Supermarket STUNNA

Possibly the coolest darn chair we’ve ever seen…in a supermarket collection. It’s red, it’s round, it looks designer, but this Sphere tub chair is just £150 from Tesco Direct. Bargainacious. The Milky Bars are on me!

If you like the see-through picture frame in the background, head to Habitat for similar. – Ellie

The Valentine Files: PART I

Ever since David Page held my hand in the Book Corner and gave me a huge, glittery hand-made card to declare his undying love (we were both four at the time), I’ve been a fan of Valentine’s Day.

On HomeShoppingSpy this week, we’re going to wade through the mountains of pink plastic hearts, teddies, helium balloons and faux roses to bring you The Valentine files – posts filled with the most beautiful Valentine’s Day gifts and some easy ways to make your own personalised love tokens, which always mean so much more than anything shop-bought. Get crafting for your other half, your secret crush…or just for yourself to make your home look fabulous!

Our first gift idea is a stunning paper heart artwork from Sarah & Bendrix at Notonthehighstreet. These remind me of Tracey Bush butterfly frames, which I’ve ripped off, (erm, been inspired by) myself.  I like the little initial/date hearts for a personal detail and the way some are stuck down completely while others are folded and 3D – so pretty.

I’ve got my eye on these delicate ceramic hearts from The Chic Country Home, but then I always was a sucker for a bit of typography…

Another romantic idea is this stylish Bedtime Stories bed linen from Tiago da Fonseca. It’s printed with ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ fairy tale from Brothers Grimm and gives a whole new meaning to reading in bed! – Ellie

LOVE is in the air

Crafting Queen Felicity Hall just emailed me today about a gorgeous free needlepoint pattern download that she’s produced for her website. If you get stitching now, you MIGHT just finish it in time for Valentine’s Day!?

Pop back next week to see beautiful retro caravan interiors from our Book of the Week, My Cool Caravan. Until then, have a lovely weekend. – Ellie

Having a WHALE of a time

Shiver me timbers, Thomas Paul’s released some fabulous new designs. You’ll find these fantastic Scrimshaw-esque plates in his new collection at Supernice. Apparently, Scrimshaw is an art form traditionally practised by sailors at sea who used whale bone or teeth as canvases for drawing and carving elaborate whaling scenes.

Luckily, Thomas Paul’s plates are made of dishwasher-safe melamine, not whale bone!

His soft furnishing collection features similarly nautical designs, so you could have your whole house ship-shape in no time. – Ellie

BOOK: Patchwork for Beginners

Get your crafting hat on, because today we’re looking at a new book due to be released by the V&A next month to celebrate the Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition. Author Sue Prichard is Curator of Contemporary Textiles at the V&A, and has put together a handy little guide with some simple projects to get you started if you’re a patchwork virgin.

The book starts with a brief history of patchwork in Britain, followed by a useful list of all the bits and bobs you’ll need to get started on your own patchwork creations. The projects are straightforward with simple step-by-step instructions and handy templates at the back – choose to make a lovely hexagon patchwork pincushion, a square patchwork cushion cover, an appliqué (Mwah ha ha, WordPress, I have finally worked out how to get an accent!) cushion, or a cot coverlet.

Here are some pics from the book – hexagonal ceramic tiles that echo patchwork patterns, and vintage Liberty & Co printed cotton fabrics. I like the little snippets of history throughout this craft book. Prichard has found references to patchwork in Jane Austen’s letters, old editions of Sylvia’s Home Journal, and in various works of literature, and has sprinkled these fascinating and sometimes amusing quotations throughout the book which makes it a really interesting read. There are also photographs of various patchwork items from the past which we will no doubt see in the exhibition when it opens.

