Melissa Christie, textile designer extraordinaire!

Never Sleep Alone! 

Chances are you'll recognize these sheets from textile designer Melissa Christie because they're blowing up on the internet right now. Spreading like wildfire since opening up her Etsy shop on Tuesday, Melissa is reaching zombie lovers from all over the globe through social media sites like her
tumblr, 
facebook and
twitter.
Selling out of all items her first day open, Melissa's Etsy shop titled 'It's Alive' sells OOAK handmade bedding featuring hand painted zombie hands! How creepy/brilliant are these sheets!

Melissa's zombie bedding is all handmade by her and made to order. Her shop currently offers standard size bedding twin - king for a flat rate in white cotton fabric. What a deal!
She is currently looking into different colour bedding options and sheets for specialty sizes like California King size. But a good option for those who can't wait is the pillowcase set which are made to fit 20" x 30" (standard size) pillow.

Melissa is working on a portfolio site that will feature some of her other works. Works like her killer Femme Fatal dresses. Over-dyed dupioni silk dresses with screen printed poisonous flowers and hand painted/sewn elements. Photographer/Developer Owen Deveney of Capture Scratch and model Alexandria Goldman of Fresh Poultry.  These dresses are not yet available in her shop, but are destined to be another successful series! Great job Melissa! Keep up the good work!

401 Artisans Marketplace

If you're thinking of giving one-of-a-kind gifts this year

but that's about as far as you got, 

come support local artisans at the 401 Artisans Marketplace 

Thursday Dec. 8th to Sunday Dec. 11th.

Preview of good things to come! - click image to enlarge

You'll find a bevy of gifts for everyone, even those hard-to-please people - you know who you are.... Edibles and jewelry, housewares and apparel, accessories and artwork. There are literally hundreds or gift ideas to fit your budget.

As the OOAK Toronto Show comes to a close this weekend, 401 Richmond West opens it's doors, to the craft-hunrgy public, for their 19th annual Holiday Marketplace.

Free admission for everyone! We want you to spend those dolla dollas on the artisans!

About/Vendors/ Times - click image to enlarge

We're open for business Dec 8th through to Sunday Dec. 11th. Join us on Saturday especially because we're holding a raffle hosted by 100 Mile Finds to win an amazing gift basket filled with handmade goodies from artisans participating in the show! The lucky winner will receive one of my Fox Stuffies along with many many other fancy treats!

Also happening on Dec. 10th & 11th is City of Craft at the Theatre Centre on Queen West.
So if you're in the city for either show, make sure you hit up both to find that special gift or unique piece for yourself.

Hurry up and get your indie-holiday shopping on!

Bonne nuit, Montreal

First: a lame french lesson with keiley...

When we actually crossed the 'boarder' to Quebec, only then (reading the traffic signs) did we realize our neglect in preparing translations and learning common phrases like, 'Pleased to meet you', 'No, just looking thanks', and 'Can I turn right on a red?'. Having only taken french for our province's standard of 4yrs, I was at a loss in most cases. And I can honestly say, in those 4 yrs I barely absorbed anything. But as it turned out, the area of Montreal we stayed in was super anglicized and could switch between french and english without hesitation. 

The only conversational french I'd picked up, prior to Quebec, came from movies and television - which is ultra sad. Nerd Alert! I picked up 'bonne nuit', good night, from an episode of Futurama. As it turns out this is actually a sort of endearment and not something you should just say to a random person. Bonne soiree, means about the same - good evening - but is more appropriate for acquaintances and requires little to no introduction. 

For anyone reading this, you're probably laughing at my incredible ignorance. But I have to say, 99% of the time it was great not know what was going on. It was a little more adventurous that way. The other 1% of the time was only annoying because it can cause traffic jams. Things like menus, signs and non tourist areas were tricky and not predominantly bilingual, but it's fun when you don't know which part of the subway line you'll end up at, or exactly what you're eating. But enough about my incompetence...

Here for your viewing pleasure - the third installment of our Montreal minimalist photo album.

We biked all over the city and visit many of the regular touristy things and their lovely museums. 

These are some pictures from our adventures. 

'soft light, no chin'

Imagine, walking into the foyer of the 4th level of the Museum of Fine Arts and in front of you is a grand marble staircase with a royal blue runner leading your eyes up to the plateau. And at the top of those stairs in bright neon blue, a florescent sign floating above a chorus - line of spotlit mannequins, dolled up for the main event.  

