My lovely colleague Laura recently came across Hotel Exchange in Amsterdam.
"Hotel Exchange is a new development in Amsterdam and is a collaboration between Fashion & Architecture. The rooms have all been design by Fashion graduates and alumni of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). The hotel is part of an urban renewal programme in the heart of Amsterdam's Damrak neighborhood. The rooms vary from 1 - 5 star so cater for all budgets and would make for a very interesting stay".
If you fancy treating yourself to some sheer gorgeousness then look no further than the Kirstie Allsopp exclusive range for M&S.
If vintage and shabby chic are your home decor inspiration then you will find yourself gushing over the mini measuring tape, sewing box, tea cup and saucer, cake stand and stamping kit. Why not treat yourself and friends to an afternoon of indulgent afternoon tea.
Copyright @ Roobarb. All rights reserved
Copyright @ Roobarb. All rights reserved
Sarah is the lucky owner of the delightful shop Roobarb situated in Marsden, Huddersfield. With a background in textiles Sarah sells her own product amongst the other lines which she stocks. Roobarb sells mainly furniture, home ware, gifts and a wide range of handmade products.
The shop itself opened in Oct 2008 but Sarah has recently launched a website with shopping facilities on it so make sure you take a look.
University/ College: Batley
School of Art and Design
Course: National Diploma
in Creative Textiles
Current Occupation: Shop Owner
What three to five
words would you use to describe your work?
Imaginative, inspirational, quirky & bespoke
What inspires you?
Other designer
makers, I enjoy scrolling though blogs seeing different types of work from
illustrations, paintings , textile art and taking bits to inspire another idea.
I also enjoy flicking through magazines such as home, fashion, textile and art
magazines. I am inspired the most through visual sources. I like to also carry
a notepad to make doodles or sketch things down if ideas come to mind.
What was your
first job? When/how did you know
you wanted a career in art?
My first job was a
weekend job working at my mum’s coffee shop/gift shop. I really enjoyed meeting
new people and from watching my mum run her own business it inspired me to do
the same. I have always enjoyed textiles since being a child and decided to pursue
it after school. I went on to do my national diploma in creative textiles at
Batley School of Art and Design, then the opportunity of opening my own shop
came about.
http://www.tigerprint.typepad.com/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://www.clothmagazine.co.uk/
What’s next?
I make a lot of
items myself and find a lot of unique handmade things to stock the shop. I
would like to expand on my own work, and go in to recycling furniture and
giving old pieces a new lease of life. I have recently launched my on-line shop
website and I am currently working hard to make sure that the website has a
wide variety of items for customers to browse through and pick the perfect
gift.
What mediums do
you work with?
I mainly use
different types of fabrics sourced from all over the place, my trusty second
hand Bernina sewing machine, an ever-growing collection of buttons and beads
and hand embroidery.
My work has a
sketchy, fun feel which I achieve using free hand machine embroidery.
My paper affair is the blog of Caroline who was the winner of our Xmas typography competition a little while ago. It showcases the lovely design work of Caroline as well as some fab inspiration and little peeks into home interior projects which make me green with envy!
Caroline currently lives in Guernsey after working as a Graphic Designer and is now designing a range of greetings cards.
University/ College: London College of Printing
Course: Retail Design
Current Occupation: Freelance/Self employed
What three to five words would you use to describe your work?
Sketchy ink drawings with block colour (ok, 6 words)
What inspires you?
Lots of things inspire me, I can be cycling to school with the children or taking a walk and something I see just translates into an idea or illustration in my head. Living by the sea, memories from my childhood, nostalgic objects, current trends and fashion are all other sources of inspiration and being around other creative people helps too.
What was your first job? When/how did you know you wanted a career in art?
Apart from Saturday jobs in Carnaby Street and Superdrug, my first job was draughting commercial kitchen designs and hand drawing visuals of the finished designs.
I have always loved drawing, from the moment aged 6 my Granddad taught me how to draw a house and chimney stack in perspective. Art was the only subject at school that I got a consistently good report for so I always felt a career within the creative industry was for me.
Design books/blogs you cannot live without:
I look at lots of blogs but some of my favourites are Oh Joy, Snippet & Ink for its beautiful inspiration boards and Sea of Shoes, I wish I'd been that cool at 18.
What is next?
To publish my own range of greetings cards.
What mediums do you work with?
Pen and ink, digital, acrylic, watercolour
Just in time for the Xmas season, Jamie Oliver Home & Lifestyle Gifts is a fab and stylish looking site promoting great ideas for the home and the designers that make them. Check it all out here, and keep an eye out for the great graphics featured on the site as shown above.
One of our friends has just started this little business letting you stay in one of these lovely little restored caravans down in Cornwall.
"At Love Lane, we have a small selection of classic caravans that we have lovingly restored. Whilst keeping each as original as possible, they have been decorated and fitted out in such a way as to accentuate their individuality and character."
Check out the site here, it's quite lovely.
I just came across these great cushion by Bonjour Mon Coussin over at all over print blog. I really love the mix of found, vintage and collage styles, they would look great all mixed and matched.
Big letters around your house, being functional. Check out this website for some innovative furniture solutions!
'tramonto a new york' by gaetano pesce, 1980 (photo: mario carrieri)
Design Boom is previewing pieces to be featured in Milan Design week 2008. There are some really innovative pieces which are more like pieces of art than furniture!
