free to send them to her.

Don't forget to keep an eye out...

New Year, New Stuff

2009-01-26T23:58:00.012Z

It's only taken me a month to make some new stuff and put it on Etsy.
Well the wait is over.
Hurrah! I hear you cheer - No? Ok, maybe it was just in my head.

But anyway for your perusal, here is the NEW STUFF.

New Badges

After originally blogging about them here - I finally made them and got them on Etsy.

New Large Moleskine Notebooks

For all your doodling needs...

To see more just click on the Etsy link on the left hand side of the page, or CLICK HERE

Secret Projects

2009-01-12T22:00:00.004Z

At last I am allowed to write about this!

A friend of mine and the Husband was planning to propose to his girlfriend over Christmas, and obviously pretty confident she would say yes, he also planned a surprise engagement party for the
New year.

So he asked me to design the invites for the surprise party... and this is the result.

They were intended to be done by Gocco, but time constraints and the number that was required made it a little bit difficult. But fear not, we turned to another method of printing.

As they were originally meant to be done by gocco, I kept the design simple so that it could be printed using just one screen for the front and one for the back.

Here is the final invite that he sent out, and the one in the pictures below is the one we received...
A5 300gsm postcard and digitally printed.
Click on pic to see larger image
FRONT

He wanted it to tell a story - that age ol' gem of boy meets girl, they fall in love, and what would happen with a ring thrown into the mix.
DETAIL

BACK

Obviously she said yes.

Congrats Iheke & Lisa!

Laser Quest

2009-01-11T22:00:00.005Z

10 days in to 2009 and I have finally managed to sit down and write my first post of the year. Woo hoo to me!

I just wanted to introduce you to my new best friend...

My wireless Samsung laser printer. Nice right? Just look how shiny and sleek it is. You can oooh and ahhh - don't be shy. What makes it even better is the fact that is not the size of a small car. Bonus.

Can't wait to get started on new gocco projects!

That's a Wrap

2008-12-24T16:14:00.006Z

After finding the perfect present for someone; gift wrapping it is my next favourite thing.

It sometimes takes me just as long to find the right wrapping paper as it does the gift.
I would have used plain brown paper, as just like song says 'Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things", but I found the perfect paper in good ol' Paperchase. What was it you may ask?

Brown paper but with a Christmasy twist!
This paper had an all over repeat Christmas trees design complete with snow.
(For a closer look just click on the image)

All my gifts are now wrapped and sitting under the tree, hence this little extra time to blog.

If you want to see more lovely wrapping paper, just search 'Vintage Wrapping Paper Christmas' on Flickr.

Merry Christmas All! Hope you get all the presents you asked for.

Merry Craftmas!

2008-12-21T12:53:00.010Z

Not long to go now till Santa is in town.
After leaving it till the last minute, I finally managed to gocco my
Christmas cards and get them out on time.
Because of the time constraint, I kept the design simple and opted for metallic turquoise ink on a shimmery cardstock. What do you think?

Anyhoo, the real point of this post is to wish you all a very
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2009!

Here's to more crafty adventures next year,
where Left & Write will be back making more products to share with you!

Enjoy!

p.s Thanks to all that became a Left & Write Fan on Facebook!

It's Business Time

2008-12-13T10:00:00.007Z

I'm not talking about business socks time. I am talking about the fact that I got down to business and printed my friends business cards, using my trusty Gocco PG-11.

Her brand is called oneoffpinkribbon, and she makes accessories. If you like bows, you'll like her stuff! In order to promote her business, she of course needed some business cards.

She already had a design, so it was just a case of getting the materials together and printing. The final result...

Ta dah!
A simple image on the front, and all the important info on the back.

Now they are packaged and ready-to-go.
Note to self: Look into getting some business card boxes to package them in in the future.

The Process:
1) Setting up and burning the screen.(Don't squint. Click on the pictures to see a larger image)

2)Inked Screen

3)Start printing and racking them up to dry

4)That was the fronts done and dusted, now to leave them to dry and repeat the process on the back for the info. I used the same screen to save on materials.

Gocco Motion
Remember when I mentioned I had to gocco on the stairs? Well I wasn't kidding! It was tres uncomfortable, but it had to be done as our dining table was in use. Oh well, sacrifices eh.

Now all that is left for me to do is print up my business cards.
If anyone would like to design a logo or the cards for me, I'd be quite happy to do a swap and print your business cards for you. Any takers?

I Found Something Hiding In Here

2008-12-11T23:50:00.008Z

By day I work as a web copywriter at UO Europe.
So imagine my surprise the other day, when I found out that Stephen Loidolt - one-half of design duo something's hiding in here - works as an artist for UO in the US!

Why is this such big news to me? Only the fact that I flickr stalk them!
I'm just in awe (read jealous) of their apartment and studio; it just looks like crafting heaven.

Oh well one day I'll have a work space to die for. Unlike yesterday where I had to gocco on the stairs! Yep, it was v.uncomfortable. Pics about this and a post will follow soon.

Anyhooo... want to see how I've decorated my desk at work for Christmas? Check out my my other blog.

Genius I Tell Thee!

