Hope you guys are all planning a great New Years eve tonight. Whether you˙re laying low at home with some movies or doing it up with friends we hope you have a great, safe night.
HQ will be closed on Jan. 1st as well as Jan 2nd (Tyson is getting 2 days off in a row, yay Tyson!)
I am soooo excited to get this order of My Favorite Mirrors in, finally I can get one for myself! I wasn't "allowed" to before Christmas, but now I'm going to pick out my own special mirror to keep in my purse. No more eyelashes poking me in the retina on the metro! Yay!
As usual we picked up a few of the old favorites, but also grabbed a whole junk load of new designs, as well as the latest thing from MFM, coaster sets! We had a few for Christmas, and they flew out the door, so if you were sad to miss them or they were one of those gifts you really wanted to keep for yourself but had to give away, we're fully reloaded.
This dress would be beautiful for New Years, yet not so formal that you'd never wear it again. If I didn't already have my dress, this is what I'd be going for. We have it in Black, Navy and a dark bronzy brown colour.
Hey all you lucky people who got $$ for Xmas (likely anyone between the ages of 14 and 30 is in this category) now you're all double lucky 'cause we just got messages from both Valerie Dumaine and the ladies at Soi Disant, their fall stock is going on sale!
All items in the Valerie Dumaine collection are 20-25% off and all items in the Soi Disant collection are a whopping 40% off! Yikes!
Hurry down while your sizes are still in stock. If you're looking for something for New Years, Valerie makes some STUNNING dresses and cute little jackets, or if you're going a bit more casual but still want something fun and new go for the Soi Disant stuff. They have a great selection of cute little tops to add something new to your favorite pair of jeans.
So much of the snow has melted that it's easy to get around now, let's enjoy the warm spell while it last and get outside (and then go back inside to shop... heh)
What the song always reminds me of...sigh (CAUTION, this video was made to a remixed version of The Final Countdown, very annoying...)
I apologize in advance for getting that song in everyones head, lord knows my friend Jill will now be singing it on my answering machine and every time she enters a room. But the time has come my friends, Christmas is almost upon us. Tyson and I had it pretty easy this year, since we were back in Winnipeg in Oct. and managed to bring with us about 80% of our gifts for family (the most organized we've ever been, we swear).
For everyone else out there who is normal and who is looking for those last minute gifts this weekend, never fear, we are open from 11am-6pm tomorrow, and we are even open on Sunday this year! We're also open until 6pm on Christmas eve, for those professional procrastinators. Anyhoo, I already listed our hours in the previous post, what I really wanted to mention was some stock we just got in, which may work well for gifts.
1 - Books! We just got a few more titles from Topshelf, as well as MORE stuff from Little Otsu. The date books, address books and planners make great gifts. They're also printed on recycled paper with soy based inks, so they're enviro friendly as well, wonderful.
This book is a great gift for anyone you know who is going on an amazing journey soon
2 - Handcarved leather wallets and belts from Broundoor. Marc has been working his tush off this year and has sent a few more new designs our way.
One of Marcs most popular wallet designs, wonder why? So nice!
3 - Jewelry! We just got some absolutely amazing new designs from Roadkill (my favorite is the bow necklace, or was it the headphones, who can remember...) as well as some new hand embroidered rings from Recycled Rings, they are just stunning.
Gorgeous new rings with beading, embroidery and hand tufting (it's tying a million little knots, then trimming/brushing the threads into a fluffy texture, kind of like a rug)
This is the headphone necklace, is it wrong that I covet it?
4 - Owls, logs and scarves. I've been a busy girl this week, whipping up 4 logs out of the rest of my woodgrain fabric (that's right, no more logs before X-mas, but I've ordered more for later). I've also been on an owl hunt, finishing one last night (he's at the store right now) and 2 more tonight, which will be in the store Saturday morning. These ones are a little different though, I tried experimenting with rabbit fur from an old vintage coat, and I think they turned out great. I also put together a few handknit scarves hand appliqued with felt bows. Very chic in a fun kind of way. The black/cream and black/white ones look very Chanel-esque if I do say so myself. I'll try to take a pic tomorrow at the store and post it.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but it's dinner time, and I have a cute puppy sleeping on my lap, and I need to stop typing and start sewing. Mary, Tyson and I will all be at the store tomorrow, so stop by and say hi!
