charles and marie

came across this website today - http://www.charlesandmarie.com/

to be honest I am not 100% sure what they do! They seem to sell a variety of products in limited editions aswell as blogging and doing alot of travelling as they have just finished the New York Gift Fair and are going to Paris for the Maison et Objet show. They seem a wee bit 'try hard' for me but I did like the simplicty of the sun jar by toby wong.

However I do like their frank minded website where they talk the global sameness of cities as small independant retailers are edged out by the big corporations. Personally I am heartened by sites like etsy and folksy that give us designer/makers a chance to sell to a global market but then it's hard to have your voice heard outside of these arenas in the wider press.

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.

the calm before the storm

I am sitting here surprisingly calmly the night before the Brixton Craft Market and drinking fruit cider. We had a brilliant day today with lots of sunshine and just general family happiness. I put together a trial layout of my stall for tomorrow and I have a fair idea of what I will do tomorrow.

I am really on my own though tomorrow with my sister at Glastonbury and hubby looking after the little lady. We decided it wouldn't be fair to get her up early and then have her spend all day at the fair so I am driving there and setting up on my own. To unload by my stall I need to arrive between 6 and 7 am. I'm hoping there's somewhere around to have some breakfast!

I'm actually looking forward to the whole thing as it will be a good chance to get feedback on my work and to chat to other artists and designers. Still bit gutted that I have no t shirts though as I felt they would sell well at an event like this. Instead I have vintage fabric cushions, badges, cards and tea towels. I am looking forward to seeing all the handmade goodies on sale.

Wish me luck!

Pulse 2008 day 3

Visited again today (with Katherine in tow poor mite) to have another look at the show. I thought the launchpad (supported by Liberty) was the best bit of the show and the designers showed fantastic creativity and talent. All these designers have studios or are members of organisations like Hidden Art, Craft Central and Cockpit Arts. Today's pic shows some of the work available from the hidden art online shop www.hiddenart.com

I am having a look at my fav's websites and will blog 'em all over the next few days.

After lunch I took the little lady to the park as a thank you for being so good at Pulse and we got soaked to the skin in the rain and Katherine fell in a puddle but she took it all in her stride as usual.

And I had a sale in my etsy shop too yay! I am not sure if I never noticed the gallery layout feature before or it is new but I much prefer how the shop looks in this layout. I am sure though that the ability to list items in terms of price, date added is new and it is a great addition to the site.

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!

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?

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 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!