Mambo con Rumbo CD launch

This weekend saw the launch of my favourite salsa band, Mambo con Rumbo's debut album.

With the creative and musical talent of the people involved, it sounds pretty awesome.


With the help of my clever crocheting, a few Mambo Delight shoe bags and a clever photographer it looks pretty awesome too.  Here are some photos to prove it (if you want confirmation of the awesome sounds then you'll have to download or order it from the Mambo con Rumbo shop).

The album cover

Crocheted Adam and the inside cover

Band leader, Adam Parnell pointing himself out on the poster

What a difference a badge makes

Last year I got into the habit of practicing shines (solo footwork) on the side of the social dance floor with one of my friends whenever we were both out at salsa together.  Occasionally one other person might come and join us for a song - but we'd often spend up to half of our night practising the same thing over and over again.

One day my shine friend went to New York for three months (to learn more shines, obviously) and I was all on my own.  Without him to spur me on, I didn't shine as much but I kind of missed it so I started recruiting for more shine friends. By the time he got back, there were four of us who were regulars and we'd started referring to ourselves as Shine Club.

When you have four dancers in a line, doing the same shine at the side of the dance floor or showing each other the latest cool thing we spotted on YouTube, it attracts a bit of attention, so we eventually got a couple more of our friends wanting to be a part of the crowd.  With more members, we got more variety - incorporating Palladium Mambo, Cha cha cha and Pachanga into our growing collection of shines.

Peer pressure is a wonderful thing.  But as it turns out, badges are even better.

Last week I received 20 Shine Club badges, which I'd been meaning to have made for a while.  I only had six people to give them to, but I thought a few spares would be useful, because other people might want to join in one day.

It turns out that badges are even better than peer pressure for getting people to join in. Today I only have 9 left.

Of course, those who came to play because they wanted a badge have been warned: if they fail to carry out their duty as shine ambassadors, their badge will be revoked. And then they'd have nothing to attach to their Mambo Delight shoe bag!

So, why not take up the Shine Club challenge to learn something new?  

I'd also be interested to know:

Badge related questions

• Do you customise your shoe bag with badges or other additions? What are they?
• What dance related badge would go down well in your scene?

Shine related questions

• Do you have a 'Shine club' on your salsa/other dance scene?
• What are your favourite styles/shines?
• What YouTube shine videos have inspired you?

Add your comments below to let me know.

Red and Black

I've noticed from the photos that have been popping up on Facebook this week, that red and black were all the rage for Valentines themed parties.

As we all know, it's really cool to turn up late to a party, so here is my contribution to the Valentines theme:

View on Etsy

It's reversible, so you get to choose whether you want red or black. 

Review: Salsa at the Engine Shed

Ever since my most recent trip to the Engine Shed in Wetherby, I've been undecided about whether to post a review.  I know that, while my opinion isn't shared by everyone, it is shared by at least 10 people (that I know of) - and at £10 per entry that's at least £100 worth of revenue to the event.  I suspect there are are at least twice as many who weren't there for exactly the reasons I will describe below.

On the one hand I fully respect local promoters and the time and effort they put into keeping regular dance nights going... but on the other hand I'm a paying customer who doesn't really get a whole lot out of going there - and last Friday night I certainly didn't get £10 worth.

I have been going to the Engine Shed on and off for a couple of years now, and while I know a huge amount of people who can't get enough, I've never been a big fan. I go there because my friends do. If there's nothing better to do on a Friday night.

Salsa at the Shed happens on the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. As a venue, you couldn't ask for more - free parking, two lovely wooden dance floors, a bar and great lighting and sound. For £10 you get a class, a buffet, usually a show and an evening of social dancing - which sounds like a dream.

Unfortunately, if you're not interested in the class and arrive too late to take advantage of the buffet as I usually do, it still costs £10 - which makes for an expensive night compared to many other social nights that come in at £5 - £8 for the evening.

The people are lovely, welcoming and friendly.  It's slightly follower heavy - as are most events in the area, so if you're a follower, you'll probably need to ask the guys to dance - but that's totally normal.

There are a lot of fabulous dancers who would call themselves regulars - so no complaints there.

Where it loses me is the music.  If you're a serious salsa dancer (which I'm told I am) then you're probably a fan of 'serious' salsa music.  Or just salsa music. So when I'm greeted with an entire night of latin-pop crossovers, bossa novas, bachatas and funk tracks, I'm not really getting what I paid for.  As one friend said "If this wasn't advertised as a salsa night, it would be quite good."

