Friday, September 26, 2008

Barack Obama is IRISH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek
I LOVE it. Sent to me by Shay Black, who I knew way back in my late teens, early twenties. Great guy.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A new "medieval" print bag. The Lady and the Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn. Silk and print tarot bag based on a medieval tapestry.

I asked for input about bags on Aeclectic Forum some months back. One thing that came out strongly is that people want Pre-Raphaelite and Medieval options. We like those images too, so we've been working on them. Here are a couple of examples.

It's really hard to find either type of imagery in high quality copyright-free form so Alex had to do a lot of work on both of these. I do think they look good:
Sorry - our sites just went down as I was putting these in (the host has an announcement up so at least they know). So here is just a small upload of one image for now.

The Lady and the Unicorn. Silk and print tarot bag based on a medieval tapestry.




Monday, September 15, 2008

A new bag

We actually did take this one from a CD collection. We hardly ever use CDs because the quality tends to be awful, but this one just needed a bit of work - and it's so beautiful that it was worth it.

It's a picture by Warwick Goble - I just LOVE the colour combinations. Nautilus, art deco silk tarot bag, drawstring pouch Nautilus silk tarot bag, drawstring pouch

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Dreams Can Work, a small blog about small creative businesses

Well, it's sort of in a fit state to see now, though it needs a whole lot more work (and ouch, I cannot change some of the colours that I want to - oh well, that'll have to wait). I am enjoying this but actually finding it quite demanding. But it's good, it's making me read and think and - quite honestly - this blog is as much about pushing that side of myself as anything else. http://www.dreamscanwork.com (this is a redirect and I've only just set it up, so it may not work for another 24 hours) It's been quite a summer. Sometime I will post about my boring (but for me incredibly stressful) struggle with trying to put right a mistake that my solicitors made about ten years ago - entirely their fault and a bad mistake with huge consequences for me. It's been nightmarish at times and it's not what I needed this year, but oh well, shit happens and all that. Anyway, I am getting it sorted, and it's been great while it's all going on to just focus on indulging some of my own textile desires (no-one does a decent Alice cushion, so now I have - and I have two for myself) and on the issues around getting a creative business off the ground in current times. This is the third time I've got a studio going and interestingly, it's the most successful. Certainly not in monetary terms, but very much so in terms of enjoyment, satisfaction and a feeling that I'm finally doing what I really want to. I work very long hours, but I'm not very stressed. In fact, I am so much more laid back and calm than I used to be that it's almost a joke. I also suspect that Baba Studio is actually more stable than any studio I've run before - I think this time we built the foundations much more slowly and in a considered way. It feels solid. Every so often Alex says to me, "Do you ever think what I might be doing if I hadn't met you?" and I say, "Well, what about me if I hadn't met you?" and he always says, "Well, you would be running your own studio, but I might well not be." We're lucky - our skills and interests are very complementary. But he says that in the end, I am the one that knows how to begin a business (though I strongly suspect that he is the one who knows how to keep it running efficiently) and in a way, yes, it's true. So it's nice to pass on some thoughts and things I've learned - even though I shudder a bit at actually encouraging anyone else to follow my ways of doing things which often verge on being driven by a strange mix of passion, fear and desire, rather than organised and planned in any clean, clear way. Anyhow, the blog is begun. Though I make no claims for it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The new bags - there are about eight more new prints as well

Again, these are my colour adjustments on the photos so not as good as Alex's. But they give an idea. We are switching mostly to new Thai silk for the bags (it's pure silk, but smoother than dupion and as iridescent as the Indian silk) AND - ta DA! - silk lining (again pure silk and yes, we even tested it to make sure).I'm very happy. Alex says that it's like my cooking, I never do anything twice exactly the same way. He says I always have to try new things - but I think he likes it. Anyway, I am really very pleased with these.This is Harry Clarke's "Thumbelina" - much worked on by Alex as sadly the original prints (we have a first edition) are very faded now. We have it in a bronze shot with green or a lilac. Neither is really quite right on these images - the bronze looks a bit brown (it's actually a real "shot" colour) and the lilac a bit blue. Actually, if you look at the picture of Minnie below this bag is on the far right - and that's more the real colour. I am just in love with this lilac silk - which is funny as it was Alex who wanted it and I initially wasn't sure. But it's marvelous.Harry Clarke, Thumbelina tarot bag or drawstring pouchHarry Clarke, Thumbelina lavender silk tarot bag or drawstring pouch

