december 2011 vecu magazine holiday
DESCRIPTION
Independent ArtistsTRANSCRIPT
independent artistsD E C 2 0 1 1
VÉCU
photographer AMAIA OROZCO
vecumagazine.com
PUBLISHERThe Coleman Group
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDelina C.
ADVERTISING DIRECTORMelissa Lee
TRAVEL EDITORLorena F.
www.traveldesignery.com
FEATURED CONTRIBUTORMurissa Shalapata
www.canadianculinarytravel.blogspot.com
CONTRIBUTORSAmaia Orozco, Anna Powierza, Stacey
Hendrickson, Jesa Townsend, Jeanee Du-vall, Kelsea Slade, Wakako, Lia Fagan,
Abbey-Jade Birden, Lisa Graystone, Aysha Alton, Michelle Rhodes
Phot
o by
Mur
ussa
Sha
lapa
ta
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 5
VÉCU
MARKETPLACE
from Mod Pieces
LiaFAGAN
“When you start with a clas-sic palette of black & white for your holiday decor, gift wrap, and even wardrobe, you give
yourself the opportunity to in-troduce different accent colours
as your tastes change.”
www.modpieces.ca
astro ornament $2.95-cb2.com
Soviet Elegy, Plate No. 1$75.00 -far4.net
Black & White Flower Clutch Handbag - $75.00 -Bag Boy
Pascal Charmolu Christmas Tree Holder - Bonluxat
Tegan Restyled Vintage Lamp - Mod PiecesFortune Wine Bag - Xenotees
Gran Black Pillow Case - Fine Little Day
“Adding punchy greens, moody reds, soothing
blues, or even glam gold to this
colour combo creates festive charm.”
Wall Clock Little Big Time - Present Time
Matte Black Tuxedo Necklace - Stone Artisan Jewelry
Hammam Tea Towel - Hammocks & High Tea
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 9
MARKETPLACE
from K.Slademade
KelseaSLADEwww.kslademade.com
Clutch-by k.slademade Alliga-tor Embossed Leather Clutch
Rings-Gold Stackable Rings by Bita Pourtavoosi
Frame-Made by Girl Love Candy Frame designed by Jen Ramos
Neon Cobra- Gold chain bfrend bracelet
“My top handmade
picks!”
Iphone 4 Case-by daninotes stationery designed by Dani
MARKETPLACE
from Travel Designery
LorenaFRIAS
“My holiday picks are about awakening the
gift of our senses during the most inspiring time
of the year -”
www.traveldesignery.com
Louboutin Cuban Throwback Heels
Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera
Macron Cafe’s Macaroon Giftbox - Macaron Cafe
Christian Lacroix ‘Les Anges Baroques’Boxed Notecards -V&A
– feeling glam in heels and sparkly pants, smelling fra-grant, tasting some goodies, touching technology, and
capturing the special things I see when home or away
traveling.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas :-)”
Nook Tablet by Barnes & Noble
Tom Ford Signature Blend Fragrance, Noir de Noir -
Bergdorf Goodman
AG Adriano Goldschimied Sequin Pants
Rimowa Titanium Cabin Trolley - Barneys New York
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 13
MARKETPLACE
from Baum-Kuchen
WakakoTAKAGI
“We love crafting our own tradition by taking
inspiration from our cultures
(Japanese x German).”
www.baum-kuchen.net
Hot Chocolate on a stick -The Ticket Kitchen
Sheep Felt Slipper-Manufactum
Organic Mulling Spices-Twig and Leaf Botanical
Little Forest Train Starter Set-Smallable
Hot Chocolate on a stick -The Ticket Kitchen
Origami paper Christmas tree decoration - Minieco
Noix De Coc’ advent calendar-Smallable
Jan Von Borstel cup
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 15
MARKETPLACE
from Evolution-Vintage
LisaGRAYSTONE
“Gift giving for me is all about planning and thought. Really putting thought into your choice to illustrate not
only how much you love some-one but also how much you “know them” and “get it”.
evolution-vintage.com
Picnic Back Pack - Red Emvelope
Custom Portrait – Marty Parker ART
Central Coast Sea Scape Calendar - Hayley Marie Photography Dragon Voice Software
100 Unforgettable Dresses – Hal Rubenstein Vintage Childs Plate
-InvenTORI
“It always baffles me when the people “closest”
to me choose gifts that make me feel as if they don’t know me at all. If
you can add a customized touch, even better.”
