byrd & belle {studio notes}

Sun

Table Mats for Room & Board

 Now available at Room & Board... find them here.

winter in the studio

byrd & belle for Room & Board

I played it farly close the vest on this one but I'm excited to finally tell you that byrd & belle is producing a small line of wool felt storage bins/totes for Room & Board currently available exclusively at a Room & Board store near you and online at roomandboard.com. This project started way back in January when they approached me for a chat about what I do and what they want. They were amazingly patient while I backburned them last spring to get through the rush of orders caused by the iPad3 release but for the last few months, we've focused our efforts and we started production (yes, here in the studio) in August.

Storage Bin (photo by Room & Board)

There are currently two designs available in two different sizes and two different colors. The Storage Bin above is available as a 14" or 16" and is available in charcoal/brown (shown) or grey/brown. (Color note: for those of you that have byrd & belle cases and sleeves and like things to matchy match, the Room & Board grey color is slightly warmer and more brownish. If you wanted to get a bin to match your grey/brown MacBook Air case, it's a no-go... sorry, they just liked the warmer colored wool better. That being said, what they call "Charcoal" is exactly the same wool felt that I call "Graphite" so if you do want to match, there ya go.) The bins are boxy and I've sewn in a leather sleeve inside the rim that houses an internal wire. It offers it a bit of structure and allows it to keep its nice square shape. Find them here.

Kindling Tote (photo by Room & Board)

The Kindling Tote above has more of a tapered oval shape and incorporates leather handles that grow out of the riveted side seam detail on both sides. Available in 14" or 18" and is also available in the charcoal/brown or grey/brown. Although I'm more apt to prefer the squareness of the Bin, I really enjoy the detailing fo the Tote; the seams on the side are slightly diagonal to create overlap of the felt at the handle which allows the end of the leather strap that forms the handle to be tucked in thus resolving things neatly. When I was drawing this design way back in February, I kept revisiting images of old tin buckets... hence the rivet detail. I like it. Also works well for storing rolled blankets/towels/throws as we've found out here puttting the prototypes to good use. Find them here.

 

Although this is largest volume project I've ever taken on, the additional production has been absorbed fairly well thus far with my assistant Gail allowing me to pull her off the packing and shipping of all of your packages to dye leather and punch holes for rivets. In fact, the hardest part has been figuring out what to do with a few hundred bins and totes as we are working on them. We've taking to hanging them from the rafters as you can see above. Works well. Looks cool. We know we're getting close to the end when the ceiling is full.

 

rolls waiting to be cut into bins

 

 

leather straps waiting to become tote handles

 

bottom of totes hanging from rafters

 

nested sets waiting to be tagged and packed

 

 

That's all for now. This has been a good project and I'm proud to work with Room & Board given their commitment to US made goods. I'm grateful to the team that I work with there for this oppurtunity. They have been open and responsive to my ideas and completely understanding that byrd & belle is a small studio and I have daily commitments to my own work and all of you. Thanks again to all of you for your continued support.

Now get back to work.

Cheers, Angie

 

 

new iPhone wallet

I know... not new. This has been in the works for a while. I've been carrying this design around and using it myself for over a year. Prototype testing! The launch of the iPhone5 proved to be the perfect excuse to put this into proper and consistant production. It's available in grey/brown and graphite/brown (shown below) and also with or without a strap. My personal preference is no strap but I know some of you like the keep things buttoned up tight.

100% wool felt, hand-dyed leather, made here in the studio... same as always. Cost is $44 or $48 and you can find them here. Also, all the other iPhone cases are now available for the iPhone5.

New Wool Tote

I'm beyond excited to let you know this is ready. Admittedly, I've been sitting with this project for too long. I first released images of this project quite a while ago and the response was surprising. Many of you asked for it but it needed refinement. Two major changes include its general body which is now gussetted to allow for your hand to more easily reach the bottom of the bag to retrieve errant pens & bits and also the addition of the leather on the bottom. I'm really happy with the final product but the thing I like most has nothing to do with the way it looks but rather the way if feels at my side. It has a nice weight to it. I hope you like it.

Find it here available in two colors.

ps. A sparrow flew into the studio yesterday. That's good luck, right?

 

dye-job

 

Friday Five

 1. I spent last weekend in NYC. Above is the veiw from our room at The Standard in the East Village. Highlights included (but are no limited to) Brooklyn Flea, lunch at Balthazar and little dog named Murray I met waiting for the L train. I'm already making plans to be back on my own later this summer... hopefully for a few weeks.

2. We have developed a girl-crush on Lena Dunham.

3. The final version of the wool totes are nearly ready for release. Some photo-editing and a bit of copy-writing left to do. You've been patient. I appreciate it.

4. My playlist this week mostly revolved around my trip. This song has been on repeat:

 

5. Also, the Met has the best ceilings:

 

 

 

FridayFive

1. If my job were adding to this blog, I'd be fired.

2. This month, Polica has been on heavy rotation here in the studio. Listen to them here. (also, they're from Minneapolis which makes me happy).

3. A belated 'Thank you!' to everyone who came out to SNOWgrade in February. I was so happy to have faces to put to names and to meet some new friends. Special 'hello' to the dudes at Ball & Buck who were my neighbors for the day.

4. My new assistant has reached her 6 month mark and so she's officially no longer new. Her name is Gail. She packs up all your orders and ships them out with care. She also provides more than adequate amounts of entertainment a few days a week.

5. Gertrude says hello.

Northern Grade

I'm really excited to be part of snowGRADE this Saturday. If you are in the MSP area, stop by and say hello.  I'll have a small collection of sleeves and cases and some new, never-before-seen things for sale. If you can stop by, please do. I'd love to put some faces to names! Learn more here: http://snowgrade.tumblr.com/