Last week my wife sent me a text telling me that Nick Ashford had died.

Him and his wife were, are and always will be my total and absolute heroes. Although they were most well known in their own right for the 80s hit 'Solid', Nick and his wife Valerie Simpson wrote countless songs of such beauty and tenderness and joy that I couldn't even begin to call myself any type of an artist in comparison.

'Ain't no mountain high enough' as sung by Marvin and Tammi is the best known of their compositions but there were so many others that I know I will listen to and sing along to in my awful voice and continue to love until the day I die.

Nick, I made this simple picture for my shop window last week and so many people came into the shop and told Cynthia my shop manager how much they loved your music and how much it meant to them.

Thank you so much for sharing your incredible gift with us Nick, you were such a beautiful man.

The wallpaper is now available to buy on etsy in Afternoon Green, Sky Blue and Chalky Violet!!!!!

I've just been told that my latest collaboration, with wallpaper designers Mini Moderns has just been printed!!

The lovely guys from Mini Moderns and I decided that we should come together to produce a wallpaper based on the end papers for my new book 'A Sky Full Of Kindness'. The original birdcages and birds were all cut from paper and arranged into a repeat pattern. If you look closely, you can read 'Our adventure is about to begin', each word held in the beak of an escapee bird!!

The wallpaper comes in three different colours and will be available from 10th September from my shop and at Mini Moderns.

Last year I did a collaboration with Two Birds Bridesmaid, a company who have designed a bridesmaid dress that is pretty ingenious, one dress you can transform by tying it in about 1000 different ways!!
I designed a handkerchief for them with the idea that the bride could give it to her bridesmaids as a gift on her wedding day or vice versa.
We were running really low on the hankies we made last year so decided to do another run!!

The hankie is cotton and is hand printed in blue (something blue!) and comes in a little hand-printed box. It reads 'Forever my dearest friend, you shall always be...'

We spent yesterday assembling the boxes and wrapping them all up in tissue ready to go on etsy so you can now get them if you click here

They are also available from the Two Birds Bridesmaid shop in Notting Hill.

To have a look at THE dress from Two Birds, visit their website here

We've had a rocky few days here in London but luckily we have still been able to get to the studio and have just started packaging up the latest lasercut which is a new colour-way of 'Our Adventure'. Every lasercut is signed and editioned by me and comes in its own yellow folder with a pink ribbon!! You can now buy them on etsy.
Hoping everybody is safe and well today.

This year I have designed the t-shirt for Vogue's fashion's night out, you can find it in the September issue of Vogue.

This summer my youngest daughter has been organising an exhibition of fanzines by girls that opens at the Tatty Devine shop in Brick Lane, London tonight. For the last few months, lots of lovely handmade and decorated and intriguing and interesting looking envelopes have been dropping through our letter box all addressed to Barbara Ryan. I've been very jealous of getting such wonderous post...... but very very proud. GO BARBARA!!!!!!!!!!

Barbara Frankie Ryan’s GIRLS + ZINES: August 3 – September 4, 2011, Tatty Devine, 236 Brick Lane, London

See an interview by Dazed & Confused with Barbara about the exhibition here

More info on the exhibition here

Join the facebook group here

And read more from Barbara's incredible blog here