Hibou Accessories

M.I.A. in the Snow

2011-02-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

So I've been Missing in Action the last few weeks with (finally) a good reason! I started the Fashion Techniques and Design program at one of Toronto's fine colleges and was immediately immersed in homework-filled sleepless nights and a new heavy reliance on orange pekoe tea. It's the step I need to take in my journey to the depths of the fashion world and in doing so I've pretty much said adios to my social life as it was.

That being said, I made time for a very necessary Snowball Showdown with the man this weekend. Snow stuck to mittens, foggy glasses and true love.

xoxo
Amarina

The Happiest of Happy New Years to All!

2010-12-31T11:41:00.003-05:00

Wishing you a happy New Year!

xoxo
Amarina

Owl Lovers Unite!

2010-12-14T16:07:00.001-05:00

It's no secret that I love owls, they are my power animals. And if the rumours that they are disgusting eaters and nearly impossible to keep as a pet in an urban apartment weren't true, I would have one on my shoulder all day long.

Naturally I was thrilled to come across this DIY printable 2011 Owl Calendar when I was browsing around for last minute gift ideas this weekend. You select which pictures you would like to coincide with each month (that have been submitted by some great artists) and then print that shit out. Lovely!

xoxo
Amarina

Let me share a little secret....

2010-11-28T17:28:00.001-05:00

I've got this dirty little secret that I'm dying to share with you: I've been hoarding loads of vintage leather bags and clutches for far too long! Ron of Cyclops and Owl and I just had a little race against sunset to take pictures of all the new bags and I'll be getting them ready tonight to go up in the shop tomorrow for Cyber Monday. Plus, free shipping is on right now until the end of November, get 'em while they're hot!

Hibou Accessories is expanding!

xoxo,
Amarina

I Feel Better

2010-11-20T22:20:00.008-05:00

Oh how I love Joe Goddard of Hot Chip fame (featured here), especially when he is just beebopping around in a puppy tee and jammy bottoms like it was Christmas morning. They just never disappoint!

Enjoy,

xoxo Amarina

A Fog

2010-11-19T00:14:00.000-05:00

A fog rolled into town the other day and Ron & I seized the opportunity to fuck around with our new love - the Hipstamatic App for the iPhone.

It felt like we were in The Exorcist!

Evergreen Brick Works

2010-10-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, my cohort and I visited the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. Evergreen, a national charity, has changed the old Don Valley Brick Works from a collection of deteriorating heritage buildings into a gorgeous area of urban sustainability and eco-conscious design that is open all year long.

As we walked around this amazing building a rather attractive and charming wood worker was working some wood. Should have taken a picture of that.

All of the foliage was screaming with personality as we walked through the trails that circled some small but duck-filled ponds.

Having no idea what to expect when we walked into The Kilns building, we were greeted with an onslaught of art installations and graffiti. A far more impressive collection than what we saw during the entire evening at Nuit Blanche this year. At the end of this corridor was a screen showing a Werner Herzog short. There were three more of these featuring various films that I believe were created for this project.

I felt like this place crept up on me out of nowhere and now I can't wait until our next visit! Highly recommended.

xoxo
Amarina

Tuesday Tunes - Best Coast (on Thursday, natch)

2010-09-30T00:35:00.004-04:00

My ears have been lusting after Best Coast all summer and I finally got to see them when they rolled through Toronto last weekend. The sold out show at Lee's Palace turned out to be really! fucking! amazing! despite singer Bethany suffering from what appeared to be the flu.

Already a road veteran at the tender age of 23, she powered through almost puking several times on stage stopping only to sip water and smoke a joint that a bold (and clearly awesome) audience member passed to her in between songs. Bethany even announced that it was the first time she's ever smoked on stage much to our surprise, since 90% of their songs talk about being in love and being high.

This is their new video for "When I'm With You", which I can't watch due to my coulrophobia and added hatred of Ronald McDonald. But I imagine it's good anyway, plus the song is amazing.

Dance, dance, dance!

xoxo Amarina

Retro Hibou

2010-09-14T12:40:00.002-04:00

So here I am:

It's 1997, I was obsessed with Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness and The Cure, wearing electric blue eyeshadow around my entire eyeball, and buying conversational clothing from the now gone strips of vintage stores on Queen St West. I had just talked my brother (pre-his growth spurt to 6'4") into wearing this amazing white men's jacket to his grade 8 graduation instead of the obvious black. It was a good day.

Having eccentric taste in polyester button down shirts and neon makeup, my look at the time was very much "I care so much about my look that it's gone past caring and is now a total shitshow". And as you can see by the cornucopia of self-made necklaces that look like White Rose threw up all over my chest, I was already paving the road to my future jewellery-infused lifestyle. I am proud of this.

