Tissue Paper Flowers - Great for Gift Wrapping or For Easter Gardens.

When was the last time something a stranger said to you changed you? Conversations with strangers are forged of pleasantries about the weather and “excuse me but do you have the time”, not memorable things. But one year when I was exhibiting some of my glass work at the Totterdown art trail, a stranger replied to my “it’s just a hobby” with “But hobbies are when some of the best things are made - they’re when people make things because they want to, not because they have to.” It’s an easy thing to forget when working creatively - that feeling of the freedom to take your time playing and to do things because you want to do them.

I think of that conversation when I’m busy trying to get the best photo of something, make something for a shop display or create graphics for use online - if you make and do things with the freedom and joy of doing them for the sake of it, it will be better.

In the early days of Fig1 my sister and I used to make these paper flowers for shop displays - they’re relatively easy to do. Although we have some artificial flowers in stock it seemed good to spend a little time making some from some of the funky Rice tissue paper.

1. Layer up three or more sheets of tissue paper roughly 13cm x 50cm (50cm is the overall width of the sheet I was using - this size doesn't have to be exact).
2. Fold the paper into a concertina along the longer edge. I made the strips of the concertina roughly 2cm wide
3. Your now left with a 13cm strip of paper 2 cm wide. In the centre, twist round a pipe cleaner, some copper wire or tie with string. If using wire I used a piece 80 cm long in order to leave a long "stem" on the flower for gift wrapping. I used pliers to twist the wire so that it forms a nice tight grip around the paper.
4. Optional - you can shape the ends of your paper so that the tips are semi circles or triangles - this does make the paper more likely to tear in the later stages.
5. Open out one side of the paper into a semicircle then start to pull down the innermost piece of tissue into the centre of the flower starting at one side of the semi circle. Work your way round to the other side.
6. Repeat step 5 with the piece of tissue below the first and with each piece of tissue until this half of the flower is formed.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the other half of the flower.

The tissue can tear a little but then nature isn’t perfect either. These flowers can be great for gift wrapping or for making for your Easter garden.

Colourful Christmas Inspiration

Owl Candle Holder by House Doctor

I've become obsessed with my camera of late. In the Spring I treated myself to a Canon 70D and it has become my constant companion, my friend and my plaything. I may even be a little in love with it. Remember when you were young how certain presents at Christmas invaded your imagination with their newness and you couldn't stop playing with them? I was like that with every set of Lego Technics I was ever bought and I'm like that now with my Camera. And like Lego, it keeps it's newness because there is always another bit you can bolt on - lenses, lights, flashes and tripods - and always new things you can make with it.

Last week I had the opportunity to help style a Christmas photo shoot for a magazine with a friend of mine - Kirstie Young - an inspirational photographer. It was a great opportunity to combine the visual styling side of my day job with some practical experience and learning from a great photographer. The day left me inspired to put together my own Christmas shots for Fig1.

Below is a sneak preview of some of the Christmas table ideas I've been working on. We have a collection of more traditional decorations in the shop too, but this was a chance to experiment with colour. Working so closely with the Danish company Rice for the last few years has been a shock treatment in the possibility of quirky and unusual colour combinations - I love throwing different colours into the mix and seeing what combinations take flight in my imagination. Some combinations come alive when you put together, seeming to tug at you invitingly. So why not? While I have the chance to play with colour and experiment with my camera, why not build, make and create something different?

_________________

by Mark Fletcher

In the pictures: I've taken some of the geometric and metallic influence from our other Danish companies House Doctor and Bloomingville and added in some crazy, quirky Rice-style colour combinations - mostly thanks to their beautiful ceramics - to get a non-traditional Christmas look. For me, a neutral background is essential to any bold use of colour to keep a sense of calm and to make the colours you want sing out. 

The presents in these pictures are wrapped in House Doctor double sided wrap, again with unusual quirky geometric patterns, the double sided nature of the wrap means you can turn back an edge to reveal a stripe of the pattern on the reverse of the paper. 

Character, fun and playfulness: characters like the Owl candle holder, bird and gnome candles add a sense of fun to an otherwise sophisticated setting. I like having something in the room which makes people smile when they see it. The photo below is my favourite from last years Christmas photo shoots and it still brings a smile to my face.

