Busy day sorting through all my crates, well some of my crates prior to our move. i have already sold one of my five kilo satchels of vintage trims and fabrics...yeah! Twenty more to go…give or take a few.
Kotomigd Yamamura makes gorgeous jewellery.
My favourite piece [above] for Winter 09. Her work is exquisite and original.
A lot of her pieces are made using pieces rescued from old and rare jewellery pieces from the past…..
the one above was sold in a cancer charity shop in London.
One of my favourites…I adore her crosses. Kotomi is involved with Project Revamp which upcycles old clothing and jewellery donated to charity shops etc and turns them into wonderful new artisan made works…fit for a queen or…..you and I!
I am so excited because The Ted Noff’s Foundation ..the wonderful youth empowerment charity here in Sydney is starting something very similar for young designers. So far it is for clothing but I imagine it could extend to jewellery if there are enough talented young jewellers and artisans out there. BTW I did send this information to the relevant person at St Vincent De Paul some time last year but as usual they did not even acknowledge the email or anything to do with it…very close minded I thought…and rude…wonder what manners were taught in the homes of these top sales executives? Or maybe they just decided they were above answering pesky emails from staff members wives..who knows? Their loss!
Kotomi’s work can be found here on flickr and here on etsy and here is her website. Thankyou Kotomi for your committment to upcycling and to saving the wonderful jewellery of the past…something that is very close to my heart.
On October 24 and 25th Kotomi’s work will be on display at St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, New Molden, Surrey. In aid of La Quila Earrthquake appeal.
21st and 22nd November there will be an exhibiltion and sales event at Visage 56, Surbiton.
The exquisite work of Tara Badcock of Tasmania…
this is in the collection of The Sheep’s Back Wool Gallery, Yass NSW
Tara’s work can be found here and Tara is on Facebook and flickr. I love Tara’s work for the sheer beauty and skill but also because she is a great ambassador for Australian wool and fabric.
Robin Sweet of Gilded Cage Design has been at it again….this time designing and crafting the most superb and decadent items for the boudoir or ladies sitting room.
All in the most must have shades for we ladies who are in the know. These creations are so close to perfect that I dare not say much more ….for want of offending the gods. You know what happened to Icarus after all.
We have more of her fabulous jewellery which is available in her etsy shop here.
How wonderfully decadent…I adore the touch of opaline colour in the button.
More of her wonderful work can be seen here on her flickr stream.
Lisa Whatmough is the very talented designer behind Squint, a UK based furniture shop which makes patchwork furniture to order and also has some “off the peg”. Lisa’s first collection was snapped up by Liberty of London in Fashion Week 2005 and she has not looked back since! [See below for the link to the interview with her.]
photo courtesy of Dacia Ray on flickr
Each order takes up to 12 weeks to complete and the work is to an exacting standard. I love the lushness and sheer sumptiousness of the pieces.
photo courtesy of Sterin on flickr
The colours are whatever you can imagine. They are not all loud and colourful some are quite muted and others are within one colour family but all are richly textured and very tactile.
Photo courtesy of Carla Andrea on flickr
I adore these pieces because this is what I like to do with my upholstery throws for winter, use the finest textiles in small amounts and be entranced at the luxuriousness, the sheer decadence of one special piece…that is all it takes.
photo courtesy of cacauzitta on flickr
How to get this look at home …..if a chair is too expensive then a cushion or a throw by moi would work just as well and if you have the money then have a footstool or a chair made……your whole room can be based around it.
Photo courtesy lbv5000 on flickr
mydeco.com has an excellent post here about how you can get the look for yourselves by finding good pieces of furniture at thrift shops etc. Annie of mydeco.com wrote a very interesting piece for the Independent in the UK about craft and the credit crunch.
Photo courtesy of cat30 on flickr
I like the idea of patchwork curtains in this style…and am going to do some door curtains for our home for winter as it is so cold with this open plan living which is so prevalent in Australia….will throw in a few cushions in toning shades and textures and I am thinking our whole flat will look a lot warmer than it does now.
Photo courtesy of cat30 on flickr
Keep tuned for my adventures with my charity shop finds…one fabulous Laura Ashley chair and another stunning chair…am going to have a go at making a cover for them in my own patchwork style.
Here is a wonderful interview with Lisa Whatmough which is on mydeco.com. Some of her work is available for sale on that site as well as other really individualistic pieces by craftspersons in the UK…I think only in the UK
Some other design blogs which have featured her work are below:
This is my 199th blog post and I thought it was apt to show you what is being done at such a level by such a talented artisan/designer…this is what my blog is all about so am excited to bring you this post. Stay tuned for big 200