Gift Card
Evolution Vintage
Evolution Vintage Gift Card
Bermuda Ring - Vistage Jewelry
Dec
ades
of S
tyle
– 6
0’s &
70’
s H
air &
Mak
e-up
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 19
MARKETPLACE
from Dirty Laundry
JeaneeDUVALshopdirtylaundry.com
Decoylab flower coasters - set of 4
DIY iPhone case-Connect Design
Hammocks & High Tea gold chevron drawer liners
“Throw those earbuds out.
Listen to your music in style!”
“Needlepoint your own design. Too cute!”
“Almost too pretty to rest your drink on.”
“A must have for every lady.”
Skullcandy Aviator headphones
“All handmade by myself, these bath bombs in mini
cupcake shapes are the cut-est stocking stuffer ever.”
Cake Pop Maker-Babycakes
“All handmade by myself, these bath bombs in mini cupcake shapes are the cutest stocking stuffer ever.”
“So chic! This one is on my
Christmas list.”
Kettle Confections French nougat
Dirty Laundry cup-cake bath fizzies
“I LOVE this brand! So affordable for gifts or when you want to change your
makeup on a whim.”
e.l.f. Essential Holiday Eyeshadow Palette - Target
Technomud smart-phone dock vase
“I LOVE these! I’m
docking my phone in style at my desk.”
VOZ clothing and art, geomet-ric wood bangle
“So easy to a quick batch of 13 cake pops!”
“Handmade goodness! An
8 piece sampler makes a great gift
for anyone.”
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 21
MARKETPLACE
from Wanderfull Traveler
MurissaSHALAPATA
canadianculinarytravel.blogspot.com
Handmade Glass Ornament - Kiva Ford
Fine Art Photography-Rocky Top Studio
Seasonal Photography-Moonlight Photography
Wrapped Books
“If I am stumped for gift ideas a stroll through the local book store refuels my
imagination.”
Quails Gate Ice WineHandmade Glass Ornament - Kiva FordOwl Stocking
-Eco Shop
Laptop Bag - Taqilla Handbags
Christmas Movie Cards-Moontree Letterpress
Christmas With the Rat Pack-Walmart
“Books are like kaleido-scopes of cultures,
perspectives, histories that everyone interprets
in their own way.”
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 23
FASHION WATCH
How long have you been selling vintage?We set up It’s all too beautiful on Asos Marketplace in September this year but have both been selling vintage clothing at fairs all over the UK and locally in Leeds for some time now. We love the unique and original way you can mix and match vintage with current trends to be more of an individual.
What inspired you to open your own vintage boutique?We have a passion for vintage clothing, accessories and fashion in general and the offering from Asos Marketplace is a unique website that attracts a huge customer base and makes shopping for vintage more accessible.
Our partnership was formed by chance through the Costume Department at the West Yorkshire Playhouse where we met through a mutual friend. Michelle works full time and was finding it difficult to have the time to do the daily tasks involved in running an online business, for example the social media side, but still wanted a creative outlet and the opportunity to do something meaningful which we feel passionate about. As I work part time, I didn’t have the financial stability in place to start up a boutique, but had a solid background in social media, styling and photography
so when we started talking to one another about our situations it seemed like a perfect partnership!
Our skills compliment one another from a business background working in vintage shops, product knowledge and knowing what our customers desire. Our main focus from the start has always been based upon creating affordable and original vintage for both men and women. We will be launching our menswear collection in the New Year so watch this space!
What are the perks of being an independent business owner?We have creative freedom with the design of the fashion shoots and can develop our own individuality and original branding. We personally select every item we sell to ensure our customer base are getting the highest quality vintage aswell as keeping to current trends as seen on the high street today, for example the “Mad Men” and “Pan Am” style. Everything is a joint effort from making key business decisions to what we feel that month’s blog hot topic should be. Everyday we both feel we are learning something new and at the same time we get to do something we love which is already proving to be a success which is great!
IT’S ALL TOOBEAUTIFUL
Handpicked vintage for women and men
phot
ogra
phy
Abbe
y-Ja
de B
irden
https://marketplace.asos.com/boutique/its-all-too-beautiful
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 25
What are some of the challenges you face as an independent business owner?
The co-ordination of all the fashion shoots for the boutique can sometimes be a challenge with people letting you down last minute. I find being pro-active, having a positive attitude and developing good relationships with models and photographers helps. We are currently working with Abbey Birden who has done all of the photography for our boutique shoots so far; she is very reliable and talented for her years!
What is the story behind the name “It’s All Too Beautiful?”
We both have a particular soft
spot for the music of the 1960’s era and the name comes from the song Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces. The song is an upbeat timeless track and we think it sums up our boutique’s clothing range which is all too beautiful!
Are the buying decisions a collaborative effort?
