Simple, stunning and classic, this ‘La Pera’ screenprint can be bought at The Lollipop Shoppe for a budget busting £165. Designed by Enzo Mari n 1963 for Danese Milano, Italy, it is certainly a stylish investment. See my other post on the wonderful world of illustration and graphic design.
I want! November 6, 2009
I want! May 13, 2009
I just spotted this super-cute egg cup over on The Secret Shopping blog and want one. It’s called Sir Randolf and is part of a collection by Camila Prada. I will be heading over to the Clifton Arcade in Bristol to grab one of these (only £9 from Soma.) It will make a welcome edition to my breakfast table and imagine how cute Sir Randolf will look nestled amongst some toast soldiers!
Cup of tea and a slice of cake October 22, 2008
Image found here
Ah, just look at the sun blazing in the blue sky, and the leaves crunching underfoot. I truly love autumn. As such I have found a few little treats to prolong the fuzzy feelings of warmth and contentedness – and how better than with a cup of tea and piece of cake…
One of my favourite textile designers is Maija Louekari who creates patterns for Marimeko – I have an ongoing love affair with graphic monochrome prints so I just had to put this new black and white Hetkia latte mug into the mix. It can be purchased here.
I also think that Etsy has some fine offerings too such as this Chickadee cup by Kristen K Swanson and this quirky ‘love bird’ dish by Paloma’s Nest.
And if you like your crockery simple but stylish, you can’t go far wrong with Polly George’s new set of designs. I love her Bow range but she also does butterflies and flowers too…
Now I have to mention cake – well food – and if you are seeking some inspiration, you should definitely check out The Barefoot Kitchen Witch blog (the recipes are divine!) I have also come across the “Baked” cookbook which is on Amazon for around £8.50 – I have already ordered mine and can’t wait – the choclolate brownies are to die for, so I hear.
And what about the humble toffee apple? Another great autumn treat that makes me want to wrap up warm and go strolling through the park! Easy to make, hard to forget and totally worth indulging in!
And being as it is nearly Halloween, I rather like this horror plate from ceramic designer Superpanda.
That concludes my tea and cake treats – now get baking!
Chair the love – Part three May 23, 2008
Phew, that’s nearly it, for now. I just want to add a couple of ladies into the mix.
Charlotte Perriand was perhaps one of the most influential furniture designers of the early modern movement. She has been credited with bring the industrial age to the world of furniture design and was one of the designers involved in the creation of Le Corbusier’s chaise lounge. She also designed the infamous ‘Stacking Chair’ seen around community centres, bars and bistros the world over.
Patricia Urquiola, a Spanish designer, cut her teeth amongst such purveyors of fine design as Achille Castiglioni and Eugenio Bettinelli and now designs such delights as the Fat Sofa for B & B Italia below.
Ok, Shin’s a fella, but together with Tomoko, this Japanese twosome have produced some of my favourite all time products (though not all of their creations are furniture) however, I love the way that they ‘zjuj’ up everyday objects, such as lights and salt shakers, with elegance and humour. I find the simplicity of their wire chair inspiring (though perhaps it doesn’t make me want to veg out in front of the telly, more sit uncomfortably and comptemplate the difference between a line and a curve. Hmm.
Bigging up the Brits
Of course I can’t forget my own kind – yes, fab furniture is not just for the Fins, Danes, Germans, Italians, French and Spanish. No siree bob. Us Brits are coming, so hold on to your spanners and bendy bits of plastic…
Jasper Morrison is a cheeky cockney designer renowned for his ascetically elegant, quietly humorous style . I am totally digging’ his Cork chair.
Likewise, I quite fancy sliding my bottom on Ron Arad’s weirdly erotic Voido Rocking Chair– spotted one at Heals. Rather! The architect designer (who is actually Israeli but let’s call him an ‘adoptive’ Brit) is well known for his quirky shapes and use of various materials.
Here’s one more for you: Ross Lovegrove. His Go chair is reminiscent of something you would find Sigourney Weaver straddling in Alien. Almost bone like. But I love it!
There are of course countless designers that have contributed to the richness and diverse products that have gone on to inspire modern design, so this is just a smattering. However, these are my personal faves. Hurrah for chairs!
