The land of lost toys

I came across this beautiful collection of photographs by Davina Zagury through the Babyccinokids blog yesterday, and fell in love with the atmospheric imagery, muted colours of pastel tints and interesting compositions; the photos have a vintagey yet also very modern feel. Called 'The Land of Lost Toys', Zagury explores the memories and stories that toys can possess, and each image has a description of the year and place the toy was found.

"I decided to look for other lost toys. Toys that have an interesting history, hold wonderful stories, and lived in far away places. I was attracted to toys that I sensed had memories worth being cherished, and I wanted to give something back to them". - Davina Zagury.

Pattern overload

Another excellent MM-organised trip to the Saatchi gallery to see 'New Art from Germany'. Massive pattern overload, rich use of colour, detailed decoupage and thick layers of acrylic, abstract imagery and intricately-painted overgrown garden scenes. Plus a couple of interesting sculptures made from stretched canvas and lacquer. See Mothers-Meetings' post here.

Hello baby Jake!

We made the long journey up to north-west London yesterday to meet baby Jake (already nearly 8 months old!). He loved his knitted hand puppet (from Julie's Handmade World) and we loved his little lion socks! We had a nosey around his home and found some very quirky and eclectic things....a brightly coloured crochet blanket, denim toys (his Mum is a very cool denim consultant), a 3-in-1 wooden horse rocker/high chair/table found on eBay, fabric dinosaur bunting from Antwerp, beautifully illustrated books, cute footprint cast and scan pics, and Pinocchio hanging up in the kitchen!

Finger puppets!

Fast becoming one of the favourite toys in our house, finger puppets are brilliant for just stuffing in your bag or pocket when you're going out for the day or have a long train ride - they weigh next to nothing and are much more fun than bulky big plastic toys.....use your imagination, make up stories or sing songs that feature the animal character.

We have quite a collection now, many were given as presents and had been sitting in the bottom of the toy bucket until recently. Some of ours are by Jellycat, some bought at Broadway market and the colourful cockerel came from Julie's Handmade World...just opposite our flat!

Footprint pottery

We visited the new pottery cafe on Northcote Road, Battersea just before Christmas to make some unique presents for family. Lily painted with her feet to create a gorgeous little mug for her Auntie (complete with red London bus stamp on the inside!) and we turned her footprints into butterflies on plates for the grandparents.

Teeny slippers

Although L has barely started wearing shoes, she received two pairs of slippers for Christmas (essential in a flat with floorboards both for warmth and to soften her heavy footsteps for the people below!). Her Uncle and Auntie brought back some adorable handmade sheepskin moccasins from a trip to Yorkshire which keep her little toes nice and snug.

I couldn't quite contain my excitement when I spotted some Collegien babushka doll slippersocks in the window of Do South in Crystal Palace. I had been lusting after them for months after seeing them on Ninainvorm's blog here, here and here and couldn't resist buying a pair. I was also inspired to make a couple of Collegien-style 'collection collages'...so much fun!