I guess one of the reasons why I am still living in London, despite having to pay so much money for housing, transport, bills, etc…is the fact that I can visit shops such as Mint, and attend interesting exhibitions and events, pretty much all year around. Last September, as part of the London Design Festival, Mint's team curated a show called "Elements of Craft", possibly one of the best I have seen so far in the shop, and focusing on the influence of craft in design. Where else could you see such a variety of work, coming from different designers, disciplines and countries, (oh yeah apart of the trade shows and many showrooms gathered around the city), but the space is so beautiful in itself, that makes the whole experience very special.

Lina Kanafani has got a very well trained eye when it comes to spotting new emerging designers, and putting together pieces that otherwise would look uneasy, such a mix of materials, shapes and colours, my breath was taken away by it all. I really enjoyed the work, the clever and innovative use of materials thrown in together, to produce unique pieces, oh yeah sure they cost a fortune, but that is what you pay for a handmade piece of work!!!

As my mother always says, how can you have such an expensive taste coming from such a modest background, and I always say to her, mama, appreciation for beauty and talent doesn't come from money it comes from the heart!!

Photos by Inge Clemente and me

WOONBEURS – VTWONEN BARN

Hello Monday, I hope you are all well and warm. I am glad to be back home at my studio, working on the orders, new products, boring admin, etc…December is going to be full on, and I need to recover my energy to cop with the work happening before going home for Xmas!

A bit of interior's inspiration coming from Amsterdam.

Here are some images of my trip to Amsterdam, back in September, when I went to visit the Woonbeurs fair. These pictures are from the magazine Wtwonen. They built a barn from scratch, and decorated with the most gorgeous things, including one of my woodland linen purses from the English collection, I was os happy to see it there. OMG it was so amazing, the space felt so cosy, welcoming and super stylist. It had its own barber shop, veggie patch, cafe, workshops, etc…My photos don't make justice to the real house. 

I really liked the natural rustic feel of it, the greys and strong yellow in the living room, the greens everywhere, vintage paints and drawings, etc…I could have moved in, if they let me…I would have even moved to Amsterdam, I seriously say so! Oh well back to reality, I am happy in my little house anyway...

Photos by me

GRAN CANARIA FASHION & FRIENDS

On Monday I will be flying to Gran Canaria, to take part in the most exciting event happening in the island for quite sometime. It is a creative platform where people will be selling, and showing their creations alongside, professional workshops and talks. I have always wanted to contribute somehow to the design/craft/teaching scene back home, and taken part in this fair will give me a great opportunity to meet creative people, and find out more about what is going on over there as well as bringing some of the knowledge I have acquired over all this years studying and working in London. 

I will have a stand to show chocolate creative's products, as well as teach some workshops and give a talk. I must admit that I am very nervous about the perspective of talking in front of a lot of people, I rather stay behind the scene and let the others do the talk, but this time I am going out of my conform zone and embrace this unique opportunity. I hope to do it well, and inspire others to follow their dreams...

I love the campaign behind Fashion & Friends, the photos and their quotes are very inspiring and that is the whole point of this event, to inspire and motivate people to explore their creative paths. 

Above, a photo of Jose and Paco, the talented owners of the most glorious interior shop, 'Trastornados',  in Gran Canaria, and below snaps of the last year event. 

Photos by gcfashionandfriends

CHOCOLATE CREATIVE AT TENT LONDON 2013

TENT LONDON opens its doors tomorrow, so I better go to bed and get some beauty sleep to be somehow presentable and don't look this tired...stand is ready, clothes prepared for the next 4 days, fridge is stoked with healthy food and house is clean.

I won't bother you with the details of how difficult and challenging the whole experience has been so far. I am happy that I have managed to set up the stand in time despite the difficulties and it is ready and looking decent. I am looking forward to meeting lots of people and enjoy the show. If you are in London and love design don't miss it, there is plenty of good design and talented designers. It is a consumers show as well as trade, open from tomorrow until Sunday, so see you at my stand T1/F09.

ROOM 39 NEW DESIGNS TO BE LAUNCH AT TENT LONDON

Friend and designer Petra Green, from Room 39 will be launching her new range of designs at Tent London this September. I have seen her new prints and patters already, when she was showing me her work in progress and I totally loved it. Don't miss her stand at Tent this year, it promises to be the best!

London Design Festival is on and there are plenty of events going on, I always plan to have this week free to try to see and visit as many things as I possibly can, specially this year as I am not exhibiting myself....Monday was Craft Central one day designers sale, where many of my friends were exhibiting. I fell in love with the tea for one table by designk, as well as the salt & pepper pots by Alison Brent.

Later on went to the design shop Mint, please don't miss this shop and the amazing curated space they create for each year festival, shame on me for forgetting my camera...followed by Skandium round the corner, to end the day at the Heart Home magazine 1st year party, where I mingle with friends at the new Squint show room in South Kensington. What a day, being a social butterfly is tiring haha...got home freezing and hungry as I was wearing summer sandals in a rather cold day,  but happy to get to see many interesting places, designs, venues and talk to new people as well as my friends. If in London what shows are you visiting?

