Saturday 29 July 2017

Newly Listed: Bohemian Floral Bag


Bohemian Floral Bag - Vintage Embroidery, Black bag, Flower Power, Kiss-lock by StarBags
Red Tulip Print, flower photography nature wall art, dark botanical, Petals in the Grass by CarolynCochrane
Butterfly with Red Flower Photography Print, Spring Green Garden Art, Fine Art Print by StudioZoom
Photo Print of red water lillies blooming - Red on Black by hbphotographs

Thursday 27 July 2017

Our Creative Space...


About two years ago we invested in all the materials to do electroforming, after doing one batch of crabs and starfishes we did not touch it anymore mainly due to lack of time or better said; just not making the time for it.


But I've been making new pieces now and am experimenting different techniques which has been lots of fun.


I make rings with a metal ring base and then shape the ring around the stone with clay. After baking the clay I paint the clay with metal conductive paint and I electroform it with copper for 4-5 hours.


Once it is copper it can turn into silver by electroforming it with fine silver (999).



I'm very happy with the results and am working on some new pieces with natural stones.


This ring with Carborundum stone is beside beautiful perfect for self-defense lol :)



I also turned this beautiful starfish in silver.


The shape was how we found it on the beach, you can actually reshape dead starfishes by making it wet again and reshape it but we like the unusual and natural shape much more.


All 3 pieces are available in the shop and I hope to finish more in the coming weeks.

Monday 24 July 2017

Beach and Bags


We went to the beach yesterday, funny enough we hardly go to the beach during the Summer.
It is just too hot to stay long and too crowded to actually find something or to enjoy it as much as we enjoy it during the Winter months.


I had just finished two beach totes so used the opportunity to take pictures of them on the beach :)


While the views are gorgeous we were frustrated by how much garbage people leave behind once they had their day on the beach, it seems people come to eat and do not care about the mess they leave behind :(


About the totes; they are made of linen and have machine embroidered anchors. The straps are upcycled leather, riveted to the bag. They have a fun anchor charm for a fun finishing touch.


The heat has gotten to me this year, and I am looking forward to cooler times when the beaches are ours again, calm and clean.


Both anchor bags are available at StarBags.


Thursday 20 July 2017

Newly Listed: Kilim Bag Weekender


Kilim Bag Weekender, Leather Doctor Bag, Travel Bag, Carryall made with Vintage Kilim and Leather, Boho Tapestry Bag by StarBags
Photograph of a Red Paris Metro Sign at the Louvre, Parisian Decor, Travel Photography, Landscape Wall Art Print by TraceyCapone
Golden Gate, San Francisco, California, Landmark, Architecture, Bridge, Landscape, Photography, Travel by KristenEmmaPhoto
NOLA Nights, New Orleans Art, Canal Streetcar at Dusk, Travel Photography, Dreamy Urban Wall Art, Red, Blue by EyePoetryPhotography

Monday 17 July 2017

From Trash to Treasure


This chair was really almost trash, its legs was very gymnastic, something that chairs should not be able to do :)


Despite how it looked, nothing was broken, the connections were just separated, the glue was dried out and some connections were just not done properly back in the day.


After peeling off all the fabric and foam the entire skeleton needed to be separated and re-glued and re-attached properly to make it strong again.


Already looking better once the legs were back in the correct yoga pose :)


I sanded and painted the wood work, which was a little different due to the fun mid century style arms.


And it was time for new foam. Originally it had a cushion but we usually prefer direct upholstery as cushions slide, get out of shape and just don't look that good in our humble opinion.


With each chair the seat always is the first to upholster.


Then the inside arms and wings if it has wings.


And then the inside back, outside arms and finally the outside back and under the chair.


Inside each chair is a mess of fabric, foam and filling, each fabric has its purpose to keep everything in shape and place :)


I cut and sew strips of the gingham fabric for fun striped piping.


And tadaaah! The inspiration for this one was of course the striking rice bag.
Unlike what you would think this bag and the rice was produced in the USA for the Saudi Arabia market. They choose an interesting image for the packaging but that was also the reason why we choose to use it. The chair was not made to offend anyone, we just love the portrait and of course the exotic writings.


We used colors to match the rice bag, with vintage embroideries on the side.


Black and white piping for the red parts...


...red piping for the black and white fabric.



The back side of the rice bag became the back of the chair, with black and white piping to keep it fun.
It turned out very unusual and we love it :)
The chair is available among other one of a kind furniture in our shop.

Thursday 13 July 2017

Our Creative Space...


Several projects at once are in process. I'm working on a large kilim doctor bag, sewing tough leather and kilim in shape is a challenge but I love these bags.


Another chair is in progress, this one has some pretty cool arms, very mid century.
The chair is resting on a wooden spool...


...which is yet another project as it is going to become an ottoman.
The sides will be old kilim. And the top will be this embroidery below.


This punch needle embroidery was originally done on green velvet but it had bald spots, stains and discolorations, so we cut out the embroidery with a little fabric around it, placed it on a new strong upholstery fabric and mum painstakingly sewed it all by hand on the fabric. A great way to safe a damaged embroidery, plus it got bigger as we placed the branches with some more space to fit the ottoman better.
These three pieces should be done pretty soon, the heat is making it all a little hard to work!

Monday 10 July 2017

From Wood to Furniture


I showed some pretty embroideries last time as a tiny sneak peak on the furniture piece that we were working on. Now it is time to show it all :)


Chairs are basically pieces of wood put together, without upholstery they are pretty ugly, the more they ar re-upholstered the more history you'll see. This one had still its original upholstery which was some weird green stuff that was falling apart, I unfortunately thought I had taken a picture for the before but found out too late that I had not...


After removing ugly brown paint and painting it black it needed new webbing and new foam before starting to make it pretty.


Funny enough it became green again, but a very different green than the original upholstery.


These geometric shapes are not fabric as you might rightfully think! It is done like tapestry knot by knot, a crazy amount of work and the fabric is in fact white which you do not see at all do to the embroidery work, I don't think you can have anyone have something like this made these days.


The staples at the front I covered with fabric covered wood cut to shape.




I usually sew the back fabrics sides by hand, so that you do not see anything, this times I used nails for a different finishing and as a bonus it went much quicker than sewing by hand.



The back, all ready :)


I just love how colorful and vibrant it turned out and I used the same nails at the front to cover the staples near the wooden feet.


Beside the green fabric and foam everything used had a previous life, which I always find satisfying.


The side flowers are also vintage embroidery, because a chair should be pretty from every side :)


This chair is available at StarHomeStudio among other handmade furniture.