Pretty Plates

Christmas is coming and this goose (me!) is getting pretty fat and I dont have many pennies to put in anyone's hat, so I'm on another handmade Christmas presents tip this year. Sorry family and friends - you'd better start practicing your 'what a lovely present' faces. They'll probably be a bit sick of my handmade wares by now! Anyway, if you are in a similar boat this year why not create some cute dinnerware or decorative plates, like these.

The first one is an old plate which has been knocking about the kitchen for some time looking plain and boring I found some porcelain/ceramic pens at Hobbycraft which cost less than £3 each (If I remember correctly) and you can use these to draw directly onto a ceramic surface of your choice. You can hand draw your design onto the plate in pencil (use a soft pencil for this) and then simply draw over the top with your pen. Why not create a set of personalised plates or cups for christmas.

I was inspired by a decorative plate display I saw on the wonderful Yvestown blog ages ago, but I didn't have any cute vintage plates with big floral designs so I decided to make one. This one is simply a decoupaged plate - I found a couple of images from a recent Country Living magazine and cut them out and using PVA glue, glued the images on and put another coat of PVA over the top to seal it. I did this in a hurry using images I found quickly, but if you hunt about for better images, I'm sure you could do a better job. These obviously can't be eaten off, unless you want a meal flavoured with PVA! But you could make cute decorative plates, I think I'm gonna make a heap more of these then I can display them in the house - or give them to unsuspecting family members!

The Crockery Cupboard

The previous post led me to this fantastic venture, The Crockery Cupboard.  Trying to collect together plenty of cute crocks for your wedding or party can be hard work as the quality of the teacups and china in your local charity shop can be a bit hit and miss, so here you can hire the crockery and they have a great selection to choose from.  What a great idea for a business venture.

Oh wow!

I came across the fab blog 100 Layer Cake a while back and check it out quite often as it has such wonderful wedding posts, even if you are not planning a wedding its worth visiting just for the inspiration and great photography.  I popped over there today and came across a wonderful post about Mimi of Mika 78, a letterpress designer who created these fantastic gifts for a close friend's bridal shower.  She hunted down the cutest vintage teacups and napkins in flea markets to use as the basis of her designs which she then handwrote (on the teacups) and printed on the napkins and these were wrapped up in little boxes with twine to give to each of the guests.  How fabulous - I'd be over the moon to receive something which has obviously been created with such love and care!

Coasters galore!

Loving these by Robot Candy - so many great designs and a right bargain at $6 each!  Check out the Etsy store.

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.

Lollipop Pottery

I just stopped by Creature Comfort's ever-inspirational blog today and came across these absolutely perfect pottery pieces by Lollipop Pottery. I love these colorful designs made in Ohio by talented duo jessica and Tyson. I'm noticing a bit of a trend on my blog for ceramic pieces.

LoucheLab

I saw these today on Etsy via Indie Parade (at least I think it was Indie Parade - I've been making up for lost time and spending hours trawling the net for cute stuff so my brain has gone into the future) and thought they were just lovely. They are made by LoucheLab - if only I had any money spare I'd get these for my living room

Veronica Buttons

Laura Walker, the talented button designer behind Veronica Buttons is actually based in the same city as me, Sheffield, in the UK.  I really love these buttons, I haven't ever seen any like it before - these would really jazz up your favorite coat, bag or cashmere cardi (or, in my case, one of Primark's finest twinsets!).   Laura has an Etsy store where you can see more of her wonderful creations.  Veronica Buttons will also be having a stall at the Spirit of Christmas fair at the Olympia in London, so if you are visiting the show make sure you check out the Veronica Button booth.

Paloma's Nest

Many of you may have already seen the lovely offerings from Paloma's Nest as she is a featured seller on Etsy at the moment, but I thought i would share them with you anyway as they are so pretty. I really love her neutral stamped ceramic work and ribbons.

Hollow Bear

I found this wonderful ceramic creation on flickr this evening made by Krukan.

Camilla Prada

Camilla Prada is the designer behind the Pepe and Friends ceramics collection.  I have seen many items from the collection before but I hadn't seen these adorable espresso cup and saucer sets, which are available from Camille's shop and also at Soma. I don't really drink espresso but I'm sure I could see my way to having the odd one if I had one of these wonderfully cute birdie cups.

Rob Ryan

I think most people will have heard of this very talented gentleman, Rob Ryan, and seen some of his cutout and screenprinted work before.  I have seen many of his lovely designs but I hadn't come across these these lovely tiles before which I found at Soma, the top tile is very apt for me - I am the ultimate birdbrain!  

Update:  He now has a store called Ryantown in London on Columbia Road, which is open weekends only.

Bethan Lloyd Worthington

On my day trip to Manchester the other day I came across an artist called Bethan Lloyd Worthington.  Her work was displayed at Urbis, and it really caught my eye, so when i got home I went to check out her website which you can see here.  Her work is so delicate and beautiful,  she has a really lovely drawing style too.  The top two images are entitled Accounting for non Accountants -  created during an artist's block and being faced with spreadsheets and accounting books upon beginning her business, she was inspired to create these really interesting pieces.  The next few images are of work inspired by a long trip to northern Norway and the last image is of a commission entitled The Kidnap.  Bethan has many more works of art available to see on her website and I suggest you check it out as there are some really wonderful creations with interesting inspiration.