This is a great little book and brilliantly written, but some of the photography is a bit low-budget – don’t expect a visual feast. However, it only costs £7.99, and it’s inspired me to FINALLY make a patchwork quilt, so I’m sold! Sue Prichard has written another book to accompany the exhibition called Quilts – hidden histories, untold stories so I’ll be keeping my eye out for that too. – Ellie

Graham & Green should always be seen

Oh. My. Goodness. Brighten up your Tuesday afternoon with these beautiful new pictures from Graham & Green…

The bright tropical colours on these Moroccan cushions are so gorgeous – no doubt they’ve been pumped up a bit in PhotoShop, but I bet they still look fabulous in the flesh.

Ceramic antlers, a white Tolix chair, a chrome phone…and a stunning green shell inlay chest. What more could a gal want?

Wow – now THAT is what I call a carpet. What a stunning mixture of trad and modern styles – which somehow works. And the shell inlay chest is pretty in pink.

LOVE the mirrors in this pic, and the Ferrari chair – but it’s the lamp that’s got me all excited. Tripod lamps are everywhere this season, and you don’t need to spend a lot to bag yourself a really stylish one. I spotted a retro wooden tripod table lamp in the Tesco Direct summer range, for just £40. Bargainous! – Ellie

Ode to cutlery

Oh, I do love a Welbeck cutlery tile. Or two. Or four…

Obviously, they’d look fabulous on kitchen walls, or you could just buy a pair (£22), glue felt to their bases and use them as statement coasters.

Check out the ultra-chic new Pied a Terre (yes, the shoe people) Home collection at House of Fraser this spring for stunning black and gold cutlery. It’s SO glamorous – imagine the black cutlery on a crisp white tablecloth with black napkins, Jo Malone candles and elegant white roses – WHAT a look for a decadent dinner party! In reality, my guests have to endure a manky old polka dot oilcloth but HEY. We can dream.

I’m a huge fan of vintage cutlery…no, you can’t put it in the dishwasher. But you can buy it for next to nothing at car boot sales and it looks so lovely:

I’ve admired Tracey Kendall’s cutlery wallpaper for a while now. Let’s treat ourselves to a little peak. Sadly it’s £95, chaps. SIGH.

If you like cutlery, you’ll love these Victorian cutlery catalogue greeting cards from Baileys – they’re nice enough to frame!

And while we’re obsessing about Welbeck tiles…check out the amazing postcard tiles, the vintage household range – and have you seen the gorgeous jelly tiles they do?

I’ve got a bit of a thing for jelly at the moment (!) which started with Thornback and Peel napkins…

From top left, working clockwise: Thornback and Peel jelly napkin; RE jelly mould light fitting; RE rabbit jelly moulds; and my charity shop glass jelly moulds, 99p each, (no expense spent).

And here are some more lovely wibbly wobbly jelly pictures from RE. You’ll find more gorgeous jellies at Bompas & Parr (jelly-mongers!) Right, I’m off to pop some more Nurofen for my lack-of-caffeine-headache. Perhaps I should have phased out coffee gradually rather than going cold turkey?! Alas. We live and learn. – Jelly Ellie

The WAR-TIME trend

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with T.  Just when we thought the coast was clear, there’s one more, sneaky, cheeky trend to look at. Let’s check out at the current vogue for all things WAR-related.

Now, this trend is HUGE. And it isn’t miserable, despite the harsh realites of war – rather, it’s quite a cheerful look, channelling the (real or imagined) optimistic war-time spirit of 1940s Britain. As we witnessed with the recent rash-like spread of the now-unavoidable-yet-strangely-still-appealing-particularly-if-it’s-not-in-red KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON poster, the time is apparently ripe for battening down the hatches, putting on a brave face, joining together and reviving the traditional British ’stiff upper lip’ in the face of adversity. We’re all trying to save money, waste less and stay cheerful. A bit like we were in the war. And so, a trend is born.

Let’s start with flags. Unless you’ve been living under a stone somewhere, you can’t have failed to notice a lot of Union Jacks all over the place – bunting, posters, cushions, teacups – it’s something we were chatting about last spring. The likes of Becky Oldfield (with her flag quilts and vintage medals) are cashing in, and last year the high street was awash with flag-tastic accessories. There’s no getting away from them – for 2010, designers have swapped the usual red, white and blue for floral flags with a crafty look. Check out the new Tesco tins above, and the Portmeirion place mats.

