festive fair finds!

ahhhhh...today is the first saturday in about a month where i'm not either at a Christmas fair or planning for my next one! i'm still in bed and it's delightful (except for the fact i have a nasty cough and cold). i enjoyed all of my markets (for different reasons!) and wanted to share some of the work of the amazing designers i met whilst exhibiting across the last 3 weeks.

Made In Clerkenwell

i was located in the basement but i was surrounded by 10 other fantastic designer-makers with a great selection of goods. 

i have a soft spot for ceramics and instantly fell in love with Sally McGill's new collection - bold blue and coral on white...right up my street!

another great selection of ceramics were on offer from my show neighbour Jane Sarre - i'm always a sucker for that olive colour, and putting it on beautiful vases...well, i'm not sure how i resisted! 

and of course Katie Victoria was my very lovely and very Welsh neighbour for the show. gorgeously bright and bold knitted scarves, cushions and a rather lovely bobble hat i had my eye on all show!

East London Design Show

hosted for the second year at the Truman Brewery there were over 100 stands selling homewares, jewellery, prints, furniture and...ping pong games!

the stand to catch my eye the most was from the lovely Winter's Moon, a combination of mid-century finds and new retro inspired prints on an array of homewares - my ultimate weakness!

i caught up with Sophie Home who i first met at the Wimbledon Art & Design Fair earlier this year, once gain selling her yummy geo knits

winner of the Best Stand was Reclectic, a company that sources vintage furniture to hand paint with imagery inspired by that era. we happened to be opposite so could gaze at it all day!

The StockMKT

i'll be honest - this was by far my favourite market - the atmosphere was just amazing and the dj's and live Voodoo Love Orchestra were bloody fantastic! the first time it has been held at Spitalfields but it went down a treat.

now unfortunately i was so caught up in the dancing that i didn't actually take any photos! but probably a good thing otherwise i'll end up giving away some of the Christmas presents i have bought people!

we make london and co.

monday was the start of my 6 weeks residence in We Make London based in Camden Lock. i went in to set up the products they will be promoting (and hopefully selling!) for me and also help man the shop alongside Mary. whilst there i also had a good nose at some of the other designers work and here are my fave pics of other surface pattern and prints:

funky purses and bags - miesje chafer

awesome plates - para sites cermaics

2 of my favourite prints - alfamarama

great gift sets - victoria eggs

just made me laugh - benjamin rothery

fun! - lightboat jewellery

love the breaking bad RV! - kate rowland

me...well i had to share one pic didn't i?!

work in progress from illustrator linda skoglund. she has been commissioned to complete 7 maps around Camden and was just starting today...next time i go back they should be complete so i can post the final pieces!

setting up shop!

4th november was an exciting day for mel smith designs - i was booked to start selling my products in London store Things British. The location was Carnaby street, a trendy little area of the capital with lots of boutiques and stylish stores.

i was also spending the day researching shops and trends, and having just a good old catch up with fellow Smith, Liz (of ellejane designs) ... so a full on day!

preparation started a couple of days before packaging up the goods. i was taking my new notebooks and tea towels. i will be renting for 2 months and rotating stock every 2 weeks to show off a design design. 

first up - fat birdie and co! my feathers and birdie designs have received fantastic feedback so what better way to kick off the shop experience than to put them out there!

so off to london we went, a beautiful fresh autumns morning certainly was a lovely start. carnaby street is full of lovely shops, all too easy to get distracted and go shopping...but we had to focus on the mission!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

the shop is situated on the first floor of Kingley Court amongst 30 other boutiques and numerous cafes and restaurants ... the perfect location to sell designer maker goods!                                                                                                                                                                                 

inside was a treasure trove of handmade and unique items - lots of jewellery, art prints, pin boards, greetings cards,  i might even have bought a christmas there...but for which friend... ;)

