I go to the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair with my soon to be Mother-in-law every year and even though this year, wintery weather was on the horizon, we didn’t let it dampen our spirits. The fair may have had fewer stands this year but we still managed to find lots of lovely things made by extremely talented people.

Here are a few of my favourite ‘Made in Britain’ companies and artists that were at the fair this year.

1. Bombus Ltd

The vintage inspired gifts and pictures of Bombus Ltd are designed and made by Amelia Coward. Her most popular range is the bespoke map heart collection. These hearts are made out of vintage maps and can be made as a framed heart, hanging heart, heart necklace or heart card. They are perfect wedding gifts as they can be personalised and the customer can choose a map where they got married.

2.  Phoebe Jewellery

This amazing jewellery is designed and handmade by Phoebe Sherwood-Moore in her own studio in Lewes, East Sussex. Her designs are inspired by wildlife and nature and my favourite item in her Woodland collection is the  ‘Squirrel, Acorn and Leaf Necklace’. I love the contrast of the silver and gold with the hand-turned oak, it’s absolutely gorgeous!

3. Emma Hardicker

Emma Hardicker designs and silkscreen prints her work in her own studio at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. Her work is mainly inspired by nature but she also likes to contrast this work with designs made up of more urban and city type imagery. Her designs are very bold and vibrant and some of her prints are available to buy in Liberty London. You can buy her work as cards, fabrics, cushions and limited edition prints. One of my favourites is ‘Spring’ as I love the mix of bold colours against the more detailed areas in the picture.

4. Anna Tosney

Anna Tosney is an artist/printmaker from Yorkshire. Her work is mainly inspired by the British countryside and a lot of her work features farmers and animals such as sheep, cows, hares, ducks and dogs. In her work she mainly uses drypoint and monoprint techniques. I really love the print ‘Man and Dog’ in particular as I think the colours create a lot of atmosphere in the image and it also brings across a lovely feeling of companionship.

5. Laura Rose Textiles

Laura Rose creates her textile artwork in her studio at the Farnham Malting’s in Surrey. In her work she uses a mixture of embroidery, drawing and mixed media. Her colourful artwork is mainly inspired by memories and story books from her childhood which brings across a nostalgic feeling in her work. My favoiurite is ‘The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ as I love the way Laura has used a combination of embroidery, appliqués, felt and patterned fabric to create the picture and there is even a 3d dolls house tea set on there! So cute!

You may have noticed that I have mainly looked at textile and print designers in this blog post. That might be because I’m planning to get back into print design myself soon so this meant that these artists happened to grab my attention more than others on the day.

I always love to find British designer/makers that I haven’t seen before and find it interesting to read what inspires them. This helps to inspire and motivate me to start creating and I hope it does the same for you too.

Vicky x

Vicky’s Vintage Gifts