I made some plus size goods, freshly listed on my FB or ETSY.

So this week I made some sweet threads for anyone over a size 12.  Most are one of a kind, although I am making more than one in some because I had leftover fabric. I will be posting more by the end of the week.

Youtube tutorials

Lately I've been getting the urge to make a tutorial of some kind. I have one from a while back where I demonstrated how to make a Sally Jupiter costume, but I would like to make some more. Any suggestions?

I'm offering free shipping on some ooak accessories

Howdy y'all ;)

I'm trying to get rid of extra inventory I made recently from scraps, yes, scraps, lol..  I don't like to throw things away and I hoard a lot of my left over fabrics and buttons. So if you don't already follow me on Facebook then you haven't seen my latest and greatest creations. I made some giant hair bows and fabric corsages, which I think is one of my best ideas for my scraps rather than try to make clothes from my leftovers.

I would really like to try and avoid putting these on Etsy or Ebay only to avoid the extra admin costs that are associated with listing on other websites.  I will consider all reasonable offers and discounts on multiple purchases. Thank you!

Like me on FB too while you're at it!

www.facebook.com/eclecticvisionsdesigns

Free domestic shipping too!!!

silver silk corsage with vintage buttons, vintage looking pendant and silver chain accent. Back xlarge safety pin
$35

 

Neck piece, very dramatic $60

 

 

 

Fabric is a polyester crepe, single earring piece, vintage button, faux pearls and a few feathers tucked in. Secured with a sewn on XL safety pin. $25

"Old Vaudeville"... Hot pink/black striped cotton, silver chain and vintage style button detail. Old key and feathers. $30

 

giant hair bow, with a varnished photo laid in tattered black lace. $15

Another gigantic bow with a brass like butterfly, $12

I had a revelation..a goal..whatever you call it

So I came upon an article recently on the front page on MSN regarding the trend of mobile clothing stores.  Heres a link to a similar article so you know what I'm talking about.
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/travel-trailer-boutiques-independent-designer-goes-mobile-in-her-airstream-#!/photos/37681/4

The Possibilities!

So that got me thinking... This is genuis!! Brilliant!! Cool!!  So yes, this crazy lady has been fully inspired to do the same thing.  I'm obviously going to have to re-enter the work force to save up, because I do not want to take a gamble and get a loan and then if it doesn't work out? No no, I can't have that.

My plans for such a mobile store like these, is to sell my designs from my line plus other things I buy wholesale to stock the store.  After figuring out if I need both RV insurance and business insurance, or I need a new license, etc, parking permits, etc.  I want to drive it around El Paso, and smaller towns in TX that the shopping sucks, and try to bring better variety to the locals. Expose my brand to different markets and hopefully make a living doing that. That is what I want to do with this.

photo taken from http://www.lodekka.com/

So my goal now is perhaps do some subsitiute teaching for the new school year, and try and get a little cheapy RV/mobile home thing for under $2k, although I found some perfect sized ones on craiglist list for under $1k, which I'm hoping (counting my chickens) if I can get it that cheap renovating the inside won't be more than an additional $2k.  I'd probably be doing most of the renovation myself because I'm da baus like that, lol.  I'm mean its a goal that'll probably come to life in about 2 years, but I WANT IT!!

Trying to clear inventory on EBAY

Eclectic Visions on ebay

El Paso Designs:Couture Challenge review

Ok so I'll just come straight out and say it.

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I MADE IT PAST THE FIRST ROUND!!!!!!

Ahem... :D  The day of the show I was finished up the little things on the dress, hem zipper, etc..  Dropped off the kiddo at his grandparents and went off to meet my model and my favorite hair stylist at the club.

   The weather was absolutely horrible, it was windy and very cold outside, and we were told we couldn't get ready in the bathroom and that everyone had to get ready outside in this little patio the club had.  We decided to decline on that and got ready at another place that my stylist Jessica suggested. 

So we get the model ready, Jessica ends up doing this sick Geisha style hair do with a fan stuck in the models hair.  Also did I mention my model is Jenna Doddridge who is the current title holder of NM runway teen? :D :D

We only had like an hour and fifteen minutes to do hair and makeup. So we got her ready, sped off back to the club and again we arrived to the back patio where everyone was getting ready in the darl, litterally.  There had been no heaters outside set up and everyone were freezing their butts off. Especially the models I felt so bad for them as most of them were in very revealing low cut dresses, and I don't think anyone anticipated it being so cold outside.   So, no lights, shelter, heaters or refreshments for us until about 20 minutes till the show started :|

But everyone looked great, I was surprised and proud to see so many talented people in one spot doing what they like to do.  It was a fierce compeition, I was especially jealous of this design. As I wish my brain had thought of this, my hats off to you Mr. Correa!




