Designing 007

Just packed up our second order for the Designing 007, James Bond exhibition at the Barbican - very classy, very masculine choices.

These projects for museums are always a lot of fun to do for this order it was brogues, blackbirds and Ian Fleming-esque typewriters.

stabo special order bag

We have been getting a number of requests for custom made bags.  Our lovely hard wearing crazy horse leather make excellent gadget carriers.  Here is the latest bag designed to carry a macbook.  It is being sent down under so naturally we made it to function upside down.  We are also stocking a shop in Christchurch NZ  http://www.hapa.co.nz/ so if you happen to be passing take a look.

Alternative Fashion Week 2012 at Spitalfields

 We showed at Alternative Fashion Week yesterday.  We booked to do one outfit but with the help of Beckett and Beckett's t shirts put together five.  Here are a few pics of the catwalk (or Runway) and backstage.  It was very fashiony which was quite entertaining.

Thanks so much to our models and Alternative Arts who organised the event.

Get ahead get a hat

We're back at Cambridge tomorrow and will be debuting our new Vintage Tent caps, recycled from fabric. We made a version of the tent caps a few years back and Ed has worn one almost constantly ever since. When it gets too dirty he just throws it in the washing machine.

There are some more hats in the pipeline so watch this space!



They'll be at Spitalfields on Sunday as well.

Spotted!

A Sinclair C5* - parked on double yellas, outside Nandos, St Andrews St, Cambridge. Cambridge actually is cool!

Why on earth didn't they catch on?

*If you are too young or weren't in the UK in the early 80's you may need to google this.

Drying on the line

We took advantage of the springlike weather this week and dried our latest Queens Jubilee Shoppers on our clothesline. The sun was shining, birds singing, blossom out - idyllic.

Stabo Satchels

These are the latest products for Stabo's Men's Stall at Spitalfields on Sundays. You can also see them in Cambridge on Saturdays.

They are made from 'end of line leather', we can only make one or two out of each piece of leather and they are all a bit different. As they are one-offs they're not on the website (to avoid possible disappointment) but if you're interested drop us a line and we can help you out.

New camera bags

We made a camera bag for a customer. Here are a few more for the stall. We may make them a stock product.

We are happy to make other products to order, just let us know.

new products on stabo mens stall

We have been working hard on bringing out some new designs for our mens stall.

All the new products are made from veg tan leather we have pigmented or stained.

New products include wallets, i phone 4 holders, passport holders, key blankets and card holders.

All these products are available from opur Spitalfields stall.

On the milk

We did the Merge Craft Fair, Oundle in December. Lucy Anne Harding was one of the stall holders. I loved her work. She studied art but lives on the family farm and does their milk round.

These experiences 'on the milk' inspire her work. Her images are of the doors and people she sees on her round the jottings in her milk book and so forth. Her website www.lucyanneharding.co.uk is well worth a look.

Wishing you the best for 2012

We always get a bit behind over Christmas and last year was no exception, but we've got lots to look forward to in 2012.

So here's a quick preview of our plans for 2012;
-realising some of the new products we've been dreaming about
-moving over to biodegradable lightweight mailing bags and using gorgeous royal blue tissue paper to wrap the mail order products
-uploading the products we've had on the stall for a while to the website
-experimenting with a new mens stall at Spitalfields

So watch this space, all the best for 2012 and above is a preview of a new web product - the trouser pocket saving key blanket.

Football Crazy

OK hands up I'm not actually football crazy but I'm really excited about our new image. It's of an impromptu game taking place between language students in a local park (Parker's Piece, Cambridge for anyone who is interested).

Like the cricket match t shirt it spans the width of the chest and is quite subtle as the people are so small. I took the image a few years ago and found it erroneously shoved in the wrong photo album which reminded me to get cracking with the artwork.

Woodbridge Vintage and Contemporary Fair

Just a quick reminder we'll be at Woodbridge for the Retro and Modern fair tomorrow. We'll also have our regular pitch at Cambridge All Saints market.

Be there and be on the Square!

We're very much looking forward to the next Woodbridge Retro and Modern Fair on September 17th - we'll get to see the lovely people of Suffolk and nose around the stalls ourselves.

Vegetarian Friendly

Anyone familiar with our market stalls will know that they are full of colourful leather products which draw all sorts of customers in for a browse. For a long time we have had requests from vegetarians for non leather products. We wanted to come up with something really good so it has taken us a while but they're finally here - printed fabric pencil cases. They're fully lined and zip close.

If you're the type of person who likes to have one big wallet containing everything they could handle that task and could also take a pair of glasses or a camera.

Vegetarian purses coming very soon.

shoe making

I have always wanted to make my own shoes, so I did a one day shoe making course with green shoes in Buckfastleigh.
The green shoes creation are the black shoes on the left, my efforts of making my own shoe pattern and putting a shoe together are on the right.

However, it seems that my lasts (the things that give the shoe its shape) are a bit slender for my plates. So, I am in the process of making my own.

The green one is professionally made and the white one is my half finished home made last. Shoes will follow - given time.

Return to Paypal and August news

Hi there, apologies for so few blog entries recently.

Just to let you know what we've been up to. We have just tweaked our website (again) hopefully we've ironed out a few of the niggles. We've gone back to Paypal but are more than happy to send out Google Checkout payments if requested. If you find a gremlin on the website please let us know. I don't think we ever spot them all. The little one pictured above is more of a monkey than a gremlin.

We've also added a few more products to the website such as these kids t shirts. After this we're looking towards Christmas and getting out a new autumn collection. We're both full of ideas so hope to get something out in the near future.

Ed is getting excited about shoe making - but I'm not sure how long it'll take to develop a saleable version. I'll let him tell you about that.

Cambridge Open Studios

Visited some Open studios today which was great. We are thinking of participating next year.

In addition to great art you get to see some gorgeous houses and villages. I visited Paul Abbott's Cervantesesque workshop in Swaffham Prior in the shadow of one windmill and just 100m away from the next.

...and then 12 come at the same time

We have just sent off a parcel of work to the millenium gallery in Sheffield.

So if you happen to be near the winter gardens in the centre of town we strongly recommend a visit.

The Big Mix Festival, Spitalfields - This Saturday

As well as our regular Sunday we are also trading at Spitalfields this Saturday as part of The Big Mix Festival. It should be a great event with enough to do for the whole day.

For any Cambridge visitors sorry but we won't be at Cambridge this Saturday we'll be back next week.