The line-up

Today I printed panels of the indigo for my new hampers - langoustine....

and Madame Tang - a horrendously heavy 23 kg block that is exquisite in detail and composition yet painfully difficult to align as I print.

I will need to heat set the fabric first for permanence and then start constructing the hampers ...

The excitement

Today I have finally cut, washed and ironed batches of the exquisite indigo linen ready for my new hamper range.

My ornate wallpaper blocks such as Baron, Madame Tang, langoustine and Raja will be printed on this heavy weight linen.
As its Sunday morning and I have a number of other things to do I decided to only print one pattern- Baron:

As I surveyed the painstakingly printed panels (my back now aches from lifting and manouevering this massive slab) I felt a ripple of pure delight. The result was what I wanted - I think this is my favourite pattern. I will print Mdm Tang tommorrow and post the results.
Simultaneously Ive been trying to finish sewing a batch of the new mini pods - printed with deep rouge ink on unbleached linen -I mix my inks myself so each batch tends to vary in subtle ways.
Ive sewed a couple - about another fifty to go(!) but heres one:

I think I need a cup of coffee and some stollen cake!

Mini pods

A sneak peek of new fabric - and the tjaps behind their making for a batch of new mini pods..

Pretty snow

The forecasted bad weather has finally arrived and the garden is smothered in thick snow. The eerie stillness and quiet creates a beautiful backdrop to a tropical garden covered in a deep white blanket.

I spent Sunday morning cutting and hole puching leather - looking out onto the soft white haze that enveloped us was actually quite therapeautic.

leatherworking

Winter is a good time for self appraisal - I decided a  while back to tweak my stock and re-evaluate how my time is best spent. The hectic and rather unforgiving pace of  working alone and the multi-tasking thats required  has taken a toll.
I realised I needed to streamline my existing lines in order to also expand into making new items such as the clutches and now wallpaper and fabric.

The hamper range will change - the beauty of printing my own fabric means I can create what I need to when I want to add  or change my pattern repertoire. Below are two wallpaper blocks that will soon feature in my shop as hampers:

Sourcing Linen

As I use linen in everything I find that sourcing quality fabric from diminishing suppliers becomes more challenging.
Adverse growing conditions and the recession closing down small independant producers mean that linen is soaring in price and quality often fluctuates from one month to the next.
After several frustrating months of searching and collating swathes of samples Ive finally tracked down some beautiful heavy weight indigo linen in Sweden.
The weight is substantial with a beautiful feel and a textured open weave that is perfect for block printing.

An idea of how indigo linen can vary in both colour and weight  is shown  below:

Patterns in progress

Over the next couple of weeks I will be working on new pattern compilations and carving new patterns. Some for the new clutch range and others for the growing hamper and pod range.

I`ll include in my posts the process of inking up the new pattern lay-outs using tjaps and wallpaper blocks (combining the two types of blocks often create the most unusual patterns) and some new lino sheets ready to be carved - I prefer to sketch straight onto the sheet.

Im eagerly awaiting some beautiful new bird tjaps to arrive which I will pair with some of my large scale exotic florals for a new hamper pattern. Keep an eye out!

New in the pipeline

Things have been quite busy lately but now as the pace settles down and my custom orders are nearing completion I can turn my attention to the planned additions in my range.

Ive been working on a new line of clutches which I had initially designed months ago and now are finally in the making. A natural extension of my love of accessories mixed with bold and unusual patterns make the range.
 At the moment I am printing a batch of indigo linen that will compliment the scale and style of the clutches I have planned.

The patterns range from luscious and ornate to bold, striking ones and will be printed on deepest indigo linen with fuschia pink, chalk white and taupe ink Im mixing up at the moment.
Ive trialed several batches of taupe as it has to be just right with indigo blue. The chalk white is always the most striking but Im falling in love with hot fuschia pink against the deep blue.

I do tend to rotate my projects alot at the moment to ensure things are completed, tomorrow I must finish cutting and hole-punching a batch of leather handles for the new khaki mini pods -

 This includes making handles for some Maneki Neko cat hampers, as my shop will be part of an Etsy feature in TimeOut magazine on Tue 8th and this hamper will be included which means it has to be in stock!.

A New Year

Which is sure to be just as fabulous, probably just as exhausting (!)- and hopefully even more elating.

Before I forget I wanted to show you some of the beautiful little things I got for Christmas. I love wooden brooches and much to my delight I found a lovely selection -all from etsy sellers - under the tree.

 The gorgeous birdie brooch is from Anna Wiscombe, the sweet fox is from The Golden Spleen and the flower brooch is from snugstudio. Just love them.