Shade Season

It's time. Time for new colors, pallets, textures. It's time for the fall line.

Without much ado, much rant or rave, this is a teaser. A glimpse of what's coming. What's current. Thicker linens, bright silks, woven wool. It's still summer in southern California, and it will feel more like summer than a brisk fall for quite some time. Fall isn't about scarves, wellies, raincoats or thick socks in this part of the world. But fall means change. It means gearing up, dusting off, hunkering down. To me it means WORK. Fall is what I always refer to as "lighting season". A phenomenon perhaps only I am attune to, but one that is real all the same. It doesn't stay light as long, we spend more time indoors, we realize we need more light, better lighting, something cozy. Whatever the reason, it's shade season. 

More to follow...stay tuned.

MAKE

For years now, one of my favorite words, and the name of my profession- a MAKER- to MAKE is what I love, it's what others who I adore do too, and it's what will MAKE us matter long after the iPad is no longer a thing. We build with our hands, we borrow time and steal inspiration from the strangest places

to form, fabricate and forge fashion, functional objects and funny bits of fluff. It's what we do. Far away from the Makers I knew and loved so well in Seattle and Paris, for that matter NYC and NOLA, Austin TX has it's own Makers and I think I just stumbled onto two of the most magnificent.

Kristen and Eve are the owners and operators of MAKEatx, a local Austin workshop that not only exists as their own atelier, but a work room for other artists who want to join with a (take it from me, I know how expensive rent and specialty equipment is) very small fee. I was captivated by their work at a local boutique called Parts & Labour that plays the part of purveyor to what MAKEatx plays as manufacturer. What are all these bad-ass women doing? Well, in Austin TX they are MAKING hot stuff happen, and crafting and keeping intoxicating spaces to sell it in.

I can't help but wonder, what would the lovechild of LiT and MAKEatx look like? Hmmm...maybe we can MAKE that happen.

Chicken & Stitchin

Darlings, I would like to introduce you to my 2 new addictions: Ms P's Fried Chicken, and Stitch Lab.

These two places have very rapidly overcome my every waking thought. If I'm not thinking of the delicious and spicy chicken sliders at Ms P's(sweet King's Hawaiian rolls topped with blue cheese coleslaw and hot buttermilk battered fried strips of fresh farm raised chicken), then I'm thinking about the

Oliver Henry, Michael Miller, and Kokka prints found at Stitch Lab. Alexander Henry's Sugar Skull collection will be at the top of my list for a new line of shades-promise to post pics here asap.

If you don't live in Austin, no fear-Stitch Lab's flicker account has a huge selection of fabrics to choose from and you can order and have them shipped directly to you. The same may not be true for the hot chicken at Ms P's, but all the more reason to hop on a plane and migrate south for some sun and the best food-truck action in the States!

In the meantime, Ms P's asked me to stitch up some new table cloths for her picnic benches...I think I know where I'll be getting the oil cloth. Looks like this new romance may be a love triangle.

Waiting for FedEx and Other Top News Stories

Working for yourself means You are the one who sweeps the floor at the end of the day, You are the one who has to sit listening to 13 voicemails all over again just to get to the one at the end where you can almost hear the last digit of the telephone number you need to call back. It means a lot of busy days, but it also means a lot of waiting. Today I am waiting for the FedEx truck to deliver materials to me so I can make some fantastic shades for some Seattle, Sonoma, and Missoula, MT clients. So I wait.

While waiting I scanned the headlines of my favorite news source: "Child Wins a Grenade", "Amorous Squid Seeks Partner: Any Sex Will Do", and "Marines Hit the Ground Running In Seeking Recruits at Gay Center". No, this is not the Onion, this is the front page of the New York Times. Proof positive that real life is stranger than fiction.

I am not the most patient person, in fact I HATE the wait, but as I sit here reading the Times and eating sopa de fideo in air conditioning, I am reminded to keep perspective. Until just yesterday, Gay men and women had to hide who they love while dying for the freedom of everyone else. That in Somalia a radio station is giving a kid a fully automatic assault riffle for winning a raffle and that some people have REAL problems. That if a squid can be down with doing it with either a male or female indiscriminately, we can all wait a few more hours for that FedEx truck to come so I can finish some lampshades.

