Elle Decor India magazine December 2011

Elle Decor India is one of 25 worldwide editions of the highly sophisticated interiors magazine and has a circulation of over 50,000 copies. It's hard to get hold of here but I would love to have a proper look at it as looking at design from a different cultural viewpoint is always healthy. It's interesting to see that the magazine cover could be European or American which goes to show how incredibly global design has become. The editors have been keeping a close eye on European trends for this issue in particular and it's lovely to see the Alabasta 49cm Folk Stripe tray table featured in their news section. The foldable wooden legs can be bought separately in white or beech and the tray simply rests on top.

Alabasta 49cm Folk Stripe birch wood tray

US Elle Decor magazine December 2011

What I love is that 'what they love' is the red 38cm Folk Stripe tray. I'm very pleased to see the prestigious American Elle Decor magazine featuring an Alabasta product and in very exclusive company next to Liz Taylor's diamonds. I reckon that the tray is much better value as I can't see that tiara being used daily and it's hardly practical is it - unlike a top quality birch wood tray?

Elle Decor US edition, December 2011 p46

To see which other shops stock this 38cm red Folk Stripe tray, see the stockists info on the right sidebar of this page. 

If you are a retailer and would like to sell them please contact Isabel Saiz at Avenida Isabel Ltd for more information and prices.

Hen and Hammock online shop now selling the red 38cm Folk Stripe tray

Hen and Hammock is an ecologically conscious webshop selling a carefully selected range of contemporary home and garden products. Their outdoorsy gift range is extensive and includes wildlife feeders, fire bowls, hammocks and also the 38cm red Alabasta Folk Stripe tray. Not only does the website sell environmentally friendly gifts but it also acts as an online eco resource with advice such as how to press your own apples, bird feeding and helping hedgehogs...

Hen and Hammock

Alabasta 38cm red Folk Stripe tray

PS They kindly asked me to be on their Featured Producer page so follow this link to find me!

London stockists round up: SCP, Fortnum & Mason and Lifestyle Bazaar

I had a day out in London yesterday to visit the fantastic Grayson Perry exhibition at the British Museum (watch this BBC programme about it, available until 28th Dec on iplayer) and get inspired at Anthropologie and Liberty, two of my favourite London shops. I also went to view the Alabasta Folk Stripe trays in situ at their London stockists - SCP, Lifestyle Bazaar and Fortnum & Mason all stock them and they are selling fast in the run up to Christmas:

SCP, 135 Curtain Road, London EC2A and 87 Westbourne Grove London W2:

SCP. 49cm tray shown with Les Planchas and Perrette wooden dishes. Folk Stripe available in 49cm and both colours of 38cm tray.

Fortnum and Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1A. On the first floor in the centre of the shop:

Fortnum and Mason. Folk Stripe in 49cm, 38cm white and 11cm mini tray sizes.
Shown with Michael Angove's Spoons, Feathers and Dill collections and Martin
Wiscombe's Macaroons tray, all for Ary Trays

Lifestyle Bazaar 11a Kingsland Road, London E2:

window display

Lifestyle Bazaar. This shop has the extra large 65cm Folk Stripe tray

Rossiters of Bath: Fish and Folk Stripe trays in store

Here in Bath the streets are always packed with tourists but never more so than at this time of year when the huge Christmas Market is on.
John Cleese came to switch on the town's Christmas lights this year - previous random local celebrities who have done the honours include the Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage and the Duchess of Cornwall. 

Bath has a lot of really good independent shops including Rossiters, the design led mini department store on Broad Street. The ground floor is filled to the brim with an array of colourful kitchenware, gadgets and gifts and amongst them you can find the Alabasta trays. At the moment they have the Blue Fish trays in the 49cm and 11cm mini tray sizes and the Folk Stripe trays in the 49cm and white 38cm sizes. They had the red 38cm ones too but they have already sold out. Rossiters don't do mail order but Bath is a town worthy of a day trip especially in December - the Christmas Market is on until the 11th.

Rossiters of Bath Christmas window on Walcot Street, with the Alabasta 38cm Folk Stripe tray in the foreground

38cm Folk Stripe tray. Photo: Asta Barrington

Lifestyle Bazaar: new Folk Stripe tray stockist

Lifestyle Bazaar is the latest London interiors shop to stock the Alabasta Folk Stripe wooden trays including the rare extra large 65cm round tray. It has them online now and in their lifestyle and concept store in Shoreditch. Last year London's Time Out magazine hailed it as one of London's best shops. They sell a vast range of modern furniture and accessories from leading designer brands such as Kartell and Alessi so it's great to know that our trays are being sold alongside such established names.

