smaller

Small inspiration 6

 

Images from our inspiration folders
Asa Ames
The Cart before the Horse 

Small threads - water weather

 

Summer is coming- grab your swimmers! 

buisjes en beugels+++
fauborg saint denis
wovenplay
antik batik
pink chicken
maloup
claesens
cuddle fish
appaman

Small Draw - Shiny Squirrel

Shiny Squirrel is a great place to find inspiring and affordable work by emerging artists and designers. Jessica Goldfond has a great eye and curates monthly shows on the site. Here are a few of our recent favorite early summer images by Shira Sela, Blanca Gomez, Betsy Walton and Katie Wilson.
Shiny Squirrel

Small Something- we like bikes

Bike print tote by The Craft Pantry
Push Bike tee by Charlie and Sarah

Our dream bike- the Bakfiets (cargo) Bicycle from the Dutch Bike Co. Seattle. Check out the classic Dutch Work cycles and German Retrovelos too.
Schwinn Print tee by Happy Family
Lomo bike photography by Drip Stick

Small Type - Bookie Woogie

Isaac (age 10), Grace (8), and Lily (6) are all voracious readers. Dad is a children’s book author and illustrator. Together they run Bookie Woogie, a book review blog with a simple concept: Instead of all these grownups out there reviewing kids’ books, let’s hear from some kids themselves!  Today they share some of their favorite books with themes that are "small-ish."

Lily’s Pick:  Small Sister by Jessica Meserve
Lily:  It's an especially good book for girls.
Gracie:  A little, tiny girl named “Small” is stuck in her sister's shadow.
Isaac:  It doesn't show the dad or mom in the whole book, so the sisters have to solve their own problems.
Gracie:  They never get along.  Until the end of the book.
Isaac:  The pictures have tons and tons of colors.  Lots of details and lots of little flowers all over the grass.  A beautiful world of flowers and trees.

Dad’s Pick: Little Panda by Renata Liwska
Lily:  This book has our favorite pictures.
Gracie:  All the characters are so cute.
Lily:  The pictures look so soft and fuzzy.
Gracie:  And the book is hilarious!
Dad:  The characters wonder if a tiger can fly.
Isaac:  I believe a tiger can fly!
Lily:  I believe!  I believe!

Isaac’s Pick:  Kidogo by Anik McGrory
Gracie: This book has really good descriptions: "Endless fields of rippling gold," and "Nights that were deeper than his dreams."
Isaac: The paintings are so cool!  It looks like she just splashed the different colors onto the drawings.
Lily:  This book has a little elephant.  The littlest elephant in the world.
Gracie:  He’s so cute!  The teeniest, tiniest elephant in the universe.
Isaac: He's so tiny, he's the size of a lugnut.
Gracie: What is a lugnut?!

Gracie’s Pick: Little Bunny on the Move by Peter McCarty
Gracie:  This book is about a bunny who looks like a “Peep.”
Isaac: ...or like he’s inside a sack.
Lily:  And sheep look like puffballs with legs!
Isaac:  The pictures are soooo cool!  They look like they are drawn in silver.  And anything white looks like it's glowing.  I don't think anyone in the whole world could draw that way except this guy.

Bookie Woogie

Small Sister by Jessica Meserve

Little Panda by Renata Liwska

Kidogo by Anik McGrory

Little Bunny on the Move by Peter McCarty

Small Inspiration 5

From our inspiration folders
Mike Disfarmer: Portraits from Heber Springs, Arkansas

Small Summer Issue no.10

Our Summer Issue is here!

Small Shops - Hijkids                                                                                               

In celebration of the new issue of Small Magazine Hijkids is offering 20% off of all apparel!
The designers behind Hijkids are a talented group of individuals-Dresses by Misha Lulu, tops by M.O.M. and beautiful handmade skirts by PlainlyJane-all designers you have seen in the pages of Small!

Hurry! Use code small20 upon check out to receive 20% off all apparel!  That's tops, bottoms & dresses!  Valid only on orders placed/shipped within the United States. Offer expires May 27th, midnight PST.

Hijkids

Small Projects - Summer Tweets

Lisa Tilse of the The Red Thread put together an enchanting hanging bird mobile for our latest issue of Small. You can find the article here but she had many more photos than we could fit in the magazine so we wanted to include all of them here so your hoops can be as beautiful as hers!

You will need:
Newspaper
Scissors
Sicky tape and PVA glue
Fabric scraps, Rattan cane hoops (from craft shops)
Small styrofoam balls - optional
Embroidery thread and a long needle

Swings:
Cut brightly coloured and patterned fabric into strips measuring about 1 inch wide and roughly 12 inches long. Wind a strip around a hoop, leaving roughly 3 inches loose at each end. Take a second fabric strip and tie it to the end of the first strip with a double knot. Leave the ends sticking out. Wind the new strip around your hoop, and continue tieing and winding fabric strips until you cover the whole hoop. Tie the end of the last strip to the beginning of the first strip. Cover a second hoop the same way.
Insert one hoop into the other so they form an X. Join them together at the top by wrapping some embroidery thread around at the point where the hoops cross.

