Thursday, July 31, 2008

Show Reminder!


Just a quick reminder that our "In the Shadows of Metropolis" opening party is tonight (the 31st)! Chinatown goees on at 8pm, so if you're ready to catch some magical man harmony, be sure to be there a wee bit early

See you tonight!

Here's a little article about the band from the Mirror


Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Spoonflower will blow your mind!

OK, prepare yourselves. Anyone who's interested in designing their own textiles or any sort of fabric based product should just sit down right now, because what I'm about to tell you will probably be slightly overwhelming and may cause you to faint.

There is a company that will custom print fabric for you, with no minimums. Yup, no minimums. You can literally order a quarter of a yard if you want. Amazing! The printing is done digitally, which allows you to use as many colours as you want in your design, as well as allowing for those amazingly small run quantities. Here's what the fine people at Spoonflower have to say about their company:

Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you.

The craft world happens to be exploding right now. Tired of seeing the same products and the same designs everywhere, more and more people are drawn to the idea of doing it themselves, of creating things that are unique and carry within them a little bit of the passion of the individuals who made them.

The folks who are waging the handmade revolution by and large do so quietly. On blogs, in sewing groups, on Etsy storefronts and in their homes, a growing number of people have decided to make and to share things they think are beautiful. Spoonflower exists to give crafters a powerful tool for expressing their creative visions using fabric.


fabric design by StaceyJoy

So, I'm sure you all have about a million questions now, and I have to say, the Spoonflower site does a pretty great job of answering them. Check out their site at www.spoonflower.com, and don't miss their fun blog or their totally inspiring Spoonflower Flickr group, chock full of designs done by their customers!

fabric design by linabobardi

They're currently operating in the Beta version, but once they get all the kinks worked out they have some great plans up their sleeves, namely offering these independently designed fabrics for sale! So basically what that means is that if you're an aspiring textile designer, you now have an amazing outlet, and if you're a designer/crafter you now have a place to get REALLY unique fabrics. Ahhhhh!!!! My mind is officially blown.

fabric design by Shelly Lane


Some of the things I'm thinking of making:

- Norwegian Wood fabric hangtags/labels

- designing some repeat patterns with tysons artwork

- Saturday Social club crests

- logo print fabric for linings of purses

- plush toys

- a million other things I can't think of right now

fabric design by Jess Gonacha

Check out the little video below from Spoonflower, showing this weeks fabric preview




Outfits of the Week: July 29/08

A little Tuesday lunchtime eye-candy, the Outfits of the Week!

Geometric jersey dress by Girls Telephone Boys (Montreal/Bali), sailor necklace by Tilly D'Oro (Montreal), monster tote by Dumb Chauffeur (Winnipeg), vintage leather ankle boots.

Geometric jersey dress by Girls Telephone Boys (Montreal/Bali), floral purse by Norwegian Wood (Montreal), crystal necklace by Beloved by Sophie (UK), handpainted vintage shoes by Tyson Bodnarchuk (Montreal).

Monday, July 28, 2008

"Shadows of Metropolis" Vernissage, this Thursday!!


Yes, we realize having a vernissage on a Thursday night totally messes with your scheduling, but our friend Toby (the artist, natch) is leaving this weekend to go tour with his band, so we thought Thursday would be a nice little change. And seriously folks, a little change is good. Plus Osheaga starts on Sunday, so we want to be all rested up for the fun times.

So what's this Thursday vernissage madness all about anyways? Who is this artist that could force HQ to alter their "first saturday of the month" schedule? Well, it's our friend Toby, who we thought (until recently) held his main talents in the field of music, but lo and behold, he's blowing us away with his amazing photography. This will be our first photography exhibition at HQ, and we're super excited about it.

Toby, and a poster of a lady

As I mentioned about 2 seconds ago, we've always thought of Toby as more of the music type of artist. He is/was in the band Statue Park, which is how we got to know the lovely lad when Tyson did some cover artwork for one of their releases. Toby was also one of the first Montrealers to purchase some of Tysons art, and the rest is history. Toby now plays in the band Chinatown, who will be doing two live acoustic sets at the vernissage. Yup you heard me right, live music, so don't show up at 10:30 or you'll miss the damn band! So we're just going for all things new this month: first Thursday show, first photograpy show, and first live music.

Chinatown

To give you a little background on, you know, the actual ART the photography was all done while Toby was in China touring with, well, Chinatown. The photos are eerie and beautiful and I love them. If you made it down to our 2 year anniversary show you would have seen two of Tobys works, although they sold in about 10 minutes, so if you're keen on getting a piece of your own, don't dilly dally!

