New prints in at last!!

Hi Guys!!

My new prints have arrived at last and just in time to brighten up my days!!

  I have had a funny year, been so broke I thought I could end up out in the streets, Ive been barely keeping it together with a family bereavement, stress about the kids being at home on the summer holidays it was all getting to be a bit much!

When these prints finally arrived it was like a breath of fresh air they are so beautiful and I am so excited to be using them to make some cute pressies for the holidays.

 So now I am sending out a request please!! Please Please please buy something from me! I am sick of being skint, my work is bright and colorful and would be an excellent gift for any crafters, sewers, quilters, grannies, hipsters, old fellas. I can make items special order, I can make a cushion, handbag, headband, or scarf in the print of your choice. Come on!

I will be back in The Galway Market on Sundays, and my work is available from my website, etsy shop, or facebook.   If you are in the Galway area my work is for sale in the new Irish Design shop, 'My Shop Granny Likes It'  on Abbeygate St (near Sally Long's).

My new products will be up for sale mid October and in the meantime all my fabrics are still available to order, you can choose the fabric type, scale of the print to suit your needs.

http://mariposatextiles.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MariposaTextiles

keep up to date with my news!
https://www.facebook.com/MariposaTextiles

Spoonflower book Bird theme fabric fun!

I recently was having an auld gawk at the Spoonflower Blog (luv it by the way) When I noticed they had put out a call to textile designers to submit Bird themed projects. You could submit a print you have already done or create a print for the theme using, found objects, drawing, digital, photo manipulation, collage, basicly the skys the limit!  I was just about to head away to a friends wedding in France(so lovely!!), so with the brief in mind I kept an eye out for bird like imagery, objects, collage bits. While on the plane over there was a gorgeous photo of a restaurant where they had loads of vintage lamps hanging down from the ceiling, I thought they looked just like cages/ feeders and I ripped the magazine and robbed the page (sorry next passenger, and restaurant too eek).   I did loads of drawings and drew a few dodge looking birds until I finally managed to get 2 decent looking fowl.  I have used loads of lamps in my work before it was nice to have such a selection it would have taken me days to draw them, yet alone find 17 different ones woop woop for collage!

I used to do a lot of collage while I was in college to try and convey my ideas about installations, paintings, I loved mixing collage with hand drawn things I would photocopy and then cut up.  I often use to paint on top of it all sometime I had something amazing and then I would wreck it by piling even more crap on top (I'm a maximalist right)  The amazing thing about using collage and found object is the freedom to pillage about, nothing is sacred, you can use whatever you want and openly acknowledge it.   With the advantage of a camera and Photoshop the cutting and photocopying has now become easy peasy!

I love found objects and my house is full of tack tack bric a brac and kitsch pictures.  I was inspired to try and make like a geisha garden by these two little geisha figurines and I also had a vintage tacky geisha wall picture, I was delighted to discover that I had loads of little bird images in old books, a vintage tile with love birds on it needless to say I had loads of fun. Its amazing when your using images which you didnt draw and your not precious about the cool things you can create!  I will be getting the fabrics printed ( I think there is 7 of them) and I will have them up here they are so cute!!!

 I also used an old embroidery I made years ago which has no purpose and is quite garish but I just cant seem to be rid of it, it has now excelled as a crazy looking succulent cacti.

Fingers crossed I get a call back eek, just had a look in the terms and it says they will tell people in March 2014, so I will be suffering for months!

International Quilting Festival of Ireland

Hi guys!!
  Im having a lovely weekend at the quilting fair meeting loads of fabric fans getting a few positve affirmations loving the quilting crowd!

I have some amazing handbags made and a large selection of quilting cottons available come down have a look!! My stall is located beside the Bank of Ireland (right near the atm hint hint)

International Quilting Fair I cant wait!!

Only 8 days till the International Quilting Fair of Ireland starts in Galway!! You have probably been wondering, thinking my god shes gone awful quiet!! I have been running a one women sweatshop from my Kitchen table for the last month sewing and sewing making handbags cushions headbands and even upholstering a chair omg! Its great to be busy and I know that it will all be worth it when I set up my table at the quilting fair and its heaving with amazing mariposa products!!

If your about Galway on the weekend of June 7th to the 9th call down to the quilting fair to see the amazing array of quilts which have been sent in from all over the world to be displayed. There will also  be some amazing craft suppliers (like myself) and its in the lovely grounds of NUIG.  Sunday the 9th of June is family day and it will be a great day out for everyone!

http://www.iqfoi.com/

St Patricks Day Fabric Giveaway Competition Time

ariposa Textiles St Patricks day Giveaway! For The Wearing of The Green

Woop Woop my first ever Giveaway Competetion!!!!

To celebrate the launch of our new custom order fabric services. Irish textile company Mariposa Textiles is having our first ever Fabric Giveaway!! Four fat quarters of my original printed textiles in a million shades of green, prints include ‘Limeade Ghost Estates’, ‘The Lights Are On’, ‘Wellponia Chartreuse’, and ‘The Emerald City’. These bright vibrant green fabrics will inject a splash of colour and modern print into any craft, fashion or interiors project.

