After the giant cardboard creations yesterday, my favourite work at the Pick Me Up fair (the graphic arts festival in London) was from Paul Blow. I’d have loved to take the riot police man home with me..and I could have for quite an affordable £180. Just have to stay out of trouble and keep my fingers crossed and he could be mine!
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For more work from this years Pick Me Up fair, check out these cardboard creations…
For more from 2010 Pick me UP fair, click here
For the first time in the nearly seven years since I first landed in the UK, we’ve had some actual snowfall this past Saturday!! It was absolutely gorgeous and I felt like I was in a movie, going Christmas shopping in a full on snowstorm and without a care in the world as to how I was going to get home (as we live 50 yards from the shopping street). And the people, have I mentioned the people?! There weren’t any! I’m not even joking, the first four shops I went into…maybe three people. This is center city London people! I bought a knitted bobble hat at Topshop nearly immediately to keep my head dry (always some justification) and then seemed to visit every bored shopworker on the street—dripping giant puddles on each and every floor. I was out on a mission to ‘uncancel’ David’s Christmas as nearly all the gifts that I ordered back on December 5th have been caught up in a giant mail backlog that is supposedly due to ‘adverse weather conditions’ for the past month. Like I said, I have barely seen snow in seven years, let alone the past month…grr
Well I’ve filled the present quota back up, but now when I should be enjoying some Christmas carols and present wrapping (one of my favourite things—I think I could quite happily be a present wrapper at a department store for the season) but I forgot wrapping paper! I usually go for a kraft paper with ribbon/twine, but supplies have disappeared in the house so I’ll have to get creative on Christmas Eve. In the inspiration file is this ‘map wrap’ collection from Michael Hill, featuring illustrations of London, Paris, New York and the world. I’m a bit late for ordering this year, but could be a good source of inspiration for some DIY version or for a future gift giving occasion. In fact, it could be a great present in a frame. Who doesn’t love a good ‘frame filler for under a fiver’!?
Map Wrap by Michael Hill from Lagom £3.48 a sheet
I’m getting worried about my growing dependancy on Marks & Spencer for good design, packaging and collaborations with illustrators. First there were the piles of Christmas tins that I just had to make space for in our flat. Now I’ve spotted their new ‘naturally caffeine free’ teas and well, who can pass up those colours…or that peacocks decoration? They are the work of Stuart Kolakovic who also lent his hand to the Marks & Spencer Christmas tree decorations which appear on just about every surface imaginable – window displays, signage, shopping bags… At least this habit is slightly more healthy then the endless supply of cookies!
Thanks to the dieline for the heads up
Want more of Marks & Spencer? Check out their Christmas tins…part one & part two
Must. resist. the temptation… to buy a whole new wardrobe from Cos. I’m always a fan of their clothing, but the thing really tipping me over the edge at the moment is their fabulous new shopping bags. The level of attention and detail, not to mention expense spared is impressive. The main bag is fully illustrated with a cute woodland graphic (lightly holiday theme), as well as a fabric handle and rotating gift card. Plus, it has an inner brown paper bag with a printed graphic ornament across the seams (not visible in the shot)…and all for a £30 belt! If I buy a whole new wardrobe now, I can stock up on enough bags for all of Christmas, which is really like saving money…no?
See a bit more about COS here
London visitors rejoice, for your souvenir quest is over…Jack Noel from Sweet View contacted me a few days ago regarding his fine art prints that were born from a sketchbook diary that he used throughout 2009 to draw whatever was around him on a daily basis. I love the limited and unexpected colour palettes and would love to have such a personal viewpoint on a print, but unfortunately I don’t have much of a relationship with any of these areas (I’m a west London girl), but OH WAIT! They are still considering locations for the remaining six inner London boroughs and would like your help choosing them. Plus there is a chance to win a free print if they choose your location, win/win!
To enter the competition just email Sweet View (or leave a comment here and I’ll pass it on… I’d love to see your requests!) with a suggestion of a location in Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Islington, Camden, Greenwich or Lewisham which Jack can draw. Their favourite suggestion for each borough will win a free print of your choice. The closing date for entries is 31 January 2011.
Sweet View Prints £28 each
There is a limited print run on each picture of 200 copies and each one is signed and numbered by the artist. Sweet View pictures are printed on high quality paper in A2 size (594 x 420mm).
So as you might have noticed, there have been some changes around the blog in the past few days…perhaps some new type, menus and faces? Well, it’s basically an unnecessary job that I created for myself to get out the old colouring utensils and call in some favours from friends (or former friends as they may be after all this). All in an effort to create something that made me smile a bit more than the other hodge podge site that I’ve been using for the past year and a half. This change has been in the works for a while, but wasn’t moving very fast until the past month when thing seemed to kick into overdrive. First up is the new ‘logo’ and brand of Pillar Box Post. I couldn’t help myself and have already ordered (and received) my rubber stamp of the logo. It hasn’t made its way onto anything as yet, but squeals were heard all around London regardless. And to help the logo out a bit is a pillar box graphic to boot…cleaner and dare I say stamp worthy as well. Yikes, already one stamp in, without any applications and I’m already ordering more?!
Also making an appearance are the unofficial staff of Pillar Box Post…an international band of merry men (and women) if I do say so myself. Olive, the french bulldog, appears across the blog, but most permanently in the ‘loves‘ section. Mainly because she is a lovely little cuddlebug and the closest thing I have to a child…so she seemed to sit quite nicely with all my ‘web loves’, err or what you might traditionally know as a blogroll. Any sites I like, be it blog, shop or other— that’s where you will find them.
Betsy, the dutch bicycle, is my means of transportation (okay okay, admittedly, my fair weather transport) in real life, and also in the blogworld. If you visit Betsy in the ‘sign up‘ section you can subscribe by email to the blog, or find out how to find me on a blog reader or twitter. And she promises to deliver in all forms of weather, not just the nice sunny days.
And last but not least is Hedgie, the english hedgehog or Mr. Pillar Box Post. A true Brit, he’s wise and will help you find things in the ‘search’ area of the top header. Aside from the fact my mister is neither ginger, a bond villian (which is the only place I see a monocle and a bowler hat working in modern times) or less than fabulous at finding things in the real world…in the land of the blog, he’s uber efficient.
Also new is a bit of a speed lesson on who I am, so if you are new, or just have forgotten about me…you might take a gander at the ‘about‘ page which I promise will hold something embarrassing about me, even if I don’t realize it now. And some small pictures that may or may not jog your memory as to whether we might have been actual friends in the real world some time ago…
Whew, I think that is about it…hope you like it and may the regularly scheduled posting begin!
In case you haven’t noted, we’ve moved!
The paint isn’t even dry and already we’ve unpacked in our new home at www.pillarboxpost.com
It’s a bit of cosmetic uplift with some room to grow in the future, but most importantly, you can continue to find whatever it is that you like about us at this address. For some of you who already used this url, it will stay the same. No more pillarboxpost.wordpress.com (we’ve shed the ‘wordpress’ part), which means for those of you who subscribe, thank you and and see below to find out how you can continue to get your postal delivery.
To subscribe to the new feed:
Use this: http://pillarboxpost.com/feed/
Or to use a blog reader, click the appropriate link
bloglovin
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twitter: no worries for you, it’s all is the same!
If you have any questions, please let me know at hello[at]pillarboxpost.com, and hope to be seeing you around the neighborhood!
