Holiday time

Just a few pics from last night at Tyson and Angie's. Friends and food...what more can anyone ask for?

Happy Holidays!

A last update to the ol' Etsy shop before the Holidays...lots of warm sweaters!

I'm staying in Montreal this Christmas....kind of nice to not be traveling at this time of year. Do you guys have any special plans? I'm excited to take this next week or two to start designing stuff for Spring!

Some new designs!

Found here.

I just added these twelve items to my Etsy shop. It feels good to get my Etsy shop going again. I've neglected it for weeks because of holiday sales/wholesale orders/packing/unpacking. Ah!

I finished moving into my new studio this week and it has been amazing! It's an adjustment to leave the house to go to "work", but overall, I am definitely able to get so much more work done while I'm there. There are no distractions (i.e. cats!) and it is so much fun to be around Angie, Marc, and Michelle. They are all such hard workers and it's really motivating to be around them. Also, it doesn't hurt that we're two blocks away from Le Cagibi (super yummy/healthy vegetarian food at an amazing price).

I swear, since I've moved in there, those crazies have been working like 12 hours a day! I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm lazy since I only work 8 hours :-D Sheesh!

Will be back with another update soon....I promise.

Wheatgrass

I bought some wheatgrass and oatgrass seeds for Otto and Little Girl. Here's a cute little video!

*Smart Design Mart and the sale at Ladyfest Ottawa went super well!

*I'm almost done moving all of my sewing stuff into the new studio space. Feels good to be all set up!

*We're moving into our new house in ONE MONTH! AHHH! So much to do!

Mode de Vie

I'm participating in Mode de Vie tonight. It's an annual fundraiser for La Gaillarde. Several designers were asked to make a dress using recycled materials and there will be five judges. Ahhh I hate being judged! This year's theme was "ice". I finished my dress last night and I'm not really happy with it. Unfortunately, there's no time to change it now. Freddy was like, "Oh, it's cute, it looks like a sporty wedding dress." Mmm, not exactly what I was going for, yikes!

Grey kitty came to my deck to eat yesterday but didn't want to come inside. I saw her in the alley drinking puddle water last night when I was walking to Jen and James' house. I wonder if she will try to come inside again?

OH and...if you know anyone who is looking to adopt a rescued husky, please pass this on!

"The SPCA Ste-Agathe (north of Montreal) has just had almost 100 dogs released to them and urgently needs help. They are primarily Husky/Malamute types as they were used for sledding but there are also some other large Lab mixes (no small dogs) ranging in age from 2 years and up.There are around 20 pregnant females, with many close to giving birth. One special case that she told me about is a very nice 10-year-old male Husky who is blind. If anyone can help, please contact Corinne at corinne.gonzalez@spcall.ca. Money is also needed to help feed them."

Smart Design Mart

Argh!!! It's been crazy busy the past couple of days. Just wanted to post a quick little update. HQ Galerie & Boutique, Broundoor, Elaine Ho, Furni, and I are organizing the Smart Design Mart this weekend. There will be over 50 of Montreal's finest designers. We're getting a TON of press coverage so it should be a great turnout! It's the first one, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

http://smartdesignmart.blogspot.com

sat nov 28
11am -9pm

sun nov 29
11am-5pm

5333 casgrain
suite 602

Hopefully see some of you there?

P.S. Thank you everyone for all of your comments and your advice regarding the kitty cat. So, since I've last posted, she's only come back to my house once for food. I tried to coax her inside today but she didn't want to come in, and when I tried to pick her up she freaked out. I guess it's because it's warm outside again...I'm sure as soon as it gets cold out, she'll try to come in, and now I'll know what to do. I have so many great contacts now, thanks to you!

pic...

I took this pic of her a few weeks ago. Her face looks kind of long here, but it's actually really cute and round.

Angry rant time

I'm so sad and angry right now. A stray cat has been coming to my back deck for a couple of weeks now and she tried to come inside tonight. I can't let her in because we really cannot have a third cat. Freddy would KILL me if I tried to keep her. Also she's got fleas, or some sort of parasite because her skin is all bumpy near her neck.

