I've been keen to try out my new camera as much as possible, especially as it gives me an excuse to get out of the house and catch a bit of fresh air. Not always the easiest thing to do when the bag-making is busy.

As I'm shooting film I need a reliable lab so I was happy to discover Photographique, a friendly independent professional lab and gallery in the centre of Bristol. Tempting as Asda and the cheapo online labs are, it feels better to be supporting the local guys. (Especially as Bristol's one and only public access colour darkroom has just closed due to lack of funding. I was gutted I hadn't used it more often but it's such a specialist niche now).

Last week I dropped some film off to be processed and mooched about taking some pics while waiting. There's a fabulous flower shop next door to the photo lab and the florist kindly let me take some snaps (above and below)


Moving on, I wandered over to Corn Street, right in the centre of Bristol which has frequent farmers/crafts markets. I happily stumbled across a distinctive vintage stall that I'd seen once before and loved. The owner has a fabulous eye for eclectic ephemera which would appeal to any left-field magpie collector. On this occasion I picked up some eccentric old photographs which I'll post soon. Here are some of the other glorious bits and bobs on his stall.

I thought it would be nice to have some bags in the shop that are a little more practical for everyday and so here's the hipster bag. It features goatskin leather with a Liberty peacock lining and a long skinny leather strap so the bag sits low on the body. More styles coming soon!

Feresaknit, congratulations for winning the clutch giveaway! (My partner Robbie chose the random number 27. He thought I was going to impress him with a Derren Brown type number trick and was a little disappointed to instead be a number generating monkey for this giveaway).

Also, special thanks to everyone for the ace jokes and sayings. My very favourite was from Cindy Hellcat Vintage whose joke made me chortle:

A pirate walks into a bar, and the barkeep says "Excuse me, cap'n, but did you know that you've got your ship's wheel stuck in your pantaloons?"
"Aye," says the pirate, "that thing be drivin' me nuts! Aaargh!"

Mid-February, it's bucketing down with rain here and I thought it would be nice to do a little giveaway to lift the spirits. I'm offering this Peacock Palace clutch as the prize and free international shipping.
Here are the details:

This giveaway is open to all my blog followers (please tell me how you are following so I can check, and if you're not currently following you can easily add yourself in the box to the right)

Please also answer the following question - what's your favourite joke or saying? (the winner will be chosen randomly but this bit is just for my entertainment to drive away the February blues)

from left to right, musician Howlin' Lord, Heather who runs indie club night Big Pink Cake, Thom from band The Kick Inside, Alex from band The Kick Inside

An odd thing has happened since I got my new camera - I've suddenly become interested in taking photographs of people. In the past I'd be far more interested in taking snaps of a wall or pattern in a place rather than the people who inhabit the space (partly out of shyness) but I'm overcoming this reticence and becoming a bit more bold about shoving a camera in friend's faces. Also, the interesting thing about shooting with film is that you're capturing a secret... you can't instantly share the results on the camera back and therefore don't get said friend screaming at you to delete it because they don't like how it looks. Sneaky!

pocket purses by redrubyrose

I've listed some new pocket purses on Etsy, featuring sweet frames and a mixture of my own prints and some of my favourite fabrics. Also there will be some new leather clutches coming soon (yes, I've been supply shopping, lots of new goodies!)

Photograph by Natasha from She left on a Monday

Photograph by Natasha from She left on a Monday

Photograph by Natasha from She left on a Monday

Photographic authenticity is cool, but getting totally hung-up on the process rather than the result isn't necessarily a great rabbit-hole to fall down. So, it was lovely to find that Natasha from She left on a Monday abandoned her proper camera for the day and used her iphone instead - with amazing results. Current apps available for photos include Lo-Mob, Camera Bag and ShakeItPhoto, all of which add filters to the images to recreate classic vintage styles including holga, polaroid, lomo and retro looks. In theory this teeters on the edge of gimmickry (and some purists may be frothing at the mouth) but in the right hands the results are truly lovely. Plus, no expensive film costs required and the discreet camera on the iphone does have a lot of benefits over lugging a chunky camera around.

There's a yummy new bread shop that has opened up in our neighbourhood, proper lovely artisan loaves all warm and steamy from the oven. The last time I visited, a sweet little dog was waiting patiently outside for her owner. She was a little reluctant to be photographed (unsurprisingly) but I sneaked in a few snaps.

I'd love to hear your feedback please! I've been working on some ideas for new printed leather clutches and would love to know your favourite designs from these rough drafts below (please excuse my rather dodgy Photoshopping). Because I only order the leather in very small batches I need to be quite careful about the designs I choose... so I'd love to know what you'd pick and whether you'd like to see any other colourways or themes. Many thanks indeed!

1. Stencil Chrysanthemum

2. starburst

3. feather

4.sea holly

5. magnolia

6. polka

I just heard on Radio 4 that Lucienne Day has sadly died. She was the foremost British textile designer of the 20th Century and was a pioneer and ground-breaker in her field. Jonathan Glancey has written about her most eloquently here and the Guardian obituary says: "She took motifs drawn from nature – flowers, grasses, shoots, the intricate patterns of the landscape – and transformed them into something absolutely new. Part of their success was the implied message of regrowth and optimism for a Britain only just recovering from war."

I happily stumbled across Estonian photographer Alexander Gronsky's work last night and was so moved by his work that I browsed his website and Flickr sets into the early hours (feeling slightly like an internet stalker in the process). It's just wonderful stuff. Sharing this find with a friend today, he commented "it's the sort of work that makes you half sick with envy and half wanting to rush out into the street with your camera".

Moscow, 2009, Alexander Gronsky’s “Pastoral”

Moscow, 2009, Alexander Gronsky’s “Pastoral”


Moscow, 2009, Alexander Gronsky’s “Pastoral”

Unsurprisingly he's an award winner, represented by the agency photographer.ru and most recently swooping the Aperture Portfolio Prize and Linhof Young Photographer Award. He's based in Moscow and his work seems concerned with outermost regions.... border country and the fragile blur between population density and wilderness. Oh, and for the geeks (me included) he shoots 6x7 medium format ( told you I was stalking).

Oddly, his work reminds me of Pieter Bruegel, there's a painterly quality in his skeletal landscapes, and the same figurative scale and colour palette.

Pieter Bruegel the elder, Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap, 1565