> bring on Spring with the Birdies

It's been a tough week for the birds with all the snow and freezing weather we've just had. The snow is now gone and we are turning our thoughts to Spring. Our "Birdies" giant wall stickers are so cute and perfect for the nursery. Our birdies are sitting happily in nests being tended to by their parents, frollicking and sliding down mum's back, hopping together on the ground or playing in the trees. Lovely.

> Gummy Bear chandelier

How about this for a crazy lighting installation. New York based artist Kevin Champeny recently designed this exquisite creation, entitled "The Candelier" for Jellio, inspired by those horrible chewy bear sweets I try to encourage our daughter not to eat. It's made from hand-cast acrylic gummy bears strung onto see-through wires and comes in two sizes with the largest one using 5,000 bears and being 31″ in diameter.

Costing around £4100 it's expensive AND bonkers, but I think it looks fab.

> inspiring illustrations

I have fallen in love with these beautiful little illustrations by Japanese artist, Rica Tadaka, for her book "Weekend Stroll". They are delightful - I particularly love the way she has painted her thistles, and how some images are a relief out of a solid background colour. It has inspired me to get cracking on some new designs featuring the wealth of beautiful plants and flowers in and around our beautiful (if currently snowbound) village.

> Childrens Barcelona Chairs

One of my favourite chairs ever! The Barcelona Chair. Created by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the German Pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona Exposition, it epitomises the very essence of modern design. So much so, it won the Museum of Modern Art Award in 1977. The original licensed design, manufactured by KnollStudio, are available in more than 500 Spinneybeck leather colors in 20 different qualities with panels and buttons all being crafted from a single hide.

It's also available in kids size too, from All Modern.  The child's Barcelona chair and stool are 80% scale of the original and only available with a chrome frame.

The classic black is wonderful but my heart yearns for the white version. It's quite simply breathtaking.

> white Cowparsley

We took some lovely images of frozen Cowparsley heads caught in the beautiful Hoar frost today. This was the initial inspiration for our White Dandelions and Cowparsley wall stickers last winter.

> Wood Print Woodland Flowers

We just love our new Wood Print Wall Sticker Collection - I am particulary loving the Woodland Flowers which look spectacular on a deep inky grey wall (shown here on Farrow & Ball's Railings 31).

Children respond really well to using deep, dark colours so don't feel afraid to try them out on a focal wall. Use a soft grey on the remaining walls and add wooden and white pieces of furniture for the rest of the room. Our 'fluoro butterflies and dragonflies' accessory stickers look fantastic with the wood print range and add a hit of pop colour - images coming soon!

> corrugated lighting

How gorgeous are these lights? 'Scraplights' made by Seatle/Amsterdam based company, Graypants, they are made from recycled corrugated cardboard, laser cut and then hand assembled in a variety of shapes and sizes. They'd be great for children's rooms used individually, in a cluster or in a lovely row over desks and furniture.

> Happy 2013!

We are a little late, but the 'flu' bug hit us all hard over festive period... not the best way to enjoy Christmas or end the year!

We have lots happening this year, with the development of our children's furniture range and most excitingly, the launch of our Colliss & Quinton interior products (for design conscious mums and dads and their fab pads).

Wishing you all a peaceful, contented and very happy 2013.