A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

I took a few pictures myself at La Perlerie on Sunday.  There were a couple shots of people concentrating on creating things.  Here is Karen Lamont of Citrus Silver stamping a silver pendant.

Here is stylist Jen Tse selecting beads to create a necklace.

After Mass Exodus on Tuesday, Nathalie and I ran into these three pretty sisters in the lobby.  I knew that I recognized them from somewhere and shortly, the name came to me – Beckerman!  This team of Canadian designers had moved to NYC and made a big splash, including a memorable video with Agyness Deyn.  Now they tell us that they have moved back to Toronto.  I’m excited to see them out and about, they are very exuberant girls.

Someone told me there was a reception happening in the Engineering building after the show, so I walked on over to eat the usual Ryerson reception fare – perfunctory little sandwiches – and hang out with some of my old profs and alumni friends, and meet some of the students.

Two highlights – one was seeing my favourite grading professor, Ellen Bates (left), and my old co-worker Flora who is graduating this year.  Nice to catch up with Flora after almost two years since we were shop assistants together – she told me about her exchange to the UK where she got to intern for Giles Deacon, lucky girl!

The other highlight was meeting the designers of Dagg and Stacey, who recognized me from my grad collection industry presentation way back in 2006.  Its one of the most stressful days for a fashion student, where you present your grad collection to a panel of industry representatives.  I remember feeling very confident and knowing exactly what I wanted to say – and I guess my enthusiasm made a lasting impression!  Very gratifying to be remembered so positively by such talented designers.

On Wednesday I went to the Textile Museum of Canada for a meeting of the Style Advisory Council.  It is an initiative spearheaded by Laura deCaraful and Amy Burstyn-Fritz to connect the fashion community to the Textile Museum.  The first big project is a costume party with a theme that ties into the exhibits at the museum – Androgyny.  The committee has a lot of amazing people on it and I am looking forward to working with them.

So there are some highlights from my week – how was yours?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

Last Friday, Michelle Reagan bought one of the Aime Luxury runway postcards as a gift for her friend Monica Mei, the designer.  Michelle had helped Monica with the public relations for her show at fashion week and wanted something special to give.  Michelle is a fashion communications student at Ryerson, right now she is working on the PR for Mass Exodus next week.  She’s enthusiastic and positive – if I had a PR company I would hire her in a second.

Saturday I went to Philip Sparks‘ studio for a craft day – the Buy Design creative committee was making decor for for the party on April 18.  I spent the afternoon sewing up curtains, and Rani and Andrew created a tinfoil robot to watch over the auction table.  Get your tickets for Buy Design here – its such a fun party and for a terrific cause!

Monday I woke up very early to go to a high school in Scarborough and talk to some grade 11 and 12 students about fashion illustration.  I met some really sweet kids and had a little revelation being an adult in high school.  The keeners are way cooler than the cool kids.

I showed them the technique I use to make a fashion figure.

When I got back downtown I went to Susie Love‘s place for a jewelry making party.  She showed us how to make bracelets over conversation and wine.  It was so much fun.  She’s planning on making it a regular thing, contact her for more details.

Ainsley and Amy show off the bracelets they made.  I made one with all different shades of pearl breads.  I rarely wear jewelry on my wrists but I have a thing for freshwater pearls and this one really suits me.

Not all of the photos I took at FASHION Magazine offices on Tuesday were so bad – I like this one of Jennifer Campbell at her desk – check out what she’s got posted on her wall!

Tuesday afternoon I went to the Vidal Sassoon school to be the teacher’s pet at a haircutting class.  Nhi gave me a very intense, classic Vidal bob.  Very simple, very symmetrical, with a whole lotta bang.

In between running around all week, I’ve been working on customizing a pair of Keds for a special fundraising event to benefit Worn Journal and the Bata Shoe Museum.  This is all you get to see for now.  Soon I’ll get more info on the event – and my shoes, which will be available for auction.

Thursday evening after many errands I went to the Spoke Club for a Mimi + You fundraiser in support of Shelternet, a charity that supports women escaping abusive relationships.  One of the things that they do is sponsor jewelry making workshops, teaching craft and creating an opportunity for isolated women to make friends and build confidence.  You can donate money or old jewelry, extra beads and craft supplies here.

