Things are definitely crazy right now - this pandemic has got us all rethinking how we live, how we consume and how we shop. Even as the most ‘stay away from people, love to be locked away alone’ type person, I’ve had my ups and downs. Changing the way our business is run has been a challenge indeed.
One thing we learnt (and were so grateful for) is that people are becoming much more mindful of where they spend their money, which has meant we've had a huge uptick in support. It's been honestly amazing! So, as you guys have been supporting us we wanted to give a shout out to some other fab small UK brands that we love.
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Who doesn’t love sequins and embroidered sparkly joy? Every time I see pieces from Kate I am in such awe of her work - she does custom orders and everything is handmade by her (and her wonderful mum). And who wouldn't want a sequinned lobster on their Christmas tree? Or a set of sequinned sauces? Her work is truly amazing and you'll want to be surrounded by it all year round. Shop Kate Gwilliam here.
Colour, terrazzo, concrete - a perfect mix, what more can I say? Sarah is the master behind Concrete Candy and she has an incredible eye for colour. I basically want all of her pots everywhere in my house (well, in all the locations that the cats can't knock them over). My personal favourite is her ice lollies but be quick - she only makes them in small limited batches! Shop here.
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Crispin Finn is run by quite possibly the nicest duo in stationery, Anna and Roger. With a strict colour palette of red, white and blue, their products are practical AND good-looking. They use lots of amazing fonts and are a firm favourite around here at The Completist HQ (in fact, I'm looking at their London is Open print as I write this post!) What makes them extra cool? Well, they have Crispin Finn branded jackets that they wear around trade shows which makes me jealous I didn't think of it first, and inspires me to have a Completist branded jumpsuit. But I digress - if you love good design, and a good typeface, then Crispin Finn are your friends.
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I've admired Alison for a really long time, and was very lucky to be right near her at Top Drawer earlier this year. On top of being a super lovely person, she's also amazingly supportive of other brands and stores she's knows - she's currently doing a mammoth round-up of all her favourites every day on her instagram and honestly, where most people would do things in 1 post, she's done it over a week giving everybody shout outs. It's amazing! Her products are great, her cards are really lovely, so make sure you throw some indie love her way. Shop here.
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Our final entry on this list is our SE London neighbour, A'Laise. Run by the lovely Suzie, she not only has gorgeous cards but also is a super talented calligrapher. She has calligraphy supplies, leather goods, and if you're feeling really adventurous (I'm a lefty so I smudge EVERYTHING and so no calligraphy for me) then she does workshops too. AND she can personalise notecard sets for you too. Perfect for gifting (or self-gifting!)
Phew! That's a lot of brands to look at, and there's so many more on our list. Keep an eye out - we'll post more of our favourites soon.
- Jana + Marko
