A stylish T-shirt from Me & Em, a couple of pretty notebooks and some heavenly green teabags from Teapigs. My daughter’s been working at the Spirit of Summer Fair at London's Olympia this week and when I popped in to see her en route to the RNA awards I swore I wouldn’t buy anything. But the stalls were so enticing that within the first five minutes I’d snapped up all the items above. My only excuse was that apart from the teabags, everything I bought was a birthday present.
The best discovery was a gorgeous company called Thornback & Peel, who sell the prettiest table linen, cushions, stationery and even deckchairs – all covered in quirky screen prints, like the 19th century wood engravings of pigeons and jellies in the picture above.
The company was started by florist Juliet Thornback and theatre designer Delia Peel and their work is inspired by an eclectic mix of Victoriana, Mrs Beeton's household management, Mr McGregor’s garden, 17th century microscope imagery of the natural world, Norfolk and Devon. See, I said the designs were quirky.
If you like the look of Thornback & Peel's designs, they’re opening a Jubilee pop up shop in London later this month. Open from May 29 to 31 at 7 Rugby Street, Bloomsbury, they’ll be giving away a free Union flag handkerchief with every purchase. I might see you there…
