Paper Puppets by Furze Chan

Today I want to round off the week with something a little bit fun, and these DIY paper puppets from Hong Kong designer Furze Chan are just the ticket...

Aren't they cute?! The puppets all have movable parts, and each packet comes with a paper envelope, puppet parts, puppet joints and a stick for holding the puppet together. There are seven animal puppets to choose from. Aside from paper puppets, Furze also has a great range of stickers, greeting cards, soft toys and other various paper goods available, which you can check out in her Etsy shop and two websites (here and here).

Well, that's all from me - I hope that you have enjoyed the posts this week and that you have a fabulous weekend. It looks like autumn has already hit Melbourne and it will be a weekend of grey skies and rain, so if you're in this part of the world, stay cosy and dry! x

Frida Plumm

Frida Plumm is an independent Melbourne-based giftware and stationery brand. Launched a couple of years ago by graphic designer Courtenay Graham, Frida Plumm was inspired by Courtenay's crafty grandmother and great grandmother, who both made calligraphy and hand-pained China hierlooms.

Courtenay's range of products includes stationery and intracately designed fine bone china, and each item features carefully considered detail. The pieces shown here are from the Frida Plumm Troika collection, which pays homage to the Aztec empire dating back to the 14th century. With the Troika design, Courtenay wanted to treat the pattern in a geometric and striking graphic manner, and the the motifs were refined and developed throughout the creative process into a set of harmonious designs.

Courtenay's designs are sophisticated and luxurious, and I'm particularly loving the tinned note sets. If you'd like to see more from Frida Plumm check out the website and online shop.

Sian Kellaway

I spotted the work of Sian Kellaway, aka Sianuska, via a pin a friend of mine posted to Pinterest the other day. Sian is UK artist who lives on a hill by the seaside in Brighton, UK, with her partner and toddler. She recently set up a tiny print studio at home and has been enjoying making new work ever since (you can see photos of her studio here). Sian takes her inspiration from BBC Radio 4, cups of tea, her grandmothers, hand-knitted jumpers, analogue phones, vintage buttons, halftone and toast. And I don't known about you, but I can definitely see those inspirations shining through in Sian's work.

The thing I like about Sian's prints, which are all screenprinted by hand, is how decidedly British they are. There are rich tea biscuits dunked in cups of steaming hot tea, hot water bottles, tights, Radio 4 shipping forecasts, little sparrows and ... toast. Well, toast isn't decidedly British, but it definitely goes well with cups of tea and hot water bottles! These are the sorts of things that remind me of living in England, and I can't wait to see what other delights Sian adds to her growing collection of prints.

If you'd like to see more of Sian's work, check out her website, Etsy shop, Folksy shop and blog. Oh, and have a happy leap day!

Debbie Powell for Lagom

I adore the new range of greeting cards that London illustrator Debbie Powell has created in collaboration with British stationery company Lagom. Debbie works with water colour, ink, linocut, pencil, pen and printmaking to create imagery for an range of international clients, including Penguin, Tesco, Jamie Oliver, Marks & Spencer, Simon & Schuster and Readers Digest. She draws her inspiration from Scandinavian prints, patterned origami papers, textured fabrics and metropolitan cities.

The Logom range of all-purpose greeting cards have been illustrated by Debbie and crafted by British printers with the special added touch of gold foil blocking. I do love a special finish, and foil blocking always adds an element of class and sophistication. I especially love Debbie's London, Paris and New York themed cards - too cute!

Visit the Lagom website to view the full Debbie Powell collection, and visit Debbie's website and blog if you'd like to see more of her awesome work.

Besotted Brand

Hooray, it's Friday! It's been a long and busy week for me, and I cannot wait for the weekend. To get us there, I thought I'd share some lovely stamps and paper goods from Los Angeles-based stationery label Besotted Brand. Refined and elegant gift cards, gift tags, prints, letter writing sets and rubber stamps are at the core of Besotted Brand, with more products in the pipeline that I have no doubt will be equally as lovely.

Besotted Brand have some great ready-made stamps on offer as well as some gorgeous custom-made monogram and calligraphy stamps. I'm starting to really get into the idea of rubber stamps and being able to quickly whip up a lovely gift card in just a few minutes. I think I will have to invest in a few! Another thing I like about Besotted Brand is the photography and product styling - very enticing.

To see more from the Besotted Brand collection check out the website. Miss B of Besotted Brand also has a great blog here. That's all from me for the week - I'm off to enjoy the sunshine. Have a lovely weekend all!

Cushions by Erin Dollar

Erin Dollar is an artist-maker who lives in Pasadena, California. Erin used to spend a lot of time making fake beards (over here), but her creative pursuits are now mainly dedicated to making prints, drawings and cushions. I personally love a good cushion, and all of Erin's cushions feature a lovely geometric pattern and are hand silkscreened by Erin.

All of Erin's cushion covers are made from scratch by her, and the fabric is hand printed in tiny batches in her studio, making them pretty much one-of-a-kind. I'm loving all of the great colours (especially the mustard) and simple, bold geometric shapes.

If you'd like to see more of Erin's work, check out her Etsy shop and website.

Jing Wei

Jing Wei is a Chinese-born illustrator and printmaker. She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she first started developing her signature woodcut style, and specifically became interested in reduction cuts, which allows her to work with more than one colour using the same wood block.

Jing now resides in Brooklyn, NY and works out of a studio in Greenpoint. Since moving to New York, she has found a number of different outlets for her work, including editorial illustration, gallery exhibitions, apparel design and character design for production. Her illustrations have been seen in publications such as the New York Times, Bitch, Boston Globe and Time Out NY.

I really like Jing's sweet illustration style and use of bright colours, and also how her wood prints are quite tactile. You can almost see the process that has gone into transferring the ink to the paper. Jing has a range of originals, prints and cards available in her online shop, and to see more of her work also check out her website.