After almost a month in Europe on a honeymoon I’m back in the studio and getting ready for IDSwest coming up this weekend. I’ll be in the Studio North area showcasing wall art and pillows. Here’s a look in the studio at what I’ve been doing before it all comes together in a couple days.
Over the past week I’ve been busy and so inspired, all by adding gold to the colour palette. I’m using it on a whole line of new things for spring, including another version of the iPad sleeve. Here’s a peak inside of my studio and what I’ve been working on.
I’m in the midst of finishing up and photographing so there will be more to come.
I have some photos to share of a recent collaboration that is underway with Cassie Dee and Christine Adela White. Cassie is a Vancouver designer who was one of 5 selected fashion designers in the Mercedez Benz start up show in Toronto this past October. Part of her line includes bridesmaid dresses, as modelled by Christine who is in the running for Miss Universe 2012. These are some shots that we took together last week.
Cassie’s bridesmaid dresses are individually made and the one shown below can be tied various ways around the neck. On her blog, Cassie shows her process behind draping several new dresses that will be soon be available.
More information about Christine‘s run for Miss Universe 2012 is available on her Facebook page and website. In May she’ll be off to Toronto to compete for the place of Canadian representative.
Want to see more about Cassie’s spring 2012 collection? Here’s a link to a story about her on Front Row Mag.
This Sunday wraps up the end of Local-E Pop Up Shop in Gastown, Vancouver. Curated by Lexi of Daub + Design, this shop carries an assortment of locally made jewellery, swim wear, clothing, baby goods and handbags.
The shop is located on Cambie St, between West Cordova and Water St. All designers work shifts in the shop so it’s always a surprise who you’re going to meet. A few of the clothing designers had booths at the One of a Kind Vancouver Show which was last weekend so now they have more stock in store. Last Friday night we hosted a customer appreciation night and 24 Hours Vancouver stopped by — as you can see in the Dec.13th edition below:
There are 15 designers carried in the store and all can be found on the website Local-E.
The Store hours are 11am – 7pm daily — until Sunday December.18th, when the pop up shop finishes.
Victoria ––Lotus Pop Up Shop @ The Bay Centre Mall (3rd floor next to La Senza) For the month of Nov. & Dec.
Ottawa — Flaunt @ The Ottawa Convention Centre Friday Nov. 18th
Toronto — One of a Kind Show Online Shop Display Wall Art sold in the online shop will be on display during the show
Newfoundland — A large selection of clutches & iphone sleeves will be arriving in store at Model Citizens
Chicago — One of a Kind Show @ The Merchandise Mart Dec. 1st – 4th
Bowen Island — Gifted 2011 The Gallery @ Artisan Square Dec.2nd – 24th
Vancouver — Pop Up shop with Daub + Design @ Cambie & W.Cordova (Gastown) Dec. 6th – 20th
The past few days have been busy here with Circle Craft happening at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Here’s a shot of the new booth and some of the wall pieces.
The show is on until Sunday at 5pm. For more information visit the Circle Craft website.
These are a couple of clutches for winter in a stone grey cashmere blend and a winter white.
In September I moved Shibang from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Bowen Island, British Columbia. It was one of the biggest moves in distance that you can make in Canada and now we’re here on the other coast. Bowen Island has a population of about 4000, including many artists and is a 20 min ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, which is a 20 min drive to downtown Vancouver (when the traffic’s good).
Here are some photos of the island and all of it’s natural beauty. I’m definitely inspired and in awe of how huge the trees are. Walks here are like hikes, you can see the stars at night and Vancouver is just a short distance away.
This is Bowen Island as seen on the ferry ride back at sunset.
My studio is up and running, the holiday show season is just around the corner starting with Circle Craft at The Vancouver Convention Centre next week.
The first “Shibang” bag was a large denim tote that I made and embellished with my first hand dyed wool and loopy first hand spun yarn. It was purple with an orange centre and in an abstract way looked a bit like a flower. I was a Textile Arts student at Capilano University in my first year and I wanted a bag that could carry all of the wool, fabric and books I was bringing to class each day.
What I liked about this bag was how it added some interest to any outfit and was different from anything I’d ever seen before. I began making large tote bags in 2005 and continued for a couple of years until I focused on creating smaller items.
This season I am bringing back the oversize tote in new version — made on heavy wool with structure, leather handles, rivets & metal feet. This is the perfect canvas to showcase a large colourful abstract flower and it looks good with a blazer and jeans, a casual outfit or for travelling.
The style is inspired by classic shapes with an influence from vintage luggage.
One perk of being back in the Vancouver area is that I am close to all of the family furniture and special belongings that date back many decades. The suitcase and trunk pictured above have been in the family for a long time.
The trunk was used by my great aunt Flora when she travelled to Scotland to visit family and brought it full of food. The brown suitcase belonged to my great uncle in Australia and he gave it to my parents to use when they were returning to Canada after their honeymoon in Australia and didn’t have enough space to carry everything back.
This past Friday was a very busy and day in downtown Vancouver. We started the day at a conference for small and medium sized business called SOHO where the day was filled a roundtable breakfast, networking and many great speakers. After spending the day at the conference we headed down the Interior Design Show West (IDS West) going on at The Vancouver Convention Centre. The show floor was filled with so many inspirational displays, products and ideas.
I love everything to do with interior design and as this is a direction Shibang is heading.
I took a few photos of different exhibitors at the show that I found interesting but there were many others as well that I didn’t photograph. This one above and below is SALARI. The textiles were the draw here and these colourful seats were so sturdy to sit on — not only fun to look at.
These sculptural pieces by COLLABORATION are beautiful up close and looked stunning displayed on top of and filled with moss.
MOLO had a big presence at the show with their soft wall structures and treehouse like display, beautiful lamps suspended and much more.
Here’s a shot of the dining area which was designed by Moooi.
This is only a small representation of what and who was there. I have put the links to the websites of the companies I mentioned and by looking through the IDS West website there is a directory of everyone. Marimekko was also there. I absolutely love them and have yet to visit their Yaletown location.
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