The colourful yet simple range is hand made from resin and incredibly, it’s all dishwasher safe, as well as having anti-bacterial qualities which makes it perfect for food. You can purchase Tina’s products from her UK outlet – Mint.

Paul’s Oslo heritage can be seen in all aspects of his work. Cleverly working light, texture and colour in an effortlessly chic way. Crafting also comes naturally to Paul which gives him the edge to think out of the box and create something truly special. His beautiful images and food creations will not only make your mouth water, but they’ll leave you inspired. Sweet Paul’s recipes are easy to follow and due to the rustic, fun nature of the images – you don’t feel intimidated to try them. The elegant recipes are for home, friends and family; rather than Masterchef professionals! All 172 pages of the Winter 2011 Sweet Paul Magazine are brimming with original and festive ideas for you to try. Personal favourites from this issue include ‘Make Your Own Paper’ Pg 28, ‘Christmas Pudding Cupcakes’ Pg 37, and the feature on a homemade ‘Natural Christmas’ Pg 53. The feature on crafting your own wreaths {Pg 118} offers a creative option to the old classics. Oh, and the Divine Chocolate feature {Pg 160}!! There’s just too make great features to choose from.

To view the Winter 2011 Sweet Paul Magazine please click here.

It must be my editorial background as I always like to see my images layed out as a spread! I’ve included the larger versions below. I hope you like it ;0)

Credits
Wallpaper styled and designed by Kirath Ghundoo, wallpaper Arne Jacobsen inspired Egg Chair, £335, Interior Icons, Sanderson Dandelion cushion, £30, John Lewis, Studio Arc floor lamp, £169, Click 4 Interiors, Glass table (part of a set of 3), £399, Dwell, Coloured wine glasses, £29 for 4, Found Home Store, Hula glasses, £16 for 4, LSA-International.com, Striped Cuckoo Clock, £195, Pantone chairs, both Found Home Store, White glass vase, House of Fraser. Red Anglepoise lamp, £150, John Lewis.

Styling Pippa Jameson, Photography, Jemma Watts, Background boards supplied by Set surfaces

                                                  Clockwise from top left: Dress, rug, horse lamp, bench seat, Warwick fabric, Ralph Lauren bookends.

Gill Wilson produces handmade paper using natural plant fibre as the raw material for architectural and interior schemes.  The pulp is hand dyed to produce a palette which ranges from the most subtle natural tones to full colour saturation. Any range of colours, hues and tones can be achieved.  Textures range from richly fibrous to perfectly smooth and are further enhanced by tooling, casting, spraying and layering. The finished artwork can be produced to any size, from domestic spaces to installations of unlimited scale.  You can see more of Gills gorgeous work here.

In recent years the skull has escaped it’s sinister association to become a thing of beauty. The late Alexander McQueen revitalized and re-introduced the skull to current popular fashion in the early 2000s. The provocative skull imagery sweetened with bright colours and silky fabric sent fashionistas wild, itching to get their grubby hands on his skull-jacquard silk scarfs or Britannia skull clutch bags. Damien Hirst furthered the lust for skulls and proved his status in the arts world with ‘For the Love of God’ – a diamond encrusted platinum skull that sold for a spine tingling £50 million! Damien Hirst’s diamond skull became hypermodern and Dwell quickly copied, making an affordable diamante encrusted skull statement centerpiece for the home – it’s no pocket change at £199. Skulls, bones and even organs have been transformed in to a variety of house hold pieces in materials that you’d never expect. Below is my pick of the best anatomically inspired home-wares.

Various Mugs, all Kuehn Keramik

Pavilion of Natural History vase (left), Skull Candle holder (right) – all, Virbent

Supermodel Plates (main image), Inkhead Plate (top right), Anatomica Plate (bottom right) - all, The New English

Flower Pump – Veneri Design

‘Souviens toi que tu vas mourir, fiberglass chair’ – Pool (left). Glass Skull Pen Pot – Graham & Green (right).

Wig Vase – Tania da Cruz Design

Beware of the moon, bronze flock skulls on oil slick wallpaper. Rockett St George

Vintage Rose Skull Tapestry Cushion Kit, Jan Constantine (left). Skull Stein Glass, Heals (right).

