Irish Design & Craft Showcase – meet the exhibitors

The Irish Design & Craft Showcase takes place at Blarney Woollen Mills Cork from 29th. November to 15th. December. It brings together an exciting group of Irish designers and craftspeople and offers a tempting choice of thoughtful Irish gifts including jewellery, homewares and fashion accessories.  You can read about each of our guest designers below.

Brooke & Shoals

 Brooke & Shoals was founded by Alison Banton in the picturesque seaside town of Greystones in County Wicklow, known as the “Garden of Ireland”.  Alison’s passion for fragrance was inspired by the divine aroma’s of the petals she picked as a child in her great-aunt Mollie's circular rose garden. Mollie used to say the 'babbling brook and the whispering shoals' would help her turn Alison's rose petals into perfume. But overnight, the kind old lady would add real perfume to the little girl's watery mixture, so fooling her into thinking she had created the wonderful aroma!

'My great-aunt and the mysterious brook and shoals awakened my interest in perfumes, so I added an 'e' and turned it into a name that has wonderful fragrance memories for me'. - Alison Banton, Founder & CEO, Brooke & Shoals Fragrances

How we grew...
Alison decided to create her own range of candles that were superior to other Irishmade candles on the market. Her vision was simple, high quality, divine fragrances, natural wax, beautiful packaging and Irish made. Her customers loved them. She built on her experience of fragrance by going to Grasse in the South of France, the capital of fragrance, to study it in more detail and gather new inspiration.
Originally, Alison’s wonderful fragranced candles were sold only in her own shop in Greystones. However an increasing number of enquiries from other stores to stock her ranges, led her to scale up the business to meet the growing demand for her high quality, Irish made, design-led products. Now Brooke & Shoals divine candles and organic body product range can be found in many high quality stores in Ireland and the UK and increasingly in mainland Europe.

Button Studio

 Button studio is a exciting  jewellery company that makes colourful unique pieces that are eye-catching but affordable... All the jewellery is handmade by the founder of Button studio Jane Walsh in her Studio in Athlone Co. Westmeath.. The pieces are made from clear resin and reclaimed buttons and patchwork fabrics. Each piece comes with a lovely handmade pillow box with a button threaded on for that extra special touch customers are looking for these days. Button studio started out by just doing commissions for people who wanted to turn their family button tins into charming jewellery that hold a piece of family history within.
Button Studios jewellery is wonderfully colourful very easy to wear and suits all age groups and with its very affordable price tag you really can’t go wrong.
Handmade colourful unique jewellery at a accessible price range.

As cute as a Button ! Button Studio Facts :

• Launched company at showcase January 2010
• Each piece is unique and has its own story to tell .
• Button Studio is about turning everyday ordinary objects into fun creative eye-catching jewellery .

Green Monkey Designs

 Green Monkey is a new and exciting design concept brought to you by entrepreneur Gemma McGowan from Kells in Co. Meath.

‘With the mass exodus that has taken place from our shores in recent times, we regularly send care packages from our house to Australia and of course, our relatives always want traditional Irish brands sent over to remind them of home.  I was exactly the same when I was a student living in England.  I regularly asked my Mum to send me Barry’s Tea and Jacobs Club Milk biscuits. There is nothing quite like receiving something that is quintessentially Irish when you’re feeling homesick. With Green Monkey I wanted to design something that would instantly evoke the same joyous emotions as receiving one of those care packages. I wanted people to be instantly transported back to the warmth of childhood and evoke strong memories of home, while also creating something visually striking, exciting and full of fun.’

Green Monkey brings you six traditional Irish brands, re-imagined in gorgeous hand drawn sketches and hand printed onto top quality textiles in striking colours. Green Monkey have also produced a fab range of mugs, placemats and coasters.

Green Monkeys designs are nostalgic and whimsical yet they are also fresh, funky and vibrant, appealing to Irish people and Ireland fans of all ages wherever they may be in the world.

The Handmade Soap Company

 The Handmade Soap Company was founded in 2009 by Donagh Quigley and Gemma McGowan.
It arose out of a need for change in the couples life as by 2009, Donagh’s thatching business, ‘Thatcherman’, like many other businesses, was feeling the ill effects of the economic downturn. So they decided to think and get creative!

While on a road trip in Australia in January 2009 they visited a market in the rainforest in the Atherton Highlands and discovered a vibrant cottage industry in the making and selling of delightful handmade soaps, something that at that time was rarely to be seen at home in Ireland. Donagh had always suffered with mild psoriasis and had never found any kind of soap or cleanser that suited his skin.....until that moment! Eureka! Surely there must be tons of people with the same problems at home in Ireland. And so the idea for ‘The Handmade Soap Co’ was born.

The Handmade Soap Company are quickly becoming industry leaders, winning numerous awards for their 100% natural range of skincare products.

“We believe in using only the finest natural ingredients, making new stuff the old fashioned way”

The Handy Bag Co.

The Handy Bag Co. was established in 2012 by Martina Dermody having won an award for Most Innovative Use of a Medium from Offaly & Westmeath Local Development Companies.
With an eye for, and love of, colour and a passion for bags, Martina decided to design bags which are not only practical but beautiful too. Her main focus is on producing a multi purpose bag which can be used for so many different occasions, whether you are travelling, crafting, sketching, shopping, are a student or just love bags that are a little different!
The bags are all machine washable and Martina only uses designer fabric so you can be sure you will always be in vogue!

