An amazing day!

I’ve just noticed that the summer is finally here!  I know that it sounds weird but the weather has been pretty ordinary recently; raining far too often, being generally cloudy and very, very windy.  But last night I went out on a girl’s night out and we could actually stay outside and enjoy our wine without a jacket on until the terrace closed.

Today I went to handover my images to the women who will expose them onto my silk-screens. (I’m still unsure on the proper terminology.)  Anyway I was at her workshop this morning at 10:00 then got myself a huge coffee and sat along the river to just enjoy the nice weather and feel happy I am super excited about the learning to print and feel extremely inspired.  I think that my bags will be very different and much, much better with my new images. I will take pictures as soon as I start, of the new set up in my workroom, of my images and of course of my new bags!

This morning I had forgotten to take my camera, so I couldn’t to catch the moment. But I did find these great pictures on flickr of Frankfurt, I thought that it would be nice to share the view and feeling with you.  Click on the images to see Laternamagica’s photostream, he’s the one who took these great pictures.

What a weekend!

Wow, what a weekend! On Friday late afternoon I went to set up my little stand at the Hof Party.  Then on Saturday I was at Stilblüten#8 all day.  It actually went really smoothly with the taxi in the morning and setting up. When that finished at 20:00, I went to the Hof Party to see what the atmosphere was like there and repack everything. I got home at 23.00 or so, which is very reasonable.  But there was a big street festival here too.  It was so loud, it felt like the crowd was actually in the flat, even with all the windows closed.  So I didn’t sleep too well and so was rather pooped to start the Sunday.  But I got up early to catch up on what had been sold and repack a few things. I was at the stand all day then came home and died I didn’t even bring the stuff back.  Instead I went back this morning when it was quieter.  I thought that it would be easier that way, especially with the taxi.

I know that it sounds like I’m complaining but it was actually GREAT! I love the busy days and it was great to be at an event and seeing people.  The feedback about my bags was great!  It feels sooo great when people compliment you on your work.  Plus I sold loads which is obviously even better than any flattery!  The whole atmosphere was great, there was a DJ playing some funky music, plus somewhere to get a bite to eat or a drink. There were many more and new designers participating, so the variety was great.  There were of course loads of visitors and many people that I have met from other fairs or through my bag business came by to say ‘Hi!’. I even met Morven, she sent in pictures of her handmade bag last week: What’s in your bag? By the way, please feel free to continue sending some pictures of ‘what’s in your bag’, so that we may continue that category, it would be fun.

Oh, and here a just a couple of pictures.

 

 

I actually forgot to go around and take pictures, the ones of my stand were taken as I had just set up.  Many of the bags in the pictures have now founds new homes The last picture is the view from my stand, I know that it’s really bad that I don’t have more pictures but it was really busy. 

Anyway, that’s it for today, I will tell you more about it in the days to come.

If you were there, why don’t you tell us what you thought of the event.

What’s in your bag? (continued)

Cool, someone sent us pictures of their bag and content.

Morven is a British student living here in Frankfurt and even created her own bags.

 

Content; as written by Morven:

-typically for a student are notebook and pencil case – my design
-mint humbugs, taste yummy and make a nice breath, and a forgotten chewing gum, clinging to crumbs in my bag, gosh, I have to start cleaning out my bag more often
-mobile phone bag (my creation) with mobile phone inside
-a little purse (sewn by me) holding my lip balm and passport, as I do not have an identity card, as I’m British
-my frog queen wallet, also one of my designs
-hankies and a small pill box for the occasional pain, especially headache, reading all the stuff for university puts strain on the eyes
-a flyer for an exhibition of one of my friends www.all-eyes-on-you.de

Well, in my opinion she is seems ready for anything and everything life will through at her.  Thanks for participating and sharing with us. I wish you lots of luck with your exhibition!

Sunday

I got a little carried on Sunday when I went to my favourite material market to buy some supplies. I had even prepared a list so that I would stick to what I needed but instead I got stuff that I didn’t particularly need but I thought looked great, then ran out of money and couldn’t get what I did needed silly I know.

My husband came with me this time and although I new that it would be totally boring for him, so I asked him to take pictures for the blog.  I am very grateful but to be totally honest we have very different tastes.  I like close ups, details and colour. He likes to get the feel for the place so he doesn’t zoom in the way I had imagined…  I guess I should have explained what I wanted. Anyway, I hope you like the pictures, they do give you a good idea what it’s like there. We went near the end, so it wasn’t crowded either, which helps.