If you run your own business, you feel busy ALL the time, you never have a moment to yourself, or you just need a dose of perspective; take this time-right now-to read about Barry Lubin who at the age of 59 is still pursuing his dreams as a circus clown. Barry, you are an inspiration to us all.

AuStinID

There is a meeting in every city. You can talk to people there who are going through exactly what you are. You can get council or good resources to deal with the problems you face everyday.

I'm talking about ASID, not AA.

While in Austin I thought it would be a good idea to meet the local designers and get a feel for what is going on in the Southwest. I was not disappointed. Our speaker had lots to say on Google and how to get the most out of it for your business, and marketing in general. I met lots of well dressed ladies-and some khaki wearing men. I had salad and Sweet Leaf tea.

California Closets hosted the meet up and here is where I saw the difference in design from Paris, FR to Welcome to Texas. Big. F#$%ing. Closets. They are huge! But they're not all clunky wood monstrosities, we are talking the newest of materials and the best industrial design all just for storing your things! One thing I could say is that though one CC is the size of my entire apartment in France, the french would LOVE the inventive use of space. So well organized and so thought out, a place for everything-and everything in its place. I should have CC re-design my french apartment, I would find enough room in my 10x10' cubical for a guest loft and an office...

The true mark of a good ASID meeting; networking enough to mingle together a good crew for Friday's happy hour. All in all, I'd say it was a very productive Tuesday.

It's the Season for Shades!

This summer has been one for the record books. My Jay learned to swim, I learned to bake, and we both baked in record making 100deg heat streak while down here in Austin, TX. We will be staying here a bit longer, and as the September sun beats down a little less boldly, and tacos infiltrate nearly all our daily meals, it's time to start getting serious about another record I have been wanting to break:
1,000 lampshades

I count the "lamp shade year" from September to September since with the shorter days, cooler evenings spent inside, most people realize they need to look at their lighting needs. It is the busy start of my work year, and last year I made 867 shades. This year, I hope to break 1,000.

Can you imagine it!?! 1,000 happier lamps. 1,000 more lovely rooms. 1,000 more men and women who when they look at something I made, they see themselves, their inspirations, their own goals. Custom shades are not about me, or my business, or my ideas brought to light(pardon the pun). Custom means YOU. You can have whatever you want, you can seek and find the piece missing from your perfect parlor, the sultry glow you hoped for in your re-vamped bedroom, the "Welcome Home" you hope people will find when they flick the switch on in the guest bathroom.

Let's break some records, you help me with mine only by letting me help you with yours. I think that's a pretty sweet deal. To get you all as excited as I am, from Sept. 7th-30th all shade orders made online will be 15% off. Any size, any style, any $400 fabric from O&L. Any shade.

So catch me at LiT and let's start making some shades!

Looking Forward and Across the Atlantic

I have been absorbed in my Parisian life (if you're curious visit www.betweenbitesofbrioche.blogspot.com), but I am soon heading back to Seattle!

For the month of July I will be in Seattle enjoying my favorite restaurants, friends and making a TON of lamp shades!

Feel free to email me if you are in any need of shades, I cannot wait to do some sweet Seattle style-lamp makeovers...and to get a REAL cup of coffee. The BEST coffee in the world...now if only I could have that with a French eclair. Having your cake and coffee too...

Touring London

LiT is in London till the end of January! I am loving it here and taking in all the design that I can! Beautiful fabric shops abound and the Designers Guild showroom as well as Timorous Beasties headquarters are still on my list to go see. Truly beautiful and quaint shops with tons of amazing linens and silk prints-I spent 150 pounds on 3 meters of felt that is incredibly thick and a colors I have never seen, and 56 pounds on a meter of coral and cream Ikat on silk-money well spent-even with the exchange in their favor. Met an amazing photographer and fellow fashion obsessive-Darrel of Mode Hunter, here is his blog if you want to check out the Fall fashion shows or what London fashion has going for it: modehunter.blogspot.com- and yes-there I am, bringing a little USA to the UK.

Au Revoir et Merci! LiT, last sale...

Well, 3 years it's been since this all started and though I bid a sad adieu to Seattle, I hope to learn and gain so much for my craft in Paris. Thank you to all who have come through my door and created with me and inspired me to keep making shades that I love. Hope to see you this weekend at the last shop sale, here is a look at what I have been doing lately, and what will be up for grabs...
LiT SALE!
11th and 12th of December
from 11am-5pm
1906 e. prospect st.

