Illustrator Tom Gauld.

Amongst the ongoing amount of blogs that we'll be posting, I'm going to start doing more short blogs about illustrators who I take great inspiration from and who delight my eyes. Eventually transpiring in the brave step of posting some of my own illustrations online for the very first time.

I'm going to start with Tom Gauld, someone who has inspired me for some time.

Guardian readers will probably recognize his accute and humorous style from the many covers and short strips he has done for the paper. He has also done many publications under his own name and some with other collective books, including the fantastic Kramers Ergot.

You can see more of his work here http://cabanonpress.com and here www.tomgauld.com

Friday finds - Paper ephemera.

Two fascinating paper finds today - What a treat!
With an idea to use for some kind of inspiration within our designs, or perhaps just because they look so lovely. We found these beautiful little indian matchbox labels at a market sometime last year.
Mainly featuring chickens and ducks, I'm unsure of the significance or huge popularity of avian images within the matchbox branding world. Any ideas? Such warm toasty colours too, hmmmm.

When we were searching for nice vintage display boxes and tins, before we opened our little paper boutique, we found these beautiful old bus tickets in one of the tins. A lovely find, need I say more?

Meticulous Ink - Wedding stationery guide.

Well, here it is. After  much hype and planning - our very own wedding stationery guide.

This has already proved popular at Bristols first vintage wedding fair, and we will also be giving away this little gem to all brides and grooms to be, this coming weekend at the Wedding and Fine Events show.

The book guides you through everything you need to think of when you order your wedding stationery, from wording to motifs, paper and card types, real print samples and a few extra bits of very important information.

We will be selling these in our shop after the shows, for those who are interested...

Friday finds - Bandages tin.

Some of you may be thinking that we've been raiding derelict old hospitals going by this weeks and last weeks finds. Well, we haven't - although I can only imagine the endless amounts of fascinating things you might find. Next week will not be medical related at all - that's a promise.

Anyway, we found this lovely tin on good old ebay, after wondering the antique section.
It's a tin for waterproof dressings, but as you can see just happened to have a lovely selection of calligraphy nibs inside! Including (luckily for me), some left handed nibs. Now to decide what to use it for...

What a lovely thing.

Friday finds - Medicinal bottles.

About a year ago we looked after a house belonging to an elderly relative of mine in Kent. She was a lady who didn't spend a lot, and kept things as they were. Living in the house was like stepping back in time. The decor, furniture, ornaments all originating from the 1920-30's.

A dusty place, but full of fascinating old trinkets and vessels. In the bathroom there was a lovely old cabinet, full of ancient medical looking bottles and measuring glasses.

As the house was being sold, they had to be saved. They now sit above my desk at the shop, where I often wonder what would happen if I drank any of them.

Illustrator Brendan Wenzel

A quick blog of the beautiful and hilarious illustrations from New York based illustrator Brendan Wenzel. He has a fantastic style, fairly reminiscent of Eric Carle's wonderfully textured colouring work. More pleasure for the eyes on this sunny Wednesday afternoon.

Friday finds - Nautical

This weeks finds are a small collection of nautical themed pictures that have been exciting my eyes in the last few days. These are covers from steamships and cruisers from 1936-1960. An age of glorious design. The kind of design that we both love here and always endeavour to work towards - simple, classic and beautiful.

1. Timetable cover from the Italian cruiser/steamship(?) 'Adria' from 1936. Beautiful typography and illustration by an artist named 'Gauss' c
2. Another cover from the 'Adria', also by 'Gauss', 1936
3. Timetable cover from a Finnish steamship from 1960, slightly strange but strangely beautiful
4. French line passenger list from 1935

Wedding Fair No. 2

As well as The Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair this March, we will also be attending The Wedding and Fine Events show at the Royal Bath and West show ground on the 26th and 27th of March.
We will be there from 10am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday, parading our wonderful stationery to all brides and grooms to be.

Similarly to the Bristol vintage show we will be giving customers 15% off wedding stationery orders made on the day.

We will have plenty of samples to look through on the weekend and our wedding specialist Athena will be there to answer all the questions you may have.

Also available will be our wedding stationery guide, for those who need advice on the perfect stationery suite. Including information on wording, typefaces, different cards and papers and print methods - including actual samples of each methods.

Tickets for the show are £6.00 per day, there is a 2 for 1 offer on tickets at the moment if you order through the site. Visit the shows website for more details www.weddingandfineeventsshow.co.uk