Inspiring Ulla!

Ok, before I ever stumbled upon etsy and got my boutique up and running I used to spend endless hours scouring google for anything remotely related to design, fashion, craft, romantic, deconstructed, baroque, renaissance.........yada yada yada, basically all the things that I enjoy and find inspiring! one of the things that kept coming up in my searches was a blog by an absolutely inspiring lady called Ulla! I spent a long night reading through her entire blog (and trust me guys this lady is a prolific blogger person), I was totally blown away by the abundance of inspiration throughout the blog not to mention the fact that Ulla seemed to blog about all the things that I am really drawn to but can never quite manage to find!

Well a short while ago I was just shocked to find a message from this very same lady in my inbox in my etsy store enquiring about a couture scarf to be made! Its such an awesome feeling to be asked by someone that you look up to, to make something of your own for them! This was definitely a highlight for me and made me think about how small the world is! In particular the crafting community online! which is fantastic!

For sure if you appreciate fine design and whimsical inspiration go check out http://www.ullam.typepad.com/ and don't blame me if you become an addict! (I know I am!) ;)

Black Couture Bolero

This is the latest custom piece for a fab customer of mine on etsy, buffyleigh.

I love how deconstructed the finish of the piece is. It has a fab texturised surface quality ,which is quite difficult to capture on camera too! The neck on this is so dramatic too! (I just love neck action!) lol

I have added embellishments all over this piece in random sections, featuring, antique lace, vintage buttons (courtesy of my antique shop fiend pal Ruby) , metal (for steampunk love) and stones with some ebroidery too! all in all a piece that im very excited about!

Probably the most colourful spats in the world!!

Every now and again a really cool client comes along and gives you a carte blanche to go off and design something really out there!! I had one such client recently in my etsy shop and she adores colour (which is a tough one for me given that I am usually drawn to aged antique type colours such as nudes, tea stain, brown etc.) But I gave it a lash and to my surprise I really love them, colours and all! just goes to show what can come out of reaching out of your comfort zone! This is why its really important to take on clients input because it pushs you as a designer to step out of your box and use things you wouldn't have necessarily thought of before!!