Mellor Ware

Mellor Ware is designed by Lianne Mellor a designer and an illustrator. She grew up on the Wirral, her childhood was filled with fun activities like making dens, drawing pictures and listening to stories. 

When she graduated in 2009 she realized that her passion was story telling through watercolor illustrations. Gradually she started to build her portfolio of drawings into collection of functional products. By 2010, she was producing bone china tea sets in her dad's garage and selling them at art markets. 

Lianne's ceramics now have stockists in Europe, Japan and America. Her chinaware range from milk jugs and sugar bowls to cups and plates all adorned with joyful and mischievous animal characters who seem to be straight from a picture book.

Snapdragon Designs: Quirky Bracelets

Snapdragon Designs is a husband and wife team, Shelley and John from Kent. They met at Art College and gained degrees in Graphic Design from De Montfort University. Together they design quirky and unusual acrylic jewelry inspired by fairy tales and stories. 

It all started when John gained access to a laser cutter to make Shelley a cat ring which she loved. This seeded the idea of designing more jewelry in the unique way where 3 items in symbol form to tell a complete story. The bracelet sets come in several designs based on popular characters. For example: "The owl & the pussycat", "Alice in wonderland", "Cinderella", "Red riding hood", "Snow white", "Wizard of Oz" and many more. For rings, necklaces, earrings, brooches and cufflinks visit their website.

Images via here and here.

Package Design: Raselli Organic Teabags

Raselli a family owned business started in 1993 which produces tea blends made of organic herbs from the Swiss Alps. The tea is packed in individual sachets to preserve the flavor and aroma. The cardboard box of each of the blends has an illustration of bear, bunny, rooster, fox, owl and deer. The box features the animal in color on one side and in dark on the other side. Each animal on the box in signature color is characteristic for the alpine area where the organic herbs are grown. The eye-catchy, brightly designed critters on white background will definitely stand out in the tea aisle.

The design was created by Plasmadesign Studio, a multidisciplinary design agency based in Zurich. 

Found via.

Rocky Racoon Organic Kids Apparel

Ukraine based company Rocky Racoon started by Irina Pushko specializes in organic clothing for kids with contemporary and fun designs. All fabrics used in making the apparel is 100% GOTS certified organic cotton and printed with non-toxic water-based ink.

You can find leggings, shorts, dresses, tops and more in her online store. The clothing feature wonderful prints of owl, tiger, flamingo, zebra and more in lovely color scheme suitable for both girls and boys.

60 Seconds Calligraphy Animals by Andrew Fox

Andrew Fox is a London based illustrator and designer who creates series of whimsical calligraphy animals. He uses broad-tipped calligraphy pen combined with his strategic swift strokes to bring his animals to life in 6 seconds or less. Check out his portfolio on his website for videos of him drawing the calligraphy animals in 6 seconds. If you like, you can join him on facebook to get updates on his new work, books and videos.

Polepole Animals from T-lab

T-lab (Tirabo) is a Japanese brand that produces wooden toys, decorative items and stationery. Their cutest collection titled "Polepole Animals" features 41 animals that are individually hand craved, sanded and painted. If you like, you can learn about the process and the material used for making the tiny creatures on their "products" page (which is in Japanese, you'll need to translate it through Google translator) and view other adorable things. 

These animals can be purchased online from a website Japan Wave. They ship internationally!

Images from here and here.

Elizabeth Mayville: Minimalistic Oil Paintings

Elizabeth Mayville is an artist based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She gained degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts from Grand Valley State University, Michigan and completed Study Abroad Program from Kingston University, Kingston, England. 

She paints lovely portraits, still life, wildlife and landscapes. "Her work can initially be perceived as simple, calm and sweet; however her persistent use of gray gives each piece an almost melancholic undertone upon further reflection. This neutral palette is a consistent feature in her oil paintings, as are her minimal compositions and strong horizons. Sensitive and beautiful, Mayville’s paintings capture the artist’s sense of wonder with the world as well as her grasp of the impermanent nature of life." - from here.

While I was reading her blog, I came across the beautiful owl paintings (above) that she did in the past and the bird paintings (also shown above) are found here. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, and has won Branstrom Fine Arts Award and Kingston Fellowship awards for her fantastic work. Check out her online store for her original paintings as well as prints.

Amazing Tattoos by Jan Mráz

Let's start this week with the amazing tattoo work of Jan Mráz. Jan Mráz is a tattoo artist and illustrator who is a new regular artist working at Bobek Tattoo in Prague. His tattoos have a distinctive style which almost look like drawings made with pencil on paper. The subject matter in his tattoos such as owls, bird with the headset, bee, reindeer are generally made with black ink with lots of tiny lines, dots and fine work of shading. In some of his other tattoos he combines vibrant colors and geometric shapes along with sharp lines creating striking images.

You can view many more of his amazing tattoos, artwork and sketches on his website.