another one bites the dust

i have been away

so now I'm back..not that really for 1 second did i think anyone even gave me a tiny thought of concern as to where i was...but whilst all you folks here in miserable England were freezing i was burning my bald head in ever so sunny and hot Florida, well outside of the Walt Disney world boundary it was Florida, inside the boundary it was the place where dreams come true..it was our second visit this year and we went this time for some festive fun and some shop shop shopping...so the trees were massive and bejewelled, the fake snow fell as if real, the fireworks were bigger than any you will have ever seen,and the shopping was incredible..even with the weak monetary conversion bargains could be and were found...i will post some pics of the goodies i bought in another post..wait till you see my glass domed cake stand...so cool and soo cheap...but for now just gaze at some holiday pics...see that lighthouse below ?..can you believe that was in the grounds of the hotel we stayed in.. it was actually more like a small town as it was sooo big, nothing in Disney is small..especially not the hotels..or resorts as they call them.. so normal blogging will resume soon... hope everyone is well, and only slightly jealous that this time last week i was swimming with dolphins.

arms at the side

so i help my friend in her shop carry me home and i just wanted to show you guys what has been flying out of the shop and from the website, I'm responsible for the website deliveries and lately i have seen more of the post office than i have my own home, all i need is a black and white cat and i will be postman pat. but look at them, these little soldier skittles are too cool for kids...

very talented friends

so one of my loveliest friends has just today launched her new website and I'm so happy and delighted for her, as its a lovely clean space in which her intricate prints get full attention.for as long as i have known Nicola,..the big boss lady behind the label Jessica James, she like me as strived for an independent way of living through what we both love to do, and that is to just create and make, but Nicola has been much more focused than me and has built up a solid style that is instantly recognisable as her own.beautiful understated colours are used on her hand drawn detailed prints that are often many layers of different styles, that she applies to clothing and home accessories, and even to a book cover for poet Roger Robinson.she promises me an etsy shop is on the near horizon so you all can grab a piece of her. but for more images and some hints for a better life, visit jessica james.

i love sparkly things

so i did it..i put my tree up and had much fun making a pathetic little plastic thing look resplendent and festive, we don't have much space for the gigantic tree i dream of but i still love what we did..when i say we, i mean me, you see i wanted to make the baubles we already had a little more me, so thanks to a million little sticky spots i got what i wanted, my David on the other hand just stared at me like i was mental, and all he said was, why don't we buy some spotty ones ?..he just does not get the fun of doing it yourself.... i always get my way though...and i hope you agree its brilliant...i love Christmas....

i like these

so i saw these pictures over on desire to inspire, a blog which shows some incredible interiors and buildings, but today this image stood out and im not sure why, its kinda the opposite of what i normally go for, its clean and has a very specific style where i like a more eclectic miss matched approach, but i think i could and i know i would happily sit on that fancy chair and plonk my cup of tea on them tables and be quite happy..now this next picture is just incredible and i would kill for this and happily committ many crimes for a view like that, im not really bothered about having a garden, but having a little terrace or balcony with a few shrubs would satisfy my green fingered urges, but please just look at that view....i would never go indoors...

its christmaaaaaaas

so here in London certain streets seem to compete with each other for the best Christmas lights, and this picture shows 2 streets near where i spend most of the week, the left image is regents street which has gigantic star shaped nets strung across the street and the picture on the right shows Carnaby street where this year they have put massive snowmen up the whole street, and between me and you, they are a bit scary, but still brilliant...i love Christmas and i really want to put my tree up this weekend..is it to early ?...click the pics to make bigger...

roll up roll up

so i just bought this from here and cant wait for it to arrive, its tiny, and i do wish it was bigger, but im not a size queen. i just like nice things.

this is so true

this is what its like inside my head and its from here

its tea time

so i helped my friend set up her stall at the country living show that has just been on here in London and this picture below shows my favorite part of her stand, 1, because i styled it, and 2, because this cosy is just the best tea pot keeper warmer that has ever been knitted for the purpose of keeping tea pots warm..its all about the slogan, i dont know about you but i cant say it without speaking in a posh english accent.... and it is available in a whole rainbow of colors from my friends website...but if you want one be quick,they were selling like hot cakes..or should i say hot tea.

i want this

so i blatantly refuse to tell you where i saw this, because im waiting to go home and ask permission to get it, but look at it...just look at it...its got my name all over it....arghhhhhh whats a boy to do, so many nice things and no money in his pocket...arghhhhhhhhh, but will you just look at it...

