Ruth d'Andilly-Clune

New Website & Blog !

2015-02-02T09:03:00.001+00:00

A couple of months ago I launched my new website, complete with a blog.

All the blog posts previously published on here, are now published on my website.

Go check it out! ruthdandilly.co.uk

2014-09-15T15:58:00.000+01:00

On Sunday, I wrote a post regarding the 3D-printed letterpress font that Dan and I saw at the V&A for The London Design Festival (if you missed it, read it here) I told you that I will be updating my blog when Adrian Harrison’s film is released. Alas, it has been uploaded. Originally uploaded and announced by Creative Review, you can see Adrian’s short film here on his vimeo and you can also see the other cool projects that he’s been working on, such as the Joby Carter signwriter I mentioned in my previous post.

Go and check him out.

The London Design Festival 13-21 September 2014

2014-09-13T19:15:00.000+01:00

Today found Dan and I at The London Design Festival at the V&A.

Yesterday whilst checking Design Taxi, I noticed a really cool article about 3D printed type. Instantly interested, I had a read and showed this to my colleague Ben, who has just built a 3D printer, see his tweets here. He also printed me a letter R which you can see on my Instagram here. He's looking for new little projects and cool things to print whilst he's prototyping and learning to built design in CAD.

After a little research into this cool little project, I realised it was The London Design Festival 13-21 September 2014. We looked online and I instantly knew that we should be attending this short film held at the V&A.

Before that though, whilst checking out this really cool 3D typeface project, I was led onto a Vimeo page of Adrian Harrison. I was watching a film he made on 'Learn to Sign Write' with Joby Carter who is a traditional signwriter and sign restorer. His work is truly inspiring. I remember for my birthday a couple of years ago, asking for a couple of sign writing books to pick up this fantastic art form after watching David Adrian Smith create something similar with glass. I found him after researching who did John Mayer's intricate album cover for his 'Born and Raised' album. I was blown away by this incredible skill. I still have yet to get round to digging out my signwriting books and making a start but I hope to soon as I've been so inspired.

So, back to today. Dan and I headed our way to the room in the V&A and noticed the guys were giving an extra screening of the film at 1pm - perfect timing! They had the 3D printed typeface on the desk and Beatrice from the New North Press was creating some prints in front of us. It was a pleasure just watching it. Shortly after sitting down, the film was played, introduced by Adrian Harrison. I was thinking "Where do I know that name? I know that name!" before realising is was the film-maker who created the short film for Joby Carter the day previous. Awesome sauce. The film was fantastic and Richard Ardagh talked through his idea about bringing the old letterpress with the new 3D printing technology which is now taking off and being used reasonably wildly. Richard went through the initial idea to the prototyping, with the font designed by A2-Type and 3D-printed by Chalk Studios and through to final testing and adding it to the thousands of typefaces they store at New North Press as an actual working font. This film, this work reminded me of why I got into design. Why I was excited. I found it exciting. It reminded me of the work experience at Newton Press Ltd a couple of years ago when I was still studying. I was learning about the old letterpress machinery, from the heidelberg's to the new Presstek 34DI digital offset printing press.

After the short film, Dan and I got chatting to Adrian and I told him I'd seen his previous films. We were chatting about his current work and some exciting projects he's got coming up. I'll be posting his short film about the A23D, a 3D-printed letterpress font when it's published on his Vimeo.

After having a good old chinwag with these very talented people, I even got the chance to letterpress my own initial with their 3D printed typeface. Absolutely so chuffed.

I cannot get over how creative and refreshing this idea is. I'm throughly impressed and it's great there are so many talented individuals in this project. Check out the New North Press's website for more info.

Thanks to all those there today who inspired me.

Design sites & inspiration

2014-09-13T09:33:00.000+01:00

I was recently asked by someone for advice in order to push her career into a direction which was more design focussed. I think sometimes it's really difficult to give advice on design in general because it can be so broad and open.

Nowadays I don't even know what to call myself. I studied graphic design for many years, and always called myself a graphic designer. But it seems now that the industry has moved around a bit and I've started calling myself a digital designer. I primarily focus on digital with some design for print involved. I'm very cautious because I think the term 'graphic designer' is kind of becoming more broad and a little more dangerous. Design is becoming a bit more specific and I've seen the following terms used: graphic designer, digital designer, print designer, UX/UI designer, interface designer, web designer.

