Lace Market...

We're always excited to hear about graduates expanding, and growing their own businesses, and Holly Mansell has done just that...

Launching last week, Holly has put together her likes, loves and inspirations, as well as a bit of in-depth portfolio, showcasing her ever expanding collections. We are constant supporters of Holly, and regulars to the blog, and shop will have seen her work pop-up over the last few months. As well as her pretty embellished socks and hand-illustrated cards, we are also pleased to announce new additions from Holly to accompany her collection.

 

 

These beautiful layered collars using vintage lace, trimmings and ribbon, are absolutely adorable, and it has been very hard not to buy them all for ourselves!

Also available are these delicate vintage-inspired key-rings with a tarnished, antique feel. Each one has a different set of charms, so Holly continues her individual appeal at every scale...

 

To see more about Holly - check our her website... http://www.hollymansell.com/ ...and find all her pretty pieces over at the shop, all available now...

To You...Merry Christmas...

Hey all...head over to our Product of the Week section for our top ten gift ideas, and a little something for everyone from now until Christmas Eve... happy shopping xx

Question Time...

So, as you know our on-line shop is one whole month old, and we are looking to you to give us some feedback on what you think so far...how do you find the shop, what works, what doesn't, what you think of the range of products, the price points, imagery etc. What would you change, what would make you buy more, and what do we get just about right?

Be honest, be constructive, and don't be shy, we want to continually improve, and the best way to do that is to get as many pointers as possible from you lot out there...help support creative graduates, by giving us a helping hand...

Love from Kate & Eden

Feel free to post your comments below, or send us an email - us@looklikelove.co.uk

Anyone for cake...?

Our on-line shop is one month old today so to celebrate we are offering 10% off everything from 0.900-21.00 GMT for today only...early-ish Christmas pressie perhaps? Just add discount code HBDAY10 at the checkout...

Knit one, stitch one...

This weekend it was all about being by the sea in Brighton for the Made'11 show, next weekend, we're moving up north to The Knitting & Stitching Show taking place in Harrogate from the 24-27 November.

Our very own Sandy Powell will be there as part of the graduate showcase, selling her home and fashion accessories, which we featured two weeks ago as our product of the week.

For your chance to see her work up-close, then Harrogate International Centre is the place to go, with Knit & Stitch being considered the best textile exhibition in Europe.

This is the second show that Sandy has been involved in since graduating over the Summer, and has been working non-stop to keep up with the demand for her beautifully hand-made cushions, corsages and bag charms.

Can't make it? Then take a look at all her collection available to buy... here ...

Made it myself...

We tweeted about this earlier in the week, but if you missed that, or don't follow us (why not?!) then a mini write-up awaits for the Made '11 event taking place this weekend in Brighton...

Running from the 17th to the 20th November at Brighton's Corn Exchange, this is your chance to get up close, and personal with some of the best hand-made treats from some of the UK's, new, emerging, and established designer-makers all under one roof.

We give a wee shout-out to our friends over at Vanilla Ink having made the trip down from Dundee to set-up shop with their sister company Contemporary Lab for the weekend, with work on show from our very own Nicola Reed, and the very talented Zoe Duthie, Jane Gowans, Katherine Seaman, Myia Bonner and Katie Lees.

Fancy a weekend in Brighton? Then take in the sea air, as well as an amazing creative showcase of some fantastic designers too...

Booming Marvellous...

Just a quick note to say...if you haven't seen it already through our Facebook Page, we now have a Pro Listing through Creative Boom, so hopefully much more exposure for us, and more importantly our featured designers...

Through the listing, we were able to include up to twenty images, so what a great opportunity we thought, to showcase pieces from each of the graduates and designers, take a look for yourselves in all it's glory...

http://www.creativeboom.co.uk/directory/creative-groups/

Plus, some news on the horizon regarding us, and the lovely folk at Creative Boom, so watch this space, we're very very excited!!

Reading between the lines...

When it comes to maths, we're not the best, (well, me as the designer half of the duo anyway!) But in a genius cross-over from maths to design, today's featured designer has managed it.

Lizete Druku has recently graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Textiles, and has taken the structural qualities that exist in mathematics to create her own collection of textiles, as well as collaborating with jewellery designer Sarah Cunningham using polyhedra as a starting point.

"This project aims to resurrect the relationship between mathematics and pattern through aesthetic experience and to highlight the ethereal qualities of mathematic principles. By using the imagery from some of the seventy-five uniform polyhedra, forms from numbers and grid structures, the visual narrative creates a metaphor for the changing relationship between fashion and mathematics..." says Lizete about her inspiration.

