urban craft stars

is the collective name for all the pop up shop designers.

So far confirmed we have:

my mums a hippie

urbanknit

peppermint twist desings

bombus

Tim Williamson (photography)

and of course littlechook.

Most of us sell on etsy already but I'll post profiles of each over the next few days in advance of us opening our pop up shop in carnaby street. It's all very hectic but very exciting too. Thought I'd start with an urbanknit tote bag which I am very fond of!

hero shots

Tonight we had a meeting of some of the 'urban craft stars' who will be part of the carnaby street pop up shop. All tonights stars are etsy sellers. Our lovely PR specialist aka my sis has asked for our bio and logo in order to put together a press release along with four images - hero shots!

I really love this expression for some reason! I need to now pick mine which is proving difficult. I've included a possible here so any feedback on this is very welcome. Needs some cropping and editing though.

I also spotted the most amazing sofa in a secondhand shop today. It is a pink upholstered two seater with a scroll back and arms. We glimpsed it's loveliness from the bus window and are going back tomorrow for a closer look!

all things original

Doing some research into etsy like sites tonight and came accross allthingsoriginal.com

It's a beautiful site featuring some really fab designers including bombus (who is going to be part of the carnaby street pop up shop).

I have decided I am in love with the coffee table covered in decoupage with a vintage 1960's london map. It belongs in my living room!

I do wonder though how many of these types of sites can be successful as I know from my time in the corporate world how much time and cash is needed to develop a website and then all the marketing and PR needed to get the name out there. I think alot of folk still think 'build it and they will come'.

This week though I am really looking forward to meeting the other pop up shop folk and to having another peep into our unit and to deciding how we will arrange all our goodies.

all change please!

Change is in the air....

It's still hot and sunny here in london and I'm enjoying it while it lasts having picnics in the park.

Labour have lost the Glasgow East by election, Obama has been doing a JFK in Berlin and littlechook is organising the pop up shop and has new etsy sales - yay! I am surprisingly un stressed. (for now).

I have also decided not to make up any more vintage fabric cushions. From now on I want to concentrate on my own print designs. I just feel that is now the right direction for me and I am full of ideas at the moment.

Tomorrow is the little lady's birthday party so I'm looking forward to some family chill out time filled with food, drink and catch up chat.

the pop up shop

is finally going to happen....

I saw our unit yesterday. It's in Kingly Court just off Carnaby Street. The unit is absolutely massive so I am hoping that we can do it justice.

I am keeping in mind though all the Mary Queen of Shops programmes I have been watching and how she advises her clients to keep the layout and fixtures very simple. I love the interior of the Mayfair Stella McCartney shop with its vintage style wallpapers combined with modern touches like the bright pink bag display unit.

My aim is to move us as far away from a 'craft fair' with its horrible 'behind a table' philosphy to a place where customer can browse and touch the product, see demos of knitting, embroidery and other crafts and really talk and get to know who is behind the product. I have a fab bunch of designers ready - some london etsy folk, others I have met at craft markets.

In order to keep costs down I am planning to use some of the victorian pine vintage furniture I have already plus we are of to find a cool sofa and chair at one of the many second hand places round here at the weekend. Plus a trip to Ikea for some open shelving too.

I have big plans so watch this space!

the studio clear out

is now complete! I have room for my heat press, sewing machine, printing stuff as well as my stash of lovely vintage fabrics all boxed and labeled.When I packed my latest etsy sale to send away to the customer I could actually find all the things I needed without having to run up and down stairs or saying any sweary words. Result!

The room was used as a kitchen by the house's previous ocupants so I have a very useful sink and some much less useful kitchen cupboards and a cooker (now covered by a piece of chipboard and has my lightbox on it). The second pic also shows the crazy light which you can pull down or up. I have managed to raise it up a bit so I don't keep hitting my head on it!

children's bedrooms

Whenever I see children's bedroom in interior magazines like living etc and elle dec it makes me feel a bit sad as they are always so 'styled' and more for adults than kids. Recently DesignSponge featured a Yellow and Grey colour scheme which to me was really bland and had very little to stimulate a child's imagination.

Ok so the pics here of the little lady's room are after a good tidy and hoover this morning but it is a room for playing and enjoying. Yes it does have elements of her mum's style in it - vintage furniture and crochet blankets but it is for her to enjoy as she grows and if she wants Barbie wallpaper at some stage then so be it!

The wardrobe I bought on ebay, it is victorian pine and it is gorgeous. The child's chair I resuced from the side of the road. The rug is from ikea (it's really easy to clean) and the grey toy cupboard was given to me by my mum.

The wallpaper is cream with silver flowers - it was here when we moved in and I actually really like it now!

Busts 4 Justice!

I received an invite on facebook to join the group Busts 4 Justice! Basically Marks and Spencers think it is ok to chrage more money for bras above a DD cup. They say it takes more development and technical expertise to make the fuller cup sizes. Busts 4 Justice say this is rubbish as you don't pay more for a size 20 dress than you do for a size 10.

And they have Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman as the group avatar. I loved that show when I was little, although I did think the lassoo of truth was a bit of a lame accessory! I loved it when she used to catch some random bloke who fell of a roof. My friend and I re enacted this by getting her little brother to jump of a wendy house roof.

Luckily there were no broken bones!

So after being distracted by this important topic I did manage to do a quick revamp to my etsy shop. I also want to start a DaWanda shop but just getting to grips with the website.

New Kids Tshirt Design

made this one quite girly with a red heart and one of the pigeons is singing away. The little lady has taken to rubbing her nose against the flock shapes! I used the moo cards as the washing instructions label as the flock needs ironed on the back (although who the heck irons kids clothes!!!)

The tshirt itself is organic cotton and I was surprised at how soft it is. It is so different to the fruit of the loom t shirts that I think it does justify the higher price tag. I got some new t shirt samples today including some red organic ones from Mantis and some long sleeved unbleached ones.

I also got some Fruit of the loom v necks and I ordered a Large and X Large and I cannot believe how small they are! I can barely fit into the XL - it is sooo tight accross the chest I looked like I should be headed to the Playboy mansion. So I have scratched them as the tees for the 'plus size' collection.

I'm having more luck with tshirts from the supermarkets but the low price does make me worry about the conditions of the workers who make them.

Ideally I will buy two overlockers on ebay this weekend and will make my own t shirts eventually. My mum will be helping so we will be a two women sweatshop!

My bedroom

Hello bedroom! I have some new pics on flickr including this one of my bedroom. I made lovely new bed cushions made from a vintage butterfly print and a paisley print vintage dress. My crochet blanket came from a charity shop and the lampshade is a Habitat sale purchase made from cork which is a material I really like.

The chest of drawers came from an antique shop in crouch end and is made of victorian pine. It's one of my favs. The fireplace is not orignal and is a horrible fake mahogany. I did read in living etc though that to disguise a not so nice fireplace the surround should be painted the same colour as the walls. As you can see we haven't tried this yet! The walls are a bit distressed looking as I stripped the hideous 80's wallpaper (green textured background with brown roman collums) about a week after we moved in as it was so so so bad!

The show and tell at broadway market last night was a bit of a fiasco due to staff not turning up so everyone waited hours and hours to be seen. I left after 3 1/2 hours as had to get the bus home! Better luck next time....

Broadway Market Show and Tell

Tonight is the show and tell at Broadway Market for non food items so I am taking littlechook tshirts and tea towels along to see if they will allow me to have a stall. I think I can be given a 'casual pitch' so I can have a stall say once a month.

The market is every saturday but that would be a bit much for me. I don't think I'd have enough stuff! It is a brilliant market though, right by london fields so you can have a picnic once you've finished your shopping.

