# 20

W O R K. It never stops. It feels like I'm out at sea surrounded by words and theories and ideas that swim in my head. Perhaps I'm a little seasick at the moment and I hope for a desert island to rest just a bit but I know it will go on like this for quite a while. It really helps to keep it all nice and tidy - where possible. Inspirations for the well organized home office and beautiful things to revive tired eyes can be found at Present&Correct, right here (and images below).

# 19

The hand-made craze is everywhere but good quality products are still rare. Here are two very nice examples of thoughtful and useful product design that comes with a cohesive and well designed branding. The sausage dog key chain is all handmade by Birte of heimtierchen (products for pets). She has a website and a shop and all goods come packaged in a very stylish wrap. The color coding is great as well. Given the amount of money people spent on their beloved cats, dogs and horses there is a great and very accessible target market for this kind of product and heimtierchen's customer service is just great. I got a little piece of a special sponge to keep the matte brass surface of my new pet ( which I wear on a chain around my neck by the way ) in top condition.

Sketchbook is Amber Jensen's sewing enterprise. She makes pretty cool bags and satchels in her workshop in Eugene, Oregon. My red wool Camper Satchel has been a great companion on my daily train journeys for month now and I really love it for its size, style and durability. Amber has a website too and a shop on etsy.

xx

# 18

This is a Cafe right!? I thought you'd like some visual cake. This was baking about 50 years ago and I absolutely love the shades of solid colour and how pretty the cakes were decorated. Too pretty to eat really…but then you can't anyway. Sorry!

xx

# 17

My time for creating, illustrating and crafting is very very limited these days. It's been like that since October and will be for a couple of years as I've decided to become a teacher for English and Design and went back to university. A bit of travel-sketching in the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A study rooms (above), the occasional metal engraving or some free form embroidery (like the tea garden below) to relax in the evening after hours of listening and reading is about all I can manage but I'm quite happy with that and will continue to share some thoughts on art and such like here. The website and shop will shut down for the time being as I can't be a professional illustrator on the side and want to give my studies my undivided attention. It really feels the right thing to do.

xx

# 16

These are being sold at our local farmers' all flowers come from their own garden. They're all beautiful - luckily pretty affordable as well....

xx

# 15

I've always felt very special about Botanical Gardens.

The beautiful steel and glass constructions of the green houses...

... and the strange green and humid world inside.

They inspire day dreams of exotic jungles, birds and butterflies. The silent presence of the plants is very relaxing and at the same time they radiate such a positive energy.

I like to draw in there and pretend I'm a botanist. Sadly, at some point I have to return from the imaginary expedition but if the tropical style cafe near the entrance has a cup of tea and some homemade banana bread I'll be alright. xx

# 14

The Black Pear.

I am so proud of this exquisite piece by Penkridge. And I'm sure there will be a growing collection of beautiful black fruit on my dining table. They have a very special charm with just a hint of freakishness.

xx