byrd & belle {studio notes}

learning to sew

Sending "Happy Birthday" wishes out into the universe today to my Aunt Donna in Iowa who first taught me how to sew. Here is a photo of her holding my father at their childhood home which is also, incidentally now the site of my childhood home.

I have no idea how old I was, likely 6 or 7 but we sat in the back room of her house and made a purple fleece house coat which was something like a robe with a turleneck that you put on over head.  Killer.

I am forever grateful to all the women in my life who have taught me how to sew and stitch and knit and crochet and quilt and craft.  Thank you Mom, Aunt Donna, Aunt Annette, Aunt Pam, Aunt Colleen, Donna Lincoln and Grandma and to all the other ladies along the way who taught me when I was little and continue to support me today.

handmadeMN

If you are in Minneapolis/St.Paul right now, you are likely looking out the window thinking...

"hmmmm kinda gray out 'dare. Yep, gray, gray, gray.   Dat snow we got las' weekend is nearly gone doh.  Melted away and now dares a lot of brown.  Yep, gray, gray, gray and brown, brown, brown.  I wish dare was somethin' to do that would bring a little color into my Saturday.  I wish there was somewhere to go to see colorful, talentful items that I could perhaps purchase for the holidays. Hmmmm."

Ladies and Gentlemen of The Great (un)White North... you could go to the handmadeMN market today! (plus they have a bomb-da-bomb poster designed in part by my friend/collegue/fellow-dog-lover, Laura Belle). Go, peruse, chat, make friends and get a handmade gift for a loved one.

 

small human

I ventured out into the suburbs tonight to steal some of their left-over halloween candy have dinner with my brother's family.   This is Tom.  He's 7.  He tells me got these glass from his friend Dennis who is in the 4th grade. He tells me that even though he's only in 2nd grade,  he sometimes hangs out with kids in 4th or even in 5th grade.  He tells me his friend Dennis also just gave him his entire set of Pokemon cards because Dennis is retiring from Pokemon.  He tells me these used to be 3d glasses but he took the lenses out.  He tells me all these things while we take these pictures.

 

snow.

Snow in Minneapolis this morning.  I know this should not be news, but it is a moment for which I've been waiting.  I grew up in Iowa where there is plenty of snow but up here, winter is serious effing business and the moment the days start getting shorter, I can feel my level of axiety rise over the pending doom.  I'm going to be cold.  I'm going to be cold every day for what seems like the rest of my life.  My feet will freeze, my skin will dry.  But don't feel sorry for me because here's what I'm telling you... this is COMPLETELY my own fault.  This is a situation of my own making and the situation is this:

1.  We've chosen to live/work in what is basically a garage.  D and I live/work in what could *positively* be described as a eclectic//unique/artisan/bohemain/fringe space that is a loft in the truest sense of that word in that this building was once something very industrial/mechanical and was invaded by artists and converted slowly and ram-shackley over the course of several years.  It is charmingly cobbled together.  It is voluminous.  It is bright.  It is everything that young creatives would want.  However.  Along with the volume and the light and the annoying self-pride that comes from living on a hidden island on the Misssissippi in downtown Minneapolis, there is little else.  No real insulation, few double-pane windows, there's a furnace but no ductwork, there nothing between my toes and the cold concrete floor.  This building should find somewhere else to live because like my Great Aunt Margrite, she's just not built for this climate.

2.  The main source of heat for the studio is a wood stove.  Wood heat is like a contact sport.  It is a process.  It requires commitment and planning.  You got it start it, monitor it, tend it, tell it a story and then, there's the wood... the finding, the spliting, the stacking and re-stacking and moving it in and moving it out after it has burned to ash.  All this and in the end... the studio still hovers around 60 degrees at waist level and 52 at the floor.

3.  I don't have a proper winter coat.  I just don't and come to think of it, I never have.  My problem is that I can never find I coat I like and when I do, for some reason, I never buy it in a big enough size to fit me once I've put on my 4 layers of t-shirts, long-sleeve t-shirts, sweaters and scarves.  I actually would have to take off clothes to put my coat on and that's just ridiculous. 

So you see, it is my fault.  The solution is to buy a coat, a big coat, and move to a heated, insulated place like normal people and stop complaining.  Oh, did I mention that I dropped D off at the airport this morning and he's flying away to a beach in Central America for a week?  Lucky bastard. 

What are you doing this weekend?  I'm sewing and napping and sewing and napping and tending the wood stove and drinking hot tea.

