mirrormirror

It’s Starting to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We’re off to Whistler on Sunday to spend Christmas there with friends.  It will be the first time we haven’t gone back home to the UK for Christmas since we came out here, and I think we’re all feeling a little nonplussed (Christmas and England very much go together for the Minx).

It will also be a little strange to leave Seattle, especially now that the house is looking so festive and cosy.  But we’re all looking forward to snow and skiing (the Husband and the Minx) and relaxation and knitting and reading (me) and seeing Whistler in all its pre-Olympic finery.

I had the tripod up so I thought I’d take some pictures of our decorations. It’s all a bit of a mish-mash but I’m so fond of all the individual elements.

What with owls, wooden deer, a new little bird (from Amy Ruppel) and various snowy/furry things our mantelpiece has inadvertently taken on a bit of a winter woodland theme.

In pre-Minx days our tree was quite strictly silver, gold and crystal, but it’s become rather more eclectic and colourful over the last few years.  I was going to tie some big bows on it in an attempt to bring it all together, but that just didn’t happen this year.

Gingerbread men and candy canes now mingle with a little embroidered horseman from the V&A (known affectionately as John of Gaunt  - my ultimate fictional lustbunny from Katherine).

Each member of the family has their own embroidered and sequinned initial.

Here’s the little baby carriage we bought when I was pregnant with the Minx.

And there’s the little baby angel we bought the year after.

This frankly creepy creature – known as the Candy Cane Child – was picked out by the Minx when she was two and is adored by her more than all the other decorations put together.

 

While I am a sucker for tiny 18th century shoes.

 

 

Looking at these photos, I have made one definite resolution for 2010.  NO. MORE. EGGYOLK. YELLOW. WALLS.

Adventures in Knitting - The Joy of Socks (and Hats)

 

For some reason knitting socks was not such a big thing in the UK when I was living there, though I hear it’s now growing more popular. In fact for most of my knitting life the closest I ever got to hand knitted socks was reading about them in Little Women and since I’ve always knitted on long, straight needles I couldn’t even fathom out how it was done. And I couldn’t begin to understand why on earth anyone would knit socks when they were available for a few pounds for a packet of 5 pairs at the supermarket.

Everything changed when I arrived in the US, the land of fanatical sock knitters and incredibly beautiful sock yarns. You may remember I knit my first pair back in 2008 and had a few less than successful attempts thereafter. But I was starting to understand how addictive it is to knit them.

This summer I knitted the second pair of socks of which I am inordinately proud, using this Twinkleberry pattern and a Limited Edition Sundara sock yarn in the Mango Madness colourway. For those of you on Ravelry, here are the details.

I absolutely ADORE this yarn and am now really appreciating the joys not only of knitting, but of wearing hand-knitted socks. The weather has been unseasonably very cold in Seattle recently but my toes have been toasty warm and they are so, so comfortable, as they are knit precisely to fit my feet.  I LOVE them and can hardly bear to remove them every evening. I wore my first pair of socks to ribbons and am frightened I’m going to end up destroying these.  In an ideal word, I would have a pile of gorgeous hand knit socks from which to choose. Must. Knit. Faster.

In other orange knitting news, I spent a few September evenings knitting a couple of little seasonal hats for my dear friend, the Instant Hausfrau’s, new boy twins.  Well they were seasonal back then. I’m only posting about them now as Ms Hausfrau was having a little trouble locating both hats, both twins and the camera at the same time in order to take pictures. Which is entirely understandable. After the Minx was born I was having difficulty locating my head. More details on my Ravelry page.

 

Happy Halloween!

Some Photos and a Calendar

 

One of my main resolutions for next year is to really work on my photography and sell some of it through the shop.

I really like the simplicity and ethereal quality of these photos by Kitty Rogers, available to purchase through her Etsy shop.

 

And most particularly I love her teeny tiny calendar – 12 little (business card sized) calendar photo cards on a tiny easel. In fact, I love it so much that I’ve just ordered one for daily photography inspiration.

{found via Lobster and Swan}

Get Your Holly On

Design bloggeuse extraordinaire Holly Becker over at Decor8 is running an e-course in January called Blogging Your Way  which will talk about becoming a more successful blogger and include tips on photography and styling. And I’ve signed up!

I really want to take this blog to the next level in the new year and work on my photography/product styling, so it seemed like a great way to do this in a focused way and kickstart the year. And get to meet other bloggers online.

There are apparently a handful of places left if you want to sign up  - all you need is a blog, a camera and $119 for the seven week course. All deets and registration here. I’ll keep you updated with how it’s going in January and maybe share some of the assignments on here, if they’re shareable.