It’s not just patriotic flags we’re luvvin’. Reassuring wartime poster slogans and plucky Government mottoes have become the norm for prints and have been reproduced in their millions.

There’s KEEP CALM of course, but many more including AN APPLE A DAY, DIG FOR VICTORY and, perhaps the most British of all: TEA REVIVES YOU. If there’s a war on, or a recession for that matter, have a nice cup of tea and everything will seem a lot better, ducky.

Our cooking habits are being influenced by the war years, too. Wartime recipe books are being re-printed and are soaring in popularity as people look to save money by using up leftovers and spending less at the supermarket. I read in The Times recently: “Moves to recover the lessons of the war can be seen on the forums of MoneySavingExpert.com, where various contributors have begun to offer tips salvaged from wartime cookbooks, or on Amazon, where the works of that great wartime cook Marguerite Patten are displayed beside books by Gordon Ramsay.” Even Waitrose now stocks cheaper cuts of meat such as pig trotters and sheep brains.

From top left, working clockwise: A cute purse from Rosie’s Armoire with a weekly family food budget printed on it; a vintage ration book; Cold Meat And How To Disguise It – a fantastic collection of war-time tips, recipes and ephemera; and Economical Cookery, and a war-time recipe book I inherited. Bovril eggs, anyone? Our attitude to shopping has changed, too. Check out the interior of this fabulous new shop our editor Isobel found in Brighton. It’s called Utility, and I’m definitely going to pop in next time I’m down that way:

Utility takes it’s ‘name and inspiration’ from the World War II scheme that produced everyday goods with a minimum of wastage, and the website helpfully explains to us, (the ignorant yoof!) that this is ‘because raw materials were in short supply then’. Utility sells ’simple, but always functional and hardwearing’ home accessories, which ’stick to principles’ and the founders claim to be ‘waging a war’ on ‘tut’. Shops such as this are evidence of a huge shift towards a simpler, more meaningful way of life that many of us crave after the plastic fantastic eighties and fat-cat-buy-buy-buy nineties; we’re more aware of the environment and we also want to save money, so when we shop, we want to buy simple, ethical things that will last.

(Of course, buying anyTHING when you don’t absolutely NEED to, whether it’s simple, eco and functional or not, kind of demeans this whole philosophy – Utility is, after all, still a shop, selling lovely accessories that are not exactly essentials – but let’s not nit pick or we’ll be here forever. And this is a shopping blog, so who am I to talk!!)

Even our reading matter is war-related at the moment. I love all the reproduction Government-issued pamphlets from the war years that are being re-released, so I picked these up in the Tate Britain shop, but you can also buy them on Amazon. In the 1940s, handbooks were given to soldiers going abroad advising them on the peculiarities of the ‘foreigners’ they would soon encounter. The guides were intended to lessen the culture shock for those embarking on their first trip and the instructions are a wonderful interpretation of the differences between the allies.

Here’s a priceless extract from the Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain book: ”The British don’t know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don’t know how to make a good cup of tea. It’s an even swap…”

For me, it’s the war-time craft revival that’s my favourite thang…mmmmm, check out my vintage LEARN TO TAT poster! (You’ll find the MAKE DO AND MEND print at the Keep Calm Gallery.) I like nothing better than to sit about wearing bright red lipstick and a 1940s-style tea dress from TopShop, sipping tea from a vintage teacup, knitting socks for the sheer pleasure of it rather than the necessity. How absurd. It’s 2010. I could buy them in Primark for heaven’s sake, five pairs for a pound. But I and many others choose to buy wool instead and hang out at ‘Make Do And Mend’ pop-up crafting nights from the likes of iKnit and Smack My Stitch Up – ‘Customisation for the Nation’, in case you’re wondering. Ten years ago, if somebody had suggested mixing cross-stitch with DJ-ing, they’d have been locked in a secure unit. Now, such combos are the norm and, thanks to the massive revival of all things homemade and handmade, ‘making do’ and ‘mending’ has never been cooler.

