CREATION 928: STUDIO LUBIN I met Hannah Lubin tod CREATION 928: STUDIO LUBIN

I met Hannah Lubin today, the embroidery artist and founder of Studio Lubin...

You can tell with some young people you meet, they will have a bright future. Hannah is one of them.

Her tiny embroidered people are so fun. Using found vintage linen doilys as a material base, she free forms her embroidery pieces with no preconceived idea of what's going to turn up. This spontaneous freedom creates a sort of magical quality, as her subjects come to life.

Rather than focus on the more traditional subjects of embroidery, like flowers and flora and fauna, Hannah creates little urban scenes from the metropolis. Lamposts, traffic lights, traffic cones and people hanging out on benches are the thing. 

The tiny scale of her work creates a certain intrigue... as you imagine the conversations going on between the subjects.

Each piece unique, Hannah works on custom commissions as well as creating ready to purchase works from her online shop - coming soon!

The Handmade In Highgate fair is Hannah's first little exhibition of her creations. A piece of her work feels like a collectors item, as her reputation will be sure to grow.

Even her grandad showed up. 

Hannah you're a star. ⭐️
CREATION 927 Sienna Peach & Biba Daisy ' The Prin CREATION 927 Sienna Peach & Biba Daisy

' The Princesses of Wales'. 

Please meet Miss Sienna Peach and Miss Biba Daisy.

I have been living in Highgate for a few weeks now and I really love it! It's the happiest I've felt since first moving to London in 1991, when I was a student at the Royal College Of Art and living in digs on St Lawrence Terrace, opposite to George Melley. That's the bottom end of Portobello Market.

In fact, on my very first walk up along Portobello road,  I saw Malcolm Mclaren standing on the corner and I thought to myself 'Omg, is this what Portobello is like, a load of cool famous people everywhere.?' It was back then, as am sure mon amico Paolo will recall. @paolohewitt1

Yesterday, I popped in to the Prince of Wales Pub in Highgate at 5;00pm for just a quick half of guinness, but before I knew where I was Sienna and Biba were calling me out as totally YOLO, because I had rainbow nails.  My half of guinness quickly progressed into 3 pints I think. Not sure, it did get a bit hazy as I hadn't eaten anything. I think I left at 9:30pm.

And after explaining to Sienna and Biba about the Super Mario drawing I did for Mario the newsagent grocer in Highgate, who calls himself 'the mayor of Highgate init" because he always says "init" after every  sentence and who wants me to be his father christmas this year πŸŽ… because "Toby it's your beard init ? And we will have nice lights and stuff and now ive told you about it, it's all sorted in it"

.... then Biba and Sienna said

"Omg, can you do a drawing of us for the pub?" And i laughed and said "Sure, you will need to choose yr characters as that's what will make the drawing magical and fun"

And they both had a think and said ...

"Omg, we know, lets be Princess Peach and Princess Daisy" 

and thats why those images are now up on my instagram feed, of them posing just like Princess Peach and Princess Dsisy, to remind myself to do the drawing! When I have some free time, as my life is fairly crazy busy at the moment. 

Oh and it's a love thing. I don't charge a penny!
CREATION 925 MY FRIEND KINGSLEY For those who h CREATION 925  MY FRIEND KINGSLEY 

For those who have followed my instagram posts for more tham 10 years, will understand what a special relationship I have with Kingsley and how proud I am of him. ...

Kingsley is the 1st person to graduate from my mentoring school. He graduated yesterday. I left a little kite on his wall I made in leather. 

My mentoring is not an official thing. There's no school class. No school fees. It's entirely free. I also learn as much from the people I mentor as they do from me.

Kingsley secretly made this bag for me exactly 3 years ago. Kindly as a gift when i returned from 3 yrs in Aotearoa after covid lockdown. It brought a tear to my eye. 

Yesterday Kingsley added a side strap so i wouldnt fall off my bike again  and spend the whole night in A&E - when trying to cycle one handed with tote on handle bar,  over a speed bump. It really hurt!

Thank you Kingsley. I love you like a brother.

