HANDMADE IN BRITAIN 2014

We are exhibiting once again at Handmade in Britain at the Chelsea Old Town Hall, London from 14th-16th November. Tickets are available here and also available to purchase on the door. We would love to see you there and do please come over and say hello!

PAYPAL

Just wanted to say 'thanks' to Imogen and the team at PayPal for featuring us on their blog.

It's been great to meet you at the Makegood Festival :)

LAMPSHADES

We were tempted to title this post '50 shades of colour' after that book but as there are only 20 shades and 5 different colours we resisted! We have spent the last few days working hard on these in preparation for the Makegood Festival at Selfridges in London which starts on Thursday - go take a look :)

WOW MAGAZINE

We are really pleased to be featured in this month's WOW magazine, a monthly guide to arts and entertainment in Kent and the South East. We are showcased along with some of the other businesses which will be exhibiting at the Makegood Festival in London from 30th May to 1st June. Follow the link for further information.

GREENWICH POP-UP SHOP

Last weekend we had the opportunity to show some of our lampshades, cushions and wallpaper in the Greenwich Market pop-up shop.

The event was to celebrate their Craft and Design Focus weekend and to highlight the skills and diversity of makers in the area.

The shop looked great and with the glorious weather we enjoyed it proved to be a great success!

SWEET DREAMS

A trip to Heals a few weeks ago not only resulted in us purchasing some super stripy candlesticks (see facebook or twitter) but was also a chance for us to get some fresh inspiration on display for a few upcoming exhibitions we have in the pipeline. I had intended to write a post about all of this inspiration but instead I feel compelled to share with you my love of texture and a few examples from my past as a Surface Textile Designer.

In a departure from the Clementine & Bloom norm this is probably our most neutral coloured blog post EVER! And although I absolutely, whole heartedly love colour (and I mean real colour not an accent piece or a variation of an off-white) I much prefer my textures in muted colours allowing for the surface to speak for itself.-

The top two pictures are from the window display in Heals, Tottenham Court Road, for their 'made to order' mattresses. These beautiful, repetitive and organic textural forms would have easily found their way onto my old moodboards, hoping to inspire a new collection of manipulated fabrics.

The images below are of my early samples made in silk, organza and leather and bring back memories of playful days spent hand painting dyes, hand stitching, free machining, scoring, cutting, burning and even baking fabrics in an endless cycle of producing more and more texture.

 

Even then the dream was to start Clementine & Bloom - a mother and daughter design collaboration sharing our love of colour and luxury interior accessories. We would love to hear about your dreams and how you are working towards making them become a reality...

BACK TO SCHOOL

On Sunday we were fortunate to be exhibiting at Decorfest, a brand new interiors event at King's College School in Wimbledon. This is a lovely area of south west London and the Great Hall, where our stand was situated, with its soaring ornate windows and Headmaster's portraits did not disappoint.

The day began with champagne and croissants (this really should be requisite at every trade and retail show!) 

There was a great mix of textile designers, furniture makers, purveyors of vintage goods and much more with fabulous room settings displaying work from many of the exhibitors.

Our wallpaper attracted a lot of attention and proved a big hit once again...

as did the silk swatches displayed in our beautiful picture frame like a fabulous artwork.

We had a busy yet wonderful day and want to say a big 'thank you' to all the Decorcafe team who worked hard to put together such a great show. We look forward to next time!

TOP TABLE

Here are the pictures of our table runner as promised. 

We think it looks great!

DECORFEST 2014

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed the Decorfest badge on the side of the blog and we are pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Decorfest 2014 show at King's College School, Wimbledon on 23rd March.

This promises to be a great event with fabulous designer/maker stands, demonstrations and activities for  all the family. For more details and to buy tickets click here and to read our interview with the Decorcafe team follow this link. 

AND ON, AND ON, AND ON...

We were commissioned to make a table runner for a special events dinner in London recently and as we love to make one-off pieces and bespoke items, we jumped at the chance.

We like a challenge and with a table measuring 6.7m x 1.2m this was going to require a lot of space!

With such a vast amount of fabric for the main body we decided a little embellishment was needed at each end and so we made a simple patchwork trim in coordinating Entomology fabric.

We took these photos to try and show the scale of the project (much longer than your average pair of curtains) and turning the finished sewn runner inside out was interesting - a bit like a snake trying to wriggle out of its skin!

And here is the completed table runner in all its glory. We're hoping for a photo to share with you of it in its rightful place and finally open at full length.

EDOUARD MARTINET

On Thursday we made our way to the Sladmore Contemporary gallery in London to see an exhibition by French artist Edouard Martinet. As lovers of all things insect related plus an interest in art inspired by found materials this show was a 'must see'; we weren't disappointed!

Image courtesy of Sladmore Contemporary

Each piece was perfectly crafted and beautifully detailed - it was only as we looked closely that we realised old spoons, typewriter keys and bicycle parts were individually pieced together to form each sculpture. If only we had a spare £10,000+ and they weren't all already sold we would love to have brought one home with us.

