Christmas cheer for just one pound

For the run up to Christmas, Cut-Out has a special little plate in our Custard Factory shop full of items that have been reduced to just one pound each! Grab yourself a handknitted mini stocking, heart shaped tree decoration, the last knitted doughnut or a badge set while stocks last!

Many of you know the shop isn't going to be open after Christmas, so we all hope you come and say bye, and pick up a few things, Mouldy Loaf is having a HUGE sale, with all T-shirts reduced, and a bargain to be found.

Clothes Show Live with Tatty Devine!

This week I was asked to help the glorious Tatty Devine out at their stand at Birmingham Clothes Show Live. The stand looked amazing and we were very proud to be on one of the brightest and busiest stands around. It was a LOT of fun meeting everyone who came along and bought stuff, and although my feet ache from three days of standing up, I can't wait to go along next year!

Flair '09

Thank you to everyone who came to the Light House on Saturday, we had such a lovely day. I'm already looking forward to next year!

big changes ahoy!

Well, we have been busy these last few months so there's alot to catch up on, and there's going to be quite a few big changes happening over the next few weeks and months...

Firstly we are sad to say we will be closing the shop just after Christmas. I have absolutely loved running the shop, but most of you know I also love screen printing, and those who have been in the shop know that I cannot do them both at the same time, and keeping the shop open meant sacrificing print jobs I wanted to do, or meant I was working constantly to keep everything going. Cut-Out is not going anywhere however, I plan on releasing lots of new designs in the new year by our favourite illustrators, the website will still keep going and I will be representing a mini version of the shop in the form of a stall at the Saturday Flea Market at the Custard Factory, and I might show up in a few different shops around here thanks to some of the lovely shopkeepers who have offered me some retail space to help me out. I will still also be sending my lovely stockists in Falmouth and Bristol Cut-Out products too. The Birmingham Bead Shop will be moving to the space in the new year though which is lovely news! So make sure you still come down to stop by and say hello to Kate.

In the meantime I will be focussing on my new business venture GET A GRIP, a waterbased screen printing company which is based behind VAAD gallery in the Custard Factory, printing on commission for bands, artists, promotors, companies and designers. This is something I am really excited about, I will still be keeping the same DIY ethics that Cut-Out stuck by, but I will be able to take on way more orders and use much better equipment. We are offering such good value prices it's unreal, you can check out more about this new project here: www.getagripstudio.com


We hope that the new year will open up lots of new opportunities for GET A GRIP, and Cut-Out and Mouldy Loaf to collaborate once more in a larger retail premises we hope to combine with an open print studio... but we're just waiting for the right space to open up so it might take some time. We're not giving in yet.


In other news I will be selling Cut-Out things at the Lighthouse in Wolverhampton's Festive Flair fayre on 5th December, this was the first fayre I did last year when I 1st stared Cut-Out and it was so much fun I can't wait to go back for mince pies, mulled wine and lots of lovely stalls selling handmad gifts. Following that I will be helping my lovely friends out at Tatty Devine on their stall at Clothes Show Live on the 6th, 7th and 8th December at Birmingham NEC- so if you happen to be going along on one of those days please pop bye and say hi and look at their lovely jewellery!


Well, I think that's you guys up to date! I hope you are all looking forward to a season full of presents, food and joy!

Best wishes

Kay x

Screen printers sharing

So I finally put my first zine together, you can buy it here

I am planning to do more, decide on a proper title, get some proper content etc etc. I'm sure it'll mostly revolve about screen printing and stuff, but we'll see. This was pretty much just a tester, but at £3 who's complaining? I've sold quite a few, and only 50 were made, so get 'em while they're hot I guess.

It basically shows how to screen print at home for as cheap as possible, and the 2nd half is interviews with lots of different screen printers, people like Dan Mumford, Print Liberation, John Isaacson... Oh, and you get a squeegee button badge too!

