Clever friends

Everyone's been so bustling away this summer, so I thought I'd share some of what other people I know have been getting up to, and some of the amazing results of their hard work:

First up is a dozen eggs, a branding and advertising partnership set up by my friend Fran Collins and fellow graphics graduate Joanne Lloyd, who did their graphics degree together.  I only checked out their website recently and was very impressed by the fun yet professional look they have going on there, and also by the portfolio of clients they're already getting together.  There are a couple of design pieces in there that I really like, including a logo incorporating a bicycle, and a website design that makes surgery look positively friendly.  That takes talent!

And while you're there, you might wander over to the shop and happen to see some of Amy Humphries' amazing needlework (all of which is modelled by her!).  She's hand-making and selling classy aprons and pinnies for the kitchen, and warm wheat sacks for the bedroom, all of which will be available from her website in 2012.  I first came across one of her cloth aprons in a friend's house and genuinely thought it came from a top-end shop, it was so beautifully made.  I'm now trying to think of something that needs sewing, just so that I can own something she has created.

The last item is an album, Songs that No One Taught Us, full of music from Alvin and Karl Allison, two extremely talented brothers my Dad knows from his college days.  They've been working on this for a while, but now it's all coming together and they'll be going on tour!  All the information on the tour dates and locations is on the Songs That No One Taught Us website, and if I can't get along to that I'm planning on getting hold of the album (plus I drew the cover for them, so I want a hard copy!)