It’s up!
What’s up?
The Clay Biddle Design Etsy Shop!
That’s right. I’ve decided I’m so bad at time-managing my own projects, that I should go ahead and get my mother’s business into the 21st century!
Tile Gift Set
So go check out the new shop and buy something!
~Robin
(PS- did you notice the picture taken with my fancy new camera?? Still learning it, but so far I’m loving my Canon Eos Rebel T3 D1100!)
So while I’m at my mother’s again, learning how to use my fancy new DSLR (Canon Rebel T3!) and helping dear mummy get an Etsy shop online, I’ve taken a break to hunt through Etsy for some awesome Chevron-patterned items.
Since my mother is an interior designer, I’ve done nothing for the past few days but look at design blogs. Ever since the advent of the Jonathan Adler Age of Modern Design, the chevron print and its variations (see: Missoni Flame Stitch items for Target) have been on the rise. I love that a little bit of chevron print can go a long way to adding some serious punch and attitude to a room.
This time around I decided to try my hand at making a Treasury of some of my favorite pieces from around Etsy (and how fantastic is that hot pink pillow???):
 Pattern Letterpress Statione… $8.50
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 personalized note cards stat… $13.00
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 The FLEUR Clutch in Apple Gr… $68.00
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 Bird PIllow. Yellow chevron … $33.50
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 Chevron Decor set of 5 Itali… $30.00
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 NEW Chevron Square Monogramm… $56.00
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 Chevron High Waisted Skirt $32.00
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 Going to the South West – na… $70.00
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 Big Chevron – Hand Carved St… $9.00
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 Icy Blue Chevron oblong clut… $35.00
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 Pair of 2 Chevron Stripe Des… $64.00
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 Hand Block Printed Yellow Ch… $6.00
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 Brass Chevron Necklace. Geom… $26.00
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 Chevron Dinner Plate – Aedri… $23.00
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 Yellow and White Chevron Clu… $25.00
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 Drum Lamp Shade in a Pink an… $65.00
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Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.
~Robin
Last weekend I went out to Connecticut to help my mom put together her booth for the 1st ever ASID of CT Interior Design tag sale. Loads of designers either consigned furniture or had tables displaying their wares for cash/credit and carry sales. I inventoried Mom’s couple hundred of hand painted tiles, boxed them up, and brought them to Christ Church in Greenwich.
Our booth at the Tag Sale
DigThisBird's little section of our booth
Prints and Chickens
I have a feeling the sale would have been a lot more successful if the weather gods hadn’t decided that we should get 6″ of snow, 2 days before Halloween. Nevertheless, it was great to get out and about with other designers!
Hi, my name is Robin, and I’m a crochet addict.
My apartment is filled with more yarn than its small size can hold. The Boyfriend constantly asks why we need so many afghans. The majority of my Christmas gifts are new crochet projects. And I spend far too long every day looking at crafter’s crochet blogs. Really, nothing matches vintage style quite like crochet.
Yes, your grandmother probably crocheted, but that doesn’t mean it’s old-fashioned. Sure, my dad may have a drawer-full of his mother’s starched doilies, but nothing warms me and my sisters like the afghans our grandmothers made us.
I love getting inspiration for colors and patterns from both bloggers and Etsians alike. Here are some of today’s favorites.
Red and White Cotton Granny Square Blanket by Rocket and Bear
Rocket and Bear has some of the sweetest, coziest crochet on Etsy. The designer and craftswoman Lucy is based out of the gorgeous town of Bath over in my favorite country on earth. And not only is everything she crochets gorgeous and cozy and fun, but her product photos are beautiful.
Organic Applique Cotton and Bamboo Flowers by My Little Palatte
I love the sweet applique designs by this crafter based out of Singapore. She’s got them for every theme you could need. I imagine her fingers are rather sore…
The Dolly Granny Square Afghan by The Sunroom
Aileen, of The Sunroom, has some pretty epic afghans, all featuring an amazing riot of colours. I discovered her Dolly Afghan after seeing a few other bloggers featuring their projects from her pattern. Wow is the only word, other than Epic of course. You should also check out her Heavenly Mirasol afghan when you swing by her shop.
Crocheted Snowflakes from Katrinshine
One of my dearest friends since middle school has an incredibly crafty Austrian mother. One year she decorated their Christmas tree in a hundred perfect stitched, perfectly starched, Crocheted Snowflakes. Ever since then I’ve been enamored with delicate but sturdy crochet snowflakes. These snowflakes here come Katrin’s Etsy shop, based out of Italy. Maybe this year’s tree will get some crocheted ornaments…
Queen Anne's Lace Scarf from AlwaysBeCreating
And here is the scarf that got me picking up a crochet hook in the first place. I saw this pattern online and was determined to make one for myself. That was 4 years ago. And while it’s still a beautiful scarf, I’m pretty obsessed with massive color palates for blankets and pillows.
I may even have to start selling some on Etsy, as we’re running out of storage space!
Happy Monday all!
Ask anyone who knows me- if you want to buy me something, anything with a bird on it will always work. Last weekend one of my sisters gave me a handy little handbag hook, so I never again have to put my purse on the dirty ground of New York bars. What made it even better than a clever little item is the enamel bird on the top!