Birds:
For each bird you will need to make the following pieces: a beak, head, body and tail. As well as 2 long flat folded strips. The head and body are spheres and the tail is formed by shaping a ball into a cone shape with flat ends. You can see the shapes in the photo. 

Follow the instructions for cheat’s papier mache to make the bird here.

 

Attach the head to the body and then the tail to the body with sticky tape. Then roll a small strip of newspaper up to form a cone for the beak and attach it to the head. Next take two squares of newspaper (that you’ve previously scrunched and flattened) and fold them into long strips. Wrap one strip around your bird where the head joins the body and one where the tail joins. This will hide the joins and enhance the body shape. Use lots of sticky tape to make the joins smooth.

Cut fabric scraps into small squares 2 -3 cm in size and follow the cheat’s papier mache instructions to cover your bird. Set your bird aside to dry.

When your bird is dry take a piece of embroidery thread and tie it around the bird. Adjust the position of the thread until the bird hangs correctly. Stick it in place with tape and then cover it with additional pieces of fabric so the thread is hidden.

Cut 2 wings from fabric. If you can, find a shape on your fabric that mimics the shape of a wing. Place your bird on a piece of cling wrap. Fold up 2 pieces of paper towel and place them under the cling wrap on either side of the bird. Coat both sides of the entire wings with PVA and attach the top of the wings to the bird’s body. Adjust the paper towel so the bottom of the wings sit out and away from the body. The PVA will make the wings dry hard. 

When your bird is dry tie the thread to the covered hoop swing so your bird hangs in the center of the swing.

Garlands:

If you’d like your Summer Tweets to hang from a garland cover your styrofoam balls with fabric scraps and PVA in the same way you covered your bird. I used styrofoam balls of 4cm and 5cm diameter.

When dry, thread your covered styrofoam balls onto a long piece embroidery thread using a long needle. This will form the garland that your Summer Tweet hangs from. Position the balls with uneven spacing on the thread. Then join the garland to the top of the hoop swing by wrapping it around and tieing a knot to secure it.

 Now you’re ready to hang your Summer Tweet. You can make all sorts of variations on the birds and the swings and add craft feathers to make a showy tail or wings.

The Red Thread

Behind the pages 4

Some photos from our final photo shoot for the Summer Issue of Small. Grant Cornett photographed five beautifully red headed kids in Redhook, Brooklyn. You can see the finished story in the latest issue of Small coming out tonight.

Grant Cornett

Small Sales- Ses Petits Mains                                                                           

  

Ses Petits Mains is having a sale on their beautiful Tallulah Dress. Enter the code Tallulah at check out for 25% off. Offer runs through to Memorial Day.

Ses Petits Mains

Small Paper - Frazier and Wing

We recently caught up with Heather from Frazier and Wing. We are always looking out for good mobiles here at Small and we have been charmed by her multicolored hangings since we first featured her work in our second issue of Small. Back then she used magazine pages for her creations but her new works are made of stronger papers in controlled color schemes. Her modern, poetic mobiles, hangings and garlands are available on her brand new, and very beautiful, website.

Frazier and Wing

Small Threads - more than a headband

Le Tour de Force is the work of English designer Camille Roman. Her adult designs are sculptural and innovative and she is bringing the same style to a new line of childrens' headbands. Inspired by performance art and manipulating the graphic line her head wear is both intelligently artistic and exuberantly silly. Camille has created some designs just for kids available exclusively at Little Fashion Gallery. Here at Small we are such huge fans of Little Fashion Gallery that we always feature something from their well curated shop in our illustrated fashion editorials.

Little Fashion Gallery

Small inspiration 4

A weekly diptych or a triptych from our inspiration folders. Three photographers we look at often.
Loretta Lux 
Helen Levitt

William Eggleston

Small Furniture - kitchen play

We love Forty Two Roads 'make it your self' cardboard kitchen. Download the pattern from her Etsy shop for only seven dollars!

This sleek Hase Weiss kitchen is designed to blend with the rest of their modular furniture designs from the same line.

Another cardboard kitchen ready for some home decorating from Pomme.

The Lilli Play kitchen from Momoll is easy to assemble (and disassemble when you need the space) and can transform into a puppet theatre or grocery store for more flexible play.

This sturdy stove is made by the Swedish company Micki.

Small Shops- 1 girl 1 boy                                                                                       

1 girl 1 boy has been a favorite of ours since we featured them in our third issue. Each shirt is a little piece of art but sturdy enough for every day play. Sadly they are discontinuing their amazing line of block printed, appliqued t shirts but you still pick up their remaining stock for big discounts.

