LEATHER WORKSHOP

Yesterday we spent a day in the country visiting friends that live very close to a rural Mennonite community. They took us on a tour of a local saddle maker's leather workshop and it was amazing. The leather, the tools, the machines - I was in heaven - and it got me dreaming of a little rural home with a large detached studio on the property...

Thanks Erica and Andy for taking us on such a great little field-trip!!

A STORM IS COMING

A sneak peek at our new wool/silk blend scarves for the Fall/Winter 12 season - each with original illustrations and tie dye patterning. This super lightweight gauze is perfect for layering and will keep you warm and cozy in the upcoming cooler months. Both the Aztec Storm and the Geometric Storm will be available to purchase tomorrow morning in the online shop...

QUALITY PEOPLES

I first discovered Quality Peoples and the talented Ed Fladung when we moved to Mexico. Ed is an American designer residing with his family in the small beach town of Bucerias (coincidentally just one town over from where we lived in Puerto Vallarta) who, at the time, was chronicling his experience in a different culture through gorgeous photography on his blog. These days he's shifted his focus and partnered with a friend to create a surf inspired clothing line also named Quality Peoples. They've just launched their F/W 12 collection and the lookbook is giving me some serious pangs for our time in Mexico...

F/W 12 ONLINE SHOP NOW OPEN

The online shop is now open - head on over to our site to check out the collection!! The S&C Etsy shop will be updated in the next few days and two of our new scarves that we are EXTREMELY EXCITED about (Geometric Cloud and Aztec Storm) will be available next week...

F/W 12 LOOKBOK

A few shots from our new F/W 12 lookbook - head on over to the site to check out the full shoot and our new collection!! Everything will be available online tomorrow...

F/W12 BEHIND THE SCENES

A few behind the scenes shots from our recent F/W 12 shoot. The day was overcast but that only contributed to the warm cozy vibe inside the studio. Our talented team managed to squeeze in as many shots as possible before we lost the light to an evening rain shower.

I was so excited to work with the talented photographer Hana Pesut and make-up artist Karin Shoji and a huge thanks to my beautiful (and patient) friend Sanaz Afshar who was the model for the day. Thanks too to my lovely friend Ngaire who was my right hand man for the day and V who ran all of the errands that made shoot go smoothly. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

More to follow in the coming week as we get the photos edited and the shop ready to launch. But first a quick trip to LA!

LOST WAX CASTING

I recently took a course on lost wax casting - the jewelry technique of carving wax which then gets made into a mould and then cast into metal. I had never done any jewelry or sculpture classes before so I kept it REALLY simple and made three stacking rings - two cast in silver and one in brass. And while I can not say that I have found a new artistic passion in wax casting there was enough for me to love in the process to get me thinking about future projects - maybe even for S&C. Maybe.

If you're in the Toronto area I took my class at The Devil's Workshop on Queen W.

(When I finished carving the ring in the last photo I couldn't shake the image of cat ears.)

PS. Both our online shops will be closed for the next 10 days as we get our F/W 12 season ready to launch. The shops will be open and stocked with new items in the week of September 17th.

COLLECTING F/W 12

This weekend I'll be travelling to Vancouver (and then on to LA) to shoot the F/W 12 season. This week has been full of last minute errands and packing as I try to make sure to remember all the odds and ends for the shoot. Pictured above are a few things making the trip with me...

WOOL

Wool scarf samples arrived this week! Excited to have a few warmer items in the shop for the upcoming colder winter season. Available mid-September...