Yes we both have an input into the buying process and hand pick the stock together. We have to agree on the pieces we are buying which is not usually difficult as we have similar tastes and trust each other’s judgement. With both our creative input I will style the fashion
shoots and we will extensively research trends for inspiration for the shoots and buying trips.
We will then try to create a collection with the stock we select, however we don’t restrict ourselves by sticking to trends, we tend to just buy things we like! Michelle’s specialist area is the 1980’s and mine is the 1960’s, so we will tend to select stock from those eras separately then edit and make all final decisions together.
Any advice you would give to an upcoming boutique?
Trust your creative instincts, be original with your ideas and be organised. If you are thinking about working in a partnership make sure you choose someone who you can trust, is hardworking, can meet deadlines and who is supportive as we both are to one another. Networking is also very important and we use social media as a form of marketing and relating with our customers and it is also a great way of getting customer feedback. You can find us on facebook at -www.facebook.com/itsalltoobeautiful
FASHION WATCH
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 27
Tell us a bit about yourself?I’m a visual artist who is very much a free spirit. I’ve finally set up shop here in the states after a couple years of singing my way through Europe in order to make money to travel, study and paint. I’ve been working and exhibiting regularly as an artist ever since. I manage my time between creative pursuits, running my websites (WearableDreams.com and Paint-ingsbyJesa.com) and traveling.
What are some of your early art memories?I grew up on a farm in Northern California to parents who very much allowed me to run wild cre-atively. My earliest art memories pretty much involve me running around my small town in paint covered cowboy boots, walking my potbellied pig, Pumba, in a TuTu….(unfortunately, there are plenty of pictures documenting this). From there painting organi-cally became apart of my every-day life.
ART MAJOR
JESATOWNSEND
www.paintingsbyjesa.com
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 29
What things have you learned about your craft since then?
I’ve learned how important it is for me to create work that is as visually strong as it is conceptually developed. I pour just as much energy into my metaphorical con-cepts as I do my literal work. It allows me more freedom once I have an anchoring foundation of thought.
What inspires you?I’m inspired by the places I’ve lived and countries I’ve traveled to. Meeting people from contrasting cultures and learning about cultural differences is a huge source of artistic motivation. I also
gather inspiration from travel photography
and music. Music is one of my absolute passions and of-ten reflected in my work as I can abso-
lutely lose myself in one song and create
work inspired by just one moody or thought inducing melody.
Preferred medium?My preferred medium is Oil but I work across a wide ar-ray of disciplines.
Formal training?I don’t have a formal back-ground in art, I’m actually a formally trained musician. This often resonates or rais-es eyebrows. My artwork and resulting business all happened very organically. From word of mouth to now showing in international galleries has been a pretty lovely journey.
Plans for the future?I’m currently working on my second solo exhibit tak-ing place in May and finish-ing a 5 ft sculptural render-ing for the San Francisco General Hospital Founda-tion to debut in February. Feeling really brilliant about a few other projects in the works and even more bril-liant about what the future holds.
jesaTOWNSEND
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 31
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December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 35
TRAVEL
Iceland is such an awe-inspir-ing and mythical place – fire by way of volcanoes, ice through glaciers, exploding geysers, the northern lights, geothermal pools... It could very well be the purest place on earth. So clean you can drink fresh spring water straight from the bathroom fau-cet. Contrary to belief though, the sun does in fact come up in the winter and December proved to be such a beautiful time to visit. No colder than New York winters for the most part, it was an unexpectedly perfect place to take in some holiday spirit. If ever you wished for that per-fect White Christmas with sparkling lights, sleds and snowy hillsides, then look no further.. Iceland awaits.
TRAVELD E S I G N E R Yby Lorena F., Travel Editorwww.traveldesignery.com
The Land of Fire and Ice
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 37
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 39
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 41
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 43
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 45
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 47
I C E L A N Dby Travel Designery
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 49
Tell us a bit about yourself?I am the 19 year old designer behind the little handmade fashion label named casper&pearl. I work from my home in Adelaide, South Australia spending all day dreaming up new designs and bringing them to life; I love my job.
What are some of your early fashion mem-ories?I received my first sewing machine for Christmas when I was younger, it was purple and half the size of a real sewing machine. But I still managed to whip up little outfits for my Barbie dolls and clothes for dress ups. I also did ballet so I remember trying to help my mother and dance teacher construct my costumes, I was just in awe. It really all began from there.
What things have you learned about your craft since then?I have had a lot of practise and gained a lot of experience since then, I’ve also developed my own sense of style which really reflects in my designs. I want success in the design industry more and more each day so my mo-tivation has grown immensely.