Wish me luck!

http://www.broadwaymarket.co.uk/market.html

Craft Friendly Southern Illinois

I was featured on Kat Eyez blog yesterday! http://craftfriendlyso-il.blogspot.com/ She found me on flickr and featured my tea towels, vintage fabric cushions and cards and used the pictures from the Brixton Craft Market on her blog.

I had a look at her lovely blog and flickr pics and found that she is pretty crafty herself and produces lovely applique work on baby clothes, baby booties, bags, coasters etc etc. This is one busy lady! Her items are beautiful and she chooses some fantastic fabrics to work with.

I love the way the internet connects all us crafters, artists and designers.

another lovely etsy purchase

By some miracle I had some money in my paypal account so I decided to do a little bit of shopping on etsy as I need a new wallet. My bag was stolen ages ago and I haven't got round to replacing the wallet. The worst bit of having the bag stolen was I lost a wallet my sister gave me and the bag was one bought for me by hubby on our honeymoon in Girona. Cards, phone etc can be replaced but I still miss my bag.

I was spolit for choice but I have plumped for an upcycled wallet made from a herringbone harris tweed with a cowboy print lining. The tweed was orignally a mens suit. The maker is akat and her shop is http://www.akat.etsy.com/

The Stone Family

Today was a really wet and miserable day here in London but we just made the most of it and went to the park getting totally drenched in the process but kids never seem to be that bothered by torrential rain. The little lady was looking for frogs in all the puddles!

Even though the light was pretty poor today I did take some photos of bits and bobs around the house to try to improve my photography as I am still not sure how I am going to get images of a good enough quality of the t shirts.

I do like the shot though of the stones. I got them from a beach in Ireland when I went to stay at my friend's house in a remote part of Donegal. I was about 7 months pregnant at the time and a bit emotional and I picked up these three stones from the beach, one for me, one for hubby and a 'baby ' stone.

Sounds a bit crazy now but at the time it all made sense! Anyway they are lovely stones, very smooth and round. The little lady likes to say Mummy, Daddy and Baby to them as she is quite into the concept of families at the moment.

Stylish T Shirts for curvy girls

Thankfully the heat press is fully functioning so I cracked on with making a couple of baby tees today. The organic cotton tshirts worked really well and they feel so lovely and soft.

I also noticed a while back on the etsy forums that lots of etsy ladies were saying how they couldn't find any tshirts to fit them. They were looking for the type of cool, funky prints that many etsy sellers have in their shops but they weren't keen on the usual American Apparel fit. Presonally I find AA really teeny tiny even the XL size! The cut is not particularily generous for a proper bosom....

So I've been trying to source wholesale 'plus size' (I hate that term) tshirts but it's been really hard to find anything half decent. I have been shocked though at the negativity towards so called 'larger' (e.g. normal!) sizes even from companies selling plus size clothing. ("our cuddlier customers" as one put it).

So I'm trying to create something stylish, fun and beautiful for us curvy girls. I used some flock shapes today as I think the deer and birds work well and I just love stars!

House versus Home?

London is still being buffeted by horrible rainstorms and we are wondering if that is all the summer we are going to get.

Tonight was a late night shopping trip to Ikea to buy a cheap table for me to use as a print table. I got what I wanted aswell as some box frames which I am going to use for some mini chook worlds (pics to explain what the heck this is will follow soon).

Ikea have the slogan of 'do you live in a house or a home' which got me thinking ours is definately a 'home' ! Most of the houses in the interiors magazines I have read lately just leave me a bit cold. It's a bit wood floors - check, large gilt mirror - check, glass extension for a kitchen - check and the houses are always in London and always have a couple who are architects/interior designers who have impossibly cute kids with names like Song and Otter.

But I do like the 'feng shui' house in this months Living etc. The kids rooms look like real kids bedrooms that they can have fun in rather than an adults idea of a 'styled' kids room. I also like thier mix of vintage furniture and street art like the banksy print.

