Return from Dunk...

"Hills and valley, forest and jungle, grassy combes and bare rocky shoulders, gloomy pockets and hollows, cliffs and precipices, bold promontories and bluffs, sandy beaches, quiet coves and mangrove flats. The island is our home."

EJ Banfield - Dunk Island, Australia - 'Confessions of a Beachcomber'

So here we are back in the land of flat pack boxes and packing tape... Our holiday has officially ended, but what a wonderful time was to be had on Dunk Island - warm weather, sandy beaches an island fringed with palm trees and inspiring flora and fauna, with the added bonus of a cocktail waiter or two!

The coconut palms did cause me some worry - mine is an active imagination and a recent psych test I did at work concluded I had the personality that was pron to believing "every silver lining has a cloud" it wasn't a typo... My husband told me to "fear not" and rolled his eyes - yet one night we were sat on our balcony watching the sun set (the island faces inland) and PLONK a rather large coconut drops the ground with, sorry with a THUD actually not a plonk - the next day my sun lounger was positioned well away from the shade of a coconut palm but still within access to the cocktail waiter!

Big chief and little chief admiring the view, or perhaps plotting an escape from their neurotic co-traveler?


A few attempts at creating a design for my screen print... the island had so much to inspire, in particular the bleached coral, yet setting all those thoughts and images to paper is proving to be most tricky indeed.

Off On Our Hols!!!

We're off on our holidays tomorrow - YAY! so this is the last post for a week and a bit.... the plan was to spend the week after our big move sipping margaritas in the sunshine - but alas the move has been pushed out by two weeks and still no pastures new found and more packing to finish on our return, I expect we'll need another holiday in a couple of weeks... in the meantime I leave you with some photographs by the late Australian photographer Renny Ellis.






Til next week....

We Like.... Staying in!

It seems that more people are opting to stay in and entertain these days. Whether due to necessity or like me out of choice - more of our friends are tapping into their inner homebody.

So in the spirit of this new wave of 'cocooning' click on the above image to view event organiser extraordinaire Fiona Leahy's tips on throwing a "super stylish dinner at home" pulled from a tome of British Vogue - so you'll find your wallet might not appreciate some of the hints provided - but there's inspiration a plenty!

(Apologies if the image comes out fuzzy when you zoom in - try printing it.)

Desk Thursday

Desk Thursday, originally uploaded by mollieandfinn.

Finn has an ear infection so we've been holed up inside for the last few days - today we rugged up and ventured out for a walk to get a coffee and a muffin and watch the surf & surfers. So the picnic bench was our desk for an hour today while I read a magazine and Finn had a snooze with Iggle Piggle.

THANK YOU!!

Welcome to the new look Mollie and Finn Blog, huge thanks to Ellie at Rainy Day Templates for creating the new look, I love it, love it, love it and it was a pleasure working with you.

Another thank you to fellow blogger Amanda over at Swish and Swanky and Dandi Homewares, I recently won a give away competition on Amanda's blog and my goodies arrived late last week from Dandi - wrapped beautifully. I can't wait to use the napkins and table cloth, again many thanks!

Places and People... Alfred Wallis

I’m a Cornish girl (I know at 31 'girl' is a stretch) as I was saying I'm a Cornish girl now living far, far away from my homeland – although I love my new life and world I now inhabit (both mentally and physically) I still get feelings of nostalgia and pine for my native soil and surroundings – Cornwall.

I’m particularly fond of the small fishing town of St Ives, although not at the height of the hectic tourist season - give me A rain free winters day or an afternoon in late September.

St Ives is renowned for being an artists enclave of many mediums and recognition. Potters and painters alike are inspired by its remoteness and light. I particularly love the work of Alfred Wallis - his story is an inspiration to all budding amateur artists but also tinged with great sadness.

A former fisherman and scrap merchant, in 1890 Alfred moved to St Ives where he set up as a marine scrap merchant (Rag and Bone man). It wasn’t until after the death of his wife in 1922 that Wallis took up painting using anything he had at hand and without any formative training he gained recognition from other renowned artists and critics but despite this he died penniless in Madron workhouse.

Wallis’s paintings rarely portray people and he used very few colours, favorites being dark browns, shiny blacks, greys, whites and a particularly strong Cornish green. Wallis regarded his paintings as expressions of his experiences and arranged the objects depicted in terms of relative importance.

I hope you like his work as much as I do – bits of the above Bio have been taken from the Tate Gallery st Ives website where you can view some of the works of Alfred Wallis.

View from the St Ives Tate Gallery Cafe of Fishing cottages looking out towards the headland and atlantic ocean. Sept 2008.

View from the Tate Gallery overlooking the fishing cottages and Porthmeor Beach. St Ives. Sept 2008.

New Book Bags / Totes

New Book Bags / Totes, originally uploaded by mollieandfinn.

New to Mollie and Finn @ Etsy... (yet to be uploaded) Lined Book bags in Alexander Henry fabric - 3 available. xxx

New Dick & Jane Draw string Bags

Dick & Jane Draw string Bags, originally uploaded by mollieandfinn.

New to Mollie and Finn on Etsy - drawstring bags in cute Dick and Jane fabric.... two available - more arriving soon xxx

Lauren-Childs-kitchen-001

Lauren-Childs-kitchen-001, originally uploaded by mollieandfinn.

Lauren Childs's kitchen

I Just LOVE Lauren's kitchen - such a light, bright creative space...

Image from 'My space' series in the Guardian X

Six of the Best .... Desirable Artwork

Another six of the best - a little earlier this week, featuring some wonderful artists from around the globe and all selected from Etsy.com

From top to bottom, grechenmist - belleandboo - annamariapotamiti - mrs Eliot Books - abelmabel - grechenmist

Celia-Birtwells Conservatory

Celia-Birtwells Conservatory, originally uploaded by mollieandfinn.

I spotted Celia Birtwell's lovely Conservatory while browsing the net today. I love the chairs at the forefront of the picture - which are part of her home / fabric collection....

Here's a quick blurb on what Celia loves about her conservatory...

"I spend a lot of time in this room, as it's the most peaceful part of the house. It gets plenty of light. My partner Andy and I often have lunch in here. I also use it as somewhere to read or listen to the radio or just contemplate the garden outside.

I like outdoor spaces that aren't too manicured but have some order. I like to divide flowers into groups of colours, putting each colour in a separate pot. I also like gardens to be perfumed. I'm proud of my jasmine and scented roses.

I call this the garden room. I like to have fresh vases of cut flowers in here. On days you don't want to be outside because the weather's dismal, you can sit here and almost feel like you're in the garden. I like drawing flowers in my sketchbooks in here, too. These often form the basis for my floral dress fabrics. There's nothing better than looking at flowers. They're all different, so they always surprise you."

I think my tiny coffee mugs would look lovely in this conservatory... Sorry Shameful Etsy plug!