Smell the Flowers with Me!

I get so excited when I can see the sun here in London. The winter has felt like it has been going on FOREVER, but now the days are getting brighter and longer and it feels so good!

The weather was so beautiful the other day it inspired me to get out of the house, get my camera out and take a little walk to Regents Park. I spent my time taking in the wonderfully warm sun and admiring the pretty flowers that are starting to bloom!

Gosh it felt like ages since I last went for a stroll around Regents Park and I have no idea why! It is really beautiful there. Gorgeous gardens, lakes, swans and a happy carefree atmosphere to it as people jog, lazily stroll or just sit down on the green grass for a little picnic.

It made me realise that I really only have a few months left in London!! A bit sad, a bit nostalgic but it did remind me that I really ought to take advantage of all the great places here to enjoy while I can. Go back and visit those places just one more time and make sure i 'capture' the moment too on film (well digital film!).

Well I've scattered a few flowers through this post so you can enjoy a bit of Regents Park too - please smell the gorgeous flowers with me!

Men Men Men

I have to admit I am clueless when it comes to gift buying for men. I always go for the default clothes cause I just never know what to do - atleast I know they'll get some use out of it.

But this year for my husbands birthday I thought I might have a little bit of a squiz on etsy to see if there was anything for guys (i know there are heaps of things for us lucky ladies!). I was suprised to find some pretty cool stuff there [click on the image for more details]

There was this one for the beer drinker
from dennisanderson.etsy.com

These ones for those who have a little geekery in them
from Cufflinks.etsy.com & buttercrumb.etsy.com



This one for the man who always loses his wedding ring
from Boxnmor.etsy.com


This one for the guy who only wears t-shirts
from timberps.etsy.com


And this one for the sports fanatic
from artexchange.etsy.com

Hey, my husband seems to fit into all those categories!! Etsy might be alright for guys pressies after all!

VACATION SALE!

I'm taking a holiday! Yipppeeee!! But its costing a bit more than I thought so i've decided to do a sale on my photographs to hopefully get a little bit more cash to fund this trip. So here it is:

20% off all photographic prints and photo card sets till the end of April 08!!

......and then......America here I come - whooopppeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and all my US readers, I know the US is huge but pass me your top picks of things to do, or must visit restaurants to eat at (i love my food!!), or best shopping outlets to go crazy at, or anything else u think is the best!!

And to entice you here's a few goodies that are on sale [click on the image for more details] or just click here to go direct to my shop

Winter Solitude

Deserted Gas Station

Qi Gang

Ok, so I may be a bit behind but I watched the final episode of ANTM Cycle 9 the other night and I was really blown away by the Chinese Fashion Designer Qi Gang. His clothes were amazing! So beautiful to look at and I was seriously drooling over them imagining how nice they would be to wear.

I went on to the net to find out more about this designer but a google search didn't bring up much at all so i was left a little disappointed and will just have to wait till he becomes a huge international sensation to be able to check out more of his designs.

Not the ones I saw on ANTM but just as to die for gorgeous!!

Photos from china.org.cn & ccc-hs.net

Autumn Kiss

Congratulations AmyBuchheit - you are the winner of the Name This Photo Comp! I loved your title 'Autumn Kiss'! It goes great with the colours of the photo and it is simple and sweet just like this image.

It was a hard decision (esp cause i'm really bad at making decisions!), I could see how all of them would go great with the photo - you guys are so much better at this naming biz than me! But here were a few other fav titles that I just had to mention:

Reaching Out - from tjmetz
The Hair Cut - from Dre
Stump 'n' Wispy - from Hey Harriet

The last two just cracked me up :) and 'Reaching Out' seemed so soulful.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU everyone for helping me out with this! I had so much fun reading everyones suggestions! Names that I just never would have thought off - goes to show how cool photos are in that everyone sees something different from the exact same image!! I love it!!

Autumn Kiss is now available here:


Prize Winners
AmyBuchheit - I will get in touch with you with the email on your blogspot profile re your Prize
tjmetz, Dre, Hey Harriet - Cause I also loved your ones i'll send you a little something too :)

If for some reason you don't get my emails - send me a convo at my shop or email me at ppdesigns.etsy@yahoo.com

Help Me! I'm A T-Shirt Addict!

Ever since I discovered Threadless I have become a t-shirt addict!!! I love the cute designs on there and the funny names they give all their t-shirts! But now I have so many t-shirts i've lost count! I've got them in every single colour that i've now got to the stage where i have t-shirts in lots of the same colour even.

I just went in last week to order another one and then today I just went to check out the store again for their weekly new designs and a t-shirt I thought was sold out is actually in stock! YAY! I just went and bought :)

My threadless goodies so far [click on the picture for more details]

From Top to Bottom:
Hide & Sheep - Nuts! - Runnin' Rhino - Loch Ness Imposter - Nerds Unite

On top of threadless my friends have just started doing some of their own t-shirt designs so I've also been a little naughty and bought even more t-shirts!!