Simply amazing, the custom mannequins are cast from the very models that wore the garments on the runway. Not only that, but a video recording of each model was then projected on the mannequins face and accompanied audio recording of their engaging chatter, singing and dialog. Superb!

Jean Paul Gaultier Exhibition - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Crazy amazing detail, fantastic collection and innovative exhibition. 

He is a master of simulation and manipulation of any material, not just fabric. 

In the above collage are some of my favourite highlights from the exhibit - the Eiffel Tower slingback heel, simulated alligator stockings, the laced-up lace bodysuit and a hand-beaded leopard pelt gown that took 1060 hours to construct..

Off to the island...

A weird place to want to trek to in the offseason, but it was a sight I couldn't wait to see - the geodesic dome from the '57 World Expo in Montreal. 

We were fully Buckminster'd. I can die happy now. 

Actually much larger than I had thought it would be, and relatively easy to get to via public transit. The Biosphere museum actual gives a discount on admission to patrons with proof of their "green transportation" to the museum. Because it was the offseason, there was hardly anyone around and we were able to savoy a bike ride and observe the dome from around the island; checking out the surrounding parks and gardens.

We were honestly, not the best tourist - as you can see, we didn't actually take many photos. 

The Rialto Theatre

For those of you that follow on twitter, I mentioned this theatre, the Railto. 

Well, we were invited to take pictures of the place. And this is where we took most of the photos from our trip. So tune in later this week for another post and photos of the remarkable Rialto.   

But for now, good night. 

Fashion Jam in Toronto

Attention Fashion-savvy people in and around the GTA this Friday, August 12th. 

Get your fashion on at

Fashion Jam presents Fashion Throwdown 

this Friday 7:30pm - 2am

at 2ninety2 club on College in Toronto

Get your tickets here
Check out the FB event here

One of the crazy talented designers participating in the show is the wonderful Kerri Andreas who will be showing off her amazing hard work in her latest collection entitled "Origins".

 A collection of natural and cozy wears made from delicious natural fibers like cotton, linen and wool, the garments feature hand stitched and silkscreened illustrations and handwritten history and folklore on the origins of the fabric. 

It's not just about the gorgeous apparel, its about appreciating how it came to be!

Check out Kerri's portfolio to see the entire fashion portion of the Origins collection

and her blog to see what she's up to next.

Have fun this weekend and good luck Kerri!

* Photos of Kerri's work by Kerri from her blog

T is for Typography

I've been looking for the prefect “Keiley” font for awhile now. A font that when you read it, you get the right impression of the kind of person I am, just by looking at the style. But there are a lot of fonts and some just say the wrong things, for instance:

Comic sans: I still think boys have cooties

Wingdings: Nobody understands me

Lucida Calligraphy: Writing to Mr. Darcy

Modern No. 20 : I like vogue magazine, double espresso black and interior designer

Masashi Kawamura has designed a "T" Shirts that embodies the character of 5 popular typefaces, (Baskerville, Carlson, Cooper Black, Courier and Helvetica) where you can literally try on different fonts to see which style fits you best. Nerd meets couture.

Tell me your favourite font, or if you have a suggestions.

Kyoko's Workbench...

Favourite artist of the month is jewellery artist Kyoko Hashimoto of Australia. Co-founder of studio/showroom We Are All Made of Stuff in Berlin. Check out some of her exceptional pieces ... and here's some more to look at.

crochet cramps

Combinations project Crocheted flowers, plating and chain neckpiece. leikey design 2010 fotos by Owen

digital printing

Digitally printed design on silk - digital print project Necktie - suitable fox print leikey designs 2010 fotos by ME!

glove love...

Embroidered gloves Hand & Lock project leikey designs 2010 fotos by ME! and Owen

day job...

Let us take a break from posting other peoples fotos for a change. So far I haven't posted any of my projects from this year. Whether I've been subconsciously avoiding it, I can't say, but over the next little bit I'll be posting images of the work I've done this past year, including stuff from 2nd yr. To kick this off, for you viewing pleasure, here is my final project from last year. A silk cotton scarf/shawl, hand painted, stitched and embellished with pearl beads. Fotos by ME!

Vintage Ladies