Keep crafting. Keep shining bright. πŸ™πŸ»
CREATION: 924 JANS SPECIALITY COFFEE So this i CREATION: 924 

JANS SPECIALITY COFFEE 

So this is my favourite coffee shop in North London. That's 100% the Brand truth. That's my authentic and real feelings. I'm not being paid to write this and Jan is not giving me a years supply in coffee.

Jan is like a Willy Wonka - Heston Blummenthal hybrid. Today he gave me a sample of a frothy earl grey flavour oat milk, a concotion he was quietlt working on, that was super nice. I had a cheese toastie with an indulgent creamy pesto blob sauce which was basically heaven. And I had a rasberry matcha cookie which I politely demolished.

The friendly people who hang out there, actually made me feel cool. And I got a bonus number 1 haircut with HAZMA next door  @n19gentsbarbers  Respect brother... 

And the speciality coffee is basically just that.  Special.

I think i've said enough already.
Enjoy the pics.

Big up Jan. You crazy good, big Czech bear...

πŸ‡¨πŸ‡Ώ 🐻
CREATION 923... Abdul Co owner Fleet Rd Food & Wi CREATION 923... Abdul

Co owner Fleet Rd Food & Wine - The heartbeat of the community. Brand Truth. 0ne love. 100%. 
& Winner of the inaugural @heartfeltrepairs biggest heart in London award....

πŸ‘πŸ»β€πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ¦ŽπŸŒŸβ­πŸŒŸπŸŒžπŸŒˆπŸ’πŸ¦„πŸ₯°β£πŸ’πŸ’žπŸ’‹πŸ’•
πŸ’› πŸ’š 🧑 πŸ’™ ❀ πŸ’œ

It was a very hard decision. 

Flora @washedupcards nearly scooped it for her incredible work ... constantly smiling while collecting plastic along the shorelines of the thames, as did Kayt @citythrifter for her amazing vintage clothing styling from Kentish Town and selflessly putting all that to one side to campaign for Gaza and Palestine. I can't use the flag. Kayt will explain why.

But Abdul shone through, because as I stood there for 7 days and 7 nights decorating his shop in hearts made from waste materials & turning down his Β£10,000 life savings offer in exchange for 3 x Club orange biscuits and 1 X Club mint biscuits, because i could never charge a hero like Abdul my true worth, i noticed how every single person who went into his shop arrived with "hey abdul" and left with a smile. 
Abdul said to me... "Toby, i'm just not interested in chasing passing trade. I'm here for my community. I know every single person and they know me. Someone asked me how many people I know, I think it's about 4 or 5,000 people, as I get 300 people in every day"
If you are in the community of NW3, it's on Fleet Rd opposite the @stagnw3 - who play "the" best banging music .... @benedictcumberbatchoffical__

🎀 🎧 πŸŽ› 🎡 🎸 🎹 

And one day should  book @djlarafraser who did the music for @heartfeltrepairs launch and lives just up the road and already has young female fans at the pub, as they told me they saw her on TV doing the F1 Mclaren gig

 @mclaren 🏎 🚜 πŸ›΅ 🏍 🦽 πŸ’¨

I repeat Abdul's store is "directly.opposite" the Stag @stagnw3 , It's definately NOT the posh looking Convenience one. Nope it's the one with all the hearts on it... ❀ πŸ’› πŸ’š 🧑 πŸ’“πŸ’• πŸ’› πŸ’˜ πŸ’ πŸ’Ÿ ❣ πŸ’Ÿ and the secret ginger and tumeric root & tea tonics that Abdul makes by hand if your very lucky to get one before they sell out. Abdul is also starting his own instagram account... i can't wait.

Believe me, you will soon know Abdul. 

He is a rock star.... ⭐
Creation: 922 Heartfelt Repairs Co. I rarely prom Creation: 922 Heartfelt Repairs Co.