Up-cycled Vintage Skull Teacup (left), Up-cycled Vintage Skull Plate (right) – all Melody Rose

In recent months there has been a real surge for raw, imaginative and free illustrations, and in my eyes, one of the leading designers in this category is James Ward of Jimbob Art. Ward honed his skills in illustration whilst studying at Westminster University, London, where he developed a love for working in pen and ink. After a recent vacation to Sweden, Ward came back to England truly inspired; inspired by their use of natural history design and the range of products or surfaces that features them. It’s from this point that Ward began using ceramics as a medium to display his range of animal characters.

‘I feel drawing anthropomorphic characters can describe so much about human emotions and personalities with the juxtaposition of the animal’s expression against his clothing, an item or text.’ – James Ward

I am enchanted with Jimbob Art’s selection of ceramics and the beautiful illustrations that cover them; they’re so playful and humorous. The bright pops of colour on the monochromatic designs bring the illustrations to life and add to their charming nature. Each individual illustration is hand-drawn with on-glaze ink on to dishwasher proof white porcelain. All of the ceramics will look not only brilliant as a table setting, but great on display; perhaps on a welsh dresser or kitchen shelving. My personal favourites have to be the El Guapo plate, The Dominator plate, the Owl in Pants teapot, and the Tea Defender Mug. It’s probably too early to be writing a ‘Christmas Wish List’, but these will definitely be going on it!

Over the last month Decorex has showcased some of the best blogging talent out there, some truely amazing sites bursting with style and originality. The voting process meant that a winner was announced at the end of each week and after some tough decisions, Decorex have announced their five finalists. They will all be competing for the ultimate prize; A trip to New York to attend and report on New York Design Festival in March of 2012 as part of Blogtour2012 (organized by Modenus.com in partnership with The Architectural Digest Home Design Show and MyDeco.com) and to be the the official blogger for Decorex 2011. Good luck everyone!

Below is little bit about our 5 extremely talented finalists, as seen on the Decorex Loves Bloggers site:

Andrew Dunning – APD Interiors blog – Week 1 winner

After years working in the corporate world, Andrew Dunning left the City to follow his true passion of Design, so he retrained in interior design and launched APD Interiors in 2004. The brand was launched with one aim: to allow people to have their dream home for an affordable price as Andrew firmly believes that good design doesn’t have to be expensive.

Since then the business has gone from strength to strength, Andrew has been featured in the Evening Standard, he writes a regular column for the CityAM newsletter, and he contributes to the Rightmove.com blog. In addition APD Interiors also has its own blog providing regular interior design tips and ideas and Andrew provide daily twitter tips to his 5,000 followers.

Keeping an eye on comfort and practicality, while combining contemporary and traditional forms in projects, has seen APD Interiors win numerous commissions and praise from their clients. APD Interiors provides a design and build service to all its clients, aiming to take away all the headaches as they guide them from the design through planning to delivery.

Current projects include a full house refurbishment in Islington, an extension to a Grade II listed house in Chelsea and a budget bathroom in Crouch End. Each project offers different challenges but the objective remains to deliver cost effective design and build to all their clients.

Ana Aguilar – Let’s Blog Design – Week 2 winner

“My passion for interiors started very early growing up in Lisbon. I never considered turning it into a career until 2008 while studying Interior Design & Decorating at Inchbald, the prestigious school of Design in London.

At the end of 2010 I established my own practice aguilar interiors. I believe that a combination of creativity, negotiation and sourcing ability (furniture, textiles and art from Portugal & Asia) appeals to my clients. Extensive travel and exposure to a variety of cultures has given me an appreciation and understanding for different styles which I translate into my designs.

My biggest challenge has been establishing a presence in the design industry against a backdrop of economic downturn. Although taking the plunge was one of my best decisions, I’ve heard it said: “When you do for a living what you love, you will never work again”. At the moment I would say I live and breathe design and the passion I carry in my DNA fuels my writing and work.

I have been described as sophisticated yet down to earth; I’m told clients, craftsmen and design professionals find me easy to work with and the blogs I write have a substantial readership. I love designing interiors with an abundance of texture that create visual interest. Mine are balanced harmonious spaces that are practical, beautiful and timeless. I look forward to a stimulating and prosperous career while creating many happy homes.”

Carole King – Dear Designer’s blog – Week 3 winner

Carole King has had a varied career. Her first ever job was in a publishing house in Fleet Street. Being a small company she got to try her hand at a lot of tasks, including selling advertising, page layout and accounting. Several years later, following a very sociable position in the Client Services department of a renowned advertising agency, and a few years in finance, she decided to take the plunge and study interior decoration.

