Bank holiday fun in the sun

Above: wearing my 'b is for bicycle' badge given to me by siobhan, yay

The sunshine's been amazing this Bank Holiday weekend. I'm really hoping it lasts the week as I'm off to Wales on Wednesday, so fingers crossed! This weekend was jam packed full of fun; easter eggs hunts, boules tournaments, extreme frisbee, bicycle rides along the canal and today me and a friend hired rowing boats at the University Park and had a picnic on the lake there. I'd highly recommend it!


Fruity Pimms, the taste of summer..












Rowing on the lake at Nottingham University Park

A Picture of Me

A lot of bloggers out there are doing "7 things about Me" posts, so I thought it'd be fun to post up this About Me form I filled in at school when I was ten years old. I found it at my Dad's house last week, along with various drawings and school report forms. Most things on this form still ring true (apart from tennis, I never was too good at that, but I think I felt the need to include some kind of physical activity on there!)

Happy Spring

How amazing are these hand stitched eggs? Found on design sponge.

Happy Easter folks, I'm off to see family for a few days, have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!

Pretty flowers

... spotted in my lunch break yesterday. I think wild flowers far outweigh shop-bought ones, don't you think?

Forget-me-not

Honeysuckle

May blossom

The humble Dandelion

Sweet daisies

Buttercups

Illustrated Envelopes

By Axel Scheffler

I love looking through these amazing illustrated envelopes, sent to publisher Klaus Flugge during his 30-year career. More can be seen here.

By Peta Coplons

By Tony Ross

By Posy Simmonds

On cycling to work

This week the weather's been beautiful and I had no excuse not to start riding my bike to work again. Usually I drive which takes roughly the same time in the mornings, as you end up stuck in traffic jams for half of the journey. If you're thinking of swapping your morning drive for a morning cycle here are a few good things about hopping on your bicycle.



1. You save money

Now petrol prices are phenomenally high, even a couple of days spent cycling rather than driving can save you quite a few pennies.



2 You notice things you normally don't

From the smells of blossom in Spring to spotting sweet little dogs being taken for a walk, in a car it's not often possible to stare at the world passing you by. On my ride to work this morning I spotted an old man smoking a pipe, a cool guy rollerskating near the river and a canoeist as I went over the toll bridge. It's the little things that can really brighten your morning!



3 It's good for you

An obvious one but since getting a car I find myself relying on it too much, for shopping trips on my lunch break, and little trips that could easily be made on a bike. Just an hour's cycling a day makes me feel I'm doing a little exercise I normally wouldn't do.



4 You get to work feeling wide awake

As long as the heat's not too bad (which it rarely is in Britain, especially in the cooler mornings!) I find when I arrive at work I feel a lot more energetic and less sluggish than usual.



5 You're doing your bit for the environment

What more reason do you need?



Now grab your bike & load your iPod with Springtime tunes and get cycling!

Levitating Self Portraits

Love these self-portraits by Natsumi Hayashi (found via eleanor jane) taken to look as if she is floating in the air.

Weekend Wanderings

The lovely weather returned again this weekend and I went on a wander around Nottingham, stopping off at the Music Exchange where there was a queue outside for Record Store Day (sadly they'd sold out of most records by the time I arrived.)



Record Store Day is pretty popular..

After that I caught a tram to Forest Fields where me and a friend ate a most delicious curry at the New Art Exchange for the princely sum of £4. The gallery is a really beautiful building, showcasing work by mainly African and Asian artists, it's definitely worth the trip. And today I went to the Olde Trip and ate a lovely halloumi ciabatta in the sunshine, then saw perhaps the worst film in the world, The Room at the Hopkinson Gallery (it was very funny). A good weekend indeed, I can't wait til the Easter holidays next week.



Dining at the cafe in the New Art Exchange

1950s Interiors

Stumbled upon these lovely 50's interior pictures from here. I love the colours they used back then. I especially like the bedroom with trees! (Tom did actually have a tree in his old room, we need to find a new one i think..)

Good things spotted this week..

How sweet is this Gypsy caravan sewing box by Cath Kidston?

The writer of Submarine details his attempts to enjoy the film version here.

Really want to try making this olive bread, spotted on What Katie Does

Some envelopes I made out of an old road map, after following Siobhan's simple tutorial.

An interesting piece by illustrator Lizzy Stewart about not comparing your work to others' found here.