{image via Decor8}

Abigail*Ryan Homewares

Our favourite jewellista Abigail Percy and her beau Ryan Bell of Chick Stud Earrings fame have been working day and night (at least according to their Facebook status updates) on their new range of home textiles, based on Abigail’s stunning botanical drawings.

Their beautiful and unusual teatowels and scatter cushions are made from 100% cotton or 100% Pure Irish Linen, hand printed in the UK and hand-sewn in the duo’s Belfast design studio.

I love the colours they’ve used and they’ve done a fantastic job with the styling the images as well. Definitely thinking about getting some of these in the shop after Christmas. In the meantime they’re available online from Abigail*Ryan.

New In Store – Cupcake Wrappers

 

Or, food styling is INCREDIBLY hard.

Here’s one of my undoctored images before I attacked it with Photoshop

Remember these?  I got some for the store, but then needed to photograph them in all their glory, so I became a food stylist for the weekend.

In order to keep more control over colours and styling etc. I decided to make my own cupcakes (this was quite probably a mistake). So I baked a batch of these (my go to cupcake recipe) and mixed up several batches of standard buttercream in vanilla, chocolate, pink and extremely pink.

I realised that I would have to improve on my usual rather haphazard cupcake icing methods and decided to get some proper equipment. An online search took me here – I can highly recommend this kit although it’s just a nice piping bag with four large nozzles.

Finally I needed a plain cupcake stand that wouldn’t detract from the cupcake wrappers themselves. Martha Stewart and Macy’s came to the rescue with the perfect stand which was even on sale.

Then followed several hours of icing and re-icing cupcakes, arranging them and rearranging them on the plate, cursing profusely when I got icing over everything and taking a million photos.

And then several more hours with Photoshop, cropping and brightening and lightening and blurring the background and eliminating icing smudges from everything.

Here are the results of literally hours of work.  It always looks so easy when you see it in the magazines.

 

You can buy the cupcake wrappers here.  To get free shipping anywhere in the world on any order that includes cupcake wrappers, choose the ‘Free Shipping (with Offer Code)’ option and enter the code ‘MIRRORMIRROR BLOG’  in the ‘how did you hear about us’ box at checkout.  Please buy loads and make all the time and effort worthwhile. 

Vancouver and Visas and Wearstler and Wanders

Can you believe it’s been three years since we first got our visas for the US?

When we first came out to Seattle we assumed that definitely be back in the UK before our visas ran out. But here we are three years later, happily settled and with no return to Europe in prospect, needing new visas.  You have to leave the country to get them renewed so we’ve driven 150 miles up the freeway to spend a few days in Vancouver. 

Here are a few pics from a gorgeous autumnal walk we went on yesterday in Stanley Park.

And here are a couple of links which might be of interest until I’m back properly in front of a computer (on Friday).

First up Alexandra from A Bit Late is not impressed with Kelly Wearstler’s beach house. While I don’t think I hate it as much as her previous effort (she appears to have given up raiding the British Museum) I’m not sure it has a huge amount to commend it.  I haven’t yet seen the Metropolitan Home feature though.

Also our friend Marcel Wanders has apparently designed a range of Christmas decorations for Target here in the US.  I had high hopes for these as he’s done good stuff before for Habitat in the UK but really, with the exception of the big red, white and silver column candles which I may have to acquire, he was phoning this in without even bothering to switch on the phone. BO-RING.

Harvest

Or fences that grow apples.

Look what we’ve been picking recently!  Small, perfectly formed, and just the right size for the Minx’s lunchbox.

I first got the idea to use espaliered apple trees as fences when we visited the tulip festival back in 2007 and they’d used them to fence in the car park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are our two just planted espaliers to the left of the picture below back when the garden was new in August 2007.

That first year they sure did look pretty but the one apple they produced was eaten by our garden squirrel.

This year, however, look what we got.

The extremely cool thing about these espaliers – as you can just about see from the picture above -  is that each of the four branches has a different variety of apple on it.  The Gala and Granny Smith apples in the top picture both came off the same tree.

Seeing Things – the Surreal Line

What I like about art is that sometimes it teaches you to look at things with a different perspective.

In my life I must have spent thousands upon thousands  of hours commuting backwards and forwards on the Tube in London, but never once did I think to look for these surreal juxtapositions of Tube trains/passengers and the huge ad posters which are posted on the other side of tunnels from the platforms.

Genius stuff. By Yusuf Ozkizil.

 

 

 

And now these pictures have got me all nostalgic for the Tube.  Who knew that I would think of those days of being crammed in like sardines with one’s nose stuck in someone’s smelly armpit with such fondness?

An App –and Some Owls

How on earth did I live before I had my iPhone?  It seems impossible to even contemplate now, though I still find the touch screen infuriating at times.

Here’s one of my current favourite iPhone apps.

Developed by Seattle photographer Chase Jarvis, The Best Camera allows you to add some cool effects to your iPhone photos and also upload them easily to social networking sites such as Facebook etc.

Here’s an untweaked iPhone photo

and here is the same image tweaked using four different filters – Jewel, Paris, Slate and Candy (there are some more standard filters such as B&W and warm up filters as well). You can also combine several different filters together.  Jarvis has set up a website www.thebestcamera.com where you can upload the images you’ve taken – loads of great pics up there already.

These cute (I have no idea why they’re cute and not scary or ugly, but they are) mama and baby owls come courtesy of a blog reader Bushra who – after our recent owl discussion – emailed me the link for these owls on Etsy.  Which was splendidly timed to arrive just when the Husband was casting about for a birthday present that his baby could give to her mama…

Hot Date – Seaplanes and Kayaks

It’s a busy month round here – both the Husband and I have birthdays and it’s also our wedding anniversary - so we decided to both take the day off work and go on ‘hot date’ instead.

Can anyone tell me why we haven’t done this before?  It felt so deliciously naughty and decadent and we didn’t even need a babysitter, just friends who were kind enough to pick the Minx up from school.

Despite the fact that we live close to Seattle’s Lake Union and are constantly buzzed by the seaplanes flying overhead, the Husband had never been on one (I did here, but it’s not quite the same in February), so we decided to book a flight out to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.

I do keep forgetting what a ridiculously beautiful corner of the world I accidentally ended up in.

Ready for takeoff 

Bye bye Seattle and Mt Rainier

Past Mt Baker

Lunchtime

 

Pretty restaurant

 

Kayaking – we saw seals! (but I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to photograph them)

Autumn is on its way

 

Iles flottantes

Into the sunset

Back towards Rainier

Approaching Seattle

Buzzing the Space Needle 

It’s expensive, but on a beautiful day I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone living in the Pacific Northwest. It truly was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done in my life.

Style Guile

Or what makes this work?

Holly over on Decor8 put up a very thought-provoking post recently asking for styling tips and wondering how interiors stylists manage to achieve that sort of perfect lived-in dishevelment which just looks desirable and comfortable rather than messy and cluttered.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at rooms that ‘work’ and see if we could analyse what makes them look so good and try and pick up some styling tips of our own.

This room takes the city of Barcelona as its inspiration and comes from the Habitat-sponsored supplement in October’s Elle Decoration UK.

So, what makes this work?

Colour Editing

- The colour palette used is very limited – just splashes of red, orange and yellow against a white background. A few touches of blue and green are introduced in the kitchen and on the sunburst clock just to stop it all looking too ‘matchy matchy’ (and because I suspect the tiles were a permanent feature the stylist could do nothing about).

The colour values on the other hand are varied, from the dark red chair (and note that half-hidden but important black chair) to the medium values of the yellow and translucent orange and the lightness of the white.

Echoing Shapes

I love it when stylists do this. Look at how the orange rectangles in the windows are echoed by the orange fridge and how the straight lines of this quite boxy room are reflected in the large floor tiles.  Then see how all those edges are softened by circles of the table and round chairs, which are again echoed by the lampshade. And how the rounded corners of the fridge are repeated in the rounded arms of the straight-legged chairs and the gentle curve of the fireplace.

Tchotchkes/Knick Knacks

The funny modern chess set on the table looks a bit incongruous I think, though I can see why something predominantly white, black and boxy was used for the scheme. I love the way they’ve used the beautiful tins that Spanish packaging is famous for but then mixed in some slightly less glamorous packaging with the salt and the teabags so that it looks like a real person might live there (though the salt pot echoes that little canister at the front and the colours of said salt and teabags match perfectly). Varying the heights and sizes of the canisters to the left also gives some visual interest.

I particularly like the artfulness of having front chair a little askew so that it looks like someone has just sipped their drink (note the perfect colour), got up from the chess game, and is lurking just out of shot. Though why this person needs sunglasses to play chess beats me.

Hidden Theme? 

I think the theme here is ‘sun’. That’s certainly what this room makes me think of.  The colours of course are part of it, but also the sunglasses and sunburst clock, the bright yellow daisy-like flowers in the tea cosy and wall art and the shape of the pendant shade say ‘sun’ to me.

What do you think?  Does the room work for you? What other little pleasing tricks do you notice? What could the stylist have done better? Why has the enormous pepperpot shown in the main picture disappeared from the kitchen close-up?

The Golden Years

Or, yet another chapter from ‘If My Daughter Dares Complain About Her Childhood, I Will Refer Her To This Blog’.