 

macbook air preview

Here's a little preview for those who have been waiting for a Macbook Air sleeve.  These will probably not be posted in my shop until closer to Thanksgiving but if you want one, just drop me a note and you will be first in line. 

A few notes:

1.  What makes this sleeve perfect for the Air is that it has a super slim profile and a snug fit like my simple sleeve for the ipad but I'm using a new detail that allows for the addition of a leather patch similar to my Macbook sleeves.

2.  There is no closure.  I tested quite a few ideas and I just kept coming back to... well, no closure.  Aesthetically, it completely suits the super thin Air to stay clean and simple. The snug fit allows it to work well with or without a closure.  Slips in your bag easily to protect your brand new laptop from everything else floating around in there.

3.  The photos below show this sleeve as being side-loaded but it is also available in a top loading version (where the opening will be on the side opposite the leather patch).

4.  Cost for the 11" Macbook Air sleeve is $54.  Cost for the 11" Macbook Air sleeve is $58.  (If you'd like it for your ipad, I can do that too... cost is $48 and I can do them as a custom request. )

5.  If you want one for your Macbook Air, you can find them in the shop www.byrdandbelle.com

tiny tiny.

I made this tiny custom case for a customer today.  I took a video for him and figured I'd share.  I don't have time to do custom designs very often but this was an interesting little project so I took it as an opportunity to work out a few ideas.  He wanted a small wool/leather case that holds 10-15 mini moo cards and attached to a key ring.  I'm really liking the tiny seam allowance on this little case.  I think I should incorporate it into the simple ipad (and soon macbook air) sleeves.  Anyway, thought I'd share.. have a great weekend!  (p.s.  The wool looks blue but it just the late afternoon Minnesota light through my north-facing studio wall.  It's actually the same grey as the laptop sleeves)

 

seven things

1.  I am writing far too many blog posts in my head.  I mutter to myself while sewing.  I tell stories to Gertrude the dog.  I seem to have a lot to say but no time to sit and type complete sentences.  I've decided to make a list.

2.  Macbook Air:  I have been getting a ton (a TON) or requests for a macbook air sleeve.  Before now, I've always done these as custom orders but now I am working on a new design made specifically for the wonderfully thin 'mba' (that's what the kids are calling it... mba=macbook air).  Hopefully in the next week. I'm very excited about a few of the new details and I'm thinking of releasing a similar design for the ipad and the macbook pro.

3.  Cargoh is awesome:  If you don't know...  cargoh.com.  It's kind of like an edgier, more independantly-minded version of an online independant designer marketplace.  My first introduction with them was watching them fall flat on their face last summer.  It was truley spectacular.  They had a ton of people migrate very quickly from Etsy but then decided they wanted to have control over who was on their site.  People were asked to leave, people were turned down at the door, people threw temper tantrums... it was quite the public relations car-crash. Yeah, it was likely not the best situation but there is something to be said about knowing what you want to be... even if it is a few months late.  Being the bad guy is hard to do.  SO, the reason I think cargoh is awesome?  I mean besides all that bravery crap?  They support their artists.  They blog, they tweet, they retweet, they send nice emails and on more than one occasion they have sent people to my own website and not just my little spot on cargoh.  Which means (or at least it makes me feel like) they are supportive of what I do and not just what I'm doing on cargoh.com. Class act, Cargoh.  Class act.

4.  Gertrude:  There were a pair of squirrels in the back yard today and Gertrude lost her mind.  (It's true but mostly inserted for lightness and brevity).

5.  Lady Workshop:  Someone in my social circle floated the phrase, "Lady Workshop" a few weeks ago.  Since then, I'm obsessed with what a "Lady Workshop" would be and how it would work and how can I be a lady in the "Lady Workshop".

6.  Dear China:  After a vigourous letter and email writing campaign, a company in China that had stolen my photos and was selling knock-offs of my laptop sleeves seems to have gotten the message and taken down the listings.  (ps. I wasn't really upset about the knock-offs because well, knock-offs happens but what really got my goat was that they used MY photos to sell it... my photo with their url tattooed across it which made me more than a little sad. It was like someone writing their name on your dog).  Unfortunately, they are still using photos from other designers.  The only thing I can still find that is mine is an old photo towards the bottom of this listing.  When I was in the middle of this mini-nightmare last summer, D and I joked that I should just start buying my sleeve from them as they were only charging $7 for each sleeve.  What a deal! Update:  The photos have been reposted.  *Grrrrr.  If interested, you can see them here and here.

7.  Mmmmmmm.... chamomile/vanilla tea.