Last time I went, my two best dances of the night were tangos, to bachata tracks. On a salsa night.

I don't mind a few of the more pop-py tracks being played now and then, (and I've been known to enjoy the odd bachata) but they don't inspire me to dance. In small doses, they don't ruin my night, but I do need 'proper' salsa music to make it a really good night.  That's what inspires me to dance. When you're coming off the floor after a dance with some of your favourite leaders and saying 'Thanks. That was... average.' you know that there's something wrong.

On last Friday night there were at least £100 worth of salsa dancers who weren't very happy. That's £100 worth of salsa dancers who only go once in a while, because they don't know that they'll enjoy it when they do go.  £100 worth of salsa dancers who would maybe part with their hard earned cash when there is a guest DJ who they know by reputation playing, and there was nothing else on. £100 worth of salsa dancers who are too worried about hurting feelings/egos to say anything.

£100 worth of salsa dancers who might go every fortnight if they just liked the music.

Just saying...

Salsa* Survival Kits

*Also available for other kinds of dances. 

I've been toying with the idea of making Salsa Survival Kits to sell for quite a long time now.

This weekend I finally got my act together and had a go at making one for a friend's birthday present (This one matches the shoe bag that another friend bought from me to give to the same person)

It's a miniature version of the shoe bags I make, equipped with all those little things that you find come in really handy on a salsa night (if you're a girl):

• Talc, for extra spin
• Deodorant for extra freshness
• Hand gel for extra hygiene
• Chocolate bar for extra energy
• Chewing gum for minty fresh breath
• Hair grips for hair emergencies
• Plasters for sore feet emergencies
• Safety pins for clothing emergencies

For the enthusiastic beginner, they help you to be prepared for your first nights out dancing in the clubs.  For the more experienced dancer, they help you keep all of your little extras in one place. (If you're anything like me, you're forever transferring bits and pieces from one shoe bag to another, and losing things in the process.)

There are still a few aspects of the idea to iron out -which is why, my dancing readers I have some questions for you:

Girls - what would be in your Salsa Survival Kit?

Boys - what would be in your Salsa Survival Kit?

If you were to buy a kit, would you prefer it to be fully stocked, or would you prefer to 'create your own' (i.e. you choose and buy the contents, I provide the bag and the label)?


As always - don't wait for me to start putting pictures up on my Facebook page or Etsy shop -  what with a full time job and two Open University modules on the go, I don't have a lot of time to be proactive in making stuff so if you want one, just ask!

On Being Tangoed

Last Saturday I spent the day in a studio in Roecliffe learning how to be better at tango. 

Adam, from White Rose Tango has been running all-day tango workshops for over three years now. I started my tango adventure in that very same studio after he talked me into giving it a go through the power of Smilies and exclamation marks on Facebook chat. (After all, who can resist such a round yellow face? – the Smiley’s, not Adam’s).

After a few years of offering the workshops at two levels – basics and improvers, he has changed the format of the improvers course to be ‘basics plus.’

Anyone who has had the ‘pleasure’ of learning tango will be acutely aware that even tasks as ‘basic’ as walking – something that we do every single day of our lives are actually quite difficult when you have another person glued to your frame. You shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that just because you’ve been dancing tango for years, you won’t get anything out of a course with the word ‘basic’ in it. 

The day itself is split into four hour long sessions, liberally sprinkled with breaks, cakes and cups of tea.

In the basics course, the sessions get progressively more difficult throughout the day.

The basics plus course starts with a revision of the most complex fourth lesson of the basics and goes on from there.  In basics plus, you get to push your skills further with different figures and more building blocks of tango such as sandwich steps, the ocho cortado, and even a little bit of a colgada by the end of the day.  With two teachers and a maximum of 10 people for the group you certainly get a lot more personal feedback and find out exactly what you can do to make your dancing even more brillianter than it already is.

Spending a whole day breathing, dancing and talking tango certainly has its benefits –  instead of having to digest and process all of the million and one things you need to improve in an hour (the length of a normal lesson), you get to be told about them again and again until your body starts to behave itself.  Or not.

If nothing else you have a fun day out in delightful and relaxed company, and go home with a smile on your face. And a very long list of things to fix.  If that’s not worth £50, I don’t know what is!

If you fancy starting from scratch, or honing your skills, hop on over to the White Rose Tango website to find out how to book yourself a place on the next course.

Pachanga

A couple of years ago, our salsa teachers used to split men and women at the start of class to warm up with shines. While us ladies learnt to be elegant and to spin fast, I couldn't help but notice that the men were learning to simultaneously bounce and glide across the floor. While I was learning to look pretty, they were learning to look cool.