Keep an eye on our Facebook fan page for more Christmas ideas as we get closer to the big day and check out our Christmas section of the site and the Rice ceramics section for most of the products used in these photos.

Competition Coming Soon....

We have a competition to win 2 Rice kids storage baskets arranged with the Green Parent Magazine - out on 7th November - grab the magazine off the shelves or keep an eye on our Facebook fan page or our blog for more details around that date.

Summer Moods - Competition

Loving the summer? We are. As well as the summer mood boards we published earlier this month, we're running a competition - a chance to win a set of the melamine pictured above worth around £50. All you have to do is to tell us which of the 3 "summer moods" boards featured on our blog is your favourite and why? - comment on this or one of the mood board posts and fill in a quick form on Survey Monkey so we have your details if you win. The competition closes at midnight on Thursday 3rd July 2014. A winner will be chosen completely at random. One entry only per household, UK residents only. Winners will be informed on Friday 4th July 2014 by email.

Everyone's a Winner

Each entrant will also receive a 10% discount code to use on our site. This will be on the last page of the survey and it will be valid until Friday 4th July 2014. This code will be additional to the discount already on our mood board items. You can also use the discount code in our shop.

Follow us on Facebook?

If you follow us on Facebook you can also enter by commenting on the post on our Facebook page - it's a great place to find out what's new at fig1.co.uk - we update regularly with news and offers. 

How to Enter

To enter the competition please:

1. Comment on one of our Summer Moods blog posts or on the Facebook Page
2. Fill in the form on Survey Monkey so we have your details
3. Do all of the above before Thursday 3rd July 2014
4. The competition is available to UK residents only. Only 1 entry per household

The prize consists of 4 bowls and 4 cups from the High Summer Rice Melamine collection.

Please note - all comments on our blog are moderated and may not appear straight away.

Summer Moods 3 - Alfresco

One of the things I love about Summer in the UK is the length of the evenings. OK so we're often dodging rain showers and wishing it would be a bit warmer, but when those perfect, golden-warm summer evenings happen they are amazing. I love living and eating outside as much as possible on those long, long days. Like the typical Brit, the first signs of sunshine and warmth and I put shorts on and get out in the garden. We've had a few memorable evenings already with friends making the most of the long days, listening to music, chatting and eating. So the next of our Summer mood boards is in homage to all things alfresco - the perfect things to make a long summer evening eating outside even better. There's 15% off all the items featured and selection of matching bits on our site.

1. Acrylic jugs and glasses
2. Funky bird candles
3. Metal trays
4. A selection of melamine and ceramics by Rice
5. Colourful string lights
6. Andrea Letterie banner
7. Paper covered candle holders
8. Paper lanterns

Summer Moods 1 - The Village Fete

Strawberries and cream, Pimms and lemonade, hay bales and the tombola ... the Village Fete was the highlight of life in every Cotswold village for miles around when I was growing up. It wasn't summer unless you were batting a rat or racing with three legs, a spoon and an egg - in a sack whilst singing along to the Wurzels. In celebration of summers past and this summer yet to come, we've put together the first of our "summer moods" selections. And to get the party started, they're all in our summer moods 15% off offers on our site together with a few other choice summer party bits.

We're developing some other mood boards so watch this space for more ideas and offers.

1. 10 Cake Decoration Sticks Assorted Designs by Rice DK
2. 10 Paper Cake Decoration Cones 5 Assorted Prints by Rice DK
3. Kids Sequin Masks 6 Assorted Designs by Rice DK
4. Small Paper Lantern Available in 2 Assorted Prints by Rice DK
5. Original Bunting by Engel
6. Melamine Bowls in Assorted Prints with Lid - Set of 3 by Rice DK
7. Carnival Set of 3 Cake Tins by BlissHome
8. 6 Picnic Plastic Wine Glass with Glitters Assorted Colors by Rice DK
9. Paper Cake Stand in 2 Assorted Prints by Rice

Rice DK Autumn Preview Near Malmo, Sweden

Design with a social conscience seems to go hand in hand with Denmark, so when our favourite Danish design brand Rice asked us to visit to preview their Autumn Winter 2014 collection we jumped at the chance. As a small independent business we were really proud to find out that we are now one of the biggest independent stockists of Rice in the UK, a brand which we love promoting as it was always set up to be ethical. Rice are one of the smallest companies ever to be certified by "Social Accountability 8000", which is an international standard stricter than Fair Trade.

