Skinny laMinx

Joburg IS dangerous

skinnylaminx — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:33:38 +0000

I spent some of last week up in Johannesburg, launching my Flower Dreams collection at The Silk & Cotton Co. showroom in Kramerville, and then being driven all over town by some of the lovely Silkco dames. The launch was fab, and thanks so much to everyone who came along. It was great to meet you all!

I was taken to lots of shops and showrooms who already carry Skinny laMinx, as well as some that we think would greatly benefit from the association . In my rush to pack, I forgot my camera, so had only my (really rubbish) Blackberry phone camera, so please forgive the sub-standard snaps of these gorgeous chairs, all spotted at Mezzanine in Greenside.

I also visited the beautiful new 03 Desmond precinct in Kramerville, where I drooled over the beautiful restraint of style always shown by Tonic Design, and spotted a super-cute 60′s seat at Mud Studio upstairs. (Pics so bad, I had to change them to black & white. Thanks, Blackberry)

Most of my impressions were mental and not photographic, and really, I came away with a wonderful sense of optimism on the Joburg retail scene. Restaurants are full, people are shopping, buildings and centres are going up, and local design studios like Tonic, Egg, Mud and others, are investing in beautiful, expansive showrooms that demonstrate a belief that this is a place where their product can be a major player.

On the way back to the airport on the Gautrain (love that thing!) I realised that my visit to Joburg had substantially raised my ambition levels. See, it IS dangerous up there!

New beginnings & endings too

skinnylaminx — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:29:43 +0000

I’ve spent the last couple of days getting my new space studio all kitted out with desks and work surfaces so that I can get up there and leave more space in the workroom. All this hammering and sawing has motivated me to tackle some long-neglected tasks, like my beautiful lasercut steel Skinny laMinx Eep! sign, now finally hung between the workroom and the shop.

It’s a good way to end a week that has had its challenges.

PS: For any of you who know Paul, I’d like to let you know that his dad passed away late on Wednesday night. It’s a very sad time for the whole Edmunds family, as well as for all the friends that Bruce made during his long and vigorous life.

Thursday night is bunting night

skinnylaminx — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:31:27 +0000

Now the terminology is out of the way, here’s what’s happening at the Skinny laMinx studio between 5-7pm this Thursday:

I forgot to mention…

skinnylaminx — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:03:38 +0000

… we went camping in the Cederberg to celebrate a very good friend’s birthday over the long weekend. Our little yellow tent bravely warded off the threat of rain, and putting on all our clothes (and hats, and scarves) at sunset meant we stayed toasty round the fire.

I also made a new little friend, called Elsa, who kept coming up with lots of inspirational ideas for designs I should make, including these wonderful stripey acorns and gum seeds. Thanks, Elsa!

Spring (into Autumn)

skinnylaminx — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:45:51 +0000

The Northern Hemisphere is getting all Spring-y, while down here in the Cape, Autumn weather has arrived with a vengeance, and it’s all puddles and rain for us now. But in the brand new Skinny laMinx window display*, it’s all about flowers, as we celebrate the new Flower Dreams range, and put a Spring into our step as we head into Autumn.

*Thanks to my lovely shop assistants, Jess & Jenna, for putting the window display together so beautifully.

Catching up

skinnylaminx — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:32:32 +0000

It’s been a crazy busy time, and I must admit, I’m barely keeping pace. Facebook and Twitter have become useful places to maintain updates what’s going on, but if you (like me) are not a big fan of the Facebook scene, this blog may give the impression of serene equinimaty, which is certainly not the case. So, just as a bit of a catchup, here is what’s been going down lately:

Decorex

Hot on the heels of the Flower Dreams launch, Skinny laMinx and Space for Life were collaborating again, this time on a stand at Decorex Cape Town, for which we were given 10 days’ notice. We put together an marvellously Mad Men-esque main bedroom setting, with my fabrics and the vintage Scandinavian furniture in perfect harmony. More pics here. Decorex just closed on Sunday, and I have to say, we put together a damn fine stand. High five, us!

Press Bonanza

I don’t know which planets have to align in order to get features in three major national publications within three days, but that’s what happened to me last week. First there was a cover story in the Leefstyle section of Die Burger newspaper, then our home got a double page spread in this week’s issue of YOU / Huisgenoot, and on Sunday, Skinny laMinx was included in a story about Homegrown Talent Goes Global in the Sunday Times. Yowza!