If you are in London, the shop is at 11a Kingsland Road, E2 8AA

Lifestyle Bazaar

Time Out 2010

Galerie CO: Alabasta tray stockist in Canada

One of the great things about Ary trays is that they are manufactured from sustainable birch wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This eco credential appeals to the owners of Galerie CO, a gallery/shop based in Quebec which sells environmentally sound products for the home in store and online. The idea at CO is to present "a collection of pieces that are functional, contemporary and beautiful. They are also fun, a little eccentric and often entirely unexpected."

Galerie CO

They have just received their shipment of Alabasta Folk Stripe trays from Sweden in the 49cm and both 38cm colourways so now we are selling across the pond in both the US and Canada. Find them here.

By the way, on their news page about the Ary trays just in they mistakenly call me a 'he'. I can assure anyone reading that I am definitely female!

Gretel: Alabasta trays now available online in the USA

Gretel is an American online shop selling all sorts of lovely modern homewares from all over the globe. It's been going for a couple of years and was founded by British interior stylist Abby Kellett who states on their website:

"We source home accessories from around the world that we love (not just like) and hope that you will fall for them too. We admire products that are clearly hand-made and look for those with an emotional element to their design. We do believe in love at first sight (impulse buys), but we don’t believe in excess. Gretel’s collection is carefully curated and uncluttered, so that your home can be too."

Gretel US webshop

The selection has a European look - there's a lot of British and Scandinavian design with clean lines and tasteful colours. They now have in stock the birch wood Folk Stripe trays in the 49cm and both 38cm colourways, and at the moment they are the only US stockist for Alabasta trays.

screenshot from the Gretel webshop

Alabasta Folk Stripe trays. Photo: Andrew Wicks

interiors@tides: New online Blue Fish tray stockist

interiors@tides is an online shop that deals specifically in coastal inspired products for the home. You can almost smell the salty sea air when browsing through the vast range of nauticalia, from driftwood mirrors and frames, tide clocks, personalised gifts, deckchairs and now Alabasta trays. Owner Nicky Brier tells me they have just jumped right to the top of her favourite products that they sell...

http://www.interiors-tides.co.uk/ webshop



They have just added the birch wood Blue Fish trays to their collection and are stocking the 49cm round, 43x33cm and 27x20cm rectangular and the 11cm round 'mini tray'. This small size comes in handy as a practical coaster - tea won't spill off it - or it can be used for keys, coins, jewellery etc. Delivery is free over £75. Find them all here.



43x33cm and 27x20cm rectangular Blue Fish trays. Photo: Asta Barrington



49cm round Blue Fish tray. Photo Asta Barrington



11cm Blue Fish mini tray. Photo: Asta Barrington

The Linen Works: Folk Stripe and Fish trays in stock online

The Linen Works is a mail order company that sells top quality homewares online and via a paper catalogue. A lot of the products are, as you would expect, made from linen but there are also non textile homewares with an emphasis on natural materials. When selecting the items owner Marina Guirey always looks for "an aesthetic based on simplicity and functionality." They have bought the Alabasta Blue Fish 49cm tray since they were launched and now the 38cm red Folk Stripe tray has joined it. If you request a catalogue you can get 10% off your first order.

The Linen Works webshop

It's always satisfying to see the products in print and I am delighted they have chosen the best selling Blue Fish tray for their ads in December's Elle Decoration and Homes and Gardens magazines:

Hus and Hem: Alabasta Folk Stripe trays now in store and online

At long last the new Folk Stripe collection of trays have started to hit the shops.

Hus and Hem ('House and Home' in Swedish) is a gem of a shop in the heart of Ledbury that specialises in all things Scandinavian for the home. Candles, lighting, textiles, blankets and kitchenware as well as the Ary birch trays are all displayed beautifully here. The owners like to go to Denmark and Sweden three times a year to discover new products and as a result many are uncommon in the UK. Louise Little, one of the owners, told me recently that Spirograph was her favourite toy as a child so she's a bit smitten with the latest Alabasta trays. They have the 49cm, 38cm and 11cm mini trays/coasters online and in store from today. Thanks Hus and Hem!

Hus and Hem

Monochrome trays - get them while you can

38cm Flower tray. Photo: Asta Barrington

The new Folk Stripe trays may be getting all the glory at the moment but I thought I would draw attention to their quieter monochromatic cousins today as they are about to become extinct. The Flower trays and the Black Fish trays will only be available until stocks run out. Because there's a limit to how many designs a manufacturer will produce the Flowers have sadly had to move aside but may hopefully come back one day in a more colourful reincarnation. The bestselling Blue Fish is evidently more popular than the black version so that is discontinuing too. It's a ruthless world.

