Christmas is coming...

Ooooh! I'm back. It's been (I'm scared to look) too long since I went virtual shopping. Where have I been? Well, for want of a better word, working. That and I've had a complete dearth of occasions to buy presents for but there's now only about 9 weeks until Christmas and I'm raring to go. Plus I've found some lovely places to go for a wander. The list starts here!

1. Personalised Branding Iron for Steak from Hunter Gatherer £24.95 

I would file this magnificent idea under a) what to get for a man, subsection i)...who has everything and ii)...who doesn't particularly like golf. I can see it hanging proudly in the shed with all our barbeque tools just waiting for the summer.

2. Bearded Man Tote Bag by Depeapa at &Vintage £14.00

This is wonderful and would make a great addition to anyone's kit from groceries to the beach particularly since we're all trying to avoid the dreaded carrier bag these days. I remember being deeply covetous of a friend's shopping tote that had an unusual line drawing printed on it and I've never found anything comparable... until now. 

3. Find a Penny - Glicee Print from Biro Robot (unframed) £35.00

The only dilemma with this stunning print is deciding what lucky room in the house is going to get it: A splash of colour in the kitchen, a thought for the day in the bathroom or maybe a cheerful addition to a nursery or child's bedroom. Beautiful.

4. Knitted Dotted Garland by Maileg from Sister's Guild £19.50

Got a little one in mind with a nursery to beautify? Try this beautiful jersey string with colourful dots from one of my favourite design houses at one of my favourite children's boutiques. Danish company Maileg are not that well known on these shores but Sister's Guild stock their classic and unique creations in abundance.

5. Leather Satchel from Lorton & Horn £62.00

A thing of beauty and suitable for just about anyone with taste. It will last for years and the more battered they get, the more charm they retain. I can remember when my school satchel finally fell apart after years of being dumped and stuffed and dragged about in corridors. It took some defeating. It wasn't as nice as this one though. 

Happy Christmas Shopping All!

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

Stunning and the perfect gift for a serious traveller and lover of art. This is a detail of a Typographic Map of Rome £125.00 (unframed) by Swiss artist Ursula Hitz. There are many stupefyingly intricate citiscapes represented on her website but I chose this one because Rome is the most amazing city in the world to me and I think that every element of the print, which includes the seven hills, parks, noted places and The Vatican is simply exquisite. Each print is a limited edition signed and numbered by the artist. Framed or unframed, rest assured that you will be very, very popular.

Stocking Fillers 4

When I was quite young, my mum gave me a wall-mountable pottery profile of a cat's face with a tiny hole in the mouth that dispenses string and a slot for scissors. My husband hates it. He says it's the creepiest thing he's ever seen and gives the impression that the cat has tapeworm. None of this can be denied. It is very odd. But I also can't deny its usefulness and the reason I still have it is that I still use it all the time. I have probably saved hours of my life over the years sat in the tedious occupation of unraveling tangled and knotted balls of string because of it and I was reminded of this when I came across this nice String Tin £4.99 from a range by artist Madeleine Floyd available at Lakeland. It is covered in exquisite bird illustrations and is quite diddy at 11cm making it an unexpected surprise for the stocking. I would probably try to find some nice pretty twine and maybe some Embroidery Scissors £5.00 like those below from Make Do Mend (which would make a nice stocking filler present in themselves) to put with it depending on the age of the recipient. 

Great for the garden, a home office, the kitchen and, of course, all those hundreds of small people projects where glue and sticky-back plastic just aren't getting the job done.

Bear Necessities

Yummy! I just found this "What Cake" Side Plate £22.50 on online boutique FromTheWilde.com. It's a lovely piece of illustration by JimBobArt. The bold red, white and black design is very striking and the humour unmistakeable. There are quite a few examples on the site but this one is my favourite because it reminds me of someone very close (and I'm not saying who). It would make a great gift for an art lover as an alternative feature piece for the kitchen wall. Or maybe for a nursery. I venture to say that it is far too nice to actually eat cake off but that's just me. I'm the same about tea towels. 

Little Foldable Works of Art

A couple of Valentine's ago, I bought a set of two tea towels for my culinary lovin' husband in a bit of a rush. We never buy each other extravangant gifts on this occasion because we like to spend the money on a good steak instead but a gesture must be made...and this was mine. They were ribbon-wrapped, brilliant white, crisp and thick with a great red type printed onto them which, in my rush, I thought said: LOVE. So I was a bit non-plussed when he unwrapped them and the beautiful scrolling script revealed the legend: TEA TOWEL. Still to this day, we can't quite bring ourselves to use them much because they are  so pretty but I still think the artist missed an opportunity with the wording there.  

I love illustrated tea towels like this though. They're little foldable works of art. This beautiful design The Great British Biscuit £10.00 is by British artist and illustrator Jill Tytherleigh. Check out her very lovely website too. Now, personally I would NEVER use something as gorgeous as this to wipe the crocks. Most likely, I would pin it onto thin foam core in a nice simple boxframe (like this one) and hang it in my kitchen (though very little wall space left in there now) or give it to someone framed as a housewarming gift or as the perfect pressie for an enthusiastic chef.