Toronto based Zen Apparel produces graphic t-shirts that are eye catching, inspirational, and fashionable. They only screen print onto sweatshop free American Apparel t-shirts, ensuring high quality, comfortable tees.

The Zen Apparel philosophy is to stimulate inspiration, creativity, and freedom. They believe that there are no boundaries or limits and therefore all of their designs are open to interpretation.

Their first design ‘Distant Friendship’ is now available to buy from their online shop. It is available in styles for both men and women and comes in a variety of luscious colours. The pic above shows the women’s version and a close up of the design.

These beautiful pieces of jewellery from Anna Sofia Designs look as though they’re made from polished wood, ceramic or glass but in fact they’re made from glazed paper. Designer Anna Sofia Kukafka takes silk-screened and stencil-dyed decorative papers from all over the world and turns them into unique pieces of wearable art.

Each glazed bead goes through a series of up to fifteen steps before it is ‘jewellery-ready’. The beads are then accented with semi-precious gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and sterling silver.

The Wysteria Earrings (above left) have been handcrafted with silk-screened Chiyogami paper from Japan and added to sterling silver ear hooks. Many of the items are reversible, providing two looks in one. Pink-tipped red hibiscus flowers, outlined in gold, and strewn amongst tiny pink flowers adorn one side of the vibrant Aphrodite bracelet. The reverse has a fashionably abstract design with red honeycomb hexagons, overlapping pink, red, gold, and tan patterns.

The full range is available from www.anna-sofia-designs.com.

Inspired by punk rock and horror movies, Carnage aims to kill conformity. Owner, founder and creator Sophie Rue, offers a range of killer jewellery to suit alternative tastes. She likes to think of craft DIY as a ’sewing box massacre with pretty results’. Her jewellery is a clash of glamour, rock chic, punk and street.

First up are the kitsch ‘Shiny Vinyl’ earrings. Who could resist the nostalgic LP charms, coupled with dangling musical notes? And I thought that the cute but scary ‘Bow Skull’ necklace just about sums up the Carnage brand.

There are lots of quirky, edgy goodies to choose from and you can shop online at www.carnage.cc.

To brighten up this gloomy Monday, I’ve got another fantastic ‘Day in the Life of’ feature, this time written by Custom Made’s Anna Butler. Thank you Anna! If you would like to appear in ‘A Day in the Life of . . . .’, please email me (Jenny) at info@indiequarter.com and I will send you some information.

Getting Up

I’m one of those really annoying people who can get up really really early and be awake instantly! Custom Made is based in my home though so it’s easy to roll into my workshop at any time. I usually try to get up at about 8 but if I have a lot of work on it wouldn’t be an uncommon sight to see me sat in my bean bag embroidering at 6 in the morning! Anthony, my boyfriend thinks I’m mad!

Starting Work

As I said before I work from home so actually getting started in the morning is pretty easy most of the time, unless I have been out the night before! I don’t have that annoying slow journey to work that we all love so much in England so that’s good. I do have to feed the cat before I start work in the morning though or he pesters me all day! I always do the same stuff to start my working day. Switch on the computer, open Itunes, check my emails. I have to start the day with music, it’s a must! PinkBeltRage podcasts- I highly recommend them!

Working Day

Contrary to popular belief I do actually work all day!! My friend Doug lives four doors down from me and he works from home too. Our friends think that we sit and drink tea and eat cakes all day. That’s sooooo not the case! We do occasionally do that on a Friday afternoon but that’s about it. He helps with my website, he’s ’Tech Support’ so the usual interaction with him is, “A page of my website has gone funny, can you sort it out?”

So apart from not sitting drinking tea all day with Doug I have a mix of stuff I do from making stock, sorting out the website, updating the Custom Made blog, sending out orders, designing new stuff, speaking to suppliers, speaking to customers, sorting out accounts etc. etc. My favourite job is designing new stuff. There is nothing better than sitting down at my work bench with piles of buttons, ribbon, fabric etc. and designing new things. Although sometimes if the ideas aren’t flowing it’s the worst job in the world!!! You can sit all day with a pile of buttons, ribbon and fabric and nothing happens. This is another popular misconception where design in concerned, you can’t just pull new ideas out of your butt, they have to flow, and that takes time!!

Lunch

For lunch I always do the same thing, make a quick sandwich. If I’m out and about I will just grab something on the run. Not very interesting I know!

Finishing Work

Basically Custom Made is just me, and every item is hand made by me so I am always super busy. When you work from home it’s sometimes really hard to stop work. Anthony gets home from work at about 5.30pm so unless I stop work at that time for a little while, he is in my workshop pestering me (a bit like the cat in the morning really!) If I have loads of work on I will nip back into the workshop at about 7pm for a few hours. Anthony is really good though, he will say, “You need to get out of that workshop now.” Otherwise I would be in there permanently! On the other hand, if I want to take a day off, or finish early I just do. I don’t have to ask anyone!

