Jay Fleck

Jay Fleck is a designer and illustrator, whose artwork is both bold and imaginative, featuring whimsical animal pairings,  images of faraway lands and fantasy playgrounds, or just beautiful compositions of color and shape. All of his illustrations contain a strong narrative, which is enhanced by each pieces title. Jay is currently working on his first children’s book, due to be published in the Spring of 2016, so keep watching this space. . . More about Jay and his work can be found on his website: www.jayfleck.com. Or you can buy his work online from Society 6.

Charlotte Love

Today I've been admiring the work of Charlotte Love, an interior Stylists and set designer based in London UK. Her blog: charlottelovey.blogspot.co.uk, is packed full of beautifully inspiring images, for any project. Her work is very interiors based, however the accessories she uses to bring her sets to life, feature some amazing little characters. Keep your eyes peeled for them . . .

These first images are from the September issue of Good Homes magazine. And below we have some  product shots for Seventy Tree.

It's all about OWLS

Owls. It feels like they have been trending for years, but these endearingly wise creatures show no signs of disappearing any time soon. You can find owls in any guise, from ceramics to plush toys - crossing seasons from christmas to summer. Could it be that owls will be on trend forever?
I've captured a few favourites here, just incase . . .

1. Part of the animal parade collection from Mountain and Molehill, showing at Made in Clerkenwell week. Find out more from them on their website www.mountainandmolehill.com.
2. A hand painted rock owl from The Caroline Johanson on Etsy.
3. From one of our previously featured designers Gingiber, available to purchase from their Etsy store.
4. A quirky unisex baby grow and hood in a little gift box, available from Mamas and Papas.
5. Here we have a parliament of owls (indeed a group of owls is called a parliament) designed by Paper and Cloth, and sold through Paperchase stores.
6. This bright and colourful character print can be found adorning a pair of pyjama bottoms, or 'loungers' as they're called on the website, available from Anthropologie.
7. Back to Paperchase, with this beautifully illustrated mug. 
8. Barn Owl print, by Bee Things, available to purchase from Poster Cabaret, or find more from the artists on their website: www.bee-things.com.
9. This beautiful little print is printed onto t-shirts, and sold through Mayney's Shop on Etsy.

'Tis the season for Penguins . . .

Unless you've been out of the stratosphere for the last few weeks, you probably will have noticed the tirade of Christmas adverts hitting the TV and airwaves recently. The most eagerly anticipated of which is probably the John Lewis Christmas advert, which this year features the love story between two penguins*. Since its launch in early November, sales of all things penguin based seem to have gone through the roof, so to indulge in this recent craze, I have collated a selection of penguin characters available to purchase this festive season, to suit a variety of tastes and styles.

1.Crochet penguin pillow, lovingly handmade by Peanut Butter Dynamite on Etsy.

2. Another handmade creation from Fritha Strickland, and sold through her Etsy shop Moonbeatle.

3. We take another visit to John Lewis with the Penguin cushion.

4.This is a vintage map Penguin card lovingly hand made by Bombus. Find more or their uniquely handmade wares on their website; www.bombus.co.uk, or on Not On The High Street.

5. A beautiful oil painting rendition of a penguin we are all familiar with, by Harland Miller, for Penguin books.

6. This subtle character print is made up of little penguins, though you may have to look twice to see them, from Futoshi Nakanishi on flickr.
7. Handmade linocut woodblock penguin print available in a wide range of beautiful colours from We Think Small on Etsy.
8. From Ingrid Petrie Design, this lovely little guy is called 'Hello Penguin' and can be purchased in two sizes from her Etsy shop.
9. This beautiful water colour illustration is by Oliver Jeffries, author and illustrator to the Lost and Found and Up and Down books which both feature this character, as well as a heart warming story of friendship.
10.This geo formed print is another Etsy find, from Tiny Kiwi Prints.
11. And finally the perfect t-shirt alternative to the festive Christmas jumper, from Mod Cloth.