After that, I went to check out the newly remodeled Cartier boutique on the “mink mile”.  It was packed full of the well known and the well heeled with a sprinkling of diamonds.  It was nice to say hi to a few friends, including new friend Ainsley Kerr (on the right).  At Susie’s she told me she is a bit of an expert at posing so I got her to show me what she does so well – looking very pretty and vivacious.

It was nice to be included – though I felt very shy being surrounded by so much fabulous.

What a week – I guess that’s why people tease me about being a “social”.  How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

At the start of this week I was catching up after the rush of LG Fashion Week, finishing up the runway postcards and posts, and catching up on business.  I am just thrilled with the positive response to the runway postcards!  So many thanks to everyone who posted about them and linked to them, and all the lovely people who bought one!

On Tuesday night I met Deborah, a friend from university who is now working as a high school teacher.  She has asked me to come in and visit her class on Monday – something for next week’s worth.

On Wednesday I walked west to meet clients and run errands.  On my way I popped into Magic Pony to check out the pop-up Visionaire.  The nice salesgirl opened it up for me so I could see how it worked.  You can also see it in action on the website, very cool!  I would love to get commissioned to participate in Visionaire… someday.

Down the street I dropped in on Steve at HUSH Boutique at 785 Queen West.  He’s been a client since I was in school.  One of that type of entrepreneurs I was writing about yesterday with endless ambition and a tireless work ethic.

My last stop on Wednesday was at the offices of High Road PR for a “blogger roundtable”.  Anita was there too, and so were other bloggers including The Gate and Trendhunter.  Over sandwiches and beer we got to check out the new LG “Whatchamacallit”.  Its a small, clutch-sized computer that is easy to carry around and optimal for surfing the web.  As LG was the title sponsor of fashion week last week, the wee machines were in the Media Filing Room and also featured on the runway with the Pink Tartan collection.

Because there is some legal issue with the use of the term “netbook”, LG is looking for an original name for their new tiny computer.  The winning name wins the Whatchamacallit, so please go over and vote for my idea, “IT book”.  Like the “It” bag, get it?  You can also submit your own name.  If you don’t win, you can buy it at Future Shop next week for $549.

Thursday when I was done working in the studio I walked west again (I often walk west along Queen Street!) to meet my best girls for dinner.  After that, I went to Tattoo Rock Parlor to watch Slave to the SQUAREwave.  My friend Penny Robillard was singing with them.  Slave is a very intense, committed band with a sense of humour, and I find them a lot of fun to see.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

This week’s worth is one day late – as the year goes on I’m exceeding my goal of posting at least five times a week – so I can cut a little slack here and there if a post gets delayed.  Justified, am I right?

Last weekend I went up north again with Ray.  As usual, Ray worked on his property while I snoozed by the fire reading Lynn Rosetto-Kasper’s The Splendid Table, Isaac Mizrahi’s How to Have Style, back issues of The Ryerson Review of Journalism and the comics pages in the newspaper.  The weather was gorgeous and with spring coming possibility seems to scent the air.

On Monday, I had a coffee meeting with illustrator and professor Kathryn Adams.  She gave me lots of great advice – some of which I will follow (make a 10 year plan, include terms in contracts, make a stock page on my website) and some of which I will fail to follow (don’t spend too much time blogging and emailing – yeah right).  She’s working on a consulting business to help other illustrators and their clients – looking forward to that – I highly recommend her services.

Tuesday and Wednesday were working days, but I took some time out on Wednesday to hit up Tim Hortons with The Grumpy Owl.  Topics ranged from “the kids are all right” to “no one knows how to fix the fix we’re in”.  I keep toying around with this idea of a podcast and I know Grumpy’s got to be on it.  He’s just that articulate and contrary.