Happy Heat Press

It's back and it is hopefully fixed this time. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Just relieved it wasn't away for ages as I am going to the Broadway Market 'show and tell' next weds to try and get a 'casual trader' card to allow me to have the occasional stall at this market. The market is in Hackney beside London Fields and has a great variety of crafters, artists, food and vintage clothing.

I'm hoping to take my tea towels and kids tshirts along on the night. I'm not sure the cushion covers are the best thing for a market stall, think they are better off in my etsy shop!

I've been busy cutting flock shapes for the new t shirts. My hands are aching as the flock is fairly thick to cut through. Oh for a vinyl cutter!

Liberty Lovelies

I bought some beautiful liberty fabric squares on ebay and they arrived yesterday. I was planning to use them for vintage fabric badges but I have had so much trouble cutting fabrics with the badge cutter I have given up. The point is to cut a perfect circle but the fabric seems to blunt the cutter and the circles are not properly circular so the badge machine doesn't properly press them into the fittings.

In summary the badges look great but they fall apart which isn't going to be good for customers!

The badges in my etsy shop are made of fabric but these fabrics are much thinner cotton and they worked out ok.

So I think I may just hang onto these fabric samples as inspiration as they are really gorgeous fabrics! Liberty is one of my favourite shops in london and I especially love going at Christmas to see their window displays and their whole department of decorations. The only thing is the shop is so old it isn't that easy to manouvere a pram around the floors!

Carter's Steam Fair Today

No post last night as we were out gallavanting in Hoxton at lil sis's leaving do drinks which was a nice change for a friday night. I'd forgotten how many people go out for drinks after work on a friday.

Today we took the little lady to Priory Park in Crouch End to the Steam Fair. All the rides were lovely old fashioned affairs especially the fairground carousel. The little lady surprised us be being a bit of a speed freak! She loved the horse and also went on another ride with me that went really fast (I was a bit worried!) but she had a ball.

Tomorrow we have a yoga picnic on hampsted heath which I am hoping the weather holds for. I must also try and do a bit of sewing as I have some ideas for t shirts using some applique.

The Crouch End Project

Tonight was the shopping evening in Crouch End which was fun apart from the sudden downpours. We were a bit soaked. The Crouch End Project is a collective of independant retailers which was set up to promote local shops and the unique character of the area.

We nosed round the lovely Powder boutique and I almost succumbed to a Orla Kiely stripey top but I stopped myself as the purse strings around littlechook need to be tightened this month as I've had a few unexpected expenses like shipping my heat press off for repair.

We ended up munching some delicious food in Banners which is a real Crouch End institution and great for some people watching.

My etsy shop has been neglected this week so I am going to spend sometime on it this weekend and have decided to have a sale on the vintage fabric cushion covers as I want to begin to move my shop over to be dedicated to my print designs.

my mums a hippie

The lovely my mums a hippie aka Monique Jivram was part of the Brixton Craft Market. She does embroidery and illustration and I love her quirky and colourful style. She had framed drawings, embroidered broaches and t shirts for sale on sunday. Her images are really diverse - wasps, fairground ride and vintage gramaphones and she stitches on top of the drawings.

I am hoping that she can join our seven dials pop up shop as I think she has an amazing talent. She isn't on etsy yet but I've told her all about it! She's on my space www.myspace.com/mymumsahippie

outdoor yoga

Beautiful sunny day again today here in London and I think I may have had a bit too much sun. The little lady was in the paddling pool for most of the afternoon and I was cooling my own feet down too.

I was also trying to take some pictures of her modelling some of my t shirts for my etsy shop but it was just far too hot for any of that! So not much work today, mostly play.

Tonight went to my yoga class and we went outside into the garden for a while which was lovely. Then we got to go back in and lie on our mats and just chill. Bliss! Our teacher has a yoga picnic planned for sunday on hampstead heath followed by a picnic so we are hoping the weather stays nice for the weekend.