Modish

Collabo: Lucie Summers & Eco Eco

We're back with another installment of Collabo with Jan at Scoutie Girl! This week I'm happy to be featuring one of my favorite designers, Lucie Summers from Summersville, who worked in collaboration with Alison from Eco Eco, a great UK based shop featuring organic and sustainable goods. Lucie designed the gorgeous patterns and Eco Eco created high quality gift wrap from them, printed with vegetable based inks on recycled paper. It's eco-friendly and fantastic!

See how the partnership was formed: Lucie's answers are below and find the Eco Eco story over on Scoutie Girl!

Which came first: the idea or the partnership? Who approached whom?
Alison used to comment on my Flickr photostream - she was always leaving encouraging words, and was a really strong supporter of my work. I was really just finding my feet, having gone from a textile/quilt art background to experimenting with paper collage. She approached me about doing a collage design for a Christmas card, which I did and Alison got printed in a short run. It was a total learning curve for the two of us, and quite a good way to dip our toes into working together.

What is the nature of your collaboration? (did one of you purchase the rights to use the other’s artwork, do you both receive revenue from sales, is the artwork on-loan for a limited time or # of pieces….)
At the moment, I get paid in stock and I'm very happy with the arrangement. We're very relaxed about this part of the process. I know that Alison is really wary of making me feel like she's taking advantage of me, but the truth is, having my designs applied to different mediums is fantastic for me, it really helps to extend my product line. Maybe later we'll be more 'official', we'll see how it goes.

How did you coordinate the project work and determine who will do what?
With the 'totem' wrapping paper, Alison financed the project and I provided the original design and helped Alison choose colours. I feel like I got the good end of the deal! It works because I can concentrate on what I do best - design - and Alison does all the running around pricing and researching, and all the stuff that makes me want to tear my hair out. The fun bit was choosing the colours. It's funny - usually I'm a real control freak and with anyone else I'd be stressing that they didn't 'get' me, especially with colour, but with Alison I feel really laid back. It's very strange, especially as we've never met and only spoken on the phone once!

Eco-Friendly Find: Home Sweet

I love bold color and pattern. Most of our home decor is fairly neutral—solid shades, lots of wood. A well-placed splash of color and pattern makes all the difference in rooms like ours, and the block-printed fabrics from Home Sweet are exactly what I look for to liven up my space.

Printed by hand with water-based inks onto a luscious hemp/organic cotton blend, Home Sweet's fabrics are available as yardage or stitched into lovely housewares, like the pillows and table runners here.

Everything in Home Sweet's shop is done by hand, with a sensitivity to the environmental impact of the work. Each printing block is carved by hand, each piece of fabric is printed with care. And I have to say it shows—the end result is just lovely.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Nineteen Seventy Three

1973 is a UK design company with the sweetest collection of cards! I love them all!

And not only are they cute, they're all eco-friendly too! Printed with vegetable based inks on recycled paper, packaged in recycled envelopes and biodegradable cellophane bags.

 See the whole range of lovelies from a variety of artists over at 1973!

Eco-Friendly Find: Urchin Bags

A very good friend of mine works in a bike shop, and through him I have become a huge fan of anything made from bicycle scraps—tires, tubes, cogs—I love the look of all things bike, and I love that there are so many talented people out there finding new ways to keep scrap material out of landfills. That's one of the reasons I was so excited to discover urchin bags.

Urchin bags are made from 95% recycled materials. These awesome little pouches are made from repurposed bike inner tubes and scrap vinyl. I love the combination of the bright vinyl, contrasting zippers and black rubber. They are fun to look at, and look decidedly durable—perfect for coins, cards and all the little stuff that's rattling around the bottom of my bag.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Eco-Friendly Find: White Owl

When white owl's shop application came through cosa verde last week, it took my breath away. Sisters Christina and Courtney Spivak collaborate to create lovely, lovely jewelry from rescued and repurposed materials sourced from estate sales, flea markets, even their own grandmother.

I love the contrasts in their work: thick, chunky ropes of chains hung on a delicate ribbon, white lace on a dark chain, and the perfect asymmetrical balance of many of their necklaces. I cannot stop looking at their shop—the photographs display their jewelry in such a perfect, soft light and with beautiful props that I cannot help but imagine secret stories for each piece.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Eco-Friendly Finds: Going on a Picnic

I've been daydreaming about a sunny picnic in the park, how about you? Luckily, there are plenty of eco-friendly pretty things out there to help round out that daydream... I'll share a few with you:

A garland of hearts stitched from fabric scraps from Bananasaurus Rex; the perfect repurposed picnic blanket from Sewn Natural; yummy vegan treats to fill your picnic basket from aveganbakery; the quintessential red checkered picnic napkins (reusable, of course) from nestables.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

New Modish Discounts & Deals page!

Say whaaaat?

It's true! Modish now has a special page to house all the wonderful discounts and deals that sponsors and other lovely folk offer, all in one handy spot. Since I know we're all trying to spend less these days, I thought it'd be good to draw more attention to all the exclusive Modish discounts you could be taking advantage of. It'll be updated frequently (in fact, I have a few more to add later today) so check in often.

I've also added a link to the discounts & deals page and to the freebies page on the sidebar over yonder --> and will try to update that spot with the latest giveaway/freebie offerings I have for you too, so you can stay in the know! You can also find links to both pages on the navigation bar at the top.

