Sarah Squared

A narrative collection designed by Sarah Edmonds and Sarah Meredith. www.etsy.com/shop/WeAreSarahSquared

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Sarah Squared Launches

Our Etsy Shop is now up and running selling the Sarah Squared AW Collection.  After a busy few months designing, painting, writing, juggling our many to-do lists we're pleased to release our collaboration out into the world!

We'll be adding more items over the coming couple of weeks - what you see is the beginning of the jewellery story that will grow as we add more characters and settings.

Keep an eye out for us at various markets between now and Christmas - and you can also use the code SUPER10 in the Sarah Squared, Rock Cakes and Sarah Edmonds shops to get 10% off your order. We're nice like that, see.

If you would like to feature our work on your blog, in a magazine or anywhere else, please contact Sarah Edmonds - [email protected] - for images and details.

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Painting and preparing!

With less than a week away until our first market, and launch of our debut Sarah2 collection, we have been 2 very busy Sarahs sanding, painting and planning our lasercut jewellery collection.

Upon collecting the bulging bags of wood from the lasercutter, smelling freshly of woodsmoke, we set about sanding them down outside our studio to the amusement (and confusion) of passers by! We got through a fair few plasters that day.

Next, Sarah E, with assistance from her Pantone colour chart, set about mixing paints together to create the unique palette that we had chosen. It was a kind of alchemy which involved careful calculation and a sprinkling of chance – that moment when the correct colour is reaches always calls for celebration.

Then Sarah M began the mammoth task of painting all of the woods in their allocated colours, creating a production line of boys, girls, animals, environments and vehicles coming to life!

We'll be continuing to finish painting and varnishing this week, before photographing the work and (hopefully) opening our Etsy shop this weekend.

We have also produced 2 eco cotton tote bags – perfect for carrying books and groceries and pinning our brooches to!

On Sunday 16 November we'll be selling our first pieces of Sarah2 jewellery, in addition to our own collections, at the Brighton Open Market for the Brighton Etsy festive fair. Then the following weekend we'll be at Renegade London which is very exciting. Click here to view our list of markets and appearances between now and Christmas.

Right, back to the painting and packaging! More soon x

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Sample woodcuts

Over the last fortnight we were excited to receive our sample woodcuts - their smoky scent and darkened edges add to the mood of our story. We celebrate the turning season, the great outdoors and the cosy feeling of wearing bobble hats and lighting fires.

We've since made a few tweaks and received a big bundle of woods which have been sanded and are now being painted in time for our first market on Sunday 16th November. From then on, the finished jewellery pieces will be on sale in our Etsy shop - meanwhile we'll be putting up more photos of our painting and packaging soon.

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In a month's time we'll have our range available to buy online and also at some markets. If you're based in/near Brighton or London it would be a great chance to see our first collection for real, alongside our individual work. This is where we'll be:

Sunday 16 November (TBC) - Brighton Etsy Christmas Market 11-5 pm at The Open Market, Marshalls Row, London Road, Brighton Find out more: http://brightonetsyteam.wordpress.com/  Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 November - Renegade Craft Fair, London 11-6 pm both days: Old Truman Brewery, 81 Brick Lane, E1 6QL, London Find out more: http://www.renegadecraft.com/london 

Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November (TBC) - Craftaganza 11-5 pm both days at Fabrica Gallery, Duke Street, Brighton BN1 1AG Find out more: http://brightoncraftaganza.wordpress.com/

Saturday 6 December - The Makers' Boutique 11-5 pm at Brighton Unitarian Church, New Road, BN1 1UF Find out more: http://www.makersboutique.co.uk/

Saturday 13 December - Crafty Fox Market, Peckham 12-6 pm at CLF Art Cafe, The Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, Peckham SE15 4ST Find out more: http://www.craftyfoxmarket.co.uk/

Phew! Lots of making, ordering, packaging and set-building to do over the next month. We will need lots of pies to keep up with all that. 

Next up - photos revealing our samples, hot off the laser-cutter and filling our studio with the smell of log fires. Which is good, because now, there's a chill in the air and a need for bobble hats!

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Illustrations as Jewellery

We can now see what the objects look like separately, and together, as pendants and brooches. The objects will be wooden lasercuts, and we will also add string and thread to certain pieces, for bootlaces, glove strings and the tin can telephone. 

The next stage of our process is to carefully think out the scale of the jewellery to get it just right, as well as continuing the designs for our other gifts. We will also be having a window display at Super+Super in the heart of Brighton's south lanes - featuring some giant versions of what's pictured here.

More soon...

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Creating Collections

It was then time to cut out our painted images and start assembling them into combinations - the narrative is starting to come to life. We want to make sure that each object in the collection compliments the others, to leave nothing to chance so that our final pieces work together.

Once they were cut out, Sarah M photographed them in context as jewellery, adding chains so we could look at the scale of each design.

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Planning our colour palette.

Once we'd drawn and whittled down our list of items into types of object, or accessory, it was time to devise our colour palette. We explored trend forecasts together with the colours of vintage homewares - we wanted an autumnal feel to our collection together with bright, jolly hues. Our quest was aided by a collection of colour cards. We put things in, took them out again. 'Definitely not that pink', said Sarah E. 'I love pink', said Sarah M. 'Ooooh, we have to have THAT yellow', we said together.

Our chosen colours are about 15 - they are friendly, inviting and warm to compliment the narrative. We printed out our line drawings onto natural cardboard and started painting them, allocating colours across the collection. Pictured here is Sarah E mixing the paints - like an alchemist! Sarah M advised on brushes and then it was paint paint paint! Having everything laid out physically in front of us, we could see what really worked, which colours needed swapping and areas that can be left unpainted with the natural colour of the wood showing through. Our design process is about exploration and play - working with physical materials and mock ups helps us to envisage our products and make changes along the way.

We have similar tastes and different skills that compliment each other. We've kind of gone back to school with our design process, learning from each other to create products that are fresh, exciting and conversational with our audience. It's very exciting!

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Beginning: Two Sarahs Collide

Sometimes something good happens, and that is the beginning of the story of Sarah2. It was earlier this year (2014) that we, Sarah Edmonds and Sarah Meredith, both began working from the Brighton creative hub that is Super+Super. Having recently moved down south from Wales, Sarah E was building up her portfolio and business as an illustrator and Sarah M needed a perfect space to work on her jewellery business Rock Cakes.

It was after a few weeks of showing each other our work projects when we hit upon the idea of doing a collaboration. Within an hour the first meeting was had and our collaboration was branded with its Sarah2 (Sarah Squared) name - genius no? We came up with the premise of creating a narrative jewellery collection, where elements of characters, settings and possessions could be combined to tell different stories. A bit like a 'Choose your own adventure story' that you can wear.

A Library Van was excitedly squeaked out by Sarah E with much nodding from Sarah M and from there the ideas began to flow. The first of our lists began to take shape.. a girl, a boy, a butcher's bike, a whole gathering of appropriate animals (although no owls ‘cus they are too done), homemade bread and tins of soup, tin can telephones, specialist books on how to care for your pig, autumn and leaves and english trees, nostalgia, nostalgia nostalgia… and a Pinterest board to begin our inspiration….

Our ideas were whittled down and research was done and over the next few weeks our lists turned into scribbles, drawings and the first stages of our very square design process.