Bi-annual Update! (from the world's worst blogger)

I think I'm actually just going to give up on promising that I will be a better blogger, and everyone will just have to be satisfied with a new post from me when it happens, be it tomorrow, or next year. As sad as it is to say and as ridiculous as it sounds, I am just too busy to ever find time to sit down for an hour or two and focus on blogging! Today I'm working at Better Than Jam, in Bushwick. After hand-basting 6 huge circles of silk organza for a wedding reception dress for a client of a client, I have an hour or two left to do this!!!

Now, let's get caught up on what I have been doing for the last 11 months. Firstly, I did NOT achieve one of my goals and audition for Project Runway this past season. I have to say that actually turned out to be a great decision. I would not not not have wanted to be on there with that group of people. Most of them were fine, some of them I might have strangled, and the overall scraping-the-barrel lack of talent was really disheartening. I'm not about to start recapping, but suffice it to say that I'm in the group of people with the opinion that this season was extremely disappointing, from start to finish, ESPECIALLY finish.

I DO plan to still audition for Season 10. I have already started working on updating my portfolio with fresh looks and some new photo shoots. I did a shoot last month with the lovely and fabulous DaleAnn Clancy. We shot with two models on and around the High Line park in the Meat Packing District. Here are a couple of the photos:

Model - Tatiana Eurochkina

Silver metal organza Cloud blouse, navy raw silk Tidal Wave skirt.

Model - Nelly Santiago

Black silk chiffon and duchess silk strapless dress with metal sequin detail.

Black wool Ruffian jacket with metallic organza detail & gold hardware.

Tatiana is a model whom I worked with previously and Nelly I met via Model Mayhem right before our shoot. A note to fellow independent designers - signing up for Model Mayhem was an AWESOME thing! I wish I had done it years ago. Due to the word 'model' in the name, I never really looked into it as a resource for myself. DaleAnn suggested that I sign up and do a casting call for models via it. I got tons of replies to my posting, and since setting up my account only a month ago I have already had some of my items pulled for a shoot by a stylist and have been contacted by at least 6 photographers requesting to work together. To me it's always seemed like one of the trickiest elements of getting your line up and running was getting good photos from a variety of talented photographers. Model Mayhem seems to want to do all the work for me, and no, I am not a paid spokesperson. I'm collaborating on another shoot with someone I just met through it around the end of the month and hope to have photos from that before the end of the year to post here!

Another exciting thing that just happened is I was chosen to be in the Better Homes and Gardens Handmade Holiday Gift Guide! You can see my little feature as well as the other handmade items here. This is the picture they took of my tie:

Bicycle Silk Tie - Slate Blue shantung w/ black ink

I was hoping for an in-print feature, but I'm pretty sure this was web only. I have not, however, picked up a copy of their December issue and looked yet. I'll get around to it! So far it has not been a huge driver of traffic to my store, by any means. However, I don't think most people are even thinking of perusing gift guides yet. Also, while BHG does feature 3-4 posts on their Twitter and FB daily, I don't think they have started posting this link yet. Crossing my fingers and waiting for the sales to go nuts!

On of my goals this year has almost come to fruition! I have hired a web designer and my site is under production. I couldn't be more excited. I have had my URL and a place holder page for about FOUR years and it's really just time to get the whole mess in up-and-running order. It should be ready by the end of November. A birthday present to myself! I'll be sure to post a note when it's in place for viewing.

Just this past week I went on a little foray outside the world of serious fashion and whipped myself up a Halloween costume. I was inspired by some beautiful photos of Dia de los Muertos costumes and make-up I had seen around the internet and wanted to do my own interpretation. I spend about 6 solid days working on everything, from the fully boned historical corset (not my design, used a pattern) to the bajillions of gorgeous silk flowers I plastered everywhere. Damn, my little $5 hot glue gun did a fantastic job! Here's a picture of me!