Love Letters

Here are some of the shades I have been making lately, lots and lots of letters! Floating whimsical words and captivating consonants, vowels in all shapes and sizes...please feel free to peruse.... "Truth or Dare", a shade done for the Shigo family in cream taffeta with letter pressed words by Lynda Sherman of Bremelo Press. The set of shades featuring Vietnamese characters for a project with Piano Nobile in Ballard.

Too Much is Never Enough

I just looked at the last post date, August?!? How did that happen? This is how:
1.) I am madly in love.
2.)My little shop dog had surgery and needed extra attention.
3.) It's LIGHTING SEASON!!! which means as the days grow shorter and you need more illumination, I am BUSY making lamp shades which makes it hard to find time to blog.

Here are a few of the pieces I have been working on...

For Great Jone's Home(one of the most inspiring and delightful home decor stores in the city), this beautiful Murano base is taken with this shade done in a dramatic floral print in cream, white, gold, green, turquoise, and navy by Designers Guild. Also for a client of GJH, these handsome sconce shades done in gunmetal gray taffeta with soft Sahara trim.

And then some more Des. Guild, MY ALL TIME FAVORITE STRIPE, beautiful taffeta silk in a creamy ivory with a perfect black, near grosgrain stripe woven through it. Perfection. Trimmed out in a triple ball fringe also by DG, you can BUY this one at Revival Home and Garden on 12th between Pike and Pine-you should at least drop in, there is NOTHING at this boutique but endearing and delightful finds.

Last but not least, this sweet shade in a Des. Guild linen, printed in berry and gold with bright fuchsia florals, went to a VERY lucky little girl's room. Oh how I wish it was mine!

Well, back to the shade making table, talk to you soon for BIG NEWS going on at LiT...stay tuned.

WEBSITE UPDATE!!!

Beautiful new WEBSITE UPDATE!!! Check out the new pages Atelier and Hand sewn shades in the Portfolio tab. Yay! Thank you so much to my amazing and talented friend with so much taste, Onur for doing the site design/build, and to Lauren for the great photos!

Wallpaper shades-Revived

One of my favorite things about my job is I get to look for new and interesting ways to use materials. Loud, heavily patterned, or gilded wallpaper is one of those "little goes a long way" finds that I think is PERFECT for shades. Just a pop of intrigue on the inside of a shade, or when you turn on the lamp-viola! a beautiful, yet subtle, silhouette glows through. These shades use Wilderness gold and cream wallpaper by Ferm and have cream silk on the exterior. Want to take a look? They are at Revival Home and Garden, 12th and Pine. Hope they drive you up the wall with wonder.

xoxo
LiT

Down the Rabbit Hole

"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!" ~Alice

This lamp was changed in the night, when it got up this morning it was topped with a boring paper shade-off white and badly proportioned. NOW, it's feeling quite different as it is topped with this whimsical Alice and Wonderland printed fabric from Kokka. I used the dusty blue colorway on a vintage shade frame. This print is curiouser and curiouser with the Duchess, the Rabbit, the Hatter and the Catepillar clustered and countered with Alice, depicting well known scenes from Lewis Carroll's classic. You will smile like the Cheshire Cat at the coral and cream colorway as well!

You don't need to take a tumble down the rabbit hole for this one, it's here at LiT!

Little, but oh so lovely

More lovely linen shades?!? Well, cotton anyway. Super hot print by Schumacher, Ziggurat, with turquoise trim- these two sconce shades of Kristin's look so very summery and bright. Enjoy.

Summer Linens

Ah... Summer seems to finally have arrived in Seattle. Maybe that's why the last few shades I have done have all been out of fresh, hip, prints on linen. The summer breeze drying your sheets on the line...summer dresses in yellow and pink stripped linen or red and blue piped linen skirts at a picnic.
What are these two lamps wearing this fine summer's day?
First: Leah's shade is a white linen printed with a David Hick's blue geometric zig-zag and square pattern. Bold and striking on this sweet yellow and white vintage bamboo base for her daughter's room.
Second: Christina's adorable antique brass and cut glass lamp features a lamb and a babe at it's base and she wanted to contrast the old base with a contemporary shade. She chose a natural linen printed with a charcoal gray "Sea Urchin" by Kelly Werstler. Doesn't get more summery than sea life.

Hope you enjoy the weather and if your lamp needs a summer wardrobe, I'm out back of the shop makin' shades in the sun.

