CM jewellery

And so, as if my apartment was not already engulfed in fabric and paint, I decided to add beads to the mix! I started a jewellery shop on Etsy about a month ago, and just recently decided to focus on using silver and crystals as my primary materials. My favourite is the "I heart U" necklace -- I made one for myself too!

I also really like the "Flashy Octagon".

Fabric SALE

Yesterday I went to the Textile Museum of Canada for the annual More Than Just A Yardage Sale. It's a fundraiser for the museum, where people had donated their unwanted fabric, notions, yarn, etc., and people like me come to buy them at bargain basement prices :)

I picked up some light blue pleather, and some wooly-type fabric in brown and in teal. I know it looks eclectic, but I have a vision for it... I swear!

Etsy Front Page!

My "Bird on a Wire" cushion covers made it to the front page of Etsy.com today! Yay!!

Tuesday Treasures: Dinnerware and such

From etsy seller AceroStudio, Mug with bike.

From etsy seller alinahayes, Live Simply Reminder Dish.

Form etsy seller soule, Full Wood Grain Plate.

From etsy seller JDWolfePottery, Sweetgrass Place Setting.

I heart Tofu

I'd like to introduce you to the Pabrika mascot, my hamster named Tofu. She is my favourite little buddy, and endless hours of entertainment (although I am quite easily amused). Her favourite past times are running on her wheel, tearing up newspaper to make bed fluff, and chewing on her cage bars / plotting her escape.
She has, on occasion, been succesful in her escape plots. But she can normally be found under my fridge eating dried rice off the floor. One thing I don't quite understand: she stores her food in the same corner she pees in.

Pink Autumn

After endless experimentation with airbrushes and stencils, I discovered that the best method of applying my designs would be to stitch them into the fabric in black thread, and then to fill them in with paint using a paintbrush. Airbrush paint works fine, but I have found that the Jacquard Neopaque fabric paints are the best, especially for painting light colours on dark fabrics.

The "Pink Autumn" drawing was inspired by the pink fabric I had brought back from my latest trip to Paris. In fact, the Pink Autumn pillow is the first one I ever sold. Thanks Fanny ;) And just recently I was asked to do the same design in lavender and sage green, which worked out also!

Oh Buttons

Since weddings seem to be in the air, I have started to make ring bearer pillows out of white satin, and adorned with lace, ribbon, and a sparkling button. Now it shames me to say, but button shopping is one of my favourite things to do... Really! In Toronto's Queen west area, there is at least two blocks of just fabric, buttons, beads, lace, and things of the sort. So much stuff, so many ideas! I can literallly spend a whole day there. I bought this particular button in a cute store called Queen's Fabric & Buttons that carries any button imaginable. It was in the glass display case, so it's gotta pretty special!

Tuesday Treasures: Lovely Lockets

Every Tuesday I will be featuring some of my favourite handmade items from Etsy. There i a multitude of talented artisans out there and I just wanted to put the spotlight on some of their exceptional creations. This week's theme: Lovely Lockets


From seller buttonenvy, Purple Washi Locket










From seller WhimsicalTreasures01, Morning Dew Locket Necklace











From seller SpellboundWings, Elegant Victorian Large Silver Locket with Key Charm and Crystals













From seller trystbykerry, Strawberry Nectar

The inaugural post.

Let me introduce myself. I am a mechanical engineer by day, and artisan by night. Specifically these days I make decorative throw pillows and sell them online (http://www.pabrika.etsy.com/). I've done everything from jewellery to furniture, but pillows seem to be my niche. I've been asked how I ever got into the business of selling throw pillows, of all things... And I don't really know how, but one bleek Saturday, after following my job to a city where I knew not a soul in the world, I thought wouldn't it be cool if there were a store that sold throw pillows -- all different colours, fabrics, shapes, anything you could think of. And there it began. I walked to the nearby Walmart, bought some fabric scraps, and started experimenting.

I decided that my lucky friends would be my guinea pigs, and made them each a throw pillow for Christmas. With plenty of kinks still to be ironed out I pulled together 6 lovely pillows by making stencils of the design and painting them onto the fabric in airbrush paint. I matched them with fun fabrics on the back, and voila.

And so I would like to dedicate this blog to my fabulously supportive friends, who have over the years put up with my hits and misses of handmade Christmas gifts, and have praised even my not-so-praiseworthy creations ;) Although I think you guys liked the pillows... didn't you?