Archive for the ‘my london’ Category

london design festival fun

September 30, 2011  in handmade goodness, my london

London Design Festival – a pleasure every year, so many shows, exhibitions and events to go to. I love to catch up with people I’ve worked with before, design companies and designer/makers that I know from previous shows or whose products I have used in photo shoots. With my book deadline to meet followed by a photo shoot for a client I didn’t make it to as many shows as I would like to this year, but what I did see was great. There is always so much to see and do all over London.

First stop was the Tent London show at the Truman Brewery to wander round with lovely Elisa Rathje. It was really good this year, lots of interesting products and creative thinking from smaller design companies. In the afternoon we headed to Origin – the contemporary craft fair and met up with my friends Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring who were over from Germany and Canada to enjoy the shows for the first time. I only took a few photos (with the exhibitor’s permission) of things that caught my eye but thought I’d share them. I would have taken a lot more but I was too busy chatting, having fun and enjoying all the work!

I loved the colours and simplicity of the ceramics above, they’re by Belfast-based Derek Wilson.

It was great to catch up with textile artist Debbie Smyth whose thread drawings I love (above). I first met Debbie in 2008 when I bought some of her work from her at the New Designers graduate show. It’s great to see her doing so well.

Loved these handmade, wool knitted textiles by Stephanie Wooster.

This silver jewellery by Amy Keeper caught my attention too. It has a vintage feel and is etched with antique photos and text and looked great displayed in old printers’ trays.

The next day we headed to the much larger commercial interiors and design show 100% Design at Earls Court, where the big international names have their stands. An interesting contrast against Tent and Origin and it’s always good to see the bigger interiors picture.

Girls having fun
Girls having design fun: Little Hope, Emma, Me, Leslie and Holly taken by Emma’s husband Bertrand

On Sunday we popped in to see jewellery designer/maker Emma Cassi to stock up on lovely goodies then headed to Chelsea and one of my favourite stores Anthropologie where Holly and Leslie were hosting a talk on creating mood boards as part of Holly’s Decorate book tour, along with fab interior designer Abigail Ahern.

And finally a quick whizz around the Saatchi Gallery with the family afterwards for a contemporary art fix just to round things off!

 

It was a very busy few days in London. So much great work and such fun enjoying it all with good friends. I can’t wait until next year!

 

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happiness at hand

May 27, 2011  in handmade goodness, my london

The Hand Sale in Notting Hill is a craft fair that I just cannot resist, it only takes the smallest amount of persuasion and I’m there. My will power is minimal when it comes to beautiful handmade goodies and an invitation by email and a nudge by my friend Sarah was all I needed to hop on the bus.

I didn’t have long, about 40 minutes to whizz around, but I still found some sweet little objects I could not leave without. Here they are.

Bowl

This little ceramic bowl is by Fliff Carr, the bird image came from an old book of her father’s and I love it.

spoons

These little spoons are from Kirsten Hecktermann; a girl can never have too many beautiful spoons!

I photographed them on a postcard of a painting by Pierre Soulages which I bought at his exhibition at the Pompidou Centre a couple of years ago, it brings back lovely memories of a birthday trip to Paris with my husband.

Lovely little things to make a girl happy. Happy Friday everyone.

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treasured finds at found

May 20, 2011  in my london, news

Found sale

I took a couple of hours out from making and writing yesterday as I had heard about the FOUND exhibition and sale and just had to go. And I’m so glad I did! It was full of the kinds of things I adore and I came home excited and invigorated. A bit of time out at something like this can sometimes be just what you need and I got lost in the beauty of everything here and found inspiration for the rest of my week.

FOUND – A Garage Sale is a one off charity sale of artworks, found objects, textiles, rugs, furniture and crafts to raise funds for the new education wing of Kettle’s Yard house and gallery in Cambridge – one of my favourite places to visit in England.

It’s no ordinary garage sale though! The sale is in The Brompton Garage on North Terrace in South Kensington and is chock-a-block with creativity and inspiring objects – just like Kettle’s Yard itself. Only here you can purchase all the items on show with new pieces arriving daily. Heaven!

The items are displayed beautifully and you can spend from just one pound for something little to hundreds for original artworks donated by well-known artists. And it all goes to support Kettle’s Yard.

Found sale

Paintings, prints, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, curios, pebbles, feathers – all beautiful in their own way and all mirroring the ethos of Kettle’s Yard.

Found sale

Found sale

Found sale

The black bowl with the lemon is by Sotis Filippides.

Found sale

I loved these ceramics by Carys Davies.

Organic, handspun wool from Kay Buxton.

Found sale

found sale

This pencil sculpture is by Shane Waltener.

Found sale

I adored this painting by Neal Jones.

Found sale

This artwork was so simple but I so LOVE it! It’s by Alex Calinescu.

Naturally I wasn’t able to leave without buying a few little things – feathers, a bunch of pine needles and a box of natural river chalk collected from the riverbank side – all absolute necessities for a city-dwelling stylist!!  I could have quite happily bought everything there though and filled my house if my budget had allowed.

My Found treasures

This wonderful sale, which is free to enter, is only on until this Sunday 22nd May, so if you live in or near London, do pop along this weekend or you will miss out.

If you want to make a longer day trip and see some of the best interiors shops and a bit of culture, then you can also pop into the lovely MintFew and FarSkandium, The Conran Shop and Caramel (exquisite children’s clothing) which are all virtually next door, then pop to the V&A which is only a 3 minute walk away – try lunch at the cafe there, it’s in the most amazing room.

If you want to find out more about Kettle’s Yard you can read my post about my trip there below.

FOUND is organised by members of the Kettle’s Yard Development Appeal Group and you can also follow Kettle’s Yard on Twitter.

P.S. Hi to Nicole, Joan and Daphne who I met and chatted with at FOUND yesterday, lovely ladies doing something wonderful. Thank you for letting me take these photos.

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from london with love

May 16, 2011  in my london, news

congratulations

What a glorious wedding day, it makes me proud to be a Londoner on days like this. It was a day to remember and I’m glad I shared it with family and friends.

I loved the dress and the exquisite embroidery, loved the trees in the Abbey, loved the Spring flowers. Simple, classic and elegant. I loved the getaway car too though I think Prince Harry may have over-accessorised it a little!

We’ll be seeing the styling influences of the wedding winding their way into fashion and trends for a while I think.

kate for wills

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INTERIORS, FOOD & STILL LIFE STYLIST

ABOUT SANIA

Sania Pell freelance interior stylist London.

Sania Pell is a freelance interior stylist, art/creative director and consultant based in London. She is a Contributing Stylist at Elle Decoration magazine, with whom she has worked for over 20 years, and is well known for bringing a unique aspect to photographic shoots for national publications, leading international brands and retailers as well as style consultancy for architects and property developers. She is the author of best-selling book The Homemade Home and The Homemade Home for Children. A trained, former textile designer, Sania is also involved in many multi-disciplinary creative projects.

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