My fiancé and I went to the NYC Halloween Parade on the 31st. Even though we both love Halloween, we had not attended before and were excited to join the marchers. Nick was Randy Marsh, from South Park. My assistant Dani made his mask and he looked GREAT! People loved him and we were surprised and thrilled by how many people wanted their photo taken with both of us. When the parade ended and we were diverted down a side street, one of the last people to ask me for my picture was Dr. Takeshi Yamada. He's an INCREDIBLE artist who makes all sort of creepy, awesome and fantastical creatures. You can see lots of his work here. I had not heard of him prior to meeting him on Halloween and I definitely regret that, I would have been doubly excited! As it was, I was in love with the Sea Rabbit and delighted to get a photo with the Dr. and his furry friend! It was the highlight of my night.

Dr. Takeshi Yamada, Seara & I.

Time to wrap it up and got back to work! I just got a bunch of new t-shirts in and I have to sew my labels into ALL of them! It's that time of year where my main focus is prepping inventory for craft shows and online sales and getting all my boutique accounts stocked up for the holidays. That means sewing my own stuff non-stop as well as working on a few freelance projects, like making a wedding reception dress and a plethora of home items for an interior designer I work with. There are simply not enough hours in the day! Keep an eye on my calendar on the right for upcoming events. My first craft show of the season will be in LIC on December 4th. I have also applied for the Bust Holiday Craftacular (Dec 10th & 11th) and the Brooklyn Lyceum Holiday Market (Dec 17th & 18th) but have not confirmed the last two events yet. More information forthcoming. And now, on with the sewing!

This year goes to 11 !!!!

So, I may be right up there in the world's top laziest bloggers ever, but I have big plans for myself this year. That includes being better about posting updates on my projects. LOTS of time has gone by since last I wrote and I'm not really sure what I have been up to during it all. A little bit of all the usual, I suppose, getting caught up with life and other things.

One of the major things I did in 2010 was to audition for Project Runway again. I tried out for Season 8. I did much better this time than last! I actually made it to the semi-final auditions, which were held at the Liz Claiborne offices in NYC. I was SO excited! It wasn't any less intimidating than last time, but at least in this interview I got to talk! I waiting for about 2+ hours past my call time for my interview. Other people waiting whom I noticed and then later saw on tv were Jason Troisi (He was exactly the same in real life, there was no special editing to make him look wacko. He talked loudly about himself the ENTIRE time.) and Casanova. I particularly remember that before my interview but after Casanova's I went into the restroom. Two of his models were in there getting changed. One of them kept saying to the other "Wow, that went REALLY badly." I guess we all know talent isn't the only thing they are looking for in those interviews! My interview was ok. I took about 7 or 8 designs with me to show. Tim was one of the interviewers, obviously, as well as Irina Shabayeva. There were at least a dozen or so other people off in the sidelines, producers and whatnot, but I didn't have time to even look at them. Seth Aaron was there also, I saw him walking around, but he didn't sit in on my interview. They made me try on one of my pieces, asked lots of questions about the others, wanted to see and touch a few of them. Tim kept saying that my designs all looked very organic, when in fact I think they are actually very structured and planned. He also kept calling my very intricate seam detailing 'applique' and I kept saying 'no, it's not' and thinking he of all people should know the difference. In hindsight, it's possible he was just trying to get me riled up. He also told me that he didn't get this look:

Green & Black dupioni dress. Photo by Azzurra Piccardi

I told him I didn't know what there was to not get. He said it didn't go with the rest of the pieces and I said they weren't being presented as a collection, just a sampling of my designs. Again, looking back it's most likely he just wanted to get me to start arguing about it, to see if I could get crazy for tv. I should have been MORE crazy! Oh well. There's always next time. Here are a couple other pictures from the portfolio I submitted with my application.

Silk Organza Cloud blouse and one-of-a-kind 26 gore raw silk skirt.

Pleated dupioni blouse and black metallic wool Lightning skirt

I have NO idea when Lifetime will be casting for Season 9 of PR, though I am almost positive they are signed to do 7 more seasons. Any day now I should start getting my act together and creating some new portfolio pieces so I can apply again! 7 more seasons, how could I NOT get there eventually? The question is do I really want to? Ha!

On another note, I am excited to say that I ended last year with 25 boutiques carrying varied assortments of my ties, t-shirts and bags. I shipped out 928 ties total to all of those stores in 2010! I'm so excited to think that there are literally thousands of my ties being worn all around the world!

