The shop is coming! The shop is coming! #omgwecantwait (at FTM Headquarters)
Summer Fridays are in full effect. These fun raffia pieces travel well no matter where you’re heading this weekend. In unexpected colors and sleek silhouettes raffia has never looked better. If you’d like to make your own raffia accessories check out the projects our Tradewinds Collection.
Beady Ready finds: 1. J. Crew summer straw hat 2. Zara straw coasters 3. Proud Mary raffia flats 4. Anthropologie raffia necklace
City Chic finds: 1. J. Crew envelope clutch 2. J. Crew summer straw hat 3. Charlotte Olympia raffia heels 4. J. Crew raffia pants
We’ll be in the studio all weekend finishing up something we cannot. wait. to share with you all next week. Have a cocktail for us!
Join the sparkle party and let’s be friends on Instagram, ok? You’re looking for cute dog pictures? We have those too.
This collection is all about romamtic summer pieces with tropical embellishments. From the runway to the streets of Bushwick this is what’s inspiring us right now:
1. This look from Tory Burch’s resort collection has us in the mood for soft 70s shades of warm peach, blush and taupe.
2. The raffia-wrapped crystals on this necklace are an unexpected mix of casual materials and sparkle.
3. These piles of iridescent moonstone and milky blush glass cabochons look amazing with everything. Take the glue away from us or pretty soon they’ll be covering the studio.
4. For us, warm weather means exploring. For the Tradewinds photoshoot we spent the afternoon in Bushwick, Brooklyn where we had Cuban sandwiches, excessive amounts of cafe con leche, and explored the neighborhood.
5. These amazing chandelier earrings on the runway at Dolce & Gabanna would be perfect for a 50’s era Italian starlet. Using raffia means they’re breezy and light for summer dates.
Evie captured the movement and wild spirit of this collection perfectly in watercolor. It makes us want to throw on a breezy dress and one of these summer staples reimagined in raffia.
Introducing the Bibi Gem Cuff, the Paola Push Pins, the Sophia Headband, and the Brigitte Earrings. Which will you make first?
A bit of bright. A hint of ombre. Natural twine. We’re all about it.
The macrame twine on these hand dipped tassel garlands takes the ombre trend we’ve been seeing (and loving) and gives is a cool 70s vibe. Sometimes the designs you love the most come about when you least expect it. When Pippa of Ouchflower asked, “What to do with left over macrame twine? This was the answer. We like.
“Picking colors is really hard for me. That is my main source of inspiration – the finishes of the leather.”
- Pratt graduate and Brooklyn- based accessory designer Tracey Tanner on her process creating leather pouches and accessories. We think she does a pretty ok job of picking leather colors. We’re constantly swooning over her pieces at ABC Home whenever we pop in for a bit of inspiration.
These reflective crystals might not help your chakras but they sure add a little je ne sais quoi to your apartment. Oversize quartz makes a stunning lamp base and it’s enough of a statement to stand up on it’s own in a sunny window ledge or mantle grouping. Being colorless it adds the same lightness as lucite in a modern space without feeling cold. We always pick up a few new oversize stone pieces when we shop vintage markets. For a tiny taste of quartz cyrstals check out the Saranac Necklace from the Hudson Collection. How would you style quartz? Would you wear it?
A few of our favorite quartz pieces from around the web: 1. Lonny Magazing 2. Lonny Magazine 3. Freunde von Freunden 4. the Selby
Meet Rebecaa Atwood, the designer and artist behind a gorgeous new line of home textiles. Rebecca received her BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and began her career at Anthropologie. Since then, she has worked with major retailers in both the United States and United Kingdom creating home product collections and consulting on trends and design.
Why we love her work: She mixes traditional textile techniques and hand painting, creating products that are both simple and luxurious. All of Rebecca’s textiles are produced in small editons in New York. Hand dyeing can be quite unpredictable but the variation in each piece is what makes each peice one of a kind and heirloom quality.
Rebecca is also part of our first team of sisters to be featured on Making With… we featured her sister Grace last summer!
I Make…Textiles, pillows, paintings…and things for your home
First maker memory… I’ve been painting as long as I can remember. I do have a very strong memory of using my grandfather’s old watercolor set. It was a metal case in a muted pale yellow with a criss cross pattern on the outside and inside there were round shallow containers filled with color.
Makers that inspire you: I find myself really drawn to the work of ceramicists – especially Michele Michael the talented woman behind Elephant Ceramics. I also love Frances Palmer’s work – I think what she has accomplished is very impressive and inspiring. I’ve recently discovered Emilie Halpern and think her work is beautiful as well. My list could go on!
Doug Johnston who makes those amazing baskets, Caitlin Mociun and her amazing jewelry, Ariele Alasko and her wooden headboards, Amy Merrick and her flower arrangements (her blog is also especially good)…so many people! Perhaps most important may be my Dad – he’s the chef at The Red Pheasant.
If you weren’t making pillows and paintings, you’d be making food.
Favorite drink to make after a long day… a glass of pinot noir… or rose this time of year.
Favorite tool of the trade… a paintbrush
Material you love to work with or want to work with…I love to work with dye even though it can be unpredictable – the results are so nice. I’m a big fan of watercolor and gouache paint. I’d like to find time to work with clay.
Top Places to Source… The garment district of NYC is an amazing resource to start with – the prices can be expensive but then you have something to work off of for the quality you want. You can find fabrics, trim, zippers, beads, and anything really that you can imagine. Mood Fabrics and Sil Thread are places I end up a lot. The internet is the best resource to then find better prices. Now I’m working on finding more wholesale resources as my business grows which may mean working with mills, etc.
Something you wish you could make… a house
What are you listening to when working in the studio? I love to listen to the Moth podcasts, as well as Grace Bonney’s ‘After the Jump.’ I also listen to Pandora.
Favorite snack that keeps you making… cheese
Thanks Rebecca!
We had the best time at the first (of many) Knot & Bow craft parties this Saturday. We teamed up with Erin and Lauren from Knot & Bow to celebrate the color of the year: emerald.
We had a packed house of lovely ladies that came over to break in the new Knot & Bow Studio and make a few of our favorite craft projects. Everyone went home with a set of the Emerald Elastics, their own Malachite Rope Necklace, and amazing goodie bag. We sipped champagne, talked crafts, and snacked on an inappropriate amount of cookies from One Girl. If you ask us, this is the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
If you haven’t made a Malachite Rope Necklace yet there are a few left in the shop!
