SUPER, SUPER FRESH

So you lovelies know how much I love tea, my twitter name is @natashalikestea, so I really love it. My weekend treat and absolute must is the super delicious everyday brew from Teapigs. I usually pop one of their silky tea triangles into a huge Cath Kidston mug, this makes for an epic tea which lasts a while. It always makes me happy, sometimes I'll have to make another just because it's so yummy! You can always find me illustrating away in my studio with a mug of this. This tea is amazing with breakfast or on a rainy afternoon, it's a great pick me up and I've been sharing it with everyone I know. I've tried some of their other delectable flavours too and I adore their chocolate flake tea, which makes a super healthy alternative to the classic tea and biscuit/ chocolate bar combination. I don't know how Teapigs do it, but they are definitely top of the all time best cups of tea! Thanks Teapigs for making such a fab product! They're on twitter too, catch up with all things tea on there.

I'm always on the lookout for lovely teas so if you know any other great brands like Teapigs I'd love to hear about them and give them a go.

WE'RE NEVER DONE WITH KILLING TIME

Hello lovelies, how are you today? Any good plans for the weekend? I'm finding January half good and exciting, a fresh start and all that but then the other half is just this huge pending gloom, mountains of work and jobs that keep mounting up and just generally feeling a little glum. But it doesn't have to be that way, I'm finding taking little steps to help organise my day, taking on smaller tasks makes things found much less daunting. I've found myself having this constant collection of desk essentials which help me through the busy of days.

IPAD ♥ this amazing little device is the mini version which I kindly and very generously given to me for Christmas by my lovely fiancee Matt. His thoughts behind this were that it would help me with all my freelance work as well as being super handy or catching up with episodes of Sherlock on the bbc iplayer app, the power of technology! I've found it so helpful, it's like a bigger version of my phone but I'm able to do so much more without it being restrictive or miniscule. It's a great way of staying connected with social media too, it's like a diary, youtube viewer, blog updater, sketchbook, inspiration portal all in one! Well done, Apple.

BENETINT lip balm ♥ ooh this is totally brilliant, it's a hydrating companion (what?!) and if I find myself looking ghostly pale or in need of a quick injection of lip balm then this baby is always on hand.

MINI SCHEDULER ♥ I picked up this adorable little diary from Artbox many moons ago, yep I'm one of those stationery hoarders! I have shelves and shelves of pretty paper books and cards that I just can't bring myself to write in, it's like psyching yourself up to jump off something high or plunge into a cold pool (is that just me as well?) Anyway, these mini schedulers are blank, genius! So they never run out and you can be as precious or as messy as you like because you fill them in for the month/ year that's relevant to you. This one is exceptionally tiny, so it's probably not great for those of us who have big handwriting, you have to have handwriting the size of a baby bunny's paw. But they're still great, they come in loads of sizes too so there's one for everyone. Perfect for dropping in your bag and you've always got somewhere to write your notes/ ideas/ dates/ meetings etc!

There's also usually a scattering of mechanical pencils (which I love) on my desk, along with tea in a Disney cup of choice, stacks of the latest magazines, and lost nail varnishes (where do they come from?) 

I'd love to hear about items you find helpful, what gets you through the day whether it's busy or chilled? Share your desk essentials! 

WE'RE NEVER DONE WITH KILLING TIME

Hello lovelies, how are you today? Any good plans for the weekend? I'm finding January half good and exciting, a fresh start and all that but then the other half is just this huge pending gloom, mountains of work and jobs that keep mounting up and just generally feeling a little glum. But it doesn't have to be that way, I'm finding taking little steps to help organise my day, taking on smaller tasks makes things found much less daunting. I've found myself having this constant collection of desk essentials which help me through the busy of days.

IPAD ♥ this amazing little device is the mini version which I kindly and very generously given to me for Christmas by my lovely fiancee Matt. His thoughts behind this were that it would help me with all my freelance work as well as being super handy or catching up with episodes of Sherlock on the bbc iplayer app, the power of technology! I've found it so helpful, it's like a bigger version of my phone but I'm able to do so much more without it being restrictive or miniscule. It's a great way of staying connected with social media too, it's like a diary, youtube viewer, blog updater, sketchbook, inspiration portal all in one! Well done, Apple.

BENETINT lip balm ♥ ooh this is totally brilliant, it's a hydrating companion (what?!) and if I find myself looking ghostly pale or in need of a quick injection of lip balm then this baby is always on hand.