more lovley things

I'm not gonna say much about this...because it is just to brilliant and does not need me blabbering on, but i will say that the illustrator linzie hunter who did these doodles in her sketch books just blows my mind... i think its the dedication to her passion that i love..i change my mind more often than i change my socks... her blog is full of lovely stuff and her flickr sight is even better...she makes me want to get some felt tip pen and just doodle, and she reminds me what a crap flickr keeper i am (does that make sense ?)..i have gazillions of images i need to put on there...its on my list of to do...so if you want to smile...you know where to go.

its work in progress

so i have recently spent a stupid amount of time working on one of them light bulb moments i often have, you know, the kind where your head spins until you actually just get down and do it... so this image shows a work in progress, the left side is the front and the right is the back which i actually think i prefer more.. that's a happy accident if i ever saw one, but I'm gonna persevere, i have made 3 of these and intend on them being a cushion...actually I'm gonna do a mini collection based on this theme, i like things in 3...not sure why ?...watch this space....

im a fatty lover

so a little bit of dribble just fell onto the computer keyboard when i saw these amazing illustrations from hennie haworth, whose website is just full of eye wateringly brilliant images, and it turns out that she has also designed a range of products for habitat, and it just so happens that yesterday i was looking at one of her designs in habitat thinking "i want you", but obviously did not know she had done it...if you go to her website look at the repeat pattern section and dribble some of your own drool at the wallpaper possibilities....i love the candle one, but for now i love these the most...wonder if its because there is cake involved, and whilst id like to pretend to be a skinny lad, lets face it im a fatty, and kinda proud, especially when i see things like this...

i got more lovely stuff

so i want you all to know i live in a tiny 2 up 2 down house.and it seems to be my mission to fill it to the brim with stuff i just don't need...but i cant help it... i love stuff... stuff with nice colors..stuff with cool graphics...and stuff with both things combined...do you know what i mean when i say graphical things ? that's my favorite word to describe my current tastes.... and look what i found recently... can you guess where from ?
these amazing flash cards were from here...and without being in anyway disrespectful to the seller, were a steal.. i initially thought the listing was for only one card... not the full alphabet...the little illustrations are so cool...look at Y.. the yarn image is lovely...
i also like things with my initials on.. i have a lovely little collection of letter S's but these are a current favorite and they were from here...and in their original packaging...another etsy bargain... you must admit its a fantastic place to go shopping...I'm addicted...but i cant afford this addiction...help me...or then again don't... i like it...

i want this...and this

so its Christmas..its November and as far as I'm concerned its time to put up my tree and deck the halls... but the Grinch..also known as my David wont let me get my baubles out yet as he says its to early...but I'm rapidly adding things to my list that Santa will be getting very soon.. i have as always been a very good boy so i deserve good things, and this incredible height chart is just brilliant...that little kid is just spoiling the picture i think....its £30.00 from graham and green... and i want it...
and my ex boyfriend Christopher Jackson, who had to move all the way to new Zealand to get over me, has designed an ever so clever flat pack picture frame that turns an ordinary image into a Polaroid... its just too sad that they have stopped doing Polaroids so this is a lovely homage..check it out here...oh and if you read this Chris...ill never get over you and have your laminated picture with me always...

look what i found

so i was at a fab charity place a few weeks back in brighton, where all the staff are ex prisoners who are being rehabilitated into the community, and it was set in this rather fancy house that had rooms just bulging with lots of rubbish...and the best thing i found was this...

you see I'm desperate for a cafe style display board that has grooved felt where the little plastic letters slot in..do you know the type i mean ?... believe me they are sooo expensive..well more than i want to pay..but for now this will do...and as you can see, i love this...

i like this

so i saw this on the fred flare blog and as they would say... i totes love it... it looks like whoever did it got some fabric pens and just went to town doodling away... makes me wanna do it... actually i might...go to fred flare to find out more.

look what i did buy

so these arrived a while back but I'm just now getting around to blogging about them..I'm kinda addicted to playing cards and flash cards with cool illustrations and graphics...and these had me at hello, they are from a very brilliant etsy shop, Elizabeth wren vintage and I'm amazed i didn't buy more of her fab stuff..i have my beady eye on 3 more things but need to save up some pennies....but just look how cool these are, they will one day adorn my walls and make me smile every time i walk past them...if you know me you will know they are, well, just so me.

tag, im it

so i have been tagged by camilla and you know how it works....7 things etc etc...

