New favourite object - Anna Beam

I'm really in love with this make-up bag bought from Anna Beam at some craft fair near Brick Lane at the weekend. It's the perfect combination of colours, shapes and embroidery.

I had a very brief chat to the lady herself at her stall and was even more impressed to learn she makes all of her designs up herself. It really shows as well, all her bags and pouches were incredibly detailed, with embroidery, custom beading and a lot of things you don't get when someone sends their design off to a factory to be made up...

 

You can read more about Anna here and meet and buy from her and other talented crafts-ladies at their shop launch in Hackney on Thursday.

Visiting Marimekko in Helsinki

Marimekko has always been one of my big design crushes. So I got very excited when I managed to snatch a visit to their flagship store in Helsinki last weekend. My credit card hurts.

Some of the classic patterns at Marimekko are so bold and simple, it is hard to believe that the company got started as early as 1951. Marimekko was actually set up purely to showcase the prints of the textile company Printex, set up by Viljo and Armi Ratia. Armi decided that the key to success was to make textiles in designs that were entirely different to the depressing post war florals already on the market . She hired Maija Isola to dream up the patterns. The problem was that while Printex's designs got attention, no one knew how to use them. Enter Marimekko.

Printex went bust by 1953, but Marimekko soldiered on through the hard times; the company could only afford to buy it's own sewing machines in 1955. After wowing exporters at the World's Fair in Brussels in 1958, the company got an international big break when Jackie Kennedy bought seven Marimekko dresses at the D/R store in Cape Cod.

[Marimekko facts from Scandinavian Design by Charlotte Fiell]

Thrifting

 Vintage shot glasses and lots of them. For when I set up that bar I'm always talking about.

New toy

Peruvian

On the left, what I wore to work, including my awesome Peruvian style scarf from the Zara sale. On the right, the first pair of trousers I have bought in ten years (excluding jeans). Notice the weird flappy bits at the front? They looked worse when I got home, I think these are going back to the shop...

My posture is so bad in these photos! I'm off to practice with a book on my head.

Leather Necklace from the Tate Modern

DIY

I've been scouring Etsy for a tribal-style, carmine coloured necklace that didn't cost too much. No luck. Then after a driving lesson one Saturday I found a resin necklace in a nasty shade of green that was exactly the right shape. A quick stop at The Works (purveyor of remaindered books and cheap art stuff) and an afternoon alone with the radio on and voila!

Chevron

My new earrings, specially made by Tribal Impressions
Huge and not at all heavy. I can already think of a million more colour combinations I want them in.

Prairie Oats Necklace

I have been searching for so long for a distinctive long chained gold colour necklace that I can wear with any outfit. I had a cheap one with a brown plastic gem (must find a picture) but the gold colour is starting to come off and well, ick.

I had loads of trouble finding something a bit different - i.e. not a gold owl necklace (!) - but luckily came across Prairie Oats on etsy which sells really imaginative jewellery crafted with vintage findings.

Apart from having great jewellery, Prairie Oats really got all those little customer service details right. From friendly emails to let you know what was going on with shipping, down to three layers of charming packaging once it arrived. I love it when you buy something from a seller who has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about how to make buying something from them feel really special.

Charity Shop Mirror Shots

From a recent haul...

Lisa Stickley at the Tate

I think this is meant to be a knitting bag, but it's going to be for my flat shoes.

Lisa Stickley at Tate