In truth, the possibilities seem to be endless, and we are lucky enough to have a small collection of limited edition fine wool scarves, and etched jewellery pieces on offer in our shop. These are truly beautiful pieces, and it's proving to be very difficult not to buy them all for ourselves...check them out here before we do!!

Don't forget...

We've just launched our new section of the blog...Product of the Week, which pretty much needs no explanation, but every Saturday we will be featuring one of our lovely products here with a big of additional blurb, more pictures added to the shop, and with it's very own discount code, it may entice you a little bit more in the ways of retail therapy!

Check in now for our first featured product from Lucinda Ireland...enjoy!

Pause for Thought...

What's lovely about researching and showcasing different designers, is discovering their inspirational connections, and how they translate them into their chosen specialism...

Today, that unexpected collaboration comes in the form of Liva Cabule and Emma Walker...

Liva, graduated this Summer from The University of Bedfordshire in Illustration. She has always had an interested in a variety of artist styles and genres, but her real passion lies in screen print and creating hand-made books.   

One such book, The Fairy and the Seed, takes inspiration from Jack and the Beanstalk to explore the moral tale that warns of the dangers of GM plants, which she displayed at the recent Emerge exhibition as part of London Design Festival. 

As well as creating her own books, Liva was awarded second prize at the Penguin Design Awards in the Puffin Children's Book Category, for her illustrated design of James and the Giant Peach...

Moving from one 2D specialism to another, Emma Walker's photography is a continual exploration into the relationship between the Human and the Natural World.

A recent graduate from Arts University College Bournemouth, Emma's work investigates the concepts of beauty that surrounds the subject of nature, with an edge of sublime and surrealism.

"...the beauty of nature is but only a small facet of this fascination...the diversity, the state of being unrestrained from thought...however subtly they may be visualised..." says Emma, about her inspiration.

We have a selection from both Liva and Emma's recent collections available...just hit Shop to explore some more...

Home is where the heart is..

The nights are drawing in so naturally we are wanting to spend more time indoors and snuggle with some trashy TV, (well, that's just us!) So to address the balance, we need those little homely touches, so why not indulge in something from one of today's featured designers, Sandy Powell and Rubyshoes Rocks...

Sandy is a recent graduate from London Metropolitan University, where she studied Textile Design for Interiors and Products. Her speciality is three-dimensional stitched textiles, which is certainly put to good use in her range of cushions, corsages and bag charms.

Her inspiration comes from structural aspects found in nature, and using them in repetition. What's lovely about her work is her use of accent colours in felt, taffeta and recycled leather, adding something special to an everyday product...

Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that bunting is something reserved for Summer Fetes in the country, surrounded by homemade cakes and preserves, but Rubyshoes Rocks is on a one woman mission to change all that!

Founded by Interior Designer Jo Ash, Rubyshoes Rocks started out at a little ol' homestead in South East London, making and creating bunting for friends, then for street parties, then for shops, cafes and festivals...

"My bunting isn't all about looking pretty. I'm determined to make bunting cool, and in disposable, something you don't just hang up for Summer tea parties. I hope my bunting is the sort of decoration you'll never, ever want to take down!" says Jo...

Need something to dress up your home? Find these lovely bits and bobs ...here...

...And all things nice...

Now, we don't think we're an authority on what's hot and what's not when it comes to fashion, but we do know what we like...

So today's featured designer is Holly Mansell, a fashion graduate from Essex College. We almost feel like old friends when we talk about Holly, as we've been following her progress since seeing her work at Free Range back in the Summer. Holly had one of the stand-out collections, and even more amazing to have seen it 'live' at her degree fashion show in all it's glory.

Holly's work has an antique appeal with touches of salvaged lace, vintage buttons and ribbon, which she has used in clusters on her hand-made bespoke ankle socks, which are available through our shop, of course, we couldn't resist them, so how can you?!

As well as featuring her hand-made fashion accessories, we also have her amazing fashion illustrations transformed into the cutest greetings cards, and a few personalised vintage gift tags to complete the set...be fashionably early with gifts for Christmas we say ...Click here to shop...

Oooh sparkly...

Today we feel like the need for something sparkly, so today's introduction is all about jewellery...

Nicola Reed and Emma MacLeod have very different styles, but we love their individual approach, as well as their passion for design, and both are recent graduates from the hot-bed of talent that is Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at Dundee University.

Nicola has never wavered in her pursuit to create something unique. As well as experimental collections using vintage finds, freshwater pearls and sterling silver, she also collaborates with textile designer Sarah Nevey on the project entitled Re-Worked, which we featured a few months ago.

