Sunday 7 April 2013

'GB Runs On Tea' Tea Towel, Tea Cosy And Mug



Despite being distracted (in a good way!) by Easter related celebrations and family activities this week, i've had the satisfaction of completing a project i've been working on for some time. Those who are familiar with my work may recognise the design i'm talking about, so without further ado, let me tell you about the latest developments!



GB Runs On Tea

'GB Runs On Tea' started out on my large hand painted mugs about a year ago and has become one of my most popular designs...


Large Hand Painted 'GB Runs On Tea' Mug

...especially with my overseas customers (Candace in the USA who wrote this lovely review about the mug i painted for her).

All things British were in vogue last year with the spotlight on the UK for the Jubilee celebrations and London Olympics (my mug was included in this little feature in the Evening Gazette in August).


'GB Runs On Tea' Press Feature

Although all the excitement and Union Jack craziness has died down a bit now, i think there is still a special place in many people's hearts for Britishess, both from its inhabitants, visitors and also expats, even generations on who love to have reminders of their origins.  So, i've decided to encorporate my most British of designs in my latest ranges of printed fabric and porcelain.



'GB Runs On Tea' Tea Towels

You may remember me telling you about these during the design stages a little while ago and now they are here in tangible 'real life' form...



I'm really happy with how they turned out, i wouldn't mind having some in my kitchen! :)



The quality of the linen/cotton mix fabric from Spoonflower is fantastic, its hardwearing with a gorgeous texture and is super absorbent too, perfect for tea towels!

As with all my textile products these tea towels have been lovingly stitched together by myself in my home studio in Wiltshire.



They come as a set of two priced £25 and are available now from my Etsy shop and other outlets.



'GB Runs On Tea Tea Cosy'

Next in the fabric range with this design is the tea cosy. It has the wording and steaming tea on one side,



and Union Jack heart on the other so matches nicely with the tea towels.





It is made from the same top quality linen/cotton blend fabric as the tea towels and is lined with natural cotton wadding to keep your tea nice and hot. I'm really pleased with how the Union Jack heart trimming worked out, i hope you like it too!





This tea cosy is the perfect size for a two person tea pot.

It is priced £15 and is available now from my Etsy shop and other outlets.



'GB Runs On Tea' My First Printed Mug!



Who spotted this little mug in the picture at the top of this post?

If you popped by my blog last week you may remember me mentioning getting my designs printed onto ceramics. Well, i chose to use the 'GB Runs On Tea' design as a tester and this cute little bone china mug is what i got!

Here's the reverse.



I'm very happy with how it turned out. The mug has a wonderful feel to it... fine but not too delicate, its quite small at 8.5 cms high but the shape is perfect for my requirements and i've ordered the larger size with some more tester designs... i can't wait 'till they arrive!

The design is printed using 'ceramic transfer' and then fired to a high temperature so they are resilient and the colour reproduction is great. I'm soooooo excited about this new adventure and my head is buzzing with design ideas!

The printing takes place in Stoke-On-Trent amongst all the potteries so there is a wealth of bone china ware on hand to try out my designs on... i'm thinking plates, tea pots, jugs... even light pulls! :)

On that note i will leave you with a link to Handmade Monday, home of lots more crafting fun :)

Thanks for stopping by and thank you too for all the wonderful comments on my last post, i am so grateful for your feedback and support xxx

34 comments:

  1. Love everything, but especially the tea cosy!

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  2. Ooo your excitement is jumping off the page. This is a lovely range - is a tea pot in your plan? The heart shaped union jacks work really well. I could go on as I love it all. looking forward to next week already :)

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    1. ooh yes i's love to do a tea pot :)

      thank you so much for your kind comments! x

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  3. This is all fabulous, I love the printed mug and so nice to hear it's printed in Stoke on Trent - the home of British pottery. Well done you! Here's to your continued success. xxx

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    1. thank you!

      oh yes i agree, sourcing ceramics from there feels so right :) x

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  4. Ohhh Natalie! How wonderful to be able to see all the different items in the range together and I'm so glad the printing onto the china worked so well :-) Simmi x

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    1. thank you Simmi!

      I am super excited to see it all together :) x

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  5. I think my favourite is the heart shaped Union Jack tea cosy. I always feel you have got so much done in such a professional way, while I am just futtering around.

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    1. thank you very much!

      i do a LOT of fluttering around too i promise you!! :)

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  6. Great designs as usual! The mugs are great x

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  7. This is really coming together now! It all looks really good too. Hope it continues to be successfulx

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  8. Your designs makes me proud to be British... I love the tea cosy xx

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  9. It's a great range! I love the link between GB and tea, as we drink more tea in this country than almost anywhere else in the world I'm sure these will be a great hit :)

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    1. thank you! we do drink a LOT of tea don't we! :)

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  10. Definitely keep up with the Britishness - very important. I love your work, the tea cosy in particular. Hope you have a good week.

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  11. This is a lovely idea, a unique take on the whole British theme. Yiu should sell plenty of these :-)

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  12. Love the theme and the range of products you have put the design on. Long may the British made popularity continue.


    Janice x

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  13. Loving the wording.....GB does certainly run on tea, well if the amount I drink plays a part!!

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  14. I am still a big fan of British themed products and hope it carries on for a long time to come!

    I definitely run off tea and love your tea mug and cozy!

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  15. Your post just screams out excitement and it's lovely to share it with you. It's gonna be a lovely range for you. Union jacks are so popular and your designs are great so you should do really well.

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    1. He he oh thank you :) I do get quite excited! :)

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  16. There will always be a special place for Britishness in my heart! I love your mugs and tea towels. Can you ever really have too many cute tea towels (the only problem is I never want to use them because towels in my kitchen and bathroom tend to get pretty dirty pretty quickly, so according to my husband, yes, I can have too many...)

    Cheers!
    Buttons
    The Hot Toddies of Washington

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  17. thank you!

    oh i agree you can never have too may cute tea towels :) x

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  18. Stunning! We love your tea towels and the 'GB Runs on Tea' mugs.

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Your lovely comments are much appreciated x