Things to LOVE today

With no particular theme, here are some things this week that have made me smile...

Abigail Brown exhibition at the Lion Street Store I first saw Abigail's work at the London Design Festival a couple of years ago; her stand was permanently crowded with people interested in her beautiful fabric bird sculptures.

They are visibly painstakingly constructed pieces of art and, as such, rightly not cheap. Abigail also makes other creatures, as you can see, and some new ones from papier mache (like the nice bear, below the deer directly below). I love birds and I love Abigail's birds, but these are really, really special things. And good news, if you, too, can't afford them – and happen to live close enough to East Sussex to visit – because there's an exhibition just opened at the Lion Street Store, in Rye.

Failing that, you can enjoy the highlights at the store's (very nice) blog or browse the full collection at Abigail Brown's online shop.

'The Man Who Cannot Visualise a Horse Galloping on a Tomato is an Idiot' print, from The Hambledon Contributing editor Abi alerted me to the letterpress artwork of Stephen Kenny at A Two Pipe Problem a while back.

I had been going to feature this print then, but when I emailed Stephen he said it had been discontinued and directed me to his lovely new prints, but my heart had been set on this. So how marvellous to find that The Hambledon sells it. It is a quote by the father of Surrealism, Andre Breton. It is excellently and suitably absurd – and yet also an eminently sensible comment on the dullness of a limited imagination.


The print measures 32 x 46.3cm and costs £32

John Lewis bird tray My boyfriend is moving in shortly, and we've decided we must have a home bar to celebrate. Just a tray of serious bottles on the sideboard will do the trick, so he can come home wearing a sharp suit and I, in a cocktail dress and full make-up, can greet him with a whiskey.

The reality will, of course, be vastly different (I don't think  I've ever seen him wearing a suit, and I'm more likely to be wearing big socks, and buried in my office reading Jezebel.com to even hear him come home). But. It's a great idea. And the bar part is the easy bit – especially now I've seen this rather brilliant bottle-sturdy tray with suitably old-fashioned birds on it. Love the turquoise and gold edging, particularly. Now all it needs is something harder than that lemonade on it. The Brissi bird-print tray is from John Lewis and costs £22.

Love poster Oh. Go on then. A VERY SMALL concession to it being Valentine's day.

This sweet Japanese poster with Swedish text ('karlek' means love, in case the guy eating hearts didn't give it away) is also from The Hambledon.

It measures a generous 50cm x 70cm (also, handily, meaning it fits into a standard frame), and it costs but a mere £14.95.




Happy Valentine's. Cynical bugger? Go on an online shopping binge! Hope this helps...