One of the things we particularly love about Rice is their bold use of colour. Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau, who started the company, is a colour fanatic and the company found a beautiful farmhouse just over the border in Sweden to display their new season's stock in. The farmhouse was spacious with white washed walls and rustic wooden tables - a neutral background which really made the colours zing. The team of stylists at Rice work so hard to make these events look beautiful and inspiring - great for us to pinch ideas for display in our shop and for our on-line photos.

Colourful Ceramics by Rice DK

An exciting decisions for us is that we're planning on taking on many more of the beautiful ceramics Rice produce. No other brand we know can combine both sophistication and fun so successfully - it's one of the great things about Rice. The soft organic shapes of their ceramics and beautiful colour combinations sit wonderfully with their quirky egg cups, mixed in with pieces of patterned melamine and crazy jugs of flowers. If eating and entertaining is theatre then the stage Rice presents is lush, opulent and populated with exotic creatures.

We love Rice Toy Baskets

One of the products we really love by Rice is their toy baskets - they're tactile and natural, made in a small village in Madagascar where the toy baskets now provide steady work and income for most of the families. Typically bright and bold, the new designs now fold flat for easy storage when not in use. As Fig1 is based in Bristol, home to the largest international balloon fiesta in the world, we're particularly keen on the new Hot Air Balloon design!

The Danes love entertaining, whether it is a few people or a party and the new collection is certainly ready for any knees-up. Of course, each season Rice introduce new patterns of melamine and this year is no exception, with both floral and geometric designs coming in for the party season. But we're also loving the disposable Martini glasses and the fabulous, bold and bright paper decorations. To be honest, we think it is all as suitable for a summer party as a winter one, but then, when isn't it a good time to have your friends around, eat, chat and entertain?

Easter Afternoon Tea

Ceramic Cake Plate by Rice

My sister had a habit of keeping her Easter eggs for months until the chocolate had lost it's sheen and started to go white by being left on the window ledge. She'd eat a small and controlled amount each day. Mine went by the time we got to the end of Easter day and I felt queasy from the sugar overload, but at least it didn't go off. Time may pass but I've never learnt much in the way of self control, so although I love baking, I like to have people to ply with the finished product else I'll only eat it all myself. With the longer days and bank holiday weekends, Easter seems the perfect time to have people over for tea, occasionally leading to G and T. Here are a couple of Easter afternoon tea recipes - one sweet, one savoury - both perfect for sharing.

Easter biscuits are traditional particularly in the West Country where we are based. An alternative serving suggestion might be with a picnic involving lashings of cider and a door stop of cheddar cheese.

Cheese scones

100g butter

400g self raising flour

75g cheese (mature cheddar or half mature cheddar half parmesan for some extra kick)

250ml milk

3/4 level teaspoon cayenne pepper

Crumb together the butter, flour and cayenne with your finger tips until well combined. Mix in the cheese.

Add the milk and bring together into a soft dough with your fingertips. I usually try and use one hand whilst pouring in the milk with the other as you may need a little more or less depending.

Lightly flour the surface and roll out to 2-3 cm thick. Cut out the scones with a 2.5 inch / 6cm cutter. If you want a glossy finish on the scones you can brush milk over the top with a pastry brush.  

Place on a lightly greased tray and bake for 12-15 minutes at 220 degrees centigrade. Makes around 15 scones.

Easter Biscuits

100g butter

75g caster sugar plus extra for decorating

1 egg
200g plain white flour
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

50g currants
15g chopped mixed peel

15-30ml of brandy or milk

Cream together the butter and caster sugar with an electric whisk or a wooden spoon if you want arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Keep going until the colour starts to lighten and they are a little fluffy. Separate the egg and whisk in the yolk. Whisk up the white a bit and set aside with a pastry brush at the ready.

Sift and fold in the flour and spices, then stir in the fruit.

Mix in the brandy or milk (I'd recommend the brandy). I usually use the finger tips of one hand whilst pouring with the other so I can feel when the mix becomes wet enough to be a workable dough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to about 5mm thick and cut out the biscuits with a fluted cutter - I used quite a small one although traditionally Easter biscuits are fairly large.

Bake on a lightly greased tray at 200 degrees for 10 minutes then take them out of the oven and brush over the egg white and lightly sprinkle with caster sugar. I found it helps to do a few biscuits at a time so the egg doesn't set from the warmth before you get the sugar on there. You also want to be careful not to brush the egg on too thickly.

Finally, return to the oven for 5 more minutes then remove and cool on a wire rack. 

Tray, Jug and Ceramic Two-tone Cup by Rice

Andrea Letterie from Rice DK - Competition Time!

It's competition time, folks!

NB - The competition is now closed!

Our favourite Danish brand Rice has launched this fab new range of melamine with prints by Dutch illustrator Andrea Letterie and we're so excited about it that we've decided to give a set away to one lucky fan. We're thinking ahead to picnic season here and we want your ideas for what you might pack up for the park to serve on your beautiful new tableware. So here's a chance to win over £100 worth of the beautiful melamine.

Andrea takes the inspiration for her artwork from everyday things - whether it's her collection of tea cups, her dog, or a bunch of colourful flowers from the garden. It's this love of bold, bright colour and simple pleasures which makes the collaboration with Rice DK such a good fit. As well as their fun and exciting design, we've always loved Rice for their ethical outlook, being one of the smallest companies ever to achieve Social Accountability 8000 accreditation, and it seems like a love of the simple things in life goes hand in hand with care and commitment to others.

Competition deadline: Midnight on 6th April 2014

How to win!

In case you hadn't noticed, we're very keen on food at fig1.co.uk. With the signs of spring firmly shooting up everywhere, we're thinking about picnics, barbecues and alfresco lunches - in fact, we rarely think about anything

else. So to help feed our obsession, give us some ideas of your favourite summer foods, either in a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page. Make it as simple or complicated as you like - go to town with a full recipe or a link to your blog, or just a quick word or two! We're looking forward to your ideas, but the winner will simply be picked at random with no judgement call so just a few words is fine if you are short of time. If you enter on Facebook we'd also like you to share the post about this competition - it helps share the fun!

This competition is only open to UK residents and shipping is to UK addresses only - we're a small UK focused company and our reach doesn't yet stretch beyond! Sorry to anyone outside of the UK!

We then have a simple form for you to fill in on Survey Monkey - this is just so we have details to inform people of the results - we'll use it to send one email to let you know if you have won or not, and we need the address so we can send the prize to the winner, but we will not store these details after the competition - you'll have to make sure you are on our mailing list separately if you want to receive future information from us by subscribing using the link on the bottom left of our home page at www.fig1.co.uk.

In Summary, to enter:

• Comment on this blog OR comment and share on the competition post on our Facebook page with a summer food idea
• Complete the form on Survey Monkey
• Deadline is Midnight on Sunday 6th April 2014
• Winners will be informed on Monday 7th April 2014
• UK entrants only

What you can win!

You can win a set of four dinner plates, cups and side plates with Andrea Letterie prints, an Andrea Letterie candle holder and one of these pretty glass bottle vases by Rice DK - worth over £100.

Good luck!

That's a Wrap, Folks! Anyone for a Double?

Paper Angels by Jurianne Matter

They say that presentation is everything. Mind you, they say all sorts of things. Still, I'm rolling with this

Gnome Candles by Rice, Wine Glass by House Doctor

particular phrase this Christmas and getting the wrapping done early so that rather than throwing paper and tape at gifts on Christmas Eve, distracted by the smell of wine mulling, urchins singing carols and the gentle sound of snow falling (obviously, we live in a novel by Dickens), I am instead, wrapping a few presents as and when I can of an evening. Besides - it gets you in the mood.