Just thought we'd mention we have some extended holiday hours to help you out if you're one of the last minute shoppers who still have a few things to pick up. Here are our hours over the next week:
Tonight: Open until 8pm
Thursday/Friday: Open until 8pm
Saturday: 11am-6pm
Sunday: We're open on a Sunday, halelujah! 12pm-5pm
Monday: Christmas Eve!! 12pm-6pm
Christmas Day: closed, sorry
Boxing Day: no crazy boxing day sales for us, sorry!
Phew, Souk is finally over! We've been working our asses off for the past few weeks getting ready for the big weekend and now we get to relax...a bit. For those of you who missed it, it was an amazing sale. I usually have a hard time not spending money at these craft fairs and Souk was no different. Thank God for trade-sies! As you can see from the picture above, we have only one log pillow left. But don't worry cuz Angie is sewing more as you read this, so you can probably get your grubby hands on one before Christmas.
Even Mary made it out to the Souk@SAT
Look, I even made it easy for you to come in to HQ. What more do you want from me? My blood? A kidney?! YEESH!
Another thing I forgot to mention, I made these really special, beautiful Christmas Gift Certificates for HQ! Our old gift certificates were just a simple bill type thing, but the new gift cards are chocolate brown oval shaped with a scalloped edge, with nice a nice white oval full of text telling the receiver how you think their taste is so refined that they would be much happier choosing their own gift.
So true. If you have a friend with really great taste, just get them a nice gift card and a bottle of wine/box of chocolates and call it a day. Especially when it's a gift card for a special little boutique, so much better than Futureshop/HMV/insert annoyingly crowded store here.
It comes in a nice lime green envelope (but not too limey/bright, it's like the HQ branding green, and some of the walls at HQ, get it). French on one side, English on the other for all your Montreal friends!
OK that's it, I hope I haven't forgotten anything else...
Tonight is the first night of Souk@SAT, the friends and family night. It's a little get together to congratulate all the artists/designers who've been working so hard getting ready. And man, have we been feeling this one. All the new designs we've been working on coupled with a new puppy to take care of have been tough, but now the day is finally here and the fun begins.
We love seeing all the other beautiful things that everyone has been working on, and the special new things they've designed just for the show (Marc Simard of Broundoor has started working with inks to colour designs into the leather, so great!)
A lot of our HQ family will be there, as well as sooooo many other great artisans, check out the full list on the souk site (with links to all the websites): http://souk.sat.qc.ca
Some of the HQ artisans who will be there are:
Roadkill Broundoor Complex Geometries Furni Honeyflower Majolie Mimi Traillette Orno Paul Graham PinPals
Oh did we mention there's a full bar at the event, so you can grab a beer or a wine while you shop? Wonderful!
And if you aren't able to stop by the Souk, but still want to pick something up at HQ, don't panic, we'll still be open on Friday (the lovely Jen Storey will be taking care of the shop) and Saturday (I will be at the sale, Tyson will be at the shop)
I wasn't kidding when I said it was craft sale season....
This weekend, in addition to the Souk@SAT, head on down to the lovely Hot Cakes/Petit Pain "Show" (show/chaud, get it) craft sale. Running from Dec. 14-16th, this is another doozy of a big show. Unfortunately Tyson and I haven't figured out how to be in 3 places at once (store, souk and this show) so we stuck with the Souk which we had done last year.
We DID however have time to check out this show a few years ago before we opened HQ, and it was wonderful, so we highly recommend you stop by and check it out!
Where: Eglise St. Enfant Jesus, 5039 St. Dominique, Montreal When: Friday Dec. 14th - Sunday Dec. 16th, 12pm-8pm More Info: http://www.myspace.com/hotcakescraftsale
Oops, I must have really had my head in the clouds (a big polyfil cloud that is, while making stuffed logs and owls). I totally forgot to mention that I found 4 nice pairs of vintage boots in size 9/10!!! Amazing! There are 2 black pairs of flat boots (one simple, one with a lace up), one brown/cognac coloured faux croc skin pair that would be in my closet right (as per my previous post) now if they weren't too big, and one nice grey pair with a mid-height heel. Hurry!
I also found this really cute pair of boots.
A little more ladylike and slim than your regular old army boot
OK maybe you're thinking "uh, yeah, they just look like plain old army-ish boots". But here's what I'm thinking:
Take inspiration from one of my favorite fashion blogs: Style Bytes
This blog is written by Agathe Bjørnsdatter who is from Norway. She blogs about a variety of things fashion related, and has a great knack for mixing together vintage finds with h&m/mass market fare, and throws in a few DIY projects for fun. Basically a great little blog to check out once in awhile to remain inspired. I also think she looks a lot like my friend Amanda Moss.