2008-12-07T23:00:00.002Z

I want it. How could you not want this? Staples in the exact place you want them every time!
This precision stapler by Joonhyun Kim from South Korea took Bronze prize at the Muji Award International Design Award.

If it were up to me, I would have given it the Gold Prize!

My First Etsy Sale!

2008-12-03T09:30:00.006Z

With my lack of internet, I wasn't able to blog about my tiny milestone - I made my first Etsy sale. Woo hoo!

Ok, it may have been to someone I know - but a sale is a sale.

What did I sell? A pack of Say What... pack of 4 customised badges.

Wrap It Up: New Gift Tags on Etsy

2008-12-02T23:57:00.003Z

I was able to squeeze in some 'making stuff' time and in the spirit of Christmas and gift giving, I made some more gift tags (now available at my Etsy)

I quite enjoyed making them using my trusty gocco, hand cutting the tags with my corner rounding scissors, and buying some lovely ribbon.

I love packaging and wrapping presents as much as I love finding the perfect gift. Hence my little penchant for gift tags. If I could make wrapping paper, I'd make that too... oooh there's an idea - watch this space.

I &hearts the Internet

2008-12-02T23:18:00.006Z

I know my last post was me blathering on about loving the internet, but I really do!

Especially when I didn't have any internet access for a few days... arrrgggh.

I can now breathe a sigh of relief though as I have the internet back. Yey!

I was starting to have serious withdrawal symptoms, as my iPhone was just not giving me the web fix I needed.

Well I am back in business now with a new faster connection, so I better strap myself in and feel the Mb/s!

Thank Goodness for the Internet

2008-11-26T23:44:00.005Z

I have been home sick the last couple of days, and all I can say is thank goodness for the World Wide Web!

Daytime TV is shockingly bad, and since we've gotten rid of satellite - there was nothing for me to curl up and watch from underneath the duvet.

So instead I spent my time napping and surfing the web - oh yeah, thank goodness for laptops too.

That's where I stumbled across this photo on the Gocco Flickr Pool

If you are a Gocco owner you'll know you need carbon for your image to burn on the screen, so either you use the Riso pens, photocopy or laser printer.
Well now we have more options!

This selfless gocco owner experimented with some possible alternate pens that you can use when drawing designs for printing. Genius!

Have a look at the results...

Side by Side Gocco Test Comparison
Originally uploaded by candice kimchee

p.s I tried to use the 'Blog This' function straight from Flickr... but it just messed with the layout so had to manually sort it out. So much for shortcuts. Excuse the tiny picture size.

Left & Write Now On Facebook!

2008-11-22T18:35:00.005Z

I know you all spend a lot of time on Facebook. Don't try and deny it - Everyone does it.

So why not join in the Left & Write fun and become a fan on Facebook.

That way you won't miss out out on any Left & Write news... new items, special offers, or anything else I happen to come up with.

All the posts from the blog even get imported on to the page!

First Class Stamps

2008-11-20T08:00:00.005Z

What do I do with a whole load of stamps from the Philippines?

Make them into badges of course!

Soon to be available in my Etsy shop along with other other badges.

Red and Yellow and Pink and Green...

2008-11-19T22:54:00.006Z

With Riso announcing the end of their production of Gocco units and supplies (woe is me) I've been trying to hoard as much of it as I can... from stocking up on screens, bulbs, and inks... but I still want more! That includes more inks to add to my collection above.

I'm planning to build my collection up like Matilda Deathstar. After seeing her pic on Flickr and feeling a pang of jealousy, I am determined to stock up.

So before you all start buying it all up, save some for me!

Craftwerk London

2008-11-18T22:21:00.002Z

Might pop down and have a look.

For more info Click Here

Brrrrrrring... Whose Calling?

2008-11-11T22:05:00.009Z

...Apparently new wallpapers for my iPhone.

I have the tendency to get bored with some things quite quickly. I may like them, but after a day or two I'm ready for change. That is probably why I will never get a tattoo as I don't think I could love any particular design enough to have it printed on my body for the rest of my life.

So the wallpaper on my iPhone is my current itch that needs to be scratched.

I previously had this photo taken by the Mr. on our honeymoon as my wallpaper.

Then Loeber pointed me in the direction of Poolga - which had a collection of wallpapers for the iPhone and iPod touch created by designers, illustrators, and artists. Oh the choice!

I'm currently using: Robert Loeber's pattern and as I've had this for a few weeks now, I think it's time for a change.

On Poolga there is just so much choice, but I have narrowed it down to...

Christopher Bettig's 'Disco Dots'

or
Will Bryant's 'Nice People'
In keeping with the whole crafty ethos... I think I'll go with 'Nice People', for now...

Gift Tags: For Christmas and Beyond

2008-11-09T22:57:00.007Z

When I was printing the Diamond notebooks I had some ink left over on the hand stamp and it seemed a shame to waste. So I carried on printing on some card stock until the ink ran out.

What to do, what to do with these diamond prints now?

At first I thought about turning them into notecards or postcards, but instead I opted to cut them out and turn them into gift tags.

A diamond shaped gift tag is just as good as an actual diamond you know!

So here they are now available to buy on Etsy

If you would like them printed in another colour, or tied with a different colour ribbon then just let me know.