My secret weapon in the quest for beautiful presents this year is some double sided wrap by House Doctor. I've found that folding back one or two edges over to reveal the pattern on the other side, and sometimes wrapping at a jaunty angle, is a great alternative to using ribbon. It takes a little practice and experimentation to get going, but I am really pleased with the results. People who are getting two small parcels get to have one wrapped one way and one the other.

I like small gifts at Christmas - things that friends can use and consume - and making them look special from the outside just shows that extra little thought and attention.
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House Doctor Wrap, House Doctor Star Candle Holders

Paper Stars Made from Strips by Rice, Copper Lidded Box  by House Doctor

Christmas Tree Lights by Think Gadgets

Owl Decoration and Mercury White Glass Bauble by House Doctor

A Bright and Colourful Christmas by Rice

Is it too much pickled herrings and schnapps, or do the designers at Rice get more mad with each passing year? Rice are such a great company to work with - their staff are fun, friendly and full of well meant advice - not your run of the mill sales people. I guess it comes from being such a fun, creative company with a strong ethical base, and so I now think of the people we deal with there as friends. Together, we have been putting together a competition to run on Lucy at Attic24's blog and below are some of the photos which have come out of today's shoot.

I say Rice are always full of good advice, the one thing which turns out to be not quiet true is that the little paper stars used to decorate the plates below are "easy to make". Thanks for that one, Helene - it turns out they require the paper mastery of an origami expert. Once they are made up, they look beautiful so, all in all, I am glad I persevered. I think we might turn them into a drinking game ... break out the schnapps.

Photos contain the following Stock:

Rice Christmas Melamine Bowls, Cups and Plates. 

Christmas Paper Star

Gnome Toy Basket

Happy Home Colourful Interiors Book

Gnome Candle

Set of 3 Cake Tins

Gift Wrapping Decorative Bird

Glass Candle Votive

Paper Chain Decoration

Strips for Making Complicated but Beautiful Decorations ... Best Used to Challenge Your Friends

Pull the Other One, Petula

I know Petula says that when we're low and life is making you lonely we can pop off down town, but sometimes it is all just too much effort. Usually rushed off my feet, I find I often fill the quiet time with friends,  family and entertaining.  Well not last night,  I tell you.  I've been under the weather all week, my partner is away so it was me, some magazines, a fire and a film for the evening.  I couldn't even muster to wander to the shops in slippers and dressing gown and so made my favourite stote cupboard supper - putanesca - and served it in this bowl by Rice to cheer me up and stop me feeling too ill.

For those not in the know,  Putanesca sauce is a tomato sauce (onions, garlic, tomatoes ... the usual base), sometimes with canned tuna or other fish, flavoured with finely diced salted anchovies, chopped capers, olives and a touch of chilli. Powerful stuff.

Welcome to Autumn

The last of the tomatoes and beans are available from the allotment and garden still at the moment, but the skins are becoming a little tough on the tomatoes. My big sister invented this smoked haddock and tomato stew one year when we were all supposed to be dieting, but although it is an extremely healthy meal, it feels anything but a diet food with it's warm, rich flavours. I love this smoky stew as a welcome to Autumn – using up some of the harvest time produce, the smoky flavours hark forward to bonfires and fireworks. Pretty simple and one of those dishes you can chuck different things in, basically it is a fresh tomato soup in which you poach some smoked haddock chunks.

Basic Quantities for Ingredients (vary as available):

15 ripe tomatoes; 2 medium onions; 2 cloves garlic; 1 stick celery; 1tsp smoked sweet paprika; 1 cup stock; 0.5 tsp cayene pepper; handful of green beans; 300g smoked haddock; 1/2 a can of chickpeas to serve 4.

As with a lot of dishes, I start with finely chopped onions and garlic, which I sweat down in olive oil until they are soft. I then like to add a teaspoon of smoked paprika to bring out the smokiness and a teaspoon of ground cayenne for a bit of a kick. I then add finely chopped tomatoes (I rarely bother skinning them – it is a rustic dish and seems a waste of time if you are chopping them anyway). I add stock, wine or water depending on what I have in the fridge – I often add some very finely diced celery too as it is a good flavour enhancer. I cook it down for half an hour adding water as necessary to make it the consistency I fancy. A good long time cooking brings out the sugars in the tomatoes even if I do have to keep adding water Ten minutes before I want to serve, I add half a can of chickpeas and some green beans, then for the final 5 minutes, cubed smoked haddock to cook through.