If your appetite has been whetted by my mini-history of chairs, below are a couple of websites worth visiting:
http://www.designmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/a-century-of-chairs/1990s
http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-aad-design-furniture-design-greatbrits2.htm
All-consuming Cath Kidson and Ikea overkill March 24, 2008
I may have touched on this subject briefly in an earlier post but having just received the latest Cath Kidson catalogue through the post, I was amazed at the amount of products they now offer. Initially I was OK with the pretty fabrics and made-up bits n bobs such as the peg bags, laundry bags, and sofa coverings as they are the natural progression for a fabric designer (after all that is what she is, is it not?)
However, then along came the crockery. Cotton candy sweet knives and forks, gazebos, kitsch camping gear for festival luvvies who wouldn’t be seen dead in anything from Millets, God forbid! Then came the seasonal goods (I always worry when seasonal goods come along - it smells of saturation).
And now, she has gone and committed (in my opinion) the cardinal sin: her own range of toiletries.
So imagine, a day-in-the-life of a die-hard Cath Kidson fiend:
She showers using her Cath Kidson shower gel before stepping out wrapping herself in her Cath Kidson towel, before slathering on her Cath Kidson body lotion and slipping on her Cath Kidson bathrobe. Of course, she selects a pretty floral Cath Kidson tea dress and slips on her Cath Kidson cutie-pie pumps (I don’t think she does underwear – yet).
She then proceeds to prepare a yummy lunch using a range of Cath Kidson crockery and glass ware, which sits atop her Cath Kidson oilcloth tablecloth, along side matching napkins and chair coverings. Before the guests arrive, she gives the dog his dinner, and he curls up in his rather flowery Cath Kidson dog basket. The guests arrive into a flurry of roses and dots, cowboys, stripes and stars. When everyone has gone home, she can put everything in the washing machine to be washed with the new range of Cath Kidson laundry products. Phew.
Ok, so maybe you wouldn’t have EVERYTHING Cath Kidson, but you could if you wanted, and that’s the point. I compare this to Ikea overkill: you know when you visit someone and you notice that flat-pack aura that radiates from every piece of furniture, the lighting, the rugs, the kitchen, the bedroom, even the plant pots have that ‘cloned’ look.
Ikea used to be a good place for getting really cheap and simple looking furniture – great for those kitting out a new home on a budget, but it’s not about being individual. How can it be when you can walk into a million homes across Europe and see the same print hanging on the wall, the same saucepans boiling away on the same cookers. It’s just not what good interior design is about.
I take the pick n mix ethos: if there is something you see that you like, sure, go ahead and buy it. But stop there. Put down the vase. Replace the storage box thingy on its shelf and walk away. Ask yourself if you really need it. You probably don’t.
Now I’m not critising the spirit of enterprise, but I can’t help feel a little dismayed. I picture the creative team at Cath Kidson sitting around the meeting room table. Someone has noticed that there is a new niche in the market for Cath Kidson wine. Yes, imagine it, says the product design manager, it would go really well with the gazebo – it matches and what’s more, it completes the picture of a rural ‘vintage’ idyll.
Well, thankfully this hasn’t happened yet, but I’m betting my bottom dollar that it has probably popped up in the design meetings at some point. So where do you stop? I fear Ms Kidson is saturating the market with sickly sweet ‘pseudo vintage’ loveliness and in doing so, the charm of the original fabrics disipates, and with it goes style, credibility and, my favourite, individuality. No one wants to have the same as everybody else.
So I have one last question: when’s the fragrance out?
A happy, hearty welcome to all magpie-eyed creative crafters February 3, 2008
Welcome to my world!
Calling all crafters who are bored of trawling the net for creative blogs only to find that they are far from it???? Join me as I explore the wonderful world of stitching, craft, arty doodlings and other such fripperies.
I decided to launch this blog to provide a resource for people like me who are magpie-eyed creatives looking for an outlet to swap ideas, websites spotted and loved, tips and tutorials, best places to find buttons, ribbons and fabrics, in the UK or internationally.
If you are working on anything spectacularly wonderful, have seen the latest website or can share any local knowledge, then spill here…
Now, go forth and create!!
