New Stockist Alert!

I'm so excited to announce Leikey Designs products are now available at 

Red Pegasus 

628 College St, Toronto

We're thrilled to have our brooches and needle felt pieces available at this

 Little Italy landmark shop. 

Just in time for the holidays. 

Stock up on these small gifts for their stockings before the big day! 

Thank you Red Pegasus!

Back To School

I'm so thrilled to be a One Of A Kind artisan, participating in their upcoming holiday show this December 1-6! 

You may have heard they have an online store as well - to shop the show year round, 24/7. If you haven't heard, head over to oneofakindonlineshop.com to get your favourite items from your favourite artisans and we'll ship it right to your door! 

With September just around the corner, One of A Kind Online collected their favourite Back-To-School themed gifts for CHCH Morning Live this morning. You may have recognized some cozy plants front row and centre on the segment. That's me! 

If you're looking to get your student a back-to-school gift or just want a cozy, cute plant that won't wilt, head over to my shop page to purchase

And if you missed the show, watch it here.

One Of A Kind Online

With the One Of A Kind Show growing every year, it seemed only natural to expand online to reach a global audience.

Leikey Designs is very excited to announce it's involvement in the One Of A Kind Online shop, bringing the unique handmade goods you'll find at the shows, to you 365 days a year!

Many of the artisans we look forward to at the Spring and Christmas shows, you'll find year round on the new site, so you won't have to wait!

Many of the popular products Leikey Designs sold at this year's Spring Show will be available in the online shop. Take a look here

The One Of a Kind Online Shop officially launches today to shoppers around the world.
Happy shopping! 

Felted Bunnies

Easter's almost here!

I'm very excited to finally have these little felted bunnies available in my Etsy Shop.
After their huge success at the One Of A Kind Spring Show, they're now available to ship internationally.
These handmade bunnies are made from soft sheep's wool and needle-felted into their cute little forms.
Hop on over to the shop to check them out and get yours quick.

Ramen Party!

Ramen is one of my favourite foods. So when Lillian Chan, creator of Ramen Party asked me to help out with their project, I couldn't help but get involved.

So I'm going to tell you a little about Ramen Party and why you should know about it!

source

Ramen Party is a band and brand of characters created and animated by Lillian Chan, who studied at the province's best animation school, Sheridan College. Among her talented designs is Ramen Party a line, or rather a family, of characters inspired by traditional Japanese ramen. 

Now, this isn't your college roommates ramen. This is the real deal, the OG and classic homage to its country of origin. 

source

So what is Ramen Party?

Ramen Party is an Interactive StoryBook App designed especially for pre-school age kids. Because kids can be picky eaters. The app is designed to help kids discover and get excited about new and cultural foods, as well as the world around them.  

source 

Ramen Party is one of the lucky few selected to participate in the CFC's mentoring program ideaBOOST - an curated incubator for small businesses and big ideas based in social and transmedia. 

Submissions for the next round of ideaBOOST are coming to a close next month. 

For more info on ideaBOOST click here 

What is Ramen Party's kickstarter for?

Ramen Party has just launched their campaign with Indiegogo page and their reaching out for to you to help build this app! With the funds generated through the kickstarter, The Ramen Party Team will create kid-friendly... 

source

Feed me more info! 

Visit the Ramen Party indiegogo page for even more morsels of information. 

colourful prints & cards

custom Gelskins for your phone

Screenprinted Totes!

custom handmade Ramen Party Stuffie of your choice!
oh yeah I made these 

What are the perks of donating to Ramen Party?

Well! As you can see above, Ramen Party isn't just a brand or just an app. It's a project with legs and arms  and gaining momentum quickly! As part of the kickstarter campaign, The Ramen Party Team has lovingly packaged a delightful assortment of sweet swag, in appreciation for your generous investment and support, including signed prints, a custom thank you animation! and a packages that includes a custom handmade stuffie of your choice.

Early bird catches the worm! 

These items are in high demand, and won't last long. Some items are special editions and in limited quantities. So hurry up and shop for your donation before you miss out! 

So how am I involved with Ramen Party?

The Ramen Party creator, Lillian Chan had the idea to make these characters into toys. Because every kid loves toys! One of the packages available to claim,on their Indiegogo page, is a handmade Ramen Party Stuffie of your choice. And the hands in handmade belong to ME! For every package available, I will CUSTOM MAKE a Ramen Party Character stuffie of your choosing. 

But these aren't just any toys, these stuffies are made from an interesting selections of tactile fabric chosen for their resemblance to their characters. Among the fabrics are rich wools, light and shiny foil linen, colourful felts, and silky satins - turning these Digital Darlings into Tangible Toys.

And yes, Mr. Ramen is wearing a beautiful wrapped-yarn noodle suit! 

 

  

product photos of stuffies by Owen Deveney

Even MORE goodness!

Lillian has collaborated with multi-faceted husband, musician and Ramen Party Team member John Poon, to create a music video, to get YOU excited about the Ramen Party Project too. 

Their video is spoonful of adorable and the catchy-tune will have you hooked! 

And if you listen carefully, you can hear featured artist Kid Koala exercise is DJ scratching skillz on the track!

