BirdBrain Designs

campbellford hook-in

September 9, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

My friend Mary Anne and I spent a perfect day at the Campbellford Guild’s hook-in. This was our first time to attend, but we are already making plans to go back next year. The venue was a lovely park in the centre of the town on the shores of the Trent River. We hooked, visited and ate delicious goodies as sailboats and other watercraft passed by. Could not have been more lovely. I didn’t take too many photos, but here are a few.

Some great pieces were on display: Mary Anne’s Sin of Choice is almost finished and Lise’s Fish are done. I am not sure who hooked the final two pieces, but I loved their whimsical approach.

a day in the city…

September 8, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I love this view of the backside of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

rug 2 I went to the city on Saturday for two main reasons. First I wanted to to see Ancestry and Aristry, the display of Mayan textiles from Guatemala and secondly I knew of a good quality leather remnant sale.

Toronto was in the midst of a deluge, and of course crowded to the hilt with Film Festival goers–Brad Pitt arrived just after I walked along King St–(no I didn’t see him!) But my umbrella and I were able to get to both of my venues with ease. The display at the Textile Museum was wonderful. I especially was interested in the three hooked rugs from the Thirteen Threads Cooperative where Mary Anne Wise has been teaching rug hooking. Jenn Manuell was there this year and posted great photos on her blog. The colours and vitality of all the work, mostly embroidery and weaving, were outstanding–and the women have carried these qualities into their rug hooking. Of course I am interested in how their techniques of using traditional motifs and patterns can apply to hooking in Kenya. And interested too in the fabrics they used which seemed to be pretty much what they could lay their hands on.

I was thrilled to get this 4 kg pile of good quality leather remnants. I find that a small piece spurs my imagination and I come up with new designs which would not occur to me if I had lots of leather. The red piece in particular beckons.

I also got a new punch for hammering out circles, so am thinking about a series of polka dot pouches. Stay tuned…

the final mocha luna–the cupcake!

September 4, 2013 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

Here is the last in the series made with this wonderful distressed mocha leather. Beautifully designed and crafted with lots of patina is the way the owner of this bag made from the same leather described it. I wasn’t sure I would have enough leather left, but with some careful placing this one emerged–the cupcake! I’ve been waiting to use this lining which I got a few years ago in a European market and this is the perfect bag. Sedate on the outside and laughing on the inside!

This bag is a great size, 13″ x 12″ x 5″ with the same features of the other mocha luna bags: adjustable strap, reinforced bottom with rivets, exterior and interior pockets and high quality metal zipper and tabs.

This cupcake will be in the shop this afternoon.

walnut diagonal bag

September 4, 2013 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

I’ve been working with lovely browns for the last weeks. It must be fall in the air. I made two mocha bags a couple of weeks ago and have just enough for a third one which I will show you tomorrow.

In the meantime here is the walnut diagonal tote, made from one of several skirts I found at a thrift shop last year. There was just enough for one tote–a classic. This tote will carry all your essentials and is ready to with its reinforced double bottom and chrome feet. It has a 54″ adjustable strap double riveted to the bag, an outer pocket and two inside pockets, one closing with a zipper. Its great happy lining includes the birdbrain polka dot bird screen-printed on the pocket and a leather pocket for your phone and other small things you need to get to quickly. 15″ x 14″ x 5″.

This bag is the only one made and will be in the shop today.

update

September 2, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

My rug has been spending the summer at the cottage. We were there for the last while, so I got a chance to spend some time with it. The one end is close to done. It may not look like much progress, but the rug is almost five feet wide so it takes a while to make it across. The text is done on the other end, but there is lots of hooking left. Each end will be this blue as-is texture–but I will have to get out the dye pots for the colours in the centre. I am hoping for a subtle transition to blocks of green, yellow and orange. The hooking I am doing now is almost meditative hooking, the kind I like best, but soon I will have to decide on the main part of the rug–design and background. And that takes thought and planning. Concentration. But for now I am enjoying the sun on the water, the calls of the loons and the slip of the wool through my fingers.As far as bags go–here is the lining for the new one. I hope to show you it finished tomorrow. It is made from a rich brown skirt cut on the diagonal. This bag is a good size and classic birdbrain, including the lining of brightly coloured squares from a European market and the screen-printed bird pocket.