Some of the PILES of ties I shipped out last year.

Some of my goals for this year along those lines include sending out MORE ties than that, as well as acquiring at least 10 new consignment or wholesale accounts. A few months ago I set up my wholesale page for my ties on Trunkt, which you can see here. Just today I set up a separate linesheet for my silkscreened t-shirts, which is here. I only have a couple (literally) t-shirt designs right now. Getting these things to happen is harder than it seems, especially when it's just ME trying to make it happen. I plan to have at least two more designs and several more color options by the end of March. Just this week I got my first batch of Bicycle t-shirts. Super excited about those and already sent out about a dozen to some accounts, Sacred Art in Chicago, and The Fool on the Hill in Jerome, AZ.

My men's Bicycle t-shirt in Concrete gray.

Another big thing on my t0-do list for this year is to get my personal website up and running and not looking ridiculously out of date. Fall 2009 collection??? BWAHAHAHA! Well, that certainly didn't happen. That's ok, because we'll discuss Spring 2012 in a second. Geez! Where does the time go? I have simple goals for my website. I want a portfolio, a functioning store with shopping cart, a list of all the places I sell to, including addresses and live website links and a bio. This can't be TOO hard, can it? I'm more worried about it being too expensive. I have a referral for a web designer, but haven't contacted them yet. If anyone knows someone in NYC or Brooklyn who does good work at a reasonable cost, please let me know!

Yes, one of the other plans I have for my website is to FINALLY feature an actual collection, mini though it may be. I really really want to get my act together this year and do a very small collection for Spring 2012. It would be for sale through my site, hopefully somewhere locally and wholesale as well. I'm thinking 2 dresses, 2 skirts, 2 blouses, a jacket and some bags. I CAN do this! I am actually going to use this dress as part of the collection, in this colorway.

Pale green wool sheath dress with silk charmeuse trim and lining

This is actually an older design, but it's never been for sale before. I'm quite fond of it and think it's a perfect color for spring! I love getting colorful with my designs, I don't feel there's often enough color in fashion. Walking down the street in Manhattan in the winter almost EVERY single person is wearing a black coat. I'm usually wearing my camel-colored coat, because it has a hood, and I feel like I stand out. When I wear my bright blue vintage Harris Tweed coat I REALLY look like I am not melancholy enough to live in this city. Fine by me! Anyway, the other colors I am leaning towards for my spring collection will be burgundy and possibly a little golden yellow or metallic gold. I also plan to offer some limited edition purses, most likely of existing style designs but in custom colors and fabrics.

I am also thrilled to say that I am going to attempt to do a couple of local craft fairs this year! I did one very small show over the holiday last year and it went rather well. I plan to apply for the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this summer! This involves much planning, like table display, packaging, advertising, labeling and of course MASS production of inventory. I have none of these things. Thank goodness one of the awesomest things that happened to me last year was the acquisition of my fabulous and talented new assistant, Dani! I definitely without a doubt could not have made it through the '10 holiday season without her. Looking forward to another great year too!

Dani & I having fun on NYE, after months of hard work.

So, these are my seemingly small, but time and money consuming goals for 2011. I will do my very best to keep an update of my adventures here, with lots of pictures of course! Check back soon for more highlights of the insanity!

Don't Stop The Press!

Recently I have been lucky enough to have my work featured in some very exciting places! The first was the Fall 2009 Weddings issue of New York Magazine! The article was online and I'm still not sure if it made it into the print issue. I have to order one eventually and find out. The write-up was about Etsy items in the local area perfect for weddings. Here is the link to the story. They featured my Wallpaper Heart Damask print silk neckties. I sent them three pieces several months prior, upon their request. They used two of the ties and shot this AMAZING photo! That's one hell of a props stylist.

The other day when I got home from HOURS of sewing in my freezing cold studio, I got a card in the mail. It was from Mara, owner of the absolutely amazing Boutique Fabulous in Cambridge, MA. They carry my neckties, and she had sent me this press clipping from a local paper, the Weekly Dig. They featured my Shark necktie in their holiday gift guide! You can read the article here. This is the photo they used online:

This is the actual clipping she sent me. It totally made my day! And the paper's little review is HILARIOUS! I loved it.

