Bubble Houses

One of my favourite TV programmes when I was a child was Barbapapa. And one of the best things about Barbapapa was the self-build Barbapapa house that they built after the squat they were living in got demolished. Anyone else remember that? I would have loved one of those houses then and still would, truth be told, but it wouldn't go down well with the planners,or so I'm led to believe.

Whist looking on t'internet the other day for cheapo accommodation in France I stumbled across this place - not particularly cheapo, mind you. Its called museumotel and its near Strasbourg.

Surely the Barbas must have had a hand in the design of this place! I'd love to go and stay here. Since finding this one, I've researched a few other bubble houses , the most famous is probably Palais Bulles. Think Barbapapa meets James Bond!

All the Fun of the Fair

Since finishing my latest childrens' book (about 2 weeks ago), I've taken to frantic cushion-making.
I got this fabric made up a little while ago using some of my fairground-inspired illustrations.
I've finally got round to making it up into cushions, which I am hoping to sell in my shops.
The whole cushion making process is perfect for when you feel like doing a fairly brainless manual task. (not sure I could do it all the time though.) I think they would go well in childrens' bedrooms, so if the little ones in your life are lacking somewhere comfy to park their posteriors you may want to invest! My Folksy shop is here and the Etsy one here.

Pretty Flamingos

Here's a design I did for a Valentine's card. I think it was subconsciously inspired by some old 1950ish wallpaper my sister found in their bathroom when they redcorated it! We saw some Flamingos yesterday when we went to Paradise Park in Hayle. They were even more pink than in my illustration. Virtually flourescent they were!

Brideshead Revisited- Revisited

We have been watching the ITV 1980s production of Brideshead Revisited, which makes for good viewing. It is also something of a tweed-fest. Regular readers of this blog will know we are currently undergoing a tweed craze in this house. I say "we" but really mean the other half, as I haven't quite gone down the Miss Jean Brodie route myself! (yet) . The series inspired me to pick up the 1970s copies of Evelyn Waugh's novels that we have and I was reminded of how great these covers are. The cover design is credited as Bentley/Farrell/Burnett . I also did a couple of little drawings myself of the Brideshead characters.

A Huge Thank-You

I've finally got around to making thank you cards for people who sent us things for Christmas, so I'll be sending them out in the next few days. I do regularly update my illustration website these days so please do go and have a look , if you haven't seen my work for a while!

Tootles the Taxi

Hey, Tootles, take me back to the 1950s, it looks nice there! The streets are clean, the houses well-kept, there's nice little shops on the high street, not a Tesco's Metro or a Chelsea Tractor in sight, PLUS people come and deliver buns to your door! Hurrah!
I had this book when I was little (in the 70s) and I'm not sure if this is the exact same copy or whether this one came from a boot sale or somewhere. Both our boys have enjoyed having it read to them despite it being old fashioned - of course that's exactly why I like it. There's something very charming about these nicely executed illustrations of 1950s utopia. I am sure I hardly need to say that it was published by ladybird books, as the format is so recognisable.
Vintage ladybird books now have quite a following and are collectable. If you like these books check out these particularly cool plasters. Worth getting injured for, I reckon!

Country Fair

I found these little gems hiding in a charity shop . They date from 1950/51 and are primarily aimed at farmers and other country gentry. Although not of the huntin' shootin' and fishin' persuasion myself there's quite a lot of interesting information relating to all things country - as the title suggests. There's also lots of 1950s adverts which, as I'm sure we're all aware, are usually game for a laugh. Some are for odd contraptions which wouldn't look out of place in the "innovations" catalogue. However, I did just buy these because I like the covers. There's actually some black and white illustrations inside which are also pretty good. Although I've only shown some of them here, I have 12 issues each featuring animals with a different main colour. I particularly like the one with the black lamb, although I wouldn't want to bump into it on a dark night - it looks mean!

Trevarno Vintage Soap Collection

Are you a soap fan? If so maybe you should visit the soap museum at Trevarno near Helston in Cornwall. However, I don't mean Corrie or Eastenders, rather the stuff you wash with. - Its quite small (not much bigger than a garage in fact) but has a good array of vintage packaging and other soap related items.



Some of my favorites are the soaps in the shapes of animals, T.V. and cartoon characters. Who can resist Pobble with the big toes, even though he looks like he is straining to deposit something rather unsavory on his box.

Beware the red -eyed poodle!

A doll a having a bath.


I can only assume that these are some kind of sock and shirt shaping devices.



Trevarno is a good place to visit even if you're not so keen on soap. Actually, the soap museum is really a kind of side-line thing. The Trevarno estate mainly consists of the gardens with peacocks and good children's play area. Its one of the lesser known Cornish gardens so usually relatively tranquil except when there's a special event on.