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!