Lastly, my good friend and amazing jewelry designer Kenneth Fron did an interview with me recently which he featured on his blog. Of course, he used a photo of me where I'm making a RIDICULOUS face, though wearing one of his fantastic necklaces, but I forgive him. :-) Please take a sec to read the interview here!

That's about it for now! Have to get back to sewing. I just bought a TON of awesome fabric to make more bags in this style. (Named after my BFF I've known since I was 3). I'll be making the new bags in gorgeous upholstery weight large-patterned pixelated houndstooth check in brown & cream, red & black and celadon & slate blue with matching faux leather detailing. Vegan! Check my Etsy shop soon to see these, they will be to die for!

I Moonlight as a Reporter

Well, not really..... but occasionally I do get to go out and cover some great events for Blogging Project Runway! Most recently it was the Season 6 Finale Party! BPR posted my little write-up and some photos from the event. Check it out here! Since Season 7 starts in January, I'm hoping to have some new stuff to cover really soon, so keep posted!

Carol Hannah Whitfield, myself & Althea Harper

Ain't Life Grand!

It sure is!  And lately, for the most part, it's getting better and better every day!  In most recent news, my ties are now available for sale in Grand Central Station!  How cool is that? The lovely ladies behind Local Labels, Loren and Jean, are showcasing their wares at a kiosk in the Graybar Passage from now until the end of August.  Local Labels is the purveyor of many fabulous products, from pickles to perfume, which are all made right here in NYC!  This, obviously, includes my ties!  

To read more about Local Label's escapades at Grand Central, and to learn more about some of the featured artisans, be sure to check out their blog!  If you live in the city or are traveling through, don't pass up a chance to stop by, say hello and support your local artists!

Jenn Logue - Extra Pretty!

Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of meeting the talented singer/songwriter Jenn Logue.  We actually met at the after-party for Malan's fashion show while waiting at the bar.  Actually, she first started talking to my mom, whom I left at the bar to go say hi to someone else. (I know, I'm horrible!) When I came back we all started chatting because my mom had discovered that Jenn ALSO was originally from Pennsylvania.  I gave her my info and told her to call me if I could ever make her anything to wear.  I talked with her shortly after that and loaned her several items to use for a photoshoot.  I haven't seen the photos from that yet, but when I do I'll post some here.

Jenn just recently had a party for the release of her new EP.  The party was at Mad 46, on the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.  It was a fantastic evening, and I was ecstatic to have been able to make the dress that Jenn wore to the event.  She and I went fabric shopping, and I let her pick out what she wanted, while offering my opinion when needed.  The dress is made from a gorgeous royal blue silk charmeuse and a printed silk chiffon.  Jenn wanted something glamorous, young, fun and pretty, but also something she could move easily in while playing.  Since we had very minimal time to complete the dress, and only time for one fitting, I decided to go with a basic halter top dress, and let the fabric speak for itself.

Jenn's latest release is called the "Pretty EP"  You can check it out on her myspace, facebook, or website.   She's going to be starting a US and European tour very soon, so be sure to check her out if she comes to your town, she's fantastic!

I love the way the skirt was rippling!

Jenn and I.  I had WAY too much free pink champagne by the end of the night, but this wasn't then.

  I came straight to the party from work and got soaked in the pouring rain that day.  

Malan, Fashion Week and I

Although this post has been sitting on the back burner and getting dusty, since Fashion Week is past and we're already thinking Spring '10, I swear it's only because I've been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and write a good bit about it all.  So for those who have been pestering me (in a nice way) I offer you something here to suffice until I can post again, hopefully much sooner than a 5 month gap.  Geez, I'm a slacker.

