Kids.Modern Show in February

Kids.Modern

Sunday 24th February 2008, 10am-4pm
Christison Hall, Dulwich College, London SE21

Kids.Modern appreciates that children deserve good design. Modern-minded parents will love the latest in bright and clever design solutions for kids from celebrated international designers.

Outdoor kid-friendly bbq, free puppet show and Dulwich College's monthly farmer's market. West Dulwich BR, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Dulwich park in walking distance. The Horniman Museum 5 min drive/bus ride from the college.

Entrance £5 / Our first show is free for children

I will be exhibiting at the first Kids.Modern show next month. I went to have a look around the hall today and the line-up of exhibitors is fantastic, I'm looking forward to it! I'll list more about the other exhibitors with links soon.

I will be selling a limited edition run of Little Errol and some new characters which I'll picture here before the show.

Sleeping Babies in Elle Deco

Here are the Sleeping Babies in their photo shoot. I think they look a bit naughty peeking out from the cushions.
"Green House. Eco credentials are today's top sell, but a piece must first be well designed to be really worthy. Here's some of our favorite beautiful, useful, great green designs..."
"Reclaimed wool and cashmere 'Sleeping Babies', from £35 each,Lucy Jane Batchelor"
Elle Decoration, February 2008, Page 90.
Styling and Production: Chrissie Cremers, Pictures: Sean Myers.

It was a double hit in this issue as my thank you cards are in a feature on page 37 too (the pink, cream and black card farthest to the left). Available from Frank in Whitstable.

Teddy and Teddy

Here are Teddy and Teddy. My mum made Teddy when she was a child and a few years ago we rediscovered him in a box all moth eaten - utterly riddled with holes and his stuffing had gone flat. Mum said that we should throw him away and make another one. Auntie Jan (who sewed and stuffed Bunny my mum knitted) made this replacement by copying mums Teddy, he is soft and plump, but once I had seen Teddy Junior with Teddy Senior, I couldn't bring myself to dispose of Teddy Snr, so I darned all of his holes (about 40 of them) now they sit together and look really rather sweet.

Amy Fidge's sampler

Well this is slightly off the point, what with it not being a textile character, but it is textiles, and it is very beautiful. I adore the colours, and I like the name Amy Fidge. It's from my Grandmas house - Grandma died last week, so it is fitting that I found this today. I am going to frame it and put it on the wall with some of my other collections.

UPDATE: I found the school where this was made (good old internet), St Eanswythes in Folkstone, Kent, and, much as I would love to keep it, I sent a message to the headmistress and I'm going to parcel it up and send it back to the school. I remember how much I loved these kind of things when I was at primary school, real, personal history. Double good job that I have a record of here so I can still enjoy it.

DOUBLE UPDATE: The headmistress has sent me start of the research into Amy Fidge, they have found where she lived and it seems that she went into service when she was 14.
This has inspired me to do some cross stitch and embroidery, I am hatching all sorts of plans!

Mini Matchbox Monster Babies In Love

A few years ago I started to make these tiny knitted creatures that sleep in matchboxes, one in each, and then I put them in pairs snuggled into bigger cooks match boxes. They come with a badge and a tiny love journal and some beads and stickers in their box too. They don't always have a mouth and nose, sometimes just eyes, but when they do have a mouth they are almost always very, very grumpy. I'm not sure why, especially because the pairs of them are in love and tied together with a heart bead on a string, so they should, by rights, look rather content.
I didn't have a name for them, just 'matchbox babies', but Lisa Marklew took a shine to them and called them 'mini matchbox monster babies' and that name has stuck. If these are the monster babies, then goodness knows what they grow up to become, especially the grumpy ones, they must be awful things.

Flying Ethel

At around about the same time as I made Maud (below) and sent her on her journey to be finished, I also made her sister, Flying Ethel, with a far sweeter nature than she (maybe too sweet? Always daydreaming and happy and running up to people and giving them flowers. Sickening really). Ethel has flowery wings on her back. This was my favorite blanket ever - covered in a pink and green flower design, I've never found another like it, I decided I wanted to find more and went a bit over the top visiting junk shops, charity shops and searching on eBay but to no avail, they are now on my Long Term Shopping List of Elusive Items: one day... maybe one day...!

Doll Project Number 1

This is Maud (Mischievous Maud was named after this Maud). She was made in 2004/5 as part of a really fantastic doll project run by Jackie Parsons of Bo Peep Kids, who makes funny, lovely sock dolls and monkeys. There were 10 of us in all, all designer makers: Jo Gordon, Isabel Stanley, Petra Boase, Me, Nina Mankin, Jackie, Ken Eardley, Emma, Rachel Eardley, Cecilie Telle.
On month 1; we each made the beginnings of a doll, on month 2; we each posted the doll to the next person on the list and so, at the end of month 9, our dolls were returned to us complete having been worked on and added to by everyone in the project.
Once Maud came back to me, I made her a baby to live in her apron pocket. It turned out a little unsettling though once Arran pointed out that the baby has pink cheeks, scared eyes and he thought that it was crying all the time, and I said that was because she stole the baby (Whoops! BAD MAUD), and since then, to allow ourselves to sleep at night, we've had to take the zip mouth off and pretend that the baby is teething and does love Maud very much.