The next six week course to be held at Urbis, Introducton to Surface Pattern and Decoration, is now open for bookings. The course will introduce you to ways of creating 2D patterns of your own, for use on textiles or other decorative surfaces. The course content includes:

- selecting appealing images/shapes of your preference
- producing compositional studies based on these images
- looking at the work of Raoul Dufy, a Fauvist painter, who also had success as a textile designer
- viewing some of the history of the Arts and Crafts movement, predominated by the work of William Morris

Most of each two hour session will be spent on practical work, with some sessions involving viewing brief presentations on relevant artists or designers. You will have the opportunity to try a variety of 2D techniques. All materials will be provided.

When: Tuesday 9th June, Tuesday 16th June, Wednesday 24th June, Wednesday 1st July, Tuesday 7th July, Tuesday 14th July (6 - 8pm)
Where: Urbis, Manchester
Cost: £60 payable by cheque or cash in advance of first session. £55 concessions (students, those in receipt of state pension or income support)
To Book: Email a.owen@urbis.org.uk and provide your name, age, telephone number and email address and briefly describe whether you have any previous experience of creative activities. Alternatively call Amy on 0161 605 8261.

A fascinating day in the life of feature about Masao and Deanne from TokyoMade. If you’re not familiar with them already you should definitely check out their online shop. They sell a range of cool clothes, accessories and gifts all made by Tokyo based designers. And they have recently started a Flickr Group called TokyoMade Street Style.

Here’s their day.

We (Masao and Deanne) spend our days on Tokyo time which has a weird way of making life seem like there is only 5 hours in a day but 25 hours worth of excitement to get through, leaving very little time for sleep. Lucky for us we are both night owls, clicking away at the mouse until the very early hours of the morning.

Each day starts out quite early for Masao, he is usually up with his soy latte and a good book or fashion magazine sitting in the sun on our balcony well before I even entertain thoughts of the day. I usually spend a bit of bleary eyed time rolling around on the futon until I come to terms with what day it is and what a cool life I live here in this wild, illuminated city of Tokyo. Before long the day is underway for both of us and that usually means spending the morning glued to our Macs, checking in on orders, updates, emails, writing blogs and product descriptions etc.

Our office is designed so we sit side by side at a long white desk. Masao’s end looks neat, organised and efficient. Mine is none of those things but it is colorful and there is no end of things to look at and move around. We love the contrast and appreciate that we work in different ways, it is part of what keeps our spirits high while working, living and playing together. So while Masao clicks away in the admin area of TokyoMade checking orders, emails and site organisation at his neat and tidy work station I scribble blog ideas down on brightly colored paper and stare in wonder at the growing pile of gorgeous pieces I have to write product descriptions about.

The door bell rings most mornings, it is usually our delivery guy dropping off bits and pieces. The EMS postal system is superb here, super efficient. At any time between 9am and 7pm we call up the local post office and they come with their scales and pick up parcels to be sent around the world. All the weighing and paying gets done right in our genkan (the entrance to Japanese houses or apartments where the shoes are left). If we are not wrapped and packed by 7pm Masao usually jumps on his bike with TokyoMade packages and heads for the post office which is open 24 hours, the convenience of the system is extremely helpful.

After lunch is usually a good time for us to head out into the human traffic and have our meet ups in cafes and spaces around Tokyo. Masao spends a lot of his time connecting with Japanese designers and checking out interesting places around town. Most weeks he meets up with Guy Perryman, a Tokyo Radio DJ, together they interview TokyoMade designers and feature them on Guy’s radio program Tokyo Expresso.

Evenings are a mixture of events for us. I teach my Hoop Dance (www.hooplovers.com) classes or rehearse most nights while Masao checks out Tokyo’s events or comes home to work on both the English and Japanese versions of TokyoMade and whip up a mean veggie soup. The day comes full circle and we are usually back where it all started, glued to our Macs, by about 11pm every night. While it is usually time to put our bodies and computers to sleep by about 3am I don’t think we ever really switch off. You could say Masao is completely obsessed with TokyoMade, a healthy obsession! He definitely never switches off, I adore his passion and commitment. I have to admit I switch off while hoop dancing, my other love.

TokyoMade was a dream that we manifested together and now work endlessly on together. It is so exciting for us to watch it grow. We love working together on such a creative project and feel very lucky to be able to do so. The best thing about running a design hub is we get to meet so many talented designers here in Tokyo. The design events that we have to go to (it’s our job!) are pretty cool too. It feels great to know that we are sharing what we love here in Tokyo with the rest of the world. Setting our own schedule and being in charge of our own lives is definitely one of the perks of running an independent business.

There are some days when we spend so much time staring at our computer screens that we actually have to turn to each other and say, “Hi! Remember me?”. That is probably the least lovable thing about working on TokyoMade.

- - - - - -
Thank you Deanne and Masao.

Here are those links again:

TokyoMade - www.tokyomade.com
HoopLovers - www.hooplovers.com
TokyoMade Street Style Flickr Group - www.flickr.com/groups/tokyomade

For the last two years Indie Fixx Shop has been delighting and tempting us with an abundance of unusual and inspiring handmade goods. I was therefore sorry to hear that on 15th March it will be closing its shutters to allow shop owner Jen to spend more time with family and on new pursuits.

Until then everything is on sale. All items have been marked down between 10% and 50%.

Be quick. Items are selling fast! www.shop.indiefixx.com

The Hannah Zakari sale starts today. There’s 10 - 50% off selected items from Hoolala, Laurafalullah, Rachael Lamb, Pequitobun, Aurora Bloom, FluffsStuffs and more!

Psst - you can also receive an additional 10% off by using coupon code ‘indie’. But be quick as the code is for today only.

www.hannahzakari.co.uk/sale

To celebrate New Year and to add a little cheer to this bleak, post-Christmas period, Bonbi Forest is offering free shipping on all orders over £15. Just enter ‘HAPPY2009′ at the checkout. The offer lasts until midnight GMT on the 31st January.

Head to the store at www.bonbiforest.com.

Ah Radici. Pretty little online shop with lots of gorgeous treasures for the home, for gifts and for you. Skip over to their Mice Pies section where you’ll find quirky Christmas cards, gift tags and Christmas gift inspiration.

www.radici.co.uk

And in case you can’t read the text on the New Year card, it says ‘Happy New Year, here we go again’.

Festive fayre, toasty knitwear and kits for crafters. Whizz over to Betty Joy for more gift ideas and frivolous treats.

www.bettyjoy.co.uk

It has been an exciting few months for Polly and Prince. Their first online collection has been very well received and they have recently introduced their winter range, which is designed specifically with Christmas shopping in mind.

Polly and Prince champions a number of UK based designers including Anna Lou of London, Miss Budd, Emma Gordon and Oliver & Grace. Says owner Caroline Halsey, ‘There is something for every price range and it’s easy to make even the smallest of gestures look exclusive and thoughtful’.

For beautiful and unusual gift ideas go to www.pollyandprince.co.uk.