Have a Rice Christmas

For several years now we’ve visited Denmark on "J day" - not solely for the event itself but it happens to have been the time when Rice has invited us to visit their showroom. J day is the day that several Danish breweries launch their Christmas beer and the day is used as an excuse for a Christmas launch party across the country. We’ve joined in the festivities for several years at Copenhagen’s kitschest bar - Central Hjornet. This particular bar is known for it’s huge array of Christmas decorations - the entire ceiling is covered in baubles, so many that you can no longer see the ceiling for all the bling. 

It is part of a big tradition in Denmark of Christmas decorations - we know several small shops in Copenhagen who do a selection of glass decorations featuring everything from Father Christmas to random fruit and vegetables. These decorations are collected, a few each year, and treasured.

Well this year Rice have launched their own crazy collection of glass decorations in typical Rice style. Kitsch and glamorous, gorgeous, unusual and certainly unique, these little pieces of Christmas bling cheer me up. They are wonderful little Christmas birds and modern takes on Danish retro decorations which really catch the eye. If you are looking for an unusual way to celebrate then look no further.

Think Local: Introducing Little Nell

It’s always good to find a local supplier we really like. Over the years I have worked with several Bristol designers and makers and Penny from Little Nell is one of our most local, living and just one street away from our Totterdown shop. Her work also fits with the Geometric shapes and patterns and gold accents we love so much at the moment so she we were quick to snap up some of her work when we found her at the London trade show. In future we’ll be meeting at the local pub to discuss business!

Look Inside the Box

Beautiful Bath House

It’s always worth looking inside the pretty box. Packaging design is one of my favourite things and really nicely presented and designed packaging get me going. Some of the best is from Bath House - their products are packaged in textured card, embossed and often foiled. Beautifully presented items which make giving them a joy.

Even better though is that once inside the box you find a company which is committed to UK manufacture. Based in Cumbria, Bath House have a beautifully high quality range of products with well balanced scents and natural ingredients wherever possible. Their latest Classic Collection features the fragrances of Pomegranate; Jasmine and Mandarin; and Juniper Gin. We love them!

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Don't forget we are still running our competition to win a set of Rice DK Autumn Winter 2016 melamine.

On Trend with Bloomingville and House Doctor Vases

Find a selection of Bloomigville ceramic
vases on our site.

The natural textures and shapes of ceramics are all the rage this season. Despite a surface sheen to both ceramics and glass, one of the beautiful things I find about them is that the material is natural. I used to work a lot with glass making pieces of stained glass, often kiln firing small pieces. In glass you find small bubbles or seeds, light catches the imperfections in blown glass and refracts light in imperfect ways. Ceramics, similarly, show texture and colour where the glaze has pooled on unusual shapes - thicker in places creating variations - or where the process of firing in a kiln has caused unusual blooms. These small inconsistencies are something to be treasured and celebrated to me. They make each piece unique and unusual - like well worn faces they can each tell a story.



These vases by Bloomingville are a case in point. Collect them and fill with succulents or flowers, a selection on the table is like a landscaped miniature garden full of sculpture, shape, colour and texture and inviting the eye to linger. The retro glass "LID" collection by House Doctor compliments it well and if you buy the brass lid component the vases can become candle sticks. Mix and match shapes and sizes for a truly stunning centre piece.

And if you ever get a chance to work with a kiln and either glass or ceramics I would recommend it. The excitement of not quite knowing what will come out is a joy.

The House Doctor "LID" collection

Competition Time!

Our favourite company Rice launch a new range of 6 prints each season and each season tells a story. This season’s “Be Extraordinary” range is dedicated to the creatives amongst us. They feature hand drawn illustrations, unusual patterns and paint splodges. The soft and inspiring colour palette would look so at home in an artist’s studio that we want to fill them with paint brushes, squeezed out tubes of acrylic and scraps of torn paper ready to collage together something both fabulous and definitely extraordinary.

We’ve got a competition for you to win a set of these extraordinary patterns - just check in to our Facebook page, Instagram feed or twitter and tell us what you find inspires you to make something extraordinary. For each social network you interact on we will give you an extra entry so up to 3 per person.

You’ll also need to fill in the form below so we know how to contact you if you win. And in even more great news, we have a 20% discount code which will get you a discount on any of the “Be Extraordinary” Rice range so if you just can’t wait you don’t have to! Simply add anything from our Rice Autumn 2016 range to your basket and use the code MyExtraRice20 or mention the code in the shop. The code is exclusively for new Autumn 2016 stock.

Competition and discount code end at midnight on 20th November 2016. Competition open to UK residents only. Delivery to UK addresses only.

The competition is now closed.