My brother and I were obsessed with By Divine Right and this video in particular. You know what? It still fucking rocks. Also check out Feist pre-superstardom!

Tuesday Tunes (But on Wed) - The Chemical Brothers + Wayne Coyne

2010-08-18T18:53:00.001-04:00

One of my favourite songs of the last decade, three weirdos get together and make weirdo music and a perfect song comes out of that weirdness. The video is pretty sweet too.

LOVE.

xoxo
Amarina

Tuesday Tunes - Chromeo

2010-08-10T22:01:00.006-04:00

I have a strong memory of the first time I heard Chromeo. There is a possibility that I had been smoking a bit of grass when I came across their music video for Needy Girl, and I realized what love at first sight could truly be. Now, they are on the verge of having the recognition they deserve with their forthcoming album Business Casual and they release this totally mental and completely terrifying yet somehow sexy but nightmare inducing music video. It makes me feel weird and I love it.

Dance dance dance!

xoxo Amarina

Guns and Poses

2010-08-03T16:20:00.001-04:00

I was fully submerged in a creative rut flavoured milkshake when I couldn't take it anymore, so I jumped up and decided that I needed to:

1. Stop drinking creative rut flavoured milkshakes
2. Sit down and focus
3. Find some new shit to light a fire under my ass

And this, my friends is what I pulled out...and I'm so damn proud of my new jams!

Preview:

There is a good chance that when I came across these babies, I gasped and perhaps cursed out loud, alone, in my apartment. How could this be possible? An over-sized series of gun charms that lock and click and look awesome and they're screaming my name? I opened my arms and gave these guys a warm welcome.

I recently sat down and had a little chat with my new friends and they whispered that they didn't need much flash, just a long chain and someone to love them.

The revolver is my personal favourite, the barrel opens fully and each gun locks and fires. Every time I wear this out I get comments, smiles and sneers. It's a conversation starter!

These babies are going up in my Etsy shop this week! And as always, more to come.

xoxo
Amarina

Hibou - The Sequel

2010-07-21T13:07:00.002-04:00

I'm ALIVE!

So I've been gone far too long. There are many reasons for my absence but all that really matters is that I'm back and I've been a craftornado like never before. There's so much to say but I'll say it with Jazzercize Vampires, yum!

xoxo
Amarina

All I Want for Christmas is...

2009-12-11T12:33:00.003-05:00

This crazy fellow right here.

It's Bracelets, Bitches!

2009-11-27T12:54:00.012-05:00

I have this problem with jewellery supplies: I find them, covet them and then proceed to hoard and hoard, waiting for the "perfect" design to use them for. It gets to the point when I've accumulated so much stuff that I just fucking explode and quickly transform into Amarina-saurus. I sweep my cluttered work table with one arm, probably singing something upbeat like Diana Ross at a volume that may be disturbing to my neighbours, and proceed to whip up 20 or 25 pieces of jewellery in one go. In these moments, my cat Yma gets very jealous that I am no longer paying any attention to her and starts wrapping and wrapping herself around my ankles.

All of these bracelets are products of my last tornado production line. I started chopping up vintage chain necklaces and mixing and matching them with new and vintage charms to come up with what you see here and more. I've also decided that maybe I should be naming my pieces so I started with something simple: at the top we have "The Cowgirl" and just above is "The Schoolgirl". We'll see how whacked out the names get from here on in.

I usually use my friends as models and cut their heads off to protect their special, secret identities. I've decided that if I just model this stuff myself I could act completely ridiculous, be able to take pictures whenever I damn well pleased and show jewellery on non-decapitated bodies!

This bracelet is "The Biker Chick" and features a badass eagle with a gun charm amongst a cornucopia of beads and chain. I have to admit, I haven't taken it off since I made it.

Thanks for reading,

xoxo
Amarina

New Jams Comin-at-cha!

2009-11-13T00:21:00.006-05:00

Lately I've been spending a boatload of time making jewellery and then taking my sweet, sweet time getting it up online. There are no excuses, but at least I've been having an awesome time in my absence! The guy and I spent too little time in Ottawa over Halloween checking out Strayotic, and you should check them out too! Click, click, click. We looked ridiculous in our sleazy 80's costumes (Ron ended up looking a little rape-y) and this was the only picture we managed to get:

When we got back from our mini road trip, I remembered that I make jewellery and it's not going to share itself!

