Wednesday 25 May 2011
Stripes!
I'm really excited to use some fun striped fabrics in my designs for this current Spring/Summer season! I've opted for fresh, bright shades of green and blue...here's a sneak peek:
Tweet! Tweet!
Well, I've gone and done it. I've finally started a Twitter account for my clothing line. I have joined the vast and infinite world of social media marketing. Yikes! I credit my strength to my wonderful friend, Cassie. She gave me the courage to do this and has been very inspirational to me time and time again! Thanks, Cassie! I'm working on a Facebook page for the company as well so stay tuned! Then be sure to "like" my page, or else!!! ;)
You can follow mortar & pestle apparel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mortarpestleapp
Also, check out Cassie's website: http://www.cassiescamera.com/blog/ She is an incredibly gifted photographer and her talent is reflected in each photo she takes. From engagement photos, to wedding photos, family and (soon to come!) fashion photography, Cassie creates magic with her photographic talents. She's been a dear friend for many years and I am constantly blown away at her endless creative abilities! Cassie can also be found on Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/CassiesCamera
http://twitter.com/#!/CassiesCamera
You can follow mortar & pestle apparel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mortarpestleapp
Also, check out Cassie's website: http://www.cassiescamera.com/blog/ She is an incredibly gifted photographer and her talent is reflected in each photo she takes. From engagement photos, to wedding photos, family and (soon to come!) fashion photography, Cassie creates magic with her photographic talents. She's been a dear friend for many years and I am constantly blown away at her endless creative abilities! Cassie can also be found on Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/CassiesCamera
http://twitter.com/#!/CassiesCamera
Friday 20 May 2011
Fashion! In Calgary!
Last night I had the privilege of attending the Alberta Fashion Week Opening Night Gala with two of my wonderful friends, Mackenzie and Jenn. Mackenzie scored us (along with her gorgeous friend, Ashley) front row seats for the Fashion Show, held at the Nat Christie Centre in Calgary. It was a great evening filled with mingling with the fashion "who's who" of Calgary and, of course, drinking lots of wine!
The lineup showcased Spring/Summer collections from two Calgarian retailers, Apartment 22 and Mealan, and closed with Spring/Summer from Canadian retailer, Bellissima.
Here are some action shots from the show (the models were really quick, so blurry photos are what I ended up with!)
The lineup showcased Spring/Summer collections from two Calgarian retailers, Apartment 22 and Mealan, and closed with Spring/Summer from Canadian retailer, Bellissima.
Here are some action shots from the show (the models were really quick, so blurry photos are what I ended up with!)
Monday 16 May 2011
WOVEN
Here are a few pictures of Woven Studios; my shared studio space where I spend 90% of my time lately. I moved into this studio in March and it has been an incredible experience so far. I share this East Van studio with a handful of very talented fashion designers who have all been so helpful and gracious to me; helping me with everything from answering pattern drafting questions to showing me alternative ways to set in zippers, button placements, providing feedback with my designs, helping build my website....the list goes on. I owe so much to these ladies and greatly appreciate their help and generosity. Here are a few photos of the studio:
This is my space (mind the mess, please!)
Thanks Rob!!!!
This post is dedicated to Chris' dad, Rob...and the amazing leather work he does as a hobby. I'm honoured to have three of his pieces of work and I just wanted to say Thanks to him for these amazing gifts. Rob is an exceptional tooler and has hundreds of fun stamps and knives and gadgets he uses to create these one-of-a-kind pieces that he graciously makes for friends and family. Here are my three!
The first piece I received as a gift was my wallet. I wanted a men's-style wallet but with a 'feminine feel' to it; so Rob tooled an owl on one side of it and my late grandma's name, Velma B, on the other side! The second piece I received was the cognac-colored shears carrier. I use this now everyday for my fabric shears; it has my name tooled on the reverse side. And, lastly, two weeks ago, Rob gave me a shoulder bag! This gift blew me away; the photos don't do any justice to the amount of hard work that went into this, and its complexity. This bag is hand-laced, tooled, and fully leather lined. Incredible! I am very lucky and proud to carry this shoulder bag and can't wait to fill it with picnic goodies on some motorbike rides this spring/summer!