Summer Sale!

SALE and REWIRE EVENT!

Have you been dreaming of owning one of these shades:







LiT is offering now through Aug. 1oth 30% off all shades, pendants, lamp bases in the shop, and 25%off all custom orders! We are also offering rewires of old lamps using 3-way sockets, fabric cord, and Bakelite sockets for $40 each! Come get your old lamp safe and secured as well as a new shade! The sale is only 2 weeks long, so hurry in and get LiT this summer!!!

*lamps will be assesed before rewire-some antiques are too involved/valuable for this offer.

Golden Fences and Pink Rain Drops

The following is an inspiring interview with the artist Amy Johnson on her recent installation at LiT, what makes her tick, and the all important: what is her favorite sandwich?

1. LiT: How did you get started doing art installations?
A.J.:"Toward the end of graduate school I began to experiment and compose
images with the objects I had been making. Making multiples and
arranging them in a way that formed an interesting and compelling
image became the most successful way for me to work. I enjoy making
the work and the different components of what will compose the
installation, but the actual install and figuring out how everything
is going to come together both visually and conceptually is the most
exciting part."

2. LiT: Is the tone of your art affected by the current economic state?
A.J.: "I can't say that it is. I am not sure that the economic climate has
affected me directly enough to be reflected in my work. It is always
possible I suppose."

3. LiT: Could you describe what inspired this work?
A.J.: "I have been interested in fences; how they function to create
boundaries and sense of space. I am interested in the how we as human
beings set boundaries, how much and with who. Who will we let in and
how much? How is that controlled and how does that work to both form
and diminish relationships. They, along with the other components of
this work, represent home and the sacredness of both home and
community. Ultimately I think I was inspired by the philosophy and
environment of LiT. As an artist I really feel a need to make objects
and have them be seen. At the same time, I love to work with people
and their space. Each installation is unique to not only the space
itself, but also to the people who spend their time there."

4. LiT: What are your favorite materials to work with and what inspires you most to get your hands on?
A.J.: "I love gold leaf and using it to convey something that is sacred,
seductive and desirable. For me, materials are a tool that work as
metaphors and help to build a language, so I use the material that is
best for the work. If I am not at all familiar with the material
that is best, I figure it out.
I am usually drawn to materials that I can either cast or cut up."

5. LiT:What is your favorite sandwich?
A.J.: "Open face baguette, smear of Dijon, topped with Prosciutto, Brie and Pear."

6. LiT: What else do you have in the works right now, and where can we see it?
A.J.: "Ongoing representation by the SAM Gallery.
In the works: I am in the beginning stages of an outdoor sculpture
project which is curated by Bryan Ohno and Alyson Milliman through
MadArt. The exhibit will take place at Cal Anderson Park- The exhibit
will be in the park Aug. 12 - Sept. 13
I will be in a group show at the SAM Gallery in Nov. 2010 and will
have a solo show at the Steele Gallery at Gage Academy of Art this
winter (2011)."

For more Amy Johnson, visit her site: http://amyjohnsonstudio.com/

Cup Craze

LiT loves the luxurious. The limpid blue of a heavily lacquered chair. The sumptuous scrolls of a delicate pattern printed in thick, clay ink on crisp wallpaper rolls. The composition of a well layered and finely formed floral arrangement in an unexpected vessel. Well, LiT is oh-so-happy to announce the latest in gifty-goodness and all around loveliness here at the shop: ceramics by Jenny Gawronski. Based in Denver, but with a wildly growing cult following in Seattle, Jenny spins and glazes delicate desires and holders for all things precious. The cupcake craze here in the 206 is in desperate need of a little pedestal or basket in pink glaze from the 303. And who can do without a set of black tea cups and minty green saucers for their next tete e tete?

come in to LiT to fondle and caress the most beautiful of wares, made here in the US, by a girl who knows what you want.
http://www.jennygawronski.com/index.html

Summer-Inspired Shades

Summer is on it's way, not that on a day like today you can believe it. Which is why you need a bright and colorful shade to get you through until your next out door bbq, day at the beach, or weekend farmer's market shopping. From me, to you, hope this brightens your mood and puts you in the spirit to do something sunny on this Memorial day weekend.
xoxo
LiT
*LiT will be closed until Tuesday at 10am so that we can do some of those Summery things.