I'm really not a skull person at all, despite my interest in dark things and taxidermy. These however, remind me of Day of the Dead celebrations and they really have a lot of character. I decided that they needed to be long, swingy and shoulder-sweeping, one of my favourite combinations. They would have been perfect in the time leading up to Halloween, but these are definitely all-season.

I've also been doing a serious amount of photographic experimentation, and I've been so happy with the results. After shelling out big bucks for a portable lighting studio and various plastic animal props, I've discovered that the best way to take pictures is first thing in the morning with natural light and some simple backdrops. It's funny, keeping things simple is never my first instinct, I always have to work backwards from completely overthinking everything to get there...but I'm finally happy with the quality!

This crystal wolf necklace is absolutely my new favourite thing. You can wear it double stranded or open it up and wear the necklace super long like so:

There's so much more on the way, so much!

xoxo
Amarina

Land of Talk steals my heart one more time.

2009-11-09T16:08:00.003-05:00

Here's the goddamn gorgeous new video from one of my favourite bands, Land of Talk. This also happens to be my favourite song from their last full length album Some Are Lakes, I swear it casts sunshine on the cloudiest of days.

xoxo
Amarina

The Mumlers

2009-10-19T12:16:00.000-04:00

My musical tastes are always influenced by the changing of the seasons. I'm more drawn to bright, dance-y beats in the Spring/Summer, and tend to go for darker, folksier, more organic tunes in the Fall/Winter. At the first sign of crispness in the October air, I ran straight into the arms of San Jose independent rockers The Mumlers. They are younger than one would think, based on the richness of their music and the talent that seems to run deep among every member. I was so intrigued by these guys that I found a 10 minute documentary that follows the band for a weekend. I have to say that it only made me love them more.

Enjoy!

xoxo
Amarina

Apple Pickin' with the Fam

2009-10-06T16:00:00.002-04:00

Last weekend Ron and I went apple picking with my brother, my mom (who I call 'Lady'), my grandma 'Nanny' and her best friend of over 60 years, Elsie. Just outside of Aurora, the orchards were bursting with fruitful trees and screaming children.

We were supposed to exclusively pick McIntosh and Courtland apples, but we couldn't resist these delicious Spartans. The dude-ish daddy in a Leafs jersey picking apples in the row next to us kept yelling "Spartacus" over and over again until I was dangerously close to pelting a Spartan at him!

The darling men in my life, Johnny and Ron crunching away.

A family shot! Lady and Johnny were rocking the shades despite the cloudy weather, now that's rock and roll!

MMmmmm at the first free moment in my kitchen, I whipped up this delicious, healthy and amazing zucchini apple bread. Here's the recipe, it's easy or I wouldn't make it!

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 cup white sugs
1 cup brown sugs
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup straight up flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup diced apples
and I threw in a handful of raisins for good measure

-Preheat oven to 350F
-Lightly grease 2 loaf pans
-Combine eggs, sugs, apple sauce and vanilla until blended
-In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
-Stir the dry shit into the wet until it's all one happy family
-Fold in nuts, apple, zucchini, raisin
-Bake 1 hour or until the tops springs back when touched.

Eat a bunch with a hot tea and your feet up. Enjoy!

Hibou Accessories now Available from Art Fire!

2009-09-24T12:02:00.003-04:00

So I've decided to spend some time spreading my owl wings and selling my wears on another website in addition to my Etsy shop. Art Fire is still in it's beta phase which is good because I have some issues about how cluttered the front page is, but it has also earned some major points in it's favour. For one, a monthly fee allows me to put as many pieces into my shop as I like, as opposed to Etsy where I pay every time I list an item in my store. Also, I'm pretty sure yet not completely certain that customers do not have to create a profile in order to shop on Art Fire, as they would on Etsy. My last favourite new thing I've discovered on Art Fire is that every item that is listed makes it to the front page...check out my Crystal Bear Earrings that appeared on the front page the other day!

None of this is to say that I'm abandoning my Etsy shop, I'm just doing a little compare and contrast. I'm also curious to hear what other Etsy sellers and shoppers are thinking of the new competitor. Anyone?

xoxo
Amarina

So long summer, hello autumn

2009-09-22T21:44:00.009-04:00

Alright, I don't usually share pictures of anything other than weird shit and jewellery. To honour an awesome summer that felt too short, I thought I'd share some of my favourite pictures that my man and I took over the course of the last few months.

"The Spaghetti Incident" - Oh man, I was so excited to celebrate the last days of this past Spring by turning on the oven to bake delicious! chicken! meatballs! yum! In anticipation of d.c.m.y., I had had an early lunch and was ravenous. I was also suffering from Class A Butterfingers, which reached a comic/tragic/sudden end when I smashed my newly plated dish of food INTO EVERYTHING. Tears, laughter and more tears ensued; this level of clutzy-ness is not foreign to me.