The collection we are lucky enough to be featuring on-line is Salvaged Bijoux, again, we gave you a sneak peek last month. She is also one of the designers featuring her work at the up-coming Made '11 in Brighton, with other recent graduates as part of the Vanilla Ink collective...

In stark contract, Emma's inspiration comes from the industrial back-drop of Dundee itself, and more specifically the docks. The cage-like structures are delicate in their inception, and the collection available shows a combination of sterling and oxidised silver.

Want to see more from Nicola and Emma? ...Click here...

Graphically speaking...

We hope you are all enjoying having a wander around the shop. We had an overwhelming response from day one with over 500 visitors, and already packing up our first orders as we speak!

One of the most important aspects of what we're working on, is getting well-deserved recognition for the designers contributing their work, so all this week we will introduce you to each designer, a bit about them, where they studied, the inspiration behind their work etc.

So in no particular order, today allow us to tell you a bit more about Kayleigh Hadley and Lucinda Ireland, two of our graphic/print designers...

Kayleigh, a recent graduate from Wolverhampton University caught our eye at this Summer's Free Range exhibition for her experimental hand-rendered approach to her designs.

The process of creating things by hand is what she enjoys about design, and why she decided to pursue design in the first place. Her approach is not about creating something perfect, it's about having the freedom to create without restrictions...

Part of her collection for Look Like Love surrounds a specific year in her life that she remembers fondly, and the music she was listening to. The sketchy style reflects the style of the songs, and the age she was when they were released...

Since graduating from Nottingham Trent University this Summer, Lucinda literally hasn't stopped. Fresh from winning the New Designers Hallmark Cards Award, she has also exhibited her work at the recent London Design Festival.

Thankfully, she did manage to make time to see us, and we are delighted that we have a selection of her work featuring in the shop...

Lucinda has always been interested in typography, and was lucky enough to learn the ropes at Grantham College before studying Graphic Design in Nottingham.
Her inspiration comes from pretty much anything around her, with a particular love of old signage, and typefaces, the craft of typography is very much at the forefront of her mind, an exciting prospect for a next generation typographer in an industry saturated by digital effects...

Want to see more of their work? ...Click Here... Or hit the Shop button on the right-hand side...

Time to Shop...

Well it feels like a long time coming, but we've made it, our little on-line shop has opened to the public!

We have a fantastic selection of products from a number of featured graduate designers from all across the UK, and we see this very much of a celebration of the incredible talent that does exist from all corners of the country.

Over the next few weeks we'll be adding more product images, we just didn't anticipate how long the shooting and editing would take, so bear with us as we embellish, and prettify the existing range, and hopefully add even more pieces too.

We'll be launching Product of the Week, with an individual feature on all our contributing designers, a bit about them, their inspirations, and what they see themselves doing over the next few years.

Fundamentally, we want support, nurture and promote emerging creative graduates and part-time designers, we need more small enterprises, and hopefully we will inspire more designers to take the decision to continue with their passion of being creative, and not simply shelve it once graduation is over...so it's time to shop...look, like and love it!

Watch This Space...

 

It's been a good few weeks since our last post, but if you've been following us, then you'll be aware that we are working non-stop to get the launch of our on-line store up and running.

As a mini-breakaway from all the madness, we wanted to re-introduce you to one of our first graduates, Feben Vemmenby, who featured in our post A Sneak Preview... back in May.

Feben has been extremely busy over the last few months, and has just launched her own website, showcasing her latest collection, Window Blues.

We are currently in conversation with Feben about featuring her work through the shop, which will be a fantastic opportunity to own a one-off/ limited edition piece from this talented, up-and-coming fashion designer, she's certainly one to watch...

Re-Quoted...

Lucinda Ireland just popped by to say hello, and to deliver some of her work, so to whet your appetite, just a smidgen, here are her printed quote cards that will be available to buy in a couple of weeks time. We have sets of three which include all the quotes above, and at just over A6 they are a perfect gift for any time, for anyone...oh yeah and maybe we'll buy a set for us too!

Too Cool for School...

We've been busy taking collection of some lovely bits and bobs to launch the on-line shop with in a couple of weeks, the to-do list is looking reasonably manageable, fingers crossed, with a photo-shoot pencilled in this weekend...

We couldn't wait though to show you just one of the products available from the very talented Holly Mansell. I'm sure you can remember we featured her work when we were scouting around Free Range a couple of months ago in the post, Vintage Finds.

Holly then invited us to her graduate fashion show, her work being one of the finale collections, so we've been keeping in touch for some time now, and this weekend, we collected her small accessories and illustrated greetings cards, (her clothing to follow, so watch this space...)

The vintage inspired theme continues with these fun ankle socks embellished with vintage buttons. Each pair being completely unique they have a touch of humour, and will add an individual note to any outfit...we're thinking mid-length pleated skirts with these lovelies will suit us just fine!

I would go out tonight...

We're really excited to be featuring work by CM Carter on the shop, and for all you lucky lot, here's a preview of the collection of prints which will be available to buy in a few weeks time...

In an homage to Morrissey, CM Carter had taken lyrics and interpreted them into illustrated pieces of art. Our personal favourite, 'I haven't got a stitch to wear...' but we kind of what all of them, but will resist!

There will be five different prints available in all, here are three to whet your appetite!

Nature vs. Nurture...

We've been having a little less time than usual on the blog over the last couple of weeks, things have been pretty hectic juggling our full-time day jobs & the imminent launch of our on-line shop, but somehow we are still managing to function...just! Our to-do list may be growing, but our commitment to our likes & loves continues...

Now it may not be immediately apparent that we have showcased the next graduates work before, but when we met with Liva Cabule last week, it was obvious her talent doesn't fit under any one genre. We featured her fashion illustration back in July, & loved the darker side to her interpretations, but her other work has a much more considered approach using block colour & stylised graphics, it reminded us very much of the work of Saul Bass. (The 50's & 60's from furniture to print, being another love of ours!)

We are very excited & pleased to say that we will be featuring some of her work in the shop, from the one-off illustrated book you see above, to limited edition screen-prints, which will be revealed at our launch...

Past & Presence...

The lovely thing about meeting everyone & talking about their individual collections, also means we chat about their friends & peers too. So during our meeting with Charlotte Beer last week, she mentioned a fellow graduate that she has been working with & collaborating with too.

Caroline Trigg is a ceramic artist, from University of Creative Arts Maidstone, & she has produced these beautiful vessels combining traditional ceramic methods with unexpected items such as string, gravel & lace, as an experimentation to evoke the feeling of something lost, while leaving a visible mark. With reference to fragility, deterioration & absence, her work has it's own history, presence, & strength, just stunning...

Along the same lines...

As part of our up-coming on-line launch we have been having meetings with a few of the graduates we've featured...but don't worry if you haven't been contacted as yet, this is going to be a 'soft-launch' with the intention to fully launch with an even wider range of products in the new year, so extending to furniture & fine art too.

During these last few weeks, it has been such a pleasure to meet some truly talented designers, & have been tweeting about it, and re-introducing designers work from previous posts.

In addition to this, we have seen a few pieces that will be brand new additions, & today is the turn of textile designer Lizete Druku. We featured her work a couple of months ago in the post, Mathemagical, & after meeting with Lizete again last week, we have a few more of her pieces to showcase today, which you can expect to see on-line very very soon!

Similarly to the Mathemagical textile development, Lizete has taken this patternation to the next level & produced these beautiful scarves, which we saw last week. The designs are printed onto a gorgeous lightweight wool, and give a soft, tonal interpretation of her previous explorations. Expect to see five different designs available, we've never wanted Autumn to hurry up & arrive so much, so we can wear them too...oh hang on, I think it is here!

The bold & the beautiful...

Now it might be a typical British Summer day out there, cold, grey & the heaviest rain, but to brighten the spirits we have to introduce you to Annie Rickard Straus. She was brought to our attention by a friend, & we were lucky enough to have a very quick chat with her whilst she was busy working on-site last week on a commission.

As I'm sure you are well aware, anything with either a bit of colour or sparkle tends to catch our eye, & Annie ticks the colour box in this instance. We like her confidence & boldness when it comes to her large-scale murals, as well as the smaller illustrative pieces adding an intimate approach.

Annie told us about her work being on display at Look Mum No Hands this Friday where an exhibition entitled, 'Art Crank' a poster party for bike people is taking place. We are hoping to pop by ourselves, without the bikes I have to add...

Salvaged Beauty...

Now you may remember we featured work by the collaborating graduates Nicola Reed & Sara Nevay back in June in It takes two... Well after sending out emails to graduates on creating collections for our soon to be launched on-line shop, Nicola got in touch to talk to us about her own pieces of jewellery.

We were of course more than happy to showcase some of the pieces she is looking at launching with us. Very excited, very flattered, & naturally we wanted you all to see for yourselves a small taster of what you can expect from Nicola Reed in the next couple of months.

These beautiful, beautiful pieces are from a collection entitled, Salvaged Bijous, & Nicola explained her inspiration came from broken & salvaged vintage jewellery. You can see she has a real sensibility when it comes to creating her pieces, & we simply cannot wait to showcase more in the coming months...