thank you muchly...

hello all,

so some fab news....i'm going to australia! managed to book an absolute bargain of a deal to sydney in the next few weeks. me and the bloke have been wanting to go for a while to visit his family but the cost of the flights and staying out there were a huge barrier. so when we saw this deal the bloke got up extra early and actually managed to bag some tickets, what are the chances eh? so now i'm hurriedly trying to organise a neat capsule wardrobe to take with me...it's a tricky task, anyone got any tips?

i've been saving up the blog awards that my lovely readers have given me and thought i'd pop them altogether in one post, so huge thanks beth, tania, emily and carol lin for my premio meme and lovely blog awards!

ok, so things about me then...i apologise in advance if this gets boring:

1) i think esau is the most handsome cat in the world, i haven't introduced him properly yet but i will, soon.

2) if you didn't already know, i make jewellery! i loooove my jewellery box of beads, all ordered by colour and theme

3) me and my bloke have been together for 10 years...and yep, that does mean that we met when i was 15. we're celebrating our 10th anniversary by going to australia

4) leather is my one vice as a vegetarian, i find it really hard to ween myself of it and feel like a total hypocrite for wearing it

5) i get high on coke...and not the white powder kind. i'm super sensitive to caffeine/sugar/stimulants of ANY kind and i get all head rushy and giggly like a little kid. but after nights of jd and coke binges sometimes the palpitations make me drunkenly scared i'm going to die. i'm a drunken hypochondriac

6) i would love to be a live music photographer. alas i have neither the tools or the skills

7) if i could play any instrument i would want to play the harp. specifically play the harp like joanna newsome. she is brilliant, beautiful and kooky.

8) i have already seen all my 'must see before i die' bands: radiohead, erykah badu, massive attack, portishead, prodigy, lamb, beth gibbons, lou rhodes, bat for lashes, bjork, willy mason, kings of leon, fiona apple....although not necessarily my 'must see' bands the maccabees, simian mobile disco, santigold, noisettes, and gossip are very worthy of a mention. so, now i need some more must see bands...thinking that feist, m.i.a, micachu and the stripes, yeah yeah yeahs and pj harvey may very well make the list...

9) i have at least two other 'must do before i die' activities. the first is to see the aurora...preferably after dog sledding across snow for a while. my second is to find some rough amber on the baltic cost and have this made into a piece of jewellery. i have other things i want to do before i die but i haven't thought of them yet.

10) i love pizza. margherita. simple as.

and so my favourite blogs that i want to bestow these award to...i'm probably mashing up the 'rules' here but to be honest i got a bit confusseld about what award means what so i'm just going to list below my fave reads. owners of my fave reads are very welcome to grab your lovely self either the premio meme or lovely blog award, or both....or neither. this is just me showing a bit of love to you!

1) droll girl : this blogger makes me laugh at loud. a cute mix of cheekiness, some lashings of naughtiness and some lovely design posts to boot.

2) down and out chic : full of beautiful interior design posts, gorgeous outfits and craft makeovers. i'm eternally jealous of all the lovely flea markets and stalls that she finds.

3) hula seventy : if i could be a photographer, i'd be hula seventy. her blog is stunning and sweet

4) it's unbeweavable! : pretty lady who has fab rock hair, fab rock eye makeup and fab rock lipstick. ok ok so there's way more to her than that, like loads of yummy balmain-esque fashion and dating stories about the new beau which i can live vicariously through

5) myrtle and eunice: so, right back at you lady! i love your blog and your crafty goodness.

6) wee birdy : so reading this blog totally paid off when i won the penhaligon's perfume collection (will share all shortly!). fab blog full of great tips about enjoying the more bohemian and stylish side of london.

7) the satorialist : everybody probably reads this already, but i love it so thought i'd share just in case. full of beautiful people with beautiful outfits to make you jealous.

8) sell sell : sell sell are a creative agency based in london and this is their blog. full of gorgeous typography, posters and pictures of london life.

9) la marquise des anges : lovely photos, lovely blog, lovely etsy crafter....need i say more?