Tall Ships and 10,000 students

Lastnight was Student Block Party, 10,000 students from around the UK descended on Digbeth to see the likes of Tinchy Stryder, Chipmunk and Mr Hudson. So we thought we'd join in the party and asked Tall Ships to play in the shop. It was all very loud and a lot of fun, I think pretty much everyone who came in was encouraged to join the band.

PunkRock, illustration and screen printing- 3 of my favourite things

Thisafternoon I've been screen printing posters for the UK official Pre-Fest show (for those not in the know, The Fest is a festival in Florida that takes place over Halloween weekend, it's in it's 8th year and this year will be my first time, I am ridiculously excited). Anyway, the Lincoln Arms in Dorking is hosting this alldayer on 3rd October featuring pretty much all of the UK bands heading over to the States, and I got asked to get involved- which I did! There are 30 and they will be on sale on the day for £5.

The poster is designed by pretty much my favourite illustrator at the moment Joe, who's in Calvinball. He's done some awesome stuff for his own band, Bangers, Break The Habit and done the artwork for the Bangers/OK Pilot/The Arteries/Brothers 4 way split, out in a few weeks. He's also designing a T-shirt for Cut-Out that will hopefully be on sale by the end of next week.

AMMO

So Dave, the ridiculously good designer, illustrator and all-round-nice-guy popped round Cut-Out HQ (my house) last week armed with a pile of his new magazine AMMO, which is absolutely jam-packed with amazing illustrators, some whom I am lucky enough to be friends with, some I have had the pleasure of meeting, and some who I had never heard of in my life- but I'm glad I have now!

You can now pick up a copy of AMMO Magazine at the shop, or from their website www.ammomagazine.co.uk priced at £5 each.

Looking to interview screen printers

As a printer I am always interested in meeting other printers, getting geeky over inks and mesh counts, curious about their set up and seeing how they do stuff, so I've decided to take this further and put together a Zine where I would like to include interviews with as many different screen printers as possible from someone printing in their basement to commercial business'. Basically anyone who bloody loves it.

Feel free to promote your business, include website and email address' and whatever. Think of it as free advertisement, just more personal and in depth.

I would really appreciate you taking a few minutes to answer the questions as best as you can, they may be edited in the Zine but feel free to get carried away!

Also if you know anyone who might be interested, please forward this to them. All replies need to be sent to kay@cutoutshop.com. Let me know if you have any questions, would like to be sent any copies of the Zine to have or to distribute.

Thank you

Kay
www.cutoutshop.com



The questions are as follows:

Who are you?

Where are you based?

What do you print?

Describe your setup

Who are your clients?

What's your normal run, and the largest run you have ever done?

What kind of music do you listen to while printing?

How long have you been printing? How did you get into it?

What part of the process do you enjoy the most?

What part do you dislike the most?

What inks do you use?

What materials do you print onto?

Do you have any ecological, environmental or other ethics you put into practice when printing?

How much money have you put into printing- buying equipment and stuff?

Do you have any awesome tips you can pass on to other printers?

Please include a photograph of your workspace and an example of what you print.

Printing Prices Flyer

I'm going to photocopy-the-shit out of these

Off The Cuff

Well, that was an exciting weekend! The Flapper was host to the very first Off tHe Cuff Festival, and we were there!

Tonnes of great bands from all around the UK came to play in the canal-side venue. Highlights for me definitely included Kong, The Computers, Shapes and Hot Club de Paris.

We took along my new Microcosm Publishing zines and books, along with a selection of T-shirts, jewellery and totes from the shop and set up alongside the band merchandise. It was alot of fun and I can't wait for next years.

Speaking of festivals, I'll be taking some stock down to Southsea Fest in 2 weekends time, fancy that!

Tatty Devine!

