I’ve been thinking a lot about bags.
Here is my first stab at it.
Available in my Etsy store…
ME GUSTA / ISS:18:12.09
If you’ve ever visited Mexico you know about the friendship bracelet obsession down here. Mexican teens wear the brightly knotted bracelets from wrist to elbow and tourists flock to the stalls that sell 100’s of different styles and colours of this basic accessory.
Meet Kate Miss. Kate has her own jewelry line – ‘For Me, For You’ – which is inspired by the friendship bracelets of her youth but are updated with gorgeous chain and mature colour palettes. I thought I had seen every iteration of the friendship bracelet in my time down here but Kate has proven me (happily) wrong.
The weirdest thing is that when I first got to Mexico I drew up some necklaces that looked remarkably like the ones that Kate Miss designs – only with leather instead of friendship bracelet. Because sourcing things here takes forever I’m only just tracking down all the bits and pieces needed for my designs. It’s interesting how ideas seem to pop into consciousness simultaneously…
Visit her website here.
PV / ISS:18:12.09
Fire wood needed.
The evenings have cooled down considerably in PV and V and I are hoping to take advantage of the lower temperatures by using our patio fire chimney as much as possible. We currently burn all of our paper products (Puerto Vallarta still doesn’t have a recycling program) but paper fires last for about 4 minutes before everything settles into ash. Lame.
As of yet, no fire wood has been spotted on our daily travels throughout the city…
(via nomadic sun)
30 12 2009
SCOUT & CATALOGUE / ISS:23:12.09
I have a lot of art and sewing supplies and almost no storage space so with the scraps from the Good Things Collection I’ve started to sew storage bags. I wish I could sell them in my Etsy shop but since most things cost upwards of $25 to ship they will have to remain in Mexico for now.
Just like me.
TEXTILES / ISS:11:12.09
Today will be a day of tie-dying. I bought a bunch of garment dyes in Vancouver and can’t wait to get started. Up until now I’ve been only bleach dying because I can’t find reliable dyes in Puerto Vallarta. Now I have the ability to pigment dye AND discharge dye. Oh the possibilities…
(image via cosmic dust)
29 12 2009
TEXTILES / ISS:10:12.09
Another great Christmas gift was Lena Corwin’s, ‘Printing by Hand’, a book that gives simple and reassuring instructions for block printing, stenciling and screen printing. I spent about $300 dollars on art supplies when I went back to Vancouver for the holidays and can’t wait to start experimenting.
Printing by Hand is available online here.
(bottom image via weird friends)
TEXTILES / ISS:09:12.09
My favourite Christmas gift was this beautiful block stamp from India carved out of teak. It’s so pretty it may never be used for stamping…
26 12 2009
SCOUT & CATALOGUE / ISS:22:12.09
A friend found Scout & Catalogue on the style blog, ‘where the lovely things are‘ – thought I would share…
I’ll be home in Mexico early this week after a lovely Christmas with family and friends and back to regular posting. Can’t wait!
18 12 2009
TEXTILES / ISS:13:12.09
My mom and I spent the day at Granville Island running Christmas errands and we stumbled into the Maiwa Supply Shop in the Net Loft. I already new about Maiwa’s main store, which sells textiles and exports from India, but didn’t know that they had opened a tiny store that sells everything you might need to make their textiles yourself. Even if Indian textiles are not your cup of tea, if you are interested in any type of textile treatment this is the store to visit. They even have pre-bagged tie dye kits for $20, one of which is coming home with me to Mexico…
15 12 2009
ME GUSTA / ISS:21:12.09
13 12 2009
SCOUT & CATALOGUE / ISS:21:12.09
I recently added more stock to Scout & Catalogue’s Etsy store…
11 12 2009
ME GUSTA / ISS:20:12.09
I just spent a week in LA selling Scout & Catalogue at the Unique LA gift show. My friends Sophie and Steve were wonderful and let me stay in their tiny apartment and fill it with pillows (50, 22″ cushions don’t make for a lot of living space). They have just bought a house and it is an EXTREME fixer upper and in exchange for free room and board I helped them with some of their reno’s.
Over the past few months I have started to become more and more interested in couples that are buying run-down homes and spending their time and hard earned money renovating them on their own. I have been really inspired by 2 bloggers that are both slowly refurbishing their very old and very beat-up homes. Both of them have different taste than myself (and each other) but their passion for staying true to the original spaces while still reflecting their own personal aesthetic is really inspiring. The top 2 photos are from Katy Elliot’s house in New England and the bottom 2 are from Anna’s renovation blog in Newburgh, New York.
I am still digging paint out from under my fingernails…
TEXTILES / ISS:12:12.09
Heavy embroidery on black.
My mom wore a black velvet muumuu with multicoloured embroidered flowers while she was pregnant. Over years of playing ‘dress-up’ I eventually destroyed it only to regret it now, 30 years later…
(via cosmic dust)
RANDOM/ ISS:19:12.09
I lost my favourite silver bracelet going through customs on my way home from LA. I also didn’t get a chance to go to the Rose Bowl Flea while I was in town which is apparently where the above jewelry is being sold. I don’t know the booth number but with pieces this awesome it would be worth scouring the whole venue.
(via cosmic dust)
10 12 2009
ME GUSTA / ISS:19:12.09
Community Shop is a pop-up shop that Commune Design has opened in their studio space in West Hollywood. They have collaborated with many artists and designers that all make their goods by hand and it looks AMAZING. Wish I was still in LA to take a peek. Visit them online here.
09 12 2009
SCOUT & CATALOGUE / ISS:20:12.09
I just spent a week in LA in the coldest weather I have ever experienced there (2 degrees!?) to attend the Unique LA show. I’ve never been in a gift show before and the experience was a great learning for me in the do’s and don’ts of selling cushions to strangers. Can’t wait until my next show…
RANDOM/ ISS:18:12.09
I believe you are officially old when you find yourself thinking how much this girl will regret her tattoo in a few years instead of focusing on the obviously awesome jewelry. 30 is clearly just around the corner…
(via knight cat)
06 12 2009
ROAD TRIP/ ISS:10:12.09
The Unique LA show is right on the outer edges of the LA fashion district. This morning I took a drive through the bustling streets lined with tons of little shops selling knock-off bags, jeans and shoes. More interesting to me were the fabric and notion stores that seemed to sell everything you could ever need to make soft goods. Downtown is quickly shedding it’s shady past and becoming one of the go-to neighborhoods in LA. Make sure to check out both downtown AND the fashion district the next time you are visiting.