I soon found out that they were doing was learning Pachanga.


The most I could manage in imitation was a comedy jerky movement which I quickly abandoned.  It turned out that Pachanga was impossible.  A class with Adolfo Indacochea at the GBSex pre-party and another with Melissa Rosado at Mambo City a few months later did nothing to convince me otherwise.  (Though I'm blatantly name dropping now, at the time I had no idea that I was attempting to learn from some of the pachanga greats!)

In spite of my promises to myself, fresh from a congress, camera fully loaded with clips from classes I’d taken, I never did study the videos from those classes in great detail, and so I never managed to crack that elusive pachanga.

At the Berlin salsa congress it all changed.  When I spotted three consecutive hours of pachanga workshops on the programme with greats such as Mouaze, Marco Ferrigno and Juan Matos I knew where I’d be spending my last tired afternoon of the congress – and by the end of the classes… I still couldn’t do it! 

My fears were confirmed when I tried to fit a bit of pachanga into a Juan Matos shine at my local salsa venue. 

“What are you doing?  Pretending to ski?”

“No.” I sulked and went back to doing something else.

I don’t remember consciously practising – and I never set aside and particular time to do so, but it was definitely in my head. And I definitely ‘pretended to ski’ around the house quite a lot when I got the chance.

Then one night, people suddenly wanted me to tell them how to do the basic pachanga step and I got accused of practising! 

That’s when I knew I could do it.

I can confirm that it's definitely not as simple as starting on your left foot and jumping to your right:

Comme il Faut

I'd just bought two pairs of Burjus and I'd just paid for my second Open University module when the slightly tipsy sounding Gisele emailed me from Argentina to ask if I still wanted a pair of tango shoes bringing back.

They're just over £100.  Is that OK?

It wasn't really OK - my bank account was looking barer than Mother Hubbard's cupboard but Christmas was just around the corner and I did deserve a nice present...

I emailed her back with my instructions:

Size 39*. 
You can choose the style.  
Here's a link to my Dance Shoes board on Pinterest for an idea of what I like.
Nothing too ordinary.

It was about a week before I got a cryptic message back:

OMG have just bought you the most amaaahhhhhzing shoes! 
Even Adam is impressed.

And Adam is a boy!! I think she was drunk again but she was on her honeymoon, so I reckon that's allowed.

It turns out that when you buy expensive shoes, you get what you pay for.

Check out the shoe bag(s) on this!

Each shoe is packed away in its own individual pocket of satin finish shoe bag.  AND it comes with an over the shoulder bag to put them away in, making them easier to carry and easier to store all those little extras that I usually cram into my shoe bag: hand sanitiser, fan, perfume, brush etc.

The individual shoe pockets give your precious shoes just that little extra protection and might well be something that I'm converted to as my taste in shoes is obviously getting a bit more expensive of late...

Naturally I will have to replace these shoe bags with my own hand-made version, because I shouldn't really be seen carrying anything but a Mambo Delight bag around with me, but for now, they're working out just nicely.

Oh - I nearly forgot!  The shoes:

That's right - they don't match!  And they certainly get a reaction - from people who just can't stop staring, to those who aren't quite sure, but don't really know how to tell me.  Regardless of whether people like them or not - they always comment.

My first proper pair of tango shoes are pretty special. When I worked in a shoe shop, I used to tell the children who didn't like their new trainers,  that they would make them run faster.  I don't think that these shoes actually make me dance better - but with the placement of the heel being in the optimum place, I genuinely think that they make it easier for me to keep my weight forward when I'm dancing.  

So now I just need to work on the posture, balance, leg extension, embrace etc... because when I'm wearing these babies, there's always going to be someone in the room looking at my feet. Hopefully they'll be so dazzled by the shoes they won't notice my clumsy footwork!

*Just in case anyone was thinking of buying me some shoes, I'm usually a size 40, but Comme il Faut come up bigger.  Thank you!

Burjus

Well hello there!  It's been a while hasn't it?

A New Year's Day sale on Etsy reminded me of my poor neglected shop and I realised that there's barely anything in there at the moment.  I keep buying fabric, but I never get round to pulling the sewing machine out of its nest in the bottom of the wardrobe unless someone's commissioned me to make something. So if you want something, do get in touch...

I'm intending to make more things this year. I was going to start this weekend, but I got a 5 season boxset of Dexter for Christmas, which means I've spent the weekend getting to know a loveable serial killer instead.  But soon.  I promise!

