Java Java

My sister may remember this?

Before "coffee" became uber-popular in one fell-swoop of consciousness and chains over-ran, we had a favourite small place. It went out of business from all the chains - isn't that how the story goes?  The good honest brew.

The exterior and walls were just that shade darker than Yves Klein blue, and the rickety furniture barely held us, as we huddled small in the corner, amongst the working men and women pouring over the day's paper and gentry folk in their herringbone tweeds, unfolding their broadsheets.  A cloud of coffee warming the place.  The bearded philosopher, part-time barista, shaking down the filter, metal on metal, scrapping, and scooping a pile afresh of Java grind, then tamping it down.  Steam hissing, filling milk with velvet bubbles, daydreaming of the words he had in is head, that would look so good on paper.

Dont' you feel alittle nostalgic for Java Java?

Available on Etsy: java-java-print-pillow-cushion-cover

DayDreamer by SisterBatik

Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!  Thou talkst of nothing.

True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain,

Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,

Which is as thin of substance as the air,

And more inconstant than the wind

                             William Shakespear, Romeo and Juliet

And daydreams allow minds to drift, just enough to create.......

OOAK on Etsy:  daydreamer

Here is our newest One Of A Kind pillow - creative patchwork/ mixed batik pillow - using 6 different prints.  100% crisp Dutch wax print cotton.

With the addition of simple traveller embroidery of orange French knots and purple Sailor stitching.  Our most personal favourite yet - hope you like it : )

We are currently working on a larger size of this OOAK pillow.

UK Most Wanted

This has been a wonderful, first Esty Euro week for us - a great celebration and promotion of independent creators in Europe and Etsy together.

We were so excited that our mix-and-match offer was chosen for feature on the Most Wanted lifestyle zine-blog as part of the hugely popular national vouchercodes.co.uk site.

Thank you to the "Most Wanted" team : )  This is fantastic motivation!

Hot hues and Hacienda living

Inspired by Sibella Court's re-imagining of bedouin living with this lived-in interior: 

Her interior design book "Etcetera ETC" release March 18th in the UK.

“Best Designed Book of the Year” at the annual APA Book Design Awards.

.....and also the enviable adobe hacienda "At Hilltop" home of interior designer Kathryn Ireland, on the sun-drenched north Los Angeles coastline

                                                                             Kathy Ireland's home is amazing (see blog.livelikeyou)

 ........I was driven to create my own hacienda bed, with our pillows, textiles, limited resources and moving things around in my own space - no hilltop, no coastline, but a week of glorious sunshine in the UK - gave way to this:

Kathryn Ireland is amazing -  I absolutely love anyone who embraces and makes something their own.  Never let limited resources stop you, it only asks more of you - so be creative and collect on the way : )

Faded old painting - my own oil on canvas

Bedouin bolster pillow - set of two on Etsy:  /bedouin-duo-ooak-sisterbatik-set-of-2

Orchids from the supermarket - they will last a long time with good care.  Sit the roots in water for one hour each week.  They grow fine and flower once or twice a year on my window sill.

 Throw pillows above - all by SISTERBATIK

Thin daisy quilt and distressed Heligan and Marais fabric (folded) bought in the Laura Ashley sale. Hacienda textiles carried back from Lima, Peru.

1970s pink silk kimono a thrift store find when I was 16, over Hot pink zebra pillow:  hot-pink-zebra-large-cushion

Dreamy adobe hacienda estate:

Happy weekend!

Bolster Pillow - Bedouin OOAK

We have made our latest OOAK pillow cover in the shape of a bolster pillow.

Long and narrow, measuring 12" x 22", bolster pillows are placed at the head of the bed or at the base of an armchair seat to wonderful decorative effect.

They are used to provide head and back support.  In some countries the bolster is also used for hugging when sleeping and in many Asian countries given names to mean "hugging pillow" : )

 Available on Etsy:  bedouin-bolster-ooak-sisterbatik-pillow

Bedouin Duo OOAK Pillows

Here are our newest One Of A Kind pillows - set of two creative patchwork/ mixed batik pillow - hope you like it.  100% crisp Dutch wax print cotton.

A bolster pillow and small pillow pair - perfect for the bedroom or a feature in a stand alone armchair.

Available on Etsy:  bedouin-duo-ooak-sisterbatik-set-of-2

Stockholm Stadsmission

Recently, I stumbled on a real gem of a thrift store called Stockholm Stadsmission.  It is a small chain with a branch in Somermalm, one of the numerous islands in the Stockholm inner archipelogo; home to a bohemian crowd, where pavement cafes live alongside ooak kitsch stores and vintage dens such as Grandpas.  Inside Stockholm Stadsmission you will find color co-ordinated home accessories, ice cream coloured bedding and upholstery fabric and retro furniture at very reasonable prices.  If only home were in Stockholm and shipping were not needed!

I absolutely loved this avocado mid-century chair for 50euros.

 ** Photos were taken at the Stockholm Stadsmission branch in Vasastan.

In celebration of Euro week, the Etsy Front page has been promoting many Euro treasuries and I saw this the other day which took me right back to Old town in Stockholm:

 gamla-stan-8x8-stockholm-old-town

Taken on Skeppsholmen near the Moderna Museet

It still felt very wintry though it was already March, with snow cover over large areas, as at Skansen on Djurgarden which reminded me of the locations in Winter's Bone (recently seen on a recommendation by one of the comments left on my blog) :

Travel was by Irish airline Ryanair which whizzes around Europe like a hyperactive carrier; a fanfare playing through the cabin, annnounces another on-time arrival (the most succesful in Europe).  It helps to make that short trip to a European city affordable and within reach, especially if you can travel light.    My return flight from the UK cost £14 ($22) or in SisterBatik units - 1 small pillow : )

Nomad. The journey always whispers.

Whether the silk road takes you or wanderlust:

Available on Etsy:  nomad-trio-ooak-sisterbatik-set-of-3

OOAK by SisterBatik

We have been busy adding to our One Of A Kind range - of creative patchwork/ mixed batik pillow cases - hope you like them.  100% crisp Dutch wax print cotton.

Available on Etsy: wanderlust