neat little things: My Weekend And Top Drawer

Hello! Well, what a weekend. The troops are back from Bexhill and I think Mec just about survived! It was a tough weekend for him I think as both kids have returned with colds (first week of nursery germs I'm guessing!) so whilst I'm rested and rejuvenated, Mec is in need of a weekend of recovery himself! I really missed them while they were away, the house was so still and quiet (I think Zoe, our 16 yr old cat was delighted!). And as if a peaceful weekend to myself wasn't enough of a treat, daddy and my babies bought me a little surprise from the De La Warr design shop (I love that shop!) - a De La Warr mug by People Will Always Need Plates. I have a yellow version already, so my new green mug will feel right at home. Thanks lovely family! :)

So, what did I do with my weekend then? Well Saturday I did a few bits around the house and then met a couple of my girlfriends in town for some tea, cake and a catch up (our fav place does amazing banana and walnut cake so it would have been rude not to). And then on Sunday I went up to London to look around the Top Drawer show, at Kensington Olympia which was a fair old trek but well worth it.

I've been doing a lot of brainstorming around my shop recently and I'm thinking I want to change direction slightly with the look and feel of the shop, as well as the stock, so I was looking forward to getting some much needed inspiration at this trade show. There was some really great stands there (as well as some not so great) and where possible I tried to snap a few shots on my iPhone to share...

The House Doctor stand was great - an amazing range of products, pretty much all of which I would love to either stock or have in my house!

I loved these Wooden/Metal hooks, and the canvas washbags were great too...

These coloured Wire Bowls caught my eye too...

And these large canvas bags were fab - I love this "Carry Me Away" version!

Next I popped over to Rice. Their display was also huge and packed full of colour and textures. Not sure it's right for my shop but I do love their products.

I love the green tin from this set, vintage inspired and very pleasing to the eye!

The Rice stand was very homely, as you can tell!

I took a break from the Home section to look around the Stationery stands - there are so many talented people out there, designing wonderful cards and stationery. This area was tricky to photograph as most people were pretty cagey about having their stuff photographed (understandably so I guess if you're livelihood is drawing, you don't want to get ripped off!) so I only took one at Louise & Lygo (with the illustrator's permission!) - I loved this range, in particular my favourite was this "You Are My Greatest Adventure" card, so cute.

So you'll have to take my word for it that the other stationery stands were good, and finally I headed back to the Home section for a final look around. My last few photos are of the Northlight stand - they represent so many great scandinavian brands (and Skinny LaMinx from South Africa) it was easy to spend a while browsing through their product ranges.