The good thing about not having blogged since September is that I've got a lot of things saved up to tell you about.  But don't worry, I'm intending to break it down into a series of several shorter posts.

I'll start with my not-so-new shoes.  While I was at the Berlin Salsa Congress taking a few awesome classes with Victor and Burju (amongst others), I got a marketing email telling me where there were some Burju shoes on sale, so I bit the bullet and ordered my first pair (Black Pearl), which happen to be the ones on the business card:

Apart from being the most comfy things I've had on my dancing feet, since my jazz shoes, they also draw a fair few compliments from strangers, my favourite of which was "Cracking shoes luv."  I was so wowed by my first pair, that I got straight back online and ordered a second, this time the Anyas:

Being a more luxury range than I usually buy, they come with a higher quality, branded shoe bag:

As you can see - it's windowed! 

The obvious advantage of this is that you can see which pair of shoes you're picking up as you leave the house so there's less chance of turning up to that party with shoes that clash with your outfit.  Also,  it makes it easier for you to stare at your pretty, pretty shoes.

However, once you've finished dancing the night away in a warm venue, and you carefully put your shoes in their bag, the window does tend to steam up, which suggests it's not quite as breathable as your sweaty shoes probably need.  

The solution? Ask me to make a shoe bag to match your shoes - then you won't need a window to see what's inside!

Halloween

A week ago I woke up from an afternoon nap to find an email from someone at instructables.

She'd seen last year's halloween costume on Craftster and wanted me to enter it into the Instructables Halloween costume contest.

So I did.  I reckon you should vote for me.

Argentinian Flag tango bag anyone?

I seem to be making a lot of shoe bags for myself lately, and not many for my shop. I do have a good excuse though...

My design process for shoe bags is quite... freestyle.  I get the fabric and sew it together, hoping for the best.  As a result, the first attempt isn't always perfect, so I keep it for myself.

For my Argentinian flag tango shoe bag, I was experimenting with the best way to create the sun beams, which got better as I made my way around the circumference of the sun.

Now, not only do I have a lovely new home for my tango shoes, but I'm good to go should anyone request an Argentinian flag shoe bag in future...

Gingham on the Inside

Doctor Who was back on our screens a few Saturdays ago - which was a perfect excuse to delay starting work on my latest OU assignment.  After all, I thought, it's only 45 minutes.  I can get cracking on my design work afterwards.

Instead of watching Doctor Who and then working on my assignment, I watched Doctor Who, and then spent 4 hours making a TARDIS shoe bag and ordering TARDIS coloured shoes from ebay to match:

And no, it's not bigger on the inside - it's gingham on the inside!

The shoes are TPS, and a style I've ordered before in gold so I didn't expect there to be any problems with them.  I took them out for a test-dance on Wednesday and they were okay... But the glittery straps are glittery on both sides, which makes them a bit scratchy around the toes, and I leave a trail of glitter everywhere I dance. Brings a new meaning to the phrase twinkle toes!

I'm not sure they'll look quite as fabulous for very long (once the glitter has all fallen off), but for now, I'll just enjoy being thoroughly coordinated.

Mini Moos

My Moo cards arrived on Friday.

I was in the middle of OU assignment chaos at the time, but it didn't stop me from taking a few minutes to stare at them and say "Oooh! Ahhhh!"

They're very pretty :)

Lime Green shoes

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been topping up my shoe supplies in preparation for the Berlin Salsa Congress, so I've been doing a lot of browsing on Ebay.

Here's a conversation I had with my boyfriend as a result:

Terrier Playnet Shoes

Leanne: Look at these lime green ones

Paul: You could wear them with some neon hotpants



Which is why I shouldn't take fashion advice from him.

Mooooo!

This is just lovely:

Wish I had a pet email robot...

Made to Order

A few months ago, a friend asked me to make a shoe bag to match the branding of his dance classes.  

So I did*:

Which just goes to show, if you have an idea for a shoe bag that you want to become a reality (and you don't have the time, inclination or sewing machine to put it together yourself), then you just need to ask...



*The graphic in the middle of the bag is their flyer.  He was planning to get an iron on transfer made to complete the bag.

Crocheted Characters

A while ago, I came up with a great idea for a birthday present for a friend called Steve.  So I made it for him and this is how it turned out:

Since Steve was in a band with a lot of my other friends, this first successful foray into the art of improvised amigurumi, spurred me on to make some more:

These consisted of most of the people in the rest of Steve's band Mambo con Rumbo (though the band line-up has changed a bit since then).

