IT'S BEEN A LOVELY DAY

It's been a lovely day in the garden. We did actually go out really early all set for a Boot Fair that wasn't there, obviously we didn't know at the time, but never mind, the fields looked lovely. We had a salad from the garden over a spot of Jeeves and Wooster with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. I love their clothes and the room sets, everything is so sophisticated.

I had big plans to get my trouser press sorted out for some printing. Remember the one I bought for £2 - Barkers of Kensington. Here's my worker sorting out a board for the top.

I tried to find out about Barkers of Kensington. Barkers iconic department store closed in 2005 after 135 years of trading. There is quite an amazing history, part of which involves a House of Fraser takeover in the 50's.

If you want to see more there is a link to the Glasgow University who I contacted for some info, there are some great images of the store and customers. BARKERS

The Barkers of Kensington trouser press all ready to go.

I rolled the paint onto the linocut - one I made earlier. Then put the press together and tightened the bolts. This is the result using Acrylics on wet paper. I am sure I will be able to get a better print than this but you will be amazed what you can do with this in photoshop. Next time I'll try watercolours.

FOLDING THE CLOTH

Folding the cloth was Wednesday. I have had a busy week meeting buyers etc for my new collection. Packaging smartly is vital, so I found myself spending the day folding and labelling. I am very slow and too fussy but got there in the end. It's actually quite rewarding. To see more go to www.adeledesign.com

This is the fantastic set which features in some of my website images. I bought it at the Antique Centre at Needham Market for £5. I love the colour and the 70's Retro style. It's very Conran.

I actually bought it because of the back stamp, I think it's great.

I haven't been able to find any info on the back stamp yet but I do know the Wikipedia for Mazurka is 'stylized Polish folk dance'.

Perhaps someone out there might know something.

And now to my favourite book I found recently at a second hand bookshop in Aldeburgh. I'm sure it was sitting there waiting for me. From 1961 the year before I was born and before we landed on the Moon.

The pic seems to go really well with my swirly 1970's paper weight, a present from my friend at school. I still use it.

There are some great things in this book but to me this is the greatest. The COLEOPTRE, isn't it just fantastic. Wouldn't it be great if we all had one of these on the drive. Apparently the design was unstable. I wonder if James May has one. This is the sort of amazing transport we thought the future would bring in the 60's. What happened?

And finally to my little scruffy book. Its actually beautiful inside with 16 colour plates and published in 1939. It's by John Gould The Bird Man.

This German pot was 50p at the Aldeburgh Boot Fair and the ceramic I made with plants and plaster. The Heron Illustration is really beautiful. I love collecting up bargains for my photography. I'll have to do a bit of research on John Gould.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and sharing my Blog. I love all the comments. Lucie Attwell seems to have been quite a hit. It's great to know there are people out there reading my posts.