Month: March 2020

OC&K Curates: Nurturing Nature

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An air of optimism is needed when times are hard, and that optimism can be found in the smallest of places. Be it a windowsill or an expanse of lawn, it’s important to connect with nature wherever we can. Bright flowers blooming around us, or insects flying past our window are reasons to bring joy into our life and we can encourage this joy for us and others around us.

With this blog post we bring you the garden. Here at Of Cabbages and Kings with have a variety of gifts and garden themed ideas from prints and garden accessories to ways of encouraging wildlife into your backyard.

We all know that bees are important for our ecosystem. So let’s help with the pollination of plants and crops. But did you know that there are over 200 species of solitary bees? A great way to provide a home for the these vital insects are Bee Bricks from Green&Blue. Coming in a variety of sizes they are perfect for a patio, garden wall or balcony. Solitary bees use the small nooks and crannies to lay their eggs. A perfectly designed contemporary home for bees in a modern, clean-cut world where their natural habitats are dwindling.

Small Bee Block by Green&Blue – £18.75

Bee Brick by Green&Blue – £30.00

This attractive Bee Friendly Tea Towel is sure to become a gardener’s best friend. A collaboration with Friends of the Earth and homewares designer Stuart Gardiner, it contains a guide to essential flowers that encourage bees and pollinating insects into your garden.

Bee Friendly Tea Towel by Stuart Gardiner – £12

Kew is one of the world’s greatest gardens. It houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections, while providing scientific research into conservation. Caitlin Parks has produced this multi layered screen print in a colourful collage style of the tropical plants and grand greenhouses. A cheerful print celebrating one of the most established and visited collections of plants from across the globe.

Kew Gardens by Caitlin Parks – £120

Being organised in the garden is a must when it comes to seeds. You don’t want to mix up your courgettes with your cornflowers! This seed collecting kit from Creamore Mill has everything you need to collect, store, plant and record your seeds. Envelopes and a pencil for keeping a record, dibber for planting seeds and wooden labels for marking what you have planted and where. If you are conscious to reduce plastic use in the garden, with this Paper Pot Press you can make recyclable and biodegradable newspaper pots for starting seedlings. These pots can be planted straight into the ground minimising damage to the roots of young plants.

Seed Collecting Kit by Creamore Mill – £14.50

Paper Pot Press by Creamore Mill – £12.50

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This innovative bird feeder by Green&Blue is a stylish way to complete a modern garden. Its clean and simple design adds a contemporary feature to any out door space, while also offering year-round feeding for birds such as tits, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers and nuthatches.

Birdball Seed Feeder by Green&Blue – £55

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This second print by Caitlin Parks is perfect for amateur twitchers. A limited edition screen print, British Birds is in a wood-cut style and illustrates some of our most popular garden visitors.

British Birds by Caitlin Parks – £35

Maybe your little bit of green space are the houseplants that decorate your home. These 3D printed mid-century modern style planters from Studio Nilli are made from bioplastic. Tall legged pots are perfect for plants that grow and trail like vines, devils ivy and string of pearls.

Tall White Legged Planter by Studio Nilli – £35

These Houseplant Care Cards are the ultimate guide to growing happy plants – you can’t fail! A boxed gift set containing 35 cards packed full of advice and tips for botanical success indoors.

House Plant Care Cards by Another Studio – £12.95

And what better way to celebrate your green fingered achievements than with these Plant Awards! Featuring: Dream Plant, Surviving and Still Alive rosettes.

Plant Award – Dream Plant Ornament – £5.75

Plant Award – Surviving Plant Ornament – £5.75

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This peaceful image of a gardener, captures a sense of meditation at work. Garden Man is a 7 colour screen print by artist Tom Berry and forms part of Tom Berry’s Daily Rites Series which explores the ritual of daily activities.

Garden Man by Tom Berry – £75

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Crazy Times – Coping With COVID-19

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In the last 10 years Of Cabbages and Kings and Knit with attitude have survived a global financial crisis, a double-dip recession, 4 elections resulting in 9 years of austerity, 25% of high street shops closing in the UK, the turmoil and uncertainty of Brexit, and 2020 kicked off with no less than 3 storms in 4 weekends, and we said “But hey! We’re still standing!”

We are certain we will come out the other side of this crisis too – if we all pull together and the government pulls its finger out and supports small business in the best, quickest and fairest way it can.

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Sadly, after a very testing few years most small independent businesses don’t have buffers, savings or potentially even insurance policies to protect them when everything comes to a stop. We can’t close while expenses are still running. Many of us are facing the choice between protecting ourselves or our businesses, the consequences of shutting being so great most of us will choose the latter. Therefore we will stay open as normal for as long as we possibly can. However, we want to assure our customers that we are doing our upmost to protect both our customers and our staff.

