tagged 
Letterpress, Portland, Printmaking, Workshops
Letterpress, Portland, Printmaking, Workshops Gone Letterpressin'
Monday, June 18, 2012 at 10:15PM Aaand we're back! We apologize for the long hiatus. We've been keeping busy and getting crafty. Recent adventures have included an Intro to Letterpress class at the new digs of the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) on SE Division. It was awesome! We learned so much including fun letterpress vocabulary like quoins and furniture.
Phillip showing us how to lock up our type in the chase.
The IPRC is a wonderful place where members (purchase a membership here!) can utilize, among other resources, vintage letterpresses during Letterpress Print Shop open hours. Members can also enroll in very well-priced classes on a range of topics like Screenprinting, Illustrator, Photoshop, Hand-Lettering, Posterpress and more! View the current listing of classes here.
-Colleen & Julia
Photos by Julia of Squirrel & Starling.
Folly's 4th Anniversary Party!
Monday, April 30, 2012 at 12:00PM Portland boutique Folly is turning 4 and is celebrating with a party on Thursday, May 3rd at 6pm! Folly is located at 1005 NW 16th AVE (@Lovejoy).
-Colleen
Amy Wing's Blossom Collection
Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10:30PM One of our favorite Portland jewelry designers, the lovely Amy Wing, just launched her new blossom collection named for the cherry blossom motif which unites the collection. We adore the sweet ballet-inspired lookbook photos by Sara Gray, and have a bit of an obsession with the tiny blossom lariat necklace and large blossom earrings (long), in particular, among Amy's gorgeous designs hand-crafted out of recycled sterling silver. Check out a few photos below and view the entire collection at www.amywing.com!
Photography by Sara Gray & styling by Kimberly Brandt of Billede Design.
-Colleen
Q&A with Vanessa Lambert of La Vie Celebre
Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 7:02PM Mark your calendars! Portland Sewing's much-anticipated Fashion Forward show takes place Sunday, April 29th at the Slate (2001 NW 19th; Doors 6pm & Show 7pm; $25). Vanessa Lambert of La Vie Celebre is one of the talented up-and-coming local designers who will show a collection at Fashion Forward. She generously took a moment to answer our burning questions, as well as share a few sneak peeks from her collection!
Dewey
Squirrel & Starling: How/Why did you get interested in fashion design and sewing?
Vanessa Lambert: I have always loved making things and being crafty, ever since I was a kid. My aunt taught me how to cross stitch when I was eight, and since then I was in love with needlecrafting. It took me a while to go from embroidery and appliqué to my own garment construction, but I was very motivated to start making the clothes I wanted to wear because I wasn’t seeing them available anywhere else. I spent a good part of my life plus-sized and was always discouraged by how unfashionable bigger women are expected to be—I had dreams of a cute, stylish, expressive wardrobe, and I realized I just had to make my own dreams come true! It was a long period of trial and error, since I had no formal instruction on machine sewing or even reading a pattern, but once I developed an understanding of how pattern pieces fit together, my imagination took off and I was able to start bringing my ideas to life. Luckily, once I reached the point where my designs were more ambitious than my self-taught sewing skills, I found Portland Sewing, a private finishing school that teaches advanced, professional sewing techniques to home sewers. That’s how I ended up in the Fashion Forward program, after taking construction and patterning classes at the school for over a year.
Field Study
S&S. Who are your fashion design idols?
V. L. I always look to classic mid-20th century designers for inspiration. Christian Dior is my top favorite, followed by Coco Chanel and Yves St. Laurent. But I also love designers who bring a sense of humor and curiosity into their work, like Elsa Schiaparelli, Betsey Johnson and Alexander McQueen.
Little Star
S&S. How would you describe your fashion aesthetic/taste?
V. L. Fun and whimsicality that inspires down to earth girls to be more playful. La Vie Celebre’s mission is to inspire each woman to become a character in her own story, with silhouettes that not only flatter every figure, but transform wearers to a different time and place, and allow them to feel like their reality is a little more magical than it was before.
S&S. How would you describe the collection you're showing at the Fashion Forward show on 4/29?
V. L. The Archivist is a collection for collectors, so to speak. It’s inspired old reading rooms and card catalogs, shadow boxes full of precious old stuff, and delightful finds from the swap meet. These pieces reflect an era of traditional collegiate life that is worlds away from how students study and work these days, but that’s the idea of La Vie Celebre— these looks bring you back to a place you may have never even seen before, but you feel right at home.
S&S. What are your plans for after you complete the Fashion Forward program?
V.L. I’m hard at work developing laviecelebre.com and hope to have it up and running with all the garments from this collection available for sale late summer, 2012. The idea behind the Fashion Forward show on April 29th is to bring this group of new designers to the attention of the local fashion industry, so if I gain some fans among Portland boutique owners and buyers, that would be fantastic. But I suspect the La Vie Celebre customer is very web-savvy, and probably more than a little nerdy, and does the majority of her shopping online. I would love to see one of my garments selling on modcloth.com!
