The week in review: December's here

 #1

If you want a round up of the best blosts (blog posts according to those in the know at LKR) then this post is a must read for small business owners or anyone runnning a blog or business online. The best of LKR. 

 #2

I created a brand new product this week. Boo yah! Personalised Music Pencils. They are pretty dang cool I have to say, really happy with how the box cover design turned out.

  

I think that the lady who tried to teach me how to play piano probably deserved a set of these.

#3

A friend of mine asked for my advice in sourcing a cute diy kit for her daughter to make a teacher gift. My top two favourite sets that I found were these guys

I love the work of fellow NTHS seller Laura Clempson of Clara and Macy from her about page to her product descriptions. I thought this pudding kit would be so cute. Or the robin. Great as a stocking filler too.

over on Etsy I found Georgina Giles' shop where she sells these absoloutely adorable looking sewing kits.

#4

I found the coolest idea for gift wrapping my presents this year. (Yes this is something I actively look forward to) over on pinterest. The original post was from over on the Country Living website

expect lots of misleadingly shaped gifts this Christmas peeps.

Until next time

xx V

My new shop, loving the royals and why Justin Timberlake does a good irish...

 Things in my head this week...

#1 This song by Lorde has been my 'lets get to work' song all week



#2  I've been pretty consumed with my new online shop that I've been building for the website. So I was pretty chuffed (and relieved) that it all launched without a hitch last week

#3 Love this behind the scene look at the John Lewis christmas advertisement. The sheer craft and skill involved in stop motion production always blows me away.

John Lewis 'The Bear & The Hare' - The Making Of from Blink on Vimeo.


#4 I read this article about the decline of the honeybee which is pretty worrying. It also means my mum could make her fortune from the  beehive she has in the garden...

#5 Picked up this vintage Road Atlas. Published by Universal Metal Products Ltd. 

#6 Love this version of The Auld Triangle by Justin Timberlake, Marcus Mumfurd of Mumford and Sons and the Punch Brothers. It is part of the soundtrack for the Cohen's new movie Inside Llewyn Davis. Check out the trailer below. Can't wait to see it, even if it's just for the music.




Until next time

xx V

The week in review

Wow, this week has been a busy one. And I do love them that way.

I've been  getting all my taxes in order, because yes it is THAT time of year again. 

Lots of orders shipped out, I think I will need to order even more pencil boxes at this rate.

These UK map pencils are waiting for some box lids. Can anyone spot where they live? I was doing a whole batch of southern england pencil sets. They are pretty popular these days.

I have put a LIMITED range of Christmas cards up for sale on my etsy shop. So don't miss out and buy them early.

If you follow my page on facebook you may have seen me mention an interview I did. I was approached a few weeks ago about doing an interview for Irish blog La Creature and You. Of course I said yes. Click on the image below to read the full interview. My first one, I was pretty chuffed.

And I am working on a pretty exciting new project that involves my website, lots of code and themes that will all be revealed on Tuesday the 5th of November. But more about that next week...

Have a great weekend and if you're in Ireland enjoy the bank holiday.

I will be going here on Sunday morning 

And here on Monday.

Its October; Eileen Gray's in the house, New tunes and why Google's making me cry

 5 Things that are getting me pumped this week: 

#1

We are over half way through October already and although I am not a fan of those cold winter mornings, I do love the crispness to the air, the trees starting to turn and the excuse to start lighting a fire. 

Conkers,. fallen from the Chestnut Tree.

#2

I was really excited to hear that not only have IMMA reopened but they have an exhibition of the work of Eileen Gray. I for one cannot wait to check it out. It's on until January so there is plenty of time to go check it out. I'll do a little post on it when I have been. 

#3

Love this new release by the ever fantastic James Vincent McMorrow 

#4

With Halloween in mind, I've been collecting some of my ideas for the holiday over on Pinterest. Costumes. parties and crafts. 

#5 

Google are making people cry this week. They have collaborated with Saroo Brierley  to tell his story of how Google Earth helped him find his family decades after he was seperated from them in India

Check out the video below. I challenge you not to tear up. 

Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here soon. 

xx V

This week... space , jam, hearts and party planning

 #1
This week there was a lot of talk in Ireland about the Perseids meteor shower that was going to light up our skies. I have it on good authority that it did in fact do that but I didn't get to see it. Why not? Tall trees. I couldn't get a clear view near where I lived and at midnight I decided that a road trip was not on the cards. It is an annual event so I will have to go to higher ground next year.

But this got me thinking about the stars and that led to space which led me to Chris Hadfield.

 Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, beamed down via social media his experiences as the commander of Expedition 35 on the International Space Station, including this rendition of the David Bowie classic.

Check out some of the photographs he took while in space here on his twitter acccount they are amazing. 

2.

I love this little shop just down from Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin.
Jam Art Factory.

#3
I love this tutorial on how to make a heart shaped cake. You never know when you'll need to whip this one out. Pinned, thank you! It came from the blog of the lovely Kate over at katiebrownhomeworkshop

Check more Party Tips on My 'For the Party' Pinterest board.

Have a great weekend.

Vanessa

The week in review...

This week has been a busy one, over at TheCraftCorner I've been busy preparing everything for the summer camps that will start next week

I wrote a post over on the Craft Corner about Tips to keep the Children busy this summer. Full post here

I was delighted when the Summer Craft Camps were featured in the Sunday Business Post magazine a few weeks ago.

I found this video on The Recycled Orchestra, which I think is a fantastic story of how you can turn no opportunities into a whole world of opportunities

"The world sends us music we send back garbage"



I popped out early this morning to go to the Dundrum Car Boot Sale. Held only 4 or 5 items a year it is always filled to the brim and today was no exception. I got talking to some of the sellers who said they had arrived at 2.45 AM to get a space. I picked up some fantastic old books (no surprise there) and lots of other 'essential' items.

This book, Newnes Household Encyclopaedia, dates from 1931 and some really cool content, including lots of old recipes.

I love the illustrations in this 1885 edition of  'Elementary Treatise on Natural Philosophy' (below)

 I also managed to steal some hours of sunshine.

 In an attempt to take advantage of the good weather I have been taking longer breaks in the afternoons (when I tend to lag anyway) and working later in the evenings. I actually find its working really well for my productivity.

This is my song of the week

 

Now get off your [insert relevant electrical device here] and get the hell outside. That yellow thing in the sky is the sun and it wants to say hi. 

xx V

This week...

 #1
I'm super excited to reveal the first sneak peek of a new product line I've been working on. Can anyone guess what's inside?

#2

I found this pretty interesting. Paul Miller decided he was going to leave the internet for a year. And he did it. This is what happened. (see video below)



I found it interesting that he seemed to swap one set of addictions for another and that maybe instead of being an entirely bad thing in moderation it actually helped him to socialise and prevented his natural tendency to isolate himself from manifesting.
Could you do it? Would you want to?

#3

I really want to buy one of these. They are lenses designed specifically for your smart phone. I think it genius and I also think they are really well priced. I think I may be adding them to my Wish List.



Pretty amazing right. 

Have a great weekend peeps and I shall see you all back here Monday for some Words to Live by. 

xx V 

This week...

 1.

I was really delighted to hear that my Wedding Pencils (below) were included in Red Magazine's website in a selection of The "Best Wedding Favours" link here They are image No 13

2.

I had a really funny encounter with one of my facebook fans this week. I posted a picture (below) showing the cute packaging for my Map Necklaces and then I get this comment pointing out a wee mistake I had made... can anyone spot it. If you're a fan on facebook you may have an unfair advantage!

It's pretty small so I was super impressed that she spotted it and also slightly embarrassed that I hadn't!

Image one:

Image 2: (after the wonders of photoshop)

leave your guesses in the comments below.

3.
I found this poor little nest in the garden yesterday. The little eggs just looked so forlorn. if anyone has any advice on what to do with it (should I just leave it where I found it?) pop on over to the facebook page and share your wisdom!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the Bank Holiday.

xx V

This week... weddings, miniature art, and turning your walls into one giant sketch pad

 #1

 I am working on a custom designed Wedding dress Box for a client. The colour scheme is navy and gold and I found this really beautiful gold braiding in A.Rubanesque that looks amazing. 

I am keeping the design and decoration quite simple as the two dresses that are going in the box are quite intricate and I didn't want to detract from them. Will post some more pictures over on the facebook page when its done.

