Rust & Stardust

I remember about a year and a half ago discovering the work of graphic designer and artist, Evie Kemp, and falling in love with her fun, quirky style. I've been a huge fan ever since, stocking her cushions and artwork in my shop, and interviewing her in her gorgeous home for Homestyle magazine. Now I'm really excited to be sharing with you Evie's latest collaborative venture, Rust & Stardust.

Evie has teamed up with fashion designer, Amy Clarke, to bring us a range of unique, innovative homewares, combining geometric pattern, hand-drawn images, unexpected colour, and lasting quality. The products are all amazing in their own right, but they also work beautifully when you mix and match them together.

As indie designers it's really important to Evie and Amy to maintain authenticity, create great designs, produce high-quality work, and have a hand in every step of the process. They want to produce all their work themselves in their own studio. There will be no out-sourcing, especially overseas. But unfortunately there are not a lot of funding options for small businesses in New Zealand, so this is where we all come in...

The girls have started up a Pledge Me campaign. Pledge Me is a platform for creative crowd funding. Rewards are offered in return for donations, and Evie and Amy will only get the funds if they reach their target. I've made donations to a couple of Pledge Me campaigns in the past, and it's fast becoming a popular way to get a small business venture off the ground. You can read more about the process here.

They already have a fabulous workshop and studio, now Evie and Amy need to raise costs to become a large format textile studio. With the right equipment they'll be able to produce all their own fabric, as well as run classes and workshops to share their skills and knowledge with you and me.

So let's all help make that happen. Go on, hop over to the Rust & Stardust Pledge Me page and choose your favourite reward. When the target has been met, you'll be sent the item you've chosen. Evie and Amy have timed this campaign so they can deliver all rewards by Christmas, but that means time is of the essence.

I love this collection, let me know your favourite items, as I will be stocking some in my online shop. Is it the 3D cushions, the cute wee dog tent, the giant floor cushion that can also be a dog bed...? Scroll down through the Rust & Stardust blog to see all the fabulous products, then go and make it yours!