MY FIRST...

TYPEWRITER
My first typewriter was a pale blue PETITE model and I absolutely loved it. Years later, I upgraded to a smart orange model, manufactured by BROTHER, which my daughter still uses from time-to-time (she's in her twenties!). Using a typewriter felt very grown-up, although it was also very frustrating, as mistakes were easy to make, but not so easy to rectify!

WOW!

Amazing what you can achieve in 20 minutes when you have 70 little helpers. A big thank you to everyone who helped create this wonderful WOW TREE at Port Glasgow Library, yesterday afternoon.

Empty (14.00hrs)

Full (14.20hrs)

SNAIL MAIL

Interesting report in the Independent On Sunday (19 June 2011) by Kate Youde on the sales boom in SNAIL MAIL stationery. It seems the art of saying THANK YOU in a more personalised way is the key to this resurgence. Annette Sharp, managing director of Papernation is quoted as saying "It's a real-life way of encouraging writing skills in children".

WHAT'S COOKING?

STUDIO FORECAST

Today: Bright creative start to the morning. Uncertainty moving in from the west later. Outlook: Becoming more colourful as the week goes on. Productivity improving, but still slightly sluggish for the time of year.

SUNDAY

REMEMBER THIS?

Memory Game,also known as Pelmanism or simply Pairs. I was never a big fan of board games (still not), I didn't like anything that came with a rule book. Waddington's Memory Game (no rule book) was a BIG hit in our house - we never tired of playing it. Everyone had their favourite images - here are some of mine.

I was amazed when years later I bought THE HOUSE OF CARDS designed by Charles and Ray Eames and discovered that it included several of the same images. According to the Eames Office website the images used in the deck of cards are what the Eameses called "good stuff", chosen to celebrate "familiar and nostalgic objects from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms."

To help us remember the images we used to give them names. We called this card Auntie Joan.

I wonder if anyone knows who she is? And the boy, remember him? We called him Tony, but what's his real name, does anyone know?

There were a couple of images that I didn't like - the strange lantern (v.creepy) and the walnut that looked like a brain!

Digging around on the internet, I discovered that some of the illustrated images for Memory Game were created by the legendary French children's illustrator Alain Gree. Take a look at the official Alain Gree website here.

And then just recently I received an email announcing the launch of PLOC Magazine, a new publication aimed at the under 8s, by the creators of ANORAK - The Happy Mag For Kids. And guess what? This new venture is to be illustrated by Alain Gree. Find out more here.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL GOOD STUFF!

PLOP!

One of life's little pleasures - pulling the silver tab off a Caramel pot and watching the dessert plop out!