Katie Morwenna

Rose tea cup card. The weight of this card paper isn’t as...

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:57 -0400

Rose tea cup card. The weight of this card paper isn’t as heavy as the cream, hence the eraser!

Reasons to be cheerful

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:10:20 -0400

Tomorrow is Friday
There is only just over a month until I head off to Thailand for 2 weeks to stay with my oldest friend (as in I’ve known her my whole life, not that she is an octogenarian). I CANNOT WAIT.
My lovely friend Eleanor moves in on Saturday
Peter is only on holiday for another week
My new perfume smells amazing
My god daughter is really cute. On Monday, when we were at the cemetery, it could have been really depressing. The stone cross to mark the grave of my grandmother, grandfather and my great-grandparents had been knocked down somehow and although it had been ‘tidied’ (ie: was placed in line with the grave site), it was still pretty upsetting. Luckily Alice was on hand to gurgle and squeal and make everyone go ‘aw’ and feel a little less sad.

New red striped tulip card

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:54:00 -0400

New red striped tulip card

This time last year

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:16:05 -0400

I was sunning myself in Primrose Hill

Always believe in your soul

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:38:22 -0400

Everything on this site is gold. It seems perchance a tad faddy, but hey. Things I quite like on the site are:

Because really, who doesn’t need a gold egg tray?

Really, I am surprised there aren’t more cool things on the site. It’s a great theme, but the products are a little disappointing. Maybe they’re just getting started…

(No, dad, this is not my actual Christmas wish list)

Love and marriage and design porn?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:22:00 -0400

I’ve been looking at a lot of design porn websites lately - You are my fave, Oh Joy! Poppytalk, The Lil Bee etc. I love love love them. They make me feel like I want to be creative and paint and do craft and sew my own clothes and have a beautiful home with amazing art and fresh flowers every day. They also generally highlight some great products and I live vicariously through them thinking *one day, that chandalier/ridiculously overpriced rug/walk in closet/whatever will be mine*.

But lately I have started to notice that they are all obsessed with weddings! It’s kind of embarassing (for me). Like, at the weekend, I was looking at some couples’ “perfect day” and felt a bit caught out when Peter looked over my shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but he did raise an eyebrow. But I was on a design site! And I was reading it a) because I was scrolling down the page and reading all the new posts, b) because the pictures were pretty and c) my friend is thinking about starting a vintage crockery hire business and there was lots of amazing vintage crockery and I liked the styling, but it did make me feel like I had to reassure him that I wasn’t like, picking out our china yet or anything.

I know that the reason weddings feature so much is because they all work as stylists and therefore have a day job styling (or photographing) weddings, but then I started noticing other things. Like, are there any single women writing these kinds of blogs? Because they all seem to be married, with perfect little babies or looking to adopt and their husbands are all just so (and generally agree to be photographed and featured on the blogs) (one of them even hijacked the design blog to write a post about the blogger’s birthday and tell everyone how much he loved her. I mean, really super cute, but really!?). Everything is so perfect. And I know that this is all part of the package and you probably wouldn’t show photos where your drunk friend had stubbed out a cigarette on your sofa or what have you, but still. Where are all the singletons with messy private lives but beautiful homes? Are they all in fashion (or publishing, ahem) rather than interior design?

Monday night jazz at the Palm Tree.

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:07:10 -0400

Monday night jazz at the Palm Tree.

A year ago today my grandma died. She was a pretty amazing woman. I hope when I am 94 I have been...

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:33:23 -0400

A year ago today my grandma died. She was a pretty amazing woman. I hope when I am 94 I have been to even half the number of places she visited and can maintain my wits about me for as long as she did. I also hope to train my grandchildren to bring champagne whenever they visit.

The week

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:16:23 -0400

I saw the World’s Most Advanced Dry Cleaners

I went for a long walk but did not go to either the new or old horticultural hall

I ate some delicious dim sum at Leong’s Legend which then turned against me and gave me 6 hours of food poisoning. I guess that means that my favourite dim sum restaurant is now out and I’ll have to find a new one.

I had a few drinks at my favourite local pub, The Palm Tree

I bought a new perfume which smells amazing from Penhaligon - officially the most helpful perfume store I’ve ever been to.

7 of Peter’s tomatoes turned red and we ate them all up. Yum yum.

I had a pint in a sunny spot indoors

Not pictured: I also went to a wedding where the bride wore leopard print, held the world’s most intelligent and beautiful baby (my god daughter), celebrated my cousin’s birthday and cat sat for my friend in VoHo. I can’t believe the bank holiday is almost over already!

