My Light Box Adventure

I am trying to design a website. If you stop now, take a quick look at this blog and take notice of the crazy clashing colors, styles, random spacing. I'm sure you will understand how, for me, this is proving a challenge. I have made up a flowchart map design paper pile of plans which the more I look at them the scarier it seems and a bit overly ambitious. But I've promised myself to do it and I have like no time at all to do it. I am a visual person and I want my site to be pretty. Throughout my time on etsy I have had a weakness, my photos, its hard to take pictures of products! So spurned by my mission to take better pictures I built myself a photo light box using a tutorial I found on the net

Its amazing! lovely bright light everywhere look at the reflection of the blue glass on the back wall so pretty! You can see so much detail, check out every stitch in my Bargello heart. I'm delighted with my light box!  I was meaning to do this for ages but kept putting it off but it was so easy here is the link if you want to give it a go!Handy Light box tutorial

I am going to do some tinkering with my camera settings try some new things the net is great for tips! I used 2 lamps but next time I am going to set it up with 3 as I found it frustrating messing around holding the lamps up and the camera at the same time.  Anyways its taking my work on "my brand" on leaps and bounds. The funny thing is I have been allowing my work to be shown with mediocre photos for ages

I am going to do a marathon session on the dining room table at some point this week to photograph all the fabrics. Its hard to do trust me! Anyways so far so good phew! I better go and work on my website to try and grab those internet millions xTara

Pattern Pattern Pattern

I have been obsessed with patterns especially those of the 60's and 70's ilk I can blame this obsession on my choice of textile design as my career. When I say career, its a bit of a stretch, career brings to mind work, lots of money, meetings dressed up in smart casual work wear. Obviously working from home in my attic and never making any money was not the career I envisioned but I love it its my passion and fingers crossed if I keep slogging along something will come through for me!





















This shoot was my attempt to create images full of pattern from head to toe. Everything in the images (minus the vintage tops) the headgear, jewellery, silkscarf, background fabric mine mine mine. So if you see something you like please give me a shout and I will create you your own custom creation or sell you yards of fabric just ask!! The fantastic model is Tanith McGrath shes brilliant and so fun to work with!

These pictures were created for a local magazine but it was too much :( sad yes but when I was looking at them as thumbnails and they are a bit crazy and hard to see all the bits but all the better for me I am going to flash them about the net like mad!

Have a lovely day xTara

My Beautiful New Fabrics!

my new fabric print, Limeade Irish Ghost Estates

My new designs are finally here, I am so excited they are fantastic! I have been working away on my Post-Celtic Tiger series and I now have loads of new fabrics and new designs in stock Silk Crepe de Chine, Cotton Interlock Knit (perfect for Tshirts), Upholstery Cotton Twill, and Linen Cotton Canvas. The Silk Crepe de Chine is so amazing its a proper luxury fabric. I am working on learning to hand roll so hems so I can make some silk scarves woop woop exciting!

I also did a photo shoot for my brand, Mariposa Designs, with the fantastic model, Tanith, she was great and I got some amazing shots which are going to be used in a local magazine! More about that later but here is a preview of them!  I have to say that I had a head start with this with Tanith being so fantastic and excited to be doing the shoot. I had her hair styled by Fanch from SOA Hairstudio which is a super cute salon located here in Galway on the High Street (downstairs opposite Evergreen) I was going for that glossy curly blow dry look and it was great! I also had her makeup done by the fabulous make up artist Hayley from Mac here in Galway in Brown Thomas. She was great I wanted to have the makeup really bright and colourful and I'm delighted with the results! Thank you Fanch! Thank you Hayley! Thank you Tanith!

I know its ages away but I'm already mentally preparing for Christmas trying to think of crafts I can create be all commercial get those christmas shopper millions. I don't know cards? ornaments? garlands? Anyone have any suggestions?

Mariposa Designs Up Up and Away!

Woop! Woop! Its summer and things are finally starting to come together.   My pieces are going to be sold in Public Romance, the fabulous vintage shop here in Galway.  I'm bringing the first batch into the shop on Tuesday.  Sinead is going to have a hat extravaganza in store for the next two weeks in honor of the upcoming Galway Races.  Hopefully a few of my pieces will sell, I'm suffering from a combo of nerves, worries and excitement, its scary putting your work out there!

I am making headpieces, headbands, brooches, necklaces and I have even made earrings, all of my pieces are unique and one of a kind. Handmade with my own design original fabrics, vintage fabrics, vintage beads and buttons, and ribbon.  I have collected vintage fabrics bits and bobs for years which help to make the pieces even more special when combined with fabrics which I printed by hand with my own original designs.
  I cant wait to see them in the shop, I was in there yesterday and I bought the most amazing vintage dress for 20 euro Bargain! There are so many beautiful dresses on the racks to suit all shapes sizes and styles. I had a hard time choosing what to buy, I'm actually thinking of going back again later to buy another dress which I convinced myself I didnt want but I know now I must have it!
   If you have not been into Public Romance before you have to check it out its on Abbeygate Street here in Galway across the road from Sally Longs Pub. Next week it will be hat paradise so if your heading to a wedding or the Galway races pop in to the shop. You could buy your whole entire look, dress, silk scarf, hat, and jewelery in the shop. Every piece you buy in Public Romance will be unique this is the brillant thing about buying vintage and handmade. Plus fingers crossed you might even pull off best dressed with one of my lovely pieces!

http://www.publicromance.com/ or check out the facebook for news and updates about new stock and exciting events http://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-Romance/196521403700625?ref=mf

Hustling for Vintage!

