Introducing.... LBT Bobby

Say hello to our newest addition to the LBT 2011 Collection, LBT Bobby! Every detail of each individual bobby is hand made. Each consist of hand dyed goose and ostrich feathers, adorned with tulle wrapped round centre, with beautiful fresh water pearls, Swarovski rhinestones and crystals with a touch of dainty beads. They're great for any outings, a perfect piece to top off your outfit!

These will be available on LBT etsy later this week. LBT etsy shop is updating product photos and going through some changes throughout this week and next week... including some Free-Shipping coupons! Be sure to check it out.

All photos by PeacefulPixel

My flats are clipped

I love spring... and eventhough we're waiting for our one last (fingers crossed) snow storm to arrive this week, I'm getting ready to put these on!

The shoe clips work like clip-on earrings... clip on wherever you want them to be... front, side, and back. Dress up your plain flats, or your pumps!

These will be available on LBT Etsy site online and Creative Heart Collective Show for those Torontonians!

Saint-Ouen: Vernaison Market, Paris, I love you

A few nights ago, I "revisited" the a few set of photo albums from our honeymoon. I love taking a break from time to time and look at photos from the past... taking a moment to reminisce and remember all the smell, the feeling, and the noise that surrounded that moment in time.

Anyways, before I get too deep into my fantasy world again (where I would be walking on a cobble stone roads, in spring clothes, eating a jumbo Meringue cookie that's bigger than my head... somewhere in sunny europe...!), I wanted to share my trip to this amazing flee market in Paris: Saint-Ouen. Eventhough we were on our honeymoon, I was determined to check out as many Antique markets/Vintage stores to find supplies for LBT... and Nick was determined to play with his Camera. Boy, was it a short trip.

We got to walk around Vernaison Market which is only one small portion of many many markets at Saint-Ouen before we had to pack to come home. Nevertheless, we found so many things that we would've loved to bring home (like the chair below), but decided that we would come back sometime in the future and really prepare to pack and ship. But most importantly, we both had so much fun and I found some great vintage beads and pretty metal ornamental pieces to incorporate into LBT products!

Welcome to Vernaison Market!

This is the first store I walked up to. I looked and walked away because we were under a strict time schedule... as in we had to go back to our hotel and pack.

Keys and keys... and more keys....

This is the chair that I wanted to bring home.


Speed walking through EVERY STORE, and trying not to miss any items...


Then we went into a store that took us to another dimension.... Maybe Salvador Dali's left over home furniture?


and when it was time for us to leave...

I went back to the first store and did my serious shopping. I rarely use my peripheral vision, but on this day, I had my eagle eyes on the front, the sides, the back.. you get the idea.

The owner of the store who probably loved me because I was easily persuaded into buying MORE to get a "deal".
Think about what I just said.

But with the wonderful treasures I have found in Paris, I made a few fun pieces...

like this!

Colours...

I remember the first time I dyed something other than my hair. My favourite blue jeans that faded way too much. The jeans were from EnC, and I picked a pair up when I visited korea in 1995. They were so perfect that I wore them so often and the perfect dark jean colour it once had, faded out so much that I decided to grab a dye from Fabricland and dyed it. I was desperate wanted to rescue my jeans... some how.

It worked, and I was happy, but I fell and it ripped not long after. From then on, whenever I feel so in love with a piece of clothing that I own, I either lose it, or it gets damaged some how.

Anyways, off track. What I meant to say was that I never dyed anything after my jean incident... until last week. I had SO MUCH FUN dying silk tulle, silk dupioni, satin, feathers, and ribbons. I mixed colours, diluted colours, concentrated the colours I had... and the results were very satisfying. So...why would I do this when I can buy coloured everything from a store you ask? It's more work, but I feel like I can get the perfect colour I want and need by dying it myself. It's crazy, but it also feels nice to feel like you have created something that has the perfect shade, and so different from what you started with.

Here... just wanted to share some of the results with you!

Some feathers...

Transformation in progress...

Drying the goodies...

I will post up some LBT products made with these materials soon!

St Jacobs Antique Market

This past weekend, Nick and I went for a short visit to Market Road Antique at St. Jacobs Market. I'm not an expert and I don't go to any auctions (well, not yet at least!), but I love going through all the nicknacks people are selling. These things always take me to my fantasy "lalaland" where I picture myself using these things during their time period. It's almost like going to a museum. It's also really fun to look at accessories and sometimes, I find a lot of good pieces for LBT supplies.

I didn't have enough time to thoroughly go through everything (because I usually like to look at everything twice...), but I spotted some really cool things that people were selling. Actually, they were AMAZING things that if I could find a GOOD reason to buy, I probably would have brought them home!!

Here are some of the lovely items that Nick helped me capture on his camera:

Hello tea cups!! There were so many of these bone china tea sets! Did you know... that majority of Bone china is still made with 30% natural bone ash, which is powdery ash left from burning of bones, but apparently, the traditional formulation uses 50% cattle bones. So for those of you who's been wondering why some fine bone china tea cup/saucer set costs so much, it's because the "raw" materials are expensive and their production is labour intensive. But they're chip resistant, which means they will last "forever" :)

I don't own any fine bone china made in England tea sets (yet), but if you're interested in collecting them, antique markets would be a good place to start! I've resisted many many times already but if I come across something in the future that I can't let go of, I will probably get them and collect them from antique markets. And blog about it... with my pinky UP!

Next item that was so amazing. Collapsable wooden basket/container. When it's collapsed it's a wooden rectangle. When you pull out from each side, there are 2 compartments on each side that opens up. It had a handle, for easy mobility! It kinda reminded me of a large wooden (OLD) version of Caboodles... if I had this in my room, I would use it to store my sewing supplies.

Then there was this wooden drawer that was... massive. Countless drawers and space for labels... a girl's (okay, mine only) dream come true. haha. It was over $5000, so I looked and touched only. If I had that in my room, I would use the top few drawers to store some of my jewelry, and then the rest would be used for all the fabric for LBT supplies I have accumulated. Organized in colours and by type. Oh how amazing would it be...

We saw some really interesting dolls (to say the least) that were out for sale... but I felt like their eyes were following me around, so I stopped looking at them.

It was a fun trip, and I would definitely go back to look at all the things I missed, again.

Love and Bear Trap will be at Creative Heart Collective on Saturday April 16th, 2011

Peacefulpixel photo

I know I've been MIA from blogging for quite some time, I am sorry. But I'm back with some great news! LBT will be at Creative Heart Collective show as a vendor at the amazing Gladstone Hotel on April 16th, 2011. The show is held on both April 16th and 17th, from 11 am - 5 pm but each day will host different vendors, so come check out the show on both days to see all the works by the local artisans, crafters, designers, and bakers!!!

Currently, its been a busy few weeks planning and designing the goodies for the show. I'll be sure to update on this project!