So, with that it mind it was hard to give advice on my friend who wants to "get more into design" because design is so broad nowadays. To give her a better idea of the type of design is prefers, I sent her a list of sites/blogs/portfolio sites that she can look at and go through to see if there's any type of design which particularly jumps out at her as something she wants to progress to. I decided to share some of these too.

Some are quite broad, some feature more photography or product design but I think to be an all round good designer, despite the fact that I work primarily in digital design creating ads and campaigns, not only do I need to keep up with the latest design trends but also advertising trends, UX/UI trends and even photography trends.

(In no particular order!)

SwissMiss

www.swiss-miss.com

This site is about a swiss designer who blogs everything from design/architecture to product design. I like her style because she doesn't feel the need to write about absolutely everything. There's usually bits here which appear on other design sites/blogs I've noticed so I know whatever she's posting is up to date and current. Often to not, she posts really cool innovative products, which can be pretty cool. Also, she usually updates on Friday.

Behance

www.behance.net

Here is a great collection of design of all sorts - you can set up a free portfolio too and like/follow other work. It's great for checking out the latest design trends from digital to print, UX/UI, interface and web designer. I've also noticed more and more design agencies are creating portfolios of their professional work and client work. Definitely check it out.

Dribbble
www.dribbble.com

This is pretty much the same as Behance except I think you have to be invited to use this site. You can still browse and check the work of others for free but you first off have a basic account and you can pay and upgrade for obviously, a more premium account. There's a lot of great design work on here and I'd recommend it for when you need a little inspiration.

Likecool

www.likecool.com

I love browsing through the pages on this site. Some things I'm personally really not interested in but there's always concept pieces, innovative products and some pretty cool videos. It's good for a bit of a more quirky need for design inspiration or even if you have a spare few minutes on your lunch break.

Design Taxi
www.designtaxi.com

I personally love this little site. It has everything from design/ photography/ art/ products/ campaigns and advertising. I use this site everyday to see cool trends and interesting articles because it's just so interesting.

Awwwards

www.awwwards.com

A really great website which allows other websites to be recognised for various UX/UI features, the design, structure and layout. The websites are submitted so they range in content but really great to what other people are doing and how successful (or perhaps un-successful) various types of web design and functionality can be.

Siteinspire

www.siteinspire.com

As the name suggests, it's sites which are inspiring. It's for web design inspiration and you can submit your own sites or other peoples sites. I find this site particularly useful. Much like Awwards.com (above) the content of the sites submitted vary.

Creativebloq

www.creativebloq.com

Here's some really cool general design news, tips and inspiration. It's updated regularly meaning you'll always be up to date with what the industry is talking about (even if the site is a bit cheesy and buzz-feedy...(in my opinion))

Creative Review

www.creativereview.co.uk

My partner and I subscribed to these magazines, but you can also get general content online. This site sells itself as 'advertising, design & visual culture'. Definitely a one stop shop for all your design trends/ articles. I also enjoy that there's usually interviews with up and coming designers/ more well known designers.

Codrops
www.tympanus.net.codrops

This site holds really cool digital/web design, UX/UI inspiration and is really good to keep up to date on web trends. It also has tutorials and other helpful info. Bookmark this, now.

There's obviously a hell of a lot more that I could mention, I haven't even really touched on adverting blogs which I get updates from but I think for me, these are some of the great sites to make sure you keep on trend. As for my friend, it's a good start to see what sort of design she wants to do and which type of design most excites her. I think in this current design age, you need to know how to do pretty much everything when it comes to design so it doesn't hurt to learn as much as you can and keep all doors open.

Enjoy the sites and links -

So what's been happening the last month?

2014-06-15T23:45:00.001+01:00

It's been about a month since I've updated this blog. Things have been a bit crazy lately and I've hardly found the time so catch up on things that I've needed to.

So since I've last updated my blog I've been working like crazy, travelling on the tube to much, reading, baking, seeing people like Charlie Simpson, Kina Grannis and Imaginary Future and have a migraine for the last 2 days. Yay for life!

For anyone who follows me on Instagram (@ruthdandilly) you'd see my daily snaps and thoughts in photo form. For those that don't, you can see some of the lovely things I've been doing (with who other than my partner in everything, Daniel below)

Dan and I went to go and see Charlie Simpson at the O2 Academy in Islington. After a really great show and asking two people to shut up since they insisted on talking throughout the entire gig, we took a lovely stroll and walked to Highbury & Islington. It looks like there's some amazing restaurants there and strangely we saw a group of people circled around a mouse on the pavement watching it sneek some food it found. It was like the people of Islington had never seen a mouse before. So bizarre.

