I am a lucky bunny! The loveliest package arrived in the mail this morning from marvellous Sonia of Cozy Memories fame. I ordered one of Sonia’s Adjustabraid necklaces and it is beautiful, very clever too, I love versatility and I can wear it as a headband or bracelet as well. Can you tell that I am smitten! As you can see above, a certain bunny decided she would borrow MY necklace, I think it looks very well indeed. Collaboration Sonia?!!!

The packaging was also lovely, look at those beautiful handmade gift tags. I am going to stop gushing now before I embarrass myself. Thank you Sonia for making these pretty things, you have made my day (and the rabbit’s!).

Creature in progress, I think she/he may be a rabbit, a deer at a stretch. Need to come up with a suitable outfit now. I am thinking Liberty and yellow.

Looking forward to the release of Mini Moderns Festival tea ware range, love it so!

For some reason I never tire of looking at Anita Pallenberg.

A little post to let you know that you can now find Catty Catties, Dancing Wolves and hand embroidered pins at the beautiful shop, Hannah Zakari, in Edinburgh. I am hoping to pop down next week to take some pictures of the guys hanging out.

Rather exciting to report that the fabulous online boutique Miso Funky is now stocking a collection of Lou Lou & Oscar hoops. Get on over to Miso Funky and have a peek at the range. While you are there take a gander at the world famous cross stitch collection & sweet craft kits, perfect for Christmas giving!

Thanks to everyone who left a sweet comment on my last post, I am happy to report that I am feeling better and getting back into my stride. I appreciate your concern and kind words and send you all a germ free hug.
xxx

Being a rather tardy fellow, things that should be written up sometimes get overlooked, I am catching up with a couple of things today.

I was so happy to be asked to contribute to Issue 2 of Spoonful zine: a happiness companion. If you haven’t grabbed yourself an issue yet, get on it! My contribution appears in the Objects of Affection section:

Each issue, we choose a random object that makes us smile. Here Creatives have interpreted…the Mountain Goat…

How wonderful to be featured alongside some of my favourite artists and makers: Abby Glassenberg, Luci Everett, Jackie Bos, oh and so many more (go buy a copy!). Thanks so much for asking me to tag along Thea, I can’t wait for issue three.

I adore the fabric covered dining chairs above.

Next up, can you guess? Wherever there is bunting you will usually find a craft market, this particular event being The Morningside Makers Market here in Edinburgh. As I am setting up shop here on the 4th September I thought I would pop along to have a nose around and pick up some goodies (I confess this trip occurred in May!). Three stalls in particular grabbed my attention, really lovely work on each and super nice makers too.

Cherith Harrison is an illustrator and designer, I fell in love with her sweet birds and rabbits, they pop up everywhere, screen printed onto cushions, tea towels, bags and exercise books, oh and prints too. I bagged a yellow bunny tea towel, love, love, love!

The Night Owl aka Ellen Munro designs and makes accessories & home wares that are oh so folksy. Pop over and check out her Etsy shop, the egg cups get my vote for sure! Ellen’s stall was beautifully arranged with some inventive touches, a clothes airer used as a display for textiles, very cool.

Nicky Orr heads up Frugal Cool, a sustainable design business which promotes work that is ethically produced, re-used, green, vintage or fair trade. There was such an array of wonderful things on the Remade stall, check out the little felted hare in the image above, just so lovely. Frugal Cool are running an Eco Market during the Edinburgh Festival, go here for details.

My creatures for Plush You LA at Munky King have flown off to California. The show opens on 26th August at Munky King, 7308 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046. As usual I find myself wishing I could attend, if you make it, take some pictures for me! I can’t wait to see all the plush excellence on display, I think it is going to be an amazing show. Above and below: Fish Boy-The Shaman, The Sad Fate of Mau of the Octopod Clan and Theodore the Stevedore.

Mau looked very different originally. Upright, with a little helmet, claw socks and gloves-she didn’t look right to me when she was finished. I think I made my pattern much too thin, tried to replicate the slightly wonky aspect of my initial drawing. I was so upset by my perceived ‘failure’ that I almost cried with frustration (it *was* gone 3am!) & then I decided to chop her head off & change her story. Gory, perhaps a little Grand Guignol, but she works much better for me now. In fact I feel very protective of her, I hope she goes to a caring home.

Isn’t ‘stevedore’ the most magical word, euphonious, easy on the ear? I’m pretty sure I first came across it in a song by The Small Faces, the tale of Rene, the docker’s delight! Theodore really couldn’t have had any other job, it fits him like a pair of claw gloves.

I came across this image of a Stevedore on the New York Waterfront over at the MoMA website. I like the look of this gentleman, he reminds me a little of my Great Grandad, whose name was Percival Varnum, a fine Victorian name, always shortened to Perce, never Percy! Perce had the prickliest mustache, like porcupine quills and the twinkliest eyes I have ever seen, roguish and full of life. As I mentioned in a previous post I have been tossing the idea of producing a winter collection around, thoughts of Perce are proving to be an inspiration. Think Alec Scudder in Maurice (below).