Meri Meri - Xmas 2014

Every Christmas I look forward to seeing what new characters will emerge from the Meri Meri Studio in Cheltenham. From cards and stationary, through to baking and decorating Meri Meri provides it all of us, in such style as well. This years newness seams to have a distinct retro feel, and features all the usual characters. See more of the Meri Meri winter and party collections on the website; www.shopmerimeri.co.uk.

Nesting dolls

Nesting dolls, Russian dolls as they used to call them in my youth*, or matryoshkas as the purists know them, seem to be an ever growing trend. They border on the slightly kitsch, yet none the less appeal to the inner designer in me. These dolls here, are created by Rebecca Kemp, and sold through her Etsy shop Sketch. Inc.I started my post today with the intent of creating a mood board of nesting dolls, however time and time again I found myself drawn back to Rebecca's dolls, so it only seemed fair to give her a post of her own. Rebecca's dolls are beautifully coloured and simple in design, yet packed full of character and fun, giving a modern and contemporary twist to this classic toy.

*my youth; something that I experienced a little longer ago than I'd like to admit these days, but not too long ago. . . Don't let this fool you into thinking that I am mature.

Donna Wilson

Donna Wilson  has always created distinctive characters in her own unique handwriting, and these wooden dolls, inspired by Donna’s travels to Japan and Scandinavia, and new for Autumn Winter 2014, are no exception. Each hand-painted wooden doll has its own name, and embodies a significant person Donna has met and known in her life. Meet the whole clan on Donnas website: www.donnawilson.com. Also new to the range you will find these embossed leather purses, new ceramic additions and knitted creatures.

Christmas sneak peek from Robin and Mould

Here's a sneak peak of some new festive loveliness from our good friends Robin and Mould, these gorgeous screen printed hanging decorations could be at a craft fair near you this Christmas. . .

Find Robin and mould on Etsy.

Apple - Christmas 2014

This image is from Apples latest Christmas ad campaign, 'from one gift come many'. It features some brilliant plush toys, that have a resemblance to character from Where the Wild Things Are. As of yet I haven't been able to track down who's wonderful creations these are, or where to get them from. But the detective hats are on - keep watching for more info. The ad can be seen in its original location on the apple website here. 

Little Studio

These stylised characters are from the Little Studio, the hand drawn geo add a really soft and quirky edge to these square silhouettes. They can be found on there website www.littlestudio.se alongside many more beautiful patterns and designs.

Robin and Mould

This has to be one of my favourite studios at the moment, Robin and Mould are a design duo based deep in the Wiltshire countryside, where they hand screen print all their wonderfully silhouetted designs onto rich oyster linen. The colour palette is limited but beautiful. You can buy their wares on Etsy, or view the blog here. Keep watching this space for Christmas goodies from this talented pair . . .

Y One Zoo

Tokyo-based Yusuke Yonezu initially studied design in  order to help out with his fathers shoe-business, but with the encouragement of his friends he finally began illustrating professionally, and has now worked on over 15 children’s books. He has a various styles of illustration, rather than one signature look, these charcoal style prints really stand out to me. To see more of Yusuke’s work visit his website www.yonezoo.com. 

Down Home Amy

Here's a snippet of some more beautiful designs from Down Home Amy, stylised one colour print characters decorate her re-useable products. See more here.

Down Home Amy

Down Home Amy is an environmentally conscious online shop. All products are designed by Amy and from product, to printing to packaging, every effort is made to have as little impact on the environment as possible. These characters are the latest illustrations from Amy and form part of a series of small watercolour paintings for nursery's. To see more from Down Home Amy follow the link.

Able Design

These bold graphics are given a extra element of detail with the textures and patterns that fill the simple geometric shapes these characters are made up of. They form part of a large collection of graphics generated by Able Designs, you can find out more about Able designs from their website here, or from their Flickr account.