MINI SCHEDULER ♥ I picked up this adorable little diary from Artbox many moons ago, yep I'm one of those stationery hoarders! I have shelves and shelves of pretty paper books and cards that I just can't bring myself to write in, it's like psyching yourself up to jump off something high or plunge into a cold pool (is that just me as well?) Anyway, these mini schedulers are blank, genius! So they never run out and you can be as precious or as messy as you like because you fill them in for the month/ year that's relevant to you. This one is exceptionally tiny, so it's probably not great for those of us who have big handwriting, you have to have handwriting the size of a baby bunny's paw. But they're still great, they come in loads of sizes too so there's one for everyone. Perfect for dropping in your bag and you've always got somewhere to write your notes/ ideas/ dates/ meetings etc!

There's also usually a scattering of mechanical pencils (which I love) on my desk, along with tea in a Disney cup of choice, stacks of the latest magazines, and lost nail varnishes (where do they come from?) 

I'd love to hear about items you find helpful, what gets you through the day whether it's busy or chilled? Share your desk essentials! 

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Hello lovelies, how is November treating you? I'm feeling really festive, wanting to burn cinnamon-y candles, bake mince pies for everyone (still haven't yet though, oops!), watch Christmas films although we haven't managed to do a whole lot of sparkly Christmas marathoning because we've been super busy making our living room pretty! Hurrah! Don't you love diy! I'm starting to fall out with it a bit but then you have a lovely new space and it's cool then.

I still have to track down an advent calendar! Have you lovelies got yours yet? I don't think you ever really grow out of that, is twenty-odd too old?! Nooo, I think while I still get asked for ID it's a perfect excuse for buying chocolate meant for children. What are you darlings most looking forward to over November/ December? Let me know, I love reading about everyone's plans & traditions!

In the meantime (whilst listening to my super festive mixtape) I'm packing up lovely orders for you guys! I still have spaces left for custom portrait commissions (psst there's still a huge 20% off too!) if you lovelies want to tweet me @natashalikestea or send me an email velvetwolves@live.com I'd love to hear from you! Have a lovely week darlings!

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Hello lovelies, how is November treating you? I'm feeling really festive, wanting to burn cinnamon-y candles, bake mince pies for everyone (still haven't yet though, oops!), watch Christmas films although we haven't managed to do a whole lot of sparkly Christmas marathoning because we've been super busy making our living room pretty! Hurrah! Don't you love diy! I'm starting to fall out with it a bit but then you have a lovely new space and it's cool then.

I still have to track down an advent calendar! Have you lovelies got yours yet? I don't think you ever really grow out of that, is twenty-odd too old?! Nooo, I think while I still get asked for ID it's a perfect excuse for buying chocolate meant for children. What are you darlings most looking forward to over November/ December? Let me know, I love reading about everyone's plans & traditions!

In the meantime (whilst listening to my super festive mixtape) I'm packing up lovely orders for you guys! I still have spaces left for custom portrait commissions (psst there's still a huge 20% off too!) if you lovelies want to tweet me @natashalikestea or send me an email velvetwolves@live.com I'd love to hear from you! Have a lovely week darlings!

SHE WAY OUT

Some Audrey Hepburn inspired pastel drawings I did a while back

DRINKIN' CHERRY SCHNAPPS IN THE VELVET NIGHT

I've collaborated with the lovely Kim of QueenOfDeTile who has kindly put my illustrations onto coasters, so you can now have a set of Lana Del Rey illustrated coasters for your tea. They are available exclusively through the QueenOfDeTile etsy store, there's also some other really lovely designs so definitely have a look at those. 

You can find QueenOfDeTile on facebook & twitter

THEY HAVE A SECRET WORLD IN THE TWILIGHT

This last week my sister has been to stay and so we've been a little bit addicted to top knots and messy waves, tea, endless episodes of the inbetweeners, dreaming of autumn, cherry hair, picking up wooly jumpers, burning pumpkin candles, lots of laughing, the most amazing great expectations (the douglas booth one), pretty cakes and impromptu dancing to Beyonce ♥

pictures weheartit,com

I DON'T WANT TO BE HOW THEY WANT ME TO BE

Afternoons in the bitter cold but my sister and I tried to cheer ourselves up with early easter treats and looked at all the pretty things in the shop windows. There are so many lovely places to visit that I see almost every day and it's really nice to have time to appreciate them. Hurry up Spring!

THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS HAVE VIOLENT ENDS

Saturday afternoons, they're my favourite and this is how I'm spending them lately ♥

WHITE AS THE HORSES, THEY CARRY ME AWAY

Recently. work, tea, bubble baths, every kingdom ♥

THE ONLY PLACE

Quirky, fun, sweet illustrated typography cards to send to friends on their birthdays, catch up via snail mail (I always love receiving loveliness through the post!), arrange a nice meet up for tea & cake, a movie marathon with popcorn & Mountain Dew ♥ AVAILABLE NOW ♥