I know she's homeless because she's got some tears in her ears, fleas, and her coat isn't looking very healthy. UM and I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be pregnant because she yelped when I tried to touch her stomach...and her stomach didn't feel squishy like Little Girl's. She is really sweet and affectionate though...she lets me pet her and rubs up against my leg.

I put up several ads on craigslist a few weeks ago, asking if anyone had lost a cat and I didn't get a response. I'm pretty sure somebody just dumped her because she is definitely a domesticated cat...not stray from birth. It makes me soooooo angry that people can be so cruel. How can you just toss your pet out on the street like that?

They fully rely on you and trust you to take care of them. People are such assholes! At least have the decency to bring your cat to a shelter. Ugh, and these poor shelters...they're all packed to the brim right now. It's really, really sad.

I wish more people in Quebec would sterilize/neuter their pets. The stray cat problem here is higher than in any other province in Canada. I've actually met some people here who think that neutering your pet is "cruel". UMMMM, no, it's cruel to let your cat screw feral cats who will in turn produce more feral cats.

Does anyone know of any no-kill shelters that are still accepting?? Everyone I've contacted seems to be full. I want to try and place her somewhere by early next week...

Argh... sometimes it's hard not to hate humans. Especially humans who have no respect for other living things.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to.

Cupcakes!

Freddy and I have volunteered to make cupcakes for his niece's baptism. I wanted them to be special so I found some cute cupcake liners on from Cupcake Social on Etsy. Freddy's sister liked the burgundy striped ones. I had a look around the shop and I couldn't resist buying these two for myself.

OMG, I will buy anything with a scalloped edge.

Red, white, and polka dots, you are my friend.

My mom...

Hehe, my mom just called and told me she wanted to buy something from my Etsy shop. So funny...like I'm going to let my mom give me money for a vintage sweater!

Here's the sweater she wanted:

:

New designs

Some new things on Etsy....

Wool blend dress $110

Grey "Montmartre" top- $65

Floral print bauble top- $59

(Comes with a removable matching necklace, hehe)

Parisienne top- $59

Some illustrations...

I didn't feel very inspired to sew last night, so instead I scanned in some pen drawings and colored them in Photoshop. My way of procrastinating without feeling too guilty...at least it's sort of related to work. Right right?

This one started as a pen drawing of my scarf top design. Ummm, I got carried away and did her eyeshadow!

This is something I had to submit for Mode de Vie. It's an eco-fashion show that happens every year at La Gaillarde. Six designers have to make an outfit using recycled materials according to a theme. This year's theme is "ice". Hmmm I'm not sure that the actual dress will turn out like this, but at least this is the direction I'd like to go in. For this drawing, I scanned in a cover of a vintage pattern, used the girl's body, and pasted my hand-drawn dress on top of it.

Our new studio space!!!

We got the keys to our amazing new space today! Angie, Marc, and Michelle are moving in this week and I'm going to move in December 1st. THEN, I'm moving into my new house in January! AHh! Wow, talk about change! I'm so excited to stop working from home....you can't imagine.

200o square feet! Looks big now, but imagine four people with a ton of machines and fabric? This will fill up fast!

Angie and her lovely interns. They are helping us build a showroom!

I'll keep posting pictures as the studio progresses...

Shoes!

I rarely ever buy new shoes but... I really want these in black! I came across these online and they only have red and taupe.

Does anyone know if there are any stores in Montreal that sell something similar in black? Or worst case scenario, an online shop that ships to Canada?

I've seen a lot of shops online that have shoes with this ruffle detail, but the heels on the other shoes are SOOOO HIGH. The thing I like about this particular model is that the heel is totally wearable.

These shoes are from www.shopplasticland.com.

lap cat

Ooooooh I totally can't get any work done with cats around! I was on the computer answering some emails and Little Girl jumped right on my lap. She looks like she's smiling in this picture...

Ok....back to work...for REAL this time!

The dilemma of sourcing second-hand fabric...

One of the most time-consuming things about using only recycled materials for my clothing line is sourcing the fabrics. It's not as easy as going to a fabric store, picking out a few bolts, and starting production. I usually go to at least two thrift stores a week to see what's available, and I only buy the nice fabric. There is just wayy too much gross 70's polyester out there, ick! Sometimes I leave empty-handed, and sometimes I find an amazing stash of fabrics!