We have reduced to a skeleton staff and only those who are symptom free are coming in. We are also trying to arrange travel so staff can avoid public transport and work from home. Those who are using public transport are travelling off-peak and away from crowds. We are sticking to a vigorous hand washing routine, using gloves at the counter, and all surfaces are being continuously wiped off. We would also like to encourage our local friends to use our pick-up in store options online as it will help reduce the physical contact between staff and customers. KWA customers get a 5% discount too!

In the next coming weeks you we will no doubt see shops slashing prices and conjuring special offers they probably can’t afford. Our plea to you, if you are in a position to, is to choose the independents, be conscious about the purchases you make – it really can make a tremendous of difference. Think small!

Another thing you can do to show your support for the cafes, stores, restaurants, beauticians etc you know and love through this tricky time is to purchase a gift certificate, either in store or online. Then, once all this all this has settled down, treat yourself or someone special with your gift card. We are currently compiling a list of links to local businesses in N16 with gift certificate options. Click here for further details.

Eventually we will be asked to close the doors. Please continue to support our online shops. We will have staff in place to wrap and send orders as normal, as long as the Post Office is open.

All events and workshops are postponed or cancelled as of today. We are very aware the need for community, support and friendship in these challenging times, and we are currently working on virtual alternatives trying to find suitable solutions. Stay tuned – as we will use our social media to inform about this.

And most importantly – be kind and stay safe!

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OC&K Curates – Spring Time

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Fresh green leaves and spring bulbs are starting to appear around us. The days are lengthening and blue skies shine above. Spring is such a lovely time of year and what with Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday 22 March there are plenty of reasons to bring a spring feel into your home, or give a gift with some springtime inspiration.

Spring is the time of year colour returns to our life. Slowly at first with gentle pastel tones, until the riot of hot summer takes over. It’s fresh and has a hint of warmth that banishes the memory of cold frosty mornings. Flowers begin to poke their heads out of the earth and there is an energy in nature. Freya Cumming’s work speaks of spring; her eye for gentle colour complimenting the season. This screen print titled Village Politics with its ‘best in bloom’ is finished with gold and silver leaf and is a great way of adding a bit of bright country style to any room.

Village Politics by Freya Cumming – £250

Polka dots still seem to be a firm fashion favourite and could be seen in the spring collections of some of the most well know fashion designers like Dries Van Noten’s collaboration with Christian Lacroix and Carolina Herrera. Your favourite spotty outfit needs a spotty accessory. These Form Circle Earrings from Tom Pigeon in Blush add a cool edition of colour to your outfit. A combination of Formica and brass they are perfect for any time of day or night.

Form Circle Earrings in Blush by Tom Pigeon – £30

You can’t have spring without fresh leaves appearing on the trees. This clock features a hanging willow branch pattern, evoking the dappled shade of sitting under a tree. Made from laser-cut, powder-coated steel, it features a quiet quartz mechanism and stamped aluminium hands. A minimal yet stylish way to celebrate nature.

Grass Green Willow Clock by Max Cairns – £100

Speaking of leaves, these leaf bookmarks by Another Studio just had to be included. They make the perfect little gift for a plant lover and feature the leaves of Maranta Leuconeuraia, Peperomia Argyreia, Caladium Bicolour and the Begonia Maculata. Celebrate the season of growth.

Leaf Bookmark Set – Steel by Another Studio – £9.50

It’s the time of year we start thinking about our gardens, (or any little space we may have set aside for growing things). If you are conscious of all the plastic used in the garden then this is the perfect way to go. Giving you the ability to produce recyclable and biodegradable newspaper pots for starting seedlings. These pots can be planted straight into the ground minimising damage to the roots of young plants. To read more about how they are made check out our ‘How to make Paper Pots using the Paper Pot Press’ Blog Post.

Paper Pot Press by Creamore Mill – £12.50

Spring colours are alive in this fun combination of Collage Studs from Wolf & Moon. This set of four mix and match earrings combine brass, painted wood, acrylic and mother of pearl. A versatile set in shades of green offset with some sparkle that will add spring vibes to any outfit.

Collage Studs by Wolf & Moon – £38

I had to end with this fun screen print by Tiff Howick of a yellow duck. Tiff Howick captures its fluffy feathery body with an expressive use of marks. Bold and bright in strong yellow colours, this is the perfect print to waddle into your home. A little duckling is an iconic image of spring and makes you think of new life.

Yellow Duck by Tiff Howick – £40

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