The exhibition finished on 31st January but we would urge you to seek him out and and view his amazing sculptures for yourself if you get the chance.

Image courtesy of Sladmore Comtemporary

Image courtesy of Sladmore Contemporary

A NEW ADDITION

Last week we spent three busy days exhibiting at a new trade show called Craft at Earls Court. We had a great position on a corner plot next to the entrance to Home - another section of the show. 

We put together a different set up to previous events and also introduced a colour wall displaying the range of silks we make our lamp shades in for bespoke orders. There was a lot of interest in this and it proved to be very popular.

                           

Also on display properly for the first time were our latest print, Waggle Dance, and our newest product - wallpaper.

The Gigantic Beetle wallpaper will be printed using traditional methods in the UK in gorgeous teal, cream and aubergine colours and will be available to buy in the Spring.

We decided 2014 was going to be a year of making the most of all the opportunities for Clementine & Bloom and it already seems like we are off to a flying start!

STARTING THE YEAR WITH A BANG!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the arrival of 2014 in London with this fabulous firework display. There's always such a great atmosphere up there - definitely worth making the effort for. And as it's a brand new year we have changed the blog banner to a selection of the vintage lamp bases with our shades that we currently have in stock.

We have some events lined up for this year, the first of which is Craft and takes place at Earls Court from 12th-14th January. This is a new trade show organised by the team at Handmade in Britain and runs alongside Home and Top Drawer so we are hoping for a great event. Right now we are working hard getting our stand ready and as we have some exciting new products for 2014 it already looks set to be a very busy year!

TOWN & COUNTRY

We have been exhibiting at Handmade In Britain for the last few days which is why we've been a bit quiet - you know all those little prep jobs you think will only take five minutes and then the actual show itself. We had a great time though and had some very positive comments about some new product lines that we were showcasing there (more on that at a later date!)

And we have more exciting news as we will be exhibiting at the Wealden Times Midwinter Fair which takes place from 21st to 23rd November. This will be our first time attending this event but we've heard so many lovely comments about it we hope it will become a regular date in our diary.

If you haven't come across the Wealden Times magazine we recommend you take a look. Every month they explore the interiors of two local homes which are always beautiful and original. We're very pleased to be featured this month in their gift supplement along with fellow exhibitors and as you can see there is something for everyone from foodies to crafters and everything in between. Do mark it in your diary and we hope to see you there!

BIG BLOOMS

This weekend I snuck away from the studio for a quick bit of rest and relaxation and there was no better place to indulge my love of colour and texture than Columbia Road Flower Market.

Normally I am not a particularly big 'flowers girl'. The other half stopped feeling the need to buy them a long time ago and now I just pop the odd bunch into my supermarket trolley to brighten up my day. However in this instance I couldn't resist...

I now have these spectacularly large hydrangeas and brassicas in the hallway. I'm planning to dry them out and maybe make a Christmas garland with (I know, optimistic as I continually suffer from not having enough time to do all the things I need to do let alone want to do!)

These flowers in my antique jug don't require any water! Perfect for busy people and the colours and foliage are just right for Autumn.

In total I spent £25, more than I normally would on flowers but then as it was my first visit I couldn't help but go a little crazy. I would absolutely recommend it for a lazy Sunday stroll; next time I will definitely go early as it was very busy, maybe stroll around the lovely little shops first and then buy my big bouquets!

HANDMADE IN BRITAIN '13

Our regular followers will know that we debuted our Entomology collection at Handmade in Britain last November. Frightening though it seems that a whole year has flown past already (but what a good year it has been!) we are now preparing to return to Chelsea Old Town Hall from Friday 8th - Sunday 10th November for the 2013 showcase.

It is a wonderful event, perfect for buying Christmas presents or simply treating yourself to something handmade. We would love to see you there and if anyone would like 2-4-1 tickets then simply sign up to our newsletter!

MUSTN'T GRUMBLE

We know this is a little late but the last couple of weeks have been very busy and it's not been an easy post to write. After last year's amazing Thames Festival our expectations were high but sadly not fulfilled. We were located with the We Make London team near Tower Bridge and as there were no events taking place on the Saturday and very little advertising it meant there was not much footfall (excepting the odd stray tourist or local resident surprised to discover an artisan market taking place on their doorstep!)

This did give us the opportunity to have a wander in the vicinity and we came across this wonderful sculpture by artist David Kemp at the Hay's Galleria. The Navigators looks like a creation from a Jules Verne novel and was made using recycled and found objects.

The final day of the festival was better, there were choirs and bands performing in the Scoop near our stalls and people were wandering along enjoying the entertainment and making the most of their Sunday.

We were informed that the budget for the festival was reduced this year but then why did the organisers  stretch the event across two weekends? The spectacular fireworks finale was greatly missed by stall holders and visitors alike and the atmosphere of carnival and colour we've come to expect was non existent. Our fellow stall holder Jane sums up the experience precisely here.

The event is called the Mayor's Thames Festival so come on Boris let's put a little more thought in for next year or you may find yourself celebrating on your own!