A few new things

I found some beautiful animal printed hair-on-hide leather a few months ago that begged to be made into cuffs. What's even better is I backed the bracelets with another color of leather, so they're completely reversible. I guess you would call them Twofers, you get two in one!

They will be available in the shop next week.

Color Spotting

In and around my studio are different mediums that are bursting with color: My prismacolor pencils (that have served me well through fashion school), a stack of colored magazines (sometimes I buy Vogue Japan), my watercolor palette (that has been horrendously abused by my brush) and melange pastel yarn threads.

Sometimes little spots on your desk or in the corners of your bookshelf are the greatest sources of color and inspiration.
All you have to do is look.

Design and Development: Fabric Sourcing

I love collecting scraps of fabric, as you probably already know from my sketchbook. I've already hoarded a crazy amount. Don't even get me started on stores that will let me cut to my hearts content. I have been known to take longer at a leather store than in a dressing room at Zara. 

Sourcing is where I start to form color stories and ideas based on how the fabrics speak to me. Sometimes it's the other way around and I have the idea first before I begin the find the right fabric. Usually you find most basic fabrics on the store level, but the really special stuff -the stuff that I dream about- needs to be ordered from suppliers. Those often have minimums that are incredibly high. (We're talking hundreds of square feet/yardage, sometimes a thousand).

Finding that balance between price and meeting minimums, you usually have to be a bit more creative. Maybe it's finding something in between or trying to develop the effect yourself. It definitely helps to think outside the box and sometimes DIYing just gives you better results.

Collection Update: Meet Judy

For the past few months, I've been laboriously working away at my new collection. I'm excited to be adding a few pieces of clothing to compliment the Love at First Blush accessory line.

Ever since I inked down these designs, I've been tweaking and editing every look. They've changed somewhat from the initial ideas to when I've draped each pattern on the Judy form. The fun part now is scouting a Montreal Fashion photographer to capture the vision that's been floating in my head.

My studio space and my best friend for the past few months, Judy.

A Trip to my Favorite Leather Store

A trip to my leather supplier is like walking into a bright large candy store. There's over 1000 square feet of printed, metallic, patent, and colored skins in every different animal you can think of. Sometimes it feels a little claustrophobic as the aisles are tight and I fear that a huge roll of cowhide will fall onto me.

I picked out a few different leather skins, but I was very tempted to buy more.

I've included the Selby's video of Mitch Alfus, one of New York's leather kings, as I thought it was fitting for this post. It's simply touching and wonderfully documented. If you have ten minutes to spare, you should watch it.

A Study of Roses: Sources of Inspiration

via tumblr, weheartit, beautyineverything, Camilla Akrans

When I'm creating an inspiration board, I compile a stack of tear sheets from my favorite magazines and images I've collected over a period of time. I got into this habit of tearing magazine pages when I was 12 with my first subscription of Seventeen magazine. I like to make a collage of fashion tears, images and thread colors/fabric scraps for colour inspiration, which all fuel my creativity.

At this moment, I'm enchanted by roses. Expect to see some rose inspired items for the new collection, and maybe something mythical and mysterious.

Just a reminder, you still have time to enter my giveaway HERE which ends tonight.