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Craft London
Exhibition of Emerging Talent 8-19 March 2010
Venue: Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square, London EC1M 4DS

This is definitely an exhibition worth visiting; amongst many other designers, Laura Felicity will be exhibiting at Craft London’s ‘Emerging New Talent’ Exhibition.  There will be twelve up and coming designer-makers presenting their work, all of whom cover a variety of disciplines.

Laura Felicity will be exhibiting her bespoke modern elegant wallpapers.  All papers are hand screen printed combining the layering of subtle colours and glittering foils.  To compliment the wallpapers, Laura will be showing a range of plaster designs for the wall, which have embedded stitch and imprinted lace onto each of the plaster pieces’ surface.

The exhibition is on for two weeks, from 8th March (Private View) – 19th March.  There will be an informal chat with the designers called ‘Meet The Maker Artist Talk’ on the 18th March, where each designer talks about and answers any questions regarding their work.  Any one is welcome!

There is an online catalogue for the ‘Emerging New Talent’ Exhibition, where a few of the designer-makers have answered a few questions about what inspires them to produce their work, as well as images.  To view Laura Felicity’s article online please visit Craft Central

I hope you all enjoy it!

It’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday, and this year it is particularly special, as Chinese New Year also falls on February 14th! With this in mind, I thought it would be a great opportunity to create some Asian inspired Valentine’s treats.

Fortune cookies are unique gifts which can be made at home and given to friends, or to that special someone. For Valentine’s Day, enclose with your personal messages of love, romance of friendship.

Here are few suggestions to get you started…

A secret admirer will soon send you a sign of affection

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved

If I know what love is, it is because of you

The one you love is closer than you think

Your heart is a place to draw true happiness

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven

The best thing about me is you

Somewhere there’s someone who dreams of your smile

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence

Count your blessings by thinking of those whom you love

Those who have love, have wealth beyond measure

This is the recipe that I used for my homemade fortune cookies. I made pink cookies this time, but using colour is optional. (NB. these cookies are softer (and tastier) than the store bought variety).

1/2 cup plain flour

1/4 cup white sugar

Pinch of salt

1 large egg white

Two drops of vanilla extract

Red food colouring (optional)

Mix egg whites and vanilla until foamy

Mix the flour, salt and sugar

Blend all ingredients

Add food colouring to the desired colour (optional)

Drop two desert spoons of mixture onto a cool, greased baking sheet on a baking tray

Moving the tray in a circular motion, creating two even circles approximately 7cm in diameter

Bake the cookies for 5 minutes on Gas Mark 6

Remove from oven and insert the fortune in the centre of the circles, before folding them in half

Whilst still warm gently bend the cookies over the rim of a glass to create the centre fold

Keep folded cookies in muffin trays until cool to keep their shape

Package in cellophane bags, tie with a pretty ribbon and give to your loved ones

Makes approximately 10 cookies

Our beautiful baby girl has arrived! As predicted, she was one week early and is absolutely perfect.  It’s day 6 and she is still having a massive sleep fest – hence me being able to blog!

We have lots of really exciting projects on the go at the moment.  The first is our exciting interview with Laurence Llewelyn Bowen by our Shopping Contributor Liz Danon.   Laurence talks to us about his latest collection for Matalan as well  as giving us a sneaky insight into his personal interior tastes, forthcoming trend predictions, and how to put a style together!  Look out for this article next week.

Update on the pub renovation; I will now be designing one of the rooms as a master/bridal suite which I am really excited about!  I am going to be looking into 4-poster beds, twin sinks, floor standing mirrors and everything else you’d expect to have in a boutique wedding room!

Last month I attended the 22nd edition of the London Art Fair. The show represents a variety of Modern British and Contemporary Art, drawing around 25,000 visitors each year from the UK and around the world. This year 116 galleries took part with most reporting strong sales, significant considering the current economic climate. Sir Peter Blake, Gavin Turk, Nicholas Serrota (Director of Tate) and Matthew Collings were among those attending the fair.Credit: The CCA Art Bus designed by Sir Peter Blake (more…)

Bright colours continue to be a key look for 2010.  As predicted in our trend forecast last year (colour blocking feature) we are now starting to see this trend really come to light.  Nearly all of the high street stores, including BHS, Matalan, Next, Marks & Spencer & Habitat, have a bright and confident collection that will launch over the next few months.  If you want to create the look but are a bit scared of committing to a large piece of bright furniture then why not start out with some accessories to see how well they work within your room.  This will also avoid any costly mistakes.

Credits: Glass vases, mugs, clock, plastic tubs, cake stands all from the lovely Hambledon; yellow lamp, orange stool and yellow cube all from Habitat

Below are some fantastic examples of adding bright pieces of furniture.  If you live in a home with a neutral colour palette, this makes the perfect backdrop for introducing splashes of vibrant furniture such as dining chairs or a sofa.  You can see below how well these orange chairs work within this white kitchen.  Not only do they make a statement but they also bring personality and style to the room.  The same applies with the lime green sofa and chairs.  Although the sofa is not to my taste, you can see how successful the scheme is.

Credits: White & orange room: open-space-interior-design1234.freshhome, lime and white room: open-space-interior-design1234.freshhome

Credit: Bedding from Really Linda Barker