Sania Pell

homemade party necklace

July 8, 2011  in diy craft projects, homemade

When you have a special occasion or big party to go to, making a new necklace or brooch is a great way to re-vamp or glam up a favourite outfit. I made this choker necklace to match a dark blue party dress of mine. I love the dress but wanted to give it a new look as I’ve worn it a lot.

This choker is a simple piece of grosgrain ribbon that I hemmed at the ends and added simple ties to the back to fasten it. It’s embellished with embossed birds made of silver foil card, old buttons, sequins and metal snap fasteners – all simply stitched on. I then finished it with an antique brooch I had picked up at a flea market. The blue suede leaves I bought from one of my long-time favourite haberdashery shops VV Rouleaux – probably the best ribbon shop in the world.

It didn’t take long to make and made my outfit feel brand new. Plus you get the added benefit of people asking where you got it from and you can say “I made it!”

Have a fun weekend everyone!

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homemade little light

July 5, 2011  in diy craft projects, homemade, interior styling

Here’s a little lamp I made that sits in my studio and makes me smile, so I thought I’d share it with you. It also shows how the stripped back lampshade idea works as well for little shades on table lamps as it does for larger shades, like the one made for the Decorate book launch.

I originally made this shade for an Elle Decoration magazine story I did 7 or 8 years ago and still really like it. If you look through my tearsheets you’ll come across a picture of it’s original incarnation. I bought the blank wire frame new and then hand cut and embossed silver leaves from metal craft sheeting and wired them to the bottom of the frame along with some crystal beads. You could also strip an old lampshade and do something similar.

The lamp base is vintage and I bought it from a flea market last year whilst on holiday in Croatia. I had it re-wired by an electrician when I returned home.

I bought the crystal bead bulb cover years ago and have not been able to find another one since – if you know anywhere that sells them please let me know! They’re great for diffusing the light from the naked bulb. I perched the silver bird on top for a little bit of fun, it seemed the perfect home.

The antique mirror frame was a buy from a little curiosity shop and the little girl in the photo is my Mum when she was a toddler – sweet!

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liberty chic

July 1, 2011  in news

I love Japan and my thoughts have been with everyone there since they suffered terribly in March. I was fortunate enough to visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka on a sales trip when I was textile designing full time and fell in love with it. It is so inspiring, full of the most amazing things and probably the best place to go shopping in the world!

Back in February this year my home, my daughter and I were photographed for a new magazine-book (a ‘mook’) called Liberty Chic in Japan. It arrived through the post last week and I thought I had to show it to you. The photography is beautiful and included a little bit of Liberty pattern in almost every shot. I was delighted to be featured alongside the homes of jewellery maker Emma Cassi, Apolline who makes the most amazing dolls and Marie-France Cohen, the founder of the gorgeous Merci in Paris, which is one of my favourite shops (along with Liberty).

My daughter Leila, wearing a Liberty print dress that I made for her, wrapping a strip of Liberty fabric around the lamp in her bedroom. This is the lamp from my book that was customised for the shoot by wrapping Liberty print around parts of the wire shade.

The bottles, lavender heart and lavender bags above are all projects from my book The Homemade Home. My son was at school that day but he was happy too as his drawing of an elephant made it on to the front cover if you look closely!

Liberty Chic is a 60 page magazine-book that features interiors and fashion, homes, clothing and products that all have a Liberty print focus. It is in Japanese only and comes with a Liberty print tote and mini pouch. It’s available from Hugowar.com.

Thank you so much to Masaki and Makiko, and to Teruyuki Yoshimura for the wonderful photographs. It is something we will treasure forever.

By coincidence, this was my work desk yesterday – a lovely Liberty print muddle!

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at home with julia bostock

June 28, 2011  in inspiring places, interior styling

I met Julia about ten years ago when I was an assistant stylist on a photo shoot and we just clicked, it’s that simple. I love her relaxed way and we have remained friends ever since. When I started working as a stylist in my own right Julia and I shot together and I’ve also made props for her. There are some images in my portfolio of our work, and hopefully there will be more soon.