Thank you Rob!!!
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Vancouver. 2010. In an e-nutshell...
Well I don't really know how or where to start...but last year was the greatest, most emotionally trying year of my life. So many changes, challenges and hurdles to jump through...but I made it, and am much stronger as a result.
In early January I moved into an amazing apartment in historic Gastown with my roommate Courtney (who also attended from Blanche MacDonald, for Fashion Merchandising). How can I sum up my first few months of Vancouver life with Court... Two single girls living in Vancouver. That is about as far as I'm going to go with that one. All in all, it was a blast, both of us learning the city, exploring, meeting new people, taking each other out on dates, drinking copious amounts of cheap wine...oh ya, and going to school... There was so much going on all the time! In February this city erupted with the Olympics and we were so privileged to have a perfect view of nightly fireworks from our balcony and took in as much as we possibly could of all the festivities (mostly the free stuff anyhow). Luckily our apartment was only blocks away from campus so we didn't have to battle the insanity that became public transit during that couple of weeks. I had to tote around my garment construction tools (big ol' sharp rulers, shears, etc) through streets congested with thousands of Europeans in track suits every day... Going to school on Robson during the Olympics, with the rest of the world getting silly drunk outside our campus walls, reminded me of going through my final exams when the Flames made the playoffs in 04/05 or whenever that was...My fondest Olympic memory, and something I'll never forget, was the wave of emotion I felt when I heard the entire city cheering and singing the Canadian anthem after the victorious hockey win. Goosebumps. It really was an emotional day.
After the mass exodus of humans at the end of February, life went back to "normal". Both of our programs really kicked into high gear in the spring and we quickly changed from party mode into school mode. (with some exceptions of course...after all, we did live next door to the Cambie...)
My dad turned 60 years old in April, and I also got to spend a few days with my mom and Tom in Elbow, Sk over Easter. So that was a great month! Lots more wine! I remember joking with Tom at the dinner table that I was going to end up back in Vancouver as the only starving student suffering from gout! I also went to Seattle on a mini adventure with my good friend Katrina (who I met and graduated from fashion design with) - which was an amazing little trip! Made some friends with some pinball nerds at Shortys, stayed at an awesome hostel and really got to know each other outside school- which was a refreshing break for us both!)
In June I got to go back to Calgary and see some friends I'd missed terribly. Hit up Sled Island for all it was worth (including an epic Melvins show!) went on a really bad blind date (ha!), got to catch up with friends over lunches and late night Wendy's, and left Calgary with a mild wine flu hangover.
July: best. month. ever. I meant the most amazing person and fell in love. I met the love of my life in early July and have spent the last almost 10 months being completely twitterpated. Chris has been my best friend, confidant and best solo support team I could ever ask for. He's my #1 fan (after my mom, of course) and I wouldn't have had the strength to have pursued my career as I have without his constant support. mush, mush, mush....I know...but its all true!
The year ended in a whirlwind of final projects being completed, pulling all-night sewing sessions day after day, living off rice crackers, peanut butter and coffee (which, turns out, makes quite a nicely rounded breakfast on the go!), periodic bouts of insanity....all boiling up to the final Grad Show in November. Our grad show was held at the beautiful Westin Bayshore hotel on the waterfront in Coal Harbour. I was so incredibly honoured to have my mom and Tom fly in from Saskatchewan, along with my cousin Nic, my brother Dion and his friend Jill (who's now fondly referred to as Jill East, as I'm now Jill West), my friend Bill from Calgary, Chris' parents from White Rock and grandma, and my dad and his wife and my extended family from North Vancouver. It was a night of near heart attacks and anticipation as I watched my garments walk on the runway. I couldn't believe that every ounce of sweat and tears and late nights and meltdowns all could be summed up in a few seconds. But that was it. The show was amazing. I was so proud to not only watch my own collection walk, but I was so proud of the work of everyone that graduated. Especially the work of those few girls in my group, who I'd spent the last eleven months with, week after week, watching everyone grow into themselves creatively.