So, the 8 or so months I've been in NYC now have just been a complete whirlwind. And some of the most recent exciting news is that I was able to work with the fabulous Malan Breton.  Malan, if you don't know (and shame on you if you don't!) was a contestant of season 3 of Project Runway.  He's been designing his own collection for 6 or 7 years. Shame on me, because I can't say for absolute certain, but I'll find out and correct!  I had been put in touch with Malan through a small chain of friends.  Laura Kluvo, from BPR introduced me (online) to Christian, an AMAZING artist and good friend of Malan.   She encouraged me to write him and ask if there was anything I could help with, as if was right before Fall fashion week.  I did, and he wrote me back but as it was only about a week away from the Bryant Park shows we never had time to get in touch.  In January, I saw a post from Malan looking for interns to help with his Fall 09 collection.  I responded immediately and he called me the very next day.  

I don't want to talk TOO much about what I helped out with.  I'd rather let the pieces speak for themselves.  I'd like to make it clear that I did not design ANY of the items that are shown here, I only constructed them.  Malan does every bit of his design work on his own.  On February 13th, a special showing was held at the Eli Klein Gallery in Soho.  Here are some pictures from the event of pieces I made and people I met, with details:

Ruby Silk Faille & Black Silk Organza V-neck Dress

Malan & I

 Ruby Silk Jacquard Gibson Jacket

Garnet Silk Jacquard Long Wrap Coat

PR Alum Diana Eng and I

Onyx Tulle & Silk Organza Capelet Blouse.  Tulle lined in tulle, whoo that was tricky! I LOVE the cape!  And I have to say, I think this was the prettiest model of the night.  I hope that doesn't cause a catfight somewhere!

For now I'm taking a little break and focusing on working on my own collection.  It will be more everyday wear, as opposed to eveningwear. It will be ready for Fall 09, and available online sometime this summer.  My color palette is rich, deep blues, purples and greens, with a hint of grey and black (and maybe a fab coat with hot pink lining!) thrown in for good measure. My pieces will be mainly wool and silk combinations, my two favorite fabrics!  All designs will be very limited edition, some there will be no more than 5-10 pieces available, some even less. Several pieces will be one of a kind.  My size run will be 2-20.   I'm just now in the middle stages (sewing and patternmaking) of getting all this worked out.  Will be sure to post more details as I go along!

I definitely hope and expect to be working more with Malan in the future.  I think we work great together, and I couldn't ask for a kinder, more inspiring designer to be learning from.  I'm sure we'll be starting Spring '10 soon enough!  And there may just be some side projects underway already.  

That's all for now!  Hope that will tide everyone over in the meantime.  I'm in the process of getting more and better photos from the event.  Expect those to be updated in the next day or so.  If you can't wait, there are some other great photos from this show as well as Malan's Spring '09 show here.

More soon!  Another post in the works too.  Stay tuned!  Thank you Malan!  And thank you BPR for linking this, what a nice surprise this morning!

New York - The 1st Two Months

Ah yes, here I go with a challenge. Trying to fit everything about my first two months living in NYC into a post that doesn't get too long and boring. Deep breath...

Moving here was one of the most miserable experiences of my life!!! Packing took seriously over 2 weeks. It's actually so awful I don't really want to relive it here. Suffice it to say, if you ever hire a moving truck. PAY FOR THE INSURANCE! We paid a shipper to send everything here and then flew nonstop with two cats. Moving day we arrived at the airport, cats have been properly drugged so as to stay calm and sleeeeep. Airline announces there will be a 5 hour delay! Because of "weather" in NYC. Meaning: Phoenix pilots don't know how to fly through a raincloud. We made it though and pulled up in a cab in front of our apt. we had never seen at about 11:30pm. I won't talk about our neighborhood more than to say it's DIRTY, in a bad way. We have a 3 month sublet, the only thing we could find since we hadn't secured jobs here before we move, and we will be moving to a nicer area at the end of October. Enough about that.