                                                                                                                                              

set up didn't actually take too long - things british need to check all your stock is labelled up correctly with your unique designer/item code and everything is priced clearly for the customers. after that its left up to you to arrange the shelf as you please! 

i treated myself and rented a spot in the window as well to get a little extra exposure..so now let's see what happens sales-wise! exciting and a little nerve-wracking at the same time...eek!

a quick stop for breakfast and then it was off to covent garden and leicester square for some shopping, uh, i mean research ;) ah, doesn't it look christmassy already?!

spitalfields finds!

i've been a bit slack recently on the posts, i do apologise. if you've been following my 'the big plan' posts you'll know why!  but i've been meaning to share with you all the visual delights i came across when i visited spitalfields a couple of weeks back - so here we go:

elle jane designs
liz was there (hi liz!) with a stall full of prettiness. 'sophia' is my favourite so i treated myself to a lovely notebook. not that i want to use it as i'll just ruin it, so it can sit on my shelf with all my other lovely unused notebooks...

mabel & bird
it was lovely to meet emma of Mabel & Bird - she had lots of advice to share and we got to discuss the high and lows of being designer/makers. it may be a life full of creative challenges but that's what makes it so rewarding when you overcome them! and it turns out we have the same retro floral duvet cover!!

paper heart
design studio Paperheart is run by nicole and sells fantastic screen printed products (prints, cards, totes and bunting). all paper used is 100% recycled making it even more appealing. and she also likes bikes!

lovely jojo's
don't you love it when you see some artwork online, and then you see something in the 'real world', you put two and two together and realise you 'know' this designer! this london map has recently been released - 'tis amazing!

love bessie (website coming soon)
love these bright and quirky illustrations of fabulous ladies on tea towels, coasters, cards, magnets, buttons ... you name it! fantastic hand writing too!

louise wright design
super cute illustrations and more 100% recycled goods here at Louise Wright Design. Louise recently pitched to John Lewis - nerve wracking stuff i'm sure you'll agree! she's waiting to hear back so fingers crossed that all her hard work pays off and we soon see her work stocked across al JL's!

amsterdam . . . the design

so i promised you a look into some of the shops in amsterdam to see what kind of design goods they are selling...well here you go...




first up is GUUS, a cute little boutique shop just off of the main streets. it had table mats, kids toys, magnets, lighting...all very quirky and right up my street :)

ceramic bottles. not sure what you'd do with them but they looked quite nice

finally. someone has modernised v   paper decorations vhghhhhh

the cork placemat. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm                                

paper tree houses to add to your plants!

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a little further down the road we have KITSCH KITCHEN. don't think i need to explain what kind of delights where held within these store walls...

quite frankly these owls just scare me

painted tealight holders

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Tent 2012 visit!

another trade show as part of the London Design Festival and this time it was the rather trendy Tent at the Old Truman Brewery. i hadn't visited Tent before so wasn't sure what to expect but it was full of super modern

we saw a burst of colour amongst some furniture stands and finally reached Sian Elin's stand - such a delight! i love her hand drawn motifs, and her use of colour is just delicious:

Sian Elin at Tent and her Tent advert

we also popped along to the stand of Surfacephilia, aka Helen Stevens. stunning drawings, a whole selection of products bursting with feathers and birds from her Navajo collection:

Surfacephilia

my new favourite find was Zoe Murphy. she restores funky retro furniture products with her unique take of her home town, Margate. great prints and colours. that's all i ask for!:

and i got to see my other favourite design team (that i saw at Top Drawer on Monday) - Mini Moderns. in a nutshell - i just love everything they do...simple as that!

Tent had a very different vibe to Top Drawer, almost like gallery exhibition in the way it was spaced and laid out.  there was a strong retro feel to a lot of the work there, both in style and in colour. which i LOVED. 

would i like to exhibit there? yes, one day, but i think i'll stick to Top Drawer as my first show...i'm not 'cool' enough for Tent just yet ;)