Time to reflect…

happy birthday Matt!

Pool challenge!

So we know Mat used to play everyday and Sherry is always a dark horse so it was game on. Venue – Notting Hills Elbow Room. I arrived feeling sick as a dog having sat in the back of Stirling Moss’s A3 – not an excuse, just been thrown around a bit! Anyway few beers and several games later Sherry won, mmmn I reckon he’s been having a few quiet games in prep! Still then on to Walmer Castle for a Thai – bloody good night and of course the challenge continues! Great place too!

Christmas spirit!

Gotta love Christmas! This year we all fancied going to Winter Wonderland to soak up the Christmas spirit – and boy did we! We started with a hearty breakfast (to line the stomach!) then WW. Lots of beer and wine consumed, it really was Christmassy – we had a fab time. Then some walked, some trained to the restaurant in Covent Garden. The walk was great taking in the sights and sounds of London, it’s an amazing city. Covent Garden was decorated with huge decs and a fantastic tree! Following a hearty meal and more booze we went to a bar and finished the night in proper style! The journey home was hilarious as I’ve never seen the entire platform at the station pissed! Happy Crimbo!

Movember – done

So hair today, gone tomorrow – that was November or Movember as it’s now called! Finally the irritating itch on my face can be removed, all for a good cause though.

Hair today, gone tomorrow…

It’s Movember again and that means the office has been enriched with a few dashing hirsute gentlemen. Sculptured facial hair has to be grown for the month of November to raise money for charity and is jolly good fun! However thankfully it’s only for 1 month and let me assure you that it’s quite enough. The itching is quite uncomfortable, but it’s for a good charity! Full story and pics end of the month.

http://uk.movember.com/donate/

maintenance

Winter of content

As we’ve suddenly hit winter head-first (and yes, I don’t do things by halves – there is no Autumn, this is WINTER) – it’s time to pack away the sundresses, get out the slippers, and bake some nice stuff.

Enter some lovely foodie blogs full of beautiful photography to get the ideas flowing, like What Katie Ate; gorgeous baking at Mowielicious; or even vegetarian ideas (amazing! no meat!) at Green Kitchen Stories.

Or, for some more ‘aggressive’ inspiration, give this a whirl!

Happy cooking!

Making the most of it!

The weather’s still unbelievably good and not to be missed, so I sent an email around shouting “bike weather!!” and off we went!

Few rides later we found a fab new course – very fast, very scary, with lots of rocks and very tightly packed trees. Up and down hill full pelt. I hit a tree (it didn’t move!) and went off a small bridge – minor cuts and bruises but sooo worth the buzz!

Discovered Crabbies Ginger beer too (alcoholic ginger beer no less) nice. Basically we had a blast. Last day on the way back we stopped off at Laycock Abbey where they filmed Harry Potter – really cool place, lots of geeky moments were had. Well worth a visit.

The weather

So what’s with the weather September/October?? Leaves are on the floor but it was 26 degrees yesterday and boy did we feel it. A lovely client of ours needed a shoot doing quickly so we jumped to it! It took place on a sweltering footy pitch, but the light was amazing, check it out (iphone snap on the job!). Done – it’s in the bag and I’m pleased with the results – where’s the shower?!

A whole summer of wedding!

I’ve spent my spare time this summer as general assistant and designer-on-loan to my sister, to help bring together everything for her wedding.

Three kinds of invites, RSVP postcards and hand-cut envelopes? No problem. Cocktail creation and testing? Of course. About 2 miles of handmade bunting? Fine. Hand-cut hangtags for cutlery? Post-box for wedding cards? Menu for cupcakes? Plant box for cocktail menu? Flag signs for cakes? Table laying, chair dragging, flower arranging, toe stubbing…? Done.

Can I have next summer off please?

Pictures from the fantastic photographer Chris Giles

itype

Actually I only type on a Mac these days! In the days of glossy screens and brushed aluminium perfection, how lovely it is to see something mechanical. These old typewriters bring back a few memories for me (yes I’m showing my age). I can remember as a very young kid trying to move my parents’ typewriter – pretty much all the working parts were metal so it was heavy. But the brilliant thing was when you hit that key you could see the mechanical arm raise and press the letterform against the ink reel, then print it on the paper – and who can forget the sound of the roller or the sound of the keys pummeling the paper once you got into a sentence! But make a mistake – mmm that’s a bummer – until Tippex that is! Anyway you can buy these on Fab.com… nothing like a bit of nostalgia!

