Time to get inspired

Well my bags are nearly packed and the boxes are full and now waiting for the baggage excess company to collect. Monday is leaving day and I am very nervous about the adventure ahead. With the rented house a blank canvas to dress I have been looking for inspiration and ideas and found this house in Uruguay via here.


I like the old fashioned oven with the utensils hanging above, not to keen on the floor terracotta quary tiles would have more me.


What I like about this house are the white walls and all the colours from the objects and nic nacks. The homely touches that look like they have all been home hand makes.

Tracey, the lady we are renting the house from, has agreed for us to paint the walls and decorate to add our own touch, so painting all the walls white will be our first step. The only things in the whole house is an oven and a dishwasher so it should be entraining and a challenge to decorate on a teany tiny budget. From the pictures I have seen of the house the main floors are dark wood so white painted furniture will look fabulous. I will be posting our 'Make do and Mend' house adventure and home made craft projects regularly, I am going to have to be very strict with myself and make sure I spend plenty of time on designing for Cavania and not just decorating.

Dance

image by Sofi

Photographed by Serge Guerand for Amica Germany 2008.


Photographed Alexi Lubomirski by Vogue Germany Dec 2008



Beautiful photos by norwegian photographer sølve sundsbø

Inspirational Stores & Display Ideas

Store - Free People
Location - Soho, New York
Products - Clothing
Display - Colourful displays of paper flower garlands and wool wrapped old bikes.





A very clever use of old bikes to decorate the store walls with vibrant colours to co ordinate with the clothing collections. The window display with the bike as the backdrop made the link through to the rest of the store, a green statement with a twist.

Loving Lilac

Hitchcockblonde

Corrie Bond

Photo by Kristi Schiffman

Photo by Lisa Warninger

Hitchcockblonde

Today I want to be here

I have a bit of an adventure coming up...... I am off to Australia for 5 months, although I will be returning for 15 days in November to exhibit at 'Spirit of Christmas' and the 'Christmas Country Living' fairs. We have rented a house on the beach in Gerraldton, Western Australia from a friend of my Sister in Law Wendy and I will be looking for old second hand furniture and making a home on a budget. So lots of posts with the theme of Make do and Mend! I will be working every day, well nearly every day, designing and painting so I wonder if my work will be influenced by the ocean?


I want to be standing on the sand and feeling the warm wind on my face.


I want to be setting the table for lunch and sit for the rest of the day talking with friends and watching the sun set on a perfect day.
images, Lucyina

Button Love

I have just finished a new design of button hearts and have them for sale in the Cavania store. I found a bag of these sweet pearlshine buttons whilst rummaging through some more of the boxes of buttons. If you don't know the story about the buttons, six months ago I acquired 2 pallets of vintage buttons from an antique store. They are between 20-40 years old and came from a haberdashery store that closed down some years ago on the famous portabello Road in London.









I have also put a mix of the buttons into cute glass jars and these too are available in the on line store as well as through the Cavania stockists.



Just some of the vintage buttons from the weekend when I thought it about time to get organised. Christian and I put shelves up in my little shed at the bottom of my garden and all the lovely old buff coloured boxes were stacked neatly and now waiting for me to come and play.

Craft Time

Today I am painting furniture and planning the stand for the trade show next week Home & Gift in Harrogate, Yorkshire. But what I really want to be doing is playing with fabrics and making something for the house or the shed!..............



via home sweet home


via home sweet home

Raku Pottery Birds and Hearts

Our new range of hand made Raku Pottery birds and hearts are truly exclusive as no two will ever be the same. Created using a 450 year old ceramic process from Japan, the pieces undergo a complicated glazing process and are decorated using fire and smoke. This ensures that every piece created is not only enchanting but also completely unique.


I have been taking more styled photos today of some of the new Cavania gift lines, Raku Pottery birds and hearts, every time I get the task of doing photos I never know where to put them in my home or what on. But today seem a little less stressful as I adore this pottery and the pictures turned out lovely, well I am happy with the anyway. My wooden box, skip find, that I painted and distressed was just perfect and complimented the crackles. This crack technic is achieved by cooling the pottery in sawdust which scorches and this creates the unique colours the glaze. We have been working with one of the last working Raku ceramic studios in the world and already I have sketched the next little creatures that are just waiting to be created. I love the fact that no two are ever the same, simply stunning and unique.



If you would like to purchase a treasured keepsake for the future then click here.

Petal

Images by Troyt Coburn

Stocktake Sale

If you are a store take a look over at the Cavania Trade site as our first ever stock take sales started today for two weeks only. Lots of lovely things that we only have a few left off and end of lines to make room for all the new cards and gifts.
Click here to register for TRADE access.

Home & Gift, Harrogate 2010

Yes it's Summer time which means it's time for the Home & Gift trade show in Harrogate, Yorkshire, a great place to stock up for all your Christmas stock. The trade fair is open to shops and stores only and you can pre register with Clarion Events for your free ticket.
Show runs from 18th - 21st July 2010.
We have lots of new goodies to show you, our stand number is F74 in the basement of the main center, so see you there.