Monday, August 2nd, two days after we arrive. I had an interview for an internship with a small, luxury fashion design company of Cynthia Rose. The VP, who interviewed me, told me I was overqualified and that she thought I would be bored working as an intern. I insisted I wouldn't and I was so excited when she wanted me to start the following Monday! Nick (my boyfriend) was waiting for me at Bryant Park, right up the street, and I was walking on air when I went to meet him there, so proud of myself! Things have evolved (or devolved) at the internship rather quickly. For the first two weeks I was excited to be there, but I was a little bored and wished that they would require more from me so I could show what I could do. Then the VP decided she wanted me to work mainly with the Production Manager (she was the only person running that entire area of the company). I was fine with that as it was something that I didn't know about and I felt that it would definitely give me skills, information and contacts I would need in order to start producing my own line in the future. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with this person, as the designer's personal assistant quit after my second week of work, and I ended up taking on a lot of her responsibilities, only working for free. After about another week or so, the VP started asking me if I thought I could do the Production Manager's job. I told her probably, as long as I would be trained and knew what I was doing. It didn't seem that hard. Boy was I wrong. Shortly after that the P.M. quit and I sort of got bumped into her position, temporarily or permanently was yet to be determined. Keep in mind that I have ZERO experience or training in production, but I am very organized and this is what they thought would make me good for this job. I didn't make it more than 3 weeks. In reality, I was doing a job, single-handedly (trying anyway) that there need to be 2-3 people handling; full time and on the payroll. I got so overwhelmed right away, that I knew there was just no way I could continue without crashing and burning. On top of that, it was taking up ALL of my time (I was there from 9-7 many days). I know that's typical of lots of jobs, but I originally took the internship to help me learn things to forward my own career and my own design work, not make me a personal slave for someone else's profit. There are many other reasons why I did not stay with the company, but on a professional level it's mainly because I'm not qualified for the position and I was SO stressed out about it's all I could think about all the time. I just moved to New York! I love it here. I don't want to spend all my time hating it. I would have made a GREAT production assistant, and they NEED one, but they don't want to have to pay for one, and it's just too much work for me to offer to do for free.

On to some more exciting and upbeat news! I've had several Project Runway sightings since I've been here. I almost ran into Suede on the street a few weeks ago, literally! He was talking on the phone and walking with his head down and we nearly collided. Also, right before fashion week I had to take some pieces to have buttonholes sewn in to a nearby embroidery shop, and Joe Faris was there having buttonholes put in those gold and pink pants he showed at Bryant Park. He looked tired and a little older than on the show, and I wasn't sure it was him. About two weeks ago I SWEAR I saw Keith, who was kicked off in season...3? I can't even remember. It looked JUST like him, but I'm not positive he even lives in NY. I also met Annida Greenkard, one of the models on the drag episode on season 5. She was awesome! And looked even better than on the show. And she was SO mad at Daniel for making her that boring dress! She's amazing. I'm hoping she and I can work together on a project, but haven't had time to discuss since I've been with everything else. And the biggest one of all, Nina Garcia! During fashion week I was lucky enough to get to go to one show! The assistant designer at Cynthia Rose got us on the list for the designer she worked for previous, Douglas Hannant, and Nina was one of the guests at the show. I somewhat candidly snapped a few photos of her while the models were walking. Unfortunately none of them were that great. Sorry Nina! If you go to the Douglas Hannant website and look at the Spring 2009 photos, you can actually see me with my sunglasses on on the right side of the very first image. I didn't want to steal it off their page and post it here though, so you'll have to go see for yourself.

Nina Garcia having some coffee at the Douglas Hannant Spring 09 show.

Many other exciting things have happened since we got to NYC and I'm sure there are many more to come! I'll save what I have for now for another post, this is getting plenty wordy as it is. Check back soon for more!

New Ties Galore!

Haven't posted in a while, and although I have about 4 or 5 different things in mind that I want to write about, I thought I would start by sharing some of my new creations! I have 3 new tie designs available for sale, two of which were listed in my Etsy shop for the first time this week. Let's start the roll call!

Bicycle tie! This one has been super popular so far! Cause who doesn't love a good bike? This was originally designed as a custom request to be used for a wedding, and my wonderful customer was so kind as to allow me to continue to use their design. Now anyone can have this awesome tie! Shown here in Cerulean Blue, Beige and Baby Blue. ALL of my tie designs can be printed in ANY color of silk you can imagine and custom colors don't cost extra!!!