This has been a record-breakingly fabulous summer in Seattle and this weekend we headed to the beach to cook sausages and watch the sun go down.

Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly

Oh I’ve have been a very naughty blogger recently.  I’ve been struggling a bit keeping all the balls in the air while the Minx has been on summer vacation and to top it all Seattle has been having a mini-heatwave this summer culminating in a record-breaking temperature of 103 degrees yesterday (that’s 39.5 degrees in real money) .

I realise this is nothing compared with what many people elsewhere in the US go through, but you have to remember that most places in Seattle, including our house, don’t have air conditioning. So we’ve been getting through it with a combination of cool baths, evening swims in the lakes, sleeping in our new tent on the roofdeck, moaning about the weather and generally finding it difficult to achieve anything.

There’s some potentially exciting stuff going on in the background though, of which more later, and I’m intending to relaunch the blog somewhat when the Minx goes into full-time education starting in September! I’m such a bad mother, but I really cannot wait…

In the meantime, here are some pictures I took of the lavender festival in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula.  Sequim (pronounced ‘Squim’) is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains and has a uniquely dry micro-climate for these parts, which is apparently very similar to that of Provence and has become the centre of a burgeoning lavender production area.

   

Adventures in Knitting - Noro

Just a bit of a knitting catch up. As you've probably noticed I'm not afraid of a bit of colour, so I've become endlessly fascinated by Noro self-striping yarns from Japan. The colour changes are beautiful as they're spun into the yarn, not just dyed into it and it's mesmerising to watch the individual plies within the yarn change colour as the next colour comes through. 

The colour combinations are also very unusual and generally contain a couple of 'ugly' colours, but somehow they seem to work incredibly well together - with the ugly colours somehow making the colour scheme seem more sophisticated.

Firstly, I finished my crochet project. I'm really pleased with it and it has had loads of compliments on the few occasions I've been able to wear it (Seattle has been ridiculously hot and sunny these last few weeks).  I think I can now officially say I can crochet, which is good as I have a ludicrously large crochet project in mind.

I obviously hadn't got the Noro completely out of my system when I finished the scarf because I immediately cast on a Gaia shawl in Noro Kureyon Sock.  I'm enjoying knitting my lace wrap but it's taking forever and is not very portable/social, so I was looking out for a quick and easy very casual wrap that I could wear up on the deck on chilly evenings. This wrap is a lot of fun as the colour changes in the yarn dictate the pattern.

 This colourway  (180) is incredibly garish, but I'm sort of loving it - I think it will work really well with jeans and a purple tee-shirt for a sort of 'punk grandma' look.

All details as before on my Ravelry page.

Abigail Percy's Hyacinth Watch

One of our very favourite suppliers is Scottish jeweller Abigail Percy, who makes, among other things, our very popular Sweet Horse Chestnut Earrings.

She has a wonderful blog detailing her inspirations and the creative process in her tiny studio and has recently been taking us through a project she calls  'Hyacinth Watch'.

Together we've watched her hyacinths grow, seen her sketches, marvelled at the limited edition jewellery she created from the sketches of hyacinth blooms, and you can now buy her photo postcards, wrapped in a brown paper band printed from one of her hyacinth sketches.

Do yourselves a favour, wander over to her blog and see the process for yourself.  Or, even better treat yourselves to a necklace or a set of postcards.

  All photographs copyright Abigail Percy.  Find her Flickr here.

After Party - Laura Letinsky

I'm feeling very inspired today by these pictures by American photographer Laura Letinsky, who is currently exhibiting in London until May 30th.

Letinsky has put together tablescapes showing after-party disarray, with crumpled tablecloths, spilled wine, half-eaten cake, fading flowers and the dregs of drinks. Her spare compositions and pretty pastel colours give her images an inner stillness and wistful beauty but intrinsic to all is morning- afterish sense of melancholy, emptiness and decay - the party is over, the people have gone and only the washing up remains to be done.

Gorgeous.

Cars & Tulips

I'm back!

 

Thank you so much for all your good wishes. I was quite taken aback by how badly affected I was by the shock of it all. The first couple of days I was all over the place and after that I was very, very tired - presumably as the adrenaline left my body.  Fortunately the only major physical injury was to my tongue, which I managed to bite, and to my jaw, which I think was bruised by the seatbelt and which seemed slightly misaligned and made eating hugely difficult.  I've had some bodywork though, and if you are in the Seattle area I can't recommend my chiropractor Dr Ted, who straightened my back out, or the magic fingers of Anne the rolfer - who managed to straighten my jaw out - highly enough. 

