Helsinki

We were lucky to take a short break last weekend to the beautiful Helsinki! It was inspirational on so many levels and we can't believe this was our first visit!

Here's some of our highlights:

1. The underground - full of orange! Our favourite colour...

2. Marimekko's outlet store - what a treat this was! End of line products, slight seconds and clearance items all at amazing prices. It was colour and print heaven...

3. The floor in the reception of Hotel Kämp...

4. Hietalahden kauppatori - a brilliant outdoor flea market...

5. Iittala/Arabia factory outlet - glass and ceramics heaven...

5. The Design District - great shops, bars, restaurants and the Design Museum's worth checking out...

6. Not forgetting the amazing amount of seafood...

7. And not forgetting these wonderful creations by Tove Jansson...

There's more, but we might look like we're working for the Helsinki tourist board?! If you like design, architecture, shopping, eating etc then we think you'll love it!

Meet Your Maker 2013

Last week I was really pleased to find out that I'd been selected to take part in this years Meet Your Maker event organised by Craft Scotland. Eight venues over Scotland dedicated to craft are hosting 14 different makers over the weekend of the 7th and 8th September 2013 to give the public a glimpse into the way we create our work.

I will be at The Barony Centre, West Kilbride along with jeweller Jane Harrison where I'll be demonstrating what I do, the ideas behind my work and asking you to get involved and give screen printing a go!

Further details about the event can be found at Craft Scotland's website here.

Summer News!

It's been a busy few months in the studio...in fact it's hard to believe we are nearly at the end of June!?

Anyway, we just wanted to let you know about a few things that are going on that might be of interest?

Firstly, if you find yourself in Anstruther between now and the 30th June then you should check out Lovely Pigeon's pop-up shop. We have some of our products for sale up there alongside such talents as Hilary Grant Knitwear, Kabloom, Nikki McWilliams and Lovely Pigeon herself!

Popping up at the other end of the country, the amazing folk known as Ohh Deer are hosting a pop-up shop in the premises of Wolf & Badger in London from tonight until the 4th July. We are really excited to be part of this too!














Finally we are really happy to announce that our duffel bags will soon be stocked in the beautiful Fisherton Mill based in Salisbury. We've never been to Salisbury but hear this is a great cafe, gallery and shop.

As well as our duffels making their way to Wiltshire, they will soon be available to purchase from the lovely West Village boutique in Notting Hill. Founded in 1999 by Lucy Benzecry, this shop also stocks some of our favourite brogues by Minimarket.

But if online shopping is your thing, then we've just stocked up our own online shop with lots of duffel bags for you in all the new colours....

Pulse 2013

After a busy week in London last week attending Pulse, I just wanted to write a quick post to say thank you to everyone who visited my stand, said hello, liked the products or was generally just very supportive of what was a great experience! The new colours and size of duffel bags seemed to go down a treat - thank you!

I was lucky to be surrounded by some lovely people such as Blodwen (see their beautiful blankets below), Linda Bloomfield (check out her lovely porcelain work), Showpony (see their new collection online) and Tori Murphy (cushions galore) to name a few.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a worthwhile trip....here's a few pictures I managed to take...x

Hook-o-rama

Precision hook placement

The finished display

..and another finished shot

Blodwen's beautiful blankets

Showpony's lovely work (and a small peek of Linda Bloomfield's on the far right)

Chips on the journey home...squeezed into the car.

New Duffel Bags launching at Pulse 2013...

Hello!

I'm really excited to be taking part in Pulse for the second time next week and preparations are well under way! I had a great time last year in the Launchpad section and will be there again on stand LP19 from the 12th-14th May alongside other familiar faces such as Bianca Jones, Goodwin & Goodwin, Space 1a Design and Helena Carrington.

Here at Laura Spring, it's been a busy start to the year. We've moved to a great new studio called Grey Wolf Studios, have been attending lots of Fashion Foundry meetings/seminars and have been looking at the way we want to develop and grow. This has resulted in us having a bit of an overhaul of all of our products and ranges that I will share with you very soon! I hoped this might help explain my absence from posting on this blog - apologies about that!

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know about our lovely new duffel bags that we will be launching at Pulse next week. After adding them to our collection last Summer, they became one of our most popular products, so we thought we'd add some new colours for 2013 as well as a new smaller size like so many of our customers suggested. This new size is perfect for everyday use and will be available to pre-order from our online shop on Monday 6th May. You will also be able to pre-order the new colours in the existing larger size of duffel bag too!

Here's a look at what you can expect to see in the shop from Monday...

From L-R: Small Green Duffel, Small Yellow Duffel, Small Red Duffel, Large Green Duffel, Large Yellow Duffel & Large Red Duffel

From L-R: Small Navy Duffel, Small Orange Duffel, Small Light Blue Duffel, Large Navy Duffel, Large Orange Duffel & Large Light Blue Duffel

Thank you! And thanks to the lovely models and the amazing Caro Weiss for taking such great pictures again.x

Fly, Fly Away!

As much as we've loved having our Hargrave Cellular Kite in the studio window the last couple of months, it's time for us to say goodbye! It certainly cheers the place up and is always a talking point for visitors to our studio, but sadly we just don't have the room anymore.....

So...we're asking if you or anyone you know has a love for beautiful, brightly printed kites?! These kites are based on the early meteorological kites of the late 1800s and built to the exact dimensions that they would have been constructed to for kite experiments back in 1894! There are five Bowed Eddy Kites and one Hargrave Cellular Kite, all featuring a unique print inspired by the way we have recorded wind over the years.

The fabric was all lovingly printed by hand in our studio using paper stencils. All kites were on show at The Lighthouse as part of our show "When the wind is high" during October and November 2012.

We are only looking to cover the cost of their production, so if you want to own your own piece of a one-off Laura Spring, then this is your chance!

Due to the size and delicate nature of the Hargrave Cellular Kite, we cannot ship or post it anywhere. It will need to collected from the studio directly. The Bowed Eddy Kites can easily be posted though....

If you are interested or want to know more details, then please get in touch at: hello@lauraspring.co.uk

Five Bowed Eddy Kites & the Hargrave Cellular Kite (just seen on the right edge)

Arrow Bowed Eddy Kite

Compass Bowed Eddy Kite & Hargrave Cellular Kite

Hargrave Cellular Kite

Compass Bowed Eddy & Hargrave Cellular Kite

Thank you!

Laura Spring at The Lighthouse

So it's exactly two weeks until my show opens at The Lighthouse and things are coming together....

It's been a busy few weeks printing new designs and making the pieces, but it's getting there thanks to the help of my two lovely interns (Lynn and Cecelia) and the wood genius that is known as Kevin Pollock.

Inspired by the meteorological kites that I have researched, I am creating an exciting, new installation that will be shown alongside my existing collection. I don't want to give too much away, but here's a sneak peek on the right of  what's to come.

The show is on from the 25th October - 3rd December and we will be hosting our own pop-up shop in the space on Saturday 1st December. There will also be a talk by leading journalist and style writer Charlotte Abrahams on the 13th November as part of the exhibition program.

Hopefully we will see some of you there....