Illustrations The Hidden World Of Eloise

Awesome website, Etsy if your into unique handmade beautiful things this is the place to see, also featuring the beautiful illustrations of Hidden Eloise who is currently involved in a paperchase storm which has become a huge tend on twitter, shame on you paperchase slap your wrists!

These illustrations are so beautiful they combine the whimsical with the nostalgic. i love the watercolour soft effects with the neat solid outline. Simple and beautiful, whats more is the number of cute things you can get her illustrations printed on, just check the web site above. There beautiful. Purchase you've missed a step here i would have deffo forked out for a bunch of stuff with this whole story on, cards, pencil cases, stationery in general, diaries, or a medium pillow, or door stop with these characters would be brillant (beanbag style) would have looked great. It would have been win win all round.

The Pearl Purse guide guide to alfresco dining.

V&A Wooden Disposable Cutlery, adds a touch of quirky vintage glamour to your alfresco dining. For me the best products are when design has been thought of from beginning to end. when purchasing a unique product ( or any for that matter) its the packaging that counts just as much. i love these little resealable bags the cutlery fits in, so simple and beautiful. love it.

Children's Puzzle Tray by Royal VKB, combining play and perfect dining, this is why we LOVE MELAMINE. its versatility opens so many doors. this clever one was winner of the Red Dot award and can be purchased for £37.95 from pedlars.co.uk

and last but not least: Memphis Two Burner Barbecue. love love love it. this is the ultimate garden toy for the style/design conscious boy or even girl. loving its retro 50's inspired design not to mention the colours available. I would happily have this one out on my patio adding a bit of glamour for a humble...£ 143.08

If you love quirky outdoor or just furniture in general I recommend taking a visit to the link above (hit the title) as well as Pedlars.co.uk

I heart Vimeo Pt 2

Digital Graffiti Wall + Stencils from Alex Beim on Vimeo.

I want one. I can see Nike/Adidas doing this with a design your own trainer service.( great PR campaign, you read it here first) with this tool i think i could become a sneaker freak, O why didn't i do this for my final year project.

I heart Vimeo Pt1

our creative process/. 01 from Casey Warren MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

I love this little video, it was made with no fewer than 1800 photos. It a great way to map out the journey from idea to execution. Thanks to sites like these and the nation wide love affair with Fantastic Mr Fox, photo/stopmotion production seems to have made a comeback, its great to see a new relevance to this artform, its like Pingu for adults. It wont be long till some bright ad agency uses this to showcase some clever little product with all its uses, i mean we've already seen it slightly with Apples ipod series but i think there's allot more possibility for development, just look at this video for example. I smiled from beginning to end...wonderful

Advertising overload!

OK so I'm not one to moan but i just cant help myself here. I'm doing a new assignment for New Media and I'm doing my daily 'dive for pearls', (that's finding inspiration, seeing whats hot and credible) to help me shape my campaign, and i take a look on Design Week from my twitter feed and whoa!!! so many flashing images it makes it impossible to read the content, OK not impossible but deffo not reader friendly, i mean wheres the off switch?
What i find interesting is how can a credible magazine that's all about...Design allow them selves to get caught up in this simple and "avoid at all costs" mess of over crowding with advertising. i mean yes we can all understand i few ads here and there, but surely at the very least the brands and companies you ALLOW to use your space should ENHANCE your site and brand and not to mention, reinforce the level and standards your company is all about and some how the rolling ad for Dulux paint, oh no sorry Ive just flicked back to re-read it 'Dulux design service' isn't really doing it for me. yes we can see the point for dulux: " huge benefit linking our new service to a credible Design Mag" but whats the benefit for you???(other than cash)and if Ive missed the benefit, that's because i gave the site approx 10 seconds of my time before i gave up.

So my point is, keep it simple. your advertisers should enhance your profile folks! let them work to be on your space and if you can, let your competitors be jealous you've got them advertising with you because of the value it adds to your customers and brand value!

Its all about how you use it and cramming it with multimedia images that give your page the look of someone overdosing on speed is not the way to go.
As a lover of good advertising, give it some room to show what its got. And a tip to you deciding where to place your ad and how to make it. If its going to be on a page full of 'flashers' (as i affectionately call them) try making a rich, beautiful,unique and here's the crazy part = STILL image. Isn't the point to stand out from the crowd?

top tips for eating healthy. just disguise your guilty pleasure!

Tip 1) lets face it we all have days when we would much rather (and do) have cake for dinner rather than something appropriate. So here's how you get away with it. just pretend your having meatballs and spaghetti. you cant go wrong with carbs, meat and some Tommy sauce, for that all important Vit C! to find out how to make this delicious sneak attack visit: The Junk Drawer.


Tip 2)Disguise your cake snack by recreating a texture of a well approved fruit or veg by applying your favourite sweet like these little yellow jelly beans. This corn on the cob disguise is perfect! not to mention totally believable. What a revolutionary way of using up all those left over yellow flavours, if only we could find a substitute for the orange beans we could solve a world wide dilemma. to find out for to make this veggie option visit: Corny treat (scroll down)


Tip 3) OK this is not so healthy, but just look at the brilliance! This is for all those closet veggies who may be a bit shy about admitting their adverse opinions towards meat products, so next time you hit the social BBQ scene just whack out one of these bad boys and people will be none the wiser, plus you dot have to worry about trying to get through a veggie option which has the imagination of bald accountant. ( that comment was from a personal experience with a friend where she was given a pasta cauliflower combo to eat while we had a roast. Awkward and yuk.)

I hope you like this Sat random post. I think this may become a future feature. not necessarily always about food but something not linked to my usual interests but none the less always about something i love. As usual.