Me & Amber homewares

This is my friend Kylie's (paper boat press) dreamy bedroom in her new home + ceramics studio + store + gallery (opening 27th October!) in Ashgrove, Brisbane. It just looks like such a relaxing, cosy space with all those gorgeous pillows. The Life Is Beautiful cloud pillow by Me & Amber had me at Hello and had to find out more...

Me & Amber is the brainchild of childhood friends and graphic designers Karen and Amber. Based in Sydney, Karen and Amber design a range of products including tea towels, cushions, table runners, greeting cards and artworks, all produced in Australia.

Lucky Door Prize - Aussie homewares from Down That Little Lane

Down That Little Lane is a great online marketplace featuring hundreds of well-curated products and designers. DTLL is also listed in the Bondville Loves online shopping directory, and owner Tessa is an abcd meet-up regular, so this store is close to my heart.

This month for our monthly Lucky Door Prize, Tessa is giving a gorgeous Australian homewares gift set of to one lucky Bondville monthly newsletter or daily email subscriber! One subscriber will receive two linen tea towels from Laughing Bird in the Blue Mountains (RRP $25 each) and a chic raw cotton canvas tote from Ink & Stitch in Bondi (RRP $36).

I have profiled Laughing Bird before here on Bondville, and the great Australian flora and fauna-inspired designs keep coming, including these Willy Wagtail and Everlasting Daisy designs.

Ink & Stitch is a mother-daughter duo based in Bondi creating stylish tote bags featuring their own designs hand-drawn using water-based ink.

These are just two of the many designers featured on Down That Little Lane - head over to check out the vast range of goods for home and family.

Look out for the winners in the monthly newsletter, coming your way in the next few days.

Terms and Conditions:
1. Lucky door prize will be allocated to one Bondville monthly newsletter or daily email subscriber.
2. There are no entry requirements.
3. This Lucky Door Prize giveaway is open to all Bondville subscribers in Australia only.
5. This Lucky Door Prize giveaway is hosted by Steph Bond-Hutkin via the Bondville blog at blog.stephbond.com.
4. The prize consists (1) Laughing Bird tea towel (Willy Wagtail design) RRP $25.00, (1) Laughing Bird tea towel (Everlasting Daisy design) RRP $25.00, (1) Femme Tote RRP $36.00 plus postage within Australia from Down That Little Lane.
5. Lucky Door Prize winner will be notified in the Bondville Monthly newsletter, sent to subscribers the week commencing 6th September 2012.

Images: Down That Little Lane

Design by Kico textiles

Melanie King and Diarmaid Collins are Design by Kico - a cute twosome designing and screenprinting up a storm to create these great cushions and a range of tea towels, tote bags and fabric.

You all know I have an obsession with cockatoos, and Design by Kico offers them in FOUR colourways! How could I possibly choose? I think the kids would like them too. Based in Sydney, they guys are working hard to bring us all an alternative to mass-produced designs on natural fabrics. Pretty fabulous I think.

Mel also has a great blog Design Heaven that I know you will like. Head over and say Hi from me.

You can find Design by Kico in the Etsy store. Get them while they're hot.

Images: Design by Kico

My Wooden Heart screen-printed tea towels

Whenever I am at the Sunshine Coast, I scout the Eumundi Markets for fun up-and-coming designers. This trip, I loved the cheeky, hand screen-printed tea towels from Tewantin designers My Wooden Heart.

Castle homewares and Gorman collaboration

Sydney-sider Rachel Castle is a styling/designing/artist genius, and the recent collaboration of her homewares brand Castle with one of my favourite Australian labels Gorman is perfection. The colour palette of neutrals with pops of bright colour just makes me happy. What's not to love about Castle's collection of bed linen (including a children's range), pillows, clothes, towels, tea towels, totes, art work, garlands and cushions:

The Castle homewares collection has no age limit; great in a child's room, amazing for a teenager, and pretty darn perfect for adults too. Those Castle + Gorman "put the love in the coconut" towels are a must-have. I'm going to stop gushing now, and just pin them all to my wishlist.

You can find Castle homewares in the online store and at stockists in NSW and VIC. Find Castle + Gorman fashion in Gorman stores and online.

Images: Castle

Curio & Curio printed homewares and Two Ruffians wall art

Clair Wyman and Nick Young are the proprieters of the amazing Curio & Curio store (in Flinders, VIC), online store, and printed homewares label, as well as Nick's illustration brand Two Ruffians, and the couple's limited cushion and prints collection 'Takin' Shapes'. You'll find all sorts of cool textiles for home and wall art with Clair and Nick's signature look of neutrals with bright splashes of colour.

The Curio & Curio homewares range collection includes ottomans, cushions, tea towels, lingerie bags and makeup bags. The cushions, ottomans and wall art are great for adults' and kids' spaces alike. Nothing like a dash of neon or a cool combi van to ignite the imagination.

You can find Curio & Curio products in the online store, the Flinders store, and at stockists across Australia. Nick's illustrations are available in the Two Ruffians online store.

PS - Clair has also designed some amazing removable wallpaper and wall stickers for The Wall Sticker Company. Drool!

Images: Curio & Curio

Morgan Wills vintage kitsch cushions

Oh how I love Australiana. And the more kitsch, the better, in my opinion. These totally cute cushions came across my desk today from The Crafty Squirrel studio and store owner Morgan Wills.

These cushions are fashioned from vintage linen souvenir tea towels collected by Morgan. They are backed with matching wool cashmere fabrics and three linen-covered buttons. Each cushion comes with a custom-made feather and fibre insert.

You can find them at The Crafty Squirrel in Ballart or the Morgan Wills online store. These cushions are one-of-a-kind and a limited batch so you'll have to get in quick sticks! (while you are there, check out the baby bunny blankets - very cool).

Images: Morgan Wills

Hip Products: bonnie and neil

Can you please stop it. These Australiana homewares and storage boxes from eco-friendly designers bonnie and neil are too much for me to bear. I literally want every piece.

I know, I'm a little cockatoo-mad, but these pieces are all so spot-on with their screenprinting-on-eco-plywood and sepia native birds on natural fabrics. I also adore the charcoal + yellow + raspberry colour combination. Possibly my favourite Australian-designed products of 2010 - I love them that much.

Check out the bonnie and neil website for a whole range of reclaimed Tasmanian Oak shadow boxes , timber table-ware, storage cubes, napery, tea towels and cushions designed by Bonnie Ashley and Neil Downie in their Coburg, VIC design studio. I really can't talk about them anymore. Go see for yourself.

You can find bonnie and neil products for home in stockists across Australia and Norway.

Images: bonnie and neil

Drool-worthy Designs: Chickenfoot Designs

I got a great media release recently introducing Helena Harry's Chickenfoot Designs cards and tea towels. Drills? Electric beaters? How could I resist. Helena's quirky designs are screenprinted onto linen tea towels and would make a fantastic Father's Day gift - whether Dad is into cooking or carpentry.(and needs a little nudge along in the washing up department).

All Chickenfoot Designs products are created in Melbourne with the environment in mind; the tea towels are hand silk-screened on 100% European linen using water-based non toxic inks; cards are printed on FSC certified recycled paper and envelopes are 100% recycled post consumer waste.

You can find Chickenfoot Designs tea towels and cards in the online store and at stockists across Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The new designs above will be available mid-August, just in time for Father's Day.

Images: Chickenfoot Designs