1.my current favorite programme is the Gilmore girls..i want to live in Stars Hollow and eat at Luke's every day and be friends with miss patty and be best friends with Sukie and her handsome husband,.... when he had a beard in the early series, he was seriously my type of man.

2.in exactly 5 weeks time i will be in a hotel nr gatwick getting stupidly excited about my holiday in Walt Disney world in Florida...my 2nd visit this year and i get more excited every time.

3.i work part time in a small children's shop and not so long ago served sporty spice, Mel c, and when she left with her purchase, me and my boss looked at each other and screamed ...I'm a 32 yr old big bald hairy Northerner...so this should not have happened.

4.as i type this list, my husband David is asleep next to me, he works in a proper very responsible big corporate job that fills him with stress and worry, and I'm so incredibly lucky that he supports me in what i do and puts no real pressure on me to earn more so i can contribute more..

5.i once thought great success would come my way, but I'm now not so interested in aspiring to big things,..I'm happy with my dreams and not bothered all that much with achieving them...well maybe some of them ?

6.I'm not at all shy about having my picture taken, and have taken a self portrait every Thursday for the last 36 weeks in a row and posted them on the flickr group self portrait Thursday...i find myself planning in advance what i might or could do.

7.i get attached to inanimate objects and stupidly think that they have feelings..but i more often than not lose this feeling and happily let them go...have you ever felt sorry for something in a charity shop and felt the need to give it a better home ?..well that's me..I'm an idiot.

so i know im supposed to tag 7 other people now...but im not gonna do that...just tag yourself if your reading this..its kinda fun to put down in words some of the things in your head..

should i buy this

so it was love at first sight, and i have been dreaming of owning this fantastic thing for a few weeks now, i saw it at Greenwich antiques market and i have been back a few times since just to stare at it...the worst thing is its really not all that expensive for what it is...its only £40.00, and I'm sure i could get it for cheaper if i fluttered my lashes and flirted outrageously with the man selling it...but where would it live in my tiny house ?..i showed my David this picture and i cant repeat what he said about it...your ears would bleed,...but since when has his lack of imagination ever stopped me ?...so i will think about it some more and maybe if its meant to be it will still be there when i have the cash...i wonder if it will take my weight ?...after all, if im buying it..im certainly gonna sit on it...well maybe just once ?

talented friends

so my friend zoe makes me sick..i hate her and think everything she makes is rubbish and I'm amazed that she actually sells anything at all....OK OK so I'm jealous..jealous that I'm not half as creative as she is, jealous that she has so much talent and im envious of her enthusiasm for what she does that is evident in everything she makes,...oh and yeah did i say she is just a lovely nice person....you all hate her now too don't you ?
well i visited her at spitalfields market a while back and stood in awe at her goodies, ...and as you can see from these few pictures her stuff is fab...all hand made by her dainty lady like fingers and all presented in a fun individual way...her ever growing range has been worn by our favourite crack addict Amy winehouse, and super skinny kiera knightly even bought something from her stall..Zoe's business is called love from hetty and dave and you can see more of it here...so dont hate her..she is lovely..

i stole 3 of these

so I'm a thief and i don't care, ill give you a quick version of events..i was at the local twice a week junk market ..a junk market that literally is junk that most folk would screw their nose up at and run a mile..but not me , coz under all the grime can be found some treasures and these old magazines from the 50s were just there begging to be rescued from the horror of this place..they were/are battered and torn and scuffed and were damp from the rain, but the illustrations were/are just incredible.

so i ask the ugly smelly lady how much for them , thinking she will say 50p each, when she calmly says "erm, £2.00 each.....i nearly choke,2 quid for magazines that she does not even care about, 2 quid for something that she is likely to line her cats litter tray with at the end of the day...2 bloody quid,..so i walk away disgusted, but also gutted, you see there was no way i was paying 2 quid for 1, never mind 2 quid each for the 4 i wanted...so i cant stop thinking about them and start to hatch an evil but cunning plan to steal/liberate them.

i tell my David and he is horrified at my intentions, but i go for it and calmly walk back over and pretend to rummage amongst the many piles of junk stacked on this table, and selecting the covers i want...you see it was only the covers i really wanted, ..and i discreetly detach the covers from their rusty staples...1...2...3 covers detached, and i wrap them around 1 full complete magazine and walk up to her as if I'm only holding 1, give here the money and the cheeky cow has the nerve to say..didn't i say £3.00 , i say NO, give her the cash and walk away feeling half guilty but mainly half happy that these beauties were now mine.

