Autumn is my very favourite season. I was born in autumn. I love the flavours and colours of autumn. I love the darker evenings by the fire, the blackberry and apple crumbles, the candles, the colour and crunch of autumn leaves underfoot.
It’s a time of so much abundance in nature – hedgerows and orchards full of colourful food. Squash and root vegetables to harvest. The last of the summer flowers to harvest and dry to preserve all year round.
My autumn collection was inspired by the location for the photography as well as how I was feeling about autumn this year. I decided a while ago that I wanted to photograph this collection at Grow Wilder, a nature reserve where I used to volunteer, in their lovely roundhouse building.
I love the log floor, the green roof, the rusty little wood burner and the nature all around that you can see through the windows on every side.
I wanted this collection to be very tactile and earthy. I wanted very natural materials – stoneware, wood, and willow.
And I wanted it to align with the colours of the leaves and grasses at this time of year – greens, yellows, oranges and browns.
I wanted to incorporate the scents of autumn too. The blend of cinnamon and clove in the new Falls Gold candles and wax melts is perfect for the season.
The new Mother Earth soap combines both of those essential oils with sweet orange to make a lovely autumnal soap.
And the soft honey smell of beeswax candles is lovely all year round but I especially love it at this time of year, as well as the lovely soft light they create.
I have so many favourites in this collection, but I think my top 5 are the Large Wildflower Mugs by Lindy Garner, this Mother Earth soap by Elsie Moss Botanical, the autumnal Orange Herringbone Recycled Wool Throw by Yorkshire Blankets, the Long Handpainted Wooden Meadow Grass Earrings by Bianca Rosewood and the Large Willow Tray by Sarah Jayne Weave.
A lot of the designs this Autumn are exclusives to These Two Hands too. I worked closely with makers to create bespoke designs and colourways.
I’m especially proud and excited about the unique wooden hand painted meadow grass design jewellery by Bianca Rosewood. These were inspired by the beautiful meadow grasses I collected and dried in the summer and I think they are so beautiful.
I think my favourites may well change from month to month with this collection and things like the little pumpkin beeswax candles are going to be a definite October favourite.
I would love to know your favourite things about autumn and your favourites from the collection too!