+ Justin Rothshank

Let's jump right in...

Justin Rothshank

Some more ceramic love to share with you...

On a recent trip around etsy I stumbled across the work of Justin Rothshank. I immediately fell in love with Justin's pieces and in particular his quirky application of decals and motifs.

"My junior high art teacher sparked my interest in ceramics, and my high school clay teacher cultivated it. She introduced me to wood firing, and it completely changed my perspective on clay."

Thank goodness for art teachers! Check out some of Justin's work below, then skip over to his website and store for more...

(images from Justin Rothshank, quote from The Studio Chronicle)

NOTES:
visit Justin's website
visit Justin's store

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S is on it's way! See you soon! xxoo

+ Robin Collins

Hello : ) Are you enjoying this alphabetical journey so far? It's been a bit slow over the last week or so, but we're in full swing now! Let's jump in to R...

Robin Collins

When you take a look at the collection of images below you could be mistaken and think they come from three different people... but no, they come from uber talented Robin Collins.

I first came across Robin's work because I quite fancied her Mid-Century Bird series, but a little further investigation led me to not only one, not only two, but, three(!) stores currently chock full of photography, illustration and prints - oh my!

"I have years of loving everything about art. I wanted to be an artist when I was young, and copied everything I could find. I went to college for photography, and then put everything on a hobby only level for about 10 years.

For the last 8 or so years I have been exploring every aspect I could try, playing with every medium. Not surprisingly I came right back to my two first loves. Drawing and photography."

(images and quote from Robin Collins)

NOTES:
visit Robin's website (and links to her stores)
read Robin's blog

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S is on the way!

see you soon! xxoo

Roddy and Ginger

Hi there,

Thanks so much for joining me today. Q didn't show it's head yesterday. It is becoming more and more difficult to find suitable Q's to share with you, so I decided that skipping it would be better than showing you something that I wasn't really happy with. In saying that, I did spend yesterday thinking about the next Q and how we can tackle it - I'll keep you posted. If you know of anything that you think may be suitable for Q, I'd love to hear from you!

OK, shall we get this R underway?


Roddy and Ginger

My lovely husband (he's a builder) is working on a renovation of a beautiful 70's home. It has all the good stuff - it's open plan, has high ceilings, loads of windows and doors that open to an inner courtyard - with in ground pool (swoon!), it even has some fantastic (in a 70's kind of way) stained glass.

I often wonder when renovating and then decorating a home in a era like this how one would maintain some of it's 70's influences whilst still being modern. I think I've found the answer - Roddy and Ginger.

Virginia Armstrong is the graphic and textile designer behind UK based Roddy and Ginger. Virginia produces a fab collection of vintage inspired textiles and prints - "where you’ll find cheerful products designed to bring a ray of retro inspiration to you and your home."

Virginia's work is modern, bright and breezy with vintage inspired influences shining through - I think they'd be perfect for the house Steve is working on - take a peek:

(images and quote from Roddy and Ginger with thanks to Deborah for the intro)

NOTES:
visit Virginia's website
read Virginia's blog

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With school starting in a couple of days, we are on a mission today to get all the school books covered. My wee boy isn't feeling to well today so it's a good reason to ignore the call of the beach, and sit round the kitchen table with scissors and cover-seal : )

I hope you have a great day!

See you tomorrow! xxoo

Samantha Robinson + John Robshaw + Room Envy

We are already at R! I think this alphabet*seven is the fastest yet! - are you R R R Ready?

Samantha Robinson

Don't you LOVE the work of Sydney based ceramic artist Samantha Robinson? I do!! I would love a little collection of tea cups (like the ones pictured 4th below) to find a home in my cupboards - imagine having those lovelies greet you in the morning as you peruse your tea collection - heaven!

Using a technique where an image is printed onto tissue paper and transferred to the porcelain, Samantha produces a range of patterns that reflect not only her immediate urban surroundings, but the intricate pattern work of China and Japan.

"Porcelain is my reflection of where society is at. It is my way of capturing what's going on with colour the fashion seasons and the changing blooms in the garden"

(images and quote from Samantha Robinson, with thanks to Australian Home Beautiful)

NOTES:
visit Samantha's website

John Robshaw Textiles

I have been a long admirer of John Robshaw's collection. Reading through John's bio again reminded me of the passion that he has for the traditional pattern and printing methods of Asia. Utilising these traditions and reworking them into his own designs, John produces a collection of textiles that are strong, earthy and beautiful.

I suggest you jump over to his website for the complete low-down : ) and in the meantime, here's a taster...

(images from John Robshaw)

NOTES:
visit John's website

Room Envy...

You know you are on to a good thing when you're reading a blog and find yourself copying (loads of) images into your inspiration folder, right? Well that's exactly what I found myself doing when I was over at Room Envy recently.

Jenny Drew from Room Envy compiles a fab collection of the good, the bad and the ugly in home decorating - mostly, I just found good - and some new additions for my inspiration folder : )

(image from Room Envy)

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We have a full afternoon today, the boys have yoga and I'm off to buy the rest of our plants for our vege patch. We came home from Gisborne with four feijoa trees (thanks Bee!), so we have to get them in the ground too.. all before the weekend, when we are off on another road trip...more about that later...

see you tomorrow! xxoo

Robot Candy + Claire Rougerie + Record The Day

righteo lets go!

Robot Candy

Do you enjoy a touch of vintage in your home?

Jenn Hill and Jenny Tiffany from Robot Candy are the creators of these adorable vintage inspired tile coasters.

Using recycled materials wherever possible, Jenn and Jenny "carefully handcraft useful house wares that are visually pleasing as well as affordable."

Cuteness for your coffee table : )

(images from Robot Candy)

NOTES:
visit Jenn and Jenny's website
visit Jenn and Jenny's store


Claire Rougerie

France based Claire Rougerie painstakingly hand makes this gorgeous collection of home accessories out of wire.

In New Zealand we are proud of our 'Number 8* wire' mentality - which basically means that "New Zealanders display a MacGyver-like ability to solve any problem, often using unconventional means or whatever happens to be lying around." I've never seen anyone (even MacGyver : ) make anything so pretty out of wire!

I love love love Claire's collection of wire baskets, and her scene snapshots (see images 5th and last below) are divine!

enjoy...

(images from Claire Rougerie, quote from Wikipedia)

NOTES:
visit Claire's website
read Claire's blogs here
visit Claire's store

*Number 8 wire is used for farm fencing

I'm pretty excited to be sharing this blog with you today...

"These are the things I love. I'm always jotting things down, keeping images from magazines and scraps of whatever excites me fastened to record cards. They used to get left floating around in the bottom of my bag, occasionally deposited around the house or tidied away into drawers. Now they are here. "

Jess from Record The Day has an amazing ability to not only capture her day, but also the visitors to her blog. There are no words, just beautiful compilations of images to get lost in...

(image and quote from Record The Day)

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It is a stunner of a spring day here today - I hope your day is wonderful, what ever the weather : )

See you tomorrow xxoo