(I couldn’t resist this VICTORY “Wonder-Sock” pattern when I spotted it in a car boot sale – it’s ‘the perfect gift’, and the pink reproduction Ministry of Information Make do and Mend book is available from Amazon.) Take the Shoreditch Sisters Women’s Institute group for example – ten years ago, it was not cool to be in the W.I, but now, knitting is not just for grannies. The members are sassy, sexy young women, all crafting, jam-making, and hanging out being cool in a very Shoreditch way. Check out their president and founder, ‘Jazz Domino Holly‘ (yes, this is her real name. Daughter of The Clash lead singer…always the way with rock stars), seen here in her presidential photo, standing in front of a massive KEEP CALM poster. As if I PLANNED it. And her fellow Shoreditch ‘Sister’ is shown here running a ‘Clothing Customisation Station’ at a recent Bust Craftacular event, proudly holding up the wartime slogan: MAKE DO AND MEND.

These trendy young crafters are living proof that wartime attitudes have been embraced by the hipsters (HIPSTERS?! Groan, I must be getting old) of 2010. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a bit of V-DAY-style buntin’, a good vintage propoganda poster or a retro OXO tin as much as the next design-addict, but I do wonder what my dear grandmother would say about all this if she were alive today.  She belonged to a generation who HAD to darn socks, fly flags, use up leftovers, scrimp, save, keep calm and, erm, carry on, out of necessity. I suspect she’d think it was strange that we seem to think that a dip in the economy is in some way comparable to the desperately hard times endured by so many in the 1940s. But I’m sure she’d find it funny that I’m wearing floral tea dresses just like she used to! – Ellie

‘Posh’ paint

Check out this new range of fabulous paint colours from Laurence Llewelyn Bowen at Graham and Brown, soon to be stocked by B&Q. We’ve talked on here before about how much fun it must be to name paint colours…and it looks as though Laurence has had a ball! Touchy Tealey anybody? Exceedingly Kipling Pink? Plummy Accent? These made me chuckle…

Old School Crockery is a great name for a paint – my grandparents used to have 1950s utilitarian tableware in EXACTLY that shade of pistachio green. And Clooney is perfect for a sexy shade of grey. SIGH! – Ellie

Fabric fans: don’t miss this!

I’m looking forward to the V&A’s Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition (20 March – 4 July 2010) which is being hailed as a “visual encyclopaedia of design”, with thousands of pieces of fabric reflecting three centuries of pattern and print. Crafters, take note: to celebrate the exhibition, the V&A Shop and Liberty Art Fabrics have teamed up to release a limited edition collection of 18 printed cottons, inspired by designs from the quilts on display – perfect for sewing a patchwork quilt of your own.

The fabrics will cost £3.50 for a fat quarter (50cm x 75cm). Keep your eyes peeled for the new quilting book which will be released to accompany the exhibition too – Sue Prichard’s Patchwork for Beginners (I’ll be reviewing this next week). Since I’ve got a box under my bed full to the brim with fabric scraps which are ‘going to be turned into a lovely quilt one day’, this book might be just what I need to get going!

London-based interiors fans might also like to pay a visit to the Fashion and Textiles Museum this year to see the exhibition Very Sanderson: 150 Years of English Decoration (19 March – 13 June 2010). You’ll be able to ogle the Sanderson archive and admire wallpapers, fabrics and paint shades from 1860 to the present day. To celebrate Sanderson’s birthday, artist Nina Saunders has teamed up with footwear designer Tracey Neuls to create an installation made entirely of Sanderson fabrics. We’ll be checking it out at the launch in February’s London Fashion Week and sharing the pics and news here, but until then, here are some examples of Nina and Tracey’s previous Sanderson creations:

Looks as though we’re in for lots of fabric fun this spring! – Ellie