One Day in San Francisco

It's wonderful when you come across lots of exciting people and places in one day. Which is what holidays in creative locations are all about!


Firstly I met lovely Canadian Illustrator Emma SanCartier, who is now based in San Francisco. Her work is both playful and heartful.

She showed me the lovely shop Paxton Gate's Curiosites for kids. The shop has a gorgeous design and layout. My favorite had to be the mounted soft toy heads. Then there is the sister shop down the road for grown ups. With real animals. Here the crazy mice where a favourite.






Later I stumbled upon Mission Bicycle Company where you build your own bikes. Your own gorgeous bikes that is. Be sure to park them against complimentary backgrounds such as these to do them justice.





Pastel coloured homes and crisscross tram wires.


Cold ears on the bridge, and a lovely view at the end of the day.

Current V&A Delights

What wonderful exhibitions are on at the Victoria and Albert museum in London at the moment! Till the end of June there is their first Quilt exhibition and till the end of September Grace Kelly is their featured style icon. Libertys has even released a limited edition of printed fabrics for quilting in conjunction with the V&A. So in summary- visit!


My first introduction to textile art was Tracey Emin's quilts. Which made me look at my Grandma's beautiful traditional American quilts in a whole new light! What is exciting about this exhibition is that it summarizes transitions such as these as the quilts displayed are from 1700 to the present day.



The Grace Kelly, Style Icon exhibition showcases her wardrobe during her film career and also as Princess of Monaco. Thus spanning the 50s, 60s and 70s. I'm guessing the gowns and outfits from the 50s might be my favorites.

Create your very own inspiration

It's vital to feel excited when you are starting a new project- to be eager to start work on it. Be that due to what you envisage the final work will look like, or what you are using for a starting point or inspiration.

Creating your own inspiration can be very rewarding indeed. A couple summers ago I was commissioned to do a group of designs that involved farm animals. I was finding it very tough to get into the project and realized I needed to create some inspiration for myself. So I organized a trip and visited an lovely organic farm and photographed some obligingly photogenic animals! You can only imagine how easy the project was after that. Its often worth taking the time to create great starting points.. plus it can be hugely enjoyable!

Slightly wary..

Much more at ease, preparing for the photo.