Terms and conditions of sale and return.

Postage and packaging in the UK - £4.50 Royal Mail special delivery.

For shipping in Europe and worldwide please email for pricing details. UK postage costs will not be used for European and Worldwide shipping.

Items delivered within 1 - 2 working days in the UK.

Made to order or commissioned items please allow 7 – 14 working days for delivery in the UK.

Please allow 14 – 28 days for overseas delivery.

You can pay by debit, credit card and Paypal which is quick and easy, you do not have to have a Paypal account simply go to add to cart and follow the steps.

Return any unwanted item for a full refund within 14 days, after this time an exchange or gift card will be issued. Please ensure that the item is in a resaleable condition and obtain proof of postage as we cannot be responsible for items lost in the post.

The postage cost of returning the item cannot be refunded unless the item is faulty or damaged.

I am committed to creating and manufacturing products using good quality fabrics and fibres which are hard wearing, well made and long lasting, using recycled fabrics, reused fibres and new fabrics.

If you would like to join the mailing list, find out about new products and collections please email info@mariama.co.uk and put mailing list in the subject header.

You can also follow mariama at mariama.posterous.com and on facebook.

Contact number +44 7905 503 059

Data protection act 1998 and mariama.co.uk privacy policy

I respect your privacy and will collect your information for the sole purpose of processing your order; your contact details will not be passed on to a third party and will be bound by the data protection act 1998. If you wish to have your details deleted or not to receive newsletters I would be happy to remove your details from the database at your request.

all products of mariama and mariama tushemeriirwe (including the logo) are copyright protected and are trademarks of mariama.

Stockists:

Nash Interiors, 17 - 19 Carlton Street, Nottingham NG1 1NL 0115 950 7548

Ms Afropolitan online
Ms Afropolitan Boutique

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Blog Archives

2004 - 2005

2009

2010

3rd October

Jeans for Genes is a UK childrens' charity that aims to change the world for children with genetic disorders.
Individually, genetic disorders are rare but together they affect 1 in 25 children born in the UK - that's more than 30,000 babies each year. Their associated health problems mean that genetic disorders are the biggest killer of children aged 14 years and under.
Jeans for Genes Day is an annual fundraising event and takes place on Friday 7th October 2011
Mariama will be donating 10% of all denim product sales between Monday 3rd – Friday 7th October 2011 to Jeans for Genes, included are the dark denim heart cushion, denim journals, dark denim square and the three colour union jacked wall hanging.

26th September

Happy 2nd birthday online and competition give away
It’s my birthday today two years online, designing and manufacturing fashion, accessories and homeware handmade in England.
To celebrate I will be giving away one hand knitted scarf, you can choose the style from the new range and the scarf can be created in the colour of your choice, to enter please email your answer to info@mariama.co.uk, place in the subject line - 2nd birthday give away, answer the following question:
Name one of the styles in the new Mariama Autumn 2011 scarf range
The winner will be announced on 10th October.

10th September

Well how busy can one girl get, I taught my first intermediate static trapeze class at the beginning of the month, I will be leading another at the end of October but this one will be an absolute beginner’s taster course as part of Derby Black History Season 2011 events. It is for those who may be interested in trying a new type of fitness or would like to just have a fun half day taster session. Excited.

This year’s Derby Black History Season 2011 themes are Community, Lifelong achievement and Young people, I wanted to give something back to the community and thought sharing my skills would be a great way of doing this.

The price per person is usually £15 but has been reduced to £5.00 for this event; spaces are limited so booking in advance is advisable.

Saturday 29th October 2011

Session 1 - 4.00 – 5.30pm and

Session 2 5.30 -7.00pm

At Emma’s Pole Dance and Ariel Arts fitness, 91 Perkins Yard, Mansfield Road, Derby, email: info@mariama.co.uk or call 07905 503 050 for more details.

7th September 20110

Photos, feedback from circus skills - Static trapeze workshop at Emma's Pole Dance and Ariel Arts fitness in Derby on 3rd September

After taking up the circus skill static trapeze, I never thought I might have the opportunity to teach one day but that happened on Saturday, it was my first opportunity to teach static trapeze, it went really well and I thought I might share the feedback I got from the workshop and the photos of the students work.

'Loved back balance - yeah lovely, friendly teacher!, very helpful!'
'Learnt more in this workshop and good valve for money!'
'Really enjoyed the class, very friendly!'
'Brill!'

