one of the reasons why we do what we do!

 "With all the technology, all the activities that happen in the virtual world, you can lose contact with real things. I think that's where we come in. Things that aren't mass-produced have a character of their own, and the imperfections are part of it."

I read this really nice article about Labour and Wait , a lovely hardware shop.  http://labourandwait.co.uk/

have a read:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/back-to-basics-labour-and-wait-is-leading-the-way-with-the-latest-trend-for-oldfashioned-kit-2286694.html

 The photo is of a pile of fox scarves in the studio ready to be packaged up, they have just had their eyes sewn on. Last year we underestimated the amount of fox scarves we'd need to get us through Christmas, so Erin has made it her mission to be very prepared this year! 


Bob knits the lambswool fabric, we wash and dry it and then Kate and Imogen and Kristina do the laying out and the sewing, followed by turning inside out, sewing up and labeling. Then they each get their eyes and noses hand stitched on, and like most of our creatures the eyes give the piece their own unique character. Each one is slightly different and that's what makes them special, you just wouldn't get that from a massproduced item made in a big factory far away.


Just thought you'd like to know some of the processes we use. 


x

Friday Fish and chips anyone?

 Had a wander along the Thames and the Southbank last night, it's like a trip to the seaside!

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/

Brand new Koala with no name....May giveaway!

Hi, I am new to the Donna Wilson range, but I still have no name and no personality! :( 
Suggestions welcome. I am grey and white, and only 25 cm tall.
Please give me a name, and one like and one thing I dislike, and the one we choose to use will win one. :)

Hebridean huts and houses

Just got back from a lovely holiday in the Scottish Hebrides. I wanted to share with you some of the little huts that are sparingly sprinkled around the remote islands.  Most of them would have been used as weavers huts, as nearly all of the crofters would weave Harris Tweed in any spare time they had.

Some of the huts are now quite run down and derelict, but that made them even more intriguing to me. The little tin roofs and painted windows, look almost like tired little faces, with cracks as their wrinkles!

 I love the little tin baths inside this one

 what an amazing colour!

 some were so small against the fantastic backdrop of the hills

Jonathon Meades did a fantastic documentary on the isle of Lewis called Isle of rust for BBC4  showing abandoned vehicles rusting away in the middle of the peat bogs. 

I love the contrast of the net curtains against the corrugated iron.  Hope you like these. I think you will be seeing some of these themes creeping into my work soon!

Odd Objets found on the remote island of South Harris