10) blue moss : another etsian, this blog has the most gorgeous outfits and collections and knicks knacks. always a pleasure to read.

11) french charming : full of beautiful things....i think you can tell i appreciate bloggers who appreciate beautiful things? lots of ruffles, lace and vintage pieces. perfect

12) seens from the backs of my eyelids : and finally the perfect blog for when you are in need of a quick pick me up - always sweet and happy.

tart cards never looked so good...

if only tart cards actually looked as graphically gorgeous as these, then london telephone boxes would no longer be quite so seedy and grim. and i love that they are called 'tart cards' (you know these cards right, those nasty postcards full of boobies, bottoms, hair extensions and porno lips that litter city telephone boxes)...tart cards make them sound almost...well a bit raunchy but in a good burlesque kinda way. enjoy the tongue in cheek and gorgeous typography which was commissioned by wallpaper, st bide library and type and let me know your favourite!

there are mountains more to check out over on the wallpaper, all 450 of them. and there is an important reminder that is also very worth checking out. though the aim of the project was a tongue in cheek look at fonts, it shouldn't be forgotten that prostitution and the sex industry is a place full of vulnerability and abuse and a very serious issue. mike dempseys response is a very important reminder of this.

thanks to sellsell for posting about this project - let me know your favourite!

beautiful bubbles...

stumbled across these beautiful bubble photos over on bonbi forest's blog. richard heeks has a lovely photoset of bubble photos and it's amazing to see that when the bubble bursts, rather than there being the explosion that you might expect to see there seems to be a rapid spread of disintegration across the bubble. so pretty and what a brilliant idea for a photo!

you might have already seen these photos in the UK press as he was published in 6 press titles in one day! well deserved attention for such beautiful shots.

so i've developed an obsession for balmain...

aren't these outfits just beautiful AND wearable. looking at catwalk outfits is fun but often it's just too flouncy, nakey or bizarre for mere mortals to wear. but these three outfits from the balmain aw 09-10 are so deliciously gorgeous....yeh so i intend to round of the shoulders but i'm definitely feeling the black cropped trousers, fitted leather jacket and loose white t.

i've not used polyvore much before but was inspired by these amazing balmain boots to do a little sketch of what i'm intending of wearing the knees and elbows out of this autumn! i need these boots. cant afford these boots. can anyone recommend highstreet versions? maybe it's too early yet and the highstreet will be all over this in the next couple of months?

i'm very pleased to say i've already found my perfect leather jacket...one from the kate moss at topshop range...it's a cute cropped jacket with 3/4 sleeves, collarless with embroidered detail around the neck and sleeves....i LOVE it. you can kinda see it below....but the dark picture doesn't really do it justice (the pic was taken is a really old a snug pub down in my home town, a very english pub!). so, just the cropped trousers and cool t's to find....

from sugar bullets (1 + 2), urban outfitters (3), topshop (4 + 5) ben sherman (6)

anyone else liking the balmain look or spotted any other aw 09/10 styles worth checking out?

could this be the epitome of origami?

this is truly stunning, created by a very talented (and slightly obsessed?) artist..i mean look at the attention to detail! and who has fingers that steady? i KNOW i would stomp on this beauty as i was making it in my studio, or drop a spot of tea or biscuit crumbs down the little paper streets. but it's sooooo beautiful. this entire piece is made from paper and even has a moving train, theme park, cathedral and has lights built in to highlight the structure. shockingly the artist wataru ito says he intends to burn in down when the exhibition has finished, record the burning, and then play it in reverse to see the 'castle by the ocean' rise from the ashes. someone really needs to hide all fire starting materials from this gent.....

check out these amazing photos via tokyobling:

however if your budget and skills don't quite stretch to this paper castle here are a few origami and paper craft goodies...

