Wooden Things

Cross-stitch isn't normally something you'd instantly think of as modern or certainly not 'fashionable' which is why I am so grateful to the designers at GravGrav who have chosen to revolutionise the use of cross-stitch by vamping it up and using it in their wooden bags and clutch collection.

GravGrav take the classic and elegant style of a cross stitch pattern (the birds and flowers you're used to seeing embroidered on table clothes and vintage clothing) and impose them on to these striking wooden bags, giving society a graceful yet minimalist injection of cross-stitch. The variety of clutches, back packs and purses from GravGrav are handmade using only the most premium of woods, suede leather inserts and colourful yarn to give it a luxury feel.

But style has its price and GravGrav wooden cross-stitch bags range in price anywhere between $205-$880.

Although, despite the price these bags are genuinely gorgeous, hand made in every way and inspired by nature which is evident in the choice of materials and the themes of flowers, fruits and birds which influence the cross-stitch patterns. A definite piece of pure beauty that may very well make you reminisce about a different time.

GirlGreyBeauty

After watching the numerous body art tutorials of Youtuber 'Madeyewlook' I got really in to body art as a whole and started to appreciate the artistry of make-up. And Andrea Reed, the hands, face and brains behind GirlGreyBeauty, is now hands down one of my favourite creative beauty guru's. I first stumbled upon her Instagram, where I was rendered awestruck by her array of both perfect make-up applications and totally abstract uses of make-up.

GirlGreyBeauty is an artists who dabbles in a variety of different beauty aspects, such as hair, lips and face, whilst also reviewing cosmetic and beauty products. But it's her creative make-up looks that appeal to me the most; specifically her fancy lip art and facial art series like the 'work in progress' collection ( 'paint by numbers' as seen to the left).

Within her 'work in progress' series there are four different styles that truly are fantastic artistry's to behold, especially when you think they've been drawn on the face using make up and by the artist themselves, and it is hands down worth you checking out the rest. GirlGreyBeauty is a truly amazing make-up artist and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her zany work.

Survival Laces

I'm a bit of prepper, it's nothing to be ashamed about, and when the apocalypse does finally come around don't turn up on my doorstep expecting me to sleigh your zombies. Na, uh, get your own survival gear. And the latest in the line of cool Survival gear I've unearthed on the internet are the Survival Laces. 

Survival Laces are exactly what they say in the name; laces to keep you well equipped in any sort of survival, adventure and wilderness scenario. They're a way to carry important emergency equipment without lagging down your bag by carrying extra weight. The Survival Laces are made with 550 paracord  - which as any camper knows comes in handy everywhere and anywhere - and one strand of fishline in the core. 

Each set of Survival Laces also comes with an ingeniously covert fire starter; consisting of a one inch ferrocerium rod in the metal aglet and a four inch strand of tinder that's extremely flammable and waterproof so you can light a fire with ease. Survival Laces aren't only full functional, they're made of high quality material and come in a stylish array of red, khaki and black that can go in either your shoes or your hoodie, perfect for carrying around without making it obvious you're packing a lot of equipment. 

Prices for the Survival Laces start from $8.50 and if you're still new to starting a fire then you can get your hands on the Deluxe Survival Laces which have a full length strand of tinder in the core of the laces so that you'll never run out of fire. 

Unofish

If you've got a bit of a basketball obsession and you've got money to splash then maybe you should invest in a handcrafted leather basketball that takes swag to the next level. 

Unofish are the designers behind these sexy basketballs who use a range of different patterned and treated quality leathers to make these striking basketballs that'll make you feel like a queen or a king. Several of their 'crocodile' inspired balls feature alligator embossed leather, whilst balls like 'the state' have cross sections of pony hair leather which add an elegant edge to the material. 

With an Unofish basketball you're paying for great quality and finish to beat all others. And although your game might not be on your ball game definitely will be with everyone marveling over your basketball as you will stand out and above all others with your £160 basketball. 

If I had a fin for a day

To be a unicorn, knight or a mermaid is probably the dream of most little kids out there. And with a Mahina MerFin you can make at least one of these dreams come true. (You can probably guess which dream I'm referring to). The MerFin is a unique mermaid mono-fin that plays on the conventional swimmers fin by mimicking the ethereal style of a mermaid's tail with dreamy colours and a curved shape. 