The weekend following, Dan and I went to go and see the dried up crispy mammoth at the Natural History Museum. It was pretty incredible to see something that old up close. It was amazing how well preserved it really put a perspective on time and how really insignificant some things are in the space of time.

Below is also a really awesome sculpture Dan and I found in a shop near Oxford Street. Would totally have bought this... if I could have afford it.

The weekend following I met up with an old friend I went to school with many many years ago. Tom Starr. (or to me, TomStarrFace). I met up with him and his lovely girlfriend Jess and I'm pretty sure I made them yawn for 4 hours chatting to them about life and old times. Still, it was great seeing him since it has been about 4 years since we last saw each other.

The weekend following saw Dan and I celebrating our 1st year anniversary in London. It brought about some exciting conversations about the future and where we see ourselves in another year. A year in London has gone incredibly quickly but it's also been an amazing learning curve full of tears and laughter and happiness :) Thank you to everyone who's supported us.

Last week also saw my big brother, Jules turn the ripe old age of 25. TWENTY-FIVE! My gosh, I remember when I was giving him presents for his 10th birthday. Still, he's grown into an exceptional human being with a passion and love for photography which is clearly evident throughout all his work. You can see his website here, and he's got a new one coming real soon too! Will definitely update you when it's up and running.

Last week also saw me seeing a long time American singer songwriter I admire, Kina Grannis and her husband, Imaginary Future. Having followed her on youtube for about 6 years, I never thought I'd get the opportunity to see her. Then, I see her twice in one week. Simply amazing!

And also, I couldn't write a post on the 15th June 2014 without taking a paragraph to talk about my dear Dad. This photo was taken when I was living in Hong Kong in 2013. It's at some point on this roof that he told me I should come home, after only 6 months of being there, move to London and carry on doing design and something I love. That's exactly what I did. If he hadn't guided me and taken the time to talk to me, I wouldn't be in the amazing place that I am now. So Dad, thank you for everything you've done and everything you continue to do. Not just for me, but for everyone around you. You give a lot of yourself and it never, ever goes unnoticed.

I love you, pops.

And finally, if you're still reading by this point I just want to say thank you. I've rambled on for quite some time now. This is the last little bit of the post, I promise.

Today Dan and I went to Portobello Road and visited Jamie's Recipease shop. Dan bought us an amazing lunch - possibly one of the best lunch's I've had in London, and I bought us some cookie dough and some brownie mix with some lovely cake tins to go with. Definitely pop by the shop and but some chocolate and peanut butter cookie dough (if you can't find is ask them to make it up for you!) and have something to eat in the restaurant. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for reading :)

Papa C's Birthday in London

2014-05-17T19:10:00.000+01:00

This week saw my pops down in London for a couple of days. During his stay, it was his birthday so Dan and I decided to take him out and do something nice.

Seeing Dad wearing his shades, listening to music walking in the London summer sunshine, I have to say not only did he look younger than his age but looked so cool! He told me he was walking down the Mall when he saw David Cameron jogging with some security guards. He managed to grab a few snaps of the sweaty Prime Minister.

I took him to St. Paul's for the sung Eucharistic service. There was a choir and they used the incense which was so so nice. The church was beautiful too, so grand and full of history. After that, we went for a coffee and headed to Soho to go for a lovely Thai meal together.

The lovely TomYam soup that Dad and I love.

Our eyes were definitely bigger than our bellies. We ordered too much, and ate too much, but it was just so so nice! We walked out of there holding our tummies!

After we got in, Dan and I surprised him with a yummy Lemon Drizzle sponge with some candles - you can't have a birthday and not have a birthday cake!

It was a really lovely couple of days :) Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, Dad :)

I'm published in a book! Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology by Barrie Tullett, Laurence King Publishing

2014-05-10T20:56:00.000+01:00

The title of this post pretty much says it all but I'm still over the moon that I'm featured in a book put together by my former University Lecturer, Barrie Tullett.

Last year I received an email asking if I'd like to be in the book, and of course I felt extremely honoured to be asked. After a few problems with knowing if it could be featured or not, I received confirmation that it would in fact be published in the book in May 2014.

Lo and behold, I bought the book from Laurence King Publishing and was over the moon when it arrived - just in time for the beautiful bank holiday!

