Keetra Dean Dixon

I'm a whole lot in love with the typographic-led work of NYC designer/artist Keetra Dean Dixon. Have a look through her extensive portfolio - it's like being in a fluffy sweetie shop in the clouds. If you don't don't leave with a warm and fuzzy feeling, I'm pretty sure you have no soul.




via Oh Joy

Gretchen Nash, etc.

Yum - I love the sweet colour palettes and girly themes of Gretchen Nash's work. Great portfolio.

Between the Folds

I'm fascinated by origami, the Japanese art of paper folding - it's amazing the intricate shapes one can make with a bit of precise creasing, folding and tucking. So this film - Between the Folds - looks really interesting. Have a look and read around the site - I hope they do some screenings in London sometime.

Yoni weekend

Sorry, apparently I lied when I said I'd try to limit cat-chat on this blog. We've had a great first week with our little boy, he's made himself at home very quickly; he now sits on our laps for strokes and cuddles, loves to play with his mini tennis ball and hand-knitted mouseys and has pretty much taken over the house with his daily routine of feeding, playing and sleeping. I took him to the vet yesterday for some jabs and he was really good and the vet said he's in perfect health. I'm smitten, in other words.







Edit to add: I've made a new tumbr for Yoni, so all (well, MOST) kitty-related content will go over there from now on!

Birthday design fun

Here's a couple of fun little things I made (with help) for my sister's 21st birthday a few weeks ago.



I designed her a monogram and had it engraved into a dictionary cover and London Moleskine.



I designed this cute playing card cake as she's well into her cards (poker ace). My very talented friend Arianna turned the design into a delicious chocolate truffle cake with white chocolate frosting - amazing!

Gondry portrait

How cool is this - send in a photo of yourself (or whoever you like) to Michel Gondry's web store and he will personally draw you a caricature, sign it, and send it to you for only $19.95 (works out to around £30 including shipping to the UK). Definitely getting one - possibly a family portrait with our new addition! Order yours here.

via cpluv

Yoni kitten

We got a kitten on Tuesday!

I've wanted a cat since I was a tiny girl but my dad's allergic so I was never allowed, so I'm pretty excited. I posted an ad on Gumtree on Tuesday morning and luckily the perfect little guy needed a new home right away (due to an allergic owner who was sad to see him go). He was mewling away on the cab ride back but he's been a really good boy and is settling into his new home well.



He's 4 months old so still very little, but in 2 months he'll be three-quarters of his adult size. As you can see he's a pretty tabby with a white nose, tummy and socks and spotty, almost Bengal-esque markings on his back. We named him Yoni (yo-knee) after the frontman of Why? which is a bit geeky but it's a cute cat name, no?

He's had a really good first week settling in, sniffing round the flat and finding his favourite spots. He loves to sit on his tree and gaze out of the window and his favourite games are nipping your toes and dashing along the corridor at full pelt! He loves the mousey I knitted him and loves mauling my handmade sock monkey, too.



I'll try to limit the squeeeee-cat!-ness on this blog but if you like that kind of thing, I'm sure my flickr will be regularly topped up with photos.

Wish you were here - Ben the Illustrator

Wow, I just love the happy spring-like use of icecream colours in these gorgeous prints by Ben the Illustrator. Check out his shop, Wish you were here, to purchase.



On that note, happy Easter! See you after the long weekend.

Bike porn

I started cycling to work a few months ago - being the lazy sort, I wasn't sure I'd take to it, so I just bought a cheap single-gear folding number from ebay. But turns out I've really started enjoying my ride to work (especially now the weather is nicer) so I definitely need to upgrade my wheels.

You're most definitely spoilt for choice for stylish bikes on the market these days. All the cool kids seem to go for a fixed-gear deal, preferably in a fetching monochrome frame with poppin' neon trims. Not really my scene, but I have to admit they are a slick piece of design. Check out the fixedgearlondon.com gang, who will build you a custom bike - here are some examples from their flickr:

Much more my scene are these classically elegant models in modern pastel tones from British manufaturer Pashley. I'd be happy to have one in my living room as a work of art.

Poke weekend away

On Friday all us Pokers bundled into the Fun Bus and sped down to Devon for an idyllic weekend in the country. We stayed in a gigantic mansion way out in the middle of nowhere, so of course lots of mayhem ensued.. but have some peaceful idyllic countryside photos instead. Taken with my Fuji digital camera and 35mm Vivitar.









Lots more photos on my flickr.

New cameras - Superheadz & 3D Holga

Loads of people at Poke are really into their lomography, it's making me feel guilty for having a shelf full of lovely cameras and hardly ever using any of them. To try and encourage me, I've just added this lovely girl to my collection. It's a Superheadz Golden half frame, which means each frame of the film hold two photos so you get twice as many shots out of a roll!



I'm also pretty tempted by this beast, but can't find one in the UK.



It's billed as the '3D Holga' because it fires two shots at a slight angle which when viewed through the special viewer (which looks pleasingly like a retro Viewmaster toy) has the effect of a 3D scene. You can also mash the two photos together into an animated gif to get the same effect:


(image from cursivebuildings)