I thought I’d share something that I am quite excited about. It’s called TOPModel from one of my favourite gift companies in the world, Depesche. The company itself is German and the German website has been up and running for sometime, but the English website launched on Monday.

It’s aimed at tweens and young teens, with fashion themes and dress up virtual dolls. The website itself is great, but the thing I wanted to share with you is the ‘Designer Table’ section. The TOPModel products include a range of colouring books featuring very faintly-printed ‘models’ for kids to design and draw clothes for. Some packs come with stencils so children can draw basic outlines of clothes onto their TOPModels and colour in from there.

It encourages kids to draw and design, and does so in a fun and ‘trendy’ way, at an affordable price. The board folders with the colouring book, stencils and stickers are priced at £8.95 and each big colouring book are priced at £6.25. I picked up a colouring book at my local TOPModel retailer yesterday and I think it’s great value for money – the books feature lots of pages of blank-models for drawing and example pieces to inspire kids. The colouring books are updated seasonally – the TOPModel colouring book I purchased is the ‘High Summer 2010′ book, so all the example models are wearing summer fashions. The book is so thick with pages, however, I think the Summer book will keep me going for a while!

The best part of this concept, in my opinion, is that once the design is finished, the design can be published on the TOPModel website for all to see. Users can then vote and comment on designs in the ‘Design Table’. I think it’s a great way to encourage children to be creative and the (safe, moderated) community aspect of the website means that they get great recognition for their drawings.

The TOPModel website can be found at www.top-model.biz. Colouring books are available on www.amazon.co.uk or from retailers listed on the ‘Boutique’ section of the TOPModel website.

I’m so excited to share with you my latest handmade purchase – my new laptop case from Toggle!

I recently purchase a Dell Mini 1012 Netbook, especially so I can keep on top of work while away from the Ruby Studio. I’m over the moon with my new laptop purchase and would fully recommend the Dell Mini 1012 to anyone looking for a portable machine. With it being a machine I intend to use on the go, I knew I wanted to get a case to protect the glossy finish from scratches and scuffs. I love supporting handmade businesses, like ourselves, and as a fan of Toggle, I knew I had to order one of their cases as soon as I got the opportunity.

I chose a lovely polka dot case, which Gemma of Toggle kindly made to order to fit my small netbook. Not only was it made to order especially, it was delivered super-fast and wrapped beautifully! I love receiving parcels like this!

The case fits perfectly and the colour of the pink polka dots on the fabric and the lining match perfectly with the pink of the laptop. I love my new case! Check out the Toggle website to get one of your own!

I thought I’d share with you something which we discovered by accident. Last week, my Mum received an email from the Wild Flower Turf company – meant for someone with a similar email address to hers – advertising their floral turf.

But, it was quite nice that she received this email by mistake, because we got introduced to this really lovely concept. The photos on their website showing the turf in full bloom are stunning! We’ve always loved the ‘country garden’ look and we’ve tried to create that in our garden with plants and seeds.

This turf has many advantages over regular turf – it’s lower maintainence as it needs only one cut per year, is specially formulated to have equal parts grass and flowers to create a stunning flowering garden, and the different flowers bloom at different times of the year giving you new flowers continually. My favourite thing about it (apart from that it looks beautiful) is that it attracts lots of wildlife and insects. Our garden has always been a ‘wild’ garden – attracting a wide range of animals, birds and insects, so this Wild Flower Turf is something that I’m really drawn to.

I wonder if anywhere in our garden could benefit from some new turf…

Check out their website at www.wildflowerturf.co.uk.

I’ve been needing to replace my very broken laptop for a while and have opted for a netbook…the size is very portable, and although I would really love a MacBook Pro, the Netbook will run my more specialist ‘Windows Only’ software. One of the things I am most looking forward to, when I get my new gadget, is getting a lovely handmade case for it!

