Welcome to the Indie Quarter!

Meet Pepe and Friends - a porcelain posse to brighten your kitchen and perk up the breakfast table. Clockwise from the left there’s Sir Randolph the egg cup, Big Daddy the cookie jar, Gigi the espresso cup and Bonnie and Clyde the oil and vinegar decanters. I love that each of them have their own individual personalities.

And who’s this?

Why it’s Sir and Lady Rara of the Flatfaces clan. The Flatfaces are beautiful little creatures, made out of precious bone china and covered in gold and platinum decorative patterns.

All of the above are designed by Vinila. The whole collection is available to buy online at www.pepeandfriends.com.

There seems to be a theme developing. Stories have featured prominently over the past week and I have recently discovered another designer whose work takes us to a fictional or fairytale world.

Helen Musselwhite is an artist and illustrator. Her distinctive pieces feature strong graphic lines, familiar images and in some cases bold colour. The elements are pieced together and layered to build whimsical box frame scenes.

For more information go to www.helenmusselwhite.com and www.sanfran67.etsy.com.

If I ever get to own a grown up loft apartment, I’ll fill it with furniture like this. Stuart Melrose™ iconic Corian tables combine urban style with durability, ensuring they retain their appeal for years to come.

Embracing new materials and technologies, Stuart Melrose™ pushes the boundaries and dimensions of fine furnishing.

Each piece is hand made to order in the UK. For more information go to www.stuartmelrose.com.

I recently read a forum post on pricing handmade goods and started wondering ‘why should a person buy handmade?’ You could say it is because handmade is:

- Unique and/or individual
- Well-made and/or high quality
- A high level of innovation
- Fair labour practices
- Traditional skills are used

However, I disagree that these are good enough reasons. Go and wander through top-end shops and you will find products that match all of these criteria.

I think that the main motivation that people buy handmade goods is for the story. But be careful because you can find a story in exclusive boutiques too. You can go shopping with a friend and talk about how elegantly the items are layed out, what the packaging is like, how you decided on your purchase . . . that is a story too. However, what is the ‘value’ behind the story? This is where I feel handmade wins hands-down.

When you decide to buy handmade you are a part of the whole story and not just a consumer, a number on a sales chart. For example: You walk along the street and you see a man carving a wooden sculpture. You stop and watch him in amazement. You see that in front of him are a few pieces for sale. You buy one of these. Why? Because when you get back home you have a story that is more precious to you than anything you could ‘buy’: you met the man himself, you saw him carve, you have an experience and this sculpture, the one you bought, reminds you of this precious moment.

That is why you buy handmade. You know the maker and the story behind your product. You know where it came from and you were a part of that. Your story does not begin after you have purchased the product.

The story of handmade has value.

Guest blog post, written by Wendren Milford from Wren.

Sue Blackwell’s book sculptures have the sort of fragile beauty that is both compelling and disturbing. She describes her processes as ‘irreversible’ and ‘destructive’ to ‘reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions’.

The story telling aspect and the mellow lighting of some of the pieces lend an almost magical quality. I love the idea of the characters coming to life and escaping the confines of their pages.

To view more of Sue’s work visit www.sublackwell.co.uk.