This design gave us an opportunity (opportuni-tea?) to play with mixing the Sugar and Storm themes together. The teacups are sweet and playful, but they contain wild, moody storms. I love the juxtaposition of this saying. I had this concept rolling around in my head for months so when I started to sketch the ideas to send on to our surface designer lots of little
details came pouring out onto the page.

The floral teacup is an actual cup I own myself; this cup holds a ship very similar to the ship in our pattern Sail on a Dream. I love continuing the story of our brand by carrying forward little nods and details in this way. The white and blue teacup is a twist on traditional blue delft, but this one has traditional sailor tattoo icons instead. The lighthouse in this cup is the lighthouse from the harbour in Dunmore East, Waterford. This was special to me as a child, and it happens to look across to Hook Lighthouse which is in another pattern of ours. The Madhatter's tea-party style stack of cups shows a “rainbow after the storm". Which, as you will know, symbolizes coming through a difficult time in one's life. The sun is coming out over these cups and there is a little life ring in case anyone needs a bit of extra help.

My friend Nadja feels like this pattern tells the story of the life of a lighthouse keeper. Looking out to sea at the passing whales and ships and storms all while drinking copious amounts of tea!

I have strong memories of going to the Clonakilty Buskers Festival as a child. My Dad brought myself and my little sister a couple of years in a row. I found it hugely exciting and also very freeing. We camped, so we were a little rough n' ready, but it didn't matter! Festivals are a place to put on your favourite clothes, let loose and focus on just having fun. There is so much joy to be had at a festival, we tried to capture a little slice of that in this pattern. 

All children should feel free to be truly themselves, just like I did at those festivals. There are symbols of friendship and inclusivity in this pattern. The signposts say "Friendship", "Born this way", "No wrong way" and the little ticket says, "Everyone welcome". The little rainbow is also a nod to inclusivity.

The joy of designing exclusive fabrics is that you can add any little special details you want. We couldn't resist putting a little Irish flag on the bell tent. I also particularly love our bright pink ice-cream van with Sugar Whippy on the side!

We loved the beautiful simplicity of our flying high print so much that we have brought it back in this stunning deep navy colour way. It's a gorgeous print in its own right, but also works so well as a coordinating pattern with many of our other Storm prints. We particularly like the combinations of this with Storm in a Teacup, or with Shine Through the Storm. 

All my life I have been fascinated with birds. These beautiful creatures represent such freedom. When I was a child, I was very interested in feeding the wild birds in our small Dublin garden. I would watch them flit about and try to identify the different types. As an adult, I often brought the children I minded out to feed the birds. We had such fun throwing bits of bread high in the air watching Sea Gulls swoop to catch it. These days watching the birds feed outside our kitchen window in Wexford is one of my life's simple, peaceful pleasures.

At Sugar & Storm we believe it's always good to take any excuse to have a bit of a party- big or small. ALL the cakes please! For this pattern I wanted a design that could be gifted for a birthday present, but was also something that a child could put on any time and feel special… because isn't every day a little celebration?

We kept this design simple - because sometimes the best things in life aren't complicated. The cherries and polka dots are a subtle nod to retro 1950's style prints. All my favourite baked treats are here - or at least the ones I could fit in, because honestly that list is huge! French Fancies with their kitsch colours, Victoria Sponge - you can’t beat a classic, chocolate doughnuts for that cocoa kick, and vibrant cupcakes with lashing of sweet frosting. Once there are cupcakes involved then it's definitely a party! Am I right?! ;-)

Cosy nights with twinkling lights, catching fireflies, and seeking out fairies. For me, Jar of Light captures all these things that lit up my imagination as a child.

From sneak reading with a lamp under the bed covers to camping outside with a big torch that casts shadows on the tent walls, I think for a young child there is a certain sense of magic and wonder having a glowing light to cut through the dark.

The warm yellow lights in this pattern illuminate the dark navy background beautifully. Many of Rebecca's signature doodles can be spotted too. Jar of Light's natural colour palette lends itself perfectly to the Storm side of our brand. As with all our designs, the similar tones allow for great mix and matching.

This playful design was so fun to dream up! I've been working on it since I was 5 ;-) …(probably more true than I'd like to admit). Myself and Rebecca let our imaginations -and sweet tooths - run wild for this design. There are so many sweet, nostalgic details to find as your eye wanders around Candyland. Jelly babies stand amongst lollies and candy canes which lead to a magical ice cream castle. We couldn't forget French fancies, which are one of my favourite treats. As with most of our Sugar designs this too has a love heart detail - this time in the form of retro Love Heart sweets.

The colour palette in this design is the Sugar side of our brand at it's most vibrant. Colours so sweet they'll give you a toothache! ;-) I've been told by both children and adults that this pattern makes them happy just looking at it, which in turn makes me very happy.