Although not part of the exhibition,
this is one of Tobys pics from the tour

So pop by this Thursday and enjoy the ch-ch-changes happening this month...
Oh yes, I went there, have fun with that song in your head all day!

"In the Shadows of Metropolis: Particles of a Changing China"
photography by Toby Andris Cayouette
Thursday July 31, 2008
6pm-11pm
1649 Amherst

If you're looking to get the Bowie out of your head (but who would, I ask?) check out this amazing video by the boys from Chinatown. I'm not looking forward to winter, but I'm sure this is the kind of shit that makes tourists think Canada is AWESOME!

http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=8160821939#/video/video.php?v=20998545931

Urban Pigeon


Hooray for sunny weather! We're so happy the rainy skies seem to have passed for awhile, it's putting us in a summery, drinks on the patio type of mood! We know, we know, it's Monday and you all are probably at work, hopefully with a window you can gaze out of!


Here's a bit of summery eye candy in the form of a new line of t-shirts and tanks called Urban Pigeon, designed and screenprinted by local designer Émilie Vlasblom. We met Émilie at the spring Puces Pop and thought her feminine graphics on updated basics would be a great addition to HQ. The cotton jersey fabric is super soft, the prints are feminine yet bold, and the colours are perfect for beachy summer days. With prices ranging from $36 -$46 they're a nice way to buy local at an affordable price!


Here at HQ we love learning the background story of each line we carry. We were excited to hear that each Urban Pigeon garment is hand printed at their own silkscreening studio (we're obsessed with doing our own screenprinting, more on that later). Émilie points out that their main priority is to offer you super high quality and to encourage local development in the textile and garment industry, which we also think is very important. Fabric, dyes, patterns and assembly are done locally; Urban Pigions believes strongly that the life of this industry in Quebec is far from being over. By supporting Montreal manufacturers and primarily distributing their line to independent Montreal shops they're keeping thing local, and offering great local options to YOU!


Check out their website HERE

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Weezer muxtape

We had our old pal Jill over the other day to hang out, eat pizza, have drinks and watch The Muppets. The topic shifted to the new Weezer video for "Pork & Beans" and Jill mentioned that she was not too familiar with Weezer (especially the Blue album). So we sent her home with a motherload of Weezer records....... even the shittier ones ("Make Believe") So, that ended up being the theme for this weeks Muxtape. Enjoy.http://hq.muxtape.com/

And if you're curious about where the above pic came from, check out this Muppets/Weezer video below

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Asterlea Earrings, Modern design straight from the animals


We were pretty busy while at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Sadly the first two days we were busy trying to keep our tarps tied down and our merchandise dry (not to mention keep ourselves warm, it was only +11 and raining!) but Sunday showed us a beautiful blue sky and warm sunny weather, so we were busy with happy Folk Fest shoppers. I always manage to fit in a bit of time for shopping though, it's impossible to resist.


As you may guess, a lot of the wares at Folk Fest are geared towards a much more earthy customer than we cater to at HQ. Although beautifully handcrafted, tie dyed heart tees and drums are not really what our customer is after. Modern, stylish, handmade accessories on the other hand...

I stumbled upon the Asterlea booth on Saturday while trying to take a walk to keep warm, and although the booth was almost empty at the time, I knew that if the sun came out and people got into a happy shopping mood this booth would be seriously packed. And come the sunny sunday, it definitely was.


Asterlea jewelry is handmade from REAL recycled butterfly wings and feathers from around the world. Now you may be thinking "OK, that's really shitty, killing butterflies to make earrings", so hear me out. Butterflies have a super short lifespan, and many also migrate en masse seasonally to find their final restig ground/mate/etc. This jewelry supports the people who farm and collect the butterflies, allowing them to preserve the rainforest where they live and subsequently die. This type of butterfly farming and collecting have no effect on wild populations, but have a very positive effect on rainforest preservation, and provides income for the local people.

A butterfly farm

Asterlea jewelry is designed by Wendy Mackie, who I was lucky enough to meet in her booth and talk a little about the materials used and the process. Each earring is arranged and cut by hand, using either wings alone, or a combination of wings and feathers, and then encased in a hard resin to protect the delicate wings. I found the graphic, bold patterns of the wings to be incredibly modern looking, and when encased in the glossy resin the look is sleek, and soooo not "oh look, butterfly earrings, how girly/cute"

Each pair of earrings is going to run you the fair price of $40. Not bad for a TRULY one of a kind item, designed by our good friend "nature" and brought to you by Asterlea.

xo
Angie


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Monday, July 21, 2008

Outfits of the Week: July 21, 2008

It's been awhile since we've done some outfits since I was away for so long... sorry folks!