The car was a complete write-off though, so we're currently in the market for a little practical runaround. My head tells me that I should be getting a little fuel-efficient and practical hatchback, though such things are as rare as hens' teeth in the land of the Hummer, but my heart is telling me to get a VW Beetle.  If anyone's got any experiences, good or bad, to share then I'm all ears. 

This might have to be a light week of posting, as I've got a lot to catch up on with mirrormirror, but here are some photos from the annual tulip festival in Skagit County that we went to the weekend before last. I'm also writing some posts over on Shelterrific if you can't get enough of me.

 

  

Portland Envy

The setting isn't remotely as naturally stunning as Seattle's and we spent much of the weekend dodging rain and hail showers, but I came back with serious case of Portland envy.

The architecture is older and therefore more charming to my European eyes, the streets are narrower and more pedestrian-friendly and it just has a cooler and funkier urban vibe, despite being much the smaller city.  Just from the clothes people wear you can tell that Portland is a city of artsy types whereas Seattle is the ultimate city of geeks.

Thanks so much for the recommendations, here and on Facebook. Things we really enjoyed - apart from the hotel - include Habibi for great Lebanese food (we used to live near some great Lebanese restaurants in London and its something I really miss); Hot Lips Pizza in the Pearl District for seriously great tasting pizza; Cool Moon Icecream near Jamison Square (the perfect shelter in a hailstorm); Sushiland, also in the Pearl District, for good cheap conveyor belt sushi; Cargo for funky ethnic stuff; Knit Purl for YARN and of course Powell's for books.  The Japanese Garden in Washington Park is stunning and the rose garden must be amazing when the roses are actually out.  Lots of amazing rhododendrons when we were there though.  I also found the Holocaust Memorial, which we wandered into on the off-chance, very moving.

Mostly though we spent out time wandering the streets, admiring the street art, riding the trolley buses and hoping that Seattle's urban planners will someday turn South Lake Union or Georgetown into the Pearl District with better views.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Ready For Their Close Up, Mr De Mille

This weekend the weather was utterly fabulous, so of course we spent it going to Ikea and doing loads of chores around the house and garden.  We are in that in-between stage with lots of half-completed jobs and Ikea flatpack boxes lying round the house, but progress of sorts has been made.

We did take a short break on Sunday to go for lunch at the Volunteer Park Cafe and then for a stroll around Volunteer Park, stopping at the conservatory along the way. 

I just happened to have my macro lens on my camera, so it was a good opportunity to get up close and personal on some of the flowers.

In the Background

Yesterday we went for a walk in Seattle's rather splendid arboretum (say what you like about this city, but it is incredibly good at trees).

It's been a long snowy winter in Seattle terms, so the spring flowers are only just unfurling, but it was a lovely day for a walk with my newly cleaned 60mm lens, which I am very happy to have back in my arms.

I've been using some of these images as desktop backgrounds and if you'd like to do the same, please feel free to nab them (got to my Flickr, select the image, choose 'All Sizes', open the 'Large' size, right click on the image and select 'set as desktop background').  Please remember that all images are my copyright.

Speaking of desktop backgrounds, check out the Kindred collaboration between Holly Becker and Heather 'Ez' Pudewa, who have collaborated with a number of artists to produce free artist desktop backgrounds (also downloadable notecards and gratitude notes).

It's About Time

FINALLY I get to pick some daffs out of the garden.  It's been a long, cold winter here in Seattle.

Light Up My Life

Jona Hoad is a UK-based lighting designer, who specialises in wallpaper-like lighting panels and lighting installations for hotel bars, restaurants and your house if you've got enough money.

Here are some pictures from the DeVigne Bar in Marylebone and the Vanilla Bar in Soho. Sometimes I do like a bit of spangly overthetopness.

  

 

I also liked these pictures from his website, which reveal that things are not always as they seem in the world of interiors photoshoots.

 

Sunset Chicken with Tomatoes, Apricots and Chickpeas

If you're mourning the loss of Domino and live on the West side of the US, you could do a lot worse than to pick up Sunset. It's more of a lifestyle-y magazine than pure decor, but they do feature some great 'real-life' interiors and gardens and also have some fabulous recipes. The website is really excellent too.

A couple of nights ago we made this recipe for supper which I share with you because it is perfect weekday supper fodder - quick, easy, healthy, unusual and utterly, utterly delicious. Chicken is braised in a sauce of chopped tomatoes, canned chickpeas and chopped dried apricots with middle-eastern spices, which we served with couscous and spinach. The only changes we made from the recipe in the link was to use chicken thighs not breast and to not add any extra sugar, the apricots make it quite sweet enough as it is.