Adrian Correa for Two Movements/photo A. Vela

 SO the show started it was really cool because ealier before we had gotten our design challenge, we had a video interview and while each designer piece went on stage, their interview video played in the screens above.


Photo: Gabriel Gurrola



There were 12 designers and only 8 got to move on forward, I was actually scared and not expecting my name to be called, I guess I didn't feel worthy or something, lol.  But they did my name was the 3rd person called and I must say it felt great!





My design: Tea Party at the Geisha house



my model Jenna/photo: Gabriel Gurrola

 

Everybody during the end of the judging/photo: Gabriel Gurrola



I think the look I was going for was "Goth country".. Yeah thats it
photo: Gabriel Gurrola



So now its back to work on our second challenge which is "Color Block". Oh lord, I honestly have never liked that style, so its kinda hard to make my brain come up with such an outfit.  But I'll pull through, I always do. Till next time!

Its been a while

Ok so a lot of interesting things have happened since my last relevant post, lol.

I will have another major update probably next saturday. I wanted everyone to know that after careful consideration and praying I decided to apply to Project Runway. I didn't think I would this year, as I wanted my skills to be as fierce as possible but with the win of Anya last year, she gave me hope for all the underdogs out there.  Plus I can probably sew better than her, lol.

Also!  Locally here in EP, they are having a project runway type deal here and I'm entered in it. So this friday is the first round of judging. The challenge is couture, so I made some I think it really cool, but I won't say what until after its done. I really hope I make it past the first round because getting cut at first would really suck, and would definitely break my spirit. 

So if you are in the El Paso/Las Cruces area you can buy your tickets at Hommework or through me. They are $10 and the venue is NV Ultra Lounge 200 Anthony st El paso,TX 79901

Free shipping til 25th of Oct!!!!

Use this coupon for free shipping!! Domestic only....
Code: truffleshuffle

New items listed & in other news....

So this week I posted the new items that I had my photoshoot from recently here are the finished product sans green screen

So this week I also ended up going to a casting call for Mercedes Benz fashion week they were having here in El Paso. Its the cities first, as I know there are other MB fashion weeks in other places across the country.  So I went and took my portfolio and samples, the person who was conducting the interview liked my stuff, but he mentioned he wanted me to turn the volume up on my designs as they wanted real high fashion stuff. So I'm like ok thats fine, I can do that. So I walked out with the gig and I felt pretty damn good about myself.  I shared it with my husband which I also told him I was going to have to borrow money to fund my line for this show. He wasn't too thrilled about it, plus I didn't want to get further in debt either, but it seemed like a good opportunity.  You know how that goes..  

Anyways I was feeling a bit unsure after discussing it with my husband, and I asked some people their opinion on it and I got some good advice. So i called the place back and asked some additional questions that I forgotten to when I was at the call.  It turns out the show was non-paid for participants and there is no guarantee that I would be more successful after this show and if I was going to be able to make back that loan.

Plus it dawned on me, fitting would have to be conducted around the 13th, which left like no time for me since I was picked on the 1st. There was no way I could make about 15 pieces at least all 75% done to fit all the models and still do customer orders in between.  It was not an easy decision but I had to end up turning down the show. It made me really sad but I think its for the best.

Behind the Scenes

Had a great photo shoot today with the team,  this was the most expensive and longest shoot (roughly 5 hours) I've had yet with my designs. But it was worth every minute of it, it kicks so much ass to be around a bunch of awesome and creative people.   There were 2 outfits shot today, I still have many more that I need to finish before the year is up for my new line for the coming spring/summer.  Here are some behind the scene photos.  Be on the look out for edited ones on my Eclectic Visions fan page, I'll be posting them as soon as I get them from the photographer. ;)

Again I would like to thank Perla, Laura, Jessica, and Gary for helping make a great shoot!

Jail Bait dress

 First of all I've had this look ^^  in my head for some time, this was my first time at a bias cut dress.  Working with the stripes in the different directions gave it a unique look and also confused the hell out of me while working on it cuz my eyes would go all crazy staring at it, lol.  The shoes were the models, I added the necklace which was a hand me down from my mother in law and the hair is real. Yes folks, that is no hair piece. I am fortunate to know a master stylist who made this  "saint Halo" donut out of the models real hair. 

Inmate hooded dress

 Laura (MUA) and I did this hairstyle on our own, I have no skills whatsoever with hair so I did my best to help Laura make front rolls on the top of her head, but it just ended up being covered by the hood anyways.  Again the bootie type shoes were provided by the model, and just one simple accessory on her wrist, which was a ribbon secured with a safety pin was all this outfit needed.

you can kinda see the screen printing on the back

 I did the screen printing the very night before the shoot, I had intended it to be a solid color blocks for the faux bar-code, but in a wonderful accident, it came out faded and really cool.  I know you can't really tell here, but you'll see what I mean in the edited photos.  Perla (le model) really had a good time in this dress, she inspired me to offer this in different colors, as I originally was just going to make in this inmate orange color. 