don't feel sorry for her, you have to see this place to understand its not like some antiques market..its junk that antique markets would never sell...and just look at them happily now hanging upon my hallway wall....my favorite one is the one of the 2 men doing DIY... even in the 1950s I'm sure they never got that it looks like two men setting up home together..just like me and my david. so im a not a theif, im a liberator of lovely things...

i made this

so i made these yesterday whilst sat on my sofa with my sewing machine on a tiny little table, and with sex and the city on the telly...5 hours later, many cups of tea consumed i was finished and came to the realisation that one should not really spend 5 hours on something that really wont make me all that much money...but it was actually fun, and sometimes i don't really enjoy making stuff..its sometimes a bit of a pain..but like all my happy accidents i think they are rather nice...do you ?

new, but actually old, but new

so not many words needed to explain the blatant promotion of my new listings in stevensstuff...I'm trying a new way of photographing them..well not too new, but with added humour and a graphical element...graphical is my new favorite word...just ask my David and he will tell you i bore him silly by talking about graphical things like old illustrations and old battered maps...but that's for another blog post...another day..

oh and can you see that little collage up there with a yellow border, well that's done with my new toy, Picasa 3...its sooo much better than the old Picasa and the things you can do are much more fun...hurrah for Picasa...hurrah.

spot the dog

so yeah we all know its autumn and its a pretty time of the year, but mainly it just passes us by as we all get on with our lives, but sometimes it really does just grab your eyes and says look at me...and this happened in the toilet opposite my house...also known as the park where my dog poops...look at this...can you see her..
well here she is..shes called charlie and she is a bitch...no i mean it, shes a bitch, i do love her but OMG, she drives me mental...she is the greediest dog in the world and will happily eat all day long if we let her, she whines and whimpers when she is not getting attention and seems to have the ability to get on the bed in the middle of the night without us even knowing until we turn over and her bum is in our faces..but, she is also stupidly slushy and gives the best cuddles...and if i say so myself she takes a might fine picture...and in this amazingly lovely field of crunchy colorful leaves she looks so content, when actually I'm sure if she could have spoke she wold have said, throw the stick fatso....

buy me these things please

so these are some of my current favorites from etsy, I'm a little scared to show you these as you might grab them before me, but that's the risk I'm prepared to take, after all who am i to deprive a potential sale...but please don't buy any of these...please...pretty please.

i love this...and this

so i stopped dead in my tracks...(well actually I'm sat on my sofa so i don't know what tracks I'm on ?)...when i saw this here...i want it NOW....

but if I'm having this..(i wish) then i want 3 of these to go with it....please...

i saw both of these things on my new favorite blog absolutely beautiful things...its just erm,,well, absolutely beautiful

i need a good blog slapping

so I'm officially the worlds worst blogger..i aspire to do it every day and give you all lovely things to look at, but lets face it, that ain't gonna happen unless i force myself to just do it....so here goes,...and to get me back in the blog swing here is a shameless self promotion of my newest creations...and i love em...so the last few weeks have not totally been wasted as you can see....ill fill you in on all my adventures and fun things i have been doing in another blog...ill give you a clue, Madonna, Jonas brothers and Gloria estefan feature quite heavily.....but that's for another blog day,
but look at what i have been making...leather rings and cuff bracelet thingies...

i have bags full of the most amazing leathers and like any magpie I'm attracted to colorful sparkly things, and for a while now i have had these cuffs and rings playing in my head...and like most happy accidents, they turned out just as i imagined them..

i put the rings on an adjustable, erm...well, rings so that anyone can wear them even if there finger is massively fat.....why it would be i have no idea but you never can tell can you ?

anyway i will try and get my blogging momentum back up and running...i have gazillions of nice images to share and i have been working on some things in my house that i want to share..
so my new thingies are in my shop now...

bad bad bad blogger

i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today i will blog today........maybe ill blog tomorrow....

i will own this

so wowzer...2 posts in 1 day..but this just made me drool some dribble down my top and I'm putting it here on my blog to remind me to buy it when i have some spare cash, and before it gets lost in my favorites and overtaken by something else that makes my eyes pop...look at it..its just bloody lovely and brilliant and so me....and its from here...

i love this

and i want it...NOW,..its been a while since my last blog post ..not sure why but this stopped me dead and made my heart go boom boom boom, please buy it and send it to me now...its from here and it is just fab...