it's europe week at etsy!

From March 21 through March 27, 2011,  the European art and artists of Etsy will be celebrated. Although, I'm South African, I've been  based in London for the past 5 years. Anyway, to get involved with the celebrations, I will be offering a special discount of 20% off ALL MY ITEMS in my Etsy shop. 


To claim your discount: Enter the code EUROWEEK at the checkout, when making your purchase. This special discount code is only valid from Tuesday 22 March to Friday 25 March. Click here to go shopping!

Large map of Europe in Blues and Greens by englishmuffinshop at Etsy

mengsel in canada

The randomness of this world never fails to amaze me. Lauren, a girl who worked with me in the London jewellery boutique EC One back in the day, stumbled upon my tea towels in Toronto, Canada. She kindly took a few snaps of the shop window, where my black Moka Express tea towel is displayed alongside some pretty cool designs. The shop is Good Egg, my stockist in Canada. Check out their website. Quite an amazing space. Thanks Lauren!

ski bunny

Going on a very last minute ski trip to Meribel, France for one week in a couple of days. I'm definitely not a pro skier. Don't laugh, but I've been looking at ski instructor video clips on YouTube to prepare myself to not actually ski off the side of the mountain and come back with broken bones. I've been once before, so everybody's telling me that the second time will be a major improvement. Fingers crossed. Last time, I was in tears and hiked all the way back to the chalet and stuffed my face with cake to ease the pain. It was only on the last day that I actually found my groove and got the chance to actually look around at the stunning scenery. Very excited! Last year, I loved all the vintage ski posters in the restaurants and bars. Found some great posters at Snow Ski Posters.

heal's spring/summer catalogue

The other day, I took a little stroll down Tottenham Court Road and popped into the Heal's flagship store to go spy on my framed silkscreen prints. When I flipped through the gorgeous Spring/Summer 2011 catalogue, I found my "Bigger Boat" silkscreen print in turquoise on the first page! Almost did a little happy dance in the middle of the shop, but luckily I restrained myself and spared the embarrassment. Love how they tied the story together: "New Wave" and "Live Aquatic". Images from the catalogue:

"bigger boat"

"life aquatic"

front page of catalogue

ELLE Decoration March 2011 issue

Mengsel's "Leafy Heart" silkscreen print in macaroon pink was featured in a beautiful interiors spread in the March 2011 issue of South Africa's ELLE Decoration. Loving these colour combinations. Really makes the pink pop. Always a pleasure seeing my work in magazines that I adore!

This print is also available in duck egg blue and both of these colours are available at Vamp Furniture in Cape Town (for South African buyers) . My prints are shipped worldwide and you can view more details about this hand pulled silkscreen print here in the Mengsel Shop.

NEW print: Introducing "SWANS"

I've been a little bit quiet on the blog front lately. For the past few weeks, I tried to focus solely on design. It is so easy to get side tracked by so many other things like Twitter, other blogs etc. Just wanted to block all of that out and draw for a change! So this is the first in a bunch of new designs. Hoping to get them onto fabric soon for cushion covers, tea towels and more. 

Silkscreen printed by hand on white 220gsm paper in bright red and hot pink water based ink. Graphic repeat pattern of hand drawn geometric style swans. The swan is such an elegant, graceful creature and I love simplifying these shapes to create a balanced, colourful image. I've printed them in two more colourways, so will introduce them later this week. Hope you like my "Swans"!

Available in the Mengsel Shop and my Etsy Shop.

photographer hilda grahnat

Just discovered Swedish photographer and graphic designer Hilda Grahnat's wonderful work via Darling Clementine's Tumblr.  So beautiful. A few of my favourite photographs on her site:

colour of the day: olive green

Freshly printed: an olive green version of my "Whale" hand pulled silkscreen print. The little grey whale is floating on top of a sea of olive green pattern of graphic waves. Also available in delft blue and black.

You can check out this playful, happy print at the Mengsel Shop and Etsy.

Heal's!

A few screen shots of my framed hand pulled silkscreen prints at Heal's. "Bigger Boat", "Tiny Towers", "Toucans" and "Moka Express" in a Nordic White wooden frame. Available online and at the flagship store on Tottenham Court Road.