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Archive for the ‘Kitchen & Dining’ Category
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Whitby is a gorgeous north east coastal town that isn’t very far from the office and from my home so I love to drive across the moors for a visit. So when I spied these gorgeous ceramics at the Top Drawer trade show in London I knew I wanted to sell them.
The range is called Whitby and the design evokes the stormy & chilly North Sea and the design captures the movement of the sea. 
The range features all you would need for those afternoon tea purposes & includes, mugs, tea cups and saucers, side plates and a simply stunning cake stand.
Tags: afternoon tea, anchors, cake plates, cake stand, coastal, fishing boats, lighthouse, mugs, North Yorkshire, seagulls, seaside, side plates, tea cups and saucers, whitby
Posted in Just Arrived, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
We absolutely love these new additions to our shop. The ‘Pintie’ Milk Jugs are creatively upcycled from used, vintage milk bottles. Each and every jug has been hand crafted and manipulated using the highest levels of glass-making skills. The bottles for these jugs have been sourced from garages, lofts and sheds from households throughout Devon. They are available in a range of decal designs from the 1980′s, including Kellogg’s Cornflakes, Ready Brek, Weetabix, local dairies, Crusha Milkshake, Typhoo Tea, PG Tips and many others. 
The company that produces these gorgeoius products is an environmentally aware glass-making company that specialises in unique, handcrafted recycled glassware. Their fundamental ethos is to make the upcycling of a used glass bottle as environmentally friendly as possible – to transform a waste consumer container, destined for landfill, into a desirable and contemporary glassware product with a definite and purposeful eco stance.
There are just so many to choose from I don’t know which one I love the most!
Tags: breakfast, cornflakes, dairies, eco friendly, environmentally friendly, jug, made in the uk, pinties, recycled, recycled glass
Posted in Just Arrived, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
To celebrate the arrival of new products and brands to The Gifted Penguin site, we’re offering you 20% off two of our best selling brands, Zak Designs and Joseph Joseph.
Zak Designs create a colourful collection of tableware and kitchen utensils that join fashion and function in a fun and unique way. Quirky, functional and fabulous, the range of Zak products will look the part in any kitchen, and for a limited time we’re offering you 20% off the full Zak Designs range at Gifted Penguin.
As if that wasn’t good enough, we are also offering our customers 20% off another top home ware brand, Joseph Joseph. The Joseph Joseph brand specialises in contemporary kitchenware which combines function with style. The brands ability to constantly produce stylish and innovative products has lead Joseph Joseph to become a market leader in gorgeous kitchenware. To check out the range of Joseph Joseph, click here.
To brighten up your kitchen ready for Summer, take a look at the gorgeous ranges we have at The Gifted Penguin
Tags: joseph joseph kitchenware, joseph joseph sale, zak designs kitchenware, zak designs sale
Posted in Gifts, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Congratulations to Laura Roberts who won last month’s competition for the Karlsson clock. This months competition is for a gorgeous
Catherine Colebrook apron.
Catherine designs and makes beautiful top quality items and this apron is no exception. Made from high quality, machine washable, 100% thick cotton it not only looks lovely but will last for many years. Made in the UK. Catherine’s work always makes you smile with her amusing observations on the everyday and this is no exception, ‘Cake is for Life not just for Christmas’!
Tags: apron, cake, cake is for life, Catherine Colebrook, Christmas, cotton apron
Posted in competition, Gifts, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
Last week was National Cupcake week. Now, I know we have national weeks for all sorts of things these days but this one got me thinking about the cupcake phenomena. Until recently cupcakes were something you made with mum and sprinkled a few hundred and thousands on top off. What has evolved from this humble little bun is a national obsession with all things cupcake. Brides are desperate to find a cake maker who can produce a stunning wedding cupcake tower, cupcake shops are springing up everywhere and kitchen interiors are also spreading the trend. I love our Fairy Cup Cake Door Stop as do our customers as it sells all the time and is also gentle on the waist line! The artist Martin Wiscombe does a lovely range of cup cake related products including the Cup Cakes Tin Tray and his range of Cup Cake Table Mats and Coasters look almost edible. And to top it all off what’s required is a gorgeous cake stand to show those masterpieces at their best.