MerFin's are made from recycled rubber - helping to endorse a sustainable attitude towards our ocean friends - and are soft and flexible, therefore perfectly functional as well as fascinating, allowing you to feel like your fish kin as you slice through the ocean currents. It's a great pool toy and can make snorkeling more fun with a simple flick of the ankles and knees to get you swimming like the mer-folk. 

And if the fin isn't enough for you to feel submersed in the mer-folk-iness (?) then you can also get yourself some scales with the MerSwim suit which consists of a pair of opalescent swim tights and Bikini top; perfect for perfecting that Mermaid look. 

Mahina Mermaid do both adult and Kid sized fins and suits to get the whole mer-family involved. The adult sized MerFins are $109 and the children's MerFins are $99. The woman behind it all is Mahina (commonly known as Mahina Mermaid) renowned for her modelling career as the rare marvel that is the mermaid; its this equity that made her want to inspire the hearts, imagination and dreams of children in promoting the art of 'mermaiding' and bringing the fin in to popular beach and pool culture. 

All I know is that they're super cool and otherworldly and that if I could swim I would have a pair on my feet at this very moment. 

Ethereal

For those of you with a wild side these adornments and costumes by idolatre clothing co. are ace for bringing out your inner animal. Idolatre sell anything from headdresses to baby hats and to furry costumes to compliment your fuzzy wolf ears, perfect for any feral party you plan on crashing. With their customizable plastic resin ram horns you can really live up to that 'party animal' name you're going for. 

This Etsy shop have nothing but raving reviews from their customers, all happy with their ready made ornate headdresses with different ranges of animal horns affixed, and delighted with their antlers ready to create their own costumes. 

If you're planning a forest themed wedding then you'll definitely want your guests adorned with these unicorn nymph horn and ear headdresses, perfect for seamlessly turning your wedding party in to a group of mythical creatures. 

What I love about Idolatre's designs and costumes are their decorative style of moss and flower themed elements adhered all around the main antler and horn headpieces, the perfect coloring of shadows and veins to make the headdresses appear almost life like. 

By far my favourite in their shop is the Red Panda soft sculpture ear hat, made with fluffy ginger and white faux fur and cute sticky up panda ears, the side of the hat leaving a warm trail over the shoulders to keep you snug against the cold. This hat would make a sassy accessory for any themed party. 

Element 83

Diamonds are a thing of the past because natural, artistic minerals are in; and this Etsy shop cleverly titled Element 83 incorporates hand melted metals and naturally grown Bismuth, the extraordinary element that freezes like liquid metal to form awesome maze patterns.

There aren't enough adjectives in the dictionary to describe the gorgeous iridescence of Bismuth, with each piece being unique from the other, and Element 83 manages to effortlessly capture the beauty of Bismuth and set it in to stunning pieces of jewelry. With anything from rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces to horse busts, magnets and free standing pieces of Bismuth, Element 83 offers a great selection of unique gifts that will blow anyone's mind. 

Element 83 perfectly immortalizes the beauty of Bismuth crystals, casing them in stylish frames and settings that compliment the rare style of the metal. And to make your gift more special, you can have it sent in one of these hand crafted wooden gift boxes that help pick out the wild nature of the way Bismuth grows. The gift boxes come in a many number of tiers with different storage spaces so than you can keep your jewelry safe.

Pedal to the Metal

Finally Diesel have created something relevant to their namesake; a whole collection of home ware and lifestyle products aimed at the mechanical edge of design. The Machine, Transmission, Lace Race and DIY collections by Diesel use the aesthetic elements of mechanics to create an awesome display of items.

In the Transmission collection, you've got candlesticks modeled to look like actual transmission pieces with a porcelain body painted an antique bronze colour to pick out the natural industrial colours of the car parts, bringing a motor-driven edge to the art of laying your table; great for masculinizing any room. 

And if you're looking for a place to store your keys and loose change then these large porcelain jars from the Machine Collection are great for storing all your crap. The thread detail in the porcelain looks artistically extraordinary, and the theme of these jars is shared in the design of these Diesel glasses; both managing to bring a minimalist style to a warehouse and junkyard themed design. 

By far the best design in the new style is the DIY flatware cutlery, made of your bulk standard knife, fork and spoon set except for they've got an awesome spanner head and handle. They're so authentic in their design that you'll probably end up with these in the toolbox and your actual spanners in the cutlery draw. Much like a kid with their special knife and fork set, any motor head would feel young again with these to cut their stake with. 

