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

Have a Mariposa Cuppa

Hi guys!

Just in!  A selection of my prints have been created into cool modern coffee cups perfect for having your friends over for tea, use in a restaurant, amazing!   My friend, Gala, first turned me onto this process, she makes amazing crockery with her lovely drawings which are super cute using a heat transfer press.  http://galatomasso.wordpress.com/author/galatomasso/She offered ages ago to make me a mug and she gave me my first one which has a logo on it for my leaving pressie. I love it and its in constant use as its a big size perfect for a lovely cup of tea in the morning!

Gala offered to teach me how to do it myself so I chose a selection of random prints of mine and we printed them the other night. Anyone who knows me from college will know i love transfer printing its amazing the results that a heatpress can create. All together we made 21 cups and they look amazing! I am so delighted and cant wait to put them on display in the stall and at the Local Food &Craft Gift Fair in the Blackbox galway on November 16th and 17th

Perfect pressie for design lovers, dad, secret santa perfect!!

I'm not bragging but o.m.g

The most exciting news was in my phone inbox this morning, Mariposatextiles.com was plugged in the Sunday Times! I could not believe it, thought it was a joke or a mistake. But it was no joke, it was fact!
I think I am in shock, I have been an avid Sunday Times fan and there was one stage where I had a running joke that one of our friends was 'The Mole' a sort of secret undercover style stealing reporter psychic vampire. Everything I liked ended up in the times from bed jackets to my crockery obsession. I felt that as a paper it had a haunting grasp on the style and aesthetic I relish.

I have secretly desired aspired to have my work in the Times but I kept my goal to myself inspired by my deep seeded fear that voicing an objective to the universe often seems to result in said dreams crumbling apart as if fate was laughing at me.
So what next on the list? The Millions of course! oh no I said it have most likely jinxed it now urgghh! I cant believe it I am so happy and have to send out a big Thanks! to all of you who have put up with my blogging and tweeting and facebook etc. its has obviously worked! Thanks guys!! ow send me your millions! xTara