Wee Birdy

Bird is the word: A week of giveaways

Today marks day five of the Wee Birdy blogiversary giveaway, and I’ve got some very special prizes from London design legend (and Wee Birdy favourite) Rob Ryan.

As some of you may know, I’ve posted extensively about Rob Ryan’s work over the last two years, so it’s a delight to welcome him back to the nest. He’s very kindly donated two of his bird-themed tiles for a Wee Birdy giveaway, valued at a total of £48.

Rob is a prolific designer and illustrator, and his paper-cut designs (and heart-felt prose) have appeared on collaborations with British Vogue, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason, Paul Smith and Earnest Sewn.

A shopping trip to London isn’t complete without a visit to his Columbia Road store, Ryantown, which opened just last year. All of his work is produced nearby in his East London studio, and it’s packed with his screenprints, tiles and t-shirts, as well as an ever-changing selection of gifts. A recent addition, for instance, are these cute sailor-print t-shirts. (Check out my full Wee Birdy shop tour here.)

To be in the running for this very special prize of two Rob Ryan tiles, simply leave a comment telling me what you favourite Rob Ryan print, product or collaboration is - and why. Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Please note that the winner will be chosen at random (either picked out of a hat or by a random number generator – TBC) and all competitions close on Friday 24 July at 6pm (British Summer Time). Winners will be announced on Monday 27 July.

Thank you Rob! If you’re as big a Rob Ryan fan as I am, why don’t you:
- Check out his Etsy shop;
- Read my full shop tour of his shop, Ryantown;
- Check out his blog here; or
- See what’s new in Ryantown via the blog here.

Strictly for Harry Potter fans

I had a bit of a wobble over whether to post these Etsy finds, for fear you'd think I'd lost my mind (or worse, turned this blog into Wee Mousie). Dear reader, may I introduce the Harry Potter mouse, complete with hand-stitched scar, wire glasses, and hand-knitted scarf. For some reason it's escaped the clutches of official Warner Bros licensed merchandise. But wait, there's more...

.... what's Harry Potter Mouse without his evil nemesis, Lord Voldemouse (of course), and ...

... his best mate, Ron Weasley Mouse.
All courtesy of the House of Mouse's Etsy shop (and if you're super-keen, you may like to check out the Star Wars mice).

Wee Etsy pick: Emedemarta

Remember how I was telling you about the Barcelona shopping feature I was researching for Time Out London? Well, another local who steered me in the right direction was Marta Marginet, whose super-adorable Etsy shop and blog caught my eye a while ago.









She creates the sweetest hand-embroidered frame purses (I particularly love the simplicity of the black bunny outline on a white background) as well as hand-carved jewellery.



Check out her other creations at her Etsy shop here. Her blog is also well worth a click, with lots of beautiful photography from her recent travel adventures.

Wee Etsy pick: Misako Mimoko

A few weeks ago I was researching a story for Time Out magazine on the best shops in Barcelona, so I sought the advice of a few very clever, in-the-know crafty bloggers. One of them is Eva Monleón Cifo, (aka Misako Mimoko) a multimedia designer who also handcrafts rag dolls using vintage fabrics.

I really love her vintage-toy-inspired creations, which have are characterised by a rather joyful, free-spirited and unfinished quality. These are just come of her little people, which are all available to purchase from her Etsy shop. So lovely.

And if you like embroidering yourself, you might like to download one of Eva’s free patterns – go to her blog post here. (And thank you Eva for all your brilliant Barcelona shopping tips!) I'll be posting about a couple more Barcelona bloggers - and their wonderful Etsy shops - over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

Birdy pick of the week

Sterling silver brooch, $US90; ring, US$81; and necklace, US$88 from Shere Design's Etsy shop.
All images courtesy of Shere Design.