Happiness is a cat with bags, lots and lots of brand new bags

I have been stringing cord through tarot bags the last couple of days - it's not usually my job but it's actually been nice to do something so manual - hate to say it, but sometimes I just love this kind of mindless work with pretty fabrics.Anyway, I am also trying to list the new bags on the shop, so I sorted them on a clean white sheet on the floor to see what we have of which colours. Mistake! Or was it? It made one large tabby very happy. She LOVES to help with things. Fortunately most of them are already bagged in plastic but er, I would not normally encourage her to do this.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Alice cushions - mark two. With hand embroidery, beautiful, beautiful embroidery

So, our new Alice in Wonderland cushions are at sample number two stage.We've changed the fabric from linen to silk (a really good quality silk with cotton interfacing, nice and crisp) as we like the sheen - though we may do some linen also eventually.We've changed the design so that the cushions work well on their own as well as in pairs. Though the original "paired" design will probably be done, in slightly modified form, too - as I love it.The cushion now comes with a pad - a rather ingenious pad of which more later.Oh - and by the way - we now have hand embroidery on the design. I actually want to jump up and down and shout that very loudly, but I will be quiet and restrained. DMC threads too - I LOVE how this looks.These are just snapshots for now, and done in bad light but they still look good, don't they? Actually, I am very, very pleased with how these are turning out. It's been worth the work. Though I do need to redo some photos in sunlight.A few more tweaks and a few more designs, and we'll be there I hope.alice in wonderland cushion
alice in wonderland cushion
alice in wonderland cushionalice in wonderland pillow
alice in wonderland pillow

Alice cushions - mark two. With hand embroidery, beautiful, beautiful embroidery

So, our new Alice cushions are at sample number two stage.We've changed the fabric from linen to silk (a really good quality silk with cotton interfacing, nice and crisp) as we like the sheen - though we may do some linen also eventually.We've changed the design so that the cushions work well on their own as well as in pairs. Though the original "paired" design will probably be done, in slightly modified form, too - as I love it.The cushion now comes with a pad - a rather ingenious pad of which more later.Oh - and by the way - we now have hand embroidery on the design. I actually want to jump up and down and shout that very loudly, but I will be quiet and restrained. DMC threads too - I LOVE how this looks.These are just snapshots for now, and done in bad light but they still look good, don't they? Actually, I am very, very pleased with how these are turning out. It's been worth the work. Though I do need to redo some photos in sunlight.A few more tweaks and a few more designs, and we'll be there I hope.

Alice cushions - mark two. With hand embroidery, beautiful, beautiful embroidery

So, our new Alice cushions are at sample number two stage.We've changed the fabric from linen to silk (a really good quality silk with cotton interfacing, nice and crisp) as we like the sheen - though we may do some linen also eventually.We've changed the design so that the cushions work well on their own as well as in pairs. Though the original "paired" design will probably be done, in slightly modified form, too - as I love it.The cushion now comes with a pad - a rather ingenious pad of which more later.Oh - and by the way - we now have hand embroidery on the design. I actually want to jump up and down and shout that very loudly, but I will be quiet and restrained. DMC threads too - I LOVE how this looks.These are just snapshots for now, and done in bad light but they still look good, don't they? Actually, I am very, very pleased with how these are turning out. It's been worth the work. Though I do need to redo some photos in sunlight.A few more tweaks and a few more designs, and we'll be there I hope.Alice in Wonderland, white rabbit silk cushion or pillow.Alice in Wonderland, white rabbit silk cushion or pillow.Alice in Wonderland, white rabbit silk cushion or pillow.

Alice cushions - mark two. With hand embroidery, beautiful, beautiful embroidery

So, our new Alice cushions are at sample number two stage.We've changed the fabric from linen to silk (a really good quality silk with cotton interfacing, nice and crisp) as we like the sheen - though we may do some linen also eventually.We've changed the design so that the cushions work well on their own as well as in pairs. Though the original "paired" design will probably be done, in slightly modified form, too - as I love it. The cushion now comes with a pad - a rather ingenious pad of which more later.Oh - and by the way - we now have hand embroidery on the design. I actually want to jump up and down and shout that very loudly, but I will be quiet and restrained. DMC threads too - I LOVE how this looks.These are just snapshots for now, and done in bad light but they still look good, don't they? Actually, I am very, very pleased with how these are turning out. It's been worth the work. Though I do need to redo some photos in sunlight.A few more tweaks and a few more designs, and we'll be there I hope.Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, silk cushion or pillow.Alice in Wonderland, white rabbit, silk cushion or pillow.Alice in Wonderland, silk cushion or pillow with hand embroidery.Alice in Wonderland, silk cushion or pillow.