My new Autumn line of hand knitted scarves are now available: Supergang, Cowl away, Tomboy united and One track mind, all designed and manufactured in England, made to order by Mariama, check back for more styles added to the range throughout Autumn.

Mariama and Jeans for Genes – Jeans for Genes is a UK children's charity that aims to change the world for children with genetic disorders.

Individually, genetic disorders are rare but together they affect 1 in 25 children born in the UK - that's more than 30,000 babies each year. Their associated health problems mean that genetic disorders are the biggest killer of children aged 14 years and under.

Jeans for Genes Day is an annual fundraising event and takes place on Friday 7th October 2011.

Mariama will be donating 10% of all denim product sales between Monday 3rd – Friday 7th October 2011 to Jeans for Genes, included are the dark denim heart cushion, denim journals, dark denim square and the three colour union jacked wall hanging.

July charity donation give away - The two lucky people whose names have been drawn at random are Ann London Summers and The first lady London, your prizes of The My heart lavender small and large are on their way.

A donation will be given to ECPAT UK - End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes and DEC - Disasters Emergency Committee.

10th June

This is Bazaar organised a meet up in conjunction with International Etsy craft party 2011, Derby’s Etsy craft party was held last night at Cafe b Sadlergates, they do an amazing range of teas, have wifi access and take cathedral quarter discount card so a great choice for the party, we had quite an inspiring evening, some amazing crafts with great talented people.
Check out www.luluandyou.com/blog - handmade dresses and homeware by Gina, www.lauramossop.com/portraits - beautiful water colour portraits, and screen prints inspired by time by www.lesleywarrington.co.uk . The Etsy craft party event was created to celebrate handmade, bring makers together as a support network and skill share.

4th May

Margate, Vegan roast dinners, all of a sudden its summer.
Well I don’t know about you but I love going way but I’m just as happy to come home again, I decided to spend my time off in England and spend half at home with the rest as a staycation (Brighton, London and Margate), chilling with friends and family, sightseeing, sitting in cafes people watching, loving it.

I was taken to a sculpture exhibition – The great wall of Vagina by Jamie McCartney - www.greatwallofvagina.co.uk – It took the artist five years to complete with women ranging from 18 – 76, included are mothers, daughters, identical twins, transgendered men and women as well as women pre and post natal and another one pre and post labiaplasty. What I found upsetting but also empowering for the women involved (and for potential viewers) was that there are also casts of women some with distressing conditions or who have been through some horrible trauma. We were having a discussion with the artist about the works, if they were seen as erotic and to tell you the truth it is more biology lesson than erotic art.
Check out the link with more details above, very interesting.

10th April

Happy Spring time everyone!

In conjunction with St Georges day on 23rd April and the royal wedding (congratulations William and Katherine), what better time to get all patriotic with Three colour denim Union Jacked wall hanging - a great statement piece for your living room, Union jacked T-shirt and the St Georges T-shirt all with 50% off through to the end of April, Happy Spring Sale!

Don’t forget the Two hearts shopper and Multi fabric joy heart cushion are also included in the sale, Happy Spring Sale!

10th April

Things I’ve discovered this week:

Rhubarb is a summer veg – I’ve always associated rhubarb with warm winter desserts namely rhubarb crumble with custard and I thought it was a fruit... who knows!
I received some rhubarb in my box delivery from soundbites and made a mean rhubarb crumble... yumm!

How much I loved pottery in school, after taking a pottery class with Artcore, Derby on Friday, it really got my creative juices flowing and I loved every minute of it.

How inspired I have been by C4Dream School, the classes, the content, I’ve wanted to cook and get involved in other creative projects, reviving new skills like pottery.

21st March

Check out Derby Alumni Ladies only networking event at Derby University in conjunction with This is Bazaar, I will be showcasing My heart Lavender and Two colour pillow lavender filled sachets along with other artist and designers' work at the event March 23rd 6 – 8pm.

Check the link for more details and follow This is Bazaar on twitter.