Last but not least in Diesels range of motor themed home ware is their Lace Race collection; which is a series of different sized towels in varying colours, displaying several different car parts. You've got the dark grey bath towel with a nut and bolt car part displayed on the front, the gears in the background giving amazing detail to the towel and lending to the overall mechanical vibe of the material. 

All I know is these would make great gifts to any tinkerer out there. And if you're interested in buying some then you can get some of the newer designs at the Diesel website, whilst several special items (such as the mars plate) are available at Fancy.  

Time is short

This stellar looking two-in-one watch uses the power of 3D imaging to make you do a double take. In one instance the image on the watch appears to be that of a regular watch on a wrist, but with a twist of your wrist it's suddenly an x-ray image of a watch on a skeletal watch. 

The 'Time-is-short' watches is a constant reminder that time is, well... short, and that you're not going to live forever (morbid as that message is) so you better get a move on and change things up. 

What's amazing about this watch is the graphical splendor of it and the way in which there's a watch in a watch; Time-is-short uses clever technology to seamlessly change from living colour to x-ray. 

An excellent present and fashion accessory for any radiologist or orthopedic doctor! 

Miso Happy

So okay, we've all seen those bath towels that have the cute pictures on them that look totally awesome laid out on the beach for everyone to see, but they're not as effective once rolled up and put away. Now these kawaii looking Sushi Towels are just the opposite; they look awesome once sushi rolled and stacked on a shelf, so yummy looking and fitting for that deep-sea bathroom theme you've got going on. 

They're fun and fabulous, and the clever folding technique that designer Jenny Pokryvailo has come up with manages to make each sushi towel look like our favourite fish based Japanese food. Just awesome! You can either roll the towel to be seaweed wrapped, or alternatively you can create a rice outer layer; yummy! 

Lego Clutch

I can't recall how many of these plastic bricks I've had lodged in my feet over the years, but I can recall long day's spent trying to build the most insane towers. And what better way to feel that nostalgia again than with these fun and funky accessories made out of Lego bricks?

Agabag are the company behind these cute items that collaborate fashion with play in a series of clutches, handbags and bracelets that immortalize our favourite Lego building past time. Agabag offer multicolour, outrageous pieces that boast of their Lego heritage whilst on the other end of the spectrum also sell classy clutches that combine 24k gold plated Lego with solid colours to create bags worthy of socialites.

Asides from being attractive and playful, they're also very practical with careful stitches running up the sides to sustain quality and offer a great finish that keeps the bags from looking too bulky. Agabag also make funky lamps that use classic lines and different transparency's of Lego to make an effective looking house accessory.

Ideal Home Show

Every year the Ideal Home Show rolls in and designers, home owners and buyers alike are all inspired by the amazing products and show homes on display; and this year was no exception. It was a cacophony of noise in the shopping area as sellers displayed their new kitchen tech, cleaning products and exotic foods (even I succumbed and ended up with two cheese mills). 

Six of Britain's horticulture colleges battled out for the Young Gardner of the year competition displaying some beautiful sustainably friendly new concepts that you can't help but love; such as recycled tire and rubber mixture floor, scaffolding board walls and a watering can waterfall. 

The show homes this year were targeted towards 'gap' houses and Eco friendly living with a house designed to fit between number 11 and number 10 downing street, and another house full of more green energy solutions than you could possibly think of.

A display of awesome new art was available in the home-wares and interiors section; showing works from budding new artists who use a variety of creative mediums to create their pieces such as Kevin Bandee, Dale Bowen and Kealey Farmer. Bandee and Farmer of whom both use mixed media to create abstract, three dimensional, glossy surfaces whilst Bowen focuses more on colourful animate artwork with 3D stuck on aspects. All three artists offering art work that I'd love to have decorating the walls of my house.

There were several company's that really stuck out to me with their fantastic products, Jam Jar Lights being the first with their upcycled jam jars fitted with electrical lights and fabric cable of your colour choice and in clusters of your demand. The hanging jam jar lights look gorgeous in clusters and would fit well in a rustic kitchen.

Another designing company that particularly sparked interest in me is The Fire pit Company, who specialize in handmade custom fire pits for your garden out of cast iron and intricately cut designs. You can either buy from their collection - which features designs such as that of the globe, a forest scene and a fairy ball - or you can go for a bespoke fire pit made in a choice of your design and materials.