S&S. Where can we find out about your work online?
V. L. Right now, my web site is still under development, but laviecelebre.com hosts my lifestyle blog, where soon you’ll be able to see updates on my concept and development for this collection, as well as production updates and behind the scenes photos! But first I’ve got to finish all these clothes :)
Philatelist
S&S. What are a few of your favorite Portland shops for fabric and sewing supplies?
V. L. I am an old school Joann’s customer, and always head there if I need basic supplies and notions—and have fairly good luck on garment material and inspiration as well! However, Mill End Fabrics is probably the best for quality garment selection, and really friendly, helpful staff as well.
S&S. Who are your favorite local Portland designers & what are your favorite local shops to buy clothing at?
V. L. It’s funny, before I started this program 6 months ago, I was really ignorant of the Portland fashion scene, and the culture of fashion design in general. But I’d say I started to get an idea of what opportunities exist here when I saw Leanne Marshall on Project Runway in season 5, who was followed quickly by Gretchen Jones, Becky Ross and Bryce Black, who have all represented our city and our industry in just the last few years. Because of this program, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Bryce, who has been a great mentor and a real inspiration to me. I’m also looking forward to seeing bigger things from some of my Portland Sewing classmates like Ashley Riewer, who runs the 52 Dresses Project at 52dressesproject.com, and Karen Davis, owner of Moulagerie, one of my colleagues in the Fashion Forward program. When I’m looking for something special in a local boutique, I love to check out Mabel and Zora in the Pearl, and Sloan on NW 23rd….although just as often, I’ll see something I like in a store and think “ I should just make that myself!”
Photography by Onscreen Imaging.
-Colleen
Elizabeth Corkery's Absolute Monarchy
Monday, April 16, 2012 at 8:49PM Elizabeth Corkery has done it again. She constantly amazes with her gorgeous screenprinted installations. This time, with her Absolute Monarchy installation, she's recreated Versailles' Hall of Mirrors and the results couldn't be more beautiful. It leaves us with visions of Marie Antoinette and macarons dancing through our heads.
View images of the installation below and check out Elizabeth's website for additional delightful photos of Absolute Monarchy and more!
Photos courtesy of Pistol PR.
-Colleen
Favor Jewelry: Spring/Summer 2012 Collection
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 7:35PM Careful readers of this blog know how much we absolutely adore local jewelry label Favor Jewelry designed by Monika Reed. Monika just launched her Spring/Summer 2012 Collection which features delicate droplets and sweet isosceles triangles. As always we're smitten with the artful elegance of her sterling silver and recycled gold fill necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings (our wishlist grows ever longer). She graciously shared photos of her new collection with us; you can view the full collection (and shop!) on Favor's website. Happy Spring!
Lookbook Credits:
Photography: Leah Verwey
Model: Robin Hilleary
Makeup & Hair: Madeline Roosevelt
Production & Styling: Monika Reed
Shot on location at the Ace Hotel Cleaners.
-Colleen
Anthropologie's Whorled Felt Rug
Monday, April 2, 2012 at 9:40PM How amazing is this agate-inspired Whorled Felt Rug from Anthropologie?
Whorled Felt Rug $698-$1,098 at Anthropologie.
Image via www.anthropologie.com.
-Colleen
Wedding Dress Embroidery
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 4:56PM 
My first attempt at a wedding dress embroidery!
-Colleen
Craftmania
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 7:48PM 
We've been absorbed with all manner of crafts lately. We love these cute fabrics recently acquired from Joann. There's a loose theme of vintage/berries/leaves...amazing.
-Colleen
Photos from A Novel Romance
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:32PM Last Sunday we attended the 7th annual English Dept bridal fashion show, "A Novel Romance," at the Ace Hotel Cleaners. This was the second year that we went and it's always so much fun. You can't beat pretty dresses by Elizabeth Dye (and others), hair adornment by Myra Callan of Twigs & Honey, flowers by Ink & Peat, champagne cocktails, and complimentary copies of Portland Bride & Groom. See below for a few photos that Julia took at the event!
A few of the fabulous dresses from the show. Chartreuse, bestill our hearts!
Gorgeous floral arrangements by Ink & Peat.
Two of the model "brides."
We adored this swiss-dotted dress (Ivy & Aster's "Sweet Pea") with pockets! Sweet, indeed.
Back view.
We were in love with the Pre-Raphaelite-esque hair adornment and chartreuse floral accent that this model was sporting!
This one-of-a-kind dress by Elizabeth Dye was stunning. The photo doesn't do justice to the gorgeous aqua color of the net.
Photos by Squirrel & Starling.
-Colleen & Julia