Handy Handbag Holder
So cute and handy! So, in the spirit of my love of birds (and this being my birthday week!), here are some of my favorite ‘robin’ items from Etsy…
Welsh Robin Mug from Ceramics For Everyone
When I lived in England my appreciation for the American Spring Robin was replaced with a love for the European Winter Robin. Robins in England and Wales in the winter are like the Chickadees I grew up with in Connecticut… they’re in every bush that might have berries and hiding in every Holly Tree to bring a little joy to the cold winter. But the European robin brings a bit more colour than the black and white chickadee of northeastern Christmases.
Felted Robin from Lybo
“The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow, and what will the robin do then, poor thing?”
Robin Pillow from MirthQuake
Every bird illustration in this Dutch artist’s shop is absolutely gorgeous. Check out her limited edition spring Chickadee dress. And the flamingo scarf may just be my mother’s Christmas gift…
Robin's Egg soaps from TheBowerStudio
Robin’s egg themed items are just as pretty as actual robins, and these soaps are the prettiest!
Copper Robin necklace by BethMillner
Beth has some really beautiful hand cut jewelry in her shop!
I was also trying to find robins egg themed jewelry to put in this post. Unfortunately, while there is a lot of cute affordable robins egg jewelry on Etsy, the majority of it is all resellers. As some one with a shop on Etsy, and a supporter of true handmade artisans (and I have a soft for Regretsy), I don’t like to promote resellers when Etsy is supposed to be about hard-working designers and vintage hunters getting their work out to the public.
And now for the artist that inspired me to do this post in the first place:
Gorgeous Robin Watercolour Print from Teva Gallery
Ukranian artist Ola Liola of Teva Gallery has some of the most beautiful, lively, colourful, attention-grabbing, breathtaking illustrations I have seen in a long time. Her lines and colours in almost every image make me go ‘wow’, and I kind of want to wallpaper my apartment in them. Thinking of wallpaper, her lacy designs would made a FANTASTIC wallpaper for a small room.
Here are a few more of my favourites:
Owl by Oli Liola
Happy Rabbit by Ola Liola
Lacy Robin by Ola Liola
Moth by Ola Liola
And, her shop is running a Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale on select prints, so click on over there and buy some beautiful prints!
~Robin
Two of my sisters visited the fam this past week. It was lovely to do dinner and take in a show with all of them in Thursday. Friday was one of those rare days when all 4 of us daughters were in my parents house. My three sisters and I all get along, though when there’s that much estrogen in one house, a fight does tend to erupt (usually involving me… whoops!).
One sister left yesterday morning, and this morning I went with Dad to drop off my other sister at the airport. But before doing that, She and I pulled out a drawer of old photos. Mainly photos of her from when she was little (I’m the youngest by many years), though there was one photo of me that we found…
Me and Mom
Poufy hair and a Polaroid…. does it get any better?
And living around the corner from the Metropolitan Museum means that I get to go there all the time and discover new pieces that I love.
Van Gogh in the permanent collection at The Met
And on a totally different note…
This coming weekend is the ASID of CT’s Designer Tag Sale!
I will be there helping my Mother, Betsy Lange of Clay-Biddle Associates, as well as hawking some of my vintage wares from my Etsy Shop and new products. Momma Bear will be selling her hand-painted tiles, fabric, and possibly even some wall paper. I’ll be there with vintage bottles, books, and corkscrews to decorate your table tops, as well as our brand new, hand-matted vintage children’s illustrations. I’m super excited about these and have spent many hours hunched over in the studio with a matt-board cutter. Hopefully yall will like them as much as we do!
Vintage Children's Illustrations
These prints have all been taken from children’s books from the 1940s.
Vintage Illustrations
I know there was a lot in the post, but I’ll give yall a reminder about the tag sale later this week. If you live in Fairfield or Westchester County you should definitely stop by… if not for me, then for all the other amazing designer deals!
When: 10/29/2011
Time: 10:00 am – 04:00 pm
Location: at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT.
Cheers!
~Robin
Coming soon to my Etsy Store…
It’s taken a while, but they’re getting done! Just in time for your Christmas shopping.
So I’ve been pretty busy the last week and half with finding new products for my Etsy store. I’ve been sorting through and photographing a lot of bottles and corkscrews…
Green River Whiskey Bottle
But while I’m working on posting more listings, I’ve also been drooling over items at Urban Outfitter’s wedding offshoot, BHLDN. While there is no wedding in my immediate future, I’ve certainly found where I’ll be getting loads of inspiration from, if not half my clothing and supplies. According to their ‘what kind of bride are you’ quiz, I am a Lady With a Twist bride… sounds about right.
I’ve definitely found my new favor time-wasting site.
AND, I just got invited to use Pinterest, a fantastic style site that lets you share images and inspiration with other users. I’ve only just started, but check out my pinnings.
So over the next few days/weeks I’m going to be rolling my new Etsy Shop, Dig This Bird. Remember how a year ago I was stressing about trying to clear things out of my life and my parents house? Well, my love of all my parents’ old books has gotten me to decide to work on selling them.
But better than the nice old books are the prints in a lot of the children books. Some of these books aren’t much on their own, but the prints are certainly frame-worthy. I could picture this old Man of La Mancha illustration in a little boy’s nursery:
These fun illustrations are the entire reason my parents have held on to these books for so long. I’m trying to spend my free time scouring Thrift and Vintage shops around Manhattan to find fun frames to put these in, as well as more great antique books at a low price.
So here’s to new beginnings, fun finds, and preserving the art of the paper book.