I took some photos but wasn't very happy with the performance of my little point and shoot camera in the low evening light.  Instead I took my slightly blurred photo and ran it through the completely awesome Poladroid app, which makes your existing digital photos look like Polaroids - not just the border but also the intriguing white balance and slight soft focus.  You even see them 'developing' before your eyes. Huge fun.

{today I am mostly}

 

enjoying the sunshine

One day I will revive Today I Am Mostly. I miss it.

Photography, Fashion or Art?

 

Patrizio di Renzo is an International fashion photographer from Switzerland. {via Kanye's very cool blog}

Homes and Gardens - Germany

I've just received a copy of some great coverage we got just before Christmas in Homes & Gardens - Germany of all places, including a great full page picture of the Boudoir Embroidered Cushion by Dishya. (From what I remember of A-level German the text is pretty complimentary.)

 

Picasa for Mac

 

The Husband only offers tech support for PCs so there's no way I could ever get a Mac, however much I might crave the ethereal beauty of their designs.

And I have been able to keep my jealousy under control because, to date, only PC users have been able to use Picasa - Google's utterly, fantastically, amazing and FREE photo editing software, which I use for pretty much all my photo post-production and to make clever collages like the one above.

Now though, not only do all you Mac users get to taunt me with the slimness and whiteness of your laptops, but you can also sign up for the Picasa for Mac beta.  I hate you all.

Pretty Buildings

We are back. UK was fab.  I have flu. Off to bed.  

Here are a few pics of lovely OLD buildings....and one or two new ones.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Apologies for the lack of posting recently.  As you can imagine this is a crazy time of year for us, with lots of re-ordering, getting new stuff on the site, crafting emails to send to our mailing list and sending out press releases.  This morning I was photographing a 'roomset' shot of the Pearl Lowe lace tablecloths for the Daily Mail (one of the UK's biggest newspapers), so please keep your fingers crossed that they decide to use it.

Getting the exposure right on this one was hard. This was one of the few I took which showed the detail of the tablecloth while still retaining the colour and detail in the curtains.  Fortunately the sun came out at just the right moment to add some texture to the shot.

Autumn Sunset

We don't usually get good sunsets from our house since it faces southeast (some very fine sunrises though) but this evening there was a sunset that filled the whole sky.

  

 

Stacks of Press Coverage

The press really seem to love our stacking things by young Manchester-based designer Hannah Tofalos.

This month we've had some great coverage of Hannah's Stacking Eggcups in Easy Living magazine

and her Stacking Jars in Grand Designs magazine.

The latter also represents another press showing for the picture I took in natural light on my dining room table.  

Our Bee mirror by Atelier LZC also got a nice mention on the Ideal Home website.

We've still got a couple of Press opportunities which still might materialise this Christmas so keep your fingers crossed that they actually happen.  All a bit on tenterhooks here, still waiting for Christmas to start properly...

United Colours of Vancouver

 

I really, really, REALLY 'heart' Vancouver.  We last visited about thirteen years ago, and can't quite believe it's taken us this long to go back.  And yes, the weather really was something else.

More piccies here and here. There is something indefinably and wonderfully European about Vancouver which we couldn't quite put our finger on. Something to do with the width of the streets, the number of pedestrians and the lack of a dirty great freeway carving through the centre of the city.  We can also highly recommend the Agro Cafe' on Granville Island and Raincity Grill for one of the best meals I've had in North America.

Pumpkin Hunting

Click to enlarge. More photos here.

This Saturday we had glorious autumn weather for our annual pumpkin hunt.  One of the nicest things about Seattle is that you can drive for about half an hour out of the city and end up somewhere like this.  Also known as paradise on earth if you're a small girl who likes to grub about, play with horses, splash in rivers and ride in tractors (not to mention the pumpkin trebuchet which got the Husband childishly excited).  Highly recommended if you're in the Seattle area and looking for a good pumpkin patch.

La Tour Trellick

We're going to be back in the UK for Christmas.  The day itself will be spent with friends in Bath, we'll be visiting family and friends in and around London and then hopefully back to Notting Hill for a few days (though sadly not to the flat - we still have it, but it's rented out at the moment).

You know how there are places in the world that just suit your personality? Well Notting Hill is one of my places.  We lived there for twelve years before coming to Seattle and I still miss it horribly.

If the Eiffel Tower is the enduring symbol of Paris, then the Trellick Tower, which looms over the north end of the Portobello Road market is the enduring symbol of Notting Hill.

It's not a pretty building.  Built at the tail-end of the sixties, this Brutalist tower block by Erno Goldfinger (such a great name) soon became a byword for the sort of social problems that plagued tower blocks (and Notting Hill) at the time. But as the tower has cleaned up its act and Notting Hill has become gentrified, it has become a London icon and flats in the tower now command a huge premium, with top-floor flats, which have some of the best views in London, being almost impossible to come by. (I found this photo of the tower in my files - I've never been able to take very good pictures of it though).