Christmas break was wonderful. Chris and I spent a week at mom's in Sask. Dion was there too and I was so happy to have a Christmas with him around. He's an extremely gifted baker and made many yummy loaves of bread and perogies for everyone, on top of mom's cookies and treats, Tom's gourmet pizza, and many many Moosehead beer from the local grocer across the street. I'm glutarded so I didn't get to enjoy any of the regular bread...though Dion, bless his heart, tried to make some rice bread for me. It didn't work out. Turns out rice bread not only weighs 10 pounds when cooked, its internal temperature actually drops when baked like regular bread in an oven. Weirdest bread experience ever. But don't worry, I ate enough over that week to last me until next Christmas. Which prompted me to get a gym pass in January. ha!
I'll fill in the gaps from January to May soon. Here are a few photos to accompany this post:
This is a giant margarita (note the camera beside it, for size reference). On our very first night in Vancouver, Court and I found an amazing little dive of a Mexican restaurant across the street from our new apartment...we were regulars in there for a while...
The daytime view of downtown Vancouver I got to enjoy everyday from my bedroom window!
And nighttime! There were searchlights and fireworks almost every night in January in anticipation of the upcoming Olympics.
In early January I moved into an amazing apartment in historic Gastown with my roommate Courtney (who also attended from Blanche MacDonald, for Fashion Merchandising). How can I sum up my first few months of Vancouver life with Court... Two single girls living in Vancouver. That is about as far as I'm going to go with that one. All in all, it was a blast, both of us learning the city, exploring, meeting new people, taking each other out on dates, drinking copious amounts of cheap wine...oh ya, and going to school... There was so much going on all the time! In February this city erupted with the Olympics and we were so privileged to have a perfect view of nightly fireworks from our balcony and took in as much as we possibly could of all the festivities (mostly the free stuff anyhow). Luckily our apartment was only blocks away from campus so we didn't have to battle the insanity that became public transit during that couple of weeks. I had to tote around my garment construction tools (big ol' sharp rulers, shears, etc) through streets congested with thousands of Europeans in track suits every day... Going to school on Robson during the Olympics, with the rest of the world getting silly drunk outside our campus walls, reminded me of going through my final exams when the Flames made the playoffs in 04/05 or whenever that was...My fondest Olympic memory, and something I'll never forget, was the wave of emotion I felt when I heard the entire city cheering and singing the Canadian anthem after the victorious hockey win. Goosebumps. It really was an emotional day.
After the mass exodus of humans at the end of February, life went back to "normal". Both of our programs really kicked into high gear in the spring and we quickly changed from party mode into school mode. (with some exceptions of course...after all, we did live next door to the Cambie...)
My dad turned 60 years old in April, and I also got to spend a few days with my mom and Tom in Elbow, Sk over Easter. So that was a great month! Lots more wine! I remember joking with Tom at the dinner table that I was going to end up back in Vancouver as the only starving student suffering from gout! I also went to Seattle on a mini adventure with my good friend Katrina (who I met and graduated from fashion design with) - which was an amazing little trip! Made some friends with some pinball nerds at Shortys, stayed at an awesome hostel and really got to know each other outside school- which was a refreshing break for us both!)
In June I got to go back to Calgary and see some friends I'd missed terribly. Hit up Sled Island for all it was worth (including an epic Melvins show!) went on a really bad blind date (ha!), got to catch up with friends over lunches and late night Wendy's, and left Calgary with a mild wine flu hangover.
