Vintage Butterflies

I love the 50's pastelle colours on this vintage Nestle 'Butterfly Caddy' chocolate tin. Perfect for summer colour inspiration!

Pink and Purple

 Another week in Lilla-land has sped by with an insight into the wonderful world of Wall Art. The brief was for an abstract piece of wall art (with lettering) in a colour combination determined by birth dates. Being a Pisces, I scored pink and purple. I finally got an excuse to dig into to my collection of sari fabrics gathered from a back-packing trip to India a few years ago. The joys of being a fabric hoarder......

'Papillons' and 'Home is where the Heart is'.

And my pesky cat.

The Hmong Textile Market

A lovely place for a textile designer to while away a hot Saturday afternoon in Chiang Mai.

Old wares, good finds

I love to explore country Old Wares and Op shops every now and then, and one of my favourites is in the little town of Elmore, located between Bendigo and Echuca in northern Victoria, and not far from home. Sunday's stash included a few embroidered table linens, an embroidery pattern book from the 1930's and a beautiful (and very textile-y) Mason's Sampler pattern cake plate. 

50's tablecloths hanging in the old butcher shop.

Blue & White, Old & New

The classic combination of blue on white has remained enduringly popular in the design of porcelain ever since the first Chinese vessels decorated with Cobalt blue were imported into Europe in the 16th century by Portuguese traders.

This strikingly modern dinnerware collection named Fable was designed in collaboration with London based German designer Karolin Schnoor and the master artisans at Royal Doulton.

The entire Fable collection can be viewed on the Royal Doulton website.

Another blue and white porcelain collection which recently caught my eye was first designed in the 1950's but has recently been reissued by the Swedish ceramics company Rorstrand.

Mon Amie was created by on a rainy midsummer's eve by Swedish textile and ceramic designer Marianne Westman in 1952, and has since become one of Rorstrand's best selling designs.

Marianne joined Rorstrand in 1950 immediately after graduating from the University of Arts, Crafts & Design in Stockholm, and she collaborated closely with the company for more than twenty years.

You can view more of Marianne Westman's wonderful mid century ceramic and textile designs at the Hus and Hem website. 

Potted Vintage

My Nana was very keen on the humble geranium so I have inherited quite a few plants in a variety of colours. This photo-shoot from the UK magazine Country Homes & Interiors shows just how lovely the geranium can be when potted up into vintage containers. 

Visit the House to Home website here.

A Cottage Hospital designed by CFA Voysey

Some of the most frequently visited (and googled) posts on this blog have featured the elegantly stylised design work of the English architect and talented all round designer C.F.A Voysey - without a doubt there are many fans of Voysey's Arts and Crafts designs to be found around the world.

Furnishing fabric designed by Voysey in 1905
V&A

A few months ago I received a lovely comment on my blog from Daniella, the Project Manager of the Winsford Trust in the UK. The distinctive C.F.A Voysey design of the Grade II listed Winsford Cottage Hospital was commissioned in 1899 by Maria Webb-Medley in memory of her husband George for the community of Halwill, a small village located in North Devon, England.

Voysey's sublime Arts and Crafts design for the Winsford Cottage Hospital took into account its rural location. The hospital is a single storey building with a deep slate roof and projecting wings with a sheltered veranda between them.

Voysey's plan for the Cottage Hospital dated 1899

Although the exterior displays some of Voysey's most recognisable features, the rather austere interior of the hospital was conceived to combine both the sanitary and practical considerations of the requirements of patients and nursing staff alike. The hall, corridor and veranda were paved with a yellow mosaic tile, contrasting with green painted doors. The kitchen floor was constructed from massive slabs of slate, and the floors were built on one level so that both beds and wheel chairs could be moved with comparative ease.

The Bluebird Wallpaper, designed by Voysey c.1900

Voysey's signature design aesthetic was apparent throughout the interior - his characteristic attention to detail was applied to the ventilation grills, wallpaper, ironwork door hinges and latches, and mantelpieces. 

Voysey's birds decorate this ventilation grill

Voysey applied his signature heart motif to the ironwork door furnishings

The Winsford Cottage Hospital served the local community for a hundred years before being deemed redundant to the needs of the NHS in 1999. The Winsford Trust secured ownership for the benefit of the local community shortly after, and now aims to restore the Voysey designed building back to its former glory. The Winsford Trust hopes to make this building a national (and in my case, international) focus for the Arts and Crafts movement. I would love to visit the finished result one day, as some of my ancestors farmed in the district. It's a small world!

The gently faded beauty of Kantha cloths

I have spent the last few hours gazing at these beautiful Kantha cloth images from the Sha D'Lei range now on sale at One King's Lane. The colour combinations are totally unexpected to my Western eye, yet there is something very harmonious about every single piece.

 I love this palette of mint, navy, lilac and coffee brown.

 Perfect for a little girl's bedroom.

Red, pink and jade green - a favourite colour combo!

 A bold stripe reminiscent of 1930's beach umbrellas, lovingly teamed with a vibrant paisley.

Perfect colours for a dreamy bedroom.

A beautiful floral design.

 A bold mix of dark and light patterns and colour.

This exquisite collection of one-of-a-kind hand-stitched Kantha cloths sourced from India and Bangladesh are on sale at One King's Lane until Monday 21st November. Hmmm... would love to visit India again one day......