Sunday 28 February 2010

Sally and Peter Nencini

Snap Cards by Abbatt Toys

It was my interest in Abbatt* and Galt Toys that led me to the Nencinis last Summer. Sally loves vintage toys and has built up quite a collection from the '60s and '70s.

Wooden traffic jigsaw by Galt

Wooden number set by Abbatt Toys

I'm a huge fan of these toys, so you can expect to see quite a few in my Kickcan & Conkers shop next week.

Routemaster wooden jigsaw by Abbatt Toys, Kickcan & Conkers

Sally is a designer and a maker with a background in fashion. She has always loved textiles, surface pattern, texture and vintage fabrics. Last year she took part in the Dulwich Festival Artists' Open House event (something I love, and wish there were more of in France, like the Artists Open Houses in Brighton) selling her lambswool toys, cushions, baby blankets and "tea" bags made from vintage tea towels.





You will find more information about these beautiful designs/products on her new website and in her etsy and folksy shops.

Play designed by Peter Nencini

Peter Nencini is a freelance illustrator, designer and lecturer (Camberwell College of Arts). He has one of the most interesting blogs I've ever come across (three actually, see links on his site).
Peter is currently working on his Make Do Type project, a large family of modular interchangeable printing blocks.


I love these woodcuts, beautiful objects in their own right.



Following their success at the Midcentury Modern Fair in London last November, Sally and Peter are working towards Kid's Modern, held at Dulwich College, 18th April. I'm hoping to go this year, to meet Julia from Winter's Moon, and see Sally and Peter's new upholstery work.


Since bringing up a young family, Sally has retrained in upholstery. "Each of her bespoke pieces is a unique response to the vintage chair and its character; the story of its use and its user". "Each chair carries a narrative, out of its source ou use or time and place of making".

The Tyrella Chair's narrative was fed by the couple's Summer in County Down
Peter draws and Sally stitches and re-upholsters.



Calligraphic Dining Room Chairs:
Embroidery designed by Peter Nencini, embroidery and re-upholstering by Sally Nencini


Peter and Sally will work to commission, sourcing furniture around a brief or responding to a family piece in need of reworking. Their latest piece, the Shoe Stool, is amazing.


Their brief was "to source a low chair to sit upon when putting on and taking off shoes; to make a typographic drawing about this action and the sensation of entering and leaving behind the world outside one's door." The text is taken from Gaston Bachelard's Poetics of Space (full details of the process on Peter's blog, here).

I hope you've enjoyed this bumper, all-encompassing post. It's very difficult to do justice to this couple's work in such a small space, so I strongly advise that you sit down with a cuppa or whatever takes your fancy and browse both their sites. I'm sure you'll find Peter and Sally's work and thoughts very inspiring.

This was my 498th post folks, almost reached the big 500!

* Nice post on Abbatt Toys here in French.


Thursday 25 February 2010

Bobbies and Bad Guys



How can I not love Sandra's new work?
I've been following and enjoying her blog for a while now, and I'm amazed at her ability to create more and more characters with such a strong sense of identity. Dream guards, Mermen, Medieval Soldiers, Vikings, it just keeps on getting better and better...



I've written about Herzensart a couple of times already but each new collection deserves a post, right? Sandra has been working on two new themes, the Wild West and Little Britain (which I love), and in addition to a line of softies has created these fun stamps for little ones, big ones, and me! (well, Miles turns 5 soon so I have to get him the Little Britain set...)



Go take a peek in Sandra's online shop. If you're quick Sandra is offering her new stamp sets at a special, pre-introductory price, so hurry, hurry, and enjoy!

Wednesday 24 February 2010

Oh My Darling, My Darling Clementine

Good Morning! Just nipping in quickly to let you know about these super-cute cushions. I'm sure you all know about and love Darling Clementine's Marionette range of stationery, already popular around the globe. So delightful! Well, I've just found out that the Norwegian company has teamed up with Ferm Living to introduce a new range of cushions featuring Frank Fox, Elle Elephant, Posy Panda and Aristo Katt.
The Playful Pillows cost 29.95 EUR each and can be purchased via Ferm Living here.


via Retro To Go

Monday 22 February 2010

Bring Me the Spring!



Happy Monday Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. After a week of non-stop rain and general gloom and doom we braved the elements yesterday and went for a bracing walk on the beach here. The sea was wild and so was the wind. It was a perfect day for Savannah to master the art of kite-flying, which she did admirably, and we ran and played and laughed as we struggled against a storm. It was fun!
Today, however, Savannah is running a temperature, and coughing and spluttering in bed. Back to square one. Miles was sick all last week and now it's ma princesse. Not fun!
So, I thought I'd cheer myself up with some pretty images and usher in the spring.

Hanging egg cup decorations by Domestic Candy*

A pile of cups to be washed by Anna Emilia

Pink crocheted pot holder, Fine Little Shop

Tillylinarosa by Fideli Sundqvist, Kodomo 468

Beach Hut cards by Charlotte Macey, All Things Original

Yellow vintage dress c. 1925, Belle Heir

Seven tents by Gretchenmist

Have some fun, original ACEO art card by Noodle and Lou

I've almost reached my 500th post milestone so I'm working on a few really special posts. I'll be organising a small giveaway to mark the occasion and hopefully my little shop will be opening around the same time. I've decided to spend some quality time with my family this week as Mr B will be on holiday for a few days. We have a couple of trips and activities planned if the weather holds up and the kids feel better, so I'm looking forward to that. I also need to finish ma petite boutique, spring clean my laptop (where did all these bookmarks come from???) , rearrange my blog a bit and maybe get some sleep!
Oh, I'm also considering accepting sponsorship applications once my shop is up and running.

Voilà, my latest news.
See you all later in the week!

*Found via Jurianne Matter

Saturday 20 February 2010

Jessica Quinn



makes my heart sing

Quinn is a magical land of clowns, elephants and dolls standing proud

a treasure trove of creatures great and small


a magic carpet to sweep you away

a storybook rich with tales

a doll lover's dream


an inspiration

Thank You
Jessica


Jessica's Blurb book
Jessica's Flickr
Jessica's shop


All images copyright Jessica Quinn