Just one of many beautiful shots Ron and I took on our long drive around Central California and beyond with my family this summer. Trip of a lifetime.

A major discovery: leaving Lake Tahoe felt like abandoning a home before you've moved all your stuff in. A return visit ASAP is in order.

I don't even know where to start with the ridiculous setting of this picture. Curiosity, BBQ corn on the cob and too much sun led my man, my brother, his girlfriend and myself into a "Classic Films on Ice" performance starring none other than former Canadian figure skating champion/grannie heart throb/aspiring singer/karate enthusiast Elvis Stoijko. Together with some extremely theatric singers and a bunch of amateur skaters, this solid gold team paid homage to such classic films as Top Gun, Moulin Rouge, Slumdog Millionaire with seemingly random choices like Shrek, High School Musical and my personal favourites Ghostbusters and Kill Bill, in which Elvis sported Uma Thurman's yellow unitard and went through a karate routine on ice. It didn't seem crazy at the time to honour one of our favourite overdone movie moments: Blue Steel!

Meet Yma. She's our darling cat who too often enjoys curling up on the couch with a hot cup of coffee, the morning news and the remote. All I ask of her is that she washes a dish to earn her keep around here. Do you think she does it? Absolutely not.

I came home from a long day to a smiling owl on a steaming shepherds pie. Yet another reminder that I found my soul mate at a young age.

Ah! A mapless driving adventure led us to a beautiful and enormous flower garden on the lake. We decided to give our afternoon snack of muffins to the overfed and ungrateful squirrels who were clearly after something more decadent! I don't know how their tails remain so perfect when they're off doing squirrel things all day, my tail would end up all covered in tree sap.

Ron is the Tree Whisperer. He can negotiate the branches of any monstrocity, regardless of it's size.

It's been such an amazing summer, let's hope for an even better fall.

xoxo Amarina

New Grizzly Bear Music Video

2009-09-15T14:44:00.005-04:00

I guess instead of posting new jewels today, I'll share with you the new video from the ever-amazing Grizzly Bear! So creepy-beautiful, you can't go wrong with flawless harmonies and jakalopes!

Amarina
xoxo

Feel Good Right Now

2009-09-02T12:24:00.002-04:00

Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele has been quite the summer obsession for me. It's one of those albums you can listen to when you're working, drinking, feeling blue or dancing in your living room like a crazywoman. I also listened to it last time I was getting a cavity filled and I have to admit, it made the overall experience much better than it could have been!

Check this out. If you're disappointed, I don't know if I could ever love you.

xoxo Amarina

Back from California and in it to win it

2009-09-01T11:41:00.006-04:00

Ron and I are back and recovering from our amazing road trip around central California. It ended up being an onslaught on the senses, with the diversity of gorgeous landscapes, temperatures, people and escapades inspiring us every step of the way. Here's a rather messy representation of where our travels brought us:

Swimming and rock climbing in Lake Tahoe, driving through the desert and losing our brakes in the Sequoia National Park mountains, this trip could never be duplicated. We're starting to think that maybe California is where we need to be for awhile.

I've been spending some time reorganizing my goods for the Fall and Holiday seasons. Tons and tons and tons to come!

xoxo Amarina

Getting Crafty, Martha Stewart Styles

2009-08-13T12:56:00.000-04:00

It's been such a rainy summer here in Toronto (absolutely not complaining at all, I love it!) I've been thinking about and actually doing crafty projects like transforming some of my clothes. I'm quite the hoarder when it comes to clothing in particular, letting it take up valuable space in my closet when I could be donating or re-purposing.

When I was 10 or so, my hippie parents enrolled me in summer camp at the local museum in my small town. I vividly remember thinking it was going to be awesome at the time, but knowing it wasn't going to be where the cool kids were and could possibly be lame. Lame it was not, and we did a ton of amazing crafts like making corn husk dolls and sculptures out of a salty flour mixture that I'm sure kids ate behind everyone's back.

One of my favourite projects was tie dying clothes with vegetable dyes that we made ourselves from tea & beets, and this was exactly the first project I did.

This re-usable shopping bag made from a shirt is genius and of course came from the Martha Stewart empire. To oversimplify this awesome project, you cut off the sleeves and collar and then sew up the bottom. For full instructions click on the picture above.

Now I know why I've been hanging onto my oversized forest green extreme lion face t-shirt! I'll post pictures of my project when I'm all done.

Happy crafting,
xoxo Amarina