its halloween this weekend so print & pattern is coming over all black & orange - the staple colours for designs of this genre. halloween was once a relatively small event here in the UK but in recent years it has expanded and so more designers now work on halloween projects.these shots are all from an exclusive collection created by john lewis, and for the first time ever i saw a selection of halloween cards!
designer samantha hahn has created some free downloadable halloween cards - available on her blog maquette.
even if you dont need to go the whole way and create halloween designs you can still be seasonally inspired by autumn ( or fall as they say in the US). designer lisa jones created this gorgeous squirrel design - which i found on her blog when checking out her new website. and with the release of fantastic mr.fox i saw 'gap kids' in london had actual sets from the movie in their windows. the leaf design wallpaper used in the film is a recreation of a design roald dahl actually had in his own home.
if you've recently tried to google chrome you may have discovered there are lots of designer 'skins' to choose from. google launched their competitor to microsoft explorer earlier this summer and asked caroline gardner if they would design a free downloadable ‘skin’, this fabulous caroline gardner floral design features alongside around 100 other designers such as matthew williamson, vivienne westwood and dolce and gabbana. as seen here.
on september 30th i visited london's chelsea harbour for the trade show 'focus 09' and have been meaning to post the pictures ever since. this is the exhibition which launches new autumn collections for many top wallpaper and textile companies. participants include designers guild, osborne & little, cole & son, sanderson, romo, and harlequin. some snaps from my visit coming up... 
at the focus 09 show in chelsea harbour last month i got my first chance to look at the fabulous collection fi howard created for sanderson. i had seen it online and a few colourways in john lewis but in the sanderson showroom you can see all the available designs and colours on both fabrics and wallpaper. here are some snaps of the dandelion clocks from the 'options' book.
