Love Print... Love Teresa Green...

I have been an admirer of the work of Teresa Cole of 'Teresa Green' ever since I came across her designs  at University, and now, nine years on, I still love her work.

Set up in 2000, creating printed textiles, designed and hand printed by Teresa Cole in her studio.

The integrity of natural materials is of vital importance to Teresa and all fabrics are sourced from within the UK, linens from Ireland and all inks water based.

Teresa has a passion for antique kitchenalia and uses it regularly as a theme within her designs.

I just love the innocence and naivety to her drawings and against a backdrop of canvas and linen, and use of minimal colour within the designs... well, see for yourself, just beautiful...

The items to be found in her shop are cushions, artwork, tea towels, purses, scarves, cards and much more.

Its well worth a little trip over...

(all images taken from www.teresagreen.co.uk)

x x x

'Tea and Cake'...

Ok, so its been a while, but, as promised, a few sneaky peeks inside the gorgeous book 'Tea and Cake' Recipes for the perfect afternoon tea, illustrated by Emma Block.

The book is filled with beautiful illustrations of tea cups, cupcakes, macaroons, ornate teapots and cakes cakes cakes galore, yum!

With planning ideas and tips on how to make the perfect cuppa with a humorous guide to tea strength including 'straight up tea', dirty dishwater' and 'stewed/wallpaper stripper'!

Several chapters totally dedicated to recipes after the initial introduction covering sandwiches and savouries, cakes, cupcakes and scones, biscuits, macaroons and much more, ooh and a lovely cheeky chapter on 'grown up drinks' at the back featuring 'moroccan minteani' and 'brandy breakfast'.

Whether buying the book for the recipes or purely for the lovely collaged illustrations throughout, you wont be disappointed.

Its just a problem knowing which recipe to try first!

happy days

(all above photos taken by me

copyright for the book itself @ Hardie Grant Books)

x x x

Phewee...

Pheweeeee... what a crazy couple of weeks its been! 

Actually no, edit that, crazy couple of months!

Preparing for Surtex, planning Surtex, doing Surtex, travelling, etc etc...

Our trip to the big apple was fabulous and full of laughter, lovely food and drink, and good times :-) 

Obviously doing the show was brilliant, but I was lucky enough to get to see Jersey Boys on Broadway, and my word... amazing!

Back home now and whilst its still all systems go go go, I'm very much looking forward to a long bank holiday weekend and some much needed catch up on sleep.

(I'm such a lightweight adjusting back, zzzzz sleeeeeeeepy bear... zzz)

Hoping the weather will be warm and sunny over extended weekend, the garden's calling...

Anyway, thought I'd drop in to apologise for lack of posts since being back and say 

'hi, I'm still here (wave)'

Enjoy the jubileeeeeeeeee!

(image from not on the high street - 'Diamond Jubilee tea towel by hunkydory home)

happy weekend all

x x x

Back soon..

Hi all... dropping in very quickly just to say hi and bye!

Off to NYC with the lovely Paper and Cloth studio where we will be exhibiting our Summer collection for 2013 at Surtex, yay!

Heres a sneaky peek that was featured on the yummy print pattern blog recently.

See you there!

x x x

Inspired by...Brie Harrison

Another little feature from my ever increasing 

list of favourite designers/ illustrators and generally talented eggs!

Next up...

Brie Harrison and her beautiful prints...

Brie is a print designer and illustrator who studied Fashion Textile Design at University.

She's worked in London and New York and recently designed a range of greeting cards and gift wrap for Art Angels before deciding on a career as a freelance designer to pursue her love for illustration.

Her clients include Galison, Radley and WGSN among others.

Brie has also appeared in Mike Perry's book 'Over and Over', dedicated to pattern design,

(there are lots of gorgeous patterns in that book, so I recommend a purchase if you haven't already got it sitting on your bookshelf) 

and has also more recently been featured in Charlotte Rivers book 'I Love Stationery'.

(again, another lovely, yummy book)

Here are a few of my favourites...

Lovely colour, beautiful textures, stunning bold florals and the odd bird dotted about, what more do you want...

Below is the wall that Brie curated at Supermarket Sarah, featuring her own designs alongside Mike Perry, Jim Stoten, Luke Best and many more...

You can see more of Bries gorgeous designs on her website here.

And you can buy her lovely cushions, cards, wrap, shoppers and prints in her online shop here.

(All above images from Brie's website)

x x x

Little pick of the week...

I just couldn't resist posting this little number...

It probably wouldn't look as fab with a wacom tablet and pen would it!?

(Image credit and link, click here)

Gorgeous garlands....

I've recently discovered the gorgeous blog 'hello olive' by Colleen.
 It's a lovely blog, showcasing some wonderful finds, and after a little post on www.helloolive.blogspot.co.uk featuring some beautiful garlands from little nest box, I had a trawl through Etsy to see what other garland related delights I could find. 

I think I'm going to need a felt garland in my life very soon...

made mary

jelly bean studio

little nest box

fairy folk weddings

the color loft

laxtoyvr

isla corbett

happy shopping!

x x x

Nom nom nom....

Well I must say, I've been doing quite a lot of food based activities of late, happy days eh...

Lots of yummy cake baking over Easter and a super special layered trifle which went down a treat over a meal with the folks.

But, the best bit...a little outing to Jamie's Italian in Birmingham last weekend, very nice indeedy! Here are a few pics I took while the boy and I were nibbling our way through the menu. (i couldnt quite believe the size of the burger when it arrived)

A couple of homemade lemonades, an Italian burger, a Meatball special, a warm brownie and an Amalfi lemon curd slice later and we were pretty full to bursting... on to the shops!

Definitely recommend a visit if you're passing.

and heres the trifle that went down a treat... ;-)

ooh and the lemon curd cake...

and my little kitchen helper...

Photos by me

ooh what to make this weekend...!

x x x

On my bookshelf...

I've had a little book purchase frenzy recently and just couldn't resist these lovely books by Jennifer Adams. Im a sucker for a beautifully illustrated children's book and have quite a few gathering on my bookshelf, and these are the latest to be added.

All of them are illustrated by Alison Oliver and the titles are 'Little Masters' or 'Little Miss'. 

The four books in the collection are Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Romeo and Juliet, and I'm hoping there'll be more added in the future as they're sooo lovely.

Three of them are counting primer books and feature significant, key imagery associated with each story, going from 1 to 10, Romeo and Juliet's one balcony, seven masks, eight love letters, etc...

and the fourth is a colours primer, picking out key colours from the story; Alice's black shoes, a white rabbit, orange cat, etc...

Here are a few little pics...

 (all pictures taken by me)

Ooh and my next parcels arrived this morning...you know what that means...

The lovely Tea and Cake book I was awaiting, yay!!

x x x

Inspired by...Sol Linero

Well well well, a little treat instore today I must say, gorgeous work by Sol Linero...

Working within illustration and animation, Sol has an amazing portfolio of designs and has worked with companies such as Nickelodeon and MTV, among others.

She very often features her beloved dog, Poncho, and adopted cat, Lupita, in her work so see if you can spot them when you have a looksie.

The colour she uses is beautiful and mixed with her style of graphics, layering and texture...yum! I'm a big fan!

You can reach her Etsy shop here, and her online portfolio here.

Here are a few of her illustrations...

All images from www.sollinero.com

x x x