Recommended - Design*Sponge at Home

I had a voucher for Amazon and I had had my eye on this for a while, alas not turning up in any of my favourite charity bookshops (there's a reason - it's awesome and you would never, ever donate it) so I spent it! Ooooh, spending free money feels good.

But back to the book - it's filled with DIY ideas, and inspirational homes, many of which are teeny tiny like mine and having to be furnished on microbudgets. It's fun just to flick through out of nosiness, or if you're seriously looking for cheap ways to spruce up the flat (without needing to be a regular DIY/arty fart), and I kinda just like having it sitting on my coffee table. Makes me look all grown-up and stuff. 

C x

Charity Shop Art

Apologies for the long absence in posting, I have been living under a rock, studying hard and not getting much chance to check out the shops. I did do a round of the charity shops near the the university to pick up some cheap textbooks (saved well over £100). In the Barnardo's bookshop on South Clerk Street, they have baskets full of vintage postcards and photographs which would look lovely in lots of little frames, mounted up on a feature picture wall.

I only have the one very pretty white Ikea frame which I've been dying to put something in. When I was flicking through a travel book, 3 little tickets fell out to the Doge's Palace in Venice. They were beautiful, intricate prints, and they reminded me of visiting Venice when I was little, so I bought the book for the sake of the tickets, and to dream of a day when I can afford to go back to Italy.

C x

Charity Shop Find

I can't take credit for this one. My Mum spotted this at a charity shop in Kinross, mostly liking it for the frame, but she didn't have the wall-space, so bought it for me. Spoiled :)

Print & custom frame, £15 - (found at CHAS Kinross)

I love the print, but I don't know anything about it. I love the art-deco lines and swirls (I have no idea if it's actually period, or from one of the many revivals). Does anyone recognise it? I thought it would go quite well with a print I have of Klimt's 'The Kiss', especially because of the gold frame. And they could both go in my dream art-deco villa that overlooks the seaside.

Anyway, here's some more inspiration...

Empire State Building, Greta Garbo, Marlin Hotel, Art Deco notelet (from Past Times), scene from 42nd Street (1933), Metropolis (1927), Upstairs Downstairs (2010), scene from Grand Hotel (1932), Lara Bohnic deco necklace.

C x

A Wee Trip to Glasgow

I had a lovely anniversary in Glasgow last weekend. Budgetary restraints prevented us from travelling further afield, but we ended up having a swell time, and I founds lots of nice places to visit again next time. 

Tinderbox in the Merchant City was a great place to pop into for lunch, and probably breakfast, high tea, elevenses... The interior was designed by the company responsible for the stunning 'Tigerlilly' here in Edinburgh, so it was pretty swish and, like Tigerlilly, everything was priced with the added 'swank percentage'. I had a lovely hummus and roast veg sandwich, which I will definitely make again at home, what a great way to use up leftovers...

(via Graven Images)

We were very lucky to manage to get a table at Jamie's Italian on Saturday night. There isn't a booking system, so you have to be prepared to queue for a while. Saturday night? Hour and a half. But the food and particularly the wine list is worth it. I had a stunning Sicilian Shiraz, which perfectly complemented my olives on ice (unbelievably good) and helped calm my mouth after the fiery arrabiata pasta sauce. It really was a treat.

(via tripadvisor)

Modern art wasn't my other half's thing, so I popped to the Gallery of Modern Art on my tod. It was in the process of installing a large new exhibition, so was a bit smaller than expected, but there's such a wide variety of things to see, and an awesome gift shop (ever the consumer...). 

(via RampantScotland)

 I am both embarrassed and proud of my shopping experience in Glasgow. I bought two key pieces from the new Primark SS'11 high fashion line (I squirm at the combination of those words with 'Primark'): a print skirt with tulle underskirt; and a wacky tea dress with a beach print (parasols, deck chairs). I also purchased James Franco's 'Palo Alto' short story collection, mostly because I am curious about how a young man can achieve so much so soon. I've only read the first couple, but it's impressive. Very impressive.

C x