London Calling

The first time, and only time, I've been to London was roughly 14 years ago.  Just typing that makes me feel old! And it was such an awesome experience, as you would expect of visiting such a cosmopolitan and renowned city.  I long to visit again, however in the meantime I'll make do with having my jewelry there for a short visit.

Outside the location of the Pop Up shop. 

As I had blogged about in my previous post about the Erebus Pop Up Shop, Eilisain would be making it's debut.  And I'm so grateful for the opportunity.  You see, for handmade products such as mine and many others in the slow fashion and small business' the chance to expose your brand to a wider audience takes work as well as the collaboration with individuals that want to champion your brand.  Thus, having someone like Chris Tull Williams, Managing Director of Erebus create an event to promote the handmade movement and appreciation for well made clothing and accessories is a huge benefit to my business as well as the slow fashion community. 

Chris Tull Williams, center.

Here are some fantastic photos from the successful event.  I'm loving the gorgeous pieces by Clon8 and futuristic leather pieces by Aumorfia.  These are not just clothing and accessories but objects of art and ones to be cherished.  

A selection of pieces I sent over for the event.

Flora jacket by Clon8 - I'm lusting over this exquisite piece!

As you can imagine, with online shops it's trickier for customers to get a sense of the feel and made of clothing and accessories, and for that reason pop up shops are a wonderful opportunity to try them out and put them on. 

I hope you enjoy these photos and take a moment to look through all the other talented and amazing designers over at Erebus. 

Make Your Holiday Gifts Count

As many of you probably already know I'm a big advocate of shopping local and supporting local artists and business'.  Not just because I, myself, am a small business owner but because I see first hand how much local economy impacts the success of a community and town. 

A very helpful graphic of how much your dollars stay in the community. 

There are SO many ways a small purchase can trickle down through the community.  I'll give you a personal one; on special occasions, when I make a big sale or have a successful event, my husband and I treat ourselves.  Case in point back in October it was our 2 year marriage anniversary.  And we try to celebrate it locally, we ate at our favorite local restaurant Starlight (it's also where we got married).  We personally know the owners and many of the wait staff and chefs and not just that we LOVE their food!

So you see, when you spend your hard earned money on a small business, that same business will use some of their income to spend locally as well - everyone benefits.  And, it's better for the environment.  Because the spending was locally, not on far off made items.

This holiday season, and really all year long I'm urging you to SHOP LOCAL, stay local and help grow your community.    Through out the next several weeks, I'll be highlighting some of my favorite local business', ones that I patron and love.  And don't forget that on Saturday, November 26th is SHOP SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY!