HOW IT ALL CAME TO BE

We initially began hammer & daisy as a small, rather ill-equipped, gardening business, with the hope that it would provide a little financial aid to the making of our limited edition artists’ books. Our gardening business proved, unsurprisingly, to be a short lived affair and all that remains of it today is the name. hammer & daisy greatly enjoy folding paper in preference to tending to your trees and ridding your garden beds of weeds.

hammer & daisy, in its current guise, could be said to have formed early in 2003 when we adapted an exposed spine, square knot binding technique studied at the Centro del bel Libro in Ascona, Switzerland. What began as a line of hammer & daisy handmade fabric covered journals has since grown to include a small, square concertina journal, an A6 journal pouch and narrow pencil case, an A7 scribbler, a parliament of owl pinnies and greeting cards.

Every single element of our handmade journals, pouches, pencil cases and owls, is handmade. We fold by hand the paper of every concertina journal and the holes along the spine of every square knot are individually punched, one page at a time. The covers are cut from various fabrics, ironed and glued, ready to be assembled at a later date and the small brass wires that rest in each saddle section are hand bent to form tiny right angles. The spine of each each square knot journal is made up by a series of knots, with a single A4 journal requiring 168 square knots.

Finding new fabrics, beautiful tablecloths and embroidered doillies to fashion into a journal cover or handsewn pouch is an enjoyable part of the process. A 1950's tea towel from Hungary, with its floral design in lurid pink and lime green, can make for an ideal journal cover. Equally, an unwearable skirt can become a trusty pouch or pencil case.

We often use quilting fabrics from the UK and US, including reprinted vintage designs from the 30's and 40's with their familiar and beautiful muted colours, and Japanese kimonos for their wide sleeves and their penchant for a handsome, decorative lining. We love combining new fabrics with old finds, ensuring that each and every piece is unique. How could one not?

Recently, we have branched out and added a handful of greeting cards to the hammer & daisy lineup. We have six different greeting card and four postcard designs currently available, suitable to be sent as a festive greeting, to share a little love, to wish someone well or to send by way of apology. All are full colour offset print on a smooth, matte finish, heavy weight stock with a matching self adhesive white envelope. We are, it's fair to say, super keen to make more, many more.

We love making things and we hope you like them too,
Gracia & Louise

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