Guitar Hero

This one here is cause i'm such a guitar hero fan and is designed by my very talented & creative friend Jay

Pork Roll

And this pork rolly one, well one of my best buds designed this uber cute tee. I couldn't resist cause I am very much missing the viet pork rolls from back home, in Sydney that we can't seem to find anywhere here in London. I hear they have them in Paris, but we never find them when we go there :( So instead I wear my t-shirt to remind me of all the yummy food i'm going to go back home to :)

Wow looking back that's a lot of online t-shirt buying - it doesn't even include all the ones I purchase at the actual shops!! Somebody Help Me!!!

PS: Don't forget my 'Name This Photo' competition just below - it's still going - winner to be announced on Monday 14th April 2008.

Name This Photo Competition!

I just got an order back from my print lab and I really love how they came out, but i'm having problems coming up with Title Names for some of them!

My attempts to name it has been quite sad to be honest and my husbands hasn't been any better.

But my husband did come up with a great idea to hold a mini competition/giveaway and get others to help me with some creative names.

So here it is: Please help me name this photo by leaving a comment with your suggestion and if I select yours you can choose any earring in my shop for FREE (even free shipping!).

If you want some info - this photo was taken on a crisp winter morning at Richmond Park in the UK.

I want to list this photo soon so will announce the winner on Monday 14th April 2008. Thanks!!

Fantastic Etsy Purchase!

One of my first few etsy purchases was from this lovely UK seller Angharad. I can't even remember how I found her shop, but all I know is that I loved the cute fabrics and pieces she made with them.

There was little hesitation when I purchased these! [click on the image for more details]

They were perfect for me cause I can never find my loose tissues in my handbag when I need them desparately and by the time I get to them they are always gunky from all the crap thats way down deep at the bottom of my handbag! Plus I love offering tissues to all my friends now...'oh you need a tissue, i have one' *pulls out gorgeous tissue holder*

And I found the cute purse was just the right size for me to take to the gym! I never bring anything more than my water bottle, keys, loose change and mobile to the gym and now I can go to the gym with just my water bottle and a little purse that fits everything I need into it!

These have been one of my best buys on etsy so far!! Thanks Angharad!!

Reintroducing - Photo Greeting Cards!

A little while ago I introduced single listing photo greeting cards into my shop. I thought it would be a great idea - smaller priced items of my work that people could use as a greeting card but at the same time allowing the recipient of the card the option to frame the card as it has an actual photo mounted on the card stock. The card could become a mini gift aswell & wouldn't be heading for the recycling bin!

But the cards didn't seem to take off at all and I was heistant to relist as it would eat into the tiny profits that I make on the card itself, so before I decided to make more cards and begin the relisiting process I thought I would check the forums to see what was wanted by a wider community than just me!

The forums were great! I got feedback and found other threads on greeting cards. From that I took the feedback and redid my photo greeting card section in my etsy shop.

Now i've got cards in sets of 3 or 2 and also offer a single card option if the buyer prefers this.

I retook all my photos and added some new photo cards into my range and redid the descriptions.

Here is the final result of my new (and hopefully improved) photo greeting cards (click on the photo to see more images of each card in the set)

I have lots more to list but going to see how these fair first. What do you think - should I keep listing or wait and see????

Namibian Desert Dreams

Theres something about the desert that I love. I think it's because it's so huge and bare. You look out across that massive expanse and all you can see is sand and nothing else. It's amazing that all those teeny tiny grains of sand can create such massive beauty in just the way each sand grain hangs onto to each other to create dunes as high as mountains!

I love the way the colour of the sand changes with just the light. When the sun rises and sets each grain reflects the sun light and in just that moment, the sand becomes a fiery orange.

I love the way the wind creates swirls of sand just above the dunes surface. It is a mystical and magical feeling to watch the movements in the sand

And I love the fact that there is nothing else around. It is completey devoid of technology, civilization and modernisation

There is much beauty in isolation.

All these photos were taken in Namibia. Available here

Wonderful Sterling Silver Pendants

I've been a bit sick the last few weeks which has been terrible as I can't leave the house that much...BUT it has meant i've been indoors, wrapped in a blankie and huddled over the internet (hey, it's indoors it's ok!). As a result I have lots more items in my 'favourites' on etsy.

A few of my finds have been these really lovely sterling silver pendants which I have found in two wonderful shops - That Silver Touch and Annabella Designs

I particularly love the simple clean lines of each pendant making them great for everyday wear but at the same time still being unqiue and allowing them to be great 'conversation starter' pieces!! Now, the only question that remains is....for me or for a friend? ;)

Click on a pendant for more details