That evening I had my old neighbor and friend Reverend Velvet Sheen for dinner.  I was broke that day so made the effort to improvise dinner with what I had around the studio – home made tomato sauce on pasta, salad with vinaigrette, and apple pan dowdy for dessert made a simple meal.  The Rev has a lot of projects on the go – he’s a music producer, a film maker, and a computer geek.  He showed me one of the projects he has on the go right now – an application for twitter that creates visualizations of social maps.  Talking with him I mentioned one of my own ideas for a twitter app – one that allows you to see what other people’s home feeds look like, and he whipped it up the next day. Its really slow on my computer, I’ve put off installing more RAM for way too long.  As soon as my ship comes in I’m walking down to the Apple store.

Thursday morning the new NOW Magazine came out and I was delighted to see Gail McInnes gave me a wee mention!

Thursday evening I finally took my camera out of the case and went to see Philip Sparks‘ Fall 2009 show at The Burroughes Building.

I enjoyed my Hendrick’s Gin with cucumbers, got to see many folks I haven’t seen since last season, and enjoyed sketching the collection.

Afterwards Anita and I got to interview Philip backstage, and later that evening I went to hang out with Philips’ assistant Cat and friends at John Lee‘s place.

Friday was another working day, though I took some time out to visit the ROM with my brother, his wife and my baby niece Evey.  She seemed to like the dinosaurs.

Just wrapping up some projects in the studio today, and looking forward to the Fashion Week free-for-all next week.  How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

This week it might as well be Anita‘s week’s worth.  I was on deadline all week and if it was not for Anita’s encouragement I might not have gone out into the world at all.

On Tuesday I walked up to SEARS at the Eaton Centre to take in the LG Denim DIY contest’s regional finals fashion show.  Anita was one of the judges who got the sit by in the front row of the adorably tiny runway.

My photos of the runway show did not turn out well, but you can check out the styles on the website.  They range from the over-the-top and absurd to the clever and well-executed.  Below is a detail shot of the regional winner’s design.  Lori Peltonen of George Brown College created a clever inside-out detail using a great denim fabric.

After the show Anita and I went to Salad King for lunch.  Besides the best and the worst of the contestants, we discussed how best to describe Toronto in six words.  Right after lunch, we walked back to the atrium of the Eaton Centre so Anita could recite her six words to Jaime and Suresh who were producing a video celebrating Toronto’s 175th anniversary.  You can watch it here – its well produced on a tight deadline, and it is interesting to see the different characters and hear their perspectives on Toronto.

Later on Tuesday I went to the Drake Hotel for the Drake Salon on style with the lovely ladies of Worn Journal and Julian from Model Citizen in Kensington Market.  Lots of nice folks in smart outfits were in attendance including style writer Rea McNamara and entrepreneur Jas Banwait.  The conversation was very broad and conceptual which was a bit of a leap for me (I think I am a bit more comfortable talking shop and gossip) and it was lots of fun.  It continues over on the Worn blog.

Wednesday was one of those days where I was chained to my computer trying to get a million things done, until I had a raging headache.  I missed out on the F-List event with Carrie Hayes which is a shame because I love Carrie’s sophisticated style.

Thursday was about catching up on the blog, and in the evening Anita took me as her plus-one to The Artist’s Project.  I hadn’t been invited (I’m not on Rockit‘s list yet – what’s a girl gotta do?) so I had no idea what to expect. I was delighted to discover a consumer trade show for artists with some very well-heeled attendees – a who’s who of fashion and entertainment in Toronto.

The best part of the show was that the artists were often in the booth and were very generous answering questions about their work.  Its interesting to hear how different artists “talk the talk” – some like discussing process, some are more interested in talking about conceptual stuff, and some are just uncomfortable in these sorts of situations.  There was art available for all tastes, and I was particularly taken with Susan Valyi‘s sculptures based on shoe lasts, and the underwater fashion photography of Meaghan Ogilvie.  I asked Meaghan about where she found the garments for her work.  She worked closely with a stylist and selected garments, often from thrift stores, that looked particularly magical underwater – she said silks were the most effective.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

I fell off the wagon this week – when it comes to taking pictures.  Not that there was much going on worth taking pictures of.  Since I got back from Las Vegas my schedule is just a bit off, I felt a bit off, and I opted to hibernate and work for most of the week, missing some nice weather and probably some cool events.  You know what?  I will just get back to it next week, I have lots of stuff planned, and I will take photos again.

The highlight of the week was last night, when finally got tired of being lonely and went to visit The Deadly Nightshades.  I got a sneak peek at their new website (super cool!) and a couple of their designs that they will be showing at [FAT], Toronto’s alternative fashion week coming up in April.  These girls have a strong case of fashion-designeritus – the up-past-midgnight-dying-fabric-in-the-bathtub kind.  I love them, such vivid characters and full of passion for each other and creating things.

Ok, so as not to post a week’s worth without pictures, I want to include two favourites from last week.

Here I am at the POOL Style Sight photo booth.  A little more dressed up than usual.  I can finally put my hair back in a wee ponytail which means that of course, I can’t resist.  Shirt is H&M, skirt is thrifted Banana Republic, shoes from Zola.

Ray and I have been going to the library frequently over the last month.  I go to the fashion stacks and Ray visits the machining stack.  I spend $50 a year on an alumni library card at the Ryerson Library and it is so worth it.  The librarians are friendly, and because it serves a school with a lot of design and engineering programs, the selection is incredible.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

On Saturday I attended the Interior Design Show.  While this time none of my photos turned out, you can check out some amazing shots by Paul Baik at I want – I got, and read some of my thoughts inspired by the blogging panel here.

On Tuesday, we had another Creative Committee meeting for Buy Design at Philip Sparks‘ studio.  We checked out the progress on the visuals (including my illustrations), planned a Twitter contest to create buzz (follow Buybarella to win tickets), and made plans for “spacetacular” decor.

Tatiana and Amy from Faulhaber, Odessa from Complections, and Philip Sparks.

Besides committee business, we waxed philosophical on the dire state of the economy, and got a sneak peek at Philip’s Fall 09 line… but more on that next week.

On Wednesday I went to The Gap for a fun party hosted by FASHION Magazine.  On the left is me in my makeup by the Sephora artists who were giving touchups in the store.  On the right is FASHION Market Editor Sarah Casselman with a model presenting the new spring collection for The Gap.

There were lots of friends there, including Olga from She Does the City and Anita from I want – I got.  It was cool to get a chance to talk with Jennifer Campbell and all the lovely ladies from FASHION.  Of all the fashion magazines based in Toronto, they have the best web presence and are genuinely friendly to fashion bloggers.  We love FASHION!

On Thursday, I took the GO train up to Barrie to visit my brother’s family.  My baby neice Evey is almost one year old (already!?) and obviously is the cutest girl on Earth.  After we put her to bed I helped my sister-in-law add tufts to a recycled fabric quilt she is working on.

As soon as I got back to Toronto this morning, I took the Bloor Subway out to visit La Perlerie.  This is an adorable bead shop and jewelry store.  They just opened a studio space in the back for teaching glass bead making.

Owner and jewelry designer Susan Nagy with flameworking instructor and bead designer Nadia Tasci.

Today a television crew was coming into the store, and they invited me to come in and show the crew that even a beginner can learn to make glass beads in just a couple hours.  Of course I jumped at the chance to learn something new!  Nadia taught me and Mark (below) how to melt glass and form beads, and even create different designs on the beads.

We caught the hang of it surprisingly quickly and enjoyed combining different colours and forming different shapes of beads.  It takes a bit of concentration and co-ordination, and it is a lot of fun.  These are what the beads will look like when they are done (though mine are not quite as neat as these ones).

La Perlerie is having a special Family Day sale on Monday, plus they are offering a deal for people who sign up for a flameworking class on that day.  Go west and meet some very creative, generous, ambitious women!  Susan and I will be collaborating on an event very soon… I am looking forward to it.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

I spent Sunday afternoon with Rebecca, a reader and blogger at The Subadult Years.  I had asked on the blog if anyone wanted to check out Fashion No-no with me and she not only volunteered for that, she also shared a very tasty complimentary lunch at the Holt Renfrew Cafe.  Thank you Rebecca!

