On Paper, Printing, and Process

So, I can admit it for us, we have spent the first few years of our cooperative existence without setting foot in the realm of branding. Perhaps we are too humble for our own good. Just this last week we realized the naivety of our ways - and our first foray into the realm of branding turns out, surprisingly, to be a hybrid mission statement of its own.

New bags! In a slew of bright fun colors and reusable to boot. As a coop, we are committed to reducing and re-using wherever we can. And the opportunity arose - as we started running out of our paper bags - to shift our customers' bag usage. I know many San Franciscans are hyper aware of their own impact on the environment, and I see plenty of folks carrying around their re-usable totes. So it is not far-fetched to snuff out the paper and start offering an eco-consious version of a bag. Not far-fetched at all to get our logo printed on there and promote this amazing store we have!

[That's where the branding comes in. And more of our mission statement comes into play when yrs trly prints up said bags locally with our logo.]

As our resident screenprinter, I printed up these new bags the other day at my print shop. I know a lot of people I talk to think the process of screenprinting sounds really exciting, so I thought I'd share a little bit about how it happens.

Basically, I create and print out a digital image onto transparent paper. Now, how to get that image onto a screen so that fabric can be printed? A "silkscreen" is fabric that is stretched across a metal frame, then coated with a photo-sensitive emulsion. When placed together with the transparent film in a lightbox, the emulsion on the screen softens where there is anything printed on the transparency. Then the screen gets rinsed until the emulsion is gone where it became soft inside the lightbox, and then the screen is dried, and then the screen is set up in a hinge so that it can be lifted up and down.

Above you can see the screen lifted up in the carousel after the printing of the bag, which is set up on a pallet for printing.

Almost done! Then the bag gets taken off the pallet and cured by going through the dryer, which is a giant machine with heat coils inside its lid and a conveyer belt below, and it scurries the bags along under the coils and out the other end.

At long last, we have our branded bags! Come buy something to put in one of them and tote our logo. We'll love you for it, and so will the planet.

By Helene of Culture Consumer

Summer Dressing

TMS peeps looking cute in summer dresses!

Item of the Day

Check out our item of the day!

Made out of soft bamboo jersey fabric, this asymmetrical dress is equal parts chic and eco-happy. A beautiful muted salmon color, it has an adjustable double-layered band at the hem that allows you to wear it as a fun and flirty dress or pulled up to wear as a blouse over jeans or leggings.

Our Newest Jewelry Designer

Welcome to the Mission Statement, Sarah Brevis!












































































ABOVE: Want to see them in person? All the pieces featured above can be found at the Mission Statement boutique.

The earthy yet sophisticated jewelry by Sarah Brevis references the architecture of India in its design, resulting in an elegant and casually exotic collection.

Feather-Crazy!

(Left: Nice and tidy!)











(Left: What a mess!)


As we all have witnessed over the past few months, the feather hair extensions trend has become wildly popular; not entirely surprising, considering how awesome + adorable they are! Although we are not a hair salon, we at TMS have been long-time feather extension fans, offering feather extensions at the boutique. However, we were never big fans of the huge beads that are typically used to keep the feather extensions in place against the scalp... instead, we use much smaller beads, in order to maximize comfort, and minimize hair damage for a seamless and barely visible extension. (See photos above, in which an example of our bead in the hair is shown on the right, and another salon's bead is pictured on the left. Below is a photo of the two beads placed side by side; our bead is on the right, and the bead typically used at salons is shown on the left.)

The craziest facet of the feather extensions trend is not the look of the feathers themselves, which can be as subtle as the wearer wants them to be, but the prices of the feathers! In the past few months, the price of feathers has increased by 800%, due to the rarity of the feathers themselves in conjunction with the demand for the feathers. The rooster tail feathers, which are also used by fishermen as lures, have become very hard to come by. In fact, this new trend has upset fishermen coast to coast as the feathers have now increased exponentially in price, selling now for at least $2 a strand, putting a damper on their sport. Here at TMS, we've been hit by the crazy price change as well. In spite of having to raise our prices too, we are still keeping our prices lower than the average salon. (Below: Estrella looking super cute all feathered out :)

As an alternative, or addition, to feather extensions, TMS is also the proud manufacturer of hand-made feather hairclips! Unique and adorable, these sculptural hair accessories also look great in any hair texture and color (see photo below!)

The Mission Statement celebrated the launch of Vanessa Gade's new line The Wright Collection with a debut of the pieces in the store last Saturday. This collection drew inspiration from the designs of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, specifically his series of stained glass windows. The Wright Collection does not disappoint, it embodies Vanessa's distinct architectural style and contemporary edge while introducing new rectangular shapes and lines. The exclusive sneak peak was a lot of fun and it was exciting to see Vanessa's beautiful work. The collection is available now through custom order and it will be arriving soon at The Mission Statement!

oda's new 2011 collection available now

Get oda's new 2011 collection exclusively at the mission statement.

oda's 2011 collection, evanescence of eventide, is an ode to the fleeting beauty of dusk -- shades of grey, flashes of pink, dusty rose, silvery sparkles of moonlight and stars...hazy days flowing into endlessly romantic nights. Eventide is an inevitable passing of time, returning day after day, manifested in an infinite number of ways, only to disappear in a moment of obscurity.