Saturday, I went to the Salvation Army on Notre Dame and low and behold, there were rolls and rolls of fabric! A fabric store must have gone out of business and needed to get rid of them. I was ecstatic because I found some really great, nice quality fabrics- all in one shot.

I have some ideas brewing for what I want to make with these...I guess you'll see in the next couple of weeks!

Montrealers- If you're looking for some nice fabric, there are still tons of rolls there. I bought mostly woven cottons, but they have tons of beautiful jersey there.

Brrrrrr

It's getting really cold outside and the leaves are slowly falling off the trees. I think I actually cried last year when winter was starting. Just so you know, I've never cried about weather in my life. Although we have winters in NY, they are nothing compared to Montreal. Think -20 C and so much snow that you don't see the sidewalk for 5 months.

On the bright side, I guess it really makes you appreciate spring and summer so much more. I love that feeling in the city when the snow melts and spring is finally starting. Everyone is just so happy and the vibe is indescribable. A lot of people love fall, but it just makes me sad because it means that winter is right around the corner. :-(

For now, I'll enjoy the changing colors, spend some quality time indoors, and snuggle up to my kitties. I can't promise I won't cry again...

Purple carrots and green tomatoes...

I love the great variety of fruits and vegetables offered here in Quebec! Apparently there are over 60 varieties of carrots native to North America, but we normally only find the orange kind at the grocery store. I guess it's not as profitable for farmers to grow these kinds of things because people probably find them "weird", or think they're genetically modified. Ironically, a lot of the food we think is "normal" is probably genetically modified.

Finally...new things on Etsy!

I haven't been able to list new things on Etsy in a while, but I just did it! Whew! New tops and lots of cute vintage items.

There are lots of things happening in my life right now. They include:

1. My friends Jen & James, Freddy (my bf), and I are buying a house together! We've been looking for about a year and we finally found it! It's a nice duplex in Verdun, directly across the street from a park and a metro. Our offer was accepted and we've been shopping around for the best mortgage all week, plus gathering all the documents needed. Soooo time consuming! Our move in date is in January....eep!!!

2. Our cat Otto got super sick with pneumonia when I was in Paris, and Freddy had to take him to the vet. Poor Otto had to stay there overnight for a few days, but he's almost 100% better now. He still has a teeny cough sometimes, but overall he is back to his regular playful self again. Now we're just monitoring him and giving him his pills (which is not a fun task, btw). He's really sweet and doesn't try to claw or bite when we give him the pills though, but he definitely tries to fight us. I'm glad he's doing ok.

3. I'm moving into a for-real studio space with Angie, Marc, and Michelle in December! I'm sooo excited to take Supayana to the next level! By next level, I mean actually wearing pants. Yes, no more working in my pajamas....no more working from home! The space is awesome...it's a 2000 square feet industrial space with bigggg windows. Another nice thing is that it's in a building with lots of other artists/designers/screenprinters, etc, so it will be cool to see what kinds of collabs will come out of it. We're gonna build a showroom in the space, too. Exciting!

Here are two new things that I just listed. Same style as before, but these are in different colors/patterns.

Voir

I got a nice little write up about my fall collection in this week's Voir newspaper (the city paper). Woo hoo!

It's in French so here's a rough translation in English for you guys.

-------------------------------------------

We caught Yana Gorbulsky, the designer of Supayana, just before her flight to Paris and asked her to speak with us about her new collection. Her inspiration for Fall 2009? The old French style. "The bow top (pictured above) was created after watching the movie La Vie en Rose. Berets and small gloves....I love that style!". It's therefore not shocking that the designer is presenting us with a style that's frankly vintage. Originally from Moscow and having started her label in New York, Yana finds herself at home in Montreal. The globe-trotter (haha yeah right) assures us....she is here to stay! Discover Supayana at the following boutiques: General 54, Headquarters Galerie and Boutique, La Gaillarde, Perfide, and on ecocentrikapparel.com.

London

Back in Paris now and I'm going home tomorrow! This was a wonderful trip but I am soooo ready to be home.

Eley Kishimoto

I really really love this collection! Go to style.com to see more...

Paris

I love this city! The Ethical Fashion Show finished on Sunday, so yesterday was my first day not working. We walked around sooo much...and I even went on a carousel. Here are some pics!