Blue Teddy's Bazaar: Suzanis and Kilims!

Hey hey hey!

As I mentioned a few weeks back there are several talented artists and decor sources that I want to share with you... well here goes the first...

Blue Teddy's Bazaar is a shop from the online community of artists called Etsy that sells vintage hand woven kilims and suzanis from Central Asia. The curator of this lovely bazaar full of vibrant tribal textiles, throws and rugs lives in York, England and her name is Rhonda - a creative soul with a degree in Art and Design specializing in ceramics. Rhonda has a great love for many creative things, particularly home decor, woven fabrics, crafted goods, wood and British, American and French retro style. It's no wonder she is drawn to the unique beauty and craftsmanship of kilims and suzanis! In fact, in her profile she says "...these treasures from the East can transform your home or your office, bringing it drama, colour, ambience and cosiness, regardless of whether you live in a spacious loft, a flat, a normal house or a country mansion." Well, that about sums it up - I couldn't have said it better myself Rhonda!

In case you don't know, a suzani is a hand-stitched/embroidered textile made in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries - its name derives from the Persian word Suzan, which means needle. A Kilim (or Kelim) is considered a woven tapestry or rug originating anywhere from the Balkans to Pakistan, and can be purely decorative or used as a prayer rug.

After dedicating a whole week of blog posts to suzanis in 2010, dubbed "Suzani and Ikat Week," I'm sure you've noticed how much I love ethnic textiles! Suzanis and kilims have a way of adding endless character and eclectic global vibes to any space! With that said, scroll on for some of my favorite suzanis and kilims (mostly suzani's, hehe) from Rhonda's beautiful store and be sure to drop by Blue Teddy's Bazaar and check out the rest of her inventory from Kurdistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan - she's adding new treasures all the time! For more posts and information on suzanis and kilims please see the related post links below.... Have a wonderful afternoon!

Related blog posts:
Suzani and Ikat Week
Suzani in Detail
Suzani and Ikat: Tables, Chairs, Sofas and Beds
Bokja Design: Suzani + Furniture + Heaven!
Pakobel, Inc. Handmade Rugs and Tapestries from the East
Ikat and Suzani Pillows
All posts labeled suzani
All posts labeled kilim
All posts labeled ethnic textiles




(Also pictured in detail in image at beginning of post)
This is my favorite suzani in the shop, gorgeous colors!
Suzani from Uzbekistan

Suzani from Uzbekistan

Suzani from Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan



Suzani from Boysun, Uzbekistan
This one is so fun!!



Suzani from Boysun, Uzbekistan


Suzani from Boysun, Uzbekistan



Suzani from Kosan, Uzbekistan


Another stunningly vibrant and amazing Suzani from Uzbekistan!


And now, for my two favorite kilims on Blue Teddy's Bazaar....

Another beautiful kilim design from Maimana, Afghanistan...


Great colors and a pretty ikat design!! This one hails from Afghanistan....


(All images sourced via Blue Teddy's Bazaar Etsy shop with permission from store owner, please do not use images without permission, contact Rhonda through her Etsy shop.)

Pakobel Inc.: Suzani Auctions

 This post is for all my fellow Suzani lovers!!

As I've discussed in several previous posts, one of my good friends from college runs his family carpet business called Pakobel Inc./Pakobel Rugs and they have a great Ebay store!  Just the other day I won two auctions for gorgeous suzanis, read about that here!  So, I thought I'd put together a quick little post with all of the suzani's currently up for the bidding just in case any of my readers are interested....

Below you will find image collages for all of Pakobel's current authentic hand-embroidered suzani's from Uzbekistan showing the full suzani and detail images.  To visit the full auction listing for an item, simply click on the description below the image to be redirected.  All auctions start at $40 with free shipping and handling, please note  some suzanis may not be new but are always in great condition, every auction gives specific description details so be sure to read the listing carefully!  I hope you find something you love... oh yeah, and good luck bidding!

(P.S. - if you don't know what a suzani is or if you want to see more examples of a suzani check out this post and these posts or just read Wikipedia's description)

7' x 5' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

8' x 4' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

12' x 2' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

7' x 4' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

17' x 2' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

6' x 4' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani

13' x 2' foot hand-embroidered Uzbek Suzani Runner

(All images in this post courtesy of  Pakobel, Inc. Ebay Store)

Treasures from Marshalls!

Hello!  Once again Friday is here... life moves at the speed of light these days!

Here are some treasures that I swooned over while strolling the isles of Marshalls the other day!  I was a good girl and only got two items  :)

Oh, and here is another purple glowing building in Downtown Miami....

Okay, now for all the Marshalls goodies....

Owls!!  The one on the left I found in the Thanksgiving decor section and the one on the right hold a tea light in back to shine through the decorative cut-outs in the owl...  A while back I bought a yellow and orange owl from the same line that look identical but are bird feeders with a chain and hook to hang in your yard.  I gave my mom the orange one and I'm hanging on to the yellow one in hopes that one day soon I will have a yard with a tree to hang it in! :)

Some nice glass lanterns for candles, perhaps to set the mood on ones patio...

A nice Middle Eastern rug...  but I know better than to buy rugs at Marshalls when I can get gorgeous authentic ones for less at my friend Salman's ebay store Pakobel Rugs!  Check out my posts on his store HERE.

A beautiful Moroccan lantern that appeared to be missing its lower half...   Even if it had the other piece it was waaay too much at $49.99!   :(((

A whole wild "piggy bank" display....

 

Funky little lamps.... 

A nice aqua blue tufted lounge/side chair with a Naugahyde/Vinyl/etc upholstery, hehe 

 

I loved this curry/ocher yellow display in the kitchen-ware department...  I had to snap this picture fast and just walk away, I have way too much kitchen stuff already *cries*...

Pretty Powderdy Aqua Ikat Bed Set - with 4 decorative Moroccan-like print pillows too!

And another

A pretty powder blue decorative urn with Moroccanesque cut-outs...

 

And an awesome curry/ocher yellow one too...

And of course, a whole bunch of shoes that they didn't have in my size, or in the case of the beautiful bohemian tan leather Steve Madden sandals below, were coming apart at the back of the heel!  :*( bad luck...

Funky cut and open toe on these brown leather ankle boots by... sheesh, I forgot the designer... on clearance for $32 (or was it $39?...hmm..)

Coral/Salmon pink leather Michael Kors heels with a decorative buckle....  I like the color and design, but the heel is too high and rickety for my taste.... so I just took a picture for memories.. haha...

 

And last, but not least - because it's the only thing I bought out of ALL the stuff that I swooned over....  This curry/ocher yellow collection of ceramic decor including a small urn, planter, cup and mini jewel box.  I loved the circular designs and the color, so I snatched the little urn and the planter and reluctantly left the rest behind....

 

And here is the urn in its new home, for now, on display in my apartment...

 

Here's a close-up...

 

And a view from above... hangin' out with my milk glass and my wood incense burner tower which I painted and detailed with turquoise (I love it!)....

I forgot to get a picture of the planter, which now holds one of my cactus plants, stay tuned for that!

(All images in this post are my own personal images)