Oversize T-shirt with cotton gauze insets by Complex Geometries (Montreal), pinstriped shorts by MX Jeans (Montreal), gold/silver "knot" necklace by Aria (Montreal), elastic "fishscale" vintage belt and vintage black leather oxford heels.



Striped tank with black/white tie at back by Soi Disant (Montreal), "broken tail-light" necklace by Standard Issue Design (Toronto), jersey shorts with sash by Complex Geometries (Montreal), vintage snakesking purse and vintage taupe leather/snakeskin heels. Set of killer legs to wear with shorts not included.

xo
Angie


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Back from Manitoba!

Left: Our booth, Log pillows, silk scarf pillows, owls
Right: A smiling Marc

Hey everyone, I'm back from the Folk Fest adventure, and other than the millions of mosquito bites I have that make me look like a junkie, it was a fabulous trip. Marc (of Broundoor), Elaine (of Roadkill) and I had a great drive out, but were haunted by rain the whole way and seem to have brought the rain along with us for the festival itself. The sun came out on the last day though and everyone was happy.

Left: Elaine coaxing Mary into the water
Right: A travel mug bouquet for the car, picked by Marc

We spent a few extra days in Manitoba BBQing, getting some rest, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, doing some thrift shopping and visiting my grandparents (they gave Marc, Elaine and I rum at 10 in the morning, that's what you get for joking around Marc! My grandpa will call you on that shit!)

Left: Grandma & Grandpas wallpapered bedroom
Right: Hollyhocks beside the house

We picked up some amazing vintage fabric at Mitchells in Winnipeg, much of which will become owls and clothing for Norwegian Wood. We also popped into the amazing J. Werier to dig through some old goodies and came out with great fabrics and a giant pile of leather for Marc. Keep your eyes open for new Broundoor designs using these amazing vintage leathers in gorgeous colours and textures!

Mary came along for the trip and loved hanging out
amongst the foxtails at my grandparents farm.
Other than vomiting on my pillow on the first day
of the trip, she was a very good girl.

Perhaps of great interest to you all will be the amazing vintage scores I found in many a small town on the way there and back (Thunder Bay was amazing! We like to call it "The T-Bay"). We've just put out about 20 pairs of delicious vintage shoes in the store, in a huge range of colours and styles, everything from suede 70's oxfords with wooden heels, to strappy gold disco sandals and sexy 80's pumps. I also found a small army of simple pumps for Tyson to paint on, so a whole slew of new handpainted shoes are being made right now!

Left: Layers of vintage dresses
Right: super saturated pink crepe and lace confection from the early 60's

For those who like vintage dresses (and really, who doesn't?!) keep your eyes on our "Vintage Headquarters" Etsy shop. By this weekend I'll begin posting a few of the 30+ AMAZING vintage dresses I found in my travels. There are some real gems in there ladies, and I've got all sorts of sizes and styles, from 60's t0 early 90's. Check them out later this week at www.vintageheadquarters.etsy.com

Left: Vintage fabrics galore
Right: lace cuffs on vintage dresses and blouses

I'll be back to our normal blogging schedule now, and there's so much to catch up on, so stay tuned!

xo
Angie


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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Muxtape

No theme for this weeks Muxtape. This ones just for funsies. Wow, two blog posts in one day is pretty rare for me. I missed you guys..... hey, I got an idea. OK, everyone put your lips on your monitor right now........ yeah, a huge cyber make-out sesh! weird. I can't believe you actually did it. My lawyers will be by your place later with a restraining order.

Just jokes,
love you,

tyson

Oh yeah, go here for the muxtape fun: http://hq.muxtape.com/

New is the new old

New website!

Neils magic face

Yes, thats right. we finally have a proper website up and running thanks to our pal Neil Doshi. You can check it out here: http://www.hqisrad.com

And we also have a new email address, so if you want to submit art or designs or just want to say hello, we can be reached at info@hqisrad.com


Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Out of Town...


Hi friends! I'm heading out to Manitoba for the Winnipeg Folk Festival with Marc Simard from Broundoor and Elaine Ho from Roadkill. We're DRIVING to Manitoba (24hrs driving there, 24 back, yikes!) so we're leaving today! Hopefully I'll have a spare moment to post a few things while there, but internet will be limited, sorry folks! I'll be back around July 18th, so regular posting will re-commence then.