Saturdays are pretty swish

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:49:34 -0400

That is all.

This is the world’s Most Advanced Dry Cleaning Machine!

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:37:14 -0400

This is the world’s Most Advanced Dry Cleaning Machine!

In case anyone fancies buying me a terrifically expensive and...

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:03:27 -0400

In case anyone fancies buying me a terrifically expensive and unnecessary present, this gold clusters ring is freaking amazing.

Lasagna cupcakes. Hell. Yes. This weekend’s food project =...

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:26:56 -0400

Lasagna cupcakes. Hell. Yes. This weekend’s food project = sorted.

The weekend

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:52:27 -0400

This weekend, I created a mess.

Unbelievably, the washing machine man came and despite being an hour late and fairly surly, i think he fixed the washing machine in under 15 minutes. I say I think because I used it yesterday and it still seemed to go on for ages, but next time I will time it and see if it actually works or not.

I created a whole set of cards. My friends Louise, Hannah and I are thinking of going along to a craft fair in Bath later on this year, where we will sell cupcakes (both edible and knitted) and cards, all displayed on vintage china, which Hannah rents out to weddings etc. If more than one person buys a card, I might set up a little etsy shop. If you want to buy some not at a craft fair in Bath, and before I set up the etsy shop, leave me a comment on this post and I will get in touch.

Speaking of Etsy, I needed some new tea towels. The ones in John Lewis were very very boring so I bought some on etsy instead. They are a bit more expensive, but also a whole lot lovelier.

Saucy!

Tasty!

Mr PS has lots of other tea towel designs (and some very cute mugs, which I was tempted by!)

I also had a good gossip with some friends, ate at The Wheatsheaf near Vauxhall and The Premises on Hackney Road, had a massive Sunday Roast, and generally had a low-key but lovely weekend. What did you get up to?

New cards

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:49:56 -0400

Two new cards to post, one from yesterday afternoon and one from this morning. I woke up at at 7!! No time at all to be waking up on a Sunday, but do like the cupcake card. Thanks to Saint Cupcake for the cupcake photo that inspired me.

Both are Valentine’s Day-ish related. Which I know is a long way off, but people always like to send loving cards to one another, right?

There is the possibility that Hannah, Louise and I will be going down to Bath in November for the Christmas craft fair, so I suppose I should start thinking about Christmassy cards pretty soon… Christmas in August seems a bit premature, but then Selfridges Christmas section is already open so…

Photo

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:04:54 -0400

Washing machine repair man is officially late/not coming. I...

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:09:17 -0400

Washing machine repair man is officially late/not coming. I actually don’t really want him to come now. That would mean getting up and having a conversation or something. Quite content in my card making. Plus I have a shameful movie to watch this afternoon (yes, I rented Twilight).

However, I have made another card. After the failure of my bunny/mole card, I am very pleased with my butterfly.

Rose teacup card

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 06:36:16 -0400

Still waiting for the washing machine man so I drew another card. Not entirely sure about the finished result. It is pretty, but looks a bit like it’s floating. Does it need a tablecloth? Would that ruin it?

Wild Flowers of Britain

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:58:05 -0400

One of the few books I took from my grandmother’s house was this one: The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe.It was given to my grandmother by my aunt and uncle in 1974, the year it was published.

I took it because I have no idea what any flowers are called, so thought this would come in handy. To my shame, I haven’t used it at all this summer. I went for two long walks - one in the countryside, one along the Thames by Kew - and this would have come in very handy as I was incessantly asking Peter “Ooo that flower is pretty, what do you think it is?” The answer to this was generally the very helpful: “Hmmm, I think it’s a flower.” Next time I go on a walk I am determined to remember it, as it has already come in very handy. I now know that the pretty orange flowers outside of Peter’s flat are called Montbretias or Crocosmia. I will probably have forgotten this by tomorrow, but I was glad to find out! The way the book is structured seems to make it incredibly easy to find flowers, and there are lots of pretty illustrations throughout.

I think wanting to know flower names is probably a sign of being old, but if you are interested, there are still some second-hand copies available for really cheap on Amazon.

I’m at home waiting for the washing machine man this...

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:44:37 -0400

I’m at home waiting for the washing machine man this morning, so thought I’d make some more cards. I created stickers of some of my photos this week at work (outside of working hours of course…) and have made four pretty cards this morning using them. This one, of a montbretia plant outside of Peter’s flat, is my favourite.