I rarely promote my own projects and brands on here as I find the creative work of others so much more inspiring to me. But this is different as it's so very important for all of us.
Anyone with half a cucumber short of a salad bowl will know the world is drowning in textiles, particularly Ghana whose receiving a truly shocking 15M garments a week from the north European countries waste excess.
Every street or park in London now seems to have a piece of textile strewn across its floor. It's deeply depressing, but sometimes that negative emotion can be re packaged into something truly magical.
Helen @clarkiemcg responded to my prompting for a very simple repair solution. So simple a 3 year old or a 90 year old could do it. Helen nipped to the bathroom and came back with a box of medical plasters and said "Do you mean like this?" That flash of brilliance was the lightbulb moment. πŸ’‘
We now have a focus and a mission to produce heart shaped adhesive textile band aids in dead stock fabric, to cover rips, stains, holes and tears. To keep clothing in use and out of the waste streams.
Healing fashion
Our dream is to go to Ghana and distribute our plasters to @theorispresent 
They deserve our support more than we do.
Power to the people... 
πŸ™πŸ»
Creation 921: ZOFIA FIJALKOWSKA The greatest sho Creation 921:  ZOFIA FIJALKOWSKA

The greatest show ive ever seen @rca_fashion and i've seen quite a few...
Aniela, Wayne and I, all watched mesmerised as Zofia unfurled a breathless hedonistic, spiritual, mystical piece of 1930's meeting 2025 white witchcraft ... which left our hearts racing & feeling spellbound.
A family affair, with mum & dad and 2 sibling sisters all emmersed in the show production.
A perfect ring of salt sprinkled bones...A chime timer gong
An ethereal writing spree on mirrored glass, 
A  stunning model...An ensemble hand crafted to the finest detail, cloth, jewellery, hair piece, body armoury essence...
Am quite sure the concealed lingerie wld have been crafted too.
A round of applause and live whooping
Congratulations Zofia...
You really are a ...
⭐ πŸ‘ˆπŸ»
Creation 920 BELLA FREUD. I have loved Bella Freu Creation 920 BELLA FREUD.

I have loved Bella Freud for a very long time... 
Can't tell you which bits i love best, but it's probably everything...
I love that shes a purist.
I love that shes an artist, like her father.
I love her sense of colour
And her sense of fun.
I love her edit.
And her silhouettes...

I really love @fashionneurosis_bellafreud
We very nearly worked together on a small cashmere project in Tolaga Bay, NZ. Soon after I received a direct message from Susie Bick of Vampires Wife who said "Hi Toby, Im a friend of Bella, I would love to work with your small cashmere farm too." I didnt know who Susie was or Vampires Wife. I thought it was like a halloween spook thing at first.  I was also rushing to catch a train at Euston. It was a major faux pas on my behalf. @thevampireswife πŸ™ 

Anyway, I love Susie too and Nick Cave's song breathless.

The greatest thing on instagram right now is Bella's Fashion Neurosis. It's a work of art. No surprise there. 

My dream is to lye on Bella's couch wearing the Same Clothes that I wore everyday for 3 years as an eco punk, when I was locked down on Waiheke Island during covid. Living in a little wooden cabin as a buddhist monk, with no sink or toilet inside, eating cold chickpeas from a can. 

That's when out of the blue (Lorde) Ella Marija Yellich O'connor's mum Sonja found me , messaged me to say " Hi Toby, I really love your eye" and somehow miraculously turned me into a poet....
πŸ™πŸ»
CREATION 919: FLORA BLATHWAYT Flora is the cooles CREATION 919: FLORA BLATHWAYT

Flora is the coolest girl on two legs ... Why?
Because she's totally awesome ...
Why? ...
Because she is the founder of @washedupcards and turns tiny micro plastics (she calls treasure) into greeting cards... People come from far & wide to help her... They also bin the stuff, thats harming our natural wildlife, eco system and polluting our waterways... And its making a difference, a BIG difference and the river Thames is getting cleaner... If you want to have the best ever start to your day. I mean ever EVA. Then follow Flora, founder of Washed Up Cards and jump onto her beach clean workshop... It's free, but you do need to "turn up", otherwise someone else trying to get onto it, will lose their chance to ... And based on my own experience, it feels like you've just dropped into an Angels gang. I don't mean Hells angels, i mean LOVE angels.... 
The plastics had no chance!
And the best bit. The really best bit, as a reward, Flora gives you one of her super cute washed up plastic greeting cards made from plastic treasure. 

@florablathwayt @washedupcards

Have a great day ...

Do one plastic ...

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