Tote Bags and Talkin'

--- Jitesh Patel's excellent book, The Tote Bag, is out now... and it comes with a free tote that I designed! --- Come down to the Strongroom, Shoreditch on Wednesday to hear me talk about stuff at a Behance / Why! event --- I move to Berlin in one month! eeeeeeek! ---

Shedonismmm

Un'intervista ... //// SHEDONISM ////
(It's in Italian, but there's an English translation underneath...)

Valen-times

Happy Valentines Day, blog readers! I love you all in a strictly platonic manner.

Kuretake, A-OK!

The lovely folks at Kuretake sent me some new pens to try out. It was like Christmas when they arrived. Actually, it was better than Christmas because I didn't have to watch boring TV or eat christmas pudding... 

ANYway. I had a go with some of them today* and here's the result. I'm trying to get some more colour into my work and I think these new friends of mine are going to be immensely helpful... and I had a lot of fun using them...

What, you don't call your pens your friends...? Oh... Right, neither do I...

* Namely: "Wink of Stella" (the brown in her hair. You can't tell in these photos but it's SPARKLY. yes!!! and I think that's the best name I ever heard for a pen... )

Millennium fineliners (the black outline and purple details. I am so pleased to have at last found coloured fineliners with good quality, archival ink.)

and : "Clean Colour" real brush pens (the pink and turquoise... these are just amazing. Seriously. I love watercolours but they make me a bit nervous... these pens have all the subtleness of watercolours with the ease of using a pen. Love.)

birthdays and bargains

----- birthday cake and coffee at my favourite café, The Little Red Roaster --- lovely gifts --- get an extra 10% off everything in my etsy shop* with the coupon code BIRTHDAY ---

* closing on or before February 28th in preparation for my move to Berlin

Pugs 'n' Kisses

Puggy kisses are the best --- exclusively available at Mama San ---

GIVEAWAY - Cats or Dogs?

I'm quite often asked the perennial question "Cats, or Dogs?" For Mr Pickles' sake I have to choose dogs, but I am a cat fan too (as you might have guessed). I have 3 "Cat Lovers" gift sets and 3 "Dog Lovers" gift sets to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, just comment below with your preference (Cats, or Dogs?) ...

Winners will be chosen at random and announced on Friday. 
Comments are now closed and the winners are being contacted.

Z-Z-Z-Zines

In happier news, here's something wot I drew for the excellent Broken Pencil magazine.

Pride and Plagiarism

It's no secret that big High Street stores steal ideas from independent designers. It's one of the reasons why I avoid the High Street like the plague. (With the exception of Marks & Spencer... where else would I buy my socks?) You'd think that, with all the money that they make, chain-stores like Topshop and Gap would be able to hire designers with the talent to come up with their own ideas... but apparently not.

brr! it's cold in here ...

Mr Pickles demonstrates how to stay warm and cozy --- A new print for Whale & Pine ---