So here we are, the book I'm featured in by Barrie Tullett...

(If you are interested in buying the book, buy it directly from Laurence King Publishing as then the lovely author receives royalties.)

Nice one. So chuffed!

Tues 22 April 2014 - The Metro - Barrie Tullett 'A Modern Anthology of Typewriter Art'

2014-04-27T10:18:00.000+01:00

So on Tuesday, it was the first day back to work after a long bank holiday weekend. The tube and overground lines were playing up. As if getting up at 6:30am wasn't hard enough I had to take an alternative route into work.

However, I was soon smiling when I was reading the Metro on my phone and I saw a name that I recognised, my former university tutor, Barrie Tullett.

He was featured in the Metro because he's complied a book named 'A Modern Anthology of Typewriter Art' and I extremely honoured to say that I'm featured in this book which is going to be published by Laurence King Publishing which is released next month.

Read the article here: Barrie's Tullett's article in the Metro

The Week Illustration: Family Matters

2014-04-21T20:25:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago Dan and I had a job in for an illustration for an Newspaper called 'The Week'. On Thursday last week, the illustration went live on their homepage.

It's an interactive which discusses all of the common questions and worries than family member have for one another, which then links through to articles answering them. Check it our via this link to their homepage or the images below.

Arthur Razor - Website Launch!

2014-04-13T19:31:00.000+01:00

Yes, this is a very belated post, as most of you know!

A couple of weeks ago, DANDILLY (Dan and I's newly formed design duo freelance business!) had the pleasure of launching Arthur Razor's brand new website. Having been working hard on the designs for a couple of months, we finally launched the site on April Fool's with a cheeky 404 page...(click here to see it!)

We're super pleased with the site, and it was fantastic working with Arthur Razor.

You might even find a few very interesting testimonials too. Having initially emailing Tim Vincent (former Blue Peter presenter) the site to see what he thought, he tweeted it before it even went live.

Deary me!

It all ended very well though, and Arthur Razor has had excellent feedback, including that of an employee of Google with also a dramatic increase of their online bookings.

You can see this project on our website and live at www.arthurrazor.com

Birthday & Parents, Meeting Russell Howard, Lion King

2014-04-02T20:58:00.003+01:00

So the past few weeks have been pretty crazy! Since my last post on the 23rd, I've had a wonderful birthday where I turned yet another year older, (to my horror!). I remember freaking out when I turned 20 which Dan remembers very well, I'm sure.

I went to work as usual and was presented with lovely a lovely birthday cake from my colleagues, cards and a lovely bunch of flowers from my in-laws.

After work I headed home where I shortly received a buzzer from the door with "Flowers for Ms Clannne!" I headed downstairs to open the door thinking "I know that voice, but where? I think it sounds like my Dad but he's not visiting until Thursday" before I opened the door to find both my parents stood outside with flowers and presents saying "Happy Birthday!" Dan was in on it too...

After getting all their bags (technically my bags for presents) up the stairs, we sat down and had a culpa before Dan came in with his cheeky smile. He'd booked a table at the local Italian-pub round the corner that does amazing food. We had drinks, food, good conversation followed by yet another yummy birthday cake!

Heading home, we were all stuffed and I opened my presents for everyone, then headed off to bed.

The next evening I met my parents in Covent Garden as one of the gifts that Dan got me was tickets to see the Lion King musical as its on my 30 before 30 list. Click here to read more about that.
As I was waiting for my parents, who should I see catch my eye other than the great Russell Howard. Quick chat, photograph and he was on his way. What a nice chap, and he smelt so good. My parents were really jealous, but what a great way to start the evening!

We met Dan, headed to the show and sat back and watched an incredible musical. My parents managed to get tickets for this too but they were sat at the other side of the theatre to us. The props, production and actors/actresses were incredible. I remember watching the Lion King almost every week as a child so I knew the lines perfectly. It was so wonderful that I almost cried. The powerful African music and orchestra just took my breath away.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to a very special few days. You're all lovely and I love you lots!

New haircut & another book read

2014-03-23T18:08:00.001+00:00

So this week has been pretty ace. It's been a little stressful at work but everything is better when it's the weekend.

On Friday I finished a book I've been reading for a few weeks now.

Life after life by Kate Atkinson. It took me a good 1/3 of the book before I even got into it.
I was very confused at the beginning. The book description read;

What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.