The course at KLC School of Design opened her eyes to a whole new world of interiors and design but despite working for two very inspiring designers, including the infamous John Stefanidis, she couldn’t quite make the break from the corporate world. She started Dear Designer’s Blog as a way to release her pent up creativity and yet another world beckoned.

She is now working on the launch of the UK’s first digital interiors magazine, Heart Home magazine, with fellow bloggers, Arianna Trapani from Arianna Interiors and Daniel Nelson from Atelier Tally. Launching in September just before Decorex and The London Design Festival it will be showcasing the best of British design and homes. A typical day now includes selling advertising space, page layouts and accounting, but much more importantly uses all of her design skills too.

Jane Price Stephens – A Design for Life - Week 4 winner

Jane Price-Stephens is an award winning interior designer based in London – Jane works on a range of residential and commercial projects including private clients, property developers, bars, gyms, restaurants, retail outlets and the odd super yacht.

The turning point in Jane’s career was when she read Paulo Coelho’s tale about following your dreams, The Alchemist. She promptly left her job in the City as a media strategist and embarked upon the journey to become a top designer. She graduated from KLC School of Design as ‘Top Interior Design Student’ and has been featured in several magazines, including IDFX. After working for David Collins, Honky and Richard Spark she established her own design practice in South West London.

Highlights of her career in design to date have been graduating from KLC as ‘Top Interior Design Student’, installation of the award-winning penthouse at Gunwharf Quays and the current project that she is working on. A final highlight has been going back to teach at KLC when she has the time – for her, it means that she can continue to contribute to the growth and development of the industry…

As an outlet for her passion for design she also has her blog that provides a brief insight into some of the things that she loves and introduces some relatively simple ideas for improving your home. She hopes it will inspire people to take an interest in interior design…

Bianca Noordhuizen – North House Design- Week 5 winner

“I have recently set up my own interior design firm in London: North House Design Ltd. Before moving to London, I worked in the Netherlands for a big multinational, where I used to scout for innovations around the world. I used to give presentations to aspiring entrepreneurs on business plans and always knew I wanted to start for myself one day.

When I came to London I thought it was time to start practicing what I was preaching. Initially thinking to set up a design label, I took some creative interior design courses and fell in love with the design side of things, so I changed my plan. I am now an interior designer in the making and recently started working on my first real project, which is very exciting.

?With a thing for design and innovation, the best part of working in this industry is visiting exhibitions and meeting new designers and exploring new products. I started a blog to share all the wonderful things I come across and all that inspires me. Blogging is a great means for the energetic and curious minded like myself, to get your thoughts out there. I love to give exposure to designers with a creative innovative approach or product and am often surprised by the positive interaction that follows as a result. I also occasionally share my own work and let readers join the experience of my journey to breaking into the interior design industry.

There are already so many great designers out there, and it’s a real challenge to stand out. But I’m very determined to do so and one day becoming the next Candy & Candy. My outlook on life is to enjoy and make the most of everything I do, and to hopefully inspire some people along the way.”

The trend for all things shabby chic has been around for a while now, and is showing no signs of leaving. With the recent revival for choosing up-cycled over reproduction furniture, it’s clear that consumer buying habits are changing. We are going back to vintage roots by thrifting and creating, with a make-do-and-mend attitude. I think the reason shabby chic furniture has been so successful is down to its transferrable nature – blending in to most interiors seamlessly.  This is due to the variety of shapes, styles, colours and differing degrees of furniture painting techniques used. Every item of shabby chic furniture looks different and any style of furniture can be up-cycled.  Many of the high street chains cottoned on to the trend over the years and have decreated mass produced reproduction shabby chic furniture which I am not a fan of; it all looks the same, devoid of any character.  The paint is flat, the wood is cheap MDF and the style is unimaginative.  I believe that shabby chic furniture should be up-cycled from antiques or pre-used furniture – you can see the grain of the wood, it distresses authentically and more often than not the furniture is imperfect. It is these imperfections that make great shabby chic furniture – the dents, scratches and uneven surfaces, they all add to the character and individual nature of the piece.  For these reasons, I buy from independent suppliers who up-cycle the furniture in-store and by hand.  Below is a selection of the best shabby chic up-cyclers!

Ruby Rhino

Phoenix on Goldborne

37 Old London Road

Ruby & Betty’s Attic

The following antiques dealers also offer a great selection of beautifully painted, French shabby chic furniture: The French House, A & L Antiques, Maison Artefacts, Belle Epoque, Jensen and Ballantine and for the occasional piece MADE.