Sophie Blackall

I love Sophie Blackall's beautiful and quirky illustrations.

'We Shared a Bear Suit' from Sophie's book 

'Missed Connections' available at Amazon

Recently, I stumbled across an article at 'The Inside Source'

with some wonderful photographs of Sophie's home and lovely 

collection of inspirational objects and fantastical curiosities...

To quote the article...

"Blackall's Brooklyn home and studio are a window into her creative process. 

One step inside, and it’s like you’ve been transported into a Harry Potter novel 

or Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Blackall’s home, which 

she shares with her two children, is filled with carefully-curated, nearly-ghoulish 

oddities that don’t necessarily creep you out, but just like her illustrations, instead 
bring an odd smile to your face ....  in Blackall’s own words, her dwelling is 
something of a “Victorian Natural History Museum....”  you can view more here

Oh, I love it all! xox

Oh Mickey!

"I think of a child's mind as a blank book. During 

the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. 

The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly."

Walt Disney once said.

Following last weeks post I was reminded of this picture. 

It was a random moment. We happened to stop by this wall 

and Ari happened to be dressed just like a...  mouseketeer.  

Mickey, at all times?  No. 

We're not big on branding. 

Just another  'cute'  op shop find in my mind. 

I do like... stuff.  And, I confess, I do like... Mickey Mouse. 

Actually I like a lot of what Disney has made to offer,

I like Pixar and I like the early studio animation work. 

 But what is it exactly that appeals to me and so many 

about the 'Disney World'  and about THAT mouse? 

The mouse that roared is available here from Amazon
and this book puts forth some interesting ideas too.

Hey Mickey!

Mickey by Sir Peter Blake 

1930s Dean Rag Book Co. velveteen toys here and here

Cyndi Lauper with Mickey Mouse at Disney World, Florida 

Lucky Boy Sunday (& vintage toys)

Mickey and Minnie at Disneyland 1959

Pop Art by Hannah  (Ms. Rosa's 3rd Grade Class)

I found another great Disney book in an Op shop recently.

It's filled with loads of beautiful colour reproductions and a 

whole chapter on early Disney work entitled 'The Mousetro'.

The book's called The Best of Disney
and it's also available at Amazon.

the images above aren't from the book... 
just a few of my more obscure Mickey favourites

xox

Let The Sun Shine

Where are you Mister Sun?

  

WE WANNA PLAY!

Summer a la Prada via MisakoMimoko

Marie I and Marie II from Sedmikrasky (Daisies 1966)

LULA  ...and the ever lovely Zooey Deschanel!

It's been all grey skies and dreary days this week,

but it does look as if it might be warming up...

Beach Holiday Checklist:

Vintage swimsuit. Check. Over-sized sunnies. Check. Beach ball. 

Floppy hat. Pretty sun umbrella and buckets of sunshine....

I think a holiday at the Seaside might be in the making!

xoxox

Cherry Plums

...and other adventures in preserving

The caterpillars have been feasting on those poor leaves but
we had hundreds of butterflies in our garden this Summer !

Cherry Plum Jam with Vanilla... so very delicious ! 


The Summer Harvest's been keeping us busy.

Jams, Chutneys, Pickles, sauces and more!

You can read all about it on my other blog
 A Modern Fable... if you fancy. xo

Shoot for the Moon...

even if you miss,  you'll land among the stars

image found via Pinterest

Well, we're off!  To welcome in the New Year 
with friends, under the stars, in the great outdoors  
                  
       
        ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

..........................................................

|| H-a-p-p-y N-e-w Y-e-a-r  ||  
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

        ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

image found via weheartit


See you in 2012!


xoxox

Somewhere in Dreamland

I've another animated classic to share with you!

A few years back I picked up a heap of vintage cartoons on DVD

(super cheap) and fell in love with Max Fleischer's classics.

We've had to take it fairly slow and easy these past two days

as Ari's had a bad cold and I've been struggling to fight one off.

So, we've been snuggled up in the comfy red velvet armchair

devouring hot chocs & cookies and watching this ↓ on repeat.

Just the thing to ward off our ills.

Hopefully we'll be well enough in the morning to 

head off on a bit of a New Year adventure...

The Max Fleisher definitive collection 

is available here from Amazon.

Season's Greetings

Mmmm.... how I do love the cookie season.

It's positively my most favourite time of year!

Do you have a sweet tooth?

Well, feast your eyes on this wonderful Silly Symphony.

But be prepared... it's sure to tantalise your taste buds!

French Modern

I absolutely LOVE this interior ↓

First published in Ameublement et Decoration Modernes

I love the beautiful shapes of Mid-Century Modern designs.

This wonderful interior is from a 1961 french design magazine.  

Can you believe it? Such a contemporary looking space!

Images via Modern Findings

Another World Recordings

my portfolio of art and illustration

from the 'Playtime Series' circa 2008-9
copyright Anna Maria Drutzel

I've been busy photographing my work for the site lately,

including extracts from my visual diaries and workbooks.

There's a lot to wade through; I've filled nearly 50 journals 

in the last 15 years... of course, not all of it's note-worthy.

The site is under construction but there are some pics up 

if you would like to see a bit more of my artwork ↓

Another World Recordings

(click here)

The Dollhouse #5

Illustration by Sol Linero. More images here

I found this image via Where The Lovely Things Are

If you haven't visited this lovely blog before you are in for a treat! 

And Mallory's looking for sponsorship at the moment. Read more.

Monochromatic

Black and white (with a splash of the rainbow)

Phone brooch set scotatto $50.00	vintage. black. whi... ItsBella $24.00	Antique Bantam Type... Brooklynretro $500.00
No. 10012 - The Per... librislunaria $12.00	vintage two tone eq... youngcaptive $22.00	doily clock andfurthermore $28.50
SALE. vintage shoes... PranceAndSwagg... $47.00	Handpainted wooden ... StudioFludd $14.17	Gilbertville Public... drkennedyjones $30.00
Zebra Mask NoSmallPlans $38.00	Vintage 70's Pu... sheenasatana $125.00	Abstract Art Print ... ashleyg $28.00
vintage orange slic... AgeOldThreads $12.00	Vintage Crayons 104... ivorybird $22.00	Vintage Shoes - 198... TwoVintageClos... $36.00

View this treasury (and my others here)

Today I found this tool. It was developed by Red Row Studio. It allows all those wonderful treasuries to be shared on your blog (and readers can click straight through to each listing too!) 

You can read more about the tool here.

It's quick and simple to use... give it whirl!