If you've got potatoes going over, you could add those instead of the chickpeas, or add leek or carrot earlier in the cooking, but the basic idea of a smoky tomato and fish stew makes one of the best welcomes to Autumn, and I find myself regularly coming back to it at this time of year.

Picture features:

Ceramic two-tone Portugese tableware by Rice of Denmark

Backgroud: Copper lidded storage jar by House Doctor

Foreground: Acacia Wood chopping board by House Doctor

Making Pesto...

I love keeping pesto made in the fridge at this time of year. Our local green grocers does large bunches of basil at a really good price at this time of the year. I make a big bunch of it up into pesto and then use it on tomatoes (which I like to keep out of the fridge so they are really tasty), fresh pasta with sautéed courgettes or with just to dress up shop bought hummus and lunchtime sandwiches.

If I have time I get the pestle and mortar out to make it as bruising the basil leaves in that gives it more flavour, but if not I simply chuck the basil in the blender with a couple of cloves of garlic and chop it find, then add about the same weight of grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts, together with a good slug of olive oil. Blend again but leave a bit of texture, then jar it up with a layer of olive oil on top to preserve it.

Photo credits

Mango wood chair and chopping board by House Doctor. The chairs we only ordered for fig1 HQ but we can order them in. Copper lidded jars by House Doctor as well - we love the copper and mango wood combination - pretty much my inspiration for the fig1 kitchen at the moment. The bowl the tomatoes are in is a favourite from Rice - I keep going on about the retro two tone colour combination of these jars, but I've hidden the inside in these picture a little!

Hot dressed salads

The quality of veg at this time of year always gets us inspired in the fig1.co.uk kitchen. I always keep a quantity of salad dressing made up in the fridge ready for going over whatever ingredients I can find. And peas and beans are some of my favourite ingredients - I've been dressing them hot with potatoes and some chopped tomato. You don't have to eat it hot even but if it is dressed while the beans or peas are still hot they really soak up the flavour.

The mint on the balcony seems to be in full flow today so I have chopped some mint and parsley up, shelled some peas (a fair few of which I ate whilst shelling them) and boiled a bag of Charlotte potatoes. Whilst they are on the go I've finely diced a couple of tomatoes and a shallot, added the herbs and some balsamic and olive oil dressing I already had made up. When the spuds are nearly cooked I'll add the peas in, then once they are finished I'll drain them add them hot into the bowl. I have to nip out later, but this will be ready to eat with some pan fried fish when I get back.

Sometimes I like to add some chopped olives, capers, piquant peppers or whatever else I have in jars in the fridge for extra flavour - a particularly good way of making this kind of thing nice and tasty in the winter when the tomatoes aren't so good and the peas are frozen. 

Hints and tips

• Give the potatoes a good shake in the colander when draining them - I hate it when you find the potatoes are still full of water as you tip them into the dressing! 
• Don't be tempted to rinse the spuds when you drain them - they will cool right down and won't absorb the flavour
• To make a really good dressing, I always properly crush some garlic and add a good spoon of Dijon mustard. Then either some balsamic or wine vinegar. Depending on what you choose you may also need some sugar, but taste it as you go. Then as you whisk, little by little, add about 4 times as much olive oil as vinegar. If you do this slowly and whisk enough you get a thick, goopy emulsion rather than a layer of oil and a layer of vinegar. It might need some practice but I prefer dressing like that and I usually use an electric whisk and wear an apron if I'm doing it - hence I then make lots and keep it in a jar in the fridge so I don't have to do it all the time!

Pictures

Today we were using the two tone Portuguese tableware by Rice to cook with - it's the joy of having your own shop - you can own a lot of different crockery. This new range from Rice is really colourful and quirky, it gives a little extra pleasure to eating. Plus Rice are bringing out some new designs soon!