1 Girl 1 Boy

Small Projects - Mini Moderns & Clothkits

Mini Moderns have teamed up with Clothkits to create a collection of dresses and skirts using the Mini Moderns library of print designs.  We featured Mini Moderns 'Town Bag' in the Spring Issue of Small. Mini Moderns print designs are amazing, with retro and modern influences ranging from textile designs of the 1950’s to vintage toys and games.

 
Clothkits are clever because instead of requiring paper patterns, the cutting lines are printed directly on the fabric and each kit comes with the thread and buttons. Now even an inexperienced sewer can make a beautiful, well designed garment or gift.

Clothkits
Mini Moderns

Small Hands - Mathilde de Turckheim

Mathilde de Turckheim is a Parisian jewelry designer who hand sews lovely, one-of-a-kind necklaces. We first spotted Mathilde at Bubble NY and instantly fell in love with everything in her collection.
We love all the details and thought that goes into each creation; the bunny holding a purse, dolls holding a jar of lollipops and frogs, and of course the duck with the flower beaded hat. We also love the mixed materials of vintage fabrics, beads, little birds, vintage coral, pearls and semi-precious stones.
Any girl would be very lucky to have such a necklace!

Mathilde de Turckheim

Small Style - summer blues

Merino Polo by Poppy and Ned

Denim Short by Ferd

Handknit Cap by Mor Mor Rita

Blouse by Little Paul & Joe

Petal Skirt by Wovenplay

Blue Dots Hair Set by Ivy Designs

Indigo Dress by Golden

Sailorette Dress by Velvet & Tweed

Jean Bloomer by Tammy Donohoe

Denim Ballet by Maloles

Canvas Sneakers by Petit by Sophie Schnoor

Small inspiration 3

Square America. A dreamy underwater view from a gallery of vintage snapshots & vernacular photography.
Dreams of Flying by Jan von Holleben.

Small Draw - print my card

1. Sandra Juto has great cards and prints for all occassions and ages.
2. One of our favorite illustrators is Tara Hogan of Ink + Wit.  She has a beautiful line of cards. 
3. Yee-haw industries does great custom work and old-school letterpress printing.
4. Amy Carol of King-Pod, photographs her miniature quilts to make these cards.
5. Olivia Jefferies has started selling cards at her Etsy shop Restless Things.
6. Sprout Design is a textile design collective that along with cards, also design great original fabrics.
7. Studio Violet is the collaborative project of Camilla Engman and Elisabeth Dunkar.
8. We love Sandra Monats viking softies and now she has cards too.
9. Egg Press is always great for handcrafted letter pressed cards.
10. Australian designer Tsk Tsk makes soft toys as well as prints.
11. Old School Stationers is a husband and wife team inspired by nature, camping and creatures. 

Small Magazine - location scouting 2

Out looking for urban wilderness in the city for an upcoming shoot.

Small Play - Coszbi Munecas

Walking through Brooklyn this rainy weekend we came across a wonderful shop. Coszbi is filled with handmade dolls, and beautifully designed clothing for children and adults as well as quilts and home wares. Coszbi is owned and created by Cozbi A. Cabrera, who left full time art-directing to realize her dream of making handmade cloth dolls and illustrating. The dolls, called munecas in honor of her Honduran heritage, are jointed and made with new and individually sourced vintage textiles. They are all individually constructed to order in brown, black or raw linen with meticulous attention to detail using techniques such as beading, hand rolled hems, hand-dyeing, embroidery, and hand painting.

Cozbi

530 Court St. Brooklyn, NY 11231

Small Magazine - behind the pages 3

A few scenes from Sunday's shoot on the roof of Studio FourB in Harlem. It was a beautiful day with lots of kids, fun outfits and, unexpectedly, a fairly strong wind that kept blowing the backdrop over. New York based photographer Christopher Auger-Dominguez, managed it all in his super calm style and the shoot came out great. Christopher also shot our Small Threads photos last Winter and this story will be in the Summer issue of Small coming out May 20th.

Christopher Auger-Dominguez

                                                                                                          

Small Shops- Kicokids Sample + Blowout Sale

May 8th and 9th
Hrs: 10am - 7pm
Location: Kicokids Chelsea Market
75 ninth avenue (between 15th & 16th st)
NY NY 10011
www.kicokids.com

Small Inspiration

A weekly diptych from our 'inspiration' folders.
vintage metal thread Tinsel Trading Company 

photo by Grant Cornett


                                                                                                                        
Small Shops - Baby Bean Sample Sale on Etsy   



40%-50% off retail. Summer styles as well as some new jumpers and dresses! Handmade from 100% vintage fabrics.

Baby Bean Vintage Etsy Shop