So getting back to the boots, Agathe has a pair of boots very similar to the above ones, and manages to make them look like a million bucks. Behold her pics (from her site of course) and let the battle for this majestic pair of boots begin! (they're in a size 7 or 7 1/2 by the way, and they'll set you back $25)
I believe the key is to wear them with a skirt and tights, NO PANTS ALLOWED!!
It's that time of year again, all your friendly neighbourhood crafters are working their fingers to the bone,eating crappy meals and forgoing sleep in order to whip up fabulous Christmas presents for the rest of the world to snap up at the various craft/artisan sales going on around the city. Tyson and I are knee deep in craft sales this year, as well as keeping up with HQ, which is kind of a year round craft sale really.
I made another woodgrain owl for the Souk, but he has green eyes, the blue eyed one is mine!
We've plowed through Ladyfest, PucesPOP, and Expozine (sadly missed the newest show A Flea Affair) and this weekend we are showing at the fabulous fifth edition of the Souk@SAT. I've been sewing my fingers off, and am happy to say that I've got a whole cabins worth of logs made, as well as the little stump pincushions, a new pincushion design using vintage embroidered ribbons, a small flock of owls, my vintage fabric bracelet purses from last year, as well as a slew of handmade necklaces using vintage bits and slices of branches from good old Manitoba.
The logs are back, in the above version and also a new version with a brown/olive green bark
Stump pincushions, so cute!
Tyson has been painting like a madman as well, pumping out, well pumps. Handpainted vintage pumps that is (shoes people, shoes) as well as some handpainted vintage purses and his classic mini watercolour paintings.
Tysons mini watercolours
The Souk@SAT is a one of the major shows of the season (only being surpassed by the Salon des Métiers D'Arts), lasting 3 full, gloriously tiring days. All kidding aside though, this is one of our favorite shows, in a seriously stylish venue organized by a seriously stylish lady, who also happens to work as a stylist proper (Azamit, we love you!)
Here are the details:
souk @ sat ::: prise 5 vendredi/Friday 14 et samedi/Saturday 15 décembre ::: 12noon – 9pm dimanche/Sunday 16 décembre ::: 12noon – 5pm
Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT) 1195 boulevard saint-laurent (entre rené-lévesque et sainte-catherine) 514 . 844 . 2033 www.souk.sat.qc.ca
It's been a rough week, fashion wise that is. What with all the snow covering the streets, it's been next to impossible to get around in heels, or any kind of non-boot type shoes for that matter. Thank god they seem to have finally cleared most of it away, and we can get back into our winter fashion experimentation. Here's a little pic from Facehunter to get you in the mood to bundle up fashionably.
And here's a really cute interview with Yvan himself done by 360degree fashion
All the designers we work with at HQ have been working super hard this holiday season. Making extra stuff for craft sales, sitting at their tables at said craft sales, and trying to keep up with supplying stuff to all the stores that are geared up for the holidays as well. It's enough to make you want to curl up in a blanket and watch movies all day.
But our hard working designers are on the ball, and we've been getting new treasures at the store in a steady stream since November. Latest to pop by the store is Yanick from Nea Jewelry. And man, did she bring the mother load! She brought so much stuff we had to set up a special display of her earrings by the front desk, and a separate display for the necklaces on the racks.
Stop by this week, or weekend, and have a peek. Her designs are delicate without being overly girly, a great gift for a sister/best friend/cousin/coworker!
Believe it or not, this is the only picture I took at the opening for "I.P.W.M.T.T.II" It was a pretty busy day........ Any-hoo here are some pictures of the work. I didn't post everything due to poor photo quality etc. and some of the pieces sold before I got a chance to take a picture. Remember, anything bought from this exhibition can be taken home when it's purchased so it can be home in time for Christmas. Art is a better present than socks, right?
Utility Grade by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Mama Duck by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Snake Bus by Garrett van Winkle $50. SOLD
Parade Day II by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Parade Day I by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Banana Tree by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Various Untitled by Scott Harber. $100. each.
