This weekend Gaspard hosted a commemorative Titanic party, complete with a string trio, sailor uniforms, and designer lifejackets.

What a great opportunity to check out all their new S/S items, including a personal favorite by Les Prairies de Paris.

If I had a shop, I would definitely hope to host great parties like this one.

I made this tiny Cathedral Windows pillow for my mom on her birthday this year. And decided blue, white and grey is the best colour combination ever.

On the weekend I went to a lovely housewarming party for my friends and new homeowners.

I wanted to make a little gift, and decided to whip together a little tea towel out of the awesome Nani Iro Painting Muji fabric from The Workroom – a great project to showcase the design by Naomi Ito.

This week I had a fun shoot with Aaron for a small clothing company in Essen, Germany, called Naketano. From the spring collection, their hoodies caught my eye. They sent me the Darth II hoodie in a classic grey. (It also comes in this amazing butter yellow.) The best part about this piece is that it at first appears to be the average hoodie, but then has great detailing that makes it unique – instead of meeting in the middle, the drawstring on the hood is offset to the side. This is totally an obscure reference, but the idea reminds me of a dress shirt that Nell wore in Ally McBeal, where the collar was off to the side. You probably don’t remember it, but it was a rad shirt.

Moving along, I’m happy to announce that Naketano is doing a giveaway with us! The winners will get 20 € off any purchase of 40 € or more at the Naketano web store.

Leave a comment or send me an email by March 15, and I’ll contact winners with the coupon code. Good luck!

This year I got a new phone. And it’s pretty rad. Instagram is completely addictive and overall it’s great to be able to access whatever information you need without turning on the computer. Not to mention as of yesterday my mom is all about FaceTime. Which really shouldn’t surprise me. Though it does.

As soon as the phone arrived, people were telling me how delicate the screen is and how theirs shattered and how crucial a case is for it’s protection. In fear of having just bought an expensive paperweight, I started to cruise sites for cool cases. I thought about a basic Pantone, or maybe one from the designers at Society 6. But are these protective? Or just decorative outfits? I think the phone itself looks good, and doesn’t need any visual excess. Then I got an email from Makr, showcasing their leather phone cases (my favorite being the matte navy). What a great idea. A leather sleeve will protect the screen from key scratches and because of the texture, the phone won’t readily slip out of it’s case at inopportune times.

Because I had some leather sitting around, one night I drew up a pattern and stitched together the case. It’s just 2 pieces of leather cut into the shape of the phone, stitched around 3 sides. Really quick and simple.

At the last minute I was able to catch the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Musée des beaux-arts while it was still in Montreal.

Unlike any I’ve seen before, this show featured animated faces projected onto mannequins, including one of Gaultier himself (see top photo), as well as a runway with moving mannequins. He didn’t want the show to have a typical stuffy and static museum feel, and these were ways he could bring it to life.

I took a lot of close-up shots (big surprise, I know) – but the detail that goes into each piece is incredible. He is one of the select few members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, and you can see why.

Shortly before my visit, I had picked up an issue of the New Yorker. The article, Fantasyland, was a great supplement to viewing the exhibit. If you didn’t make it to the show (I think it’s in the States now, and then Europe), the article provides a great little glimpse into the life and work of Gaultier, and is worth a read, selon moi.

Really due for another trip to SOMA. This particular chocolate was filled with pop rocks – so much fun!

With friendship bracelets making a comeback, I decided to revisit my youth and jump on the bandwagon at a Friendship Bracelet Party held at The Workroom during Lizzie House’s visit.

The colourway I decided upon was inspired by the shirt I was wearing at the time – an unexpected combination of pink, red, orange and purple.

To make it more challenging, of course, I decided to use a Japanese pattern book, because if you’re going to make a friendship bracelet, you might as well make a difficult one. It took about four starts to actually figure out how to accurately interpret the grid system, but in all honesty, it is not a particularly difficult pattern once you get going.

And if you’re in the market for an inexpensive, compact project that travels well, I would definitely recommend starting a friendship bracelet.

On Thursday I attended the opening celebration of a store built by Mercy (for whom I previously did some illustrations for a t-shirt line). It’s perfectly located between Clafouti and White Squirrel on Queen West, right across from Trinity Bellwoods.

I’m so excited their line will be available in Toronto again, and the other brands they carry are also terribly impressive, including Italian jewellery designers Iosselliani (I’m a huge fan), Les Prairies de Paris, La Botte Gardiane, and Ascher London – a scarf in the shop inspired my little sketch up top. It was a great night: seeing familiar faces and meeting new, very stylish, people. Congratulations to Jennifer and Richard on their new shop!

For the month of August, I’ve had two fashion illustrations up on the walls of Club Monaco on Queen St West. This is the last weekend they will be up, so if you’re in the neighbourhood, stop in for a look!