What else? Oh yes, I’m working on an animation project (with a professional this time), I’m making a new wholesale catalogue to send out in May, and am also in the midst of another renovation. My downstairs studio is soooo busy and disrupted, I’m really battling to work, so I’ve been renovating the upstairs space to sublet and move in this month. No pics to show yet, but I hope it’s going to look beautiful soon!

x Heather

Emma’s Box Ottoman

skinnylaminx — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:06:54 +0000

This Before/After project was featured on Design*Sponge last week (thanks, Kate & Grace!), and here’s a bit more detail:

On the landing at the top of the stairs of my childhood home lived a padded wooden trunk, known as the ‘box ottoman’, covered in a crochet blanket, and smelling of mothballs. Under the crochet, the floral fabric covering was tattered through age and wear, but despite being unprepossessing and ragged, the box ottoman is a treasured family heirloom.

It belonged to my mother’s Grandmother, Emma Collett, who was one of 12 children from a farming family just near the town of Cradock, in the Eastern Cape. When she married Charles Butler in the early 1890′s, her brothers and father made her trousseau box from planks and palettes, covering it in pretty floral fabric, padding it with horse hair, and lining it in yellow silk.

My mother had always been too sentimental about the original fabric to re-cover it, which is where the crochet blanket came in. However, my suggestion of covering it in one of my fabrics struck her as a great way to give the ottoman a new life, and add to the story of Emma Butler’s trunk.

So now, with the help of an upholsterer just up the road from my studio, it’s been re-covered and re-padded, using my brand new Wild Flowers print, in the Lemon Humbug colourway.

But it’s nice to know that underneath all the fresh new fabric, we kept the old horsehair and ragged cloth, and inside, the yellow silk remains, adding to the family archeology for future generations.

Wild Flowers forms part of my brand new Flower Dreams collection, and comes in Lemon, Strawberry, Plum and Humbug colourways. It’s the kind of large-scale, slightly mad print that could work as well in a little girls’ room, as in a folk-inspired boudoir. Find it for sale in my Etsy shop, as well as my online shop for SA customers.

Dear Pinterest…

skinnylaminx — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:46:45 +0000

Launch at Space for Life

skinnylaminx — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:08:57 +0000

Whew, what a week! One new staff member (hi, Jenna!), two fabric launch events on Wednesday, and on Thursday, three guys arrived with saws and hammers to start a renovation to the upstairs studio. The prettiest part of this mad week (apart from Jenna) was the Flower Dreams launch at Space for Life on Wednesday morning and evening. Here’s how it looked before everyone arrived:

The wonderful Jess recreated the launch invitation pic in the front window of Space For Life, which looked so beautiful! Thanks, Jess!

Huge thanks to everyone who helped with the launch, and also to all the lovely people who came and made it such a special occasion. Your enthusiasm and support is massively appreciated, as are the kind words on all the blogs! This week, we’ve had the most spectacular coverage, and here’s a (probably incomplete) blogroll of thanks:

Design*Sponge, on the Wild Flowers print, and again today, on my Before/After

Lanalou Style on the launch

Kim Gray on the new collection

Design Loving

Pretty Please on the new Pincushion print

Between 10 and 5 on the new collection

Just call me K, who was lovely to meet, at last

I Want That on the launch

Thanks, once again. xx

Wild Flowers – they’re wild, but they’re sweet

skinnylaminx — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:41:36 +0000

This week, my Flower Dreams fabric collection is launching, and I’m so excited to share the centrepiece of the collection, which I’ve called Wild Flowers.

Wild Flowers is a large-scale two-colour screenprinted design that manages to be lots of things at once: It’s a bit Japanese, it’s sweetly feminine, a little Folky, a tad popp-y, and just a little bit mad!

I came up with this design after I made a fun vinyl sticker wallpaper to brighten up my studio bathroom (see pics in my blog post about it here). I’d been wanting to make a large-scale floral print for a while, and suddenly it struck me that my bathroom ‘wallpaper’ was just the thing.

Wild Flowers is professionally screenprinted here in Cape Town, using waterbased ink on a cotton/linen blend basecloth. It’s available in four colourways: Strawberry Humbug, Lemon Humbug, Strawberry Plum and Lemon Plum.

You’ll find cushion covers in Wild Flowers for sale here for international customers, and here for South Africans.