Snappy Sausage

Snappy Sausage is the UK designer behind these wonderful treats.  Snappy Sausage goodies are available at the lovely UK online store, Bonbi Forest - I have my beady eye on those supercute Humphrey cat earrings - i'm allergic to real cats so this is the purrrrfect alternative!

Hello Memo

I was recently contacted by Helen of Hello Memo who makes these lovely accessories and homewares.  Helen is based in Suffolk and part of the Fine City Friends collective.  If you have a pet, Helen will also draw a lovely pic of your prize pooch or python and turn it into a wee brooch!  What a lovely idea - shame I don't have a pet - maybe thats an excuse to get one!

A Sad Day at Bettyjoy Towers

The Bettyjoy online boutique is closing its doors after two and half years.  It was a very difficult decision to make, but I was struggling to spend enough time on the site, as I work full-time in another job, and felt I was neglecting it a bit and not giving it the attention it deserved.  I'm also in the process of a career transition, which will mean I have even less time to spend on the site.  Add the credit crunch into the mix and it makes it even less of an option to keep the store going. I've met some wonderful people thru having the store, both suppliers, customers and PR people and (if any of you are reading this blog) I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for your kind support of the store over the last two and a half years.  The store will close at the beginning of April so get your hands on the lovely produce while you can!  The Bettyjoy blog will remain open so keep visiting! 

Sleddale Hall

Nothing to do with design today, but wanted to share (if you havent already heard); the old farmhouse featured in Withnail & I (fab film!) is up for sale!  It's in Cumbria, not that far from where I am from originally so I'm even more drawn to it.  It's in such a beautiful location and with a bit of love it could be done up lovely and has such a pretty view.  Shame I don't have a spare few £100K !  I really love old wrecks like this one, shame I can't even get my mitts on a tumbledown wreck at the moment - Damn you credit crunch!  So for now I will have to just look at the pics and imagine what i do with it if I owned it instead!

Pop Ink

I came across a site today called Pop Ink via Lucy Gough.  I just love the style of illustrations, which are applied to stationery, prints on birch veneer (pictured), soaps (pictured), melaminware and more.  I only just realised I have one of their books too which is really great, it features bright, colorful kitschy animal designs on old 70's wrapping paper stationery, wallpaper etc, I must go and dig it out again!

Lucy Gough

I stumbled across Lucy Gough's blog recently, I love her illustrations and photography which you can find on her website.  Lucy is a photographer and illustrator based in London and has been featured in many magazines and newspapers in including the Independent, The Times, Country Living (one of my favorite magazines) and Coastal.  Lucy also has some great finds on her blog too, one of which I will blog about in my next post - go check out her blog!

Bedcrumb

..is a wonderful little online boutique which sells the work of the talented Heidi Cannon, who works from her studio in the Lake District.  Heidi creates the lovely illustrations which are incorporated into her work which ranges from silk scarves and bags to cushions and pretty scented silk sachets to hang in your wardrobe or put in your knicker drawer.  You can see Heidi's work here and also is stocked in the Bettyjoy boutique too!

Hannah Turner's Birds

Another lovely gift I got was a lovely Hannah Turner bird.  Here are a few more of the wonderful ceramic songsters above.  I love the colours and almost 1950's look to them.  I have one on my dresser, but think he needs a pal ! 

Lucy Jane Batchelor

My lovely boyfriend bought me some great presents this Christmas, which I can't believe I forgot to mention before.  One of which was a lovely little tweed chap made by Lucy Jane Batchelor. An artist based out of Cockpit Arts in London.  I had seen her lovely creatures at the Millenium Galleries Christmas Cracker exhibition in Sheffield before Christmas and my eagle eyed boyfriend must have spied me lurking around the Lucy Jane Batchelor creatures and got me my own one!  Lucky me! Above are some of her other lovely chaps!

Hen's Teeth

I came across Hen's Teeth on Flickr and wanted to share these wonderful works with you.  Viv of Hen's Teeth makes these wonderful collages using various mixed media often using vintage envelopes and stationery and is available on Etsy and you can see more of her work on her blog..

Lovli Design

...is indeed lovely - check out these sweet stationery designs by Lovli Designs based in Birmingham.  They design for many large companies including Paperchase - one of my favorite stores! Reading Print Pattern - one of my favorite blogs the other day, I understand sausage dogs are very en vogue at the moment (maybe they are the new owl!) so these designs are just the ticket!

J Mendicino Ceramics

Another fantastic find from Etsy. Joanna Mendicino, based near San Francisco, makes these lovely clean and simple designs, inspired by nature - the bunny vase is adorable.

Emma Hack

My boyfriend pointed out to me these beautiful body paintings which he saw on cpluv.com.  They were created by Emma Hack, an Australian artist.  You can see more here and there is also a book published, entitled Peinture Sur Corps, which you can see extracts of here -just click on the book - there are some really great images.

Pollen Textiles

I'm back and am very relieved to have finished my tax returns so now I can bury my head in the sand and forget about them for another year!  Now, back to much more fun stuff, I found Pollen Textile's lovely work on Etsy recently.  It's so delicate and pretty.  Julie is a French Designer based in Canada and studied textiles in Paris.  You can see the influence of Paris in her lovely brooches - the delicate, romantic and beautiful.

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days I'm afraid I am doing the dreaded tax returns which is turning into something of an ordeal!! I will be back to blogging in a few days!

Ponoko

I found this great site the other day and think Im gonna have to try it out myself!  You can upload your own designs onto their website and Ponoko will make the item for you and ship it out to you.  There is a range of materials to choose from, including bamboo, metal and acrylic.  So if you haven't got the luxury of your own lazercutting machine, then this is the perfect alternative. Above are some examples on the site of items which are featured on the site.  Designers can also sell their finished work on Ponoko too.  The only downside that i can see is that the shipping is pretty dear for us Europeans as Ponoko are based in NZ and USA.  Time to get my thinking cap on and come up with some designs.  Its a great idea if you want to get something unique and personalised for a loved one too.