My favourite shop of the moment for gadget cases has to be Toggle.UK without a doubt! I’m looking forward to making a purchase when my new computer is actually in my hands, but for now I’ll just have to enjoy browsing!

Leaf Print Netbook Sleeve from Toggle:

The Dahlia Netbook Sleeve from Dahlia Handbags on Etsy:

Bubblegum on Blue by DoryDesigns:

Netbook Sleevy by Sleevy:

My sister, Lauren, who you might know as the creator of our Ruby Wren YouTube Animations and helper behind the scenes of Ruby Wren Designs, is a big comic book geek! Recently, her collection of comics and graphic novels started to need it’s own dedicated storage space to keep her collector’s items in mint condition.

From our local comic book shop, she got some specially sized boxes for comic book storage but they were rather plain. I thought I’d share with you a few photos of what she did to make them a little more fun!

She found some comics that she had doubles of and recycled the pages to cover the box. Several layers of paper and varnish later and she has this…

Looks good, huh?

I went on a little shopping trip today and on the way home, stopped in a B&Q for some DIY tools. I don’t normally enjoy looking around at these big warehouse type shops but this was a huge place with a large area for homewares. I was drawn to these baskets, made entirely from rolled up newspaper, woven into baskets. Not only are they ethical, they’re really quite funky and would be perfect in Ruby’s Eco-Studio here! It’s amazing to think that the baskets are actual newspaper – you can see the print and bits of photos, and the paper feels soft like newspaper should.

I’m so thrilled that even the larger companies are now taking note of the demand for eco-consious products. Who would have believed that B&Q (like Home Depot for those of you over the pond) is stocking such ethical products. Unfortunately, I’m guessing that these woven paper baskets and storage boxes are only in their larger stores as I’ve never seen anything like it in our local (and very small) shop. I did have a little browse online to see if there are any tutorials for basket-making (there are lots!) and I found that John Lewis are also stocking the exact same range of paper storage items, so another big shop introducing environmentally friendly products to their shops.

Like most girls, I love shoes! In fact, I love boots most of all. I have the most amazing pair of mid-calf high black biker boots that have seen me through this winter, and I’m sure many more winters to come. My boyfriend refers to them as ‘Bad’ boots in homage to Michael Jackson and they’ve even received compliments from complete strangers in the street. I do love them dearly! But with Spring just around the corner (yes, the snow storm we have here in Northamptonshire may fool you!) I’ve been thinking about adding a new pair of ankle boots to my wardrobe.

I love how high street shops are taking inspiration from vintage style – distressed leather, laces and straps on what I’ve come to realise from browsing Etsy are also known as “granny boots”. I dream of soft leather, light brown ankle boots to wear with faded denim and ditsy floral prints. Or, after looking through my Etsy Vintage finds, I may have to dig out my trusty old Doc Martens. Living in a Northamptonshire, a county world-renowned for it’s shoes (don’t believe me?) we’re lucky enough to be the UK home of DMs – a fashion ‘claim to fame’ for us locals, with our very own factory shop with discounted Docs and all shoes having been made here until 2001…after getting inspired in the Etsy Vintage department looking at boots, I may have to go shopping

vintage black EQUESTRIAN heeled leather ankle boots from NodtoModvintage $34

80s Neo-Victorian Brown Leather Ankle Boots, size 6M from Victorian2ValleyGirl $35

size 7 eggshell leather side zip pull on ankle height beatle boots. 80s Lord and Taylor pixie rocker booties. from lisazain $38

VINTAGE 80s Super Red Leather Lace Up Flat ANKLE GRANNY BOOTS. Size 6 1/2 M from TimeBombVintage

VINTAGE HUNT CLUB BROWN LEATHER SHOE BOOT SIZE 8M from KMalinka $42

Vintage The Original Doc/Dr. Martens Beige and Black Funky Floral Print Punk Boots. 8 Eye Lace Up. Made in England. US size 7/UK size 5. from leftylouvintage $125