Glasgow Craft Mafia - Miso Funky

I am loving Miso Funky's emo broidery series. Definately using embroidery in a new and individual way. I can just see this in my hallway.....

They are part of the lovely glasgow craft mafia and their shop is:

http://shop.misofunky.com/collections/emo-broidery

sex and the city the movie

all I can say is it is totally brilliant.

Laughed and cried in equal amounts. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha were all just amazing. The clothes, the city and the men. Fantastic. We loved it. Thanks sis for booking the tickets. When are we flying the New York???

Also went to London Zoo today with Cat, Zahra and Daria and we saw a baby warthog. Not something you see every day but very cute. Also managed to get some cute pics of the little lady modelling the latest tshirt design. Hopefully some of the pics will be good enough to appear on the littlechook website.

The Geffrye Museum

To round of our bank holiday weekend we visited the Geffrye Museum near old street this afternoon.

It's collection comprises textiles, furniture, paintings and interior objects from 1600 to the present day. I particularily liked the 50's interiors and the Jessie Tait ceramics.

The victorian rooms were fantastic too as it was interesting to see a house similar to my own home and how it would have been laid out and used in the era it was built in. We did laugh at the description of the women of the house spending afternoons sewing, playing cards and receiving callers. Would beat working for a living we thought.

I bought a really fab book too on 50's design which I will try and feature some pics from this week. The museum has a great shop and a nice cafe too. And no one minded a small child pushing a pink pram at great speed round the museum either luckily for us!

I also got to sit in a Balzac chair by Matthew Hilton for SCP and it made me want one even more. Can't remember whether it is in Elle Dec or Living etc but one of the homes featured has a Balzac chair and the owner says she saved for 10 years for a Balzac. I can see her point but I am hoping for a lottery win sometime soon!

We rounded the day off with a fantastic vietnamese meal near old street tube too. Lovely!

littlechook goes fairtrade and organic

Currently I use non organic tea towels and I am finding the quality a bit hit and miss and I keep reading in papers such as The Guardian about the damage cotton growing does through the excessive use of pesticides and it worries me.

As a designer I expect to be able to charge a fair price for handmade handprinted items so why shouldn't the whole supply chain expect the same?. So today I decided to use only organic fabrics but also to ensure they are fairtrade so that the makers get a fair wage.

Google came up trumps and took me to http://www.organiccotton.biz/

I ordered samples and the very nice Phil replied to my email straightaway saying organic fairtrade cotton tea towels were available. Yay!

They are a family firm based in Powys and their site has some fantastic pictures of the cotton being grown and made into fabrics by the local people.

I have ordered sample fabrics in a range of colours and weights. The range is brilliant with calicos, denims etc and many are handwoven. I got nostaligic for my weaving days thinking about handlooms. I miss my weavebird!

katherine's quilt

I love reading about the featured sellers on etsy and finding out what inspires them. I always fantasise that etsy pick me to be a featured seller and how I would answer the questions. That is pretty sad!

Anyway the question asking handmade item do you treasure the most would be an easy one. I have a quilt that my classmates at Morley College made for me when Katherine was born. The summer of 2006 was a total heatwave and I was heavily pregnant but still struggling to work and college and managed to finish my dresses in time for the end of year show.

I didn't realise at the time but everyone made a square and Sue then joined them together into the most fantastic quilt. Some of the panels are textural so Katherine loves stroking them and also all the colours. Some of the squares too are japanese fabrics. Sue kindly gave me a card too which shows who made what!

So that would be my most precious handmade item by far!

butterfly prints

Just a short post tonight as I am knackered! Hopefully soon I will be able to put some of my new prints up for sale in my etsy shop in the form of cushion covers and tea towels. For my designs I am using alot of tiny flowers with line drawn butterflies. I'm using alot of muted greens and turquoise with brighter accent colours like fuschia.

I need a new print table though because my current set up is too low and my back is really sore today.

Tomorrow I am going to use my new flock which is done by printing a layer of texiflock glue onto the fabric then heat pressing on the flock layer. Can't wait to see what it looks like!