Three friends at Pulse...

First of all a BIG THANKS to all the people who came to my stand, friends, colleagues, customers and all the new people who expressed interest in the brand and its products. All your support means a lot to me.
I am back at the studio after Pulse, the show (very good show, amazing designers and products), ended last week, and I am glad it did. I must admit it is not what I enjoy the most. I am not a reserved person, in fact I am quite the opposite, but for some reason this big shows keep intimidating me, and are a killer. The before, during and after are very stressful periods, and I have realised, after exhibiting at three of the best trade shows in London, that I am not made for them... so I am very glad I had two very good friends, (Kate and Sian) exhibiting this time too. We have met along the way of our careers and support and help each other, meet up for tea, cake and chats, exchange knoledge and sometimes motivate each other when one of us is feeling overwholmed or confused by the whole 'running a business on your own' deal. I feel very lucky to have them, among many other great people I keep meeting in shows, networking event, etc...

Bellow photos of my stand, I displayed the products in sections: 

cushions, hooks/knobs and prints.

 Below the new logo and packaging for the new tealight candles, 

they will be soon available at the shop online.

 I love to see all the hooks displayed together on the wall, they look great like that, don't you think?

I specially want to thank Gassy (boyfriend) for flying from Gran Canaria to be with me, for putting up with my stress and bad mood, for cooking nice meals, setting up and taken down the stand as fast and efficient as he did, and above all, for supporting me in my business and life, te quiero amor!

Here are some photos of our stands, we all design and make similar products, but as you can see our styles are very different from each other, and that is what I like, how different a cushion can be depending on who is designing it?

KATE CLARKE LONDON STAND

 Her tea towels are a must, her work is very refreshing and colourful, with a scandinavian touch.

 The new trays would be available soon at her online shop.

SIAN ZENG 

 Above Sian at her stand and below the cool bears, you can buy them already made or in making kits, all her products are available at her shop online, the gorgeous magnetic wallpaper was featured in the latest issue of ELLE deco, well done Sian!!

I promise to post about other designer's stands very soon, I didn't have the chance to go around as I would have wanted but still took some photos with my mobile but can't upload them to my facebook or Picassa album, I am hopeless when it comes to technology so any tips on this department would be very welcome!!

(Photos Piero Pierini)

1 more day to go at Pulse 2012

Hola hola, I have been away from the blog, organising, making, finishing some products and being at Pulse, the trade show in London. Here are some quick photos of the new tealight holders and hooks that I just launched at the show two days ago. There are so many amazing designers and products on display, truly inspirational, I hope to take some more photos tomorrow, being on my own at the stand is difficult, run to the loo, run to get tea and chocolate to get going, run to chat to friends haha...hard life being a designer...if you are in London and are passionate about design or are looking for new products for your shops, come along, I am at stand LP74.

See you at Home London

Just a few days left for the Home show in London to open its doors. I mentioned before that I will be exhibiting at this new trade show (part of Top Drawer), which starts on Sunday till Tuesday. If you haven't registered yet, and fancy to come along, do so at this link. I am very excited but nervous at the same time. A long time ago, when I used to visit the shows as a designer student, I used to dream of me and my products being in one of these events, many years of studies and hard work have passed by and I am finally here. I have to admit that I don't enjoy going around the shows as I used to, or in the same way, NOW, I am part of them, the pressure to make it happen, the realisation of how many amazing designers and products are out there, and the running of the business, makes me see the whole experience in a total different way. Nevertheless I love what I do, and being at these shows in just one aspect of running chocolate creative, I am sure once I am there, up and running I will be ok. If you are around and thinking of attending Home, come and say hello I will be at stand D44, see you at the show!

Thanks for visiting me at my stand at 100% Design

Did you visited 100% Design or any other events during the London Design Week? It has been amazing. I never knew that the fair was so international, there were stands from different countries as far as Chile and Argentine, or as near as my dear Spain. I got to meet people from all over the world, Europe, Middle East, Japan, China, Canada, the States etc...as I was exhibiting I did not have the chance to do my usual round to the other shows and pop up events, only took a brief look at Tent when designers were still setting up stands. So will pop around blogs to get a better inside of what was going on. As for me, I am glad show is over, 100% Design ended on Sunday and I have not stopped since them. It has been a very good show, more than I could have ever expected or predicted, but tiring, 4 days is enough!! I want to thank everybody who came to say hello, from my lovely friends, to people I knew, and general public and trade visitors that took interest in the brand and its products. You all have made me feel very welcome and happy to be at the fair. Here are some photos of the stand, Vini and I set it up last week, I could have not done it without him, for ever grateful my dear friend.

Below some photos of my neighbor stand the nice and talented couple from pottinger and co, and some other that caught my eye, there were many more wonderful and talented designers, but I hardly moved away from my stand, so no chances of taken photos or so ever.

POTTINGER AND CO

ATELIER ARETI

WALLPAPER MAGAZINE