Today I had a mad day! I was up to all hours sewing, and sewing, attempting to have my headpieces ready for the VintageIreland photocall! Up this morning bright and early with baby Oisin, who decided to scream for like 3 hours. All while I attempted to organize/catalog/tag a collection of vintage to bring with me to shoot for TG4 as a promo for the upcoming vintage fair at the Radisson on the 19th of June.  Proper Panic stations to the max!
  So we had to be there for 10, and I ran into the pharmacy to pick up some neurofen for teething oisin when I realized that I had left my camera at home! I mean, whats the point of a photo shoot with no camera? The stress of it all! I was standing  in the pharmacy waiting, there was a vaguely familiar mid 40's standing with his leisurewear clad teenager daughter at the pharmacy counter.
The pharmacist came out and saw me and asked me if I had been helped. I smiled and said, not yet. All of a sudden, off to my right, I saw your man like shaking shouting. "we were here first" I was like eek of course. I thought you had already been helped eek!  I then recognized his evil, no craic, gone gray a tad early head. He was one of the monster men that come into the restaurant where I work who like never looks at you just barks. Yuck! Hes even rude to pharmacists! Yuck! His little teenage daughter cringed in the way only teenagers can, looking at me with her pink conjunctivitis ridden eyes feeling my pain at how horrific her dad is. It was all too much, so I bought some solpadine. Going through the usual third degree, claiming to have a migrane of course. Not just a twinge, a hint, of the start of a bad day (the truth eek)
In the meantime my camera had been rescued from the kitchen table. Thank you hon! so I headed off to the shoot. 4 hours of mentalness later we emerged from the bright glare of the Radisson so relived to be finished!
It was an experience! I had never really seen a show being filmed up close and personal. It was interesting seeing the cameraman and the hostess of the show, Loretta Ni Ghabhain, doing their bit. They were so lovely and I can't wait till next week when they will hopefully use the piece on Imeachtai which is a program in Irish. Fingers crossed for subtitles otherwise I won't understand a word.
Hope fully some shots of my clothes and bits will be shown.  It was an interesting experience and I'm just so relieved its done! Thankgod fab Sinead was there from the best vintage shop in Ireland, Public Romance, with the most amazing maxi dresses and vintage swimsuits, so styling and unique. some deadly bits  I cant wait till I have my jewelery line ready to go as she is going to sell it woop woop!
 Her model, Niamh, is wearing a fa vintage playsuit and red vintage sunglasses from Public Romance. I brought alot of my bits as well  I decked out the lovely model Paulina in a vintage mint green ruffled slip. Its beautiful and it has one of those tiny little roses they used to sew on nighties and stuff so cute! Shes also wearing a kelly green vintage double buckle belt. Shes wearing a piece from my jewelry line its made from 2 of my original fabrics and the red beads are coral its hung an a gold chain and backed with felt its lovely!

I also met a load of great people. A oh so stylish, Dublin based, burlesque girl, Ms Harlot DeVille.  A fab hairdresser from Romance hairdressers I was amazed at the amazing styles she could do so jealous I want my hair done.  Helping to get everyone camera ready( they are all so brave), Janette Lesley Lynam. A really talented makeup artist she had everyone looking so pretty! Plus loads of lovely sweet models, Niamh, Paulina, Orla, Rachel, Gemma, and Esther. I'm really looking forward to the fashion show next week and seeing everyone strut their stuff in the vintage fashion show.

So now back to the grind sewing and stressing. I'm taking a wee break tomorrow to go into town and buy a thimble, my fingers are in bits. I'm going to go to a souvenir shop and buy one with like a cottage or a shot from the quiet man on it yes even my thimbles must be twee! Hope everyone can come down to the fair its should be great, there is a fashion show, and a best dressed competition and all my fab wares will be on sale so come and give me your millions! x

Hi guys!  Welcome to my blog! I've had a strange month for my design work. I lost all my new work when Himself encrypted my hard drive in some strange csi computerfacegeek experiment test for his work.  One day my laptop went caput and as we didnt have the recovery cd. The all so important cd which was needed to decrypt the hard drive it was done gone lost so sad! I had started a new line of fabrics which were aimed at kids inspired by the project selvedge competition(dont get me started on that farce) anyways I have 4 of the designs uploaded on the net so I still have them but the rest is gone gone gone. Himself could not remember what he had done with the cd and we looked for like 2 weeks and I finally just said wipe it I need a computer. Needless to say I have now informed him he can take his work elsewhere like his own computer and if he wants a laptop to experiment with he should buy one!

So the new designs are gone which I have decided to consider a positive thing I limited myself in an attemp to satisfy the whole crappy non professional textile ethos of the competition and even my toned down entry didnt get a look in. So feck it maybe its for the best but in the meantime the ones which were not lost in the digital black hole are still about and I'm selling one of them and getting the rest printed up.  So i'm treating all of this as a well deserved lesson



-never ever alter your asthetic to try and satisfy people that want to shortlist like 4 of the exact same owl prints and prints where the people have things upside down in them
-always always back up my stuff!

-I am not mainstream and never will be sad but true and thank god I would hate to be constrained by what I think people will like!

So as these prints are now all on their lonesome its rather liberating. I used my son Iggy's dinosaurs to make the t rex and the triceratops but I was struck for time and found the bronotsaurous online and it sticks out like a sore thumb they say everything happens for a reason These prints were rough drafts for the fab childrens collection I am working on now which is going to be much much better and more maximalist, more me!  In the meantime I have work to do so better go!