Inspiration - Lisa Congdon

Lisa Congdon is an illustrator and fine artist who's work I very much admire. Above are some of my favourite pieces of her work (although as you can see, I had trouble narrowing it down) from the top are some illustrations from her nordic inspired series and others from her vintage inspired series. Lisa is predominantly self taught and did not begin painting until she was 31 years old (which is inspiration in itself) She is also a prolific collector of old and unusual things and surrounds herself with these things in her home & studio. You may also know of her from her impressive Collection A Day 2010 Project.

If you are planning on checking out Lisa's Etsy shop, just a heads up that it will be temporarily closing for a few weeks (from 15th May) for a revamp (and due to her upcoming wedding) so if there's anything you have your eye on get it while you can. Take a look at her website for a browse at her inspiring and happy portfolio or have a read through her lovely blog.

Website   Shop   Blog

Snapshot

A quick glimpse from this week. There have some lovely sunsets here recently. I tattooed an anchor on my dad this week (just the outline, colour to follow), it was his first tattoo and I'm very grateful he let me tattoo him. In other news.. I miss the internet (sad face) I have no computer now, so for now I'm popping in when I get the chance to use other peoples.

[Edited to add: just in case any new readers have entered the blog at this page, I am a tattoo apprentice in a professional studio and did a previous two years of apprenticing before even being allowed near a tattoo machine, just wanted to clarify that, as this isn't a tattoo blog so I didn't want anyone read that to mean I'd just randomly tattooed my dad at home or something ridiculous].

Likes Lately

Deer head wooden brooch - NUTAK

Striped sweater - RAL Style Shop

Cicadas insect print - Winged World

Kindling canvas tote - Kin Ship Goods

No description needed really, which is lucky as I'm short on time, so.. just a few lovely things that I like the look of lately. There are shop links below the pictures, enjoy!

Blustery days and pink elephants

Hey. Here are a few phone pictures from a couple of weekends ago that I haven't got around to posting until now. Just a blustery stroll along Littlehampton seafront one Sunday. It was so windy and cold that day, the kind that hurts your ears, but it was also the brightest day for a while, which was nice. We are going to go back when it's warmer and hopefully remember my camera next time.

Togetherness

Esther Sandler is a talented Melbourne based textile designer who has combined her love of craft techniques such as cross stitch and macrame to create small wearable pieces that can be carried around with you throughout the day. The new range of crafted jewellery pieces she has created can be found at her newly revamped (online) store Togetherness. As well as being multi talented Esther is also lovely, you can find her and her work at the links below.

Shop   Website   Blog

Fine and Dandy

Fine and Dandy is a vintage shop established in 2010 in the small seaside town of Marazion Cornwall, described as the prettiest shop in the UK and selling vintage delights from 1930s~1960s. They also have an Etsy shop (called Paperdolly1973) specialising in vintage toys and dolls. Check out the etsy shop for cute collectibles and toys, or visit the Flickr page to see cute photos from inside the Fine and Dandy shop as well as a huge collection of toys and dolls.

Shop   Flickr

Instagram: @Plastibelle

Fine and Dandy store [Photo from Flickr: Paperdolly*]

Matchbox Labels

I have recently discovered a new love, in the form of vintage matchbox labels. I received a card a few weeks ago was the yellow picture in the top left and I already had a couple of postcards of the top pictures, so I decided to look them up and see who the cards were by. That lead me to the blog of Maraid Design a small web design studio in York. The cards are from the Maraid vintage matchbox collection of greetings cards (available from a variety of stores). Jane McDevitt from Maraid Design has a very impressive collection of vintage matchbox labels, from all around the world, although she is most captivated by  1950-60's European labels. You can view the impressive finds on the Maraid Flickr feed an amazing source of inspiring images. The Maraid Flickr stream also has inspiring colourful sets of vintage packaging, maps, beautiful stamps and some free desktops.