good will bunting giveaway

The fabulous Melanie from You Are My Fave is hosting a Good Will Bunting giveaway from today until next Friday, 6 August. Full details here. Hope you win - I just love making it! Have a great weekend (I'm Race for Life-ing - wish me luck!). 

Photos: Heidi Adnum

chocolate cloud cake

I wish I could share a slice of Nigella's Chocolate Cloud Cake with you, it's completely delicious (but very, very rich) and I just know that you'd love it. Alas, we can't (unless you live in west London?), so I took some photos for you, instead. You could also watch this video.

Photos: Heidi Adnum

diy camera strap cover

I love the idea of a camera strap cover and the step-by-step guide at design*sponge shows us how easy it is to make our own. I chose a soft jersey for my fabric (below), which should be perfect to get rid of the rough, scratchy feel that my camera strap has. It was actually just like making a hair 'scrunchie'. (Remember those?!)

Photo: Heidi Adnum

how low can you go?

Leah at Apartment Therapy is asking how low can you go when it comes to hanging artwork. I agree with Leah that low-hung art/frames look best in a group. What do you think?

Photo: Apartment Therapy

classics in lego

UK photographer Mike Stimpson's 'Classics in Lego' photography series is brilliant. Mike recreates famous images entirely from Lego, like Steve McCurry's Afghan Girl and Martin Elliot's Tennis Girl (both shown below). Browse the entire collection here. If you'd like to buy one of Mike's prints (from postcards to posters) click here.

Photos: Mike Stimpson

baby monday

Would you like to meet two beautiful babies that I've recently had the pleasure of working with? If you'd like to see, here's Freddy (and his daddy's feet) and Trifine. (PS There are plenty more new images in my gallery, too!)

Photos: Heidi Adnum

kids' holiday cameras

When my two little nephews go on holiday I like to give them each a disposable camera. They seem to love the responsibility of their very own camera and seeing the photographs that they took. They also have something else to take to school for show-and-tell and can start their own photo album to keep in their room. It can be worth mentioning how many exposures the camera has, so they can try to make it last longer. Disposable cameras are 2-for-1 at Boots right now. 

Photo: Kodak

limited edition dahl prints

Shopping for my nephew's birthday, I saw this collection of limited edition prints from Roald Dahl's children's stories, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Each print is one of an edition of 495 (they were launched in 2009, so some may be in short supply) costs £79 (unmounted, unframed, plus shipping) and is available to purchase here and here. Love.

Photo: Don't ride on that crocodile! at Art of Illustration

lockets

You know I'm a huge fan putting your photographs to good use (invitations, gifts and products, wallpaper, vintage frames, mobiles, etc), well, now let's talk lockets. Do you have one from childhood that you still wear? I lost mine on holiday when I was about eight but then found it again ten years later in the pocket of a bag - hooray! They're such a lovely, intimate way to display and carry a photograph with you. Also a thoughtful and personal gift. Lots of love for these three vintage lockets:

Top: Brass Locket from katinkapinka
Middle: Locket Necklace from niandra
Bottom: Brass Locket from RhondasTreasures

tina barney

Tina Barney is a New York based photographer known for her portraits of the lifestyles and relationships of wealthy American families, and, more recently, the European aristocracy. This intriguing picture is of Barney's own family and is on exhibition at MoMA as part of 'Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography'.

Sunday New York Times by Tina Barney, 1982, via Moma

hello egret

How cute is this little thing? Hello Egret is a photograph from Canadian designer/illustrator Cheryl Rutherford and I just couldn't resist it. Whether purchased from Cheryl's shop or the Help the Gulf Coast shop, some proceeds will go to rescuing birds or rehabilitating wildlife.

Photo: Cheryl Rutherford

a beautiful garden

Just one more thing from Wales, a visit to Llanerchaeron, a National Trust property with a beautiful walled garden... 

Moroccan Mint

Apples (I wish they were ripe!)

And raspberries... Just to name a few!

Photos: Heidi Adnum

wales

Will and I recently travelled to Pembrokeshire, Wales to visit family who were holidaying there. We only had a few days and on the day two we walked around Dinas Head, along the cliff. This was thee view to one side:

And this was the other:

And this was the danger, don't fall off the cliff sign:

Is that a small cliff or a giant person on the sign? Photos: Heidi Adnum

nyc graffiti

Some more NYC photos to share with you, this time a few graffiti/tags that caught my eye. If you know anything about one of them then please do share!