1. papercutdiecut

2. crazybutcute

3. twinravenpress

4. tinatornoff

and even more papercrafts and cutting over at my paper cut blogpost

35 artists, 35 prints, 35 pounds...

i've become a bit of a fan of anthony burrill since stumbling across his prints...so was really excited to see another print over on the print club london site as part of their secret blisters exhibition! the exhibition looked great and i would have loved to go along to it...35 artists each anonymously produced a poster design which was screenprinted for the exhibition - anonymous so that buyers were encouraged to buy what they liked purely because they liked it rather than the name behind the design. each design has had 35 copies printed and are selling for £35 a pop - a bargain me thinks for a limited edition design which is a good size at 50cm x 70cm.

i read up on the 'print club london' through the site and it sounds like a really interesting little business that aims to revive screenprinting by providing artists with an affordable environment to get their designs screenprinted. members pay a monthly fee to use the facilities and you can also have workshops if you are fresh to screenprinting (like me, i would love to learn!).

check out these other gorgeous prints....i'm sooo tempted to splurge, can i wait until november to add them to my birthday wishlist?? if you're just as tempted as me you can purchase them over here at their online shop

read more related posts here!

wishlist (all the things i want but cant have)

inspiration (all the things i intend to be inspired by)

handmade in the uk (the work of clever folk living in the UK)

a 50% off voucher for you...

here's my little stash of parcels waiting for the postie on monday...a collection of orders and goodies for my giveaway winners! i've also still got 2 x 50% off vouchers for my etsy left so drop me an email at claire@gugaw.co.uk if you would like one (voucher to be used by 17th July 2009).

as a little temptation here are some new items i've just added to my shop:

sparrow in mustard

gold lining

see my etsy shop here

and the winners are...

thanks sooo much to everyone who entered the merry unbirthday giveaway! the comments, tweets and blog mentions were very sweet and overwhelming, and to show my gratitude i've decided to randomly pick two merry unbirthday winners! congrats to blue moss and renee.bradbeer! and interestingly you have the same taste with blue moss choosing the sweet rose earrings and renee choosing the sweet rose necklace!

aaaand i'd also like to offer a little something extra...i have 4 x 50% off vouchers for my shop offered on a first come first serve basis. just send an email to claire@gugaw.co.uk and i will send you your personalised voucher (the one below wont work!!) and make sure to use it by the 17th July 2009.

much love xx

update: there are two vouchers left as of 10pm tonight, dont be shy and just drop me an email with your contact details!

summersville prints...

i was introduced to this clever artist via lupin's tweets and i absolutely adore all her gorgeous prints!

here's a flavour of some of lucie's lovely designs...

i love the books and after seeing how great they look it's given me a little nudge about using the fabric stash at home to cover some notebooks i've got. i've been wanting to cover them for ages but it's just one of those crafty projects that i never quite get round to - bet you know what i mean eh!? what little projects have you got waiting for a spare moment of your time?

and don't forget, today is your last chance to enter my jewellery giveaway!

swords and leather...

so this feeds in perfectly to current obsession with rock chic (that's chic, not chick....or is it sexy punk as elle describe it in their latest issue?). loving the black leather (hmm, i've temporarily given in to my moral battle) and the sword. but i think it's because its a real sword that makes it gorgeous. it could easily be a tacky plastic/cheap metal sword. but it isn't. which is why i really like it. think this would look GORGEOUS teamed with black skinnys, a loose white tee and a cute black biker jacket....hmm my autumn/winter inspiration! find this custer bag over at empire33. cheers to likecool for the introduction.

aaaand....you've still got a chance to win anything from my etsy shop!

p.s. it's bad news when the price of a bag is on application only right?

creating jewellery with silverware...

how beautiful is this! the talented and very kind rachelle over at spoonerz sent me these lovely pendants made from preloved silverware. these are made from the end of the cutlery, who'd of thought that old spoons, forks and knives could make such lovely jewellery! and...i absolutely adore the pieces that she makes with fork tines, you can see them in her shop over on etsy. and because she is such a fab artist, etsy decided to make her a featured artist! thank you muchly lovely lady.

ooh, and here's a sneak peek of some gorgeous new silver coloured beads i've brought...think i might do something nice and simple with them, maybe a multilayered necklace? let me know if you have any other ideas.

annnd, dont forget about the giveaway for ANY piece of jewellery in my shop - only two days left to enter!

enter here