Local talent

As someone who lives in the south-west of England I love discovering local talent so I was pleased to see that Bristol-based illustrator Tom Frost has designed a new collection for Magpie. If you're looking for quirky homeware or gifts then Magpie should definitely be saved to your favourites. The new Pondlife collection is the brand's second collaboration with Frost and features four pond-dwelling creatures on a variety of products for the home including plates, aprons, tea towels, mugs and cake tins, all in a beautifully muted colour palette. The collection will be available from mid-June so in the mean time check out some of the other lovely products from Magpie. I've got my eye on the meow tea towel as I'm dying to get a cat so this will have to be a substitute for the time being!

Prices, clockwise from top left: tins, £25 for set of three; cushion, £20; side plates, £20 for a set of four; apron, £20.  

CREATIVE LOVE

Working in publishing means I'm always on the hunt for interesting magazines and travelling is the perfect opportunity to discover new titles. When I was in New Zealand at the end of last year I picked up a copy of a lovely magazine called Extra Curricular that's produced by a creative bunch based in Auckland. 

The magazine's tagline 'for creative folk' gives you an idea of the content, which covers everything from cooking and crafting, to fashion and gardening plus interviews with inspiring individuals. It's produced three times a year and I bought issue 10, the summer special, which focuses on self-sufficiency. Produced on beautifully thick paper and with charming illustrations and striking photography, Extra Curricular is definitely a magazine for keeping rather than recycling! 

WORDS OF WISDOM

I've had a bit of a blogging hiatus while I was in New Zealand but I'm back now and have lots of exciting things planned for Betty & Frank in 2013. 

First I want to share a lovely shop that I discovered in Westfield shopping mall in Christchurch. I love it when you find something completely by chance that is right up your street and kikki.K is just that. The Australian brand is the brainchild of Swedish stationery lover Kristina Karlsson who draws on her Scandinavian roots to create stylish and unique stationery and homeware in gorgeous muted colour palettes. If I didn't have luggage restrictions to contend with I would have bought lots of things as it's the perfect place to stock up on gifts but I had to make do with two little light treats for myself. It was hard to choose only two but I went for a notepad and a pack of the inspiring quote cards which I thought would be good to motivate me on bleak January days just like today.   

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING...

No, it's not Christmas that I'm counting down till but my big trip to New Zealand. It's now officially a month till my boyfriend and I head off to New Zealand for my friend Rita's wedding and I'm getting ridiculously excited. Still have loads of route planning to sort out and we need to decide which campsites to stay at but I can't wait to be driving on the open road in our campervan. In my dream world it would be a classic VW but they were mega bucks so I resisted! 

In honor of our trip to New Zealand I thought I would share this Bold & Noble typographic print. I was given the France version for Christmas last year and gave my friend the British Isles one for her birthday this year so it's safe to say I quite like these maps!

Does anyone have any tips on where to go in New Zealand or any nice Kiwi blogs to follow? 

SUPERSTYLIN’

In the past few years since moving out of flatshares and finally having a space I can decorate without asking the landlord’s permission (well apart from persuading my boyfriend that it’s a good idea) I’ve gradually become more interested in interiors and now I love nothing more than pouring over homes and interiors magazines or trawling my favourite websites for inspiration.

I’ve been a fan of mail order company Cox & Cox for a few years and love it when the new season’s catalogue pops through my letterbox twice a year. The autumn/winter collection arrived recently and after flicking through it I quickly came to the conclusion that I could quite easily find a place in my home for pretty much everything.

The products have been beautifully styled and I looked online to see if I could find out whose handiwork it was and discovered the credit belongs to the talented interior stylist Sania Pell. Sania wrote a behind the scenes post about the Cox & Cox shoot on her blog last month and it was fascinating to see the work that goes into styling a photo shoot. I love that she’s drawn on her crafting skills to bring the products to life and I particularly like how she used the bird and nest rubber stamps to give you inspiration on how to use the handmade white postcards and place cards. Simple but so effective.

Images © Cox & Cox, styling Sania Pell 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

There’s nothing I love more than talking about food, well apart from eating it! I’m renowned for always being hungry (my granddad used to say that I had hollow legs) and am constantly thinking about my next meal. My sister (a fellow hungry person) and I often email each other during the day describing our lunches or snacks in detail.

As well as talking about and eating food I also enjoy reading about it and even though I have quite a handsome collection of recipe books I still find myself drawn to food blogs for inspiration. One of my favourites is What Katie Ate, written and photographed by Katie Quinn Davies, an Irish expat living in Sydney. Katie’s blog, which showcases her talent as a food photographer, stylist and cook, has gained a cult following and it’s easy to see why.

The recipes never fail to tempt me and are inviting without being overly complicated and the beautiful images make you wish you could dig your fork into the screen and take a bite. Katie has done what many bloggers aspire to do and has just released her debut cookbook What Katie Ate, Recipes and Other Bits and Pieces, which I’m very excited to read and of course cook from. My motto is that you can never have too many recipe books! It's not on sale in the UK till next spring but it is currently available in Australia, New Zealand, the States and Canada. 

What’s your favourite food blog? I’m always on the lookout for new ones to bookmark so please share! On another culinary note I’m going to see Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival tomorrow night, which I’m really looking forward to.

Images © Katie Quinn Davies 

Blogging bootcamp

So September might have been and gone but it's officially the start of my school year (well month) as I embark on Holly Becker's (of Decor8 fame) bootcamp e-course Blogging Your Way. I've been wanting to do it for a while so I'm looking forward to getting to know more about the process of blogging and meeting lots of new people.

When I was at school and university I loved the excuse of starting a new term to buy stationery so I decided to treat myself to this weekly planner pad from Lollipop Designs to celebrate starting Blogging Your Way and to help me organise my blog posts. The bonus is that it will look pretty on my desk too!