Bastard

Excuse the use of ‘iffy’ language but I’m not happy. I’m at Westfield the rather lovely shopping heaven with my son looking for a few bits and bobs.
When we spot Snog (the frozen yoghurt company). Very cool and as I’m on a health kick, perfect (no fat!) check em out, fab. So we place our order ‘the £4.94′ special, has to be said – it’s big and bit of a challenge and can’t be rushed otherwise you get the ‘ice headache’ so we tuck in. Just to note, I had put my new Nike holdall (in a massive paper bag) under the table while we ‘chilled out’. We had been slightly distracted by a young lady who asked if we’d like a massage…? yes we sniggered then I noticed some guy sitting very close behind me (odd when there was enough seating around), but we carried on the chat. Once finished i took 3 paces forward then turned around to pick up my spanking new Nike bag – gone! Blimey that was quick, actually I feel miffed, bastard behind me must have nicked it. Security and Police came, I wasn’t sure I wanted to create a fuss for a £35 bag but what if it’d been someone’s purse… Anyway I have to say although all very impressive at Westfield, (and Snog is a brilliant creation with lovely branding and shopfit) it does have a problem with thieves/opportunists – scumbags, so be warned.

Dear Photograph

I think the best blogs are born from the simplest ideas. For humour I like The Cat Scan and Upsidedown Dogs. They’re truly ridiculous and at the same time, brilliant.

However one that stands out as having more meaning and longevity is Dear Photograph. Old photographs are pictured in the same spot, today, with a little accompanying story. Some are funny and many will have you crying like a baby.

Dear Photograph,
I hope I’ve made my dad proud.
Ryan

 

Dear Photograph,
I told you there would be better days.
Joel Witte

If you’ve not been to the site, go now – but get ready to feel the uncontrollable urge to raid your mum’s photo albums and create your own submission.

Old Turf…

In a past life I worked in Notting Hill for many years and I never went to the carnival, lovely place NH, my old turf. The carnival has been going for 47 years, blimey! Trouble is when you work there you get to see and smell the aftermath on Monday when back to work. I remember driving up the Westbourne Grove and seeing one road completely blocked with 3 feet of rubbish going as far as I could see up the road! I proceeded to my parking space to find a 12 foot chicken (costume) parked in my space? Once out I got the full effect, a mix of burnt chicken and pee smell – eek! The pavement was sticky from chicken fat, mmmn maybe that’s why I never went. Anyway this weekend we did and it was brilliant. I’d read about the expected Police presence ‘just in case’ but all went swimmingly. Everywhere was boarded up and you couldn’t help notice the enormous amount of rubbish (expected) – but the music and dancing made up for that. The effort put in on costumes was brilliant. If you’ve never been – go!

Me!

Posted by Abigail

My last day at Quirk & Hyll. I have to admit, I’m going to miss this place.

I’ve been here for a week in total, which has gone so quickly it’s ridiculous. I originally asked to come to Quirk & Hyll to do work experience, but now I don’t want to leave! I was actually surprised at how involved I was, as soon as I got there I was being briefed by Claire on my first job, which I found very exciting!

Being here for simply a week, I’ve learnt a hell of a lot, enjoyed the company of the people, worked on real jobs and loved every minute of it!

Also, being here I’ve bagged myself a couple of best pals. Rhubarb and Custard they go by. Possibly the cutest set of pups I’ve ever met. If I had brought a bigger bag with me today, I may have considered.. Oh nothing ;o)

On a serious note, Quirk & Hyll is such a focused and extremely creative company, I’m inspired by the people I’ve met here. I would just like to say a massive Thank you to Peggy and David for giving me the opportunity to explore my future path in life and making me feel like a member of the ‘Quirk & Hyll gang’.

Thanks again.

It’s a tough job…

We’re loving working with our fab new clients at WORX. Fantastic tools for domestic and pro use. It’s a huge range and beautifully designed in Italy. The boys here were all frothing at the mouth when a large shipment arrived at our photographic studios. We’ve begun creating a suite of marketing material to appeal to builders in the trade. As you can see it’s a tough job with our model here holding one of the new ‘hot’ naked range. Basically a brilliant but simple idea: you can add to your WORX tool selection with naked tools that come without batteries – you use the ones you have so you don’t have the cost of batteries each time. Brilliant! Can’t wait to see it all out there, exciting stuff!!