Aren’t these roses beautiful? I bet they’re dead easy to make… I only wish that I paid more attention and showed a bit more interest when my mother tried to teach me to crochet when I was young!
originally posted on the particularpoetry tumblr
Posts Tagged ‘craft’
Tuesday Huesday: Crochet Flowers
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair ’11
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2011 is being held this weekend in Manchester city centre – we went to the preview night on Thursday.
It was great to see designer-makers whose work we’ve long admired – there was also the thrill of seeing fresh, new exhibitors.
We featured Ken Eardley, whose ceramics are shown above in last year’s GNCCF blog post – once again, his stand had real impact. Things are going really well for him with magazine features such as this recent one in BBC Homes & Antiques.
Another striking space belonged to Jane Blease who works primarily with bentwood & reclaimed plastic often with her characteristic hand worked thread detailing. A recent artist residency in India has clearly inspired some of Jane’s new pieces. It’s interesting charting artists’ new developments & influences.
The Radiance stand belonging to Hannah Nunn always delivers the goods – her hand cut paper light shades look great when displayed en masse…
…and we loved her new seed pod window hangings.
Ruth Green, who we’ve seen at GNCCF in previous years, also had some lovely new works…
…and she’s also branched out into illustrated books, notebooks & note cards.
With autumn setting in, Andrea Lord’s &made display offered some warm seasonal comforts…
…such as these gorgeous cushions & cosies.
As we mentioned earlier, it’s really exciting to discover new makers and their work…
…we’ll highlight just a couple who made an impact on us.
The first was Gemma Truman, whose hand-blown glass & seagrass hangings and vases are absolutely exquisite – they’re inspired by South African weaverbird nests. We also thought they were very reminiscent of those old fashioned glass fishing net floats.
Second was Louise Hibbert.
Her pieces have a natural feel and use subtle, earthy, yet striking colours.
As you can see from her salt & pepper mills, they’re organic, tactile and oh so beautiful – they just cry out to be picked up, handled and caressed.
The show runs till this Sunday, so visit if you can! We’ve only featured homewares in this post, but there’s also lots of jewellery and fashion on display… and all of it’s for sale… so go on, get your Christmas shopping done early!
N is for… New
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
We’re known for vintage here at H is for Home…
…but we also like to stock a smattering of new items too.
Things that we think sit well – contemporary products with a vintage or folk art feel.
We look for a handmade aspect too. These are a few examples – all currently available on our website.
Bookmarks – Homemade Home
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Homemade Home by Sania Pell and published by Cico Books is the third in our new series of Bookmarks book reviews.
We’re often in awe of people who seem to find the time and have the creativity to make something out of nothing – in our case, we either don’t get round to doing it or don’t think we’ve got the skills.
Homemade Home will put paid to both – it will motivate you to make a start and it will give you the instructions in how to do it.
Recycling household materials was once common in most households.
There was a certain decline in during the latter half of the twentieth century, but that trend is now very much reversing again…
…whether in the guise of recycling, up-cycling or remodelling.
This could be for many reasons – a new awareness of conserving the world’s resources, saving money or creating an individual/distinctive look.
Whatever the reason, this book’s a perfect companion.
The pages are divided into quick ideas and larger projects.
There are easy to follow, step-by-step instructions – and some lovely photographs of the finished items in household settings.
There’s plenty of opportunity to adapt the ideas in terms of materials, design or finish.
The author’s objective is to inspire you to have a go… and it certainly works!
Before you know it you’ll be collecting buttons & scraps of material.
And, if you already have such a collection, it will offer some fun & interesting ways to use it all.
Homemade Home can also be bought from our vintage design bookshops: Amazon UK | Amazon US
[Many thanks to Cico Books for supplying this review copy]
Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2010
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
We spent Friday evening at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Spinningfields, Manchester city centre…
…and a very pleasant evening it was too.
The fair expanded into two pavilions for its second year.
A great mix of ceramics, glass, metal, paper and textiles… from both new exhibitors and favourites from last year.
There were so many great stalls – we’ve just selected a few that caught our eye.
We’ll start with Jane Blease Design.
She uses plywood and threaded cotton to produce artworks, light shades and jewellery.
It’s striking from a distance, then fascinating in the detail.
A piece of Jane’s work was temptation number one and we’d only been in the marquee for a few seconds!
Moving along to &made,
Andrea Lord produces lovely hand-sewn pieces…
…her items simply & beautifully displayed.
Cushions, wall hangings and rows of gorgeous cacti pin cushions in their little terracotta pots!
We mentioned Derek Wilson Ceramics in our post from last year’s fair.
His stand, filled with his beautiful and delicate porcelain, stopped us in our tracks again…
….elegant, understated simplicity.
Ruth Green Design has proved another favourite with our blog readers – and a shot of her prints always rides high in our Flickr photo viewings.
We lingered at her stall for a good while.
Her prints, sold in limited edition runs, look fabulous hanging all together.
The Pear Tree, one of her new designs, was another strong temptation!
You can always guarantee a striking display from Hannah Nunn’s Radiance Lighting…
…the warm cosy glow of her beautiful, nature-inspired shades…
…the designs hand cut from paper and then laminated.
Phew… time for a pit stop… a sit down with a glass of wine!!
First-time exhibitor Ken Eardley made the long drive up from Brighton where he has his studio.
His range of striking pottery with stylised trees, flowers & leaves was a real show stopper.
Functional and beautiful – always a winning combination.
No doubt his work will be starring in lots of interiors magazines in the future!
The natural landscape strongly inspires & influences the work of enameller Janine Partington.
Trees, flowers, seed heads, birds and animals.
She produces enamel panels, small sculptures and jewellery.
We’d love to stroll through a magical forest of her making.
Kent-based Maxine Sutton plays with imagery of familiar everyday domestic objects and the natural world.
Incorporating them into embroidered and printed textiles to produce a range of interior products.
There were lots of eye-catching items on her stand.
We’ve got a standard lamp that would happily accommodate one of her large shades… and we just loved the coffee pot/cafetiere cosies with their Scandinavian feel.
The work of Sarra Kate is bright and effervescent – just like Sarra Kate herself!
Her stand called out to us from a long way away.
She starts her pieces by making colourful collages which are then laser printed onto textiles and paper…
…which go into making wall hangings, cushions and cards.
Last, but certainly not least, we have Hannah McAndrew, another of our favourites from last year.
This is where we finally gave into temptation.
We admired her stand last year, filled with its mediæval-inspired slipware pottery.
This year we just had to take a few of her pieces home!
We’ve concentrated on featuring homes and interiors products, but there was also lots & lots of fantastic fashion & jewellery – and if we featured any more this post would turn into a novel!
All the makers will be packing up and making their way home as we write this… so be sure to put the fair in your diary for next year!
I want an orange fridge/freezer too! Most definitely the orange!
