top drawer invitations

I've been making invitations for Top Drawer London

Valentines with Liberty

I'm delighted to be returning to

Liberty for another Valentines Day.

Pick one of my handmade cards

and I'll personalise it for you

Your personal messages will be handwritten

and envelopes addressed using a pen dipped in ink

Perfect for sending as a secret Valentine?

I hope to meet you in the Stationery Room

Friday 13th February

12 - 2pm

Please allow time for me to write your messages and ink to dry!

william morris

 

"Anarchy & Beauty"

at the National Portrait Gallery

William Morris, featuring his designs, ideas and legacy. 

 

The self-portrait of a youthful Morris was quite a surprise and I loved this pencil drawing of Jane Morris by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 

 

Painting, embroidery, printed textiles, books, ceramics and social reform.  

What a circle of artistic friends and influential present day admirers!

remodelista

Visited the New Craftsmen Gallery, a beautiful space dedicated to promoting and supporting British makers.  There was a pop-up market today with Remodelista London



bloomsbury

Virginia Woolf painted by Vanessa Bell

Influential artists, writers & thinkers in the Virginia Woolf exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery

Photographs, letters, paintings and inspiring drawings with washes of colour 

turner

Turner at the Tate 

Most inspiring, particularly the sketchbooks, watercolours and unfinished drawings.


invitation

Parcels of handwritten invitations to Top Drawer.  If you're visiting the show I hope to see you.  Stand E82

flower show

Little foxgloves, bee-friendly flora and hybrid roses or silk flowers?

liberty

I've been making handmade embroidered flowers for Valentine's Day.  If you're visiting Liberty on 13th February I'll be personalising my cards in the Stationery Room.

 

Send one of my designs and I'll handwrite your message and address your envelope.  I'll also gift wrap your card with a handmade heart. 

top drawer spring

Garden Botanic designs and sketches of Sailor

the torch

It's summer!  Waiting for the Olympic torch which arrived today.

hampton court

A day gathering plants, ideas and advice at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

Naturalistic planting in the show garden "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Spires of Eremerus in "Summer in the Garden" by Arun Landscapes

...more in the Floral Marquee

Clouds of gypsophilia, from the conceptual garden "Light at the End of the Tunnel"

An impressive display by pupils of Writhlington School Orchid Project who garden in their break times and after school!

Air plants again...

The National Dahlia Collection had a beautiful display and offered helpful advice.

Lovely to see Nicole again from The White Orchid with trailing garlands of roses

Rose "Duchess of Cornwall"

 

Tired and happy...plants travelling home by train.

jubilee

It's Jubilee weekend and Sailor went to The Derby at Epsom to (almost) meet the Queen. 

Yesterday she braved the crowds for the flotilla on the Thames.

dulwich

A garden blooming with flowers, summer is here at last! 

I found this recycled bag, made by the skip sisters at Dulwich Arts Festival last week. 

A great opportunity to visit artists' studios and take a peek into their equally artistic homes.

beauty in the making

 

I was invited to this event hosted by GF Smith last week. 

The exhibition explored the beauty in technical processes involved in paper-making, print and design.  There was also a chance to try your hand at letterpress and envelope-making. 

Visually, the exhibition design reflected it's own message.  From the invitation; laser-cut signs on towers of paper to the restricted colour palette, even the cables and furniture seemed to be thoughtfully arranged.

 

light and vision

The mirrored light installation by Yayoi Kusama at Tate Modern makes interesting patterns.

A constellation of apostrophes.  Biro paintings by Alighiero Boetti, also at Tate Modern. Inspirational embroidered canvases, maps, installations and collections on paper.

merci

  

I enjoyed personalising your Valentine's Day cards at Liberty on Monday.  Your heartfelt messages were truly romantic.

Thank you to all at Liberty who helped make the day possible.  

To Julie for inspiring the event and Paul for my beautiful display.  I had a painted writing bureau and washing line to peg the cards to dry!  

To the team in the Stationery Room and most of all Bryony, for kindly assisting me on the day.

  

Thank you also for my beautiful bouquet of flowers from Wild at Heart, Sailor appreciated them too!