Hazel Greene

Hazel Greene lives near Birr in County Offaly, Ireland, and works as a visual and textile artist.

Her work practice is unusual in that she works in different mediums; oil, acrylic, silk and more recently watercolour, though her favoured subjects remain constant; women and skies.

Hazel teaches painting through regular classes at Bramber Studio, and paints fine silk scarves which she offers directly and through selected retail outlets.

Heather Finn

A fashion graduate of NCAD, Heather Finn specialized in Knitwear. Inspired by textiles, interiors and abstract colourists such as Howard Hodgkins and Paul Gaugain, the focus of her design has been the emotional qualities of colour and yarn.

For the past 6 years, Heather has been experimenting with colour and pattern and mixing traditional methods of crochet, hand knitting and felting with machine knitting, to create her brand of vibrant knitwear.

The tone, hue, balance and mixing of colour for each garment is carefully considered and put together with the intention of giving joy to the person who wears the piece.

Hennessy & Byrne

Hennessy & Byrne create elegant gifts and tableware from indigenous Irish stone such as Connemara Marble, Kilkenny Limestone and Wicklow Granite. Each piece is handcrafted by Dublin born, Eric Byrne, a second generation Master Stone Mason with over twenty years experience working with the finest marble and granite from all over the world. The Hennessy & Byrne range includes exquisite Irish marble cheeseboards and serving utensils, candle sticks, tea light holders and napkin rings all of which are sold across Ireland, the United States and Canada.

The ancient Irish stone used by Hennessy & Byrne was formed up to 750 million years ago, quarried in selected quarries around Ireland and handpicked to create truly unique gifts. Every piece is entirely designed and handcrafted in the Hennessy & Byrne workshop in Dunboyne, Co. Meath.

Hennessy & Byrne: Made in Ireland, Made of Ireland

Lisa Ryder Designs

Lisa Ryder Designs is a design lead women’s fashion accessories label. Its primary focus is on producing creative, unique and elegant women’s accessories with a strong focus on print. Lisa is inspired by urban and rural landscapes. She loves to create strong complimentary contrasts using these two different landscapes to inspire and create her eye-popping prints. You could say she puts everything and more into her dynamic designs.

Since setting up in 2011, Lisa has launched three scarf collections. She has recently introduced a range of elegant handbags to her collection. The greatest consideration is taken in designing her products with special attention given to finish, fabric and detail. Each product is a piece of crafted luxury.

Her distinctive way of thinking has won Lisa many awards, ‘Fashion Innovation Awards Designer of the Year 2012’ by Galway Now Magazine. The ‘Future Makers Exhibition Award’ 2011-2012 by the Craft Council of Ireland. She features again at ‘Irish Designers Create’ at Brown Thomas in 2013.

Lisa Shawgi

Lisa Shawgi is a knitwear designer of Irish and Egyptian/Sudanese parentage. She spent most of her childhood in the Sudan before moving to Dublin in 1995, and she often uses the juxtaposition of both cultures as an inspiration for her creations.

She graduated from the National College of Art and Design in 2005 with a BA in Fashion Design. It was here in her final year Lisa discovered her love of knitwear and it's endless abilities to create her own distinctive style. With this new found passion she went on to swoop three awards for one of her unique knitted creations in the RDS National Crafts Competition.
After leaving NCAD, Lisa went on to work for designers such as Lainey Keogh, and Vera Wang, where she further developed her design and technical skills along with involving herself in the everyday running of the studios.

Lisa Shawgi later devoted all of her efforts in launching her own knitwear label in 2008. Colour and texture are key elements in creating soft, luxurious sensual knitted fabrics and combined with original and innovative designs, Lisa Shawgi produces unique, eye catching contemporary feminine knitwear where attention to detail is essential in giving each creation beautifully finished features.
Constance Harris reffed to Shawgi as 'an originator', describing her designs as ' richly colourful, evocative, sensual and flattering'. While Deirdre McQuillan describes her as a designer steadily developing a distinctive, individual look, are stylish and classy'.

The Label Lisa Shawgi has been featured in publications such as Tatler, Image and Prudence Magazine, The Irish Times, Sunday Independent, Sunday Business Post, RTE's TV programme Nationwide, TV3'S programme Ireland AM and The Crafts Council Of Ireland's ‘Stories in The Making’, to name a few.

Matt Jones

I am a woodturner based in the picturesque village of Riverstown County Sligo in the West of Ireland. I produce unique handcrafted giftware in native Irish timber.
My designs are inspired by the Irish vernacular and by the forms and shapes found in nature. I prefer simple, clean and modern shapes that allow the grain and colour of the timber to speak.

Much of my work is utilitarian and is intended for everyday use. I also make one off pieces, sculptural forms and commissions.

Paula Fitzpatrick

Irish Fine Art Print Miniature, is an original and individually hand made Fine Art Print.  I use ancient Intaglio etching or incising techniques, such as Aquatint, Mezzotint and Dry Point, on to copper or steel.  I also use Wood Block, Screen Print and Lithograph.  Irish Fine Art Print Miniatures are a new innovative way to present my work.  I hope people will regard them as desirable, collectable and unique precious gifts. I will be demonstrating the printing of a small etched plate at The Blarney Woollen Mills Showcase.