And last but not least, the crazy amazing designer behind these upcycled oil drum creations; Think Outside who are responsible for the ee-i-ee-i-o collection of cute farmyard sculptures. They're cleverly crafted and made using the multicoloured oil drum metal in a mish-mash of bits and pieces; each sculpture different from the other. The ee-i-ee-i-o collection features a bull shaped ice bucket and a hot air balloon hanging, as well as my favourite The Three Blind mice who are sold in a trio of cute metal intended as garden creatures.

So all in all a good day out, packed with things to see and to draw inspiration from. Note to self: don't wear heels next time ;)

Insta-tat!

If you're the sort of person who can't commit (or isn't allowed to more likely) to a permanent tattoo, these cute, square shaped Instagram temporary tattoo's are the ideal replacement to abate the need to show off the things that both represent and matter to you. 

Picattoo is a quirky company that lets you select 12 of your stylish Instagram pictures which they'll then turn in to temporary tattoo's, ship to you and let you plaster them all over your friends, family and self. And they last up to a week! Picattoo will make an ace personalized gift for a friend, or are a cute way to immortalize a memorable event and bring back nostalgic days. At £9.99 for 12 Instagram pictures, it'll make a sweet present. 

Product Designer: Rui Pereira

Rui Pereira is a Portuguese industrial designer best known for his contemporary style and quite alternative design whilst making products. He's teamed up with several other artists in his career to create some amazing designs that I can't help but appreciate and here are just a couple examples:

a) For those who struggle to know how much carbs we need to consume per day and if it's five pieces of fruit or seven now, then the Wheel of Nutrition is the plate for you. This handy plate is essentially a coloured pie chart advising on the portion sizes to have of each different food group. The plates come in three different styles: Diet, Extra Ordinary and Super-size, so you can pick and choose your level of food nutrition dedication. 

Having the different colours on the plate make it both aesthetically pleasing and informative, acting as a subtle reminder that you should eat more greens; and if you turn the plate over, on the ceramic underside is written the colour key for each food group. So if you're a little bit neurotic about what goes in to your body, the Wheel of Nutrition would be a perfect nutritional guide for you. 

b) As a testimony to the way that new companies are launching furniture at as faster than we can chew, Rui Pereira and Ryosuke Fukusada thought it would be ironic to literally 'feed' us our furniture. 

The Furniture Pan allows for the consumer to make cute spongy pieces of furniture that you can sprinkle, top and decorate in any which way, and when you're full of your furniture, you can dispose of it and start all over again; clever, right?

And not to mention how great this would be for making furniture for a ginger bread house! But what I love about Pereira's work here is the outdated use of metal casting, preferring to use traditional methods of design rather than deferring to 3D Printing and other modern styles.

c) Now this has to be probably the best of Rui Pereira's and Ryosuke Fukusada's designing power; Inrou is a solid and powerful backpack capable of keeping your belongings secure.

The two designers dug in to a solid brick of cork to create a hollow big enough to protect a laptop and perfectly shaped the backpack so that it looks less like a chunky block of cork and more like a functional and attractive backpack that I can't help but want to own.

What I like best about Inrou is the way in which the natural material of the cork is on full display, keeping the organic texture of the cork as the main feature; it's simplistic, raw and great at communicating a new for sustainability in today's plastic age. 

Everything is Awesome

Everything is cool when you're part of a team... Part of a Lego team that is! Now this has to be the best costume ever produced; who hasn't imagined a world in which we all have brick yellow heads and move like we've got stiff joints? 

Well, we can make that dream a reality with these texture realistic Lego Character Costumes by the Etsy shop; Brack Daddy Brand. 

The Lego Character costumes allow for accurate movement and the most life sized replicas available to fit children between 4-54 inches tall with a removable head so that people don't think there's an inception going on. 

And if you're an adult who has a little (err, big) addiction to the plastic bricks, then you can request a custom order to suit your size and with character details of your own request; maybe even make a Lego you! 

Filthy Swine!

Stiletto heels are so last year, why not walk on meteorite instead? Wait, did you just say, meteorites? Yes, you did hear me correctly, as with a pair of Swine heels you can take fashion to another galaxy by walking in a pair of these stellar meteorite pumps. 

Meteorite shoes were made by 3D scanning rocks to make 3D files and superimposing the shapes to resemble that of a shoe. The exterior is made of aluminium foam which is 90%, making it both lightweight (great for feeling like an astronaut with zero gravity) and durable so that you're free to beat the dust out of this world. Not only are these Meteorite Shoes full of galactic promise, they also have a gorgeous metallic sheen and totally realistic texture that help to portray an other worldly vibe.

Another amazing Swine creation, is their Sea Chair, made as a tribute to the state of the world's sea garbage (and specifically the Pacific Garbage Patch of 1997) is comprised of molten sea plastic recovered from the oceans and molten to create this artistic and very poignant Sea Chair. The processed plastic has a beautiful marble like pattern that intersperses the colours of the plastics, building up thick layers to create a sturdy and stable stool. 

Heel-ish Shoes!

Nothing says 'Killer Heels' than these literally killer heels by Zombie Peepshow that are covered in skulls, pistols and hell-fire! Zombie Peepshow are the kitsch and so Kawaii Etsy shop that specialize in show stopper heels that are hand crafted with different attractive adornments. 

My personal favorite of their rocking shoes is their 'Skull Purgatory' Curved Wedges, which feature a large and Gothic looking skull that wraps around the back of the heel, the top row of skeletal teeth descending in to the wedges concave. They're hand painted and textured and come with an LED illuminating function of your chosen color which adds more eeriness to the creepy looking heels. 

Seeing as each set of shoes are handcrafted, they can top between £100-£200 for a pair. And if you really want to be one of a kind, then you can pay the designer of Zombie Peepshow to make you a custom order. 

Antique Exquisite

If you're searching for the antique niche but don't want to wear jewelry that you've looted from your grandma's stash, then Erica Weiner is the store for you. 

Searching far and wide the minds behind Erica Weiner loot through estate sales and rural antique centers to bring their customers the best of the best. Salvaging as much material as they can whilst also selling the whole pieces that are too good to take apart, they use the many different aged clasps, pendants and findings to piece together unique collections that you won't find anywhere else.

Another of their modern collections includes kitsch items that have been coated in layers of gold and silver such as pen tips, humming bird skulls and screwdriver bits. And what makes it even more personal is knowing that it's been pieced together by odds and ends of antique jewels. 

From their antique collection, my personal favorite is the Elephant hair ring which is forged in memory of the ancient tradition of Raj era, 19th century India, where the Brits would shoot an elephant down and immortalize a hair from their tails forever in a ring. Of course now a days, they don't shoot the elephant to take the hairs, and Erica Weiner personally work fair trade with an elephant sanctuary, donating some of the proceeds to the sanctuary. Now aside from the powerful history of the ring, the style of the piece is unique in that the ring is hollowed out and has sequenced holes throughout that allow for the strand of elephant hair to be seen. It's beautiful, and quirky and a perfect idea for a gift for someone with an appreciation for fine jewelry.

For the Modern Flower Child

Waving goodbye to winter and saying hello to spring, it's time to pull on the garden gloves and stock up on flower bulbs. And what better way to embrace nature than to bring it in to your life through these chic pieces of jewelry.

These resin bangles by Modern Flower Child are lightweight and perfect for all the flower lovers and boho girls out there; they're handmade using handpicked and dried flowers and other pieces of nature and then embedded into the resin to make these beautiful, semi transparent bangles. 

The bangles are gorgeously natural and the mixture of clear resin and dried flowers make it seem as if nature is suspended around your wrist. Modern Flower Child also make rings, earrings and pendants in a similar style. Your bracelet will be made of real feathers, flowers or seashells and will be handmade and shaped by the artist. They're enchanting and one of a kind, and probably the best way to welcome in spring. 

Fancy'd

Hands up we're always on the hunt for the newest and trendiest items out there, and if you get overwhelmed with all the sites out there and are tired of flicking thorugh websites to find the next big thing, then why not delegate the task to Fancy. 

Fancy is the app that gives you a mix of goods and products that you can add to your list, buy, or gift to someone else. They update daily with new items from various global sellers, so you're always spoilt for choice. And one of the many benefits of the app is that you're rewarded with email notifications of offers and discounts for the products you've fancy'd.

With products such as the Micro Luggage Scooter and Mini Pallet Coasters, they bring you the quirkiest of what's out there and are linked directly to the merchants so you can get next day delivery on your order.