The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Do you feel like you’ve just stepped into the set of Little Women? Or a wholesome pioneer novel? I do! These gorgeous and generously proportioned candlesticks are hand carved from English and Welsh timbers, some from fallen trees or rescued from old buildings.

Robin Linklater a retired University lecturer, theatre and opera designer, draughtsman and artisan, creates them with love and a sense of curiosity. The clean and contemporary lines of his candlesticks work well to balance out the traditional craftmanship. I love the little details like the copper rings the candles sit in and the intricately carved hairstyles of the women.

You can buy Robert’s work here and here. Robert also produces a beautiful collection of carved puppets and marottes.

If you happen to be in Bristol this weekend, be sure to check out the first ever MISI craft marketplace.

MISI [Make It Sell It] is the UK’s most recent innovative online craft marketplace. The MISI event is the first event dedicated entirely to crafters who sell on the internet. Brainchild of keen crafter, web developer and young Mother of two Emma Hogg, MISI’s mission is to challenge the role of the high street by introducing the people who buy directly to the people who make.

Emma Explains, ‘I have always had a great passion for British crafts. We are constantly being told by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey to cook homemade and Support local British farmers, but why stop at food?  Food miles aren’t the only miles that matter! It gives me a huge buzz to support small craft businesses and watch them turn a passionate hobby into a profitable reality’

The first MISI Event which is being held this weekend on Saturday November 7th is being supported by Sew Hip Magazine.  It will give MISI followers and crafts people across the region the opportunity to sell their products in the exciting and vibrant surroundings of the Paintworks, Bristol’s creative quarter. Apart from almost 40 exhibitors, there will be craft workshops throughout the day, live music, and refreshments available, making it an enjoyable day out and the perfect place to start Christmas shopping!

The show will be open from 10.30am to 5.00pm and entry is just £2.50 per person, with children under 14 being allowed in free. The first 100 visitors will also receive a goody bag crammed with information and samples.

I think events like these supporting your local artists are great, especially in a climate like ours. Go MISI!

Clever, clever Helen Musselwhite has forged a career creating brilliant and intricate papercuts. By the use of bold colour, strong graphic lines and familiar images, Helen creates individual and visually appealing pieces of art with a distinctive handcrafted quality that pays respect to all forms of mid century design, folk and ethnic art, as well as current and future trends.

I literally fell off my chair when I clicked onto Katie Bonham’s website. Just look!!!! Lord I love ceramics. I could collect them till there is no ceramic left in the world. One day though, I would run out of space, and when that day came [hopefully not too long now] I would imagine I would turn to Katie for her wall sculptures.

Katie began her career in London where she co-founded a gallery space and restoration business at the London Antique Gallery on Kensington Church St. There she divided her time between making and exhibiting her own work and running a ceramic antique restoration business. Eager to refine her skills in fresh surroundings Katie moved to Brighton and got a degree in three-dimensional design at Brighton University. There she continued to live and work from a studio in Hove.

Being a keen diver and gardener, Katie has consistently drawn influence from the natural world looking particularly at the forms, colour and surface textures of plants, seeds and marine creatures. Her work is predominantly thrown on the wheel and surface detail is carefully added later.

Katie’s marine and seaside influences are clearly visible when looking at her work which seems to have risen out of the very oceans itself! I was immediately attracted to the shell-like quality of Kate’s work, which look like she had assembled them using giant Oyster shells. Simply beautiful.

Contact Katie for prices.

Yesterday, at Somerset House I spent the best few hours I have experienced this whole month. Having missed the first installment last week due to the re-launch of TBTMHS, I excitedly took myself off to the second week of this year’s Origin Craft Fair.

Every year the Crafts Council present the very best of their talent at historical Somerset House in the UK’s principal selling event for individual designer-makers. This is hands down my favourite design fair of the year. Selling mouthwateringly unique goods in every craft category be it ceramics, glass, metal, jewellery, furniture, textiles, paper and wood – available to buy and take away on the spot – it’s a design lovers paradise and a great venue for anyone searching for more than a run of the mill gift. Last year I walked away with an embossed ceramic brooch and tiny porcelain salt and pepper vessels [I can't remember who they were by!] This year I simply had to walk away… there was an abundance of talent that caught my eye, especially in ceramics and some beautifully printed textile accessories.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the goodies that caught my eye, but I shall refrain from divulging too much info until next week! What do you like the look of?