Côte&Ciel
24th May 2013
I’m pretty chuffed with my new Côte&Ciel laptop sleeve. This, inside my Wanderlust Tote makes up my new computer bag.
Way more fun that your average backpack, no?
CommentNew & Improved Flickr
23rd May 2013
We started using Flickr right before we left London in 2007 to go travelling, and it’s been my friend ever since.
Photojojo’s Timecapsule is just one of the reasons it’s so amazing – every 2 weeks we get an update of photos from the same time last year which is beyond cool. You can also send messages to yourself in the future.
Anyway, this week Yahoo launched their new and improved site and I have to say I love it. Admitedly I haven’t had a good play yet, but I love the layout and being able to view all of our photos in one long stream.
Flickr, you will forever have my heart (along with 7000 of our most favourite photos that I will continue to add too). xx
Travel
2nd May 2013
So we’re off to Si’s motherland for 2 months today and I can’t wait.
London here we come!
I’ll be back on the 13th with some British love… so until then, stay happy my neon friends!
erin x
DIY Screen Printing Kit
30th April 2013
My über-talented designer friend Justin just sent me the link to this awesome DIY screen printing kit.
It’s not just a pretty box either – packed with everything you could possibly need to set up your own screen printing empire, it looks perfect for anyone who wanted to start screen printing (me/him). Think we’re going to split it.
To Do Lists
29th April 2013
This post is not really about Wunderlist vs TeuxDeux. It’s more about how sad I am that the folks at Teux Deux are now charging a subscription for their list making service.
I’ve been using TeuxDeux (the simple and beautiful brainchild of swissmiss) for a couple of years now. I started off on the web app, loved how simple it was to use and bought the iPhone app as soon as it was released. Recently they did some updates (great) and with them now comes a subscription fee (not great). They are offering 3 and 6 months free if you’re a previous TeuxDeux user, but after that it’ll cost you $3/month or $2/month if you pay for a year up front.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great app and I was more than happy to pay $2.99 for the iPhone app, however the prospect of being tied into a subscription for the privilege of list making does not get me excited and so last week I signed up to Wunderlist.
It’s not as simple or pretty as TeuxDeux, but it works well and pretty much does the same thing for free. I’ll give it a go and see how I get on … and if all else fails I think I’ll just go back to plain old fashioned list writing in my moleskine.
Luck
22nd March 2013
This week I’ve been busy doing all kinds of fun things – flower arranging, invite designing, some crazy art working, report designing (not quite as fun!) and now it’s the weekend and I haven’t put anything on here today.
Instead I will leave you with one of my new posters. Keep it real dudes.
See you next week! x
Paper Love
21st February 2013
Exactly 1 year ago today I was on the beach hanging out with my awesome friends and family, drinking champagne and going crazy with excitement waiting to (finally!) marry my absolute best friend in the whole world.
It still makes me breathless to think about it.
Happy paper love baby. Keep on rocking my world.
xxx
Happy Love Day
14th February 2013
Hope you all have a sweet, love filled day wherever you are and whoever you’re with!
xx
Oresa
12th February 2013
I’m excited to finally share a site I designed last year with y’all, and although it’s a little more corporate than my usual BringMeJoy stuff I’d like to think it’s still rather pretty? Comments on a postcard please…
Check out the full Oresa site here.
(Kudos to the talented code-guru NickFrost for his unwavering enthusiasm and coding expertise on this project x)
Pancake Day
12th February 2013
Happy Pancake Day everyone!
For me, the best pancakes are the crêpe versions soaked in lemon and sprinkled in sugar (the real stuff, not icing sugar) rather than your typical fluffy American style … but whatever your preference I think pancakes should be eaten more often than once a year for sure.
When we were kids my mum made pancakes for dinner roughly once a week and if we ever got a say in what we were having for dinner, it was always pancakes.