 Mariposa Textiles now offers bespoke fabric printing, you can choose the print, scale the print size to suit your needs, and your choice of fabric type.  We offer a range of over 20 different fabrics, Cotton Gabardine, Knit Fine Ribbed Cotton, sheer Silk Habatoi, luxe Cotton Velvet, Cotton Pique,  Linen Canvas, a wide variety of upholstery and home fabrics to suit whatever your project, interiors, craft or fashion.  We offer Irish Linen, Hemp Canvas, and a variety of Organic Cotton fabrics. Prices start from €25 $32 a yard

We also offer a bespoke quilting fat quarter service, customer can choose between Kona or Quilting Cotton, they can specify the scale of print.  With a range of over 50 bright prints Mariposa Textiles offers a bold modern selection of original design limited edition fabrics. Quarter yards are €7.10  $9

Our St Patrick's day giveaway can be entered on twitter using the twitter name @taramariebee and the hashtag #greenmariposa. Or through our Facebook page.

Mariposa textiles is based in Galway Ireland, and is the creation of myself textile designer, Tara Birmingham

Look us up online at www.mariposatextiles.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mariposatextiles

Working away on my new set of prints with great excitement here is a taster of whats to come. I am making a special series of fabrics for quilters which will feature these lovely 'Birds of Galway' prints along with several other corresponding fabrics. the wholes set will be available to buy in store on Mayday.  In the meantime both these bird prints are available from my online shop mariposatextiles.com or my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/MariposaTextiles

maybe Cleo the cat thought the birds were real?

New in!! Dia De los muertos Fabric Day of the Dead

I love Mexico and all things Mexican, this Kona Cotton sugar skull fabric is my latest printed fabric in stock at Mariposatexiles.com.
 This print originates in a drawing from 2007, I was in my first year of college studying textiles. We had to do a final project and having just returned from a holiday in Mexico I thought Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead would be fun.  I created the sugar skull men using life drawings of people I knew. I cut up loads of photocopies and used tons of glue, gouache paint and black marker and made a massive mess in the sitting room of the shared student house I lived in. This was a collage, painting, drawing which I made as a mock up of a repeat textile. This being my first year it of course didn't repeat just right and I made a big mock up out of loads of photocopies stuck together.  This fabric has been dying to get out since then, its embarrassing to admit but I have been meaning to make it into a proper fabric for the last 6 years! Recently, when I started to suffer a bit of a post holiday mental block while starting work on my new range, I decided to finally tackle it. It actually turned out to be quite an epic undertaking fixing it up. I am so delighted with my results its amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes I just used loads of exclamations they are necessary its amazing)  The best bit of all my head is clear, I have been churning out new work like mad. Plus, the small original painting of this has been hanging up in my studio making me feel guilty. hopefully the sugar skull men's hater eyes (which I feel have been reproaching me constantly for having not completed their destiny) will be all beaming!Watch this space for a handbag a.s.a.p. 

or you can make your own creation with this amazing fabric starting from $32/ €25 a yard on my website Dia De Los Muertos Fabric mariposatextiles.com

OMG Velvet!

I have along history with velvet,  I actually had an early childhood aversion to it. This was due to our crazy (pencil throwing arm pinching) music teacher's daughter.  She was a prissy little fecker and our dislike of her was increased by her sadistic father's teaching methods.  I remember she had this velvet dress and we had some sort of tiff ( I'm guessing I was trying to paw the dress which is what I do now when I see velvet eek) anyways it ended in her telling me her dress 'was velvet pure velvet' and implying that in some way we were beneath velvet, unlike her cultured self of course!  My eventual velvet loving came about from my voyages around millions of thrift stores picking up anything that gleamed or had a lovely print and generally was made out of a highly inappropriate fabric for going out dancing.  I swear, I dont know today how I survived all those years of wearing like a wool dress or like polyester ski pants out in a roasting club?  Usually it resulted in me being a stanky redfaced sweatball I had one beautiful 70's brown velvet collared top. omg I loved it! I only eventually had to give it up as the velvet started to look odd and had like worn away in some places and had like odd no doubt sweat induced stains.

My first ever textile print which I had manufactured was on Silk Viscose velvet. I remember it was insanely expensive and because I had no concept of how big a meter was I got 3??? (yes I still have some of this fabric today).  The amazing thing about the silk viscose velvet was that it was perfect as in interiors fabric, I had it on a pretty 1960's chair and it went through the wars with my toddler son not a bother!  Its such an amazing fabric its proper luxury.  I did however find the silk velvet quite hard to sew, so when I discovered that there was a cotton backed velvet I was so excited to try it.  I have to say I am so so happy with the cotton velvet it has a lovely long nape and such a soft silky texture.  It takes color so well and the prints literally glow its now available to but from me with the print of your choice from €114 - $150 a meter (trust me its worth it)  I have a chair upholstered in it and its now my favorite thing!!
Imagine your couch, chair, skirt adorned in my modern colorful prints in stunning cotton velvet. Available exclusively from my website mariposatextiles.com
Cotton Velvet Print of your choice Mariposa Textiles