10th March

Events
Come and join me at the following up and coming market days:
Creative Cornucopia at Old Spitafields Market on Friday 25th and Sunday 27th March 2011
Inspiration
I had the pleasure of speaking at Burton Libraries event for International women’s day 8th March 2011.
Part of my talk included my top five ideas which can help motivate and unlock your inspiration and creativity.
1. Turn off the TV – this sounds weird but the amount of time people spend watching TV when they could be making, drawing and just feeling creative.
2. Use the library it is more than just books, you can find talking books, a wide range of magazines on all type of subjects, DVD’s and CD’s, if you are on a tight budget there is no need to buy new books, DVD’s or CD’s, you can widen the type of music you listen to and you might just find a different genre that you might like.
3. Go to galleries, museums and exhibitions, we are very lucky in this country as a lot of galleries are free.
4. Go to a dance class, go to church or go out nightclubbing with a friend, it’s not just about drinking but having a good boogie, dancing and singing make you feel good.
5. Go for a walk or take up cycling, both great ways to get some fresh air, have time to let your mind wonder and feel inspired by nature.

Spring sale
Look out for the spring sale starting on Monday 14th March, selected items with 50% off.

9th March

Whow! What an inspirational day and evening, my first ever speech and PowerPoint presentation speaking about my journey as a designer, I felt very honoured to be asked to speak alongside Janet Bennett, an author who documents black history in Burton, Jackie’s books include - Tales My Mother Told Me, Memories in Colour and The Little Book of Caribbean Wisdom, Hayley Di Rito and Blue Yates – songstress and song writer with acoustic guitarist and erotic artist Jackie Adshead, I love Jackie's use of colour in her work and I know I want to add some of her work to my collection, many ladies expressed their gratitude and highlighted how inspiring the evening was for them, I feel so proud to have been part of International Women's day 2011. Interesting conversation with a lady at the event, she suggested that some people feel they are boring or that there is nothing interesting about them, we are all beautiful and have interests, something to contribute, special and real to the human race.
Interestingly there is a discussion on networking on BBCradio4 Women's hour about networking, I find networking a bit hard and covered networking and my experiences in my talk last night, but listening to the programme I can refocus networking and how I can make it work for me.

26th February

Format festival Derby 2011 - I know what I like when I like what I see
Derby is on the map, formatfestival.com being held from 4th March – 3rd April 2011 at DerbyQuad and various venues across Derby. I am not one for name dropping and usually don’t know a particular artist or designer but will always strive to find out more about their work and them as artists, but I know what I like, when I like what I see.
Format festival this year highlights street photography, one area of photography where we all can be famous for 15 minutes, the beauty with festivals like format are that you can get more information on how to get better effects, meet award winning photographers and listen to them talk about their areas of expertise and influences.
The genre of Street photography I guess is quite new, with the advent of The Sartorialist – fashion street photography blogger and street portraits photographers the likes of Bruce Gilden awarding winning Magnum photographer who is drawn to strong street portraits, who will be working on a new commission for Format festival and interestingly Derby will be his muse. Looking forward to the festival and seeing his work.
I really like Irina Werning work, looking at old photographs and reproducing the image from her own prospective - http://irinawerning.com/back-to-the-fut/back-to-the-future/

23rd February

Applying for jobs, 'Job centres', CV and cover letter writing, application forms - my observations
I often write about things that interest me or I feel strongly about, hopefully to promote change in attitudes or bring about wider thinking. Listening to my boss at my part time job whilst he goes through CVs it occurs to me that there are some service issues from ‘job centres’ when applying for work - interview skills, dressing for interview, what is expected, CV techniques and covering letters.

He has a yes and no pile, in articles I have read in the past and from racial equality research it is usually non English names which end up in the No pile, this was not to be on this occasion and it seemed the quality of the application was what got people on to the yes pile.

In his yes pile were well presented applications, interesting people with interesting hobbies which proved them team players, relevant experience to the work they were applying for, on the no pile CVs with half completed application forms, scruffy hand written covering letters on paper torn out of notebooks, incorrect details in conjunction with the job applied for - applying for a 20 hour job but expressing that 30 hours is required and highly over qualified.

My question and query here is: Why do ‘Job centres’ career advisers at colleges and universities not provide information, tuition and guidance on how to complete a good application form, write and submit a presentable CV tailored to each job applied for with covering letter, interview techniques and interview dress?

There are job clubs which are available to members of the public which are independent of the ‘job centre’, information on these is not given to job seekers unless they ask for them, something is wrong with this I think, ‘job centres’ should be just that and should have a dedicated team who coach, guide and inform all job seekers about interview technique, CV and covering letter writing, interview dress and how to complete an application form.