Various painted metal boxes by Quebec's Pishier $30. each
Untitled paper dolls by Sara Guidon$100. each
The Bear, The Girl & The Bunny by Mimi Traillette $40. each
9 & 1 by James Scorpion Dagger Kerr $35. & $20. SOLD
Portrait of a Dingle by Josh Taylor $100. SOLD
Limited edition print and book set by Josh Taylor $100. each
These things are awesome and we only have 2!
Hilltop by Sarah Taylor $40. SOLD
print by Eric Braun $100.
Untitled print by Neil Doshi $100. SOLD
You Can't Be An Orphan At 100 Years old by Benjamin Deshaise $75.
The Man Who's Arms Exploded by Benjamin Deshaise $50.
Mushrooms Are My Friend by Aya Kakeda $50.
Chicken For Dinner by Aya Kakeda $45. SOLD
I love Cave Seals by Aya Kakeda $40 SOLD
Acorns Are Mad At Me by Aya Kakeda $45.
Various Tiles by Tyson Bodnarchuk $40 each
SOLD
SOLD
Shot by Aaron McConomy $80.
Family by Aaron McConomy $80. SOLD
Anthropology by Aaron McConomy $80. SOLD
Various by Sean Williams Dawson $40- $100.
As I mentioned earlier, we have a crap-load more but because of poor photo quality, the work sold before I got a chance to take a pic, etc, I wasn't able to post... yet. Feel free to come by HQ and check out more work by Aya Kakeda, Jen Storey, Gregory Ryan, Miss Agonie, Amber Albrect, Sarah Taylor, Rupert Bottenberg, Garrett van Winkle and Tyson Bodnarchuk.
There is also work on display that is not part of the current exhibition by artists like: Angie Mason, Jeffery Brown, Lisa Marie Godfrey, Stefan Harhay, Team Macho, The YPF, Mark Unterberger, Frederick Caron, Jon Burgerman, More Than A Friend, Peter Thompson, Jordan Awan, Carlos Santos, Jack Dylan, Nicoz and Chrissy Cheung.
Mirror by The Black Apple
Mirror by Jill Bliss
Mirror by Eleanor Grosch
This dress would be beautiful for New Years, yet not so formal
This book is a great gift for anyone you
One of Marcs most popular wallet designs,
Gorgeous new rings with beading, embroidery and
This is the headphone necklace,
Phew, Souk is finally over! We've been working our asses off for the past few weeks getting ready for the big weekend and now we get to relax...a bit. For those of you who missed it, it was an amazing sale. I usually have a hard time not spending money at these craft fairs and Souk was no different. Thank God for trade-sies! As you can see from the picture above, we have only one log pillow left. But don't worry cuz Angie is sewing more as you read this, so you can probably get your grubby hands on one before Christmas.
Even Mary made it out to the Souk@SAT
A little more ladylike and slim than your regular old army boot
I made another woodgrain owl for the Souk,
The logs are back, in the above version
Stump pincushions, so cute!
Tysons mini watercolours
www.nea.fonetik.ca
Believe it or not, this is the only picture I took at the opening for "I.P.W.M.T.T.II" It was a pretty busy day........ Any-hoo here are some pictures of the work. I didn't post everything due to poor photo quality etc. and some of the pieces sold before I got a chance to take a picture. Remember, anything bought from this exhibition can be taken home when it's purchased so it can be home in time for Christmas. Art is a better present than socks, right?
Utility Grade by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Mama Duck by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Snake Bus by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Parade Day II by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Parade Day I by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Banana Tree by Garrett van Winkle $50.
Various Untitled by Scott Harber. $100. each.
Various painted metal boxes by Quebec's Pishier $30. each
Untitled paper dolls by Sara Guidon$100. each
The Bear, The Girl & The Bunny by Mimi Traillette $40. each
9 & 1 by James Scorpion Dagger Kerr $35. & $20.
Portrait of a Dingle by Josh Taylor $100.
Hilltop by Sarah Taylor $40.
print by Eric Braun $100.
You Can't Be An Orphan At 100 Years old by Benjamin Deshaise $75.
The Man Who's Arms Exploded by Benjamin Deshaise $50.
Mushrooms Are My Friend by Aya Kakeda $50.
Acorns Are Mad At Me by Aya Kakeda $45.
Various Tiles by Tyson Bodnarchuk $40 each
SOLD
SOLD
Shot by Aaron McConomy $80.
Family by Aaron McConomy $80.
Anthropology by Aaron McConomy $80.
Various by Sean Williams Dawson $40- $100.
