Busy Bee Part 2

Hello everybody!  So last blog post I said I would further divulge why I have been so busy and blog post less this month.  Well this is why.

After the excitement of Birmingham and winning, I had to get my head down and make sure that I had everything prepared for a photoshoot I had the following week.  It was again with the fabulous talent in one woman, Morgana of Iberian Black Arts.  She did my hair and make up as well as the photography AND the digital arty stuff afterwards (yay for photoshop!) which makes her a genius!  I shot with her two new items, for which I tweeted little teasers for y'all.  But for those not on twitter these are the fabrics the new items are made from.

Scrumptious candy floss coloured fabric (cotton candy)

AMAZING leopard print crepe de chine

I can't wait to reveal these babies, but in all honesty it won't be until the new year.  First comes the Tempest set (which hopefully I get delivery of this week!!! *fingers crossed*), then remember this one (below right):

Well this comes next on my to do list in production.  It has been a bit of a nightmare to source this fabric in any great quantity.  Apparently pale blue stretch satin is a rare commodity!  I bought mine to make this sample above from a fabric supplier who buys end of run type fabrics so he rarely has the same fabric twice.  I bought all he had which was about 11 metres.  I can probably get about 10-12 garments out of that at a push, so not much use when  it comes to production numbers which are a lot higher.  This means it would have cost a ridiculous amount of money for the size of the garment.  I'm talking like £95 which is the same as my Black Nell Robe.  So I don't think my lovely customers would want to pay £95 for a little teddy, no matter how awesome it is.  However!  A couple of days after my photoshoot the other week, I went to a fabric show in London.  And I think I may have found some suitable light blue satin to match up to my high expectations (satin can look and feel really nasty if you don't do it right!).  So it's back on!!!  I will be making the Hedy Teddy next :).

THEN the pink number will be released in time for Valentines :) so I will be putting it up on my website in January so you all have time to buy it to spice up your Valentines Day.  I may be kind and let you pre order it in December......it depends how nice you all are to me.

The shooting of this item even had a valentiney prop to make it look extra cute.  This picture to the left is the prop I used.  A beautiful vintage chocolate box - unfortunately there were no chocolates in it boo.

I decided again to model the items,  if you hadn't already guessed.  I had such a fun time last shoot with Morgana that I thought why the heck not!  And it was nice to hear feedback such as "ooooo who's the new model?! Haven't seen her before", which is obviously good for my business as my competing brands have not used this "new model", so it sets me apart from the rest :).  Clever non?!  Anyway the below picture is the make up and hair look that Morgana and I went for this time round.

The hair was inspired by Betty Grable in the film Pin Up Girl and for the make up we stuck with a neutral eye pallet to make a big POW with bright pink lips to match the pink set.  Morgana has the ability to turn ANYONE into a glam pin up girl, so if you want to treat yourself or your other half with some beautiful photographs be sure to look her up!  Her blog is here.

The last thing that has been keeping me nice and busy is the afore mentioned leopard print number.  Again I managed to choose a fabric that is as rare as hens teeth.  I have enough for an initial run of garments, but I have a horrible feeling it is going to turn out to be my new best selling design.  So I am desperately sourcing the right kind of leopard print fabric.  Leopard print is a funny old thing.  You can get it right, like I hopefully have, or you can get it very very wrong - as in looking like a prostitute wrong.  It's a very fine line between a classy leopard print and a trashy one and I have seen a lot of unsuitable prints in my search.  Again this is where the fabric show came into play.  I think I may have found a suitable substitute, should this design sell incredibly well and I need to get more made.  The only drawback isss...................it has a slight glitter in the fabric.  I'm not sure how I feel about a glittery leopard print.  So I thought I would open it up to you.  Yay or nay?

It is similar to the fabric I already have in that it is of a similar scale of print, but it is a stretch cotton as opposed to a crepe de chine (shiny satiny type fabric).  If you click to enlarge it you can just about see the glitter running through.  Please leave comments on whether you think glitter is good or bad.  It could be quite Hollywood glam I suppose.  Anyway let me know your thoughts!

Hope you have enjoyed my catch up, I will try and blog more next month I promise :).
Lots of Love
Betty xxx