All things Felt

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I was so delighted to come across this felt pillow tutorial from Anne Kyrrö Quinn's new book, Felt Furnishing.  She uses simple technique of gathering and folding to create these Rosette clusters; and with bright orange felt material, it's calling out chic and stylish to any home decor.  Not to mention, it's economical.

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Felt is widely used in home decor as well as accessories.  Because of its durability and versatility, they can be used in various forms.  For instance, you can even make them into slippers.  Purl bee put together this easy tutorial with downloadable slippers template for anyone with no prior sewing skills.  You can go to Purl bee blog for the full instruction on how to make this felt slippers.

{ 1.Loop Necklace Ivory, 2.Loop Necklace Charcoal, 3.Link Necklace Ivory, 4.Plank Necklace Charcoal, 5.Slink Necklace Charcoal }

This brings to mind another talented designer that I'd love to introduce to you, Heather Keiko. Coquese just added her gorgeous jewelry line to our jewelry collections! She's an Australian textile designer who utilises her repetitive layering skills and loves for subtle details to create unique and yet playful jewelry.  Each of her creation brings out the true beauty of the material that she uses.  One of my favorite is the loop necklace in ivory.  Each loop is hand cut in different length and sewn together with the finest German wool felt.  Then, it's threaded together with stainless steel wire cable and finished with a silver chain.  This piece creates a bold statement of creativity and compliments to whoever wears it.

{ Loop Necklace Ivory }

Do you have any felt piece to share?  Feel free to send us an email of your work.

Happy 2011 Valentine

Happy Rabbit Year!

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Welcome to the year of Rabbit!  I wish everyone will have a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year.  May the year of rabbit hop onto more happiness and better health!

Naturally Sweet DIY Valentine

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Valentine's day is near.  No doubt, love is in the air.  As I was looking for ideas for this year's Valentine's day, I came across this DIY naturally sweet Valentine sticker from Twig & Thistle, that suits me perfectly.  It is the sweetest thing a person can do for their significant other.

For instructions on how to use this sticker, just go to Twig & Thistle and download the PDF file.

How do you celebrate your Valentine's day?

weekend color

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I live in NYC and this winter, we've gotten quite a lot of snow. I tell you, the first few weeks of winter was beautiful. Just seeing everywhere covered with snow is an amusing sight. Even more amusing is the sound of snow especially, in the morning when you're the first one to step on them. The crunchy noise coming from your shoes as you lift them up and back down onto the snow sounds like a symphony. It's all wonderful and magical! And yet, I can't help looking forward to Spring.

You know why?  It's because this morning, I saw this amazing colorful skinny narrow leg trouser in the Zara and the Jazz collection.  I'm drooling over these pants so bad I can't even decide which color to get.  I wish I could get the pants in all four colors so I can wear them four times a week. As soon as I saw the pants, I already knew how I would wear them.  I would accessorize them with a white belt and this Audrey Blossom Robert le Heros handbag. This multi-colored handbag matches all the colors these pants come in so I don't need to change the handbag four times a week. 
How would you accessorize these pants? I'd really love to know.

Stepping into 2011

Wow, can you believe 2010 year is going to be over in less than 24 hours? This year for me was the fastest year I had ever experienced. I remember the beginning of January and all of a sudden we are in December! I attribute this feeling to the many changes I experienced in my life, work and relationships.  No matter how fast or slow this year was for you, I think now is definitely a good time to pat oneself on the back and luxuriate in this year’s victories, humbly identify and cherish lessons learned from failures and get inspired to realize one's dreams in 2011!  So let’s leave 2010 with a bang and enter 2011 with all the faith, determination and strength we can muster.

From all of us at Coquese, here is to more years of looking your best, radiating like the sun, blossoming like the Mountie tulips and being happy and successful in all your endeavors as you step into 2011! 

Mountie Tulips picture taken at the Canadian Tulip Festival by O. Oteri

Bo's Art Salome Bronze Handbag

Bo's Art Salome Bronze Hangbag and the black taffeta short bubble hem dress from Elegant Mart. What a match for a cocktail party!