The Summertime Hop!

Wanna spice up your Saturday? Come on down to the Made in the Shade Summertime Hop!




I'll be there this Saturday with my wooly WildCat Designs creations, along with some WildKittens goodies too. Not only that, I'll be sharing a stall with the lovely Claira of Vertiline in Love! Gorgeous vintage goodness abounds!

Come along & say hi! There are lots of other talented creatives coming too, including Gillian Kyle, Wooden Tree, Lizzy Stewart, Magic Alice and Angharad Jefferson. Check this blog post to see the full list.

That's not all! There will be live music from The Meat Men, tea and cake provided by Auntie M's Cake Lounge, not forgetting Flora the Tombola... and as if that wasn't enough, pop in early enough and you may get a fabulous goodie bag!

It's sure to be a blast. So this Saturday, from 10.30am til 5pm, the Roxy Art House (map) is where it's at! Be there or be square! ;)

Friday I'm in Love...

...with this wonderful stop-motion animation :)



(found via I like you)

See more of Kirsten Lepore's work here: www.kirstenlepore.com

Have a fab weekend!

A Kindle of Cats

I do love the English language for the amusement that the collective nouns for animals provides. An army of ants, a congress of baboons, a charm of hummingbirds, a mischief of mice, a parcel of hogs and an ascension of larks. How delightful!

What prompted me to ponder these was a review I recently came across of an exhibition of work at Haunch of Venison (London) by the lighting designer Stuart Haygarth entitled "Found" in Grafik magazine.

Image via Grafik

I like the way the ornaments wouldn't be significant on their own, but because they have been collected, ordered and arranged in a particular way, they become an object of interest. Also makes for a very unusual and interesting lamp!

Image via artnet

What can I say?

...I was surprised and, I have to say, very flattered to discover on Saturday (totally by accident too!) that I'd received a Beautiful Blogger Award from the lovely Mimi of www.eskimimiknits.com. I'm honoured to accept it, with thanks, even if I do feel a little unworthy!


So... I understand the way it works is I now tell you 10 things you may not know about me and nominate 10 worthy bloggers for the award!

Well, here goes.

1. I used to be a Girl Scout (of the USA variety, though I am not American myself), but in a lone troop overseas in Antwerp, Belgium. I still have all of my old patches that I earned and the handbook :)

2. I am somewhat obsessed with all things pirate-y...so much so I once had a party on a little island, complete with pirate fancy dress and plenty of rum!

3. I've been blogging and making websites since I was at school, in other words, I've been writing stuff online for something like 10 years or more (cripes!). My first 'proper' website was a tribute to my favourite band Feeder :)

4. I lived in Germany and Belgium as a child so can speak German, French and Flemish (v similar to Dutch).

5. For a short while, I played bass in a band! I still have my awesome purple metallic (kind of glittery purple) Fender/Squier P Bass, I really love it. I had to order it specially as I'm left-handed, and it was sooo worth it, it's a joy to play.

6. If I had to live anywhere other than Edinburgh (home for a good 15 years now), I think I could quite happily live in Brighton. It's such a cool place.

7. I'm a (punk) rock chick, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! :D

8. I dream of going on a cider holiday to Devon & Cornwall. They have such lovely yummy cider there, but they drink it all themselves, it's *that* good! One day I will do it, for sure.


9. I believe Feeder decided to release their newest studio album "Renegades" (their seventh!) today because it's my birthday tomorrow - that's my theory and I'm sticking to it, because it makes me do the happy dance. I also think it's pretty cool that they're releasing it via their own label, 'Big Teeth' - yay for DIY!

10. Nothing makes me happier than having colourful hair. Which is why I'll be dyeing it again soon.

...and the nominees are (in no particular order):

Sally of http://tinkeringtimes.typepad.com

Kat @ Rock 'n' Roll Bride

Zoë of Conversation Pieces

Laura aka Lupin of http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com

Ez of www.creaturecomfortsblog.com

Lori of Rarely wears lipstick

The lovely Princesses Michelle & Marie at Kingdom of Style

Kate at http://little-doodles.blogspot.com/

Beatie of http://beatiefox.blogspot.com/

Fifi Lapin