And so today I’m going to share with you my mum’s pancake recipe. It’s super simple, ridiculously easy and by far the tastiest I’ve tried (and believe me, I’ve tried and tested a lot). Enjoy!
Mum’s Joyful Pancakes
Ingredients
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 egg
• pinch salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
To Make
2. Leave to sit for up to 1 hour
3. Heat the pan and butter it lightly
4. Pour a ladle of batter into the pan and swirl the batter to coat the entire surface
5. Cook over medium heat until the crêpe starts to brown at the edges, then flip
6. Keep them warm in the oven until you’re ready to eat!
To Eat
♥ This post is for my mum, who imho makes the best pancakes in the world x
(thank you for the images top, middle, bottom - they’re making me hungry)
Silhouette Cameo
11th February 2013
My sister-in-law told me that she’d bought a Silhouette Cameo the other day and I’m ashamed to say I’d never even heard of it!
This amazing device is a little digital cutting machine. Genius.
If only I’d known about them when we were designing and having things lasercut for our wedding (and when I had to hand-cut these dogs last week for a client!)
This has just gone on my 2013 Wish List.
Kung Hei Fat Choy
11th February 2013
Wishing all my Hong Kong family a happy, healthy, prosperous and love filled Year of the Snake.
Kung Hei Fat Choy!
吉慶有餘 !
Dinosaur Designs
1st February 2013
I just came across some awesome resin pieces at Tina Frey Designs and they reminded me of my necklace I put on this morning from Dinosaur Designs.
It clacks like bones when I walk and I don’t wear it often enough.
The Month Of Love
1st February 2013
Hello February!
It’s the month of love and I’m very excited for 2 reasons:
1. Valentine’s Day = the perfect excuse (not that we ever really need one) to go out and have a slap up meal somewhere cool.
2. Wedding Anniversary #1 = happily married bliss for one year – another perfect excuse for bubbles and delicious food!
Can’t wait.
(Charly’s Bakery cupcakes hand-delivered from our sweet Mush)
50% Off lil’sprout – 3 Days Left!
29th January 2013
Guys!
For the last 3 days of the lil’sprout sale we’ve got 50% off all babygrows and tees! Woop!
All our products are 100% cotton and label free so they’re extra comfy – there’s rainbows and clouds, little snowflakes and lightning, raindrops and wind and sunshine, so hurry while we’ve still got some left!
Sugru: Update
28th January 2013
Back in November I posted a video by the folks at Sugru.
We were so intrigued by the stuff we bought a bunch at Christmas, gave some away as presents and kept some for ourselves.
This is my first Sugru fix.
My brother and sister-in-law bought me the most amazing ring when they were in Venice on their honeymoon but the back fell off and I could never get another one to glue on properly. I had a couple of quotes from jewellers who said they’d have to remove the lead to set it properly, which meant it was going to be expensive to fix (and I liked the lead).
To be honest I was a little sceptical about how well it would work, so I went all out and actually made the full ring out of Sugru. As you can see it worked. Very well. Almost too well in fact! My next plan is to get rid of what I made, buy a small silver band and use a blob of Sugru to attach it to the glass so it’s a bit more delicate!
I’ll keep you posted.
My Marvelous Marmalade
28th January 2013
I’m completely awful at baking (I love it, but I’m hopeless) and in comparison making marmalade is easy to get right, looks impressive and makes an awesome gift.
It also tastes delicious, which I’ve not been able to say about most of my cake attempts.
And because I’m so happy about my marmalade making, I thought I’d share the recipe with you guys this morning. Happy Monday!
Ingredients:
- 5 oranges
- 1 large grapefruit
- 1 lemon
- 1 litre of water
- 1kg sugar
Directions:
1. Juice one of the oranges and set aside for later. Discard the peel.
2. Wash the rest of the citrus fruit and cut into quarters. Separate the flesh from the peel and keep both. Place the flesh into a food processor (including the pips). Purée well.