hooking and thinking

August 23, 2013 by Birdbrain 5 Comments

I am still working out so much about the blog world. I spent the week making bags, photographing them and posting them. Thank you to those who have followed me through the process and purchased. I was overwhelmed with the speed of your response! Since I am a one-person operation and the sewing times are sporadic, there is no set time for new work and no way, other than the blog, to show you. Sometimes, people write to me and ask me how they go about buying a bag. I don’t do shows and I don’t advertise. Once a year I open my house for a Christmas sale. But really, the best way is to check in here once in a while and see what is available in the on-line store–or email me with a request. All the bags posted this week are in the mail and off to new owners. 🙂

I haven’t been working too much on the rug, but will have more time in the next few days. Learning lots about hooking text. Although I traced the font, I find the actual hooking is more like handwriting. Each letter, although related to its cohorts, is slightly different. And then there is the world of meaning behind the quotation. Time to think about that as I hook. The templates you see scattered there will form the design of the middle of the rug. Right now I am thinking they will be in a spiral–but that will develop as I hook the text at either end.

Thank you for your support and have a great weekend, all of you. The weather here in southern Ontario is spectacular–even though there is that bittersweet touch of fall in the air.

and the last bag of the week

August 22, 2013 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

Made from the same great mocha leather, this bag is a ittle bigger than yesterday’s– 14.5″ wide, 13.5 tall and 5″ deep–so it is ready for all your gear. It has all the features of a Luna bag including an extra leather piece riveted in the bottom for strength. It has two large pockets on the front, two leather pockets inside, an adjustable strap and is lined with a great wax print which I bought in a market in Kenya. This bag will be in the on-line shop by tomorrow.

some new things in the birdbrain shop

August 21, 2013 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

This is the Mocha Luna. It is the same great leather that is in this bag. This wasn’t a big piece of leather, but I have enough to make a second mocha bag (actually it is well on its way and could be ready for tomorrow) and maybe a smaller one. Anyway this one, with three external pockets and one inside is 13″x12″x5.5″. It has an adjustable strap so you can wear the bag across body or shorten the strap for times you want to carry it close under your arm for more security. The zippers are high quality metal and the strap attaches to the bag with metal clips. The accent colour on the zipper tabs and peeking from inside the side tabs is to coordinate with the burst of colour of the great Kenyan cotton inside. The bag is fully double stitched, has a second leather bottom for strength and brass rivets on the bottom.

And a new Jan Bag:

I’ve made many Jan bags–little shoulder bags originally designed by my friend Jan who is the teller at my local branch. Jan decided that she wanted one in TD green–so here is the prototype. The main bag is made from a recycled skirt and the strap is from the great leather that made the first Delta. I have enough of both leathers to make at least one more Jan and perhaps a clutch. This is a great colour for fall.

Also in the shop will be these two great Triads. The red one is a copy of the one I made for myself. I find its size so useful–it is big enough to hold all of my sketching suppies and more. And I get many comments on the colours. The orange and turquoise are fabulous with the red. The second bag is my favourite. Turquoise nubuck. If it doesn’t fly out of the shop, I might just keep it! All of these bags will be in the shop tonight by 6:00 pm.

some things I’ve been working on…

August 20, 2013 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

Triads #4 and #5 are finished. I think that will be it for a while for triads. This is the fourth red one and the last of that great red leather and the turquoise is the one and only. I’ll have more pictures and details tomorrow when they go in the shop.

I guess it was that beautiful orange moon last night that influenced my making of a Luna Bag today. I hadn’t planned on it, but somehow this scrunchy mocha leather and the East African print, a gift from the principal of the school in Matangwe, ended up on the studio table. I have changed the design a bit. The front has a zipper and slip pocket on the outside, a combination that I think really works. I like exterior pockets on bags–they are so useful. I’ve put a little one on the back of this bag too! But more pictures tomorrow.

turquoise triad (#4)

August 19, 2013 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

The latest triad is turquoise nubuck with accents of red-orange and lime. I have never worked with nubuck before–but am taken with its velvety texture, rich colour and slouchy stance. This triad is made from a remnant piece I have been saving for some time–and there was just enough leather for one tote. Paired with the two bright colours, this triad tote makes a strong statement and is set to carry all you need. I am doing a series of triads totes this week. Check here tomorrow for #5 from the last of the red and orange leather…