Love This #63: Coin jewellery by Rachel Eardley

Shortly after stepping through the doors at MADE London I found myself in front of some of the most exquisite jewellery I've ever seen. I know that's a big statement, but just look:

The more I looked, the more I saw. And I started to wonder...

And yes, each of the pendants above are made from cutting the design from a coin. Rachel uses real coins and turns them into the most stunning jewellery. I wanted to dig out my purse and check just what designs were on the coins I had, but I resisted well, until later anyway.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before and I love how an everyday object - and one that's so functional - becomes so beautiful with Rachel's craftsmanship. I've since looked on her website and she says

"I am inspired by the simple day to day objects in our homes..."

Truly stunning work Rachel.

Disclaimer: I was given free entry to MADE London, but all words and opinions are my own

Screen printing with Daniel Heath

Well where to start? You may have already seen the screen printed peacock which I shared on my social channels last week - a fantastically detailed design, and one that last week I tried for myself after a quick masterclass with Dan. 

I'll share more on that in a moment, but first have a look at the fab venue - Blackhorse Studios in Walthamstow. What a fab place, it was quite a dash to get there after work but having looked at Daniel Heath's work beforehand I knew I didn't want to miss this event.

An easy place to be inspired, I'm sure you'll agree.

In The Window who organised the event had made sure there were cakes and some soft drinks ready for us when we arrived. And you know how much I like a cake, well somehow I ended up posing with these

These soft drinks were great too - they have a kick to them which is the cayenne, and I know it sounds odd. But trust me these are good. I'm reliably informed that the cucumber and mint variety is good with gin. As I was hoping to try out the screen printing, I opted for the mango and ginger version and drank that straight.  I liked it and would choose it again, it was a cold drink with a warming feeling. They're definitely worth a try, trust me.

Then we went up to the studio. Talk about overload for the senses. And for a magpie like me, I wasn't sure where to look first.

Daniel showed us how to screen print, all the while explaining the process and answering our many questions. In the photo below you can see the screen for the peacock design we would use. And yes, the screens have small holes in them to allow for the paint to go through and onto the surface - in our case wallpaper. 

With the screen positioned and weighed down with lead to stop it moving, Daniel added the gold paint and demonstrated how to print the design by moving the paddle across the screen. With a couple of taps he brought the paddle back the other way and repeated this once more.

I have to admit that the reveal of the gold layer was a bit of an anti-climax.

It seems you have to have lots of patience for this, and rightly so - the detail in Daniel's designs are incredible. He creates the designs, transfers them onto the screens and prints his designs by hand. That's a lot of precision.

Soon though the gold paint was dry and it was time for the teal layer. Just look at that colour.

It was also time for me to try my hand at screen printing - and just look at that concentration!

And this is our finished design - isn't it great?

This peacock design is 1.5 metres long which is quite large which means only two patterns can be printed in one go. So it'll take a while to print a ten metre roll of wallpaper, although Daniel says he can usually do that in an afternoon or so. Daniel doesn't only print his designs on wallpaper or as prints, he also screen prints them onto fabric (there's some fabulous examples on his website) and etches them onto wood. These were just stunning, delicate but still very stunning.

In the gallery below there's a few more examples of Daniel's work. Not only is he a clever and talented man, he's also very nice and deserves every success. Thanks to Daniel and to In The Window for a fascinating evening and definitely one that gave a real insight into the work that goes into hand printed wallpaper.

This is a collaborative post with In The Window but all words are my own.

Lush Designs in Greenwich

Yesterday I shared which of the lampshades I bought for our top spare bedroom from Lush Designs, today I'm sharing more from their shop. And just look how much we had to choose from.

Even in black and white you can tell the choice wasn't easy. Let alone when you add in the colour and which designs come in which colour.

Thankfully though the people at Lush Designs know their stuff, they know what comes in what without looking it up and can guide you on actually making a decision. I guess they must be used to people unsure just which of their designs to choose!

It's not just lampshades though, there's a whole range of tins, trays, mugs and much more than I could mention. Each has their unique feel to it. 

They even sell their materials, and I was very tempted by this remnant box left casually by the till. I resisted on this occasion but the danger is, now I know it's there!

The other thing that I know I'll be back for at some point is these notebooks. Again my trouble will be choosing which one to go for.  Maybe I'll just add one of these to my Christmas list and leave the decision to someone else!

And you don't have to live close to Greenwich to be able to own any of these fab items as you can order online. I've not tried the online service - I don't need to as I just wander down from Blackheath but I can vouch for the items, they're fantastic.

And as well as the lampshades I shared yesterday I also bought these fabulous oven gloves. They're replacing some with a hole in so while I should be using them, I haven't yet managed to bring myself to use them just yet. I'm still admiring them instead!

Aren't my new oven gloves just lush? #lushdesigns #greenwich #ovengloves

A photo posted by Stephanie Robinson (@lifeat139a) on Oct 23, 2015 at 5:08am PDT