June 11, 2010

Mini McGhee’s Vintage Treasures

Filed under: Uncategorized, christening present, collaboration, collections, new products — ashlyn @ 12:00 pm

Vintage treasures have arrived re-created and beautified by Mini McGhee. Hand made in Scotland all of the pieces are one-offs and are lovely heirlooms. We are working on a new collaboration ‘Olive Loves Mini McGhee’ that we will be launching soon but you will have to wait a little bit longer to see just what we are working on!

All of the pieces from Mini McGhee will be available on our website soon but we couldn’t wait to give you a sneak preview. Laundry bags £29 and shoe bags £22 created from hand embroidered linen vintage table cloths, grosgrains and printed cottons are gorgeous enough to hang on any wall or in a row on some vintage coat hooks. Be imaginative and use them for storing lots of different things inside.

Treasure a hand knitted baby blanket from Mini McGhee in a beautiful vintage embroidered bag £59 or onr of her striped felted blankets £46.

June 9, 2010

Just Keep Swimming

Filed under: activities and fun ideas, new products — ashlyn @ 9:30 am

Mini Rodini swimwear has arrived in store. Perfect for the summer sunshine, the range has a brilliant retro feel, using bright red and navy blue with vintage inspired frills and printed motifs, perfect for splashing around in the pool, garden or at the beach.

My friend who is a brilliant swimmer is buying this cute bright red one piece for his newborn niece as we speak, she’ll be swimming before she can walk!

drape swimsuit £22

Olive was swimming under water when she was two months old at a baby swimming class in London. Although we didn’t make regular trips to the pool, I think her early experience has given her an amazing confidence in the water. Having her quite literally in the palm of my hands, eyes fixed on mine with an honest mix of trepidation and trust in me is something quite magical that has stayed with me. 

Check out Baby Swimming for an introduction into the underwater method. If you haven’t seen any pictures of babies swimming underwater before prepare yourself. It really is an incredibly beautiful sight. There are lots of teachers out there so I hope that will be able to track down a class in your area.

February 11, 2010

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Filed under: Uncategorized, boutique, new products — ashlyn @ 2:10 pm

Louie Louis has just arrived and as well as their Jane Fonda inspired fluro leggings they have designed a range of basic tees that will become favourites at home or make great birthday presents.  Each tee incorporates a skull and is numbered 2 to 8.  The tees are £14 each and available from our online shop in blk and white or green and purple.

February 9, 2010

A New Delivery From Rice Has Arrived

Filed under: boutique, creative ideas and projects, interior ideas, new products — ashlyn @ 6:26 pm

The new delivery from Rice has just arrived and I could take most of it home with me.   We have delicious new things arriving every 6 weeks so if you are looking for homewares or presents don’t forget to check out what new exciting Rice products have arrived.

Their new oil cloths are fantasic and featured in Living etc this month.   Both of these brilliantly bold print designs feature on a new range of melamine cups and plates that make gorgeous picnic or party ware.  The oil cloth makes wipe clean table cloths or if you are feeling creative it makes fantastic bags.    We made a hillarious oversized shopper out of the mixed vegetable print that is perfect for carrying newspapers and french sticks home for lazy breakfasts or summer picnics.   Available in 2 designs the oil cloth costs £22.99 and is available by the meter and is already available from our online shop.  Next month we will have 2 new designs arriving to add to our collection.

February 4, 2010

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Filed under: creative ideas and projects, interior ideas, new products, personalised presents, special products — ashlyn @ 5:38 pm

I have always had a love of typography and particularly a love of retro circus fonts.  These hand printed tiles were made by our friend Bianca from ‘Kiss Her’. 

I wanted to spell out the alphabet in alternate coral and black tiles and ‘Olive Loves Alfie’ in the space between our pigeon hole shelving.  Not only do the tiles look great but they were miraculously a perfect fit and have been selling like hot cakes.

The tiles make a lovely keep sake or contemporary naming day present.  Each ceramic tile is individually packaged in a funky metallic bubble wrap envelope to keep it safe.

 
You can spell out a name, word or initials.  The tiles can be mounted on a wall or used as coasters.

