Cross-Angle Weave 102: Desert Rose Class | Saturday June 25

In February 2010, Bettina took a day trip visit exploring the area around Bubyan Island and the desert we so rarely get to experience nowadays due to urbanization and lack of preservation measures.  Here is what she had to say:

In the absolute moment that a question was asked, “Is there anything that inspires you while your designing a piece”? My immediate reply did not give justice to the moments I experienced last week in the Kuwaiti desert. Like a little child, I rushed around the desert marveling at strangers I was meeting for the first time in my life! Flowering shrubs and cacti stood proudly and exerted their new presence throughout the Northern desert.

Life had returned to the desert with fragrant purple flowers and masterfully and heavenly created succulents/ cacti breaking through the earth reaching to the sky, relishing the sun. Thanks to the unusually heavy rainfall this season, our desert is turning into a garden. In tribute to the new life given to those fascinating desert “acquaintances” I have encountered, I dedicate the 

“Desert Rose”.

The first inspiration and colorway for Desert Rose

With shear joy and in awe of Bettina's new “friendships”, the Desert Rose Bracelet has been developed and designed using an intricate yet simple technique called the Cross-Angle weave. Several varieties of color palettes will be offered in our up-coming class. Please do join both Bettina and myself for this rewarding class.
 
  
Technique:  Two Needle Cross Angle Weave/Embellishing  
Level:             Advanced Beginners                 
Date:              June 25 Saturday
Time:            9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Venue:          Jabriya Block 9 Street 6 (Side Basement Entrance)

Pre-registration at our Shaab el Bahry store location is recommended. You may contact us for more details at info@lbojzazz.com for information regarding materials and tools required, class fees and any other questions or place a comment below.

Life, Art & Love; A Collaboration

The past two weeks, the LB o J'zazz family has been experiencing a whirlwind of activities at the business and personal level. For the founders, creating an extension that reflects our life philosophies has been instrumental in our development and evolution.
Lubna and Bettina have been running the store, administration, government paper work, marketing and school events in addition to gearing up for a life changing event of one of the partners; as Lubna is getting ready to tie the knot.
Creatively and personally, the demands have never been more challenging as a small entrepreunerial outfit. We were able to use this very personal day and incorporate meanings and nuances at several levels.
Whenever I had the chance to communicate with my dear friend, creative inspiration and designer Claudia Shames, I would say: " Claudia if I ever decide to take the plunge, you will have to design and make my wedding dress." Due to the short notice this was not possible and I had to find something that suited my persona fast. So, the focus then moved to creating a bridal veil that would be the focal point of the whole ensemble. So just three days ago, Claudia, Bettina and I began a creative and material collaboration. We selected the tulle, a silvery beige dream of a material. Then Bettina seeing my anguish when Claudia asked if I could create a bejeweled band, jumped in and offered to design and make it for me.

As ideas were thrown around, both Bettina and I realized that as we have been espousing quality materials in the textile realm here in Kuwait, we saw this as the ideal opportunity to only use LB o J'zazz Czech Crystals, our Premium Japanese beads and C Lon thread as the perfect sampler combined with my favorite designer who has a keen understanding and sensitivity of how to enhance our individuality in her creations.
We will share with our friends and readers the joys of colloborating in a field that will end up creating an adorned piece that will be part of our memories, joy and celebration of a special day of matrimony. This is what makes us tick. Artfully living, and creatively loving. This is who we and this what we do.

Just What Is Decopatch?

When many of our local art teachers and hobbyists hear the word "Decopatch" they respond immediately and say: " Aaah yes decoupage!" However, they are quite different in that decoupage is an old technique that flowered in France whereby, table napkins were used by cutting out the designs and gluing them usually onto furniture surfaces and then covering the surface with a varnish. However, it would take several layers of varnishing and sanding so that the napkin material would "melt" on to the surface of the furniture. Decoupage can be frustrating as the napkin tears and is hard to apply and is limited to a certain range of surfaces.

Decopatch on the other hand, can be a scissorless endeavor altogether. It is used in projects for children as young as four and can move onto more sophisticated and advanced applications for professional designers and interior decorators. It is a very thin 20 gsm paper, that is made exclusively in the Decopatch factory in Lyon. The paper has a special coating and UV varnish that makes it moldable, very strong and color fast. The paper can be torn at random yet doesn't fray on the edges and when applied to a surface creates a collage of patterning. Several paper designs or a single paper can be utilised. Combine the paper with the special Glue/Varnish also exclusively manufactured and made for Decopatch paper and the results are truly satisfying.

You can Decopatch practically any surface, from metal, wood, porcelain, paper mache, carboard, plastic and more. It allows you to take objects you already have, create a new color scheme, or a theme in a very short amount of time. Whether you cut out designs or tear the paper, whenever it is applied the results are satisfying. You just can't go wrong with Decopatch.

After a surface of an object is covered you can then embellish it with sequins, decorative stones and a special type of adhesive/Patchliner to accent and highlight certain areas. When Decopatching outdoor furniture, mugs and plates a second water and weather proofing varnish is applied. Your mugs can be placed in the dishwasher and for daily use. It is a great way to upcyle and redorate your life and space in a very immediate and easy method. No Decopatch paper ever goes to waste as long as you have a surface to embellish and decorate.

2009 Decopatch Collection coming your way in May!

For all you Decopatch afficianadoes, Bettina and I have carefully hand selected all the Decopatch papers to cover and create new surfaces. We are bringing back your favorite paper designs and some of the freshest and creative in the selection covering a wider range.

New molds, the menagerie of animals to Decopatch is varied and getting larger too! It's a great way to kick off the summer season while creating activities for home designing or group activities for you and the family. The new collection will be found at our new outlet in Shaab el Bahry mid-May and we will keep you posted. We welcome all of you Decopatchers to send us images of your work as we would like to share and show off all the creative projects of yours too!

On an interior enhancement note- we personalized our new shop by Decopatching our electrical outlets and the aircondition grille make sure you come by and see us.

Pecha Kucha Night Kuwait # 1 March 11

Pecha Kucha kicked off it's inaugural event at the Maidan Theater of the Dar Al Athar Al Islammiya. On March 11, at 7 PM Professor Aseel Al Ragam launched the evening that is part of a global network of happenings.

Eight presenters or "performers" so to speak, and the format is twenty x twenty. Twenty slides, each slide is twenty seconds; amounting to six minutes and forty seconds of intense and heady ideas be presented to the audience. As the last presenter of the evening and to a full house, I was able to share Kindred Spirits: An Intracultural Exploration and Dialogue Through Beads.



We welcome your comments and input. Be sure to watch out for the next PKN in your city and the upcoming PKN Kuwait this June.