All my life I have been fascinated with birds. These beautiful creatures represent such freedom. When I was a child I was very interested in feeding the wild birds in our small Dublin garden. I would watch them flit about and try to identify the different types. As an adult, I often brought the children I minded out to feed the birds. We had such fun throwing bits of bread high in the air watching Sea Gulls swoop to catch it. These days watching the birds feed outside our kitchen window in Wexford is one of my life's simple, peaceful pleasures.

Dark navy birds soar across this dusky pink Sugar pattern reminding me of a bird's last flight at sunset. On clothing the repeat of this romantic pattern appears completely random, which I love. Oh to soar like a bird in the sky!

As you will probably know by now, here at Sugar & Storm we are big fans of nautical and sea themes. So these cool underwater whales, created by our favourite designer Rebecca from Evelyn's Illustrations, fit right in around here! I love how the friendly blue giants swim through a textured inky background. So many kids are fans of these humongous peaceful creatures of the deep. They inspire such a wonderous awe. I have never seen a whale in real life, but it's certainly on the bucket list!

This simple but effective repeat pattern is beautifully bold by itself but also works so well as a co-ordinate with our other Storm patterns. Fun fact- this exact whale features on one of the cups in our Storm in a Teacup pattern- can you spot it?

This design perfectly captures the essence of the Storm side of our brand. I wanted this design to portray that invigorating, raw energy of our seas where nature is at its most powerful. The lighthouse itself is Hook Lighthouse which is situated on a rugged peninsula in Wexford, Ireland. This is where I came up with the name for our brand and as a place, has extra special meaning for me.

Wild, stormy seas have always captured my imagination. As a child I spent summer holidays along the Wexford coast, and at night my room would illuminate at regular intervals - Hook's light, always shining through.

This pattern is a play on the classic nautical stripe. As with most Storm patterns this design features a little anchor – a source of grounding, no matter the storm.

I am a big fan of a nautical theme. I love sailor tattoos and the deeper meaning they hold. Tattoos mightn’t be typically used on children’s clothing but we know that the cool kids will pull it off! This is a pattern where Sugar & Storm meet. 

Hold Fast includes some of our favourite themes. Hope and stability represented by the anchor, keeping your loved ones close by the heart, returning home represented by the swallow and staying on course by the star. All sentiments and ideals to be valued.

Rebecca kept the retro feel of the traditional tattoos while giving the pattern itself a modern twist with fun details and colouring. This design works great on so many colourways and to launch we chose this pale yellow. Hold fast for other tattoo inspired designs in the future. ;)

These whimsical little Sugar clouds are for all the dreamers out there. While living in Glendalough, I was inspired by the beautiful tones that can be found in the fluffy clouds on an Irish summer evening. Endless shades of pretty pinks and moody blues in an ever-changing sky. I think most children like to find shapes and faces in the clouds. I certainly spent hours staring into the blue. It can be such a peaceful, innocent childhood game that really sparks the imagination.

I love all the small details Rebecca created (like hearts & anchors of course) to be found among these happy little cloud friends. I can imagine a child pointing out all the different characters in this pattern and perhaps speculating on if they’re a Mummy, Daddy or Baby cloud and how they might be feeling ... but that’s because I’m a dreamer with my head in the clouds.

This high energy design, with its candy colour palette, perfectly showcases the vibe of the Sugar side of our brand. I wanted this pattern to invoke that thrilling, intoxicating feeling of being a kid at a carnival, where everything feels like it's the most exciting thing you've ever experienced! As a kid I counted down the days until we could return to the rush of the fairground.

As with most Sugar patterns, Sugar Rush! has a love-heart within the design. It’s sweet, sassy and a little bit retro. The dusky sky seems as though it would carry the heady scent of candy floss. The scene is alive with bright lights and all the attractions of a funfair. This nostalgic design brings back memories of happy, care-free days spent at fairgrounds with my loved ones. I hope it can inspire the same warm feelings with those who wear it. 

This is a simple little Sugar pattern with a retro feel. It's inspired by my love of vintage cars and all the road trip adventures you can have with your loved ones. When I was a young child my Dad bought various beautiful old bangers. They would rattle and break down at traffic lights, but we still appreciated their vintage charm. My absolute favourite was a convertible MG that my Dad rebuilt and returned to its former glory, so I particularly wanted that car represented in this pattern.

My memories from those days shine like gold ... and that's the beauty of childhood isn't it? Life may be tough but when you're a kid something simple like a day out in a cool car can make the world a beautiful happy place where troubles can be forgotten.  Rebecca included fun details like a Sugar heart badge on the camper-van and personalised S&S reg plates.

At Sugar & Storm we are big stripe lovers. As part of our launch designs we introduced our Sugar Stripe and Storm Stripe. We wanted to represent each side of our brand with co-ordinates that compliment our patterns. These stripes can add an extra dimension to our designs above and also look great all by themselves. The Sugar and Storm sides of our brand are two halves of a whole. Each side providing contrast to the other.

Our Sugar stripe mainly compliments our sugar patterns. Sweet, bold, if you poured ice cream into a stripe, this would be it!

Our Storm Stripe mainly goes with our Storm patterns. Fresh, Moody, an abstract view of rolling waves from above.