Things I like least about being an Indie Designer

I sometimes miss having the weekend off. I usually work on a Saturday and I do Sunday Up Market on Brick Lane in London on Sunday. So that’s a bit of a downside. I also hate doing my accounts. My brain was not made for numbers - that’s a fact!

Also sometimes it’s frustrating if things go wrong, like a fabric doesn’t arrive on time or something doesn’t quite go to plan. There is no-one else in the company to moan to! My friends and family are very supportive though.

Things I like best about being an Indie designer

I absolutely love being an indie designer! The creative freedom it has given me is amazing. Like a new lease of life! Before I did Custom Made I worked as a menswear designer for one of our high street stores, I was soooo bored and frustrated in my job. Custom Made is such a switch with regards to products and the way I work. Don’t get me wrong though, I learnt a lot, working for a very fussy company gives you very thick skin and teaches you that if something doesn’t work bloody well move on! I also learnt a lot about fabrics, lead times, range planning, understanding the customer and costing stuff!

I think my favourite thing about being an indie designer is all the amazing feedback I get about my products. I get so many supportive emails and messages and stuff. It’s the little things. We went out last night and my friend Michelle was wearing her Custom Made apple necklace with pride - that’s the best!!

Oh and my Dad telling me what I should have in my range each season after reading articles in the paper - thanks Dad!

Supporting independent artists has been at the core of Spunky’s concept since the launch of their SP: brand in 1998. Not only do they stock a variety of independent labels, they also invite work from doodlers, scribblers, graf artists, illustrators, painters and designers. If they like your stuff they will incorporate it into their clothing and you could earn up to £200 commission, plus worldwide exposure and free samples of your work.

The above t-shirts are part of their Autumn/Winter 2006 Designers Collection. The collection uses a palette of chocolate, aubergine, black and bright pink. Bold, cheeky prints feature widely .

Above left: ‘Escaping Records’ by Joe Blakey
Above Right: ‘Cubic Birds’ by Simon Noynay

So what are you waiting for? Get out your pens, pencils, paints or turn on your PC and start designing. Full details, along with an extensive online shop can be found at www.spunky.co.uk.

There’s just something about shoes. They possess a strange sort of aesthetic quality that not only makes us want to wear them on our feet but they also appear on fabric design, on cards, in jewellery and now you can even display them on your wall.

The quirky wall hanging has been created by contemporary, funky upholstery designer Bombarock. A pair of vintage cowboy boots have been set in an antique frame and mounted on retro cowboy fabric. Bombarock can frame just about anything for you - your favourite fabric, your baby’s first shoes and other keepsake or mementos.

Bombarock also offer a good range of contemporary furniture. They are continually sourcing antiques and reproductions, which they strip back and add their own unique twist. Fabrics are also continually sourced - from established design houses, to new designers who are just starting out. Vintage fabric is also used and even men’s suiting plays a part in their current designs.

Looking through their online gallery I was drawn to the Velvet Rose Screen and matching Pouf. Both items were inspired by the designer’s late grandmother, named Rose, who was a talented flower maker. They are made from rich, pleated red velvet and trimmed with a velvet rose, to give an opulent boudoir look.

Take a look for yourself at www.bombarock.com. Commissions are welcomed.

Did I tell you that I used to be a teacher? A few years ago I taught English to 11 to 18 year olds and most nights I’d struggle home on the bus with a carrier bag full of marking. I wish I’d known about Enderby Designs back then. Their XL ‘Teacher Bag’ (above left) would have been ideal, as well as being environmentally-friendly. Each bag in this range sports cute apple motifs, available in a variety of colours.

Enderby is a one-woman, Earth-friendly design company based in Brooklyn. Designer Meg Allan prides herself on using recycled vintage materials to create unique looks. What’s more, if any of your handmade Enderby products ever need repairing or reinforcing, Meg will do this free of charge!

There’s lots and lots of handmade goodies to choose from including wristbands, cushions, towels, wallets and oven mitts. Take a look at www.enderbylove.com.

In a world of blue and grey suits, attorney Laurie Warshawsky began making jewellery to maintain her creativity and flair for fashion. This in turn sparked Elle-a-Belle Designs. Elle-a-Belle is all about vibrant colours and bold designs made with exotic gemstones, pearls and lampwork glass flowers. Each piece is handcrafted and one-of-a-kind.

Two pieces that immediately caught my attention are from their Fall 2006 collection. The stunning ‘Autumn Falls’ earrings feature faceted bricolettes of smoky quartz, citrine and rhodolite garnet, dangling from sterling silver chain. And the sumptuous ‘Bonfire Gemstone Necklace’ is alight with yellow quartz bricolettes, Mozambique garnet cushions, mandarin garnet and red freshwater pearls.

Remember, each piece is one-of-a-kind, so snap them up while you can!