Happy Christmas!

 'Happy Christmas' tableware exclusive to David Jones (designed by me!)

Original artwork and design concepts by Lucy King Design

I was doing some Christmas shopping last week, when I came across a display in David Jones of a range of ceramics that I designed last year!  It's always exciting to unexpectedly stumble across designs I've worked on and to see them as finished products.

The 'Happy Christmas' range of ceramic and tabletop items were designed exclusively for David Jones, and created as simple, graphic motifs - rather than my usual hand-painted artwork.  The design features traditional Christmas motifs assembled in a fun layout with a bold colour scheme.  Cute!

Wishing everyone many happy festivities and lots of seasonal cheer!  Merry Christmas!!

Japanese mugs - update!

I have two new additions to my little Japanese mug collection.  How super-cute are these two green mugs - and the best part about these new additions is they were sent to me by a lovely lady who spotted them in her local op-shop!

I already have a similar mug to the one on the left, but not with the fab scalloped handle this one has.  I've never seen this style of handle before so its great to add to my collection. 

It was so thoughtful and generous of the lady who posted them to me....although Mr B is a little worried that other people are sending me cute second-hand ceramics to fill the house up!  Sending out a big 'thank you' as I love them - and don't worry I can always find room for cute little patterned ceramic lovelies! 

Avoca Handweavers, Ireland

When I was in Ireland recently I visited the historic Avoca hand weaving mill, situated in the beautiful rural village of Avoca, County Wexford.  Established in 1723 Avoca is the oldest working woollen mill in Ireland and apparently Ireland's oldest surviving business. 

The mill was originally set up as a co-operative where farmers could spin and weave their wool, before being turned into tweeds and blankets.   Initially the wool was collected from the local sheep of the surrounding hills and valleys and through a process of carding, spinning, dyeing and weaving it was transformed into clothing and blankets.

In 1760 a Fly Shuttle Loom, capable of weaving up to 20 metres of cloth a day arrived, and workers concerned about possible unemployment resorted to burning some looms.  

It was great to walk through the working mill and view the weaving process first hand.  Whilst some of it is now mechanised, there are still several original fly shuttle looms being operated.  The mill is surprisingly noisy with all the machinery - but I loved seeing the different processes involved with the weaving, and all the bright coloured wools and yarns being turned into exquisite fabrics.

Avoca has a gorgeous shop selling a range of their beautiful woven textile products - I treated myself to a lovely red woven jacket whilst I was there!  You can shop at Avoca online too.   

Goodies from England

I've just recently got back from a big trip to England and Ireland, where we took little baby Jasper to meet his grandparents.  Sadly, travelling with a baby means not a lot of spare luggage allowance for hunting down British second-hand ceramic goodies.  However, I did manage to squeeze this very cute china jug and bowl in my suitcase - somewhere in between babygrows and nappies!

I don't know who the original manufacturer is, as unfortunately there's no backstamp only a 'Made in England' stamp on the bottom.  I loved the classic retro pattern, colours and the use of dots for texture.  Super-cute!

Here's the little guy in England, just catching up on current British news and reading about the Euro crisis!

Lark

 

Old fashioned English style and vintage nostalgia at Lark

Bright coloured melamine and party ware 

Cute stationery, books, stickers, tins and baking goodies 

Fab door covered in old Ladybird children's book jackets (I recognise a lot of these as I used to read them as a child!) 

 The Lark Christmas catalogue - featuring my vintage tea themed melamine plates!

A few weekends ago I was in Daylesford to visit the super-cute shop Lark.  Lark is brimming with old fashioned English style, vintage nostalgia, brightly coloured party ware and all things seriously cute!

Lark stocks a mix of hand selected children's designs, adorable homewares and accessories, designer products such as the Cath Kidston range, as well as a range of products from local designers (including me!)  It's a gorgeous shop perfect for buying gifts, with any presents expertly wrapped in pretty papers, coloured ribbons and sweet patterned tape. 

The Lark Christmas catalogue is out now and I'm very thrilled that it includes two of my vintage tea-themed melamine plates!

You can visit the Lark online shop here, pop over to the blog, or browse the Christmas catalogue - or you could be really retro and actually visit the shop in person!

Lark - 4A Duke Street, Daylesford, Victoria.

Olle Eksell

This is a fabulous book featuring the work of Swedish graphic designer Olle Eksell - and I've been meaning to blog about the book for a while.  Olle Eksell was an influential graphic designer working in the 1950's and worked across diverse design disciplines including illustration, packaging design, branding, fabric and textile designs.

I love the naiive and quirky style of Olle's work, with many of his designs having a sense of humour and whimsy to them.  As with many of the designers I admire, he was working at a time of pre-computerisation so his illustrations and designs posess all the quirks and flair of his hand created artwork.  

Olle Eksell Swedish Graphic Designer is available from the rather fabulous Pie Books.

100 years of East London style

Following on from the previous London themed post, I spotted this video on by b and e and thought it was worth sharing!

The video celebrates 100 years of East London fashion in 100 seconds, from 1911 - 2011. I love all the fabulous vintage clothing and the gorgeous hats! It makes me want to change out of my boring jeans and converse shoes, and put on a cute 1940's dress for the afternoon.

Watch it with the sound on....again...and again... it's quite addictive!

I Love London

I bought this wrapping paper from Lark the other day as I just loved the quirky illustrations depicting London with classic black cabs, the big red bus and snooty business people!

 

The illustrations on the wrapping paper reminded me of the 'London Collection' hand screen printed wallpaper designs by British designer Lizzie Allen. 

Lizzie has a fabulous quirky illustrative style, and I love these designs with their sketchy collage images of iconic London scenes and business people going about their busy daily lives.  I love the 'London City Gents' reading the newspaper, the 'red buses and black cabs' - and also the classic black umbrella which is a necessity when living in England!  

Japanese mugs

Cute patterned Japanese mugs from Gleaners Inc 

Last week I blogged about the super-cute shop Gleaners Inc.  As usual, I couldn't visit a shop selling second-hand kitchenalia without making a small purchase!  I came away with these very gorgeous Japanese mugs with the most amazing pattern details. 

I love that the mugs are in three colours and the patterns are all different - with a mix of geometric and floral motifs.  I already have a small collection of these style of Japanese mugs - but I'd never before come across any quite so intricate or patterned!

The above mugs are ones I already had and which have featured in some of my illustrations and sketches, so the new patterned ones will be a great addition to my growing collection. 

 

 Some sketches featuring my Japanese mugs