I had the tuna sandwich (below).  We had a great waiter and everything he suggested was very yummy.  The picture of Rebecca shows her seated on United We Stand, one of the exhibitions at Harbourfront.  Fashion No-no was well worth seeing for the price of admission (free) – and I especially enjoyed the work of Dorkenwald — Spitzer which simply and effectively gave a feeling of being on a warm beach with a hot pot of coffee, and the very technological wearables by Joanna Berzowska.

On Wednesday I had Korean food with The Grumpy Owl and his new girlfriend (who declined to be photographed).  It was, everyone agreed, nice.  Ryan was wearing his foxskin scarf which I encouraged him to buy at the Ex last summer.

I was disappointed to miss the Interior Design Show Opening Gala on Thursday because I was too busy working on Adrienne‘s line sheets for Pool.  But Carolyn and I are going to check out the exhibitors tomorrow so I’ll still be able to report it on next week’s worth.

The weather has been all over the place this week.  First it was very snowy.  Then it was nice and sunny.  Then it was very cold.  I went for a walk through the financial district today and it was back to nice and sunny again.  I took the good weather as an opportunity to walk back via Queen Street West.  Its just two weeks before spring stuff gets delivered to stores, so right now there are some amazing deals to be had.  Check out Pho Pa if you’re down there, Alexia has everything at 50% off, including some of our favourite designers.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

Last Friday after work I went to OCAD for the Whodunit? artist appreciation party.  It was really sweet!  Free drinks and dinner and cookies, and all of our artwork was projected on the wall with our names below it. I also got to see Kyra Kendall and Brett Despotovitch, who also submitted some art for the event.  It was fun to talk shop with other artists.

It was a cold, sunny Saturday, and I walked over the Don Valley bridge to meet illustrator Julia Breckenreid.

I have admired Julia’s work ever since Sarah Lazarovic showed me some of her pieces hanging in the Montrose Portrait Gallery, and I’m very grateful to Ron the Boy Reporter for introducing us at #hohoto.  I asked Julia lots of questions and she very kindly gave me some very generous answers.  When starting her career she said she asked a lot of questions too, and she put great emphasis on sharing your experiences.  I thought of her as I answered a few emails this week from young students who are interested in what I do.

On Monday, I had a TV interview in my studio with Jennifer, a producer with Rogers Cable, about Buy Design.  I get a bit nervous about appearing on video so Tatiana at Faulhaber had to persuade me to do it, that is a good thing.  I think it went well and I’ll post a link when it gets released.

On Tuesday, I worked in Adrienne‘s studio, wrapping up the last of the samples.

On Wednesday night, it was the premiere of Project Runway Canada 2!  Of course I was super-excited and Carolyn and I went to watch the show with some of the participants and all their friends.  Carolyn interviewed Sarah Jay who did the styling for the series.

My fellow fashion school 06er Jessica Biffi made it through the episode – of course.  I think she’ll do great in the competition!  On the show she was just as caring and funny as she is in person.  She looked great at the premiere party.

Three other competitors were there too, and I managed to paparazzi some pictures of two of them.  Camille (left) was the first eliminated and basically wins the prize as the fashion world’s greatest good sport.  Brandon (right) was also there, his expressions every bit as over the top in real life as they are in TV.  I think he’ll stick around on the show for a while, his confidence fills the room.

On Wednesday, Carolyn and I had three events we wanted to check out, snowbanks were not going to stop us.  The first was the launch of the Daniel Thompson makeup line at Rosemarie Umetsu‘s studio.  Here is a picture of Daniel doing a demonstration on the lovely singer Patricia Zentilli.  Daniel was full of enthusiasm for his cosmetics, giving a rapid-fire monologue as he applied Patricia’s makeup.

I also got to meet Patricia’s collaborator, pianist Patti Loach.  They were both wearing stunning ivory and gold Rosemarie Umetsu dresses.  Patti also knows one of my mom’s former piano students, Adam Bishop, who is making a name for himself as an up-and-coming tenor.  Its such a small world!

After that, Carolyn and I wandered over to the Windsor Arms for a scotch tasting event hosted by the sparkling Mary Symons.  The fancy bar was quite full of Toronto’s best social set.  I love going to Mary’s events even though often I feel quite scrappy surrounded by so much fabulousity.  I got to say hi to my friends Linda Gaylard and Matthew Lyn, and I introduced myself to Ron Sexmith.