Next up is the Fan Coral tie! I think I need to put together an Ocean tie set. I've got an octopus, a seahorse and now coral! And *spoiler alert* there is an awesome new squid design on the way in the next few months. Definitely before the holidays! And it's enough different from the octopus that if you like one, you'll need both! So, yes, fan coral. This design was also made as a custom request for a wedding. The wonderful Chris and Katherine, now happily married, gave me a photograph of what they wanted their tie to look like.

Beginning photo for fan coral tie design

I then drew the coral illustration by hand and had it turned into a screen. Here are Chris and Katherine on their wedding day! (and a close-up of the tie) The tie was printed with silver ink on sky blue. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but looked great in person!

And here are the ties available in my Etsy shop! Shown here in Royal Blue, Seafoam and Sky Blue.

Both of the above designs were finished before I left Phoenix. This next one is my first new creation since moving to NYC! I've been saving this moth design for a while, not knowing what to do with it. I just recently had a silkscreen made with some other custom images done for weddings. There was room left on the layout and I needed something to fill the space! So I created this flight of moths design. I like it. Hope you do! Shown here in Autumn Gold, Turquoise and Red Grape.

These following two ties are designs that were created as custom images for weddings which I will NOT be offering for sale in my shop. The reason for this is that the customers purchased the artwork specifically for use with their order. For both of these I worked with the amazingly talented Beth of wildemoon.etsy.com She and the customer conspired to create their ideal design and when she was done she sent it to me to have made into a screen. Beth was fantastic, lightening fast and very personable and professional. She and I are collaborating on a few designs right now and I would recommend her to ANY of my future customers who are looking for an original design. She can create screen-printable artwork from just about anything! Art for the first tie shown here was created from an illustration, while art for the second tie was created from a set of photographs! Amazing!

Custom Peacock Feather tie design created for Greg & Noel's wedding. Aren't the colors they chose just gorgeous?!

Custom ties for Wendy & Tim's wedding. She's a violist (I think that's what you would call it) and he plays percussion, so their design incorporated fiddlehead ferns and drumstick Allium. Fun! We are also printing a larger version of this on silk shawls I'm making for her bridesmaids.

That's all the tie fun for now! Hit me up with your custom requests and send your engaged friends my way!

No More Fashion Shows!

That's right! I have just completed the third and final show in a long round for fashion shows over the course of a month. It's SO great to be able to finally relax! I haven't any idea how many new pieces I actually came up with for these shows, but it was A LOT! I think all of them were successful, the last show at SMoCA being the most so, of course, and had a really great time doing them. But I definitely need a break. Especially that now most of my attention if going to be focused one trying to find somewhere to live and work in NYC in a month's time.

Lucky me, I got to have my hair and makeup done for the SMoCA show too!!

There were pile of fantastic photographers at the event, and there are a whole lot of photos online for to check out. There are some here, courtesy of Gary Millard and Four White Walls Photography. My pieces start on the bottom of page four from that link.

One of my designs at SMoCA Nights, modeled by Alyssa la Fortune Holt.

Another link for good photos is here. There were taken by Kevin Burgess of KODE b Photography. Here my pieces start on page 6, image # 113.

The gorgeous & glamorous Chasity Kenny, modeling a dress made just for this show.

There were also several shots taken from azcentral.com, the online extension of the Arizona Republic newspaper. Mine are mixed in with a bunch of other photos from that night, but you can definitely tell which are my outfits. Click here to see those. There are also a few images here, on the Arizona Foothills Magazine website.

The always beautiful and never camera-shy Amparo Elizabeth, wearing a wool and silk 2-piece.

All of the photos show in this post were taken by the amazingly talented and ever generous Nicky Hedayat-Zadeh. Nicky and her friend Chadwick came to the event with an entire setup and took some incredible photos backstage. She took so many fantastic shots of some of my new designs that I just had to post a LOT here. Hope you'll enjoy viewing these pieces as much as I loved making them!

The skirt of this outfit is trimmed in rows and rows of zippers. It weighs a ton, but looks great on the runway!

One of my favorite dresses, made of wool tweed and silk charmeuse, modeled by the enchanting Daynalyn Wain.


