Tag Archives: prints

Bunnies for life (not just for Easter)

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If, like me, you adore HAM’s prints featuring the quirky antics of a unflappable rabbit going about his daily business (as they do), then you’ll love artist Jo’s latest designs:

Ham Print via findthedetails.com HAM print via findthedetails.com Ham print via findthedetails.com HAM print via findthedetails.com HAM print via findthedetails.com

[All images, courtesy HAM]

The yoga print is my favourite – the perfect gift for a real life yoga bunny?

With a long weekend in sight, who knows, maybe you’ll be joining him as he takes up yoga, does a little DIY, or heads to the seaside (let me know if you make it to the trapeze…)

Shop the prints, plus cards and bone china mugs directly at HAM.

Happy Easter! Jx

 

Shades of autumn at Zara Home

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Get set for autumn at Zara Home: you’ll find an abundance of animal prints, balanced with textured plains:

Zarah Home bedlinen via findthedetails.com

fringing, chevrons and feathers….

Zara Home bedlinen via findthedetails.com

White and creams brought to life with oranges, rusts, and reds:

Zara Home tableware via findthedetails.com

Navajo-style stripes:

Zara Home throw and blanket via findthedetails.com

And lots of metals, such as this mirrored table set… This appeals, as it’s sold as a set of three tables, yet works just as well as one single console or side table:

Zara home table via findthedetails.com

And in the bathroom, the textiles and accessories are, as always, a strength: this autumn you’ll find pared down versions of their wilder patterns in softer tones, plus roughly textured baskets, stools and storage:

Zara Home bathroom accessories via findthedetails

[all images, Zara Home]

All just in, at Zara Home. Happy September! Jx

Vintage football memorabilia? In Tunbridge Wells? And a whirlwind shopping trip…

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A flying visit into The Pantiles, in Tunbridge Wells, specifically to get a present for a football-mad friend. With its nationwide reputation for all that’s genteel in life, Tunbridge Wells may seem an unlikely place to shop for football related gifts, but I was there for half an hour this morning and came away successful….

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Amongst the elegant Georgian colonnades are shops selling a very English mix of quality kitchens and cookware; beautiful dresses for children and brides; cameras and curtain poles and lots of covetable vintage. First up was Barnett Fry in the Corn Exchange (no website, call them on 01892 525929): this tiny shop is filled with collectable books, toys, children’s books and masses of football memorabilia:  

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Whilst the Pantiles Bookshop sells bargain priced secondhand paperbacks, plus toys and good quality secondhand hardbacks in store:

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But I’d come here for a different reason, so I had to turn away from the beautiful plants and decorative garden accessories at Gardener & Cook:

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And also from this delicate, patterned, colourful antique Chinese porcelain at Yiju

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At the The Spa Galleries (01892 542647) I loved this contemporary butterfly print, and these original black and white original etchings from the 1950s – 1960s:

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But this whirlwind shopping trip had another purpose: to shop for a PASSIONATE Everton supporter’s birthday: so this is what I came home with…. I hope he’s pleased!

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You can discover more about The Pantiles here – regular weekend markets take place along its length, with even more stalls selling vintage buys; there are also food festivals, where stalls sell local produce grown and/or created in Kent and Sussex (I’m heading back soon….)

Beautiful fish; blue & white, part III

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I read somewhere wherever you are in the UK, you are never more than 50 miles from the sea* and it may be this proximity to the seaside which provides our affinity with it, and likewise the inspiration for so many of our talented artists and designers.

Just as the with Sardine Run china from Jersey Pottery I wrote about here, these beautiful blue and white fish prints below share a love for the sea together with Japanese creative processes.

For her original artwork featuring locally caught Cornish fish, artist Susie Ray adapted an 18th-19th century technique called Gyotaku (fish rubbing) created by Japanese fishermen to visually record the fish they caught. Whilst the fishermen used ink and rice paper, Susie worked with oil paints and cotton cloth, so giving the paintings a wonderful textural depth that conveys a sense of movement and life.

Now she’s released beautiful prints of these originals, using pigment dyed light-fast inks and archival papers:

shore-crab-rubbing-print two-squid-one-mackerel-change-of-two-prawns-rubbing-print 995 1044

All prints come in several sizes, and are produced, named and hand-signed by artist Susie Ray,  from The Padstow Mussel Company. 

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Cornwall-based The Padstow Mussel Company‘s shop and website itself is worth a look for its beautiful ceramics, photographs, artwork and tableware.

*(although according to this BBC article, it could differ between 45 and 70 miles depending on what your definition of ‘sea’ is….)

Geometric patterns, Natural angles

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Two wintery walks in completely different environments today and yesterday gave me the opportunity to take these images… The first is along a disused railway track in rural Sussex….

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The second just outside London Bridge station, looking upwards on this sunny day at the brand new Shard building….

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A reminder of whether natural or man-made, sometimes the world around us can be more similar than it originally appears.

The angles in both pictures got me thinking about the popularity of geometry in homeware product design currently: there are lots to choose from, but my current favourites include those by Mini Moderns and FermLIVING.

Mini Moderns new cotton dhurries come in fab, zingy patterns and shades:

zag-dhurrie-washed-denim backgammon-dhurrie-harvest-orange zag-dhurrie-harvest-orange backgammon-dhurrie-washed-denim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst FermLIVING’s geometric patterned homewares, including trays, ceramics and cushions, are styled in muted shades: find them at Cloudberry Living.

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