Thursday 30 May 2013

Design Awesomeness


I found these leaflet/map/guide books in a shop called Ink and Thread in Derby. They sell lots of things like these cool and quirky designs. I actually saw these on urbanicpaper and was tempted to buy them but upon seeing them in this shop I just had to get them right then and there! I am going to Berlin in a few weeks and it just made sense to buy a guide for there as well.







Created by herblester

Now I will show you some cool packaging designs from lovelypackage





I love the minimal style for these candles and the colour gradient used to separate the text. 


Found at - john-lewis-candles

I think a lot of foods could benefit from having their own characters for different flavours: 


Found at - generous

I will try to make more posts on any designs I have found inspiring but I have a whole bunch on my Pinterest that I regularly use as inspiration for my own work if you'd like to see. 

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Summer drinkies


Weekend visit to Derby! Pink lemonade all round! 


I've found a visit to Jack Rabbits for lunch has become mandatory. 


Derby is such a pretty town. 




Got my Pimm's on!



Added Britishness with bunting. 



Tuesday 28 May 2013

Hybrid Brownies


Silver-Starr and I recently made these brownies which are a based on the Ultimate-Oreo-Brownies recipe. We had to alter it slightly as we couldn't get the Reese's cups because they are in slightly shorter supply in England. We decided to use Milkybar chocolate instead as the rest of the ingredients were milk chocolate. I call them hybrids because we used muffin tins to make them in and they combine various biscuits together in one (cookie, oreo etc.)


We did a lazy version where we just bought brownie and cookie mix where you only had to add water.


Firstly mix up the brownie and cookie mix.



Grease the muffin tins with butter (I can't believe its not butter, in our case)


Start with a layer of cookie dough and evenly spread it to each casing.


Next add an oreo onto each one.


Then a piece of white chocolate.


Finally put the brownie mix on top.


Put into the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes (keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn depending on how gooey you want them to be)


Leave them to cool for a minute or two (depending on how much will-power you have to stop yourself eating them straight away) Then use a knife to cut them out of the casings and Voila!


Thursday 16 May 2013

Let's mix it up


My bank holiday was spent in London with a good friend. We managed to meet up at Covent Garden and intended to have a wander before going for something to eat as there are so many cafes and restaurants there. However from talking too much and wanting to see what was around the back streets we ended up walking all the way to Regent Street and Oxford Street (unintentionally) even though we meant to go there later on. By this time I was really hungry so we went to a restaurant on Newburgh Street which is just off of Carnaby Street. They did amazing burgers and I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it but it was next to the lomography shop incase you were wondering.


The restaurant had a whole wall covered in postcards! Thats one of the things I love about London because when you manage to avoid restaurant chains that you could find in most cities you can find gems like these.


My bomber jacket appreciates cool coat hangers. 


Posh Ralph Lauren window displays are posh. 




I picked up this skirt and shirt in Topshop to try on and actually found that I really like them on together although I couldn't buy them both. I'm loving pastel colours and polka dots for summer though.


Oh yeah I haven't mentioned my coffee addiction on here but this is another reason London calls for me. Upon arriving at Covent Garden through the underground I was a bit early to meet my friend so I had a look around. I found there were two stands giving out free iced coffee! It was looking to be a pretty hot day so I went to get one. They gave me their new caramel flavour and there was a man who wanted to take photos of people with the coffees. He asked me for one and I said ok. I'm not sure if they will be posting the photos on their website or their facebook page but I'm keeping my eye out for it. Then because I did the photo for them he gave me another free coffee but the vanilla flavour. Now I would have drank them straight away but I already had a coffee that morning so luckily my bag was big enough to take them both.  


The caramel one reminded me a lot of crunchie honeycomb and I literally couldn't stop drinking it! I find a good iced coffee very moreish and this definitely was. I love the illustration on the packaging which is very eye-catching and colourful. I'd recommend having this when it is fresh out of the refrigerator or it also had a good tip on the back that said to put it in the freezer for a few minutes. 


I love vanilla and although it can seem a bit boring sometimes I find it to be a soft, sweet flavour that is better at being light and refreshing which is perfect for summer. This was like a vanilla milkshake with the extra kick of coffee. 



Moving on, I found a new shop in Clifton, Bristol called Paper Gangsta where they sold all kinds of cool cards and gifts. The thing that caught my eye in there as I was looking for some small presents for some friends was the selection of noodoll stationary that they had. It's so cute that I may have to go back and buy some for myself. I love how they use the brown kraft paper and white lines/illustrations. Its really clever how they have little pockets for the bookmarks to slot into. I know its probably been done before but they have added a new dimension with the two characters in the bathtub. 

The first is a notebook and the other product is a notepad which I will be returning for because I have run out of post-it notes - this is definitely not just an excuse to go back there.