father's day ideas...

there are posts galore on father's day gift ideas; luxurious, home- made, on a budget, and its something i started thinking about a few weeks ago. with so many events and occasions in the calender this year i'm trying to keep our present giving creative (and on a budget...)

ideas i've had...

craft ales. real ale, craft ale, bog standard lager; they are all popular with the men folk in our family. real ale is one of my father- in- law's 'things' and a box set of unusually named tipples is a favourite gift to give. the younger men in the family, and my dad, have always been more Carlsburg than Carbon Neutral but with familial influences and the growing trend for craft ales this could be an ideal gift for dads and grandads. Marks & Spencer have a fantastic selection of beer and cider and for Fathers Day are bringing out some good box sets if you want the job of choosing to be done for you. personally i love picking the daftest names or names that link to the receiver. if, like me you like to shop local, its worth scouting your high street or a bit off the beaten track to see if there are any individual wine and beer shops. here in York my favourite is York Beer & Wine shop, a treasure trove of a shop just beyond the city walls.

image courtesy of www.friendsofham.com

Not on the High Street. well this is just a one stop shop and basically i might as well finish my post here. this is my first point of call when im looking for ideas for any occasion (and also home and party decor.) you can find something for any budget, here are a couple of my favourites...

mini photo acrylic block & wooden calender keyring...

both priced around £15 they are a perfect, low cost present idea with a god dose of sentimentality.


chalk board. another totally unique idea is a pub style chalkboard, expertly painted by artist chalkboard illustrator. originally set up to provide a higher quality of work for local businesses, last year they started to design personal boards to be given as gifts. these can be a brain storm about the receiver complete with little images if you fancy, in any colour palate you choose. chalkboard illustrator has also designed personalised boards to be used at private parties and even table plans...so have a think about some good stuff about your dad and send him a message. 

good old socks and tshirts. when all else fails i go for some kind of clothing item. a traditionally boring choice is socks. rather than the 5 pack with days of the week on from Next im thinking big, thick, woolly welly socks from joules. perfect for the dad who loves to walk. or a farmer. tshirts; depending on their style id choose topman for cheap, simple and on trend, wierdfish for a more casual, beachy dad, wiggle for sporty dads and check out debenhams for the different labels...

happy shopping and fathers day! 

arty projects for outdoorsy little boys...

this weekend has been a stereotypical family two days at home. we've run errands, endured our swimming lesson (I swear he just has a thing about that pool cos he's fine in all other pools), done the food shop, visited the park, walked the dog and pottered in the yard.

i set myself a task this weekend of completing a card to mark a friend's engagement. in theory this is easy to do in 4 days, particularly if Did is around for 1 1/2 days of it. in reality I've not got too far yet. it seems that whenever I sit down to write, on a laptop or my iPad, I'm the best form of climbing frame. if I dare to sit at the kitchen table to read, write or attempt to do anything remotely creative then after 10 minutes Seb's hanging off the baby gate screeching. so it got me to thinking about friends and acquaintances who discuss happily indulging in a hobby whilst their toddler plays at their feet (I once tried to put some photographs into some new frames while Seb 'played'at my feet, climbed up my legs, sat on half the photographs and picked up one of the frames and threw it in the fire place.) and I've pretty much decided that ain't going to happen for me but what about trying to get him interested in being creative with me?

it's been the general school of thought that Seb has the attention span of a knat and previous attempts to put crayons and paper in front of him are usually poo pooed after 2 minutes. so does anyone have suggestions on what to do with a live wire 19 month old who likes to throw and screech?

it's a family affair...

i spent this evening 'doing' with my craft partner in crime (aka mum) ready for the party this weekend.

tonight's tasks included measuring out fabric to cover the pots for the mickey mouse centre pieces, drawing out the templates for the 'alice in wonderland' style signs and checking my dad had spray painted things correctly.

my mum also came up with the idea of the good old twig tree again. a firm favourite with my family. last used at xmas and very popular at my wedding, this time it would be smaller, white and with little red bow ties hanging from it. tied with thin yellow ribbon (keeping with the traditional, simple disney pallet.)

so while mum cut material and dad polished off cheese and biscuits I made little bow tie templates.

tomorrow night will be busy with finishing the signs and the bow ties off. as well as packing for the weekend.

all fun though...

spotted...typo trend...

they are preaching to the converted in me, but the media are loving typography in the home and fashion at the moment.

last week The Sunday Times Magazine published an article about typography trends in the home and the benefits of going handmade, or bespoke, rather than the usual keep calm malarkey. 

michael hennegan quotes jane rockett, founder of rockett st george 
"be careful of mass-produced prints, cushions and mugs, which may be amusing, but quickly become dated" rockett says "go for something personalised."

he also quotes the graffiti artist ben eine "I think the handcrafted element is beautiful. the mistakes that people have made and which are in their work."

so opt for handmade.

you know where we are...www.etsy.com/shop/roughtype

a photo a day cont...

week two of the challenge and I missed a day...

onwards and upwards though:-

something beginning with t (a tea cosy)
paper (book poster)
one o clock (something i bought at one)
water (a globe)
circle (a tea pot lid)
something yellow (a yogurt pot)

a photo a day...

i have always enjoyed taking photographs. from snapshots at school every few months which, when i look now, capture my teenage years like a dream. both my dad and my brother have a great technical knowledge of photography and cameras. myself on the other hand just snaps away and hopes for the best. i have an eye for what i like and if things captivate me i take it. the invention of camera phones and in turn I phones has meant that people like me, who see things all day everyday, have a camera on them permenantly. 

towards the end of last year I decided to take part in the photo a day challenge. call it an excuse to get arty and self indulgent everyday. i didnt want to just take them for myself though, i wanted  to find somewhere to share them with like minded individuals and also link it to my shop, blog, twitter, the works. i searched for the right place but websites were either too international, too pompous or just looked a bit naff. the same name came up again and again though in my searches, fatmumslim. Written by Chantelle, a mum and all round nice lady from Australia, she started taking a photo a day to record her changing shape after having her baby and, like a lot of bloggers, writing for her own pleasure.

nowadays she launches a prompt list for every month. you can take a photo a day for just a month, or for a year as I plan to. Her print lists are great inspiration and along the way who know what else you might see. you can share your photographs via twitter, instagram, on her Facebook page, lots of places. you just hash tag FMSphotoaday and you're linked!

i'm going to make my project a weekly posting on here. and as my online store expands and develops then it may be some of the images might be available to buy one day soon. if they're half decent that is.

so, week one. themes were as follows (in order):-

today

something new

heart

the view from here

movement

mine

street.

and the photos...

snapshot...

I love love love words and typeography. wanted to post this vintage street sign I've seen everyday for years. bit of daily inspiration.

and I love old brick walls for a background.