Design My World is a UK based online shop stocking interesting contemporary home products, founded in 2006 by Dean Hart and Venka De Rooij. At the moment they've got the Flower trays in the bestselling 38cm size (shown above) and a useful one-cup-and-a-piece-of-cake 27x20cm size, as well as the Fish trays and sandwich boards in black. 

If you like the graphic monochrome look of these trays don't hesitate to order them before they sell out... 

49cm Black Fish tray. Photo: Asta Barrington



Mollie Makes magazine Issue 7

Mollie Makes is a new craft and lifestyle magazine that launched in the UK in May for 'people who love the crafty life'. It's got all sorts of interviews with designers, colourful features and inspiring things to make and I think it taps very well in to the increasing current trend for crafting and all things hand made.

Here's a sampler of the magazine to show its style.

Issue 7 happens to feature a pair of rather nice Alabasta trays on the shopping page:



close up



Thanks, Mollie Makes!

Alabasta is starting to spread across the blogosphere

The design of a new product or collection can take months so it is great when it starts to sell and get press. The new trays are getting a lot of attention and keeping Ary Trays extremely busy with production. Some very prestigious shops have made orders which I will post about as soon as they get the stock in. Meanwhile the influential Design Sponge blog featured the trays recently so is helping to spread the word:



Much as I like the purple tray shown on the Design Sponge blog, it hasn't made it to the final collection. That colour will be cropping up on other products soon though, as it's a key colour in 2012 interior trend predictions.

Other prominent blogs to mention Alabasta trays have so far been Elle Deco South Africa, interior stylist Victoria Metcalf's Style NV, Ideal Home's Home Shopping Spy and Retro to Go. These last two featured trays from the Top Drawer January 2011 launch before the blog was started. Many thanks to all those brilliant bloggers who have featured the products.
 

Tent London 2011

I went to visit the Tent London show yesterday to help Joakim, Isabel and Michael Angove on the Ary stand with the selling and see how my new trays were doing. It was busy with trendy East London types and journalists and the show had some really interesting exhibits. The show finishes on Sunday and it's well worth a look if you are in that part of town.

Scandinavian knitted jumpers in serving tray form

The Folk Stripe trays made it into the Guardian's online House and Home blog last week:

"These folksy birch-wood trays are basically cosy, Scandinavian knitted jumpers in serving tray form. Translation: we love. They're designed and made in Sweden by Ary, a company that has been going since the 1950s. See them at Tent at London's Old Truman Brewery, or buy them from Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, Homer in Edinburgh, or online at Hus & Hem. Prices start at £6 for a mini tray, and £250 for a chair." Hannah Booth

Ah, but they are not actually designed in Sweden but here in England! Never mind, I am half Danish so Scandi is in my blood. I particularly like the Scandinavian knitted jumper bit.

New Folk Stripe collection launching at Tent London

The new Folk Stripe collection will be launched this week at Tent London at the Old Truman Brewery and for retailers is now available to order online from the Åry Trays website:

38cm red Folk Stripe tray 

..38cm also available with an ivory background

..11cm mini trays in 2 colourways

Here is the 49cm Folk Stripe (also available in the very large 65cm size) and a 35cm diameter chrome leg stool with laminated seat.
The 49cm and 65cm trays can be purchased with collapsible chrome or white wooden legs to turn them into tray tables

..and finally the curved back birch ply chair with multi coloured stripes on the front and back.

This collection takes its inspiration from folk embroidery patterns combined with positive modern colours that will cheer up the dullest autumn. It took a long time to the get the juxtapositions of pattern and colour right but it was great fun and it is enormously satisfying to see them sampled and finally ready to be bought. Stockist details to follow as soon as I have them.
Photos: Andrew Wicks

Elle Decoration approved!

Yesterday I got the very exciting news that the 38cm Folk Stripe tray has had the Elle Decoration seal of approval. They have selected 10 products from the 200 international exhibitors at Tent and this is the first on the list..

"Our Media Partner, Elle Decoration has selected their top ten products at the show – you can also look out for the Elle Decoration swing tags on exhibitor stands too!

“Elle Decoration has always championed the idea of outstanding and enduring design, whether it be contemporary or vintage, from the UK or further afield. As the world’s best-selling homes magazine we are proud to support Tent London and its unique, trend-setting exhibitors.”

I am very pleased!

Homes and Gardens magazine, October 2011

The new Folk Stripe tray collection has just been launched at the Formex trade show in Stockholm and will be at Tent in London from 22nd - 25th September, and Homes and Gardens have featured the red 38cm tray.

House and Garden magazine, Kitchen and Bathroom Living supplement, July 2011

My 49cm blue fish tray is in good company here with my favourite Danish Gubi lights

Good Homes magazine, July 2011

Natty Nauticals!

Quite a catch

Telegraph Saturday magazine 2nd April 2011

The first press article for Alabasta, my new home wares label