Monday 28 May 2012

John Alan Birch









From Liverpool and now living in Glasgow, John has provided Nook & Cranny with some beautiful screen and Giclee prints. Amazingly precise detail creates depth and character, encouraging stories behind each illustration. Check out his Flickr page and find out what else he's been doodling up.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Nic Farrell

Well, here it is, the special edition postcard from Nic Farrell after I noticed she too has the same love for apostrophies.




Turns out we're not the only ones as this screen printed postcard, featuring hand drawn type, sold out in a matter of days! Great isn't it?

"Nice card, what's the greeting?"

While Clinton Cards have gone into administration, this year has seen a 3% rise in the sale of greetings cards. O.K, so that doesn't sound like much, but when you consider the phrase "the internet is killing..", it's a wonder how cards are survivng this world full of technology, emails and texts. Designing cards ourselves and selecting appropriate cards for Nook & Cranny customers from our artists, we're aware of current greeting trends and the rise in sending a card for no reason at all! 'Thinking of you' style cards seem popular while stereotypical 'Happy Birthday' cards are declining. It seems a blank card with a great design or sense of humour trumps them all.
While websites are offering deals on personalised cards, e-cards and buying online for next day delivery - message included, there still seems to be a stigma surrounding these avenues of sending and receiving greeting cards.
"They just seem so impersonal, they're not even hand written which looses any sentiment the sender might try to show", discuss Jen and I, head buyers and designers for Nook & Cranny.
"Even if a customer isn't necessarily artistic, they seem to really appreciate the idea of hand illustrated and hand printed cards. Even when cards seem so neutral - no jokes about getting old or any mention of 'thank you' or 'best mum', a beautiful drawing appears most popular, even for signifcant birthdays like 30ths or events like wedding anniversaries."
It actually seems now that cards are being given for events not normally associated with a greeting card. 'Happy Divorce' and '^@#! the cancer' are new to shelves, while Easter and Halloween cards, which are usually associated with America, are making regular features each year. Multi-cultural events and passing your driving test are all themed cards that are now available in larger greeting card chain shops.
Here at Nook & Cranny we're sure you can find a card for any event. Blank cards allow for any message inside and to be sent on any occasion. Any of our 'rude' cards are subtle and used with humour. Specific birthday cards, thank you cards, mothers day, fathers day, new baby, new home, sorry cards, hello, goodbye, 'I love you' cards are all off set with a beautiful illustration or colourful unique design. With customers appreciating the handmade nature of the cards, they're also investing in a unique greeting that just isn't available on the High Street. Here we revel in the new and emerging artists and we're so pleased to notice the growing recognition from regular customers and suprising compliments.
Shop handmade, shop British, shop unique.

Jessica Hogarth

Jessica is making me long for the sea with illustrations from her upbringing along the North East coast line. I am still to visit this area while Jen's family are from the North East! Jessica beautifully highlights coastal cottages and nostalgic scenes of boats in the harbour, each with delicate detail and subtle colouring.













We think Jessica has a fantastic talent for illustrating buildings and we're lucky enough to stock one of her limited edition screen prints called 'Downtown Paris'.
Now, who's up for a little holiday?

Tim Irving


"I regard myself as a photographer, not of anything specific but simply of subjects that visually inspire and amuse me."

























Tim has a great eclectic mix of subjects, with each image being taken using traditional film cameras with a variety of lenses, some even home made. No iPhone camera apps here! Each print is a C-Type print photograph hand printed in a traditional dark room. We love the vintage feel in juxtaposition to the crisp clear photographs. Of course, we couldn't get Tim's work in without stocking some of his Penny Lane polaroids! Born in Chester and now based in Suffolk, we're bringing Tim's work home and know they will go down a storm with you guys at Nook & Cranny.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Nook & Cranny








To co-inside with the Liverpool Light Night event and a few suprise visits from the sun, we've gone all out on our display with a Flora & Fauna theme.
And yes, I got an iPhone, so here at Nook & Cranny we now live our lives through the Instagram app!

iPhone cases for the design hungry!

Seeing as I'm keeping up with the kids and I joined the iPhone gang, I can't help but notice that so many designers and artists have either specially designed their own range of cases or have had their art work made to fit a case. Amazingly enough, a few artists we already stock have their own iPhone case range too!
The following cases are from the great site Society 6.


Sandra Dieckman


RoandCo


Ali Gulec


Leah Flores


Catherine Holcombe


Kavan & Co


Florever


Bianca Green


MizEnScen


Jess John


Gemma Correll


Quite a few goodens aren't there? Bare in mind this site had over 2000 pages of iPhone case designs from almost as many artists, so this is just a few from the first few pages! More artists with great designs included Jack Teagle, Ashley Percival, Indur, Leigh Whipday, Mike Boon, Joan Mclemore, Kerri-Ann Hulme, Teagan White, Typographic Verses, Ben Giles, Agrimony, Kris Tate, Zach Terrell, Jamie Mitchell, Andy Thomson, Terry Fan, Cassia Beck, Meeralee, Steven Kline, Norman Duenas, Us & Them - and then I gave up, ha!











Nic Farrell

Already going down a storm with our customers here at Nook & Cranny, Nic Farrell has provided us with postcards, cards and prints with beautiful hand-drawn typography and simple and beautiful illustrations.




Nic has really inspired us to get designing our own fonts again and to start playing around with pens! Follow Nic's blog for updates and sneak peaks at her latest work - Nic has illustrated a few books which are now available in Waterstones! We're thinking of popping down to oogle more of her quirky characters. Also, the very talented Nic has had screen prints and original works of art included in various exhibitions and group shows including a collaborative mural which has now been nominated for the Museums & Heritage awards!
I noticed on Nic's website a poster detailing her love of fonts and fear of nails and stickers and a strong dislike of try-hard indie kids, nestled in the poster was something that rang true to myself also - the words 'grammar' and 'freak'. So, asking as nice as possible, we're lucky enough to have a specially commissioned postcard! We've only had these postcards in about a week and already we only have one left! I think it deserves a special post all to itself, so watch out.