Our shop is now a proud stockist of fabulous Tatty Devine jewellery. I am so excited about this! I did a work placement at Tatty over two years ago and absolutely love the label and everyone who works there, it was just so much fun. Wherever I go wearing this stuff I get asked where it is from... well now you can get it direct from me!
Most of the pieces are from the 'Best Of' collection, so it really is all my favourite, and everyone else's favourite pieces. We've got a mix of necklaces, brooches and even cufflinks, with prices from £12-£80.
Each piece has been made at Tatty's London studio, and comes in a presentation box with Tatty tissue paper, a lolly pop and button badge. Awesome!

More Meat Pies...

To continue from yesterday's post about the awesome T-shirts Alex Curtis designed for Meat Pie Promotions' venue at Southsea Fest, today I've printed up 30 Limited Edition 3 colour prints (I know I said they'd be 4 colour, but they still look real awesome. They will be on sale on the day at the One Eyed Dog, 19th September. I'll be armed with elastic bands so people can take them home safely.

Meat Pie's and the Seaside

Myself and the lovely Alex Curtis of Thr33 Designs have hooked up to produce a limited edition run of 25 T-shirts for Meat Pie Promotions' venue at Southsea Fest in September. There is also going to be a run of 4-colour screen printed posters at the event which I am coating the screens for today. Everything is going to be on sale at mine and Alex's stall at the venue on the day, along with some other bits and pieces. Yay!

It's hard to ignore the rise in my website hits

...and what site they have been referred from. Samantha Beeston's plagiarised degree work has really shocked me, I guess the link to Cut-Out from the remains of her website will bring alot of people here looking for stuff (it's hard to ignore the few thousand hits on her youtube video and the hundreds of blog posts listing countless links to go and check out).

I graduated the year before Samantha on the same course at Falmouth and shared the same tutor, I do know her and would have considered us friends. I did not know anything about her work or anything about what has now come to light and I am certain the tutors did not either. Although now I feel torn between 'fanning the flames' so to speak, and perhaps going against the wishes of some of our many mutual friends, I also have my little business to think about, the reputation of where I did my degree and also my personal and professional moral beliefs.

I do know that the course tutors and the University are now fully aware of the situation and are looking into what action needs to be taken. Plagiarism is not acceptable and something I would never do, or ever knowingly involve in Cut-Out. In this age of the internet and the reaction to the recent blog posts exposing her I do hope that she will be used as an example to future students. I also wish the best of luck to Lauren Nassef and anyone else that has been frauded, including my friend Aurelia Lange.

In the papers

So, Cut-Out is in the press! Thanks to KiosKiosk. I especially love that it was featured in the 'business' section. We know I mean business.

Printing patterns

I've been going on about making a DIY printing zine for a while now, and this week I've made a start on it- but things have not turned out how I wanted them too, so I decided to use all the drawings I had done for it to make a repeat pattern- which I haven't done since my degree. I was abit rusty but I think the result is pretty cool, so I've adopted it as my background on various social-networking sites for abit, in the hope it will encourage me to get this little booklet finished.

Supersonic Festival

Well, Supersonic was AMAZING! We kept the shop open for the whole time, sank a few beers, saw some great bands and met a billion awesome people. Here's a few choice photos, there are many more on the Shop's Facebook page (found through mine www.facebook.com/cutoutshop).

How did KiosKiosk go?

I keep being asked. Well... it went pretty well thanks! Despite the weather being appalling on the first day, we had lots of people loving the stuff, and I even met Wayne Hemmingway and Boris Johnson!

On the second day I was sharing the kiosk with Lily Vanilli, and woah, this girl makes the BEST cupcakes I have ever tasted in my life. Unfortunately (for me) she doesn't deliver outside London, but if you are a Londoner I strongly suggest you get intouch with her, look how amazing her cakes are! www.lilyvanilli.com

I've been slack

Matt Reynolds and Dry The River played nearly two weeks ago and I haven't had chance to put photos up on the internet yet! Here's one to get you going, hopefully a recording in YouTube form will be posted one day. Despite a truck crashing or something, and the show being delayed by 2 hours, everyone stuck around and played in the shop, and it was worth it when they did get here! Heather has wrote a lovely little post about it on her website http://www.thisishappening.co.uk/ It's much better than anything I can say about it.