After that, event number three!  The F-List is hosting a series of meet-and-greets to introduce the new collections of some of Toronto’s best fashion designers.  The first designer to get this treatment was Shernett Swaby, whose boutique is located in my neighborhood.  She designs these detail-intensive pieces that are always impeccably finished, and rather than following trends she has developed a recognizable signature style that has attracted a very sophisticated and dedicated clientele.  Shernett shared some of her own experiences building her own business from scratch which Carolyn will post in more detail on the TFI blog.

Three events in three hours on Wednesday night, and I was home before 10pm.  So much fun, I love it when that happens.

Thursday I went over to Adrienne‘s studio to go over the technical drawings for her line sheets.  We will be going to Pool in just about two weeks and Adrienne has a to-do list a mile long.  So no wonder she feels like this.

She will totally pull it all together though, the level of productivity this designer has shown in the past month has been incredible.  All of her samples are back now and they look terrific, I can’t wait to see them all come together in the lookbook shoot.

How was your week?

A Week’s Worth documents what I did all week – a little peek into the life of a fashion illustrator and blogger.

Last Friday, for the first time in a long time, I had some time on my hands and nothing very pressing to do.  Surprisingly, for the self employed, this is a rare exception.

I savoured it without guilt by going up to the Salvation Army Thrift Store.  After many years of frustrated thrifting experiences, I have finally figured out how to do it.  I don’t go looking for anything specific.  I walk slowly up and down every rack, touching the clothes.  When I pass something with good feeling fabric, I take a look.  If I like the colour and the style, I look at the size, and if the size looks likely, I try it on.  I find with this method, I rarely find something to buy.  But when I do find something to buy, it is a real find.

This time I found the top you see above.  It is a brand-new, never worn Club Monaco top in 100% cotton.  It perfectly fits with my black-button-down paradigm I’ve got going on these days.  I also found a lined Banana Republic grey wool herringbone skirt.  Thus, I can now dress like I dropped $200 bucks at the mall for a mere $10.  Lately I find myself collecting more and more “dressy” stuff to wear, I guess grown-up clothing feels more right these days.

On Saturday, it was time for the Buy Design photo shoot.  I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I am on the creative committee for Buy Design, a fundraiser for Windfall.  I am doing some illustrations for it, and with far more resources than I usually have for a project!  Rani (who is an editor at FASHION Magazine) was one of the stylists, and here she is showing Samra (from Rouge Magazine) some of the awesome vintage 1960s stuff she got from Vintage Couture for the photoshoot.

Allison, our lovely model, got all done up as a space vixen by hairstylist Jen Miller and makeup artist Rebecca Perrin.  The shoot was co-ordinated by Odessa at the Complections Makeup School.  I’ve never been inside the school before, it is a really awesome space – lots of movie posters and prosthetic makeup all over the walls, and bright rooms full of mirrors and neat books about makeup.  The shoot went amazing (how could it not with so much talent putting it all together?), photographer Felix Wong took some beautiful shots.  Now I get to put it all together into an illustration… how?  You’ll have to stay tuned to find out…

The rest of the week went pretty much as usual – some client stuff, keeping the studio clean, working on Buy Design, going to the library.  I did up a submission for the Montrose Portrait Gallery‘s winter show and dropped it off.  I took the subway up to Adrienne’s studio to work.  It is weird to be at Osgoode Station, as I often am.  Someone got shot there this week. Some people are crazy and dangerous, but they look like everyone else, just city people in black coats.

Adrienne’s samples are looking excellent, this is my favourite Butikofer season so far, for sure.  It is a bit stressful trying to pull everything off in time, and it is surreal to think that in three weeks we will be in Las Vegas for Pool.  I have learned that Philip Sparks, the Juma siblings, and the girls from Strut will be there – so there will be a little Canadian contingent to hang out with, which is cool.  I also really want to meet new friends while I am down there, so if you’re in Vegas anytime between Feb 15-20, let me know.

How was your week?