Each hand printed tile costs £6 and measures 10.2cm square.

The tiles will be available via our online shop soon but in the meantime to order please email the letters and colours you need to info@olivelovesalfie.co.uk and we will deliver them to you within a week.

November 20, 2009

Love love love Cornershop

Filed under: boutique, design, music, new products, shop window, special products — ashlyn @ 2:50 pm

Vibrant colour, illustration, music and nostalgia are just some of my passions. You can imagine my delight at the sound and sight of the new Cornershop album and their new video Soul School.   I love the pop vibe of orange and pink combined together.   It was the first choice for my own logo when we designed it in 2006 and for Cornershops new album cover too.

Our Logo

Available now £10 from Olive Loves Alfie

I have got my heart set on a copy of one of their posters to hang up on my wall at home alongside  my collection of hand printed posters from Dandy Star and General Pattern that are all available from our boutique

In the late 90’s I jumped on and off the Cornershop tour bus in Europe and the US when they were busy  quite literally touring the world and being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Awards.  I have some very fond memories of carefree days, hopes and dreams.

Almost a decade later and life has taken a very different but equally brilliant direction for everyone.  Olive is almost 7 and her lovely daddy is still their drummer, she has her own drum kit and raves about Cornershop to her friends.   I often see Tjinder and his wife Marie in Stoke Newington and have had many an amusing conversation with Ariel their eldest son.  A few weeks ago they came into Olive Loves Alfie to buy their Spotty Otter winter coats.  And so it seems the whole world is growing up ever so quickly.

Illustrations by Abi Williams from Soul School the new Cornershop video

It’s heartwarming to see that Cornershop are back brighter than before.  With artwork created by Abi Williams from Rude and her quite brilliant directorial debut  they are serving up a visual feast that I whole heartedly approve of.   If my recommendation isn’t enough try these for size.

“its the best album this decade since their last album this decade” x-reflex magazine, Japan

“Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast, this bold fresh sounding album makes them a candidate for the quintessential 21st century pop group” MOJO

“Love the new ‘Shop album!  Instantly amazing” NME

“Clever and engaging, happily detached from the mainstream – an admirable way to continue down an improbable career path” The Guardian

Album of The Week ratings: The Guardian 4/5, Independent 4/5, Metro 4/5,Independent On Sunday 4/5.
big issue 4/5,Uncut 4/5, MOJO 4/5,Daily Mirror 4/5, the sun 4.5/5,Daily Express4/5, Sunday Times 4/5, Elle Magazine 4/5 News Of The World, Album of the Week 5/5

Go no further you can now buy their new album from our boutique and will soon be available on our online shop www.olivelovesalfie.co.uk £ 10.

November 5, 2009

Dumpling Dynasty

Filed under: bespoke products, boutique, creative ideas and projects, new products, special products — ashlyn @ 12:15 pm

I fell in love with Eastern styling during my design days at Red or Dead when we travelled to China and Japan three or four times and year. It was there that the design team always found new and exciting inspiration. We spent time scouring fabric markets in small towns, flea markets and night markets in the chaos of Asian cities and whenever we had a moment to ourselves we would always head to one of the many temples we had discovered for a very different type of inspiration.

Illustrated by Fiona Hewitt

When I came across Dumpling Dynasty it couldn’t fail to charm me!

Inspired by many of the things that I love too, illustrator Fiona Hewitt, and expert in Asian Kitschology, Andy Tainton, conceived Dumpling Dynasty after years spent living in Shanghi, Beijing and Hong Kong.

All of their creations have taken inspiration from the days they spent in the East and quite specifically the styling of vintage packaging.

Each collectable and beautifully illustrated tin from Dumpling Dynasty evokes the same sense of charm that is so prevalent in the East. Look closely at the illustrations and I am sure that you will be charmed just as much as I was.

Check out their collection on our on-line store:-

Dumpling Dynasty

And so I am delighted to bring you Dumpling Dynasty….


84 Stoke Newington Church St - London N16 OAP - Tel: +44 (0) 0207 241 4212 - info@olivelovesalfie.co.uk
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