Hope it helps!

{*the adorable dress in the even more adorable photo above was handmade by Desira Pesta from organic and surplus fabrics. Eco-cute! Find it here}

Eco-Friendly Find: Blythe King

I just got a package in the mail with one of Blythe King's amazing laptop cases inside, and let me tell you, I am smitten. Her line of iSockits, cases designed for MacBooks, iPods, iPhones, Moleskines and more, are well-constructed, well-padded, earth-friendly and so much more attractive than your typical tech cases.

Blythe's line is made entirely from vintage fabrics, most of which have been collected from various seamstress' estates throughout Louisiana, and are embellished with vintage buttons. Aside from the padding used to make iSockits, no new materials are purchased in the making of her products.

I love how cozy my new case is—I have no worries about my laptop being well-protected, and the cushy case doubles as a lap pillow to keep the heat from the battery off my lap. Plus, the contrast of the vintage fabric against my sleek new (OK, not so sleek or new anymore) Mac makes me smile.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Eco-Friendly Find: Get Ready Set Go

I need a vacation. And I definitely need new luggage. And while I doubt I'll be able to get away from work any time soon, Get Ready Set Go can definitely help me with my luggage needs.

Get Ready Set Go finds unloved old luggage, cleans it up and silkscreens designs onto the cases. Pick one of the finished pieces in her shop, or pick an un-embellished case and choose your design from her menu of options. She'll even add your initials or a quote to any piece. Hip, personalized luggage + always being able to spot your case on the carousel = the beginning of an awesome vacation.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

PDX Local: Paper Treasure + A Giveaway!

Even before I moved to Portland, I was a fan of local artist Jess McCloskey's line of revamped vintage jewelry, Paper Treasure.

Inspired by "shipwrecks and the prospect of sunken treasure", the entire line is created with vintage and antique pieces, broken and cast-off jewelry bits that she transforms into intriguing and unique new items.

And you lucky readers have a chance to win one of her loveliest lovelies, this one-of-a-kind Linden necklace!
Named after an actual shipwreck, it features a wealth of little treasures: a vintage brass oval locket with vintage beaded leaf charm, golden bead and antique purple glass bead.  It also has a little ship charm at the clasp and retails for $65.

Enter to win! Just leave a comment on this post noting your favorite item from the Paper Treasure shop. One winner will be chosen randomly and notified on June 3rd via email. One entry per person.

Eco-friendly Find: Larimeloom + new guest blogger!

I'm excited to introduce a new regular contributor to Modish- Liz from Cosa Verde! I had such a great experience with Liz during our big earth day giveaway that I decided to invite her to help with the eco-friendly finds. If anyone exudes eco-stylishness, it's Liz, so I'm glad to have her point of view added to the mix! You'll find her here every Tuesday sharing some of her favorite environmentally conscious goodies with us all. So, take it away, Liz!

It is finally feeling like summer here on the East Coast, and I've traded my jacket for just a wrap in the morning. Handwoven from merino, mohair and wool naturally dyed with plant dyes, these shawls from larimeloom have great, muted color to them and look like the absolute perfect thing to ward off a chilly early summer morning.

Many of the plants used to dye the wool in the scarves are locally sourced, and no chemicals are used in the process. I love that she occasionally lists the plants used to get the colors, like the amazing green shawl above, which was dyed with nettle leaves, chrisanthemum flowers and irisis.

 Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Sponsor Spotlight: Dolan Geiman

Dolan Geiman is an incredible mixed media artist creating eco-friendly art out of salvaged wood, found objects and recycled materials. His work is really a sight to be seen.

Catch him in person this summer in Brooklyn (Renegade Craft Fair, June 6-7), Chicago (Old Town Art Fair June 13-14 and Bucktown Arts Fest August 29-30), Denver (Cherry Creek Arts Festival, July 3-5), Madison (Madison Art Fair on the Square, July 11-12), and Minneapolis (Uptown Art Fair, August 7-9). And, all the while new works will continue to be posted to his etsy shop.

PDX Local: MothLove

I am really liking this new collection of dresses by MothLove- soft, comfy and sexy too:

They're handmade by designer Gretchen Jones out of bamboo or organic cotton jersey and feature loose tops with body hugging, ruched skirts. They each look like a moth breaking out of its cocoon... ah, I get it now! ;)

They'd be perfect for muggy summer days as is, or pair them with some skinny jeans or leggings or wear them like a jumper over a tee or tank. The options are endless. Choose from colors: shadow, thunder, overcast or light. LOVE that. Find them in the MothLove etsy shop or touch and feel the MothLove collection for yourself in these local shops.

Sponsor Spotlight: Bird Dog Press

Bird Dog Press is home to lovely letterpress cards with vintage inspired designs- they're eco-friendly too, printed on tree free paper w/ recycled envelopes! Use code "MOD09" at checkout for 10% off your order, and if you order a feedsack of the month subscription by June 15th, you'll get a whole month for free! {SHOP}

Smitten Kitten

The National Stationery Show is on in New York right now! And no, I'm not there, but if I were, I'd definitely want to check out the booth from Smitten Kitten who make these cards and notebooks out of real vintage wallpaper:

Handmade, eco-friendly and adorable, they're the perfect combination! They also make cute silk-screened totes, jewelry, accessories and much more from their downtown Toronto location. See the whole line of lovely goods on the Smitten Kitten site!