Well in celebration of National Cupcake Week lets get baking and join in
Basic Cup Cake Recipe:
100g butter or margarine
100g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
2 eggs
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla essence
Of course the key to a glamorous cup cake is your topping. I don’t think a sprinkling of hundreds and thousands cuts muster any longer!
Tags: cake stand, cirencester cupcakes, coasters, cup cake, cup cake coasters, cup cake door stop, cup cake table mats, cup cakes, cupcakes, door stops, kitchen interiors, martin wiscombe, national cupcake week, table mats, tray
Posted in General, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
The Pantone Colour System has been a renowned authority on colour for more than 47 years and has been an inspiration for design professionals since its development.
The system was created by Lawrence Herbert, in 1963, and he created a system that enabled professionals to identify, match and communicate colours and solve the issue of producing accurate colours within the graphic design industry. His insight that the spectrum is seen and interpreted differently by each individual led to the innovation of the PANTONE® MATCHING SYSTEM®, a book of standardized colour in fan format.
Pantone has continued to expand its colour matching system concept and is now used for example within industry, fashion, home, digital technology and architecture and is a vital tool for these industries for accurate colour communication.
Each year Pantone sell design licensees in over 100 countries and many products are designed based on their system. We love the Pantone mugs with their single block colour bringing simplicity and chic design together.
Tags: colour block mugs, mug, mugs, pantone, pantone mugs
Posted in Just Arrived, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Regardless of whether or not you’re the next Gordon Ramsay, the chances are you slave away in the kitchen day in day out, cooking the same ol’ same ol’ with the same defunct cooking pans that your Grandma bought for you at least twenty years ago. (Unless of course you were a mere minor twenty years ago and were instead ‘cooking’ plastic pizza and chips in your yellow Fisher Price kitchen.)
Well here’s a little insight for all you kitchen controllers, no longer will you be referring to your kitchen as Hell’s kitchen. Hard to believe I know but its true …for all us not so Delia Smiths it seems a revolution is upon us. We like to think of it as ‘colourful cooking’, or ‘fun cooking’ or in adult language, cooking with new cutlery…Cooking with Joseph Joseph.
The new Joseph Joseph cooking range is quirky, vibrant and simple enough to entice you into the kitchen this summer (and that’s without Pierce Brosnan standing by the oven). No more dreading the time when the kids ask ‘is it tea time yet, I’m starving’ or when your other half kindly volunteers you to cook Sunday lunch for the entire family before clarifying this event with yourself… “I invited Karen round for lunch today, you don’t mind do you? Oh and James, and the kids …and my mum and dad might pop in if there’s any going spare, that okay?” Well no not really but…. You get the point?
Cooking will soon become a pleasure rather than a chore once you treat yourself or an equally anti-cooking friend to a little bit of Joseph Joseph. We update our wardrobes every once in a while so why treat our kitchen cupboards any different? Out with the old, in with the new…a change is good and so on and so on.
Add colour as well as sugar and spice to your cooking this summer and make time spent in the kitchen a little bit more scrumptious.
Joseph Joseph Elevate Utensil Set
Posted in Home Accessories, Kitchen & Dining, other | No Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
Another set of ‘Spotted’ items this week. On this week ‘s Location Location (which we love!) we spotted three of our fabulous items. The first one we ‘spotted’ was the Cream Enamel Bread Bin and I think the combination of the fab retro look and the neutral colour makes it a really popular choice. And then we ‘spotted’ the eternal favourite Emma Bridgewater Polka Dot Cake Tins and it has to be said the combination of style and the quality of any Emma Bridgewater product means many a house in the land can boast a piece of Bridgewater. The polka dot design has an enduring appeal and the tins look fabulous in either a contemporary or more traditional setting. The final ‘spotted’ was the Cath Kidston Large Spray Flowers Crush China Mug which is just so pretty and holds a great size cup of tea and allows plenty of dunking space for your digestive biscuit.
