Introducing designer, Claire Coles...

I absolutely adore the work of Claire Coles, who I recently discovered via one of her greeting cards. And today’s post starts off with three of her beautiful floral-inspired cards.

When you read further, you’ll find that Claire also creates a very unique interior design product…

…couture embroidered wallpapers! And below you can see a close-up of one of her intricate wallpaper designs, followed by a full-scale image. Isn’t it just stunning!

Claire layers and embroiders fragments of hand-sourced vintage wallpapers with silks and leather to create a range of patterns and scenes. And below are some more examples of her designs.

She’s also created some beautiful floral pictures, two of which are shown below:

And finally, I had to show you Claire’s pretty mugs…

She very kindly answered a few questions for me:

When did you start your business and where are you based?

I started my business in 2004. My first studio was at Cockpit Arts and now I’m based at Great Western Studios in West London.

Where do you get your floral inspiration for your designs?

The floral inspiration comes from the vintage wallpapers I source, but when stitching, I sew very freely and the florals I embroider are sometimes just fantasy… I let the sewing machine take over.

Your wallpapers are very unusual…where did you get the idea from?

I started collecting vintage wallpapers because I loved all the patterns. I wanted to find an interesting and sensitive way to use these old papers, so I started sewing them together.

My wallpapers are designed specifically for a client’s space. I like the idea that all my wallpapers are one-off originals, a work of art for your walls.

What are your plans for 2011?

I will be launching a new wallpaper design at London Design Festival in September and I also have a new range of gift cards being launched in this month.

I’m featured in a book called New Artisans by Olivier Dupon which is coming out in October.

Plus, I’m exhibiting at: