Filed under: Fabulous finds | Tags: marriage, silver, stone, wedding band, Wedding ring, wood
Yorick and I are to be married next August, and to celebrate we will build a barn…in three days!
We’ve never really been the marrying type. The whole concept has always mystified me and, to be honest, the perceived freedom of not being married has suited us both very well. We’re with each other because we want to be. However, sixteen years on and two lovely boys later we have decided that the time is right to have a grand party and profess our love to the world. We also reckon it’s a great way to launch our relationship in to this next chapter of our lives…the building chapter.
The other day, while talking to a friend about this she asked whether we had rings. I was a bit taken a back. I’d completely forgotten about the ring thing or maybe I had subconsciously buried the thought ever since an impulse engagement to a Brazilian X in my youth. We were working in a community in wales…word spread just as I was suspecting I had made a very wrong decision. A Brazilian meal was organised for that evening and as I stirred the rice my badly fitting ring fell into it. It was later furtively retrieved but badly stained. I can’t remember what happened to it after that but the relationship went the same way as the ring…hot, then sticky, then lost!
So now I’m thinking rings and have been browsing etsy for rather a long time trying to find something that we could wear happily for EVER. Something distinctive but simple, that reflects what we are to ourselves and to each other.
OK…I’m going to show you my favourites. No decision yet though.
This one is titanium with wood from an inspired company called Boomering. just a bit concerned that the wood might not cope too well with my life of manure, mud and dish washing.
I really love the drama of this one, dark wood and silver set in to titanium. But is it very manly?
OK, so it's not exacly practical but this ring from Ruth Tomlinson is so exquisitely grunge bling!
Again titanium. I love the simplicity and there's a delicacy in the cream lines which softens the bulk.
I adore the combination of wood stone and silver in these rings by Adele Brererton. But will they last a lifetime? and do they look a little like boxing gloves? Could be handy.
OK, so it's not a ring, but I'm going to contact Grace and see if she makes them. I remember swapping beach locations for good pebble finds at Origin 2007
Well, there’s a wee selection for you. Who knows where this creative journey will take me but three materials keep jumping out at me: wood, stone and silver.
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: CE mark, CE marking, Toy legislation, toy testing
... and don't they know it.
Lobelia, Morag and Retta are, I regret to say, about to venture forth to meet all sorts of unpleasant procedures at the UKTI testing lab. If I could save their sweet tweedy skins I would but legislation and any number of shops calls for a CE mark.
I have told them how nice the scientist is and how everything will be so beautifully clean and tidy but really their’s no avoiding the fact that they’ll be (shhhhh! pulled, pinched, jabbed even have a flame hover dangerously close to them). Still, if it’s the only way to flood the world with tweedy creatures then so be it.
Filed under: life on lismore | Tags: network opportunity, networking, selvedge magazine, textile royalty, textiles
Selvedge magazine are having a party to celebrate five years in existence. Five years of delightful, distinctive and even informative copy. A magazine with whom I have advertised since it’s very first issue without a single regret and plenty of results. And yet…can I be bothered to travel 1000 miles to sip champagne on a Hampstead lawn, nibble canapes and network with textile royalty? No, is the honest answer. I really would rather fulfill my community duties and decorate Lismore hall with holly and synthetic sparkles and wallow in the muddy mire that is Lismore in December. Am I missing a potentially mind blowing network opportunity? Probably, possibly…definitely! Oooops. (she says with very little concern)
I have however, sent them 10 birdy brooches for their goody bags and a caffetiere wrap to raffle with labels and all relevant contact details firmly attached.
Birdy brooch heading to Hampstead.
I stopped at the shop/post office to send parcels on the way back home and discussed this with David my mild mannered shop keeper (who told Freda not to buy his tomatoes because they didn’t taste of anything )and Freda who sells her cakes at a farmer’s market once a month. “It’s about work/life balance” we concluded. Why scout for more work when you’re already busy enough with life in general? “Yes! Absolutely” and yet a little voice deep within is saying “and what about making a living?”….Shooosht!
I think I need a bossy boss!
The tidal wave of orders which began accumulating in August and peaked in October have now subsided. I can finally stop paddling like a panicked dog and can now pant, relieved, on the shore…as it were.
Saying that, the last three days have been full, but in a peaceful and civilized kind of way.
I’ve been designing very large blinds for my wonderful client, Mia. Her taste is for simple, clean lines, leaves and cream, natural wool. We make a pretty ideal match. I have worked on various projects for Mia over the years including blinds and kyoto sliding panels for her Swedish summer house and custom pillows and throws for the London residence and it is always a pleasure when she gets in touch.
Sample boards with blind design options
The first stage of the design process is usually a telephone call where vague ideas are discussed followed by a few emails where we start to hone in on the details. That is usually followed by sample boards where the client can glean a better perspective of the final design in a drawing and the feel and look of the fabric.
Sample boards have been sent to Mia and I will wait and see where it goes from here.
With design on the brain I spent the afternoon working on a few more birdies…this time ones to hang from the Christmas tree or Easter branch.
A few sketches to firm up on shapes
re drawn on cardboard and cut into templates
and embroidered on to felt off cuts
And creativity continued with a metalic silver pen and red wine at the craft night. Bird theme continued with ‘…geese a laying’ Xmas cards x 55!
Guess who's making most of the mess?
Goose with a sore behind!
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: Bach cello suite, Diana Krall, Dolly Parton, Gaelic radio, Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4
What do you listen to when you’re making?
I’ve now had a good 6 months of back to back radio 4 and really, one can only tolerate so much babble about the habits of migrating birds or the emancipation of the flapper girl not to mention the current trend of saturating the airwaves with endless stories of economic and certain doom and the darkest gloom. Enough already!
Radio 3 is fine in small doses but why insult our ear drums with so many panicked sopranos and don’t get me started on the organ recitals. Radio 2 is OK on the weekend (apart from Elaine Page and the travesty of songs from musicals) but week days…no, no. Forget radio1, I’m past it and definitely no good for concentration.
I tried Gaelic radio for a short while, felt very worthy listening to the sing song tones and excited at the possibility that I may absorb the language as if by osmosis and maybe one day know how to respond to Duncan Laggan’s Gaelic greetings without looking like a complete twit. But no, more (a lot more) comprehension was needed to sustain my interest.
I think I may have to revert back to CD’s for a while, I haven’t played Dolly for ages and Bach cello suites are always a winner and come to think of it, where’s that fantastic Diana Krall album?
Suggestions welcome!
So today NOTS orders were attended to and here they are:
Look what happened to these guys when Linda re appeared in Ambridge.
Apologies to those American bloggers who won’t have the slightest idea what I’m on about. Quick note re Ambridge, this is the name of the fictional town inhabited by ‘The Archers’ , the longest running radio soap of all time (radio 4).
Night night folks…beauty sleep needed.
x Sarah
Filed under: life on lismore | Tags: digging, Fencing, pinch bar, strainer posts
Ow!! My hands are hurting, my stomach muscles feel as though I’ve been abducted by Jane Fonda, my legs ache and my face feels as raw as a zested lemon, but I’m happy. We have achieved seven straining posts, a river diversion and the removal of about 200 metres of old barbed wire and rotten stobs from the aged dyke.
Yorick proudly tests the firmness of a straining post.
For those of you who have fairly recently stumbled upon my blog let me keep you in the loop. Yorick and I bought Ballimackillichan croft last April. We have everything to do: build barns, acquire sheep and possibly a cow or two, build a house and two studios, excavate a pond… the list goes on. But first of all we have to re fence the boundary between us and Simon and Nicky. The existing one is very tumble down, much to the delight of Simon’s sheep who have ventured through it to grass paradise and refuse to return.
The day started early for me. Off I skipped like snow white’s dwarf, spade on shoulder, whistling while I went. The sky was wide and pale blue and the morning sun lit Morvern vivid rust. I tested the ground with a pinch bar, feeling and listening for the clink of stones which may hinder the dig. First attempt…stone, second attempt….stone, third attempt…roots (and big ones at that), fourth attempt…hmm, no stones. So I started to dig and dig and dig and scrape and scoop and dig and scrape and swear and scoop and sweat and swear and stab, scuffle , stab, scoop. You get the picture? and by the end of my stint I had achieved 6.5 feet of strainer holes.
Bob and Dot, our knights in shining armour turned up to help, we ate tuna mayonnaise sandwiches and drank coffee in flasks and all in all had a thoroughly industrious but beautiful day. I had no idea there was so much pleasure to be had from the firmness of a well stuck post (what… what did I say?)
Bob and Dot our heroes.
Tom and Yorick on their favourite toy.
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: buttercup, cuddly toy, Hamish, highland hare, soft sculpture, Soft toy
All a little uncomfortable at the thought of leaving the buttercup fields.
Hamish triplets waiting to head off to various corners of the UK.
Filed under: latest news | Tags: cushion forms, cushion pads, cushions, pillow forms, Pillow inserts, pillows, throw pillow, toss pillow
Today was an admin. day. The first in a very long while and kind of forced upon me by the unfortunate circumstance of being stranded at home without motor or functioning bicycle. To add insult to injury the rain lashed horizontally across the island and one could be forgiven for thinking Lismore was simply a wet dumpling in an Atlantic sized witches cauldron, with all the atmospheric mist to boot!
However, once I had mentally adjusted to the look of this new day I started to kind of look forward to all the bits and pieces of communication and paperwork which would otherwise haunt me somewhere in the back cupboard of my conscience.
First on my list was to tackle the issue of inserts. I have made up a cushion order for a shop in New York. The covers are packed and ready to go and the intention was to source pads in New York and have them sent to the shop. This way I can avoid the horrendous cost of posting bulky items to the states. I breezily hit google with cushion pads new york…nothing! pillow inserts new york…nothing! pillow forms new york…nothing! feather down pillows new york??? nothing!! (at least nothing that comes anywhere near the sizes that I need and the price that I am accustomed to paying here in Britain). I try some more: pillow cushions inserts pads forms down feather USA……
Then I succumb to emailing my client. ” Tony, do you know where I can source some pillow inserts in New York for this order” and explain why. He replies promptly with a rather panicked email asking, what is a pillow insert and will I need to sew anything (needle phobia). WHAT IS GOING ON? Have I got the words wrong (by the way our cushions are referred to as pillows or toss pillows in the US)? Am I insane and I’m not going to write my next thought at the risk of insulting many perfectly intelligent Americans. So I sent Tony three explanatory photos which I will now post for those of you struggling with the concept of what makes a pillow puffy.
Cushion cover and pad (Pillow cover and insert)
Cushion pad going in to cover (pillow insert going in to cover)
Cushion pad in, needing zipped (pillow insert in, needing zippered)
I received a releived and ernestly thankful reply to the photos which I suspect would have utterly insulted the intelligence of any upstanding Brit and I also received, thankfully, the address of a pillow insert supplier in Chelsea New York. Phew!!
but brace yourselves…after Mandy had enquired as to the ratio of feather to down I was wanting, sizes, quantity and would I like them silk covered (at this point I started to get nervous) she hit me with the price.
$92 for ONE 30cm x 60cm rectangular cushion pad! and I thought my covers were pricey.
Forget it…I’ve bought a set of six vacuum bags from ebay and I’m going to hoover every available molecule of air out of my pads until they resemble pitta bread and post them off with the covers. Job done!!
Filed under: latest news | Tags: button eyes, CE testing, cuddly creatures, flammibility, Heavy metal toxicity, small parts, Sophie's choice, toy certification, Toy legislation
Oh wait a minute. Maybe CE stands for something else…cluttersome extras, corporate entrails…
Lavinia is not amused!
So today was consumed by investigations into the legalities of toy making! Firstly, thank you all for your very useful and insightful comments on my last post. Recommended blog posts have been visited, options digested and now I have a few precious nuggets of information for all of you pondering CE certification.
Most useful was a telephone conversation with Brian at the City of Edinburgh Council Analytical and Scientific Services department (CEC ASS for short I guess!). This is one of the approved testing bodies recommended by http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38560.html the Government body in charge of Europe trade and export control.
Brian told me various interesting things which I will now bullet point for you all
- We cannot legally get away with omitting the title ‘toy’ or refuting the title ‘toy’ if the item is going to be displayed with, tagged or associated with toys. So basically, if it looks toy like and is likely to appeal to a child, it should be tested…Bum!
- The toy can be tested for three things
- Heavy metal Toxicity I think it is only the outer fabric that needs to be tested and, if you are lucky your fabric supplier may already have tested the fabric for HMT in which case this certificate will suffice. If you have the same toy but in different colourways then each toy will have to be tested because toxicity is related to die stuffs. Toy fabric manufacturers do tend to test for HMT but not tweed manufacturers it seems!
- Fire This test relates to the fire retardant capacity of each toy and is impacted by their shape and the type of material they are made from. Unfortunately, a fire test certificate from the fabric manufacturer will not suffice as the flammability of each toy depends also on its shape.
- Small parts and durability There is hope… Button eyes are not necessarily a no no! If they are very very well fixed and really hard to remove then they can potentially pass (or so Brian says). Seams will also be thoroughly checked to make sure that they are durable and no stuffing can escape.
and the cost of it all? Well I’m not sure yet…Brian’s going to list all relevant information including cost but he did infer approx £70 – £80 for each test (in other words around about £210 for all three). He did say that not all three tests are necessary but I didn’t quite get the complete gist of that. Maybe if you omit the small parts test then the item can have CE certification with an added note “not suitable for under 36 months”. I don’t know, I’ll have to get some clarification on that point.
So now I am contemplating the ‘Sophie’s choice’ type scenario: Which of my cuddly creatures do I send to the lab for mutilation, gassing and almost certain death…
and on that delightful note I bid you Auf Wiedersehen…pet.
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: beware buttons, button eyes, cuddly toys, eco motives, Eco range, EU regulations, lanolin, soft toys, toy beaurocracy, vintage buttons, wool
The button police
OH DEAR. I’m feeling rather guilty and a bit forlorn. I’ve just been contacted by a certain on line shop as to whether my Hamish, Clarris’s and Lobelias are approved by the… (regulators of such things) as child’s toys. I had a sneaky suspicion this issue was lurking in some back alley waiting to pounce. The aspects, I suspect, which might be highlighted as desperately dangerous for child health will be button eyes and apparently lanolin content in wool, but my button eyes are quirky and lovely and unusual and very thoroughly sewn on. I don’t want to attach some tepid fluff version for babies. Anyhow, I ate a 2 pence piece when I was a baby and Ruben ate a pin and they passed right through! And lanolin? What’s that about? Can someone please clarify? Human beings have been wearing wool since before they were upright, is it an eczema thing?
OK (she says with a resigned sigh) I’m going to have to consult with the powers that be. I suspect they may have to be labelled not for under 3’s as I am not prepared to sanitize and dilute interesting and quirky art/craft for bureaucratic pacification. I suppose I could always adapt the toys for baby munchers if need be.
Anyone else got any experience on this matter. Advice please?
On to a brighter note…my Eco motives order is now finished. Hurray! So I’m going to give you a wee exhibition of all items including the dreadfully dangerous, buttonoxious, lanoliscious soft toys. Aaaaaagh
Leaf Coffee cosy
Grass Coffee cosy
Berry Coffee cosy
and the back (of the grass one)
Berry cushions
Grass cushions
Leaf cushions
Clarris (Beware the eyes!)
Diedre (Beware the brush of a wool crest!)
Hamish (beware the point of a woollen ear!)
Lobelia (beware pink!)
Seamus (beware lanolin!)
Berry tea cosy
Grass tea cosy
Leaf tea cosy
Wrap, table runner or bed runner. Versatility rules OK.
and another one.
So, if any of you just can’t resist then all will be available at an online store called Eco motives which should be up and running shortly. I’ll keep you posted on that one or give me a ring/ send me an email and I’ll make something up for you.
Oh, and forgive my sarcasm, I know, ‘It’s the lowest form of humour’.
x Sarah
