Easter treats

At a Spring fair a while ago, I did the usual trick of finding lots of lovely things for myself rather than buying the presents for others that I'd told myself would justify the visit. I'm a sucker for beautiful handmade ceramics and couldn't resist this porcelain bowl by Sarah Field Ceramics. It's perfect for mini eggs, although they didn't last too long!

The great thing about buying at fairs is getting to meet the producers and having a chat about their work.

I also bought these really sweet little Easter decorations too to hang on some willow branches.

I had planned to take some artfully shot images of them adorning the Easter table but to be honest we were so busy this weekend we never quite got around to having a sit down Easter feast. Next year, I'm planning on a proper roast with Easter decorations and all the trimmings so they will have to wait until then for a starring role.

You can learn more about Sarah Field's hand thrown porcelain on her website.

Nursery decor from A-Z

The alphabet cards on Finley's wall

It's hard to believe it was almost a year ago that I went to the Pick Me Up contemporary graphic arts festival at London's Somerset House. I had meant to blog about it at the time, but being pregnant and constantly tired I never quite got round to it. It was so inspiring and the sort of exhibition where I would genuinely love to own the art so I'm planning to go again this year, and I will post about it this time round.

Personalised prints being created by Nursery Names at Pick Me Up 2013

One of the surprising things was how child friendly it was - it's funny how you start to look at things with a different perspective. We were there early on a Saturday morning and not only were there lots of parents with little ones (a revelation: so this is what you do when you're not hungover and up at the crack of dawn), but there were printing workshops and creative spaces where older kids could get involved in creative projects too. There were also quite a few artists creating work aimed at children and the stuff that really caught my eye was by Nursery Names. In their own words it's a "customisable alphabet print project founded by London based graphic artist & art director Emily Forgot". They were creating personalised prints on site, or you could buy individual letter prints or alphabet prints. But I went for the beautiful sets of alphabet cards. I love the quirky illustrations and the fact that they are fun without being too twee.

I had originally planned to frame the whole set but after struggling home from Ikea with a giant picture frame and trying to arrange them in it, they still didn't look right. Luckily, as I was looking back at my children's nursery Pinterest board for inspiration, I looked again at a nursery that had used traditional twine to peg alphabet cards to the wall. I decided this would be perfect and would make a different yet stylish way to display the cards. I'm really pleased with how they look and now just need to get a few more prints up in Finley's room so it starts to look a bit cosier. I'm also booked in for a lampshade making course at a local creative cafe in June so I can make him an original lamp shade - decent kids ones are surprisingly hard to find.

The alphabet card sets or personalised prints would make a brilliant birthday or christening present for little ones and they come in a variety of colour ways. You can find out more at the Nursery Names website.