(if you like the tune, you can get the mp3 on the indiegogo site too!)

Heart, passion and ambition are all ingredients in Lillian Chan's Ramen Party. It's an exciting project, I hope you will get involved with. 

In fact, I'm so excited, I think I'm going to go eat a bowl of ramen right now! 

Please visit Ramen Party on Indiegogo and help support their project. 

Or visit them on facebook and give it a like! 

And of course, watch the video and link to their campaign on their new & official website RamenParty.ca

Hard Twist 7: Touch Me, Feel Me

Join us for Hard Twist 7: Touch Me, Feel Me, opening November 1st.

 An exhibition of textile works set on evoking your emotions and inviting you to interact. A rare opportunity to touch the art and experience an exhibition like no other. 

Hard Twist is an annual juried textile exhibition that takes place at the historic Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. 

Opening reception for Hard Twist is Nov. 1st 6pm - 9pm. 

Exhibition runs Nov 1st - Jan 27th on the 3rd and 4th floor of the hotel. 

Hotel is open daily + Free admission for gallery visitors. 

This year, I will be presenting some new pieces. I invite you to snap photos wearing and posing.

So make sure to bring your camera and ready those instagram apps! 

K + O Photo | New Shop

You may have noticed this little badge hanging out on the side of this blog ------------------>
 and wondered why it suddenly appeared and what it had to do with anything. Well ....

new K+O Photo logo click here and jump to our new shop!

Owen and I have decided to share our photographic series and collaborations with you and the world, extending accessibility to those who may not have the chance to visit exhibitions we participate in.

Part of the Animal Collective installation includes a series of narative photographs featuring each of the heads, taken somewhere near or around Lake Ontario. Up until recently, these prints were only available to purchase through galleries or directly contacting us.

We have selected just 5 photos, for now, to open our shop.
Prints are available in 3 sizes (12x18, 16x20, 24x36) and printed on incomparable and supa-fancy Hahnemuehle Photo Rag fine art paper. 

Prints are available to purchase online at our new shop 

                                  through Big Cartel. 

We're calling the collaboration K+O Photo. 

New in the shop!

So if you've had a chance to wandered over to the shop, you'll noticed there's loads more goodies!
Previously, these items were exclusively available at shows and events - so if you came out to the shows, you would get to see what I've been working on and first hand pick of those goods!

Well for the first time ever in my shop, I'm bring these goodies to the masses.
Here are a few sneak peaks, if you haven't already seen the new stock.

needle- felted Avocado Sprout

Bike/Trike Necktie

Braided Hairbands

Rocket Ship Necktie

Beehive Pincushion w/ Bee Pin

Rocket Ship Pin

Hot Air Balloon Pin 

Many of the new items are Ready to shop, so head on over and gander at the ever growing product list. I'd love to hear what you think. And as ALWAYS, custom orders are absolutely welcome. :)
Enjoy!!

Links:
www.leikey.etsy.com

Email:
leikey@leikey.com
-for custom or wholesale orders. 

Workshop @ Needlework!

I'm very excited to be teaching a new and super fun workshop at Needlework in Hamilton next Saturday afternoon!

If you'd like to learn how or wonder how I make all those weirdo felted things I do, stop by the shop or register online here.

Saturday June 23rd 2pm - 5pm we'll be learning the basic of dry felting or Needle Felting!
Using just a couple of simple tools you'll learn how to transform raw wool into actual shapes! The workshop is a creatively open class, which means you can make anything your imagination can think of. I'm partial to felted animals myself. So bring your imagination and we'll have all you need at Needlework next weekend! Hope to see you there :D

**Update - Still some spaces available for the class, if you would like to join us for the class - get in touch!

News & Events - Drake Spring Market

Weekends were made for this! 

 Photo source: Drake Hotel Flickr page

The Drake Hotel in Toronto will be holding their FREE spring market this weekend - 

Saturday May 5th from 10am - 4pm.  

But I haven't even gotten to the best part. The Drake will be selling their goods - vintage treasures and unique finds. Plus they've assembled a collection of stunning local artisans to sell their goods as well. 

Find me there this weekend selling my own lot, some new work and exclusive pieces that are not available online! 

Will see you there! 

Drake Hotel events page

1150 Queen St. West, Toronto. 

More photos from last years event here on their Flickr page!

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!

Very wool!

My new carding combs!!

Well, new to me. 

Now that I'm on my own, I'm starting to gather up the essentials for the home studio and carding combs were at the top of that list. I've been searching for a pair of carding combs since graduating, battling on whether to buy hand paddles or spring for a drum carder. Both can get expensive, and the ones on bidding sites are usually poorly taken care of. Plus can you imagine the shipping cost of a drum carder! GAH!

So when I saw these ones on ebay, I was thrilled to find they were in perfect condition and the same size paddles I'm used to!

They were promptly shipped out of northern Ontario on Tuesday and they are already here. No more hand carding with little tiny cat combs for me! ...I was desparate...

New Workshop!

Call to register 416 533 5648

Check out The Knit Cafe Newsletter here for more great ideas. 

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