What inspires you?I am very inspired by the innocence and freedom of childhood, I love to think that casper&pearl girls are running through fields and going on picnics in their dresses. I adore the 70’s, 90’s, vintage findings, the spring time and everything girly and sweet.
FASHION WATCH
CASPER& P E A R Lwww.casperandpearl.com.au
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 51
Formal training?I enrolled in the Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design and Technology around the same time that I begun the journey of casper&pearl. As they both became more and more full on I new I had to choose one so I could put in 100%. My heart was in c&p so I think you know the ending to that story.
Plans for the future?I am just taking it one day at a time for now, though at the moment I am working on my first official seasonal col-lection for S/S 2013. It’s something I have been working on for a long time so I hope all of the hard work pays off. I hope to stock in more stores overseas and dress some of those who I find an inspiration to me.
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 53
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 55
all clothing Casper & Pearlstyling Stacey Hendricksonhair & makeup Jess Paechphotography Claire Alice Youngmodels Taylah Veling and Eilish Rogers
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 57
BON APPETIT
WANDERFULLT R A V E L E R
www.casperandpearl.com.au
Alas! This year’s Sugar Plum Fair, at the local Quails Gate Win-ery, was devoid of the pirouetting snowflakes I had hoped for. For-tunately, there were ballerinas, wine, cheese and dessert. And even though I didn’t get my way this year, the view wasn’t so bad.
The Sugar Plum Fair offered Christmas gift ideas, discounts on all wine, tastings, an early visit from Santa Claus and graceful Nutcracker ballerinas from the Canadian School of Ballet. The ice wine grapes still hang from their fading vines, waiting for the first freeze (-15 degrees or so). Canada is quickly becoming famous for its quality ice wines, a specialty that is traditionally German. The event itself was ex-tremely busy and I am glad to say the Food Bank donation boxes were full. The crowds were hec-tic and it was nearly impossible to taste wine during the after-noon due to the busy turn out. My sister and I headed down to the winery’s Old Vines restaurant to sample the winter culinary offer-ings of West Kelowna at our own relaxing pace.
We began with some appetizers that aren’t quite worth mentioning.
The flights of wine (three glasses of 2oz. per person), of both red and white were delicious, how-ever, I have to say that the dessert wine, paired with the pineapple and cranberry upside down cake was mouthwatering. The sweet and tart flavours were enough to make an ice wine believer out of me, so much so that I nominated Quails Gate’s ice wine as one of my top ten Christmas picks. My sister, who only recently became partial to red wine, enjoyed the Riesling ice wine as well. Any of these slender bottles would make an excellent stocking stuffer or as a gateway for bonding. The Sugar Plum Fair may very well become a tradition between my sister and I, although I can’t say the con-sumption of wine is new.
As luck would have it, snow did fall only a few days after our visit to Quails Gate Winery. The Okanagan Valley appears as picturesque as ever with a pow-dered sugar glaze cushioning the forest floor. The housetops are once again white, the Pondero-sas boughs hold ribbons of white and the Christmas tree glows like gold. With this image in mind I wish you all a Happy Holiday!
by Murissa Shalapata, The Wanderfull Travelercanadianculinarytravel.blogspot.com
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 59
by The Wanderfull TravelerQUAILS’ GATE WINERY
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 61
by The Wanderfull TravelerQUAILS’ GATE WINERY
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 63
by The Wanderfull TravelerQUAILS GATE WINERY
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 65
Quails Gate WineryOld Vines Restaurant3303 Boucherie RdWest Kelowna Central Okanagan,British Columbia(250) 769-4451www.quailsgate.com Thank you to the Ballet Kelowna
for providing me with images.
photographer Anna Powierża www.annapowierza.com www.facebook.com/AnnaPowierza
Designer Joanna MisztelaModels Ela P.(Mango Models) Sandra W. (Joost Agency)
Make up & stylist Justyna KobyłeckaProducer Marta Pawlak/Verre Studio
Place Primate’s Palace, Warsaw, Poland
GONE WITHTHE WIND
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg.69
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December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 75
Fur jacket, ZaraLeggings, model’s ownBoots, model’s ownWatch, model’s own
photography, styling and make-up Amaia Orozcomodel Charlie Siddick @ Nevs Models
PORCELAIN
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 77
Knitted cardigan, Urban OutfittersLeggings, model’s own
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 79
Fur jacket, ZaraLeggings, model’s ownBoots, model’s ownWatch, model’s own
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 81
Fur jacket, ZaraLeggings, model’s own
Boots, model’s ownWatch, model’s own
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 83
December 2011 VECU Magazine pg. 85
Bershka