Styrofoam ball alternatives?

Sooo Michelle and Angie have been bugging me to make these headbands for months ever since they saw the prototype I made for a fashion show last fall. I really like them a lot, but the thing that's been holding me back is that the baubles are made from styrofoam balls.

These particular ones are made from styrofoam balls I found at Value Village, so I don't mind using them since they're second hand....but I don't know what I'm going to do if I want to make more! I really really really don't want to use new styrofoam since it's not a very eco-friendly material and can't be recycled. I've looked everywhere for alternatives...and eep! I'm stuck! It needs to be something smooth, lightweight, and perfectly round. Do you guys have any ideas?Angie was suggesting that I find a place that throws away dented ping pong balls. Hmmm.

So anyway, for now, there are only two headbands. Hopefully I'll find a solution so I can make more!

Check them out in my Etsy shop...

Jupon Pressé

Eeeee! I just saw a picture of the new store in Quebec City that's carrying my stuff. Soooooo cute and girly. It would be fun to take a trip up there this summer...it's only three hours away from Montreal.

Here's some info for anyone who lives in Quebec City.

Location:

790, Saint-Jean

Quebec, QC, G1R 1P9

Phone:

418-704-7114

Mon - Wed:

10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Thurs - Fri:

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Sat - Sun:

10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Our new showroom!

Our showroom is finally done! I posted these pictures on facebook a few weeks ago but I forgot to repost them here.

We made a showroom in the front part of our studio so stylists and buyers for stores have a nice place to browse our collections when they come. We built this ourselves and with two lovely interns, Emily and Evan. Emily even did some custom screen-printing for us.

Here's Michelle arranging her stuff.

Angie, Marc, and Michelle's beautiful creations...

Chair screenprinted by Emily Paris and necklace by Norwegian Wood.

Me! Standing in front of my little section :-) Oops, we forgot to move the ladder, but it kind of goes...

Fannypack!

I've wanted a nice fannypack for a while. I know, it sounds like a weird thing to want, but it comes in so handy at craft sales when you're handling cash. It's also perfect for bike riding, when you only need to carry your wallet and phone...

So, my friend and studiomate Marc made me my dream hip pouch. It has a scalloped edge (drool!!!) and a tassle! This is by far, the girliest thing he's ever made...and it came out so great! Marc works with recycled leather and puts so much care into making his products. He scours the city for old leather coats, vintage leather belts, etc. to make his beautiful products. While I'm not a huge fan of leather, at least Marc is recycling old leather products.

Isn't it beautiful?

You're in luck, too, cause he's making more! You can order one from his etsy shop.

Supayana on Emergingthoughts.com

I totally meant to post this last week, but I made some exclusive items for Emergingthoughts.com. Here you'll find the pompom dress and the floral onesie in other fabrics.

Ohh and I love that I'm right next to Keiko's cutiepie face. She's one of my fave bloggers.

Well, that's all for now! Back to working on my last wholesale order. One more week of being in sweatshop mode!!!! Can't wait to take a break after it's done :-)

Vintage Mart

Attention vintage lovers in Montreal!

Smart design mart will be hosting a two day vintage sale friday april 16th & saturday april 17th in the gallery section of headquarters galerie & boutique! A selection of pretty vintage dresses just in time for the warm weather, vintage clothes, shoes, and deadstock vintage goodies.

All items in the vintage sale are cash only and tax-free!

Everyone is welcome, so bring your friends.

Vintage sale hours:
Friday, April 16 6pm-9pm
Saturday April 17 11am- 6pm

Headquarters Galerie & Boutique

1649 Amherst
Montreal, QC
H2L 3L4
514-678-2923
www.HQgalerieboutique.com

...and the flowers and the trees

I am so excited for warm weather! I really can't wait to start growing things in our backyard. I ordered a bunch of seeds and starter plants from Richters. I made my order over the phone (Oooh fancy and old fashioned) and the lady was so sweet. I guess all gardeners are just nice by nature.

I seriously spent two weeks pouring over the catalogue until I figured out exactly what I wanted. I had to shorten my list because it was getting out of control. They had so many cool plants! Like, they have starter kits to grow your own mushrooms (not the magic kind, hehe). I had to draw the line somewhere and I ended up getting these:

-Blackberry (yum!)

-Arugula

-Kale

-Bay Laurel (this is the plant bay leaves come from)

-Echinacea

-Lemongrass

-Stevia (the leaves taste like sugar!)

-Horseradish

-German chamomile

-Indigo (I'm going to try to make my own dye!)

Anyway, that should be enough for the first little while! I'll probably buy tomatoes and other common herbs at a local garden center. Most of the edible plants I'll have to grow in planters, cause I'm pretty sure we'd grow extra limbs if we ate stuff grown in the backyard soil. Oh and I know this sounds crazy, but is it true that your soil is contaminated if you live within a few blocks of a dry cleaner? Somebody told me that and I wasn't sure...

Here's Freddy raking stuff in our tiny backyard :-)

Those of you who are wondering why I haven't been posting anything new on etsy lately....well I've been sewing like crazy for wholesale orders (and looking at seed catalogues). Here are a few stores that will be carrying new Supayana stock this Spring!

-Revival (Iowa City, Iowa, USA)

-Emerging Thoughts (online shop)

-Rosie's Handmade Revolution (Bellport, NY, USA)

-Jupon Pressé (Quebec City, QC, Canada, opening May 1st 2010)

Hoping that some of you who read this blog can check some of these stores out!