What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?

Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

Eventually I was absolutely captivated. The story began to add up and I couldn't put the book down. I was incredibly impressed with the writing style (I say this like author's aren't professionals but you know what I mean... it was an very complex writing structure.) It was a story that was both sad and beautiful.

So anyway, today saw me having a new haircut. It was the shortest cut I've had in about 10 years so I was a bit scared! I had Tony from Arthur Razor cut if off. He's a barber based in West London, both friend and client. We are currently re-designing his website which you can see live soon at www.arthurrazor.com. He's cut Dan's hair for almost a year now and always done an amazing job. He's cut the likes of Colin Firth as well. Oooh la la.

See some snaps of my new look!

Net Communities New Website!

2014-03-20T21:28:00.000+00:00

Over the past few months, the Design & Dev team at Net Communities have been working hard on the company's rebrand.

I introduce you to the new Net Communities site! Check out the site here and let us know what you think!

www.netcommunities.com

You can even see my individual page wayhay!

Nick Mulvey, Scala London

2014-03-15T15:36:00.000+00:00

On Tuesday night, Dan and I went out to Scala in London to see Nick Mulvey live. Nick has been on the radio a lot lately and I heard him and instantly loved his voice and music. Luckily, there was still tickets to see him live so I snapped some up quick. They sold out later that day.

Dan and I went to dinner first and then went to the venue.

He was absolutely fantastic and his voice was impeccable. His guitar skills were incredible and had the entire venue absolutely quiet. There's no doubt that I'll be seeing this guy again at some point in the future when he's selling out arenas.

Afterwards, Nick did a meet a greet and I took a cheeky selfie with the guy. He was so chilled and relaxed and was happy to have a chat. A friend actually knew his tour manager and informed us we had a personalised, signed copy of his CD in the back. How nice :)

Great night.

Beyonce, 30 before 30, London

2014-03-15T15:24:00.002+00:00

So on Thursday night last week my friend, Fran and I went to the Beyonce concert at the O2.

Dan surpised me a few months ago saying that I should take a friend.

As many of you already know, I have a 30 before 30 list and seeing Beyonce was on there.
Of course, she was incredible and Les Twins were awesome. Jay-Z also made an appearance which was awesome and throughout the show, I couldn't sit down or stop dancing :)

...............

The next day, I took Fran to Knightsbridge and we shopped in Harrods for a few hours. We decided that we definitely don't have £39K to buy an original Liechtenstein and since we started getting funny looks from staff, we decided to head to the furniture rooms.

We also spotted boxer Tyson Fury. But we were too embarrassed to ask for a picture.

After two full days and Daniel having gone home to see his family, I was left with this gorgeous fluff-bag waking me up on Saturday morning :)

Recent Reads

2014-02-09T09:57:00.001+00:00

Since my last post, I've managed to make my way through another 3 fantastic books.

Firstly, 'Twelve Years A Slave' by Soloman Northup.

Most of you would have seen the trailer for this on the TV, and it's also been up for a lot of awards.
I was lucky enough to have seen the film first and then decided to read the book. The book goes into so much in-depth detail. We learn much more about the relationships he had, and in particular what he was thinking and feeling. As always, there's usually parts in the book which aren't scripted for the film, which I did feel were absolutely crucial to the story, but there you go.

Secondly, 'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty.

I was a bit apprehensive about reading this, not sure why but I did none the less. Maybe I'm easy to please but I thought this book was also great. The book is written extremely cleverly (is that a actual word?) and the characters in each chapter all tie together quite nicely (or un-nicely (Again, is that a word?)). Secrets, lies, love are just a few of the themes throughout this book and I was captivated from start to end. The story actually surprised me and I felt like this was a little thriller.

Thirdly, 'Mad About the Boy' by Helen Fielding.

The authors name is instantly recognisable no? Bridget Jones author yet again feeds us another classic. Unfortunately I haven't read the previous books but being an avid Jonsey fan, it wasn't long before I could hear Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant talking in replacement of the characters Bridget and Daniel Cleaver. We all know what happens in this book, Mark Darcy unfortunately dies (insert the sound of every woman's heartbreak here).

Fourthly, 'The Dating Detox' by Gemma Burgess.