It appears that if you wish to be at the top of your game then you have to pay a dedicated company to write a CV for you, but this should be part of what the ‘job centre’ provides, there needs to be a change in helping individuals and providing more information or including in schools, colleges and universities tuition on how to apply for work and what employers are looking for.

I was never taught interview techniques or CV writing and completing application forms but got information from job clubs on how to conduct myself, but this information needs to be given to school leavers and anyone who is a job seeker so they stand the best chance in contributing to the wider society and have a good self worth.

29th January


Mariama will be joining Hand made Birmingham next Saturday 5th February as we start back from the Christmas break.
Other dates for your diary and up and coming markets day at Hand made Birmingham - Saturday 5th March and Saturday 2nd April 2011.

16th January


Great customer service, I have been watching Michel Roux – Service – it is great to see catering industry leaders passionate about great customer service in the UK, inspiring young people to amazing careers in catering and hospitality and mentioning that good service from shops and restaurants is quite lacking in this country.
Mary Portas will be bringing a new show to Channel 4 – Secret shopper which will be working with high street shops and well known brands to give shoppers the great service they deserve.
Mary Portas has suggested that people use Twitter to complain about bad service, I have decided on going I will complain to the shop I have had bad service from but also complement good service too.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been to restaurants, shopped for groceries, had coffee in cafe shops and a glass of wine in nice bars. I value great service, enjoy repeat shopping in my local grocery’s, favourite restaurants, bars and cafes, I am known by name, get service with a smile, great food, information on new ingredients and how to cook seasonal food. I think we can vote with our pounds and feet, if you have had bad service do something about it, we deserve to be treated well as shoppers.

10th January

New Year blog

Inspired by Start - a new initiative to help people across the UK lead more sustainable lives and to show what a more energy efficient, cleaner and healthier future could look like.

I have created 11 New Year ideas for the year 2011 that inspire me.

1. Throw a shwopping or swishing party - As well as shopping, now you can go shwopping. Why not hold a shwopping party - your friends can bring along anything that they want to shwop and you can all have some fun, save some money and know that things have gone to a good home. Swishing is a clothes and accessories swapping party, categorise your clothing in vintage, high street and designer.

2. Start baking – I remember baking as a child and loved it then, so really this is one I should be doing more of, I love the vegan and allergy bakers Blue Lotus and could eat their triple chocolate cake everyday of the week.

3. Start gifting your time. There's nothing quite like receiving a thoughtful, hand-crafted gift, so why not start spending your time in making your own presents? If you're concerned that a gift might just gather dust then you could give vouchers or 'experiences' to family and friends. How about lessons to teach a skill that you have (piano lessons!), or a promise to babysit?

4. Start wearing vintage - I have been a fan of second hand / vintage shopping since the age of 11, you can find some amazing items which turn out to be one off pieces, try going to vintage markets, antique shows and car boots sales too, it’s a great pastime. Now second hand has been labelled as vintage you get specific boutiques that have handpicked pieces from all eras.

5. Buy only what you need, buy less but better quality so that the item lasts longer, treasure your possessions.

6. Start exercising outdoors – this could be as little as a winter walk in and around where you live, walk to work or buying a bike. If cost is an issue look for your nearest cycle club they would be able to advise you on refurbished bikes, cycle equipment and everything you need to get started. www.cyclederby.co.uk

7. Gym memberships soar at this time of the year as everybody rushes in to burn off the traditional holiday excess. This year, instead of using the gym where treadmills, Jacuzzis, the lighting, TV's and radios all use phenomenal amounts of energy, why not embrace nature and run outside instead? It's lighter on your wallet and it'll get you some fresh air too.

8. Be happy with what you have, work harder for things you want to achieve. Give thanks for those who appreciate you. Laugh till you cry.

9. Buy local, shop with the local grocer, baker, look for handmade gifts made in England by local craft designer makers – www.etsy.com

10. Suss out your local markets and get there early, thereby buying locally and snapping up a bargain. Farmers' Markets provide great sustainably sourced food options as well as gift ideas - (http://www.farma.org.uk ).

11. Think more positivity, easier said than done I here you say, but there is a lot to be said for positive thoughts and actions.

The thoughts words and actions journal is a perfect start for all your ideas, inspirations, poetry, sketches and daily thoughts, available in A5 desk size or A6 and A7 handbag or pocket.