Julia is a fantastic photographer specialising in photographing children, mainly fashion and interiors, for commercial and editorial and has worked for companies including Monsoon, Marie Chantal, Jigsaw Kids, Caramel and Harrods and magazines including Vogue Bambini, Milk, Junior, Marie Claire and Red amongst others. Her kind, relaxed and fun way of working means her shoots are too and I think it shows in the children’s faces.

Last weekend we went to stay with her and her family in their new house in Suffolk with her two girls, husband Ben and Poppy the sheep dog and they have started decorating and remodelling. Julia and Ben have great style and I couldn’t help but ask if I could take a few quick snaps of their lovely home. Just a little snippet. I can’t wait to see how it progresses.

Top photo – Good luck charms: a silk flower garland hangs on the back door.

This painting is by Sue Skeen and from the Kettle’s Yard Found sale.

Below is Julia’s favourite photo which was a gift from her husband Ben and is by the renowned photographer Mario Giacomelli. There is currently an exhibition of his landscape work running now until 30th July at Ben’s gallery, Atlas, at 49 Dorset Street, London W1.

The little collected shells in the bottom left corner were threaded on a stick with a sweet little message from the girls for their dad.

Julia’s story in the May/June issue of Vogue Bambini is just amazing and I love it. She has a story in the new July issue too which I can’t wait to see.

You can see more of Julia’s work on her personal website here and also on the One Photographic website. If you have 5 minutes, have a look, her work is beautiful.

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suffolk seen

June 24, 2011  in inspiring places

Last weekend we fled London to visit friends in Suffolk. It’s a lovely part of the country, beautiful coastline and countryside and lots of arts, crafts and antique shops to browse whilst eating fish and chips and ice cream by the seaside. While we were there we went to Snape Maltings in Saxmundham where our friend Ben has an inspiring new photography gallery. If you like fine art photography take a look at the Atlas Gallery website, Ben’s London and Snape galleries show a who’s who of influential photographers.

The Maltings is a great place to visit – art, culture, history, food and and a bit of shopping all in the amazing surroundings of (mostly) restored 19th century warehouses by the river and surrounded by stunning scenery. There is a music performance hall, lots of art exhibitions and sculptures by artists including Barbara Hepworth and Gary Hume. Have a look at their website for more info.

They currently have lots of exhibitions running as part of SNAP Art at the Aldeburgh Festival which is on until the 26th June. The giant silhouette on the wall above is by Simon Liddiment and I particularly liked the Johnnie Shand Kydd exhibition. I couldn’t help but take photos of the huge black and white prints wallpapered to the crumbling walls of a roofless, four story high, junk-filled warehouse that has been left in its state of disrepair. It was stunning.

This is only on until Sunday so don’t miss out if you are anywhere close by.

Aldeburgh town is on the seaside close by and is lovely too with the most delicious ice cream shop and a great beach for pebble collecting!

Have you been? I can’t wait to go back!

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fluro cutlery

June 22, 2011  in diy craft projects, vintage finds

I feel the need for some colour at the moment so my vintage cutlery received the fluro treatment! There is a bit of a trend for painted and coloured cutlery I’ve been noticing and I have taken it in my own way by simply spray painting some of the handles.

I picked up this old silver-plated cutlery at my local car boot sale for 50 pence each which is such a bargain. I love the fact it is all mismatched designs and styles, it gives it character and makes things more interesting. I gave them all a good clean and then took them into the garden, put down some newspaper and blasted the handles with the bright pink and orange spray paint I had in my paint collection.

This spray paint will scratch off but I don’t mind, the patina will add character. To reduce scratching I would use enamel paint or even just dip the handles into pots of different coloured paint.

Or I can scrub it off and repaint them another colour, perhaps to match the theme of a table setting in a shoot. Just a frivolous bit of fluro fun!

Update: It seems this picture has popped up around the web without me knowing, much to my surprise, especially on Pinterest. So just to elaborate on my comments below, I didn’t do this to my everyday cutlery that we eat with, this is old cutlery that I use as props for photos. Plasti-kote say that their Fast Dry Enamel , which comes in lots of colours, is completely non-toxic when dry and contains no ingredients that would be harmful to children or pets – but solvent-based spray paint can be harmful if ingested and you should always check the smallprint on any paint you use, follow the maker’s instructions and use common sense. If in doubt ask an expert at your local paint store.

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