I hadn't heard of author, Burgess or her work. But, having had a little look online and reading fantastic reviews, I gave it a go. I was telling my CD about the book and he was like "Why are you reading about that subject, don't you have a bloke?" to which I replied "It's fictional" and his extremely confused face then dropped. It didn't take me long until I was literally laughing out loud with this book. I'm surprised how absolutely fixed I was and could not put it down. I was actually quite disappointed when I eventually finished and the realisation hit me that I'd not have to find a good book to live up the writing and story of this one.

Anyway, go out and go and get these books if you fancy a really good read. They're all fantastic.

And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini

2014-01-12T18:16:00.001+00:00

On Monday, I started a new book on my commute to and from work. Surprisingly, I was quickly able to sink into the book, reading it from my iphone and ignore the rush, pushing and shoving moody commuters I share my journey with for over 2 hours a day.

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini was read in just under a week. It was my plan to only read it during my commutes, but since starting this book on Monday morning, I soon realised that I couldn't put this book down and thus ended up reading it here and there over my weekend.

I've previously read 'The Kite Runner'- now made into a film and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' , many years ago which was the follow on and I've always loved the way that Hosseini is able to flick from first person to third person, effortlessly and enough to not confuse the reader. His books are beautiful descriptive and I love his depth, enough to allow me to visualise so easily the setting in which he writes.

And the Mountains Echoed

"So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one: Afghanistan, 1952.

Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters.

To Abdullah, Pari - as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy after which she was named - is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled.

One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand.

Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us."

I don't know a whole lot when it comes to books and authors as I usually read books given to me as gifts, or which I spot every now and again, and buy. Usually, I'm drawn to those that people are reading on their commutes as to stand with a book open, reading, which probably means that it's too good to not read whilst you're sandwiched front to back with fellow commuters.

If you get chance to read this book, or if you pass by it in a bookstore, it's definitely worth a read. Definitely one to add to ruthay's reads.

London Transport Museum

2014-01-12T17:56:00.001+00:00

Last weekend saw Dan and I take a trip to Covent Garden to visit the London Transport Museum to see the last exhibition for the 150 Years of the London Underground Tube posters.

We started out with a yummy burger at Shake Shack and it was the best burger we'd both had in a long time. The chesesy fries are literally, delicious.

After some nibble, we headed to the museum. After a lengthy wait we headed in to look around.

It didn't take us long to find what we were looking for, rooms and room full of beautiful posters dating back to as early as 1800's. They are so beautiful, with the old type and print screened imagery.

Dan and I liked this one, so much we bought the replica which we'll hang in our flat :)

Something which caught my attention was the old ticket stubs that were used. They are the classic vintage style you'd expect, which is also taking a come back in a lot of graphic design work and on sites such as Etsy and NotOnTheHighStreet.com . This is the style of design which I will always be drawn to, especially because it's so beautiful.

After a few hours of looking around and getting annoyed at children screaming, we headed out and round some shops. A quote which caught my attention that also rings truth.

"Don't be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful"

Crazy in Love!!

2013-12-17T20:31:00.000+00:00

I think it's quite possible I have the best boyfriend ever.

Who else would surprise their girlfriend with two tickets to see the Mrs. Carter World Tour at the O2 in March 2014?!

"The reason for buying the tickets?" I asked

He replied "It's on your 30 before 30 list."

to which I said "But I have so many things on my list!" to which he responded "But I have 8 years to make it all happen, so that's plenty of time."

Winter Wonderland, this time with Momma C !

2013-12-16T21:36:00.000+00:00

This weekend saw my momma come down for a few days.

I decided that I would take her to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland after she saw my photos of when Dan and I went and said she'd like to go. After stopping for something to eat, we headed to Hyde Park.

We went into the Magical Ice Kingdom where there's beautiful ice sculptures in -10 cold!!

The castle is as big as a real house and on the side of it is an ice slide.

Since the last time I went on this slide was extremely slow, I decided I'd just let mum have a go and I would video her. She went down so fast! It was so so funny!!

Following the slide we headed to the ice bar where I decided to introduce Mum to the fireball whisky. The man behind the bar kindly said he would take photos of us.

Mum not looking at the camera.

Cheers! (with mum still not looking at the camera!)

There was an absolutely hilarious photo followed on from this which had Mum's face scrunched up with her eyes crossed over. Unfortunately I can't put it up, because she'd probably kill me.

After warming our cockles with whisky, we continued to look around and I was eyeing up the awesome ride.

