Wednesday 22 August 2018

London Letters - The Lucy Loves This Book!


Lucy has written a book! 

This isn’t your typical A-to-Z guidebook to the bustling city of London. Filled with the eye-catching artwork of Lucylovesthis, London Letters is an interactive, fun, and functional guide to 26 of London's districts.

Filled with eye-catching artwork London Letters is an interactive, fun, and functional guide to London's boroughs. This guidebook organises neighbourhoods from Angel to ZSL London Zoo. Removable cards and maps provide a handy guide on how to get to there, what to see, where to eat, and more! It is available to pre-order now on our website but will also be available to buy from all good bookshops at the end of August. 

Find the book right here lucylovesthis.com

Tuesday 14 August 2018

12 Hours in...Angel

To celebrate the launch of the brand new Lucy Loves This book, London Letters were are continuing to share how you can spend 12 hours in some of our favourite areas in London. The book features 26 pull-out maps of popular London neighbourhoods from angel to ZSL London Zoo, meaning there's no excuse to be bored in London! The illustrated maps feature must visit cafes, parks, shops and streets for you to explore in each area and today we're talking about Angel...




One of the LLT team members, Nancy, is a North London girl so spends most of her time exploring the pretty streets of Islington. She has lots of great hidden gems to share with you today so over to you Nancy!

I really love Angel, it can be quite an overlooked area as the main streets are full of chains and to be honest, at a glance it's not the most charming of areas. When you dig a little deeper though, you'll realise just how magical this part of Islington can be. I love to spend an afternoon wandering around the pretty back streets and exploring the small green spaces.



My top tips for a day in Angel

1. Start your day with a coffee at Kipferl, an amazing little Viennese cafe and restaurant that specialises in authentic Austrian food. The interior is really cool and modern and the cakes are incredible!

2. After your coffee take a stroll down Camden Passage where there are lots of little independent shops and a vintage market on most days of the week, I love the winding passageways!

3. Smug is my favourite shop in Angel, plus its right in the centre of Camden Passage. It's full of beautiful homeware, artwork and stationery. A great place for gifts.

4. Why not take a stroll along the Regent's Canal? It runs straight through Angel and also connects onto some beautiful gardens like Duncan Terrace Gardens.

5. After a wander down Upper Street pop into Bellanger for dinner, they serve classic French dishes and the interior is absolutely stunning. You'll feel as though you've gone back in time!

6. There are many great places in the area for an after dinner drink but my favourite is
69 Colebrooke Row aka "the bar with no name". It's a tiny speakeasy-style bar with experimental cocktails.

7. If you fancy catching a late night film you can head to the Screen on the Green, a lovely independent cinema.


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We hope you enjoyed this little insight into Nancy's absolute favourite spots in Angel. Please do take a look at the book here and let us know what you think! 

Friday 10 August 2018

Martha's Uni Story


It's time for our third and final uni story post, this time it's Martha's turn! Remember that if you know anyone who has recently graduated or who is set to go to uni this September we have a huge range of prints to celebrate most of the towns in the UK. On to Martha to hear all about her uni experience...



I went to Lancaster Uni (Lonsdale College) and studied Religious Studies and Philosophy. Lancaster is a campus-based university, in a small town so you get to know people pretty quickly and I've made friends who I still see regularly now. One of whom gets married very soon and the Lancaster print will be part of her wedding present. I know that they will love the print, the perfect memento to remember our time together at uni.

I did lots of volunteering at university and it was through that and working at the Student Union Volunteering Unit after I graduated that has set me up for a career helping young people in a variety of roles. My work has ranged from helping young adults set up their own businesses to recruiting them into apprentice and graduate roles whilst working at Sky.

And of course, the entrepreneurial spirit I learnt at Lancaster has led me to work one day a work for one of my best friends, Lucy! So I'd like to think that without Lancaster I wouldn't have learnt the skills needed to have my lovely job.

Whilst at Lancaster I had many nights out dancing in the Sugarhouse and then waiting, with a marker pen stamp on your hand for the bus back to campus 

Atkinsons in Lancaster
Lancaster also has some great pubs, I love nothing more than a pint on the weekend in a traditional pub - The White Cross and The Waterwitch were two favorites, both on the river and both serving great pub food. I have many fond memories of both.

Atkinsons is still one of my favourite places in Lancaster, a 180-year-old coffee roasting and tea merchants. Everything you buy comes in gorgeous little packets (my friends and family have received a lot of Atkinsons tea as Christmas presents over the years) and my Atkinsons mug is still my favorite for my weekend cuppa.

Finally - if the weather is nice, which lets face it, isn't loads in Lancaster then either head to the Lakes or take a picnic to Williamson Park with its fabulous views and beautiful Ashton Memorial. One of my favourite uni memories is sitting on the Ashton steps watching the sun come up after my graduation ball, with those friends I mentioned earlier.

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We hope you enjoyed our uni story series! If you'd like to commemorate your own university or college experience please take a look at our uni collection right here. 

Friday 3 August 2018

12 Hours in…Brixton

We're starting a new series on the blog called 12 hours in... to celebrate the launch of the brand new Lucy Loves This book. Lucy's book is called London Letters and it features 26 pull-out maps of popular London neighbourhoods from angel to ZSL London Zoo. The illustrated maps feature must visit cafes, parks, shops and streets for you to explore in each area. First up is Lucy's local area of Brixton. Over to Lucy...




The original design in the series, and without it this book would never exist. I designed the Brixton B for myself back in 2011, I was working as a freelance book cover designer, and for the first time since I was at university, I had a bit of time to design something that I wanted to design instead of something that met a design brief for a client. It was just for fun really, but it also happened to be the Christmas that craft fairs started popping up all over London and I thought why not give one a try. So armed with a few prints I did my very first craft fair, run by the girls who now run The Turpentine gift shop in Brixton (one of my favourite stockists).

I came home that night with £800 and a list of locations people wanted designing, I was bowled over. 130 locations later and the business is going from strength to strength with over 30 stockists in the UK including the likes of Selfridges and Fenwicks, a thriving online business and my first publication due out this summer.

photo from Canova Hall in Brixton

My top tips for a day in Brixton

1. Brunch at Canova Hall in the newly refurbished department store - which is worth a gander, especially if you can get up to the amazing rooftop bar.

2. A stroll around Brixton village to see what new eatery has opened and plan lunch.

3. A trip to the Ritzy cinema.

4. A long walk in the sunshine in Brockwell park, make sure you search out the walled garden - its such a hidden gem.

5. A cocktail or three at the Shrub and Shutter.

6. Dinner at Nanban, where for a very reasonable price you can be cooked for by Masterchef winner Tim Anderson

7. If you’re still going, head down to the White Horse where the party never stops.


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We hope you enjoyed this little insight into Lucy's absolute favourite spots in Brixton. Please do take a look at the book here and let us know what you think!