Tags: bread bin, cake, cake tins, cath kidston, crush mug, Emma Bridgewater, enamel, mug, polka dot, Spotted, sprig mug, tins
Posted in Kitchen & Dining, Spotted | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
I love all these national weeks that occur during the year and as a sandwich lover I raise a wholemeal triangle in recognition of the ‘British Sandwich Week’ which is from 9th-15th May.
They are definitely a well loved British institution which should be celebrated with a round of cucumber sandwiches. The fourth Earl Of Sandwich gave his name to this British lunchtime, teatime, in fact anytime tradition in 1762 and we’ve been munching away ever since.
The joy of a sandwich is you can make it as healthy and wholesome as you like or the complete opposite and expose yourself to the delights of peanut butter, chocolate spread and bacon. Oh the joy of a bacon sandwich….yum…sorry I was lost in my thoughts there for a moment!
The second crucial thing in a sandwich is the transportation of said item to school, to work, to your picnic and so on. We’ve got a large range of lunch boxes available especially for children of which The Gruffalo Tin Lunch Box and Dinosaur Tin Lunch Box are two of the favourites. Little girls love the Gisela Graham Fairy Tea Party Lunch Bag and the Emma Bridgewater Dancing Mice Lunch Box. For the adults the Union Jack Tin Lunch Box is popular along with the Emma Ball Designer Tea Time Lunch Tin.
Tags: bag, box, british, celebration, dancing mice, dinosaurs, emma ball, Emma Bridgewater, fairies, fairy, lunch, lunch bag, lunch box, lunch boxes, lunch tin, picnic, sandwich, school, tea party, the gruffalo, tin, uk, union jack
Posted in Kitchen & Dining, News | No Comments »
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
I love the Moomins and my love affair began as a young teenager when I picked up my first Moomin book up at a jumble sale (before the days of boot fairs!) and fell in love with the soft, round and loving creatures. I have to confess my good friend Ben and I used to read them aloud to each other and made up voices for all the characters. Oh innocent days!
The first Moomin novel was published in 1945, The Moomins and The Great Flood. Eight more novels & three more picture books were to follow in the coming years. It was 1950 when the first English Moomin novel was published, Finn Family Moomintroll followed in 1954 by the London’s Evening News launching a Moomin Comic Strip. The last Moomin book was published in 1970.
For the uninitiated they are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippos. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley which is a peaceful, harmonious idyllic place to live. They live between the sea and the valley with a river running through the valley. It bursts into life in spring and is covered in snow when the Moomintrolls hibernate for the winter.
Some of the main characters include Moomintroll who is a happy soul who is excited by everything he sees and enjoys collecting shells and rocks and is happiest spending time with his friends. He has a very sensitive and gentle character. Moomintroll loves to daydream and loves Moominmamma and his family.
Moominmamma is loving, attentive and makes everyone feel safe. She finds a silver lining in everything and cares for all who visit Moominhouse. She is always wearing her red apron and carrying her handbag.
Snorkmaiden is a very good friend of Moomintroll. She too is a bit of a daydreamer and is a happy Snork. Snorks have the magical ability to change colour to reflect their mood!
The writing had some real gems in it and Snufkin’s comment on freedom still speaks volumes “One can never be entirely free, if one admires someone else too much.”
You can imagine my excitement when I found some fabulous Moomin licensed products which I love. The Moomin Spring Design Weekend Bag is so quirky and will be a talking point when you turn up at the Hotel Du Vin for your weekend away and why not finish the look with the Moomin Spring Wash Bag!
As a great coffee lover I can feel so virtuous and a touch quirky(!) when I turn up at Starbucks with my Moomin flask and ask them to fill it.
Take a moment to have a look at our Moomin products and maybe it will lead to a nostalgic moment like it did for me.
Tags: bag, coffee, flask, flasks, hand bag, handbag, holiday, moomin, moomins, moomintroll, shoulder bag, spring, tea, toiletry bag, Travel, wash bag, weekend bag
Posted in Bags & Wallets, Kitchen & Dining | No Comments »
