funky tea towels

Just by owning some of these tea towels which have such attractive motifs printed on, even the dreariest kitchen chores will become fun!

Top row: (1) Dancing blue elephants kitchen towel by Pata Pri; (2) Red French Press Kitchen Towel Set by Moxie Madness.
Middle row: (1) Springtime - Tea Towel by Alison Tauber; (2) Set of Four Screen-printed Dish Towels with Red Poppies by Michelle Brusegaard.
Bottom row: (1) Twiggy organic dark brown cotton kitchen towel from Nut Nut Goods; (2) Paper Doll tea towel by Annabel Waterman.

get feisty

Feisty Elle is an accessories haven with affordably-priced brooches, pins, hair clips and badges. All the items found are made by the talented owner herself, Leslie. The designs are oh so feminine, and often feature flowers, buttons and even pinwheels! 

Clockwise from top left: (1) Black red pinwheel hairclip & brooch; (2) Minty Green Hana brooch; (3) Hot pink chibi bobby pin; and (4) Green mushroom badge.

Use UK

At Use UK, scrap materials are the source of beautifully-designed home and fashion accessories. For example, bags are made with leather cast-offs from the furniture industry, limited edition lampshades made from recycled cardboard, and remnants from salvaged fabric sample books are used to create one-of-a-kind cushion covers. 

Clockwise from left: (1) Gondola bag in cream leather; (2) Cushion set 10; (3) Large clutch bag in cream and black textured leather and (4) Iris lamp shade.

for the kid in us

My attention was quickly captured by the whimsical subject matter of Linokids' illustrations. Sandy, the artist behind the works, is a graphic designer and illustrator who also offers her services for custom work. Her etsy site is still rather new, but you can find more of her work at her website as well.

Her prints, clockwise from left: (1) Afternoon Tea; (2); Cats and dogs; (3) Cupcakes; (4) Kites.

dresses and buttons

Eleanor Rot has great dresses that would make any fashionista look effortlessly chic: they are simple yet well-cut. She has also a variety of bags and scarves in store, and a wide range of fabric brooches made from various one-of a kind fabrics folded and pleated into the shape of a flower.

Clockwise from left: (1) Dress // Kleid; (2) Flowerbutton // Blumenanstecker; (3) Red Dress and (4) Scarf with flowerbutton.

closet bibliophiles

If you love books, and derive some indescribable delight from dutifully organising and cataloguing your collection, then certainly bookplates are right up your alley. A variety of shops offer personalised book plates such as those listed here, and coupled with the fact that it comes in vintage-y goodness, it's every bibliophile's dream come true. 

Clockwise from left: (1) Family Dinnertime from Silly Goose Creations; (2) Children's Bookplates from Lark; (3) Vintage Night Owl Personalized Bookplates by Oiseaux and (4) Hello Dear by the Paper Princess.

it's a zoo out there

There's a lot of cuteness to be found at Nut and Bee, the brainchild of New Zealand-based artist Annette Lauder. There's a satisfyingly extensive range of stationery to be found, such as notepads, lettersets, stickers and write-on labels. Her animal characters are endearing and some of the designs are so cute that I actually laughed out loud (see the teddy bear skins on the laundry line!). You can also get all her characters as art prints, which I think is a great bonus if you would like to frame them up for keeping. 

Clockwise from left: (1) Sweet Mix A Stickers; (2) Bear Suit Wash Day Notepad; (3) Jingly Jangly Letterset; and (4) Milkshake Cafe Letterset.

tea cups and pretty plates

High Tea

Esther Coombs is one talented lady from London. I absolutely adore her lovely creations: from the illustrations to her unique way of assembling cake stands out of separate pieces of crockery. Imagine yourself throwing a tea party and all the oohs and aahs your choice of serving ware will attract. Bourgeoisie decadence: yummy. 

Above: Gracey

(And my current fave- Apartment A)

to hoard and behold

Stockton & Co is one Etsy shop that is stocked with really cute stuff, and I particularly adore the note cards (above) with smiley acorns block-printed on them. There is also a range of small lunch bags available like the Creamsicle mini pocket snack bag below.

dog and bone

Le Petit Garage is an online boutique featuring an eclectic mix of scoured items ranging from accessories to paper products to home wares. They also have a sizable range of interesting dog- related products which will be a delight to any dog-lover looking to spoil his or her pet pooch. 

Clockwise from top left: (1) Cocker Spaniel Luggage Tag; (2) Very Vintage Pug Brooch; (3) Royal Tea Cup Bed; (4) Chewnel No. 5 Bed.

making my way around the world

I'll be headed on a 2 week vacation to Cambodia/Thailand/Vietnam from the coming sunday, but Absolutely Delish will continue to have regular updates as per normal (the inner geek in me rejoices at the ability to schedule future posts on blogger). And being in the mood for travel, here are some interesting passport covers to make you more than just another tourist in the crowd.

Clockwise from top left:
(1) Passport cover from 11:11 Enterprises; (2) Bon Voyage Red from Revontulitikku; (3) In crowd by Edu Brasil; (4) Black, white and bling from Handi Gift

Last Minute Mother's Day Gifts

Previously we posted about gifts that you could personalise, but as Mother's Day draws near (it's this Sunday!), it's now necessary to seek out gift ideas that would not require much personal effort, but would make lovely presents all the same. 

Clockwise from left: (1) 9 little teacups cushion cover by Cara Jane; (2) Cotton handbag with floral print by Mehran; (3) Ivory Cherry blossoms jewelry box from Design Hut USA and (4) Red and Green Heart Applique Coaster from Circle Circle Dot Dot.

art in various forms

At My Favorite Mirror, original illustrations by various artists are converted from prints and incorporated onto practical objects like pocket mirrors, mouse pads and coaster sets. They have a huge selection spanning many different styles, and it just gives a print lover more reasons, and more ways, to get one's favourite illustrations. They also have products made from vintage cut-outs, and can also do custom orders for your very own designs!

Clockwise from top left: (1) Seamripper Coaster Set; (2) Feathers and Fur Pocket Mirror; (3) Underneath the Sockberry Tree Mouse Pad; (4) Sneaky, Sneaky Pocket Mirror.