3. Place the puréed citrus in a sieve above a large saucepan. Using the back of a spoon or masher, push the pulp through the sieve. Discard what is left behind in the sieve.
4. Using a sharp knife, remove as much of the pith from the citrus peel as possible. Slice or chop your peel into fine stripes (or the desired consistency). You can reduce the amount of citrus peel used, depending on your personal marmalade preference.
5. Combine the citrus purée, orange juice, chopped citrus rind and water in a large pot. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, leaving it to simmer for 1 hour until the rind is soft and the mixture has reduced by half.
6. Reduce heat to low, add the sugar to the mixture and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring to the boil again and, without stirring, leave it to boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and skim off any white froth that has formed on the surface.
7. Perform the jelly test by spooning a couple of drops onto a cold plate and placing it in the fridge for a few minutes. If it sets to jelly, it’s ready. If it is still too runny, you can bring it back to the boil for a further 5 to 10 minutes and repeat the jelly test.
8. Once you are satisfied with the consistency, allow it to cool slightly and spoon into sterilised jars.
One very important thing to remember when making marmalade – whatever you do, DO NOT let the marmalade bubble over onto your stove and burn. Trust me, it’s the biggest pain in the ass and you’ll be scrubbing for hours.
Stamp
17th January 2013
I’ve having a bit of an obsession with stamps at the moment so I thought I’d share the newest in my collection.
Traditional:
This one was a gift from my sweet friend Chloe who picked it up in India over the Christmas holidays. I think it might have to stay on the shelf though! It’s too pretty to ink.
Alphabet:
The handwritten alphabet was a Christmas present from my 1 year old nephew. Doesn’t he have awesome taste! I’m going to get the letters dirty this weekend and stamp him a little card…
Owl + &:
I found these guys in the sale at Typo yesterday. I especially can’t wait to use the little owl to make some miniature love notes ♥
Meshu
14th January 2013
I just had to share with you guys another awesome present my little sister got me for Christmas (yes, she’s really, really cool!)
This one pretty much outdid all the other gifts – and my sister-in-law (who also got one) and I almost cried when we opened them!
Meshu is a company that makes custom pendants and earrings based on journeys. My Meshu is made up of the places I’ve travelled to in the last few years from Australia to Mozambique and each place is a point on my facet necklace. You can choose from Bamboo, Silver, Nylon and Acrylic and each piece comes with a postcard of your design in a little black box.
I absolutely love it.
lil’sprout New Year Sale!
10th January 2013
Yay! It’s our first ever sale at lil’sprout!
This is kind of a big deal for me, my brother and sister-in-law, so take a look guys and let us know what you think.
We’ve got 20% off all our babygrows and tees, as well as our 7 Days of the Week Giftbox sets.
We’ve had the best feedback and support since we started lil’sprout, which has made it all worthwhile and also means our 2013 collection will be available towards the middle of the year. Can’t wait!
PS. How absolutely gorgeous is my little nephew Maddox up there? xx
Max Raptor
9th January 2013
Finally I’ve got around to posting the design I did for British punk rock band Max Raptor.
Paying hommage to the Guatemalan folk saint Maximón with a bit of Día de los Muertos thrown in for good luck, the ‘MAXIMON’ Day of the Dead Sweater can be bought on the Max Raptor store.
These guys are seriously good so be sure to keep an eye out for their new album coming out later this year.
Share Neon
8th January 2013
I went a bit crazy for Gap over Christmas and popped into their shops whenever I was walking past. The block coloured cardis, stripy jumpers and amazing scarfs were done in the most awesome colours…and then came the Share Neon Kids campaign! Eek!
Firstly, SHARE. I’ve decided this will be my new word for 2013. I love it.
Secondly, NEON! Can I just say it took about 5 minutes to get that shot in between shoppers in one of HK’s busiest shopping centers over the Christmas holidays.
And finally – how sweet are these guys?
