Origin

Where do I start? On Friday I went to Origin the Contemporary Craft Fair which was just amazing. So many fantastic designers that it seems harsh to single out a few but here are my top ten favourites.

1. Glass Cathedrals happened to be right at the very beginning of our visit and it was great to stand and have a chat with Lisa about her life in San Francisco and her gorgeous, gorgeous boxes. They just tickle me and I'm so pleased that a friend of mine is buying one :)


2. Funnily enough my next favourite also included tiny little figures but in a completely different way. I can't decide if I loved the Helen Noakes swimming pieces or the nuns the best but I know that I would really like to own one. Again Helen was just charming to talk to and we had a great time on her stand looking and trying on everything trying to decide which was our favourite.

3. Cissy Cook Designs were just simple beauty and I fell in love with the box of dots.

4. Anna Wales - my favourite things were the rings, with tiny balls of felt that looked like an expensive jewel.

5. Uoldbag - as I said to the designer I'd love to have a reason to own one of these and as she quite rightly pointed out to me, they are practical, beautiful to look at and a piece of art!

6. Ella Robinson had some amazing pieces displayed but my favourite (no photo but she told me there would be soon on her website) was a collection of plastic junk displayed by colour - OK sounds horrible but was actually amazing.

7. Jennifer Collier is so very clever and her pieces are unbelievably detailed.

8. Linda Bloomfield stand looked so pretty and I loved the colours of her porcelain.

9. Abbott and Ellwood had another very pretty stand. Seeing all the pieces together they look wonderful. 

10. I loved Lilana Guerreiro pieces but, as they didn't speak very good English and my Portuguese is non-existent, I can't tell you much about them and I can't find the rings I loved on the website ... oh well that's some money saved then!

So that's my top ten but there were loads of other talented people we stood and chatted to whilst admiring their work. In fact by the end you feel exhausted because it is sensory overload (in a good way!).