Probably the most famous Stevedore in popular culture, Terry Malloy (played by Marlon Brando) in On The Waterfront.

I haven’t written a thing about the Fish Boy, I guess he is self explanatory and I wanted to use those feathers so badly! Wish them all a happy voyage if you please.

Image heavy post alert! We visited The Spider & The Fly today at 65 Bread Street, Edinburgh, oh my what a wonderful space. Emily (Lost in The Forest & Magpie Market) has done an amazing job, the shop is packed with incredibly special handmade goods and has such a happy energy about it, a little parlour belonging to a lady with incredibly good taste. The Spider & The Fly is a welcome addition to the string of independent boutiques, galleries and bookshops that run from the top end of Bread Street, along the West Port up to Victoria Street and Candlemaker Row. You must pop along for a visit if you are in the area, I discovered some new to me makers and designers & even snatched up a couple of items. I was very remiss and didn’t take down the details of all the treats that caught my eye. Gives me a good excuse to return next week for a full list of vendors. There were many more favourites that I can’t include in this post as the light was a bit tricky and the pictures didn’t turn out well. I hope you enjoy the small sample of goodies I did manage to capture. There are loads more images here too! Owl Embroidery above by Angharad Jefferson , bear by Alice Gabb.

Hmm, did I forget to mention that you can see (and buy!) some bits and pieces by Lou Lou & Oscar too!

It was wonderful to see some of the embroidery work of Cathy Cullis in person, truly exquisite.

I bought this bird pillow by Heart Zeena & some notecards by Alice Gabb, upon who I have a pretty serious craft crush!

Above and below some new pieces, yay oval and metal hoops, I made for The Spider & The Fly. Speed along to check them out if you please.

I finished my pieces for Plush You LA last night, there were almost tears and an actual cat plush decapitation. Oh, the drama. But that is for another post. Kisses kittens.

This will be the last of the ‘look at my new logo’ posts I promise. I wanted to share my new business cards with you, in fact they are my first ever set and I adore them. Haven’t managed to give any out yet being a shy and retiring creature, I am just waiting for someone to ask me what I do so that I can hand them a card. Adam hand drew the logo type and we decided on the drops of colour at the last minute as my other ideas for a motif didn’t really work. The drops reference our new home, it rains a lot up here, the colours were inspired by one of our favourite books, Little One by Anne & Paul Rand. Love that book, there it is below.

Still working on my pieces for Plush You LA, should be ready to share them with you at the weekend. While I work I think about the direction I want LL&O to go in. I would like to design a winter collection of creatures, be a little more focused.

While I am here I want to share these lovely notebooks from Pumpkinsputnik over at Etsy. I also fell in love with these amazing Tea Cup Bracelets I saw over at the always inspiring Melissa Loves.

Available from Stay Gold Mary Rose. I do wonder if they might be in danger of smashing if you wore a few of them together? If I had my bricks and mortar shop I would rush to stock both of the above. I can dream huh?

Hello, hello, hello! It has been a while since I posted some Etsy finds here, a good way to begin easing myself back into blog land. I have just finished a bunch of work for a pop up gallery and boutique which will be opening here in Edinburgh at the weekend. As soon as I have some images I will reveal all! Keeping half an eye on the deadlines for Plush You LA and an upcoming show in the UK, busy, busy, but so nice to be making some new creatures, wolves are featuring heavily as you can see above. What’s the time Mr Wolf?

Time for Dancing Bears by Alice Gabb.

Vintage alarm clock in an edible colour from Space Jam.

Porcelain Squirrel Brooch from Sarah NcNeil.

The nicest bag I have seen in a long time from Every Eskimo.

I would love to add Dreaming in Yellow to my collection, from Cathy Cullis.

Hmmm, stolen kisses with Antoine Doinel, swoon! Cool tote from I Miss You Already.

These guys would look spiffing in my hallway. From Two String Jane.

Oh, it is nice to be back. Lou Lou & Oscar has undergone a little refresh while I have been away, new logo and bits and bobs. I am not quite ready to share the results with you yet but watch out all will be revealed soon!

Harum scarum March is here again, my favourite month. This particular March will be an incredibly full one and I hope to be able to announce some exciting news very soon. I will be keeping a low profile for the rest of this week as Mr A is out of town, just the bean and me, ballet rehearsals and lots of nervous nail biting.
Bob the Hare (above) from Kyoko Imazu.

Polar Bear Love print (above) from Spinster Summer

Sticking with the polar theme I am about to announce the winner of my little giveaway. Drum role for the random number thingamy – the winner is Diane (dkoss2) , hooray! I will be in touch a little later to ask you for your address and choice of star. Thank you so much to everyone who took part, that was fun, now I have broken my contest duck I won’t be so worried about doing another one. Watch this space!
Oh and the reason for the giveaway, the release of my exclusive for Schmancy, you can adopt one of the polar pack here right now!
I am pretty sure I had some other state smashingly interesting things to share with you but my jelly head isn’t cooperating. Ishi is obsessed with skipping/jump rope, we watched this video a thousand times yesterday. Malcolm McLaren annoys me but I confess I liked this song at the time. Ace skipping!