This piece was definitely the star of the show. Made from an amazing print silk, and modeled by the lovely Megan Accordino. This dress sold that very night, but luckily I have JUST enough fabric to make one more to keep for my own.

P.S. Most of these are still for sale if anyone is interested!!!

SMoCA Nights, my last fashion show in Phoenix!

The Herberger Theater show is tonight, and after that comes SMoCA!!! It will be my last fashion show in Phoenix before I get ready to move to NYC, so don't miss it! It may be your last chance to actually see me before I leave, cause I'm going to be crazy busy packing and cleaning after that. I don't think I could possibly word this better, so here's the scoop, as per the press release:

WHAT:

Summer SMoCA Nights

To Celebrate the Opening of the exhibition Branded and On Display

WHERE:

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA]

7374 East Second Street

Downtown Scottsdale

WHEN:

June 19, Thursday

9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. midnight

ADVANCE TICKETS:

$15 ($10 for members)

$45 VIP runway seats
480-994-ARTS (2787)

SUMMER FASHION, MUSIC & CUTTING-EDGE VALLEY CULTURE @ SUMMER SMoCA NIGHTS

(Scottsdale, AZ) The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA] presents the 2008 Summer SMoCA Nights on Thursday, June 19, from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. SMoCA Nights is the exclusive tri-annual nightlife event where the Museum is transformed into the ultimate art party, complete with artists, fashion, DJs, bands and performers, for an eclectic evening of cutting-edge culture. This summer event launches the premiere of SMoCA's new exhibition Branded and On Display. To accompany this opening, SMoCA is tipping its hat to all things that revolve around how culture defines itself with marketing and advertising and the consumerism that colors our lives and leisure time. The Museum encourages those in attendance to embrace our media-infused world by flaunting favorite brands and logos during the event. The evening's fashion show will feature Phoenix-based designers Jes Switaj and Devani Weaver with wearable art by artist Bobby Castaneda and dynamic hair and make-up styling by Dolce Salon & DoCo Damask.

Among the event's highlights will be a live outdoor performance by Valley favorites, Peachcake-the band that takes costumed antics on the stage and happy indie-pop revelry to the next level. Peachcake will be followed by a mesmerizing fire dance by Mali, a former Cirque du Soleil performer and new transplant to the city, straight from Spain. Inside the Museum, DJ d'strick will hone his fusion of organic and tech elements to get the crowd charged up for the fashion show. d'strick, best known for spinning groovy blends of deep and funky house, will synthesize an eclectic mix to best communicate the pulse of the runway fashion show.

Guests can mingle and cool off in SMoCA's galleries while glimpsing into their future with expert tarot readings by the famed clairvoyant, OZMA and seeing all three new summer exhibitions: Branded and On Display, Pae White: "Lisa, Bright & Dark," and Pushing Paint Around: selections from the permanent collection. *[Lisa, Bright and Dark, a novel by John Neufeld, 1969 ©SG Phillips.]

As always, SMoCA Nights features free appetizers, a cash bar, prizes and other unexpected guests and happenings. Visitors can catch a satirical feature on consumerism and brand choices by Portland's own Modern Conditions of Production (MCOP), on view in the Museum lobby, along with other surprise artist appearances. And, for all those who love to shop, the event will also boast one-of-a-kind products in the Museum Store specially created by the evening's guest fashion designers and artists including silk-screened ties, bags and hand-painted, graffiti-inspired shoes.

Advance tickets are highly recommended to avoid long lines and a sold-out event: $10 members; $15 nonmembers. ($45 for VIP runway seating) Call 480-994-ARTS (2787).

SMoCA's LOCATION

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA] is located at 7374 East Second Street in downtown Scottsdale, four blocks south of Indian School Road and just east of Scottsdale Road. Free parking is available in the public parking garage located to the west of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and directly behind Los Olivos restaurant on Wells Fargo Avenue. Additional free parking is available at the Old Town Parking Corral at East Second Street and Brown Avenue and at the library parking garage located on Drinkwater Boulevard at East Second Street.

If you're still left with any questions after all that, just contact me! Hope to see you there. Feel free to bring flowers, chocolates, etc. ;-)