 #2

A friend of mine passed on the website of Dalton Ghetti to me saying I would love it and she was so right. Thanks K.

Dalton Ghetti creates miniature words of art on the top of a pencil. Yes that's right, on the Top of the nib of a pencil. And as I was looking through the work I realised I had seen it somewhere before. At an exhibition called The Power of Making in The V&A. See now I am justified in buying the book that came with the exhibition.

Like the over sized peg in the picture. I got it here. 

 #3

I read about an Irish company  Smart Wall Paint in the business section of The Irish Times. Now I was reading it this week but it is dated 15th April. I think it's really a really exciting product at a pretty reasonable price point.

In their own words

Smart Wall Paint is a whiteboard paint that can be applied to any smooth surface, transforming entire walls and rooms into creative whiteboard spaces that encourage teamwork, ideas and innovation

 

Imagine that, entire walls to write on and then JUST RUB  

 

OFF. 

 

 

Have a great weekend

xx V

This week...

 1.
I heard this song by Loiuse Killeen on Rte Radio on Thursday and I love her voice. She is an Irish singer from Co. Offaly.

Video for her song Charming Hands below

In fact I loved it so much, I just bought the album from her website here and bonus points for buying Irish!  

2.

You may be familiar with the Dove Ad Campaigns that focus on natural beauty and while they are a marketing tool and cynics will highlight that fact I think there is a really genuine foundation to them. Their latest campaign RealBeautySketches, took a selection of women and had them describe themselves to a sketch artist. Then the same woman was described by a stranger. The differences, well watch the video to see.


(and thanks to Christine for posting this on facebook)

3.
I was at a gig in The Grand Social on Thursday night and there was an artist there called Barry Jazz Finnegan and his work is amazing. I think he calls himself a photo-realistic artist. As the bands were playing he worked away and from a blank sheet of paper he created an incredible piece of work. Loved watching art in action

You can see the stop motion videos of some of the other works he's done on his youtube channel here.

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely weather this weekend.

xx V

This week...

I did a spring clean of my Mailing List. So a big welcome to any and all new subscribers to my blog posts. 

I am very happy to tell you that you can now find my Light Boxes in The Tuckmill Gallery in Naas Co. Kildare.  
Sorry the photograph is pretty pants. I'll take some prettier ones soon.

The feltmaking group I am part of set up our Exhibition in McCauley Place in Naas today. It will run for two weeks, a selection of just some of the pieces on show (below) Can you spot mine? It's just a tiny peek of a bigger piece.  

Over on Etsy I was featured in an amazing 5 lovely treasuries this week including one which was chosen for the front page of Etsy which is pretty dang cool. (can you guess which one got picked?)

Write it down by Shiri Avda

The World is our Playground by Stacy

 Sign on the dotted line by Dottie

Handmade Wedding by Irina from ProjectSarafan

 Drawn to her by Anne from Free Range Cowgirl (the front page treasury)

 

 And now I'm off to do some last minute prep work for two crafty birthday parties I'm doing this weekend. I see a very lovely large glass of vino in my future.

Have a great weekend.

xx  V

This week...going local

1: 
I had a lovely morning tea for two at a new local cafe Urban Kitchen in Naas.

The lemon and raspberry tart was scrumptious, the seating was comfy (very important in my book) and the atmosphere was sunny and chilled out.

They had very cute little tea pots and I love their decor 

Old timber crates fixed to the wall hold vintage ephemera, grain sacks, crockery and old suitcases.

They've created a fantastic centre piece of old lampshades all covered in an eclectic mix of materials. 

2: 

I was at a small businesses Conference earlier in March at the RDS when I happened to catch a talk by Joanne Hession. (see below)

It was really fantastic and I bought the book she co-wrote with Joan Baker afterwards, Don't get a Job, Build a Business I started reading it this week and I can't tell you how good it is to read a business help book that s taken from a LOCAL Irish perspective.

I also may have bought a new mug at the Farmers Market in Naas last Saturday. This one is amazing it fits in so much tea and its pretty too.

3:

How cute does my dog look watching House of Cards? 

 Yes I know it doesn't really fit in with the 'going local' theme but who could resist that face. 

Have a great weekend everyone. 

xx V