I asked Mum if she wanted to have a go, and she obliged! Only when we got to the front of the queue did she say "Ruth, I hate heights." TOO LATE!! We headed for our seats before slowly getting taken up to the top which absolutely breathtaking views of London and Hyde Park all lit up. It was absolutely gorgeous. After keeping us on the edge of our seats (literally!), the ride dropped and Mum and I screamed like we've never screamed before. Oh my gosh my stomach was in my mouth! We screeeaammmmed so much!! It seemed to go on and on, going up, dropping down with screams all the way down!

Front of the queue: next up!!

In our seats waiting for the ride to take off.

After getting off and feeling like jelly and a little bit sick for a good 20 minutes afterward, we wandering round and enjoyed the sites and smells, grabbing a lovely drink of mulled wine.

The next day saw Dan off to his friends for a birthday do. It meant Mum and I could spend some quality time together so we travelled to Kings X to see him off.

Mum and I wandered down Oxford Street stopping for lunch and yummy Bodean's. If you haven't been yet, and are not a veggie, go! It's so tasty and the pulled pork is to die for.

After going into a few shops, moaning about queues and people who suddenly stop when you're walking behind them, we started seeing a few santas. Then a few turned into a few hundred followed by thousands! There was some sort of drinking santa event going on, with people dressed in cheap pound land outfits getting lary.

After stopping on the way home for free Nandos thanks to Dan's high 5 card, we headed home and watched a girly film and chilled, since our feet were aching like mad. All in all, a wonderful, fun, filled weekend. Was so nice to spend time with Momma C :) xxxxx

Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013

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Of course, I couldn't write a blog post this week without paying tribute to an absolutely inspirational man who has inspired so many people, including myself.

Your courage, love, sincerity, perseverance and your fight to change something for the better is inspirational. You have left an ever lasting mark on people's lives and hearts.

Rest In Peace, Nelson Mandela.

"Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end."

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland!

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On Thursday evening after work, I took a trip to Green Park to do a little bit of Christmas shopping and to wait for Dan to finish work. Oxford Street has such a nice atmosphere right now. Yes, you still have the grumpy commuters and the 'I-don't-have-any-clue-where-I'm-going' tourists but the Christmas lights and decorations make it look so beautiful and festive.

When Dan finished work, we met up and took a slow walk to the Winter Wonderland which was at Hyde Park. It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be - but people still got in our way!

We were instantly hit with the gorgeous smell of cooked meat, cinnamon rolls, pancakes and mulled wine.It smelt so yummy and Christmassy!!

Dan had booked us tickets to see the Magical Ice Kingdom which was set at -10 degrees. It was absolutely freeeeeezing! But the sculptures were literally amazing - and huge.

We were so impressed with the life-size castle-palace, but it became even better when there was a slide to go down!! Dan had an awesome time sliding down that!

Right at the end was a pretty awesome ice bar. Everything was done to a really high standard and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone!

Of course, we didn't leave without buying a Christmas tree decorations, warm mulled wine and hot chocolate. Yum!

First week in new job!!

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Yes! This week has been pretty awesome and jam packed. I started my new job as a Junior Designer at Net Communities. I've already been working on huge household named brands - so exciting!

I've settled in well, with lots of lunches with colleges with pizza for lunch yesterday and beers for the team on Friday's.

I'm featured on their website which you can see here. You can also have a look at the type of work that I do.

First week down, many more to go! I'm so pleased to say I'm part of the team and working for such a great, people focused company in the heart of London.

Thank you for all those who have supported me in landing this position and encouraging me :)

September - November skies

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It's been a few weeks since I updated ze blog so I decided I'd put something together for you to look at.

Pretty much every other evening (depending on the weather of course) I take a photograph of the sunsets outside our flat window. I've been able to capture some pretty beautiful skies so I collated them all together for you to see.

Enjoy!

Julian Clune - LCE Show - Animal, Wildlife and Nature Competition

2013-11-08T09:21:00.002+00:00

Congratulations Jules on winning 1st !

 Last night Jules popped down to the London Camera Exchange (LCE) Show in Lincoln to meet Professional Wildlife Photographer, Danny Green and collect his prize for coming 1st in their Animal, Wildlife and Nature Competition!

 You can visit C&G Photography's Facebook page here and like it, which I strongly suggest that you do. You can follow their updates directly there. You can also visit their website here for a look at their fantastic portfolio of work.

 Once again Jules, a massive congrats on winning with an absolutely fantastic image named 'Beneath the Surface'. Absolutely stunning.

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