At this stage, there was still one important band member missing - and I'd already told him that he was impossible to make, but he looked so sad about it that I gave it a go anyway:

As it turned out that, either he wasn't impossible to make, or I am brilliant at crocheting.  I finished crocheting the band feeling proud of my wooly achievements and happy that I'd completed the challenge.

I toyed with the idea of whether I could make a crocheted anyone, but couldn't see how I'd make it into a feasible business if I didn't really know the people.

For a while, all was quiet on the crocheting front.  Until my boyfriend started complaining that he didn't have a little crocheted character.

"Well, you're not in a band are you?" I responded. "So you don't get one."

But when it got round to sorting out Christmas presents, I caved in and managed a pretty life-like representation of him too:

I'd posted all of these pictures on Facebook - mainly to show off my mean hook-based skills and gain admiration and respect from my friends.  

One day, one of my contacts -  a friend of a friend - contacted me on Facebook to ask if she could pay me to make some for an anniversary present for her boyfriend.  So I did, and it turns out I can do it if I don't really know the person too:

If you want one, get in touch and I'll see what I can do.

Also, if you can think of a name for a custom crocheted character type business, then shout it out.  In the meantime I'll be trading under the name of Mambo Delight.

A very shoe-y shoe bag

When I saw this fabric in my favourite fabric shop, I just had to buy it:

I resisted the temptation to make it into a dress, as suggested by my friend at Oakwood Aromatics and instead set about creating some lovely shoe bags.  They're only £12 each and two of them got snapped up almost as soon as I'd finished them.  Available from my Etsy shop.  Go on - treat yourself!

Brillante

When I was at Mambo City this year, I entered a prize draw - and then I won it!  Which is why I get to go to the Berlin Salsa congress in October.

I'm sharing a room with SalsaFeet who, as you'd expect with a name like that, has been buying new shoes like there's no tomorrow in preparation for our Berlin adventure.  I've pretty much accepted that I'll never be able to keep up on the shoe buying front now - but it doesn't stop that competitive edge from rearing it's ugly head from time to time and sending me straight across to ebay to see what sparkling beauties I can pick up on a budget.

This morning the Postman kindly dropped off a packet containing these:

"Oooooh", "Ahhhh" etc...

This is my first pair of Brillantes, and since they only seem to stock them up to a size 6 or 6.5 at the moment, it looks like poor SalsaFeet isn't going to get to review them with her marginally too large feet.

Brillante are another of those Hong Kong based companies - and unlike TPS, they don't seem to have a distribution hub in the UK -so your shoes come directly from Hong Kong. This can mean that it takes a a bit longer for them to get there.  Though saying that - it still took less than a week for mine to arrive.

In spite of the fact that they're currently cutting off the circulation to my big toes while I attempt to stretch them out a bit, I'm really pleased with them.  The pretty photos on their ebay listings aren't any exaggeration of what you get in real life and they come with a few little extras:

A pair of spare suede heel tips - not that the original ones on my shoes ever come off because I would never even dream of using my heels as breaks (ahem) - and this nicely branded shoe bag, which is a bit of a bummer because I'm in the business of making nice shoe bags.

On closer inspection the shoe bag isn't brilliantly made - the fabric is a bit plasticky - reminiscent of a cheap school satchel and I guess it would nicely trap that lovely after-dance shoe aroma inside.  It's not finished terribly well either - check out the zip placement:

So all in all you'd be better off with a nice breathable cotton Mambo Delight number!  

The design of the bag itself is a little more complex than the traditional drawstring bag - but I can really see the benefit of the zip pocket at the front so I'm tempted to experiment with some zips to see if I can come up with something similar.  Of course I've had a few ideas stacked up, just waiting to be sewn onto shoe bags for quite some time now, so I can't guarantee how fast that will happen. But I'm very open to my next project being to experiment with a different style of bag.  Any takers..?

I haven't taken my new shoes out for a spin yet, but if they hold up to a hardcore weekend at the Berlin Salsa Congress then I'll definitely buy from Brillante again.

As for those ladies with size 7s and larger - why not email Brillante and ask them about getting a larger size?  They seem to market themselves as a custom made shoe company and if you don't ask, you don't get!

Cutting the Ribbon

I keep meaning to write lots of posts about what I've been up to while I haven't been posting here.  It involves drawing round my hand a lot, large amounts of sewing for a wedding present, quite a lot of dancing, and winning a pass for the Berlin Salsa Congress.

Instead I'm going to let you know that I finally coaxed my pet photographer to take some nice shoe bag photos for me, meaning that I have finally opened my Etsy shop.