July: best. month. ever. I meant the most amazing person and fell in love. I met the love of my life in early July and have spent the last almost 10 months being completely twitterpated. Chris has been my best friend, confidant and best solo support team I could ever ask for. He's my #1 fan (after my mom, of course) and I wouldn't have had the strength to have pursued my career as I have without his constant support. mush, mush, mush....I know...but its all true!
The year ended in a whirlwind of final projects being completed, pulling all-night sewing sessions day after day, living off rice crackers, peanut butter and coffee (which, turns out, makes quite a nicely rounded breakfast on the go!), periodic bouts of insanity....all boiling up to the final Grad Show in November. Our grad show was held at the beautiful Westin Bayshore hotel on the waterfront in Coal Harbour. I was so incredibly honoured to have my mom and Tom fly in from Saskatchewan, along with my cousin Nic, my brother Dion and his friend Jill (who's now fondly referred to as Jill East, as I'm now Jill West), my friend Bill from Calgary, Chris' parents from White Rock and grandma, and my dad and his wife and my extended family from North Vancouver. It was a night of near heart attacks and anticipation as I watched my garments walk on the runway. I couldn't believe that every ounce of sweat and tears and late nights and meltdowns all could be summed up in a few seconds. But that was it. The show was amazing. I was so proud to not only watch my own collection walk, but I was so proud of the work of everyone that graduated. Especially the work of those few girls in my group, who I'd spent the last eleven months with, week after week, watching everyone grow into themselves creatively.
Christmas break was wonderful. Chris and I spent a week at mom's in Sask. Dion was there too and I was so happy to have a Christmas with him around. He's an extremely gifted baker and made many yummy loaves of bread and perogies for everyone, on top of mom's cookies and treats, Tom's gourmet pizza, and many many Moosehead beer from the local grocer across the street. I'm glutarded so I didn't get to enjoy any of the regular bread...though Dion, bless his heart, tried to make some rice bread for me. It didn't work out. Turns out rice bread not only weighs 10 pounds when cooked, its internal temperature actually drops when baked like regular bread in an oven. Weirdest bread experience ever. But don't worry, I ate enough over that week to last me until next Christmas. Which prompted me to get a gym pass in January. ha!
I'll fill in the gaps from January to May soon. Here are a few photos to accompany this post:
This is a giant margarita (note the camera beside it, for size reference). On our very first night in Vancouver, Court and I found an amazing little dive of a Mexican restaurant across the street from our new apartment...we were regulars in there for a while...
A local musical legend: Mr. Chi Pig, of SNFU. A regular at the Cambie. Epic.
Some shots from Granville Street, downtown Vancouver.
By best friend, Paddy, came to visit in February. He, my roommate Courtney (seen here), and I spent a day on Granville Island. We tried some beer and rode the gay ferry:
A few pics from my trip to Seattle with Katrina in April:
We nerded out at the EMP & Science Fiction Museum for a an afternoon...
...had some wine and got "creative" with our photos...
...then enjoyed the lovely Pike Place Market in the morning...
In May, Katrina, our friend Michael and I went on an epic hike near Squamish. Michael showed up in regular gear and hiked like a sherpa- leaving Katrina and I in his dust...and we thought we were in shape...
...at last, the view from the top! looking down over the booming metropolis of Squamish, BC...
In August Chris and I took the train to Portland, Oregon for a mini escape from Vancouver. It was quite possibly the most trying experience on our new relationship as pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong...including missing trains, planes, staying the worst motel, getting held up in Seattle and at the border....but we did it. And we finally made it back to Vancouver even more in love. Here are some pics from that adventure...
October was a really fun month. Chris built me a beautiful bicycle for my birthday and I spent a lovely birthday weekend over Thanksgiving with his amazing family in White Rock. I am truly blessed to have his family so close and they have welcomed me as one of their own- I'm honored to be considered part of the family...
We were Lego people for Halloween and made our costumes from scratch. Super fun. Got a ton of compliments on our work...check it out:
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