Family Photos

hello for a bad littlechook who hasn't blogged for days now. Mainly because of a rare night out in london on friday which involved cocktails and bucket loads of rose. The cocktails in a tapas place in shoreditch was very sex and the city but we had to take the fancy leaves out in case we poked our own eyes out.

Anyway, I was able to do some printing today using my butterflies screen to add to a flower garden design and the result is quite lovely and I'd blog more about this if I could upload a picture but I can't find my lead to connect the camera to the laptop.

And for some reason I am feeling all nostaligc this weekend so today's pic is of my two favourite family photos. On is of my daughter Katherine sleeping in the garden of our old flat when she was about 10 weeks old. The other is of me and my gran. I think I am about 4 and it is a strip of pictures from a photo booth (way before digital gave you four of the same photo). My aunt found it in a bundle of family pics she went through recently and the strip has been folded in half. I wonder if it was kept in her purse? It makes me remember what a lovely, strong and kind woman she was and how she would have loved to meet my Katherine.

I've seen walls of family photos in quite a few featured homes in interiors mag such as elle decoration and living etc and I think it adds a real personal touch to a home. I am planning to do this in our hallway over time so that Katherine can see her family members as some live quite far away and we don't get to see them that often.

My first attempt at a montage turned out well using photos from the bundle my aunt gave me including a picture of my dad with us in the 70's with a Borat style 'tash - it's a classic. I love all the 50s and 60s shots of my grandparents on their holidays especially loving the floral prints on my grans dresses.

Anyway that's me for tonight, off to update my neglected etsy shop.

throwaway society

my poor husband hates my habit of finding furniture abandoned by the side of the road but I am always just amazed by what people throw out. My pet hate round Crouch End/Stroud Green/Harringay is seeing mattresses dumped outside houses. It just looks awful and I am sure they could be recycled in some way.

anyway, my current project is to put together a group of designers to sell their work through our very own pop up shop. Hopefully to be located in either seven dials/covent garden or carnaby street. I am in the process of contacting talented etsy sellers who I hope will be interested in my concept. I also found a few possible folk at Broadway Market but I am going to devote a seperate post to the delicious handbags once I find their business card!

Back to the furniture, my idea is to set out the shop like a house with a mix of original , vintage and second hand furniture possibly with a fifties or sixties theme hence the gathering of cast offs to dress my shop!

My best find so far will however end up in my bedroom after the shop. Isn't this just lovely! It was rescued from my street undercover of darkness (husband refused to be seen 'tatting' in daylight!)

My creative endeavours today involved a morning working the fabulous East London Print Studio using their open access time to put together some new screens. Hopefully Katherine will sleep ok tonight and I will get a chance to print up some fabrics and see how they have turned out.....

www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk

artichokeltd pop up shop

Went to see artichokeltd's latest pop up shop in Earlham Street (in seven dials) today and managed to buy two Prefab prints. Artichokeltd is run buy Pete Matthews and focuses on street art. His pop up shop features limtied editions signed by the artists. Pete is the pioneer of the £1 print which gave Banksy fans a chance to own a print for you've guessed it £1....

His current collection includes work by Prefab, Remi/Roughe, Seamo, Oliver Harud and Jef Aerosol. His website is http://www.artichokeltd.com/ and the prints are available to buy online.

I've put other pics on flickr including one of Katherine in her new role as 'the baby boss'. She had a blast today and then we went to Wagamama for dinner. Perfect end to the day!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlechook/

littlechook at home

I've been in the studio all day today working on layouts for new screens. I am going to the East London Print Studio on Thursday to use their equipment to expose the screens so I need to have four designs ready.

Also worked on more t shirt designs last night and washed them today. The flock is even more fluffy once washed and looks great. The colours are really bright.

Having bought Living etc, Elle Decoration and Real Homes recently I have been thinking about our house and how we should decorate it. My plan was to paint everything white for starters but I am actually really liking the wallpaper even though it is quite old fashioned and 'country cottagey' which isn't me at all usually. I think the living room paper is Laura Ashley.

The carpets are all a bit old and scabby but instead of replacing them I am thinking a good steam clean would help them look nicer.