It's also become a sort of ironic design icon.  Here it is on ceramics and teatowels from People Will Always Need Plates.  I'm going to put a couple of plates on my Christmas list. 

 

La fin

For about twelve short but glorious weeks of the year - from the end of June to the middle of September - Seattle is the best place to be on earth. 

For the last couple of weeks we've been enjoying the most glorious Indian summer, temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s (around 25 degrees) and cloudless clear blue skies.  This weekend was another such but with added poignancy.  The slight chill on the breeze in the morning and the leaves starting to turn red round the edges told their own story.  The weather is supposed to turn colder by next weekend, so this weekend was full of small goodbyes.

 

The last sandcastles on the beach

The last lunch by the sea

 

The last strawberry lemonade                                                  The last margaritas on the deck

The last popsicle princesses

The last vestigial sunset through the trees

The last chance to watch the lights come on over Seattle and the sun glinting off the downtown buildings

The last chance to watch the moonlight on the water

The last chance to have a candlelit dinner with friends

It was also the last chance for some crazy drunken dancing under the stars but I've decided to spare you the photos

Back

this is why I haven't been blogging 

I can't believe how long it is since I've blogged.  I'm not sure what happened, but we've just been trying to make the most of the summer here in Seattle and my blogging mojo just seemed to get left on a beach somewhere.  And funnily enough this is a busy time of year for mirrormirror what with all the pre-Christmas ordering and PR to work on.

Thank you so much for all your kind and concerned comments and emails - I'm sorry I just abandoned you without a word - and I'm touched (and somewhat astonished) that people have been missing my somewhat random musings.

But anyway, just to get things back on track.

Things I've been doing over the last month in no particular order.

- Loafing about on beaches (including another trip to Cannon Beach, still the most photogenic place on earth)

- Travelling on ferries

- Eating Dancing Deer chocolate brownies (perfect for picnics).

- Watching the Olympics (we managed to get a live stream of the BBC's coverage to make up for the godawful coverage provided by NBC.  You have to feel sorry for Americans sometimes.)

- Getting really stuck into Project Runway.  And Project Rungay.  Leanne is my hot, hot favourite. I just wish I'd found my way to her Etsy store before she got famous.

-  Finally watching Season One of the The Tudors and realising it is much better than I thought it would be.  And what a lustbunny Charles Brandon is.

- Researching my family tree.  And finding out that I come from a long line of Londoners and craftspeople.

- Making aubergine (eggplant) and pistachio salad over and over again.  It is SO good. 

- Eating pistachio icecream.  I like pistachios.

- Getting into a new school routine. The Minx is finally now going to school four days a week, although they are much shorter days, with more commuting.  But finally it feels like I have time to focus on stuff.

- Photographing new stuff for the shop.

 

Things I have NOT been doing.

- Following my eating plan

- Exercising

- Gardening

- House stuff

- Reading and commenting on other blogs (except for Project Rungay and er, PerezHilton). Sorry fellow bloggers.

Normal blog service will now be resumed...

Those Summer Nights

Come  twilight, on a crisp clear day full of sunshine such as today, I love sitting on the roofdeck and watching the setting sun bounce off the downtown buildings while the lights come on in the streets below.

An hour or so later, the whole scene looks like this.

Just playing with the 'bulb' setting on my camera.

Sweetpeas

Look what showed up on my kitchen windowsill the other day.

If you plant seeds in the Spring, they turn into flowers!  Who knew?  (I really love these short stubby apple juice bottles from Martinellis).

Camping!

Or, if this child dares ever to complain about her childhood, I'll refer her here.

God Washington state is BEAUTIFUL sometimes.  More pictures on my Flickr.

Independence Day

Pic courtesy of James, who wasn't as drunk as he should have been

So around forty adults and an entirely unnecessary number of children under 5 climbed up to our roof deck one balmy summer's night.  And this is what they saw...

Top two blurry pictures by me.  Bottom sharp pic by James.

Drunk in charge of a camera again

I yet again had far too many margaritas to be safe in charge of a camera and also forgot to take any pictures of the food or of the extremely cheesy red, white and blue decorations, or of the Stars and Stripes and Union Jack fluttering gently together in perfect harmony. 

The Minx rushed around all night waving a Stars and Stripes and being taught to say 'down with the King' by our friends.  There will be beheadings.

Seattle excelled itself once again.  God bless America.

I. just. can. not. wait

I know we've recently been very rude about US Vogue, but this month's issue features one of the most gorgeous photoshoots I've ever seen in honour of the upcoming release of Sex and the City - The Movie. (All photos by Annie Liebowitz for US Vogue from Vogue.com).

Even though the cover is still pretty crap.

The gorgeous boys at Project Rungay (one of the all time great blogs) have done some great detective work tracking down the catwalk origins of most of the frocks. (They are so going to LOVE my Heidi Klum holiday goss).

I have just two questions.  Why don't we see epic dresses like these on the red carpet (including SJP to her own premieres) instead of all the boring fishtails we saw at the Oscars this year? (The green Nina Ricci is what I will wear when I win my Oscar and have extensive liposuction). And could Mr Big, whom I've always loved as a character, but who has never done it for me as a lustbunny, look any hotter?

Also check out this vid, via Perez Hilton, which conclusively proves that this is one of the biggest ever product placement opportunities for women (I've heard the movie called the 'Superbowl for women' in terms of its advertising potential).  I just love how all the accessories are just piled up as if they were in the rummage bin at Primark.

The hot mamas of Seattle have booked out the evening of June 3rd to see the movie and drink too many cosmopolitans. Back with an actual film review then.  (The only thing I don't like is the fugly ass decor in that hotel bedroom).

Polaroid Pearls and Photo Swaps

I was sad to hear that Polaroid was no longer going to make cameras or film, because somewhere deep down I had a vision of myself one day taking gorgeous photos like these. 

Digital cameras just can't get close to this sort of softness and subtlety.  Of course now I want one more than ever.

 

The photos come from Jen of Fieryeyed Photography who writes the blog Nectar & Light - truly one of the most beautiful blogs on the web.

Jen also runs a monthly photoswap through her site The Photo Trade.  The rules are simple.  Give her your name and address and she will tell you the monthly theme and match you up with your swapees.  Get your picture in the post before the end of the month and then wait for the postman to deliver wondrous things.

I joined in for the first time this month and this is what I sent to Susannah on the theme 'Morning Ritual' (I'm very glad that I didn't know beforehand that she is a freelance photographer).

And these are what I got back from Christine, which are currently looking very beautiful thank you on my inspiration board.

I think there was a teensy bit of confusion on the monthly theme, as I was told 'Morning Ritual' but lots of other people had 'Green'.

Anyway, you've got until April 4th to sign up for this month's swap, which is on the theme 'A Faerie Tale Told'.

Updating to say that my breadbin photo made 'Explore' on Flickr!  The first time anything I've taken has done so. 

Daily Inspiration

There's something about the start of a new year with all those empty days stretching before you, which lends itself to the starting of daily projects.

  

Images of Michelle Caplan's collages

Michelle Caplan is challenging herself to produce a mixed media collage everyday in her new blog Collage Lab - the results of which are for sale through her new Etsy shop. I can't begin to imagine the mental effort required to produce a new piece of artwork every day.

The girls behind the hugely inspirational 3191 A Year of Mornings (soon to be turned into a must-have coffee table book) are now embarking on 3191 A Year of Evenings with features more beautiful and unplanned (that's the bit that always gets me) photo diptychs of intimate domesticity.

Photos seem to lend themselves to the daily thing. I always enjoy the Seattle photos taken by Kim of Seattle Daily Photo - I've learned so much about Seattle life from her.  There are Daily Photos for most major(ish) city in the US and Europe (and many from further afield)  if you want to check out your local photographer.

There are also loads of Project 365 (or 366 this year) groups on Flickr for people to take a photo a day.  I'm currently enjoying Auntie Cookie's 30 Days set and DineandDish's Project 365 (mostly for the great foodie pics - a girl on WeightWatchers has to dream). 

You'll see tomorrow why I've been looking into daily challenge thingies.  Tuesday 29th January is the ideal day to be starting a New Year's project, n'est-ce pas?

Abigail Percy Earrings

I've finally got round to photographing some new earrings from Abigail Percy.  Both feature her signature leaves - sweet horse chestnut leaves above and aquilegia leaves below.  I thought they looked great photographed with a couple of Karin Eriksson pieces as both artists like to play with outlines of leaves in their own different ways.

The sweet horse chestnut earrings are hand-pierced in sterling silver and I can't imagine how much work goes into creating each one. 

The deliberately mis-matched aquilegia leaves are gold plated and then beautifully textured with linen. That girl is quite ridiculously clever and is also writing a great guest blog this week over on Design*Sponge.

I'm so pleased with these pictures as they are the first I've taken with my new daylight light, which meant I could take them in comparatively dull light. A new age of mirrormirror photography is dawning. Why did I never use proper photography lighting before?