Whilst in London I went to a little Christmas market set up by 'Our Market', an organisation which showcases designers and makers. They had set up some beautiful stalls in a bridge arch near London Bridge and had invited several designers to come and sell their work. It was so much better than all the other Christmas markets as there was such an eclectic mix of products. There was stationery, jewellery, prints, cards, home-ware, candles, textiles and so on. The fact that all the designers were there made it even more special as you could go talk to them about their work.
Zeena Shah creates beautiful handmade screen printed products for the home. She makes the cutest owl cushions and sweet heart-shaped lavender bags (which I had to buy one of). Her patterns are quite Scandinavian in style and she uses gorgeous colours to print with. Zeena's stall was my favourite in the market and she was so lovely to talk to, giving me useful tips for the future. She only graduated just over 3 years ago and is already very successful so she is a great example of what can be achieved in such a short amount of time.
Another designer who was there, Justine Ellis, also creates designs using screen printing but the colours she uses are quite soft and gentle. She creates designs that look quite simple but on closer inspection can often be quite intricate. I love how she creates textures with screen printing, giving her designs a sense of depth. Justine had a collection of Christmas cards which were more bold in style whilst still retaining a sense of simplicity.
Before going to London I'd done a bit of research to see if there was anything 'arty' going on and I'm so glad I chose to go to this market. It was one of the best bits of the trip and really inspired me to experiment with pattern and screen printing.
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