In the meantime, all you Montrealers should pop by the store and say hi to Tyson so he doesn't get lonely, and all you Winnipeggers should stop by our booth at Folk Fest and visit us! We're a corner booth, and since all three of us are sharing we've dubbed the booth "Wemade" as our collective name. You'll probably also want to stop by La Salla Rosa on Saturday do browse around the "Pomme Pomme" craft sale, being put on my Amy from Wooden Apples, and the wonderful folks at Drawn & Quarterly. Remember, the first 50 people to show up will recieve a gift bag with tonnes of great loot in it! So, show up early! Tyson will be there with a little HQ table, and our friends Amanda (Saturday Social Club president) and Judy (super styly lady) will be holding down the fort at the store. Thanks girls!

xo
Angie


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Saturday, July 05, 2008

New Summer designs from Haiiku

The lovely Iris Taborsky-Tasa popped in the store this week, she's taking a little mini vacation from her new home in BC and brought some goodies with her. Living in the wilderness, Iris has had plenty of time to dream up and sew a beautiful new collection, and we have to say, the fresh air must be doing her good because it's sooooo nice! Way to go Iris!

This dress is hand dyed cotton gauze with a white lining and silvery cotton straps. SOOO nice and cool for those super hot days. We have it in blue and lavender.

This black cotton tank top has hand made striped binding around the neck and armholes. It looks equally cute tucked in (as above) or left loose (it has a nice trapeze/tent shape), perfect for layering. Unfortunately we don't have this skirt in the plaid fabric, but we DO have it in the most amazing vintage red textured cotton, white linen and a great pale blue denim.

www.haiikudesign.blogspot.com


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Friday, July 04, 2008

Blind "Video Days" Muxtape

Yes! This weeks Muxtape is the soundtrack to 1991's "Video Days" a skate video by Blind. Starring a young Jason Lee, before his sitcom stardom and links to weirdo religion Scientology.


Ahhh Mark Gonzales..... the weirdo we all tried to be.

http://hq.muxtape.com/



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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Tania Nova Earrings


I couldn't remember if I'd posted before about these gorgeous hand crocheted earrings we have at HQ, so I thought "hey why not take some pretty pics of them beside the nice flowers we have out front" and do a little post.


These are just a few of the colours we have in the shop...

Made by a lovely girl from Miami Beach, these beauties are HAND crocheted onto metal hoops! I think they look soo sweet with girly dresses and so fierce with modern shift dresses yet sooo perfect with a vintage tee and some jeans. OK what I'm saying is that they pretty much go with anything (I have a white pair that I wear all the time)



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The Cage Skirt gets around...


OK, so I'm sure all you readers here at the HQ blog are SICK TO DEATH of hearing about my damn cage skirts, but bear with me a little longer. Miss Susie Bubble herself was in Stockholm this past weekend to view the F/W09 Acne clothing collection,. Acne is the company that inspired many a girl to covet the cage skirt when they showed it on their SP08 runway, but decided not to produce it for stores! Well, Susie, being the fiesty lady she is, decided to bring the point home by wearing the floral cage skirt I designed for her to the show itself, and made a point of explaining its origins to every curious show-goer that asked her about it, here's her response to their questions:

"I have a bone to pick with Acne. I saw the cage skirts in the SS08 show and waited and waited, and it never turned up in-stores online or in London. So a friend of mine (that's you Angie...!) made this for me....".


That's right Susie, tell those fashion people what the public wants! All jesting aside, I think this cage skirt outfit is my favorite one so far, and she was shot by a few street-style blogs, resulting in some GORGEOUS photos, which makes the whole thing all the better of course.



Read the whole article on StyleBubble HERE.

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Forest Gospel - This Saturday!


Wow, the days really fly by during the summer, it feels like we just had our 2 year anniversary party, and now here we are, having another vernissage!

Forest Gospel brings together Emi Honda, Amber Albrecht and Aaron McConomy in a beautiful group exhibition. Working in a variety of mediums each artist is unified by a vision of nature that is strange, mysterious and rarely bound by the laws of biology or physics.

Emi Honda's work mixes found objects, craft work and a playful sense of the surreal She creates sculpture where found objects transform into strange flora pushing out from their mundane roots to become something more strange and ethereal.

Amber Albrecht's tightly crafted drawings and silkscreens evoke strange narratives of fancy ladies ghosts and mysterious houses. Restrained and precise in execution Amber's work nonetheless hints at dark worlds that lingers just below their carefully crafted surfaces.

Aaron McConomy's drawings deal in mysterious ailments and strange evolutionary deadends. Though fantastical his characters are forced to deal with the mundane reality of their otherwise strange and paradoxical existences.

This show is going to be a real lovely one folks, I can feel it in my bones! Pop in this saturday for a refreshing beverage, some music and some highly enjoyable art!

Vernissage:
Saturday July 5th, 7pm-11pm
1649 Amherst
514.678.2923
Get out at Berri-UQAM, exit at the Maisonneuve doors, we're about 4 blocks away...

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