As you can tell, these clothes so far go with a line that is prison inspired with my little twists and flair thrown in.  I will be making along with this line soon some jackets, gothy little gowns and more. 

Eclectic Visions is going to be at Frank N Con 2011!!!

I just purchased my spot today to sell my items at this southwest horror and sci-fi convention Oct 29-30th in El Paso,TX.  Celebrity appearances my Margot Kidder, Ernie Hudson and many more!  For ticket information go to http://www.frankncon.com/
Frank n Con will be honoring tickets from:
Texas Fear Fest:Camp Blood

I will be making lots of themed clothing for this event: movie inspired wear, horror themed clothing (men & women), sci-fi, geekery type garments and much more!!!

EV hits Austin for the BurdaStyle/Etsy fashion show!

Oh god let me say first of all, driving for 9 hours straight really hurts the ass. 


Anyways, I left on Friday morning to a good start around 8am and got to Austin around 9pm. I was severely delayed towards the end because of a terrible car accident that happend shortly after Live Oaks, TX, and I drove 20 mph from there all the way to Austin. :(

Saturday was my day off, my husband and I also celebrated our 4th year of marriage while we were in Austin so it was a double win this past weekend with that and the show.  Here are some places that I visited while there.

                                      I did some excellent shopping while in Austin, I bought an antique Coke tray and a really old typewriter on Congress st. I forgot the name of the store but I had a antique-gasm when I walked in, and here is me recovering from it. lol

Here is my husband modeling for me outside The Salt Lick in Driftwood,TX   I had seen that Adam guy from Man vs Food eat there on tv once, so of course we had to go try it out.  Of course it was delicious, I highly recommend anyone go visit this place if they're in the area.

Under the Congress ave bridge, there are supposedly like a million bats that live in the bridge. I saw some come out but not what I expected. Those bats suck, I wanted to show whoever reads this a badass photo of blackend skies of bats and mayhem but only a few came out.  I also saw in the flesh while driving around downtown  Danny DeVito, my husband took a photo of him, but its too fail to share.  I might put it on my FB, I'm not sure yet, but the dude sure is short.

       

Here is a photo of the venue on 6th st, the craziest bar strip I've ever seen. Sunset Blvd has nothing on this place.

Now Sunday started off all wrong, of course I have terrible luck so it was bound to happen. lol  With the daylight savings time change, I had set both alarms on our cells to wake us up like at 8am. I guess when 2am kicked in the phone alarms reset or something because we didn't wake up till 9:30am and I had a meeting at the venue at 10am.  So without showering or anything we sped over there just to make it on time for the meeting. Oh yea also that morning one of my contacts ripped, so half the day I spend with one good eye and one blind eye.  I was a freakin pirate. :|

Luckily I used my smarts and went to a walgreens and fixed my also broken glasses by buying an eye glass repair kit and a pair of sunglasses to fix them, so I was able to finally see!

                 

This chick right here is Dammianne, one of the best damned models I've worked with in a long time.  Just some random model who messaged me for the position when I was talking about the show in the Model Mayhem forums, so random and last minute. She was proffesional like whoa, and was a blast to work with!

Oh yeah and every man is a 5 mile radius drooled over this lady in her massively awesome boots, lol.  It was pretty funny, men are soo weak :P

This was the designer for Kramp Couture another great designer that was in the show.

                                                         

              Backstage

The show went by so fast, all done within like 16 minutes.  But cool none the less, the place was pretty packed, and Dammianne and I mingled (well she did most of the mingling in dem boots) with people got business cards, photos, etc.  Very excellent day, now back to work!

Super happy news ppl!!!!

I was chosen with 14 other designers to showcase their designs  in the DiY fashion show in Austin,TX. Yay and congrats to the other designers! Its gonna kick ass!

Burda Style DiY Fashion show Blog

Reflections on this past year

I hope everyone is having some good eats and excellent holiday fun first and foremost.  As a new and naive business owner for my company this year, I wanted to reflect and maybe pass on some advice to new comers who are getting into this just as I am.   

When I started this back in January, I had no idea how to do taxes, sales taxes and all that jazz. I just knew I wanted to do what I love to do and make some money off of it.  So I attended some semiars provided by the local city for business owners, business counselors and learned about how complicated putting together a business plan to present to the bank was.  Which I have not yet done, because I'm still too scared of the rejection, lol.    I did have to learn the art of organization with my receipts all year, which I had to make a nice little folder for all my tax exempt receipts, sales reciepts, etc... Which at this point in the end of the year was very helpful, and I'm not scrambling trying to organize a years worth of paperwork. 

