Getting the shops updated and tidied up

For a week now, Magda (our new helper) and I have been working hard on updating the drawstrings on both the main shop and on Etsy. We finally have the new standard bags nearly all up, and in the right colours - formerly we had some colours listed that we're actually sold out of.

It's great to get this all sorted - and essential too, before the new styles of bag arrive later this summer.

The Magic Cup - new shoulder bag

We've been asked for many different new shoulder bag prints, and this is one of the first of them. It's SUCH a pretty bag - should get some attention when it's worn, in the nicest possible way. I've shown the apple green back, but it also comes in copper, rust/green and taupe/green. Or anything else you like really - though to me, those are the colours that work best.

A couple of new shoulder bags

These are another custom order that came out really well. We're trying to cut back on custom orders but we are still happy to do them when we think that the print can go into our normal line. I think both these bags will be popular - when I get that "I want one of these" myself, it's usually a good sign. In fact, the Thumbelina shows very well at this size as you can see the details.

We tried doing one of these satin fronts in a dupion satin-backed silk. I like it, Alex is not sure. But it's interesting to try. I sort of like the little hint of texture in the dupion. I may post close-ups later so you can see what I mean.

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.

New prints

We are doing a whole heap of new prints right now - based in part on all the feedback we got on Aeclectic Forum at the beginning of the year about the kinds of things people want. They are all old images that we have cleaned and altered to make them suitable for fabric printing.So far we have ONE of each - we did these as a try-out. But we're making more now and should have plenty in stock in a week or so.











All - and some other new ones that I'll save for the next post - are only on Etsy for now. Until we have the more standard colours ready it doesn't make sense to put them on baba-store.We're also working on some of our own images, but these may not see the light of day for some months. Basically we have a large project to do over the autumn - it all sort of arose and grew and suddenly became quite a big task. It's on commission from a publisher and should be extremely interesting. So - we thought we would put some time into really getting a nice, big selection of bags (and - cushions - more of that in a week or two) ready for autumn, and then we can settle down and do our own illustrations. A nice balance I think.

Summer Newsletter

Just about the best special offers we've had on bags I think. Well, it's summer and so summery new bags are particularly nice.And if you haven't yet subscribed via the new shop PLEASE, please do - all you need to do is enter your email in the field on the right-hand side of the home page, http://www.baba-store.com - it's much more reliable so I want to move everyone over asap.

The old software, like the old shop, was great in its time but just got very creaky in the last 18 months or so. It's good to have something a bit closer to state of the art - ish!

Another from the shoot

I've been talking about us making an Elf Boy shoulder bag for many months. One of the good things about a photo-shoot is that it does get all these things done: