Postcards From Penguin

I just had to buy this when I saw it. A book shaped box of 100 postcards featuring Penguin covers. The perfect companion to my Penguin Donkey and a must for a book lover who loves anything book related.
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141044668,00.html?id=email&link=postcards

House!

We are buying a house! While that does mean lots of boring things like mortgages, solicitors, packing and actually moving, it also means looking at wallpaper, reading lots of Elle Decoration and planning where all the furniture should go. So far I have picked out the following things for the living room.

Sandersons Dandelion Clock wallpaper

Ella sofa from Habitat, the fabric colours go very well with the wallpaper and will create a lovely retro look.

Knitted Kokeshi Doll

I knitted this lovely Kokeshi style doll as a present for my sister who loves Japanese things. I found the pattern on Flutterby Patch's blog. It is basically a simple tube, but with clever embroidery and the cute little hands it looks like a much more complicated pattern.

I made a tiny flower to add to her head to give her a bit more detail, rather than the top knot in the original pattern.

She is so cute I will have to make myself one now!

Habitat Hen

I bought myself a retro hen from Habitat today. This object is ceramic with a matt white finish, it is a reproduction of an original 1970s design.

The hen looks really good with our other retro and vintage items, it is shown here with (L-R) our Holmegaard Gul Vase, a handmade vase from Ikea and a Hannah Turner ceramic bird.

Penguin Donkey

For my 30th Birthday my husband has given me a very special present. It is a Penguin Donkey, this little bookcase combines my love of mid-century design and books.


A Penguin Donkey is a small bookcase that was first designed to hold the new paperback books in 1939. My one is the second version designed in 1963 by Ernest Race. In contrast to the original design this bookcase is white and features a flat top so it can be used as a table as well. The bookcase became known as the Penguin Donkey because it has panniers and four legs.

The bookcases were and still are, made by Isokon. Mine is an original example, but reproductions are available. 

I will enjoy finding vintage Penguin books to fill it up, although I do have quite a few already. It is also a good excuse to collect other Penguin books related items.

References

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/furniture/stories/donkey/index.html

http://www.twentytwentyone.com/displayProduct.asp?ProductID=363&x=190

Successful Shopping

I had a very successful charity shopping trip last week. It was nearly my birthday and being about to turn 30 I felt I needed some treats. First I found some lovely yellow Debbie Bliss merino aran yarn.


Next I found a silk Prada shirt, I really liked it and thought I could wear it for my birthday outing, however it was a really warm day so it hasn't been worn yet. I think I will wear it out to dinner tonight.


Finally, and this is my favourite, I found a Radley bag. It is just the right size to use for work and has loads of useful pockets. It doesn't photograph very well though.


I hope my luck continues for some post birthday treats this week.

Viners Party Dishes

We went to an Art Deco Fair yesterday, we went mainly to look at all the pretty things, we know we can't afford to buy anything. However, we did find something we could afford, this wonderful boxed set of Viners party dishes.

I love the box 'for daytime and gaytime'

The serving suggestions all look very 70s and not very appetising.

The pattern on the glass matches our Viners Studio cutlery and this set came with some tiny forks, like our cake forks. We had to have it.