Trompettes ! Confetti ! Champagne !

 

 A force d’en parler, ça commençait à ressembler à une chanson de Dalida…

Vous n’y croyiez plus mais… mais… eh oui… vous ne rêvez pas… HALLELUJAH ! ENFIN ! La boutique Etsy de Rastaquouère est lancée !

Mais avant de faire péter la roteuse… big up à tous ceux qui ont rendu cet exploit possible… Je ne vous remercierai jamais assez ! Et merci à vous chers lecteurs qui ont musardé avec moi tout en m’encourageant tous ces mois et ces quelques années durant. Ça fait chaud au cœur de voir le bout de chemin parcouru en votre compagnie ! Grosses bises.

Pour voir ce qui se trame en boutique c’est par ici… 

OH HAPPY DAY! At long last, the Etsy store for Rastaquouère is open for bizness! Limited pieces will eventually be cropping up in select brick and mortar stores in Ottawa’s Glebe District and in Montreal. It’s been a long time coming, 3 years in the making and many more in the dreaