Meeting new creative friends

Sunday 28 October 2012

Hello all, How is it being? I just got back from Gran Canaria, where we had 28C degrees so I am adapting to the UK's weather, telling my body and mind that it is ok to be in shock and that it would be ok not to see the SUN for a long time...Thank god I am way too busy to think about it, or the fact that I won't see Gassy and my mother for another 2 months, but hey, my life and business are currently in London and this is where I have to be for the time being.

While back in GC I had the opportunity to meet some new people who either were designers or bloggers. This has been a very nice discovery, as up to now I didn't know anyone back home that was doing similar things to me or were designers, etc...I have to thank Lucia from the deandarporcasas blog for organising the event at mavuelas, a beautiful new shop, for putting me in touch with such a nice bunch of people and for opening my eyes to a lot of ideas and possibilities. Las month I was considering opening my own shop in London, but after much consideration I opted for not going ahead, as I felt I wanted to start spending more time back in GC and develop the business from there. I don't know what life will bring me in the next few years all I know is that I will try to listen to my heart and follow my intuition.

So nice meeting you all, Cristina, Maria, Arian, Carmen, Beatriz, Elena, Mirian, etc...
see you in January and carry on designing and making beautiful things!

1 Cristina from entre2, 2 Elena and Alvaro from hados, 3 Maria and Cristina from in a cloud

Tuesday 16 October 2012


Hello all, I am writing from Gran Canaria, from a very quiet, sunny and warm town. I arrived on Friday with a terrible cold and very tired, and it is being a blessing to be able to spend sometime over here at Gassy's house, eating his mother's cooking, walking on the beach with my mum and eating an ice-cream with my man while watching the sunset. It is from here that we are working on new products, trying to organise a bigger and better studio and keep working as usual.

I have been working for sometime on the English Romantic collection, the hooks and knobs were launched last June at Pulse, and finally I can include the cushions. It has taken me time to find a good supplier of digital printing on natural linens in London, very expensive but gorgeous results. I have produced four different designs inspired by the many old paintings, and vintage images that I keep finding in my trips to the car-boot sales, antiques fairs and shops, (I miss this when in Gran Canaria). I love the English countryside, the woodlands, lakes, cottages, etc...I think Great Britain is one of the most charming countries that there is. Piero and I worked together in the photo shoot for this latest products, I love working with him, we understand each other well as we have been friends for over 10 years, gosh time fly...


The NEW Tea light holders would be available soon, we are making them in black, copper, blue, yellow and grey. I hope you like the new products, I will keep adding more things as we go.  Off to go for a well deserved walk and coffee with my man who is working at his messy studio, Gassy is the messiest person I have ever met...I guess you can't have it all haha...

(Photos by Piero Perini for chocolate creative)

MISSI WORKING THE PHOTOS...

Thursday 11 October 2012

Happy to be going home tomorrow, still a lot to do and organise. I will be working from our studio in Gran Canaria - well, it is really Gassy's house and studio, but I have made a corner for myself. I hope to have time to draw and rest as well as being with mum and friends, it is very hot, so I will have to adjust from cold and rainy to very hot within a few hours, not complaining...
  
Yesterday, Piero and I were taken photos of some new products and Missi was in the way. I don't know what is going with this cat, but he is always around whenever anything unusual is happening. The bathroom fitter came on Monday, and he decided to stay in the bathroom while we were planning the work (having new bathroom done in November). Yesterday while taken the photos we almost had a couple of accidents due to Missi being on the bed, on top of the chairs, the cover, the products, etc...playing with the flash cable, wrapping papers, you name it.  He is so needy and always demand my attention, a bit too much really, but what can I say, I don't have children so I treat him like my baby, (I know this is very wrong), but can't help it. Do you have pets? What do you do when going away? it breaks my heart, but friend Leah, loves him and would stay at home to look after him, I am sure he won't miss me... 

chocolate creative's product photo competition

Friday 5 October 2012

Another busy week has gone flying, trying to catch up with admin work, marketing, packing order, etc...I hope to have some time to design the new collection at some point soon. In the meantime I am organising a chocolate creative's product photo competition. I sometimes wonder how people use my products in their home, specially the knobs and hooks that can be styled in so many different ways. I am hoping to have a section on my website where I can show a gallery of customer's homes and ideas using the brand's products. 

So if you have bought any of our products, and are open to send me good decent photos of how you have used them, either the knobs to update and old drawer or cover, the hooks, the cushions etc...you can enter the competition to win a £45 voucher to spend on any of the products in the website. I will be choosing he winner based on my personal taste and criteria. 

chocolate creative's product photo competition

The competition will run from today 
the 5th of October to the 30th of November 
just in time for Xmas!.

If interested, please email me your contact details and photos, at margarita@chocolatecreative.co.uk. Some of the photos will be used in the new section of the website called customer's gallery, (they will be credited to you). Below are some samples of the photos I am looking for. The plain yellow colour knobs are the perfect match to this neutral children's bedroom, and the hooks add a playful and practical touch to the wall sticker. 
 Photo by The modern baby online shop
Photo by Roost Living online shop

Tuesday 2 October 2012

What a successful collaboration between textile designers duo Marian and Jo from the colourhouse and the shop century for the LDF. Their hand printed textiles were the perfect match to the shop selection of mid century furniture and objects. The space looked cosy and inviting and I could have easily spent a little fortune (money didn't allow it) on some of the lamp shades, fabrics, chairs and metal wall art. Check their online shop and shop off Marylebone high street, for their gorgeous selection of products. Well done girls, I really enjoyed the space, I thought it was well curated, I loved the textiles, the new prints and lamp shades were my favorite pieces.