  

Here are also a couple of pictures of what I bought:

This is definitely my favourite picture:

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As you know up until the 20th of May I shall be participating in the Blogparade so if you want to read other Fashion and Designer Blogs from Germany: click here 

New Round Handbag

If you’re in need of new handbag for the spring, why don’ you t visit designe, kleine! tomorrow afternoon to check out my new round handbags and cute little purses. I plan on dropping them off after work, so at 14:30 or so…  Why not be the first to check them out! 

 

I love this new bag, it will be perfect for the spring and summer.  The thick denim means that you can stuff it full.  It also means that you don’t have to worry, you can put it at your feet in a beer garden or throw it on the grass without worrying that it might look dirty afterwards.  The lining is a cute green and white chequered cotton. As usual there is a small pocket on the back for your keys or mobile and an interior one as well for your wallet or purse.  I think this would look great with jeans and sweatshirt or with a light skirt and tank-top. It’s both sporty and girly! 

To check out more of my round handbags why not check out my website.

Frankfurt from a different perspective

The weather on Sunday was beautiful, so we decided to go out with the new camera and discover Frankfurt through its lens.  And what a wonderful day we had.   You really see things differently through a camera lens. You notice all sorts of details and patterns you never saw before. We had walked this same way many times before but yesterday everything looked much more vivid. 

Here are some of my favourite pictures, hope you like them.

 

We really did discover Frankfurt from a different perspective.

 

Small purses

Sorry for the lack of posts, I’ve just been trying to catch up before the next and final fair of the year.  I don’t think that I will manage to do everything I wanted to do though. I’ve had many customers come here to pick bags, which is great but means that I’m not catching up.  I guess you learn from your mistakes; next year I will start earlier and also not finish so early…  I can’t wait for our holiday but the 22nd of December is too early.  It means that tomorrow, Friday the 19th is the last day for people from Frankfurt to come buy bags in my workshop.  That was not brilliant planing on my part. 

Anyway, I’ll stop complaining now

To be totally honest the last few weeks have been very intense but also great.  Sales have been great! It’s nice to feel that all the effort and all the work is paying off.  I’m hoping my last fair,  ’Holy.Shit.Shopping’ will be good. I’m hoping to add it to my yearly fairs, like Stilblüten and Museumsuferfest.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’ve also still managed to make a few more small purses, shoulder bags and messenger bags.  Here’s a picture of the small purses, I love the new materials I got recently, they’re very colourful. Tomorrow, before packing for the fair I shall post some pictures of the later.

Stilblüten

Last weekend was Stilblüten #7.

Wow what an event, it was great!  There were some great participants and soooooo many visitors and super funky music.

I had made quite an effort for my stand.  What do you think, do you like it? The idea behind it was that it was meant to look like an entrance hall where you need to stop and pick the handbag that best matches your outfit before leaving the house. What do you think, is that what it looks like? You had the hat stands full of bags and a mirror to check yourself out… I thought it looked nice, though I would have liked to have everything in pink.  The only problem was that it didn’t all fit into the car…  luckily it wasn’t far from where I live so I walked there with the last bits. But in a couple of weeks I’ll be participating in a fair in Stuttgart so that wont be possible, it’s a two hour drive…

 

I have to apologise though because I didn’t really have time to go around and take pictures once it got going.  This was taken before the doors opened, when I had just finished setting up.  It was very busy and to be honest I am totally pooped this morning. I’ve unpacked and rebuilt everything again, then checked that everything was up to date with website and spreadsheets…  I think that I might even give myself the afternoon off, though saying that, I have to be at work for 16:00 so it wont be that much time off. Oh well, that is the luxury of starting your own business I guess

Stilblüten # 7

The list of designers participating in the 7th Stilblüten has been announced. I am really please; even a little proud to say that I will be participating again.

Actually you should take a few minutes to check out their new and improved website: Stilblüten #7.  It looks great!  And of course you should also come brows and discover all the cool stuff on either the Saturday or Sunday.  Many of the designers are from Frankfurt but to find them all under one roof is much more fun. You might even manage most of your Christmas shopping in one trip.  There will also be a DJ to make your shopping experience that much more fun.  The music last time was super too, really funky and original.Hope to see you there.  Please come and introduce yourself if you’ve read my blog.  It would be great to meet you!

It’s starting to feel like Christmas

We actually had snow here in Frankfurt at the weekend!  It’s the first time since I’ve been here, so since January 2007. I’ve been really sick recently but on Sunday we bundled up warmly and went for a long walk, it felt really good to breath in some fresh air and be outside for a while.  It’s really starting to feel Christmasy too, which is a good thing.  The Frankfurt Christmas Market starts in only 2 days, it will be on until the 21st of December. It’s well worth a visit.  At the weekend my fairs and markets start too.  Basically this was my last weekend off until Christmas. I hope that if you live near here you will come and see me at one of my many fairs; check out my Exhibitions page for dates and locations.