Our next instore will be Luke Leighfield on 1st August and I am really looking forward to it...

your stock in our shop?!

So I've been in the shop for nearly a month now and I think I've settled in quite nicely (if I do say so myself) but there's still somethings missing... YOUR STUFF.

We want to expand the shop and make it as exciting and visual and interesting as possible, and not just for Cut-Out and Mouldy Loaf, but for other illustrators, designers, makers, knitters, printers, artists, whatever! We're looking to stock clothing, accessories, jewellery, zines, books, prints, homewares. stationary, ceramics, music, any products that you would think would work within our creative and artistic environment (not just the shop, the Custard Factory is home to lots of creative things, including a radio station, tonnes of music events (including acoustic shows we'll be holding) like Supersonic, a radio station, magazines, printers, galleries, workshops, studios EVERYTHING!

If you think you would like your stuff in our shop please send us an email with some low res images of what you want to sell and abit about yourself and we'll get intouch kay@cutoutshop.com

Also, if you could forward this on to people you might think would be interested...


Thanks for reading
Kay and Neil

Shop 8, Gibb Square
The Custard Factory
Birmingham
B9 4AA

T-shirts for the girls

I feel like I've been neglecting the girls on the T-shirt from at Cut-Out so I'm setting about expanding it so 1. the boys don't get all the good designs, and 2. so I can have some new things to wear!

Tonight I printed the first of what I hope will be many T-shirts especially for the ladies, girls, moms and so-on, this one is by the wonderful Liv Bargman- who's illustrations are absolutely top!

They'll be available online soon in light lemon with a grey print.

KiosKiosk

http://www.kioskiosk.co.uk/html/cutout.html

I'm doing this on the 7th and 8th July, it's dead good, Wayne Hemmingway, Boris Johnson, I would take a look on the website rather than read me rambling on if I was you... it's going to be pretty rad I think.

http://www.kioskiosk.co.uk/html/philopsophy.html

Seek Project

So along with KiosKiosk that I'm doing in London soon... have I mentioned that already? www.kioskiosk.co.uk, 7th-8th July I'll be there.
ANYWAY, I have still been printing commissioned stuff around my hectic schedule of the shop and printing all new and exciting things to sell, here's one of the highlights- printing a merchandise package for Nigerian Graphic Designer Karo Akpokiere, you can check out his project 'Seek' at http://www.seekproject.com/ GOOD STUFF

Matt Reynolds acoustic performance instore!

So we've been saying for a while we want to start getting some music things going on in the shop, and what better way to stay our Summer of instore performances than with singer songwriter Matthew Reynolds and his friend Dry The River. So come spend your Saturday afternoon hanging out in the shop with lovely music and Mouldy Loaf's homemade lemonade!

Custard Factory Shop

So Cut-Out finally got shit sorted and is now sharing home with Mouldy Loaf in an awesome little shop in the Custard Factory Birmingham. I'm really really chuffed with all the new stuff and the feedback this week has been awesome. I know I've made the right decision to do this. So if you are ever in the area, be sure to pop in an say hello, whether it's hello to me or Neil working there. So here's a couple of photos to entice you...

Competition ideas wanted!

So I'm moving into a shop very soon (this week fingerscrossed) to share some space at the Custard Factory in Birmingham with the awesome Mouldy Loaf. I've got lots of new T-shirts and things to ready sell by some really, really good illustrators, so all's been very exciting at Cut-Out recently.

As a 'moving in gift' my mom has knitted this awesome pile of yummy-looking dohnuts which will be living in the shop (I'm going to take them in to surprise Neil with today). I'm thinking I'd like these to go onto a good home instead of breaking them up to sell so have come up with the idea of devising some sort of competition/raffle. They will, of course, come with the glass cake stand! If anyone has any cool ideas of how I d choose the lucky winner of this bundle please reply/email me/contact me somehow! You never know, the person who comes up with the best competition idea might be the winner!