Photos: Heidi Adnum

photo wallpaper

Photo wallpaper is rather popular at the moment and if you're currently considering ordering a roll, you may enjoy this article and inspiration from Apartment Therapy (which includes US suppliers; here is a UK supplier and here is an Australian supplier). Once you decide on your image, send it through online and they do the rest. High quality images are required, so, my lovely clients could use images from their CD in the full-size folder, which are all print quality, high-resolution (300 dpi) files. 

Photo: Kim Johnson via Apartment Therapy

rineke dijkstra

Rineke Dijkstra is a Amsterdam-based award-winning photographer who specialises in portraits of adolescents. She uses plain backgrounds and direct eye contact to draw your attention right to the person in the photograph. I love how she makes you wonder all about them: who they are and what story they might be telling. One of Rineke's projects was to photograph children of refugees like Almerisa, a Bosnian girl whose family relocated to Amsterdam in 1994. Almerisa, a collection of eight images taken over eleven years, shows Almerisa as a child and then as an adult with her own baby, and is presently on exhibition at MoMA as part of 'Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography'. 

Photos: Rineke Dijkstra via Moma

hope street

Old signs are so charming, especially shop and street signs, don't you think? This is one of my favourites, Hope Street in south-west London. Find two groups on Flickr dedicated to street signs around the world here and here.

Photo: Heidi Adnum. Also on Flickr.

the catorialist

You've seen The Sartorialist, now see The Catorialist. A photo-blog of worldwide cat style. Thanks to Mel for the tip!

Photo: The Catorialist

new york public library

I hope you enjoy a few pictures taken at the New York Public Library a couple of weeks ago. An event held there would be amazing. Wouldn't it have been fun to be there on this day!

Photos: Heidi Adnum

my parents were awesome

Have you seen My Parents Were Awesome? It's a reader-submitted photo-blog and if you love looking at old photographs, then I'm sure you will love it. The book is out soon, too. Inspired by MPWA, this is my Mum and Dad in 1965. They were on their honeymoon at Surfers Paradise. Mum is wearing a scarf as she has never liked getting her hair wet in the pool/beach and dad is carrying two meat pies for their lunch. 

li'l laundromatic

When I'm not working (or cooking) I photograph laundrettes. I love how delightfully old and often unchanged they are, and the colours and textures. The stories from the people using them are interesting to me, too. So I was thrilled to learn about and buy Li'l Laundromatic, a handmade full-colour magazine containing a collaboration of photographs, illustrations and stories taken from urban laundrettes. Made by Shelbyville, a Sydney-based graphic designer called Michelle, who is also responsible for the blog of the same name. 

Laundromatic tip from Amity, Etsy's UK Blogger. Photo: Shelbyville.

wimbledon at the london transport museum

For those who liked their Chelsea Flower Show range, here's their Wimbledon range. The London Transport Museum is paying tribute to The Championships with products inspired by Underground artwork from the 20s and 30s. Wouldn't they make a great gift for a tennis fan or an Art Deco lover?

 

Photos: LTM

dear photographs

Image: thxthxthx: a thank you note a day by Leah Dietreich.

sweet potato and feta salad

This is one of my favourite summer meals. The original recipe was in Good Food Magazine but I think this version is also good, so I combine the two. I needed to save some carrots so I added them, too. As well as baby spinach, it's nice with mixed salad leaves or rocket, and you can use any nuts, really. If you can't find sweet potato you can use roasted pumpkin and if you don't like feta you could substitute that with grilled halloumi. What's your favourite summer salad? 

Photo: Heidi Adnum

vanessa's wedding ring

Speaking of Vanessa, I couldn't help but notice her divine sapphire and diamond wedding ring. Vanessa told me that her husband, Mickey, designed it (how romantic is that!) and David Sachs made it. Is it not one of the most beautiful rings you've ever seen in your life? If you'd like to take a look at some pictures of Vanessa and Mickey's beautiful, romantic and vibrant wedding, Vanessa posted about it here and Martha Stewart reported on it here.

Photos: Heidi Adnum (top) David Sachs (bottom)

a visit to etsy labs

While we were in New York, Mel and I visited Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. It was Craft Night and we were also treated to a tour from the gorgeous Vanessa. It's such a fun, relaxed and vibrant environment and needless to say, we want to move in right away!

Photos: Heidi Adnum