With the supplemental help of events and promotions, I was able to pay my bills all year by myself, which for anyone can be such a self fulfilling achievement.  Even now that I got a regular Joe Job, I felt more accomplished making my Eclectic Visions money than I do now at my normal job. 

Even if you are or aren't into the making clothes business, having shows (fashion shows, in my case) or craft shows to sell your products is the first step for introducing your items at a local level.  Not many craft shows this year were successful for me, at all. But I'm glad I did them, each one is a learning experience which is always good for you (the business owner) whether positive or negative.  I had 3 fashion shows this year, I met many amazing models, and networked with different photographers.  Another thing I learned this year is to make sure you have your business cards on you at all times, whether you're at a craft/fashion show, or just walking around the mall on your day off.  You'll never know when someone is looking for someone in your field of expertise and you don't have a card with you.  You'll feel quite foolish, I know I did. lol

Goals for the New Year
For 2011, I want to branch out. Hopefully do some huge out of town craft fairs within TX like Austin or Dallas, really get my name out.  I want to design new stuff, maybe even swim wear this year. I'm pretty sure there will be new fashion shows I'll get called back for this year, and I want to be ready when they do.  I also want to be aggressive on magazine submissions, I'm already on one collaboration on that for a sci-fi mag in January. So I'm excited to do that, just more photoshoots, fairs, and shows.   Write down your goals and meet them, nothing is unobtainable if you set your mind to it. 

Merry Christmas soon!

Things have been slow in the sewing department for me lately. I got a full time job at a call center, so I haven't been aggressively pursuing my sewing or trying to get orders.   And I apologize for everyone that has been waiting for my spats, I made some then realized I didn't have a camera anymore, and I'm not about to use my crappy camera phone for my etsy, so yea lol..   I'm really hoping to save up to get a better camera before the year is up (so it can be a tax write off, MUAAHAHAA!) so I can have better photos for you guys and the webstore.


I am in the process of collaborating with Robert Tibuni of VaboomStudios for a magazine submissions to Time of the Faeries by J. Corsentino.  We're meeting tomorrow at the fabric store, and I'm going to be sketching some ideas for the Cyber Faeries outfit.   I'm really excited for this project and I hope our submission proves successful.


I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and will have an awesome Christmas!

Ah yes the moment you've been waiting for

I styled this baby to perfection!!

I had my husband buy me some photos from the show. Hopefully as I get more money in my pockets I will buy the rest from that day. Until then. look at these babies!!!!!

Me(left), Melanie, Melissa

Fashion show is done! Now for pics and mayhem

Well a lot of things went wrong, didn't happen. I was a little disappointed as there was no live auction so I didn't get to make money and give some to the Susan G Komen Foundation. The shoes I borrowed from Dillards came, and everyone got their shoes in full except for me. I was missing a pair of heels and one of the shoes that I picked came in the wrong size, even though the day I picked them out I had all the correct sizes.
For the moment where I didn't have a headache was when my collection went down the runway, and may I say, I styled everyone to perfection!! My models were outstanding, and my outfit was rockin! Unfortunately I didn't make my dress, I bought it at Skin Graft when I was in LA recently. I need to buy the pro photos from when my stuff when down the runway, but! I do have the link to the proofs, and they are stunning!

http://www.digitalmilephotography.com 2010 Breast Cancer Fashion show album

My photos are 102-113 in the album of photos. I can't wait to see the video too! Now that all the mayhem is over, I can concentrate on making new accessories for my shop, and cleaning out inventory.

I made myself a pair of spats for the show, and I must say I'm becoming quite obsessed with these things, so I might as well share my love for them with all of you gals, and make them for my etsy shop. I'm just going to clean out my bins of fabric making these so in the next few weeks all spats on my shop will be ready to ship!

Everyone waiting for the show to start

As promised new items in all sizes!

From the tiniest size to the largest of BBW's, these new items are available to anyone!

Indian Goddess Gown
High Waist Office Skirt
Summer Dreams in Green dress
Turkish Delights capri set

Things are really getting a move on, I have hope!

Wow, so this month is starting to pick up in work. I don't know if fall has anything to do with it, but I'm very happy right with how things are going. I just got signed on for another fashion show in Oct for a Breast Cancer Fundraiser, I just finished up a fashion show this past weekend which went great. I have some photos from that in this blog post.

People locally are starting to take more interest in my work, my name came out in the paper which would make anyone smile. I just think damn, if I had quit back when nobody bought my stuff I wouldn't be having all these opportunities I have now. So yea August has been an amazing month, and September-Oct looks to be full of awesomeness too!

El Minya Fashion Show