The fact that we have no money after our move is also curbing my design enthusiasm!

The house though does have some beautiful orignal victorian features like cornicing and ceiling roses. Alot of the 'ladder' houses got the 70's treatment but ours didn't thankfully! The Harringay ladder houses are row of victorian houses on a set of roads all running parallel (hence the name 'ladder') and they all have unusual names. I'd love to know more about why these names were chosen but google hasn't yielded any results.

The community noticeboard though does refer to a 'seafaring theme'. Would like to know more about this!

Queene and Belle

Featured in today's sunday times style section in their studio/house in selkirk are two designers whose company is caleed Queen and Belle. I know the scottish borders well as I studied textiles at the Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels. At the time I thought the Borders were really boring and there were literally no decent shops although I hear Gala now has a macdonalds and a multi screen cinema.

Maybe the isolation is good though as you are not bombarded with information and are not constantly comparing your work with what you see in the shops. However I used to always feel my heart leap when I got to Edinburgh. To be honest I am not sure I could live in such a small town ever again....

Anyway Queene and Belle were previously designers for Pringle and are based in Selkirk and create beautiful fashion and accessories using scottish cashmere combined with vintage lace, buttons etc from a wing of a house called The Haining. The interior has the vintagey, lived in look that I really love.

It is interesting to read about a company in the textile industry in scotland that is actually doing well since the industry has shrunk to virtually nothing these days which is a real shame. I always wonder where all the talented graduates of scottish art, fashion and design courses end up?

a long day of sunshine

the beautiful sunny weather continued today and it is still hot tonight.

had a family day today with a visit from my mum which is lovely. we had a takeaway from jai krishna veggie restaraunt. It's on stroud green road, N4 and the food is the best indian food ever. Katherine had a lovely time with her gran and got new playdoh with an upsy daisy stamp.

only littlechook related activity today was having another look at the t shirt designs and seeing what I like and what I'd like to do next. Have alot of ideas at the moment but so little time, the usual story!

etsy in living etc

more fab press coverage for etsy on the living etc website. Living etc is probably the biggest interiors mag in the UK and it is a great read. They always support new designers too.

Shannon Morton admits her etsy addiction and hopefully this will inspire other UK folk to buy handmade aswell. I wish though she had highlighted that there are lots of UK sellers as people can think etsy is just US based designers.

I noticed she picked out Heather Moore (skinnylaminx) and she is one of my favs. i'm going to order some of her tea towels for my mum to hang in her new kitchen (well its still a work in progress at the moment and they seem to have no heating, no roof and no kitchen wall currently) gulp!

http://www.livingetc.com/blogs/editors_blog/Shannon_Morton_admits_to_an_itsy_etsy_internet_addiction_article_255826.html

the green apple website

A selection of my vintage fabric cushion covers are now available to buy from http://www.the-green-apple.co.uk/

Hopefully they will soon be stocking my vintage fabric badges aswell!

Its a lovely website full of gorgeous, ethical products and all are suitable for veggies and/or vegans.

the long thread

littlechook has been featured in the long thread blog. She picked the funky daisy vintage fabric pillow cover to feature in etsy finds friday. thank you! I can't upload the picture but it is www.thelongthread.com as features lots of talented designers and makers. Well worth a read as it is both stylish and informative.

I haven't been on the internet over the weekend as our broadband was broken (again) and we were out and about enjoying the sunshine.

Visited Broadway Market on saturday morning and munched loads of delicious food and bought my sis a really pretty vintage dress. The whole area is vibrant and crowded but it was great fun to explore a different bit of london. And we saw a guy sitting outside a pub in a bowler hat stroking a pineapple!

kids tshirts

My new littlechook line is going to be t shirts for kids. I'm working on designs at the moment. Finding it easy to think up girls designs but not so sure about for boys. I have a couple of little models to test them out for me though namely two dudey little guys - oliver and william.

I want to use images of british wildlife - rabbits, foxes, deer, squirrels and birds and to use flock to make some textured shapes as I have noticed how kids love textures -look at how much they love taggie blankets!

My little girl is already a bit of a supermodel and is refusing to get out of her cot for less the $10,000 a day!