New blog feature time! What I like most about this new feature is that it highlights what I like most about running our little online shop – meeting and interacting with amazingly creative people, and I’m not just talking about our designers. We have some pretty awesome customers too. I’m not surprised that a large number of our customers are creatively inclined, since we do tend to gravitate toward arty, conceptual designers.

I started thinking about contacting a few of our customers, who’d shared personal links and had intriguing careers and hobbies. A couple of them are personal friends (talk about being amazingly supportive).

Kimberly first caught my attention when we were filling her order and I noticed she’d included a link to her blog (yes, she has two!). I clicked over and was immediately hooked as some of her posts hinted at a really interesting day job. If you haven’t seen her clean, architectural bags yet, you’ve probably been living under a rock!

So without further delay, meet the super talented, super cool Kimberly.

1. What’re you wearing? 
Photo 1&2 : Margaret Howell linen top / vintage work pants / Building Block tassel / SSWTR pyramid bag

(See a couple more outfit photos on our FB page.)

2. Draw a picture of yourself in your favourite piece of clothing/outfit!

3. Your career is in a creative field and you make things in your free time as well. Tell us more! What’s your preferred way of expressing yourself artistically? (Share pictures of your creations if you’d like)

At the moment, I split my time between a day job designing cars at Honda’s Advanced Studio and moonlighting with Building Block.  It’s an interesting balance, as both jobs are technical and aesthetically driven, though on different levels. Both mediums walk the line between beauty and usability. 

I started Building Block after feeling increasingly detached in a corporate environment and was craving an outlet for personal expression. I’ve always tinkered around with different mediums..from bags, to ceramics, to trying to construct the world’s best sandwich! But this time around I was looking to build a concept from scratch—starting Building Block was much more of an emotional and idealogical craving rather than a routine hobby. The bags acknowledge my ideas about minimalism, luxury, honesty and humor through the use of proportion, material choices, scale, and utility.  Ultimately, whether it’s cars or bags, I’m optimistic that anything and everything can be a vehicle (no pun intended!!) for expression as long as you’re honest with yourself.

4. What do you find yourself thinking about obsessively that’s a major influence on your creative process?

At one point I was learning loose landscape drawing, and I had this really great teacher who taught me to break everything down to it’s most basic form, then design and exaggerate shapes from it.  The lesson has stayed with me for years now, and I’m always reminded of it when approaching my work.  It’s an interesting challenge using deconstruction as a design tool–removing the unnecessary and playing up the remaining elements.  At the core, it’s about how to filter through all the noise, and boil a design down to an honest statement.

5. Required reading?

6.  Recently found treasures?

• a spider web cleaning tool by an artist from Kyushu, Japan
• hand made bowl from a recent trip to Mashiko, Japan
• Japanese folk art papier mache cat
• indigo dyed embroidering thread

Sound the trumpets ’cause not only do we have new items from Slow and Steady Wins the Race (sunglasses), but we’ve a brand new designer. Kelly Reid’s reid.damnit line is full of the kind of bags you use until they fall apart. We’re lucky enough to have three of her newest clutch styles in juicy summer colours, and a classic leopard print suede. They’re easy and comfortable to carry too – just the right amount of slouch.

We’re also slowly adding back final sale items, so be sure to check out our sale page to stay on top of the latest additions. And most importantly, we now accept final sale item returns for exchange or store credit

• Kris Van Assche shirt dress: $278.60 here
• Shabd scarf: $140-$165 here
• SSWTR+StandupComedy Latourell poncho: $200 here
• Jil Sander mesh oxfords: $545 here
• Warsaw leather&cotton twine bracelet: Currently out of stock here
• Warsaw duffle: Currently out of stock here

I know I’m not the only one right now longing for spring and the seasonal shedding of winter layers. Not that spring doesn’t have its cold spells and rain, but it just means you’re one step closer to the warm months. I don’t really do dresses in the winter because I get cold pretty easily, so spring also means busting out the neglected part of my wardrobe. I have the Latourell poncho in khaki and it’s one of my main spring staples. It’s immensely versatile and actually helps ward off chills. I’d unbutton a few buttons on the dress and roll the sleeves and throw on a brass coin necklace that seems to be a wardrobe necessity these days. And of course, if I get a little too chilly, I’d throw on a pair of pale grey tights-or white, because you all know how much I’m loving all white right now!