The bomb drop of dropshipping

This is yet another attempt in a life far too busy to keep this blog up to date. If there is anybody out there that was following it you have long since forgotten about it I am sure. Today, today I have something to say, well to bitch about actually. Dropshipping, a godsend to online retail a curse to designer makers?? As a designer/maker you take all the risk, create a product, make it, store it and  market it, then a little website comes along and wants you to load up your images, input all the information, store it and ship it. They simply produce a website and sell it and collect the funds then eventually pass your share on to you which isn't much after commission on both the product and the delivery. This annoys me because, I am a small business, I do not have time to input every product on to multiple sites and then to package every single piece that is sold. My time would be better spent in many, many ways. For all this effort you are a  little better off than your normal wholesale price which is bulk packed and sent to the shop or website to sell.

Maybe this is the future of retail and I need to get used to it but it will be gloomy for us designer makers, if we have to take most of the financial risk then there will not be many of us around to fill your sites with products. It may work well for some but it makes my blood boil every time I have a lead on a new stockist and then they ask if I drop ship.

What do you other designer/makers think?

An étoile update

I have been busy designing new prints every evening after days filled with admin and sending our orders, nappy changes and baby feeding. The themes will either be a earth, wind and fire or fire, water, earth and air.

I am trying to assemble 2 groups for a focus group on étoile home, its products and its future direction. Interested in attending? The 2 dates are July 17th and 21st. We welcome fans and sceptics. I promise goodies and wine.

What else is new, due to the big gaps in postings, there should be something right? Let's see, we are looking into printing some of our fabrics here in the UK, we have new handmade scary toys (see picture attached) that are filled with recycled wool and uses chopped up old jumpers along side our fabrics. We are also working on recycled, reknitted wool cushion covers. I was never aware of how much methane decaying wool emits.

I have my fingers crossed that our washbags and tote bags will be ready soon. We lost our first supplier and then it took ages to find another but finally we have a found a UK company that make great quality bags. I am just waiting for final samples before we head into production. I think they will look great and cannot wait to get them on our site. Keep your eyes peeled.

So lots of big things on the way. I hope it'll be a really productive Autumn/Winter for étoile.

As usual I will keep trying to post more often. S

Illustrate This!

Once, I was ambivalent about illustration. I studied figure drawing at University, I found it extremely dull to draw the the unattractive man modelling in the nude. My discovery of less realistic styled illustration has changed my views on the art. I am now love, love, loving it.
I have bought some to hang on my walls from local artist Carl Harris aka "Cat Boy", I keep buying books by Alice Melvin for my daughter ( I wish she had more), and I hoping to collaborate with some for future fabric collections.


Here are some of my favorite illustrators. Enjoy. Top to bottom: Carl Harris, Chris Houghton, Harriet Russell, Andrew Bannecker, Andrew Foster, and Alice Melvin.

Print and Pattern is a great blog to help inspire you http://printpattern.blogspot.com/.
S

Inspirations for an étoile home

Hello,
I guess I am not a born blogger, twitterer or facebooker (I am sure there is a new social networking site that I have never heard of) I find it very difficult to keep the world updated on what I am doing because I am so busy trying to live and manage it.
I need your help. We want to be nominated for the Studio East project for Stratford City Westfield.
Here is the link if you are up for it: http://www.westfieldstudioeast.co.uk/nominations/product-design/. It would be a great opportunity for étoile home to make it's mark on East London.

On the étoile front I am looking a new manufacturer for our beautiful bags, we had it all sorted in Portugal but I have just been informed they have gone out of business. This further delays getting the bags out but of course as always I will keep looking. I am hoping to find a company in the UK.
We moved into our new Walthamstow Village house in early September and have moved out again so the builders can remove several walls and modernise the interior floor plan.
My plan for the interior is Scandanavian Mid century Modern Cabin. I want to mix some of my favourite étoile prints with Mid Century Modern furniture, with lots of wood, exposed brick and knick knacks you might find in your grandparents house. This will of course evolve as the project will likely drag on for several years because with a baby under the age of one this can only be done during naps and the evenings. Once the builders leave my husband and I will sand and stain the floors, tile the walls, clad the walls and install the kitchen before starting on the 1st floor, I will love and hate every minute of it. Here are a few of my inspirations. I apologise for not crediting images as I cannot recall where I pulled them from. Except the machinist chair is from the Peanut Vendor.Sx

All change! We're on the move.

I was very excited last week when I went to the newsstand and bought a copy of BBC Homes and Antiques and found that the pictures that were taken of our flat last spring had finally been published. It was just in time to show the estate agents and buyers when we put our flat on the market, and sure enough it worked the first person that viewed our flat bought it. That meant that we all of a sudden had to go find ourselves a new house, all very exciting at first but soon it gets depressing as in London you never have enough money for what you want and generally there is always a fair amount of compromise to be made. We wanted to move to Walthamstow Village, a little oasis in the east of London which can often be quite depressing. We have lived in nearby Leyton for 6 years hoping for the area to evolve and gentrify a little with the forthcoming Olympics but very little did. There was no decent pub, no wine bars or restaurants that were good or even interesting so we spent all our nights out in central London. The village in contrast is like a small village in the country side but on the Victoria line, it has several restaurants, pubs and shops of the quality you would find in town. We looked at several places there and feared that in order to live there space would be a compromise but in the end we have found a 3 bed 30's build that needs some TLC. We are very excited about taking on this project and I should hopefully come across some great finds in my research to share with you.
Here are the picts that appeared in BBC Homes and Antiques, can you spot the étoile products. Thanks to Sian Williams and Polly Eltes for the lovely styling and pictures.
S

The Fabric of our Lives

Well, I finally managed to get out of the house and undertake a cultural experience. Until now all excursions out of the house were to the studio and social events with close friends aka "coffee".
I have always been a fan of quilts and have designed many for our collections but we have only ever included , Nina Patchwork quilt. The reason being that they are labour intensive and therefore very expensive. If your main selling opportunity is a website then customers can never see the work and quality put into them.
Today, I went with to see the Quilts 1700-2010 at the V&A and really enjoyed it. I cannot believe the time that has been put into the quilts in this exhibition. I love the combinations of patterns and colours. I really loved the modern takes on the quilts like the one by Natasha Kerr "At the end of the day" which features a picture of her grandparents that was found under the stairs. This linked her to an unknown part of her family. Quilts have told many stories and the tradition of quilting has been popular around the world. By the number of people at this exhibition I suspect this is another craft about to be revived.

As part of the V&A site they have included a page were you can upload your quilts, and create virtual quilts http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/gallery/patterns. The fifth one down was done by a woman who was so inspired after her visit to the exhibition she bought some of the quilting fabric from the V&A shop and had a go. I have also included a few other lovely quilts from that gallery. This along with the show at the V&A this should provide you with the necessary inspiration to start your own work of art.
To create your own heirloom the V&A shop at the museum and online sells gorgeous fabrics for quilting http://www.vandashop.com/section.php?xSec=357&xPage=1&selectProductsNumber=24 and you can also try Liberty's for beautiful quilting squares.

Would you rather a company like étoile made your quilts? If so, what kind would you like to see us make, what would you be prepared to pay for a beautifully crafted quilt?

In the meantime, perhaps I will start thinking about making a quilt for baby no 2 just in case they ever come along.
S

Managing Motherhood

Hello, and once again I must apologise for the absence of new postings. I am finding motherhood and managing étoile more than enough to occupy my long days. I have a new respect for all mothers especially those with more than one child.
I do love the days of hanging with other local mothers and meeting my great friends in town for tea and lunch but they are going by all too quickly.
I haven't been neglecting my duties as Creative Director, this week our new collection of rugs were added to the website. I am really pleased with how they've turned out and the picts we did with Paula and Portland look great. We have had really positive feedback from the press and customers alike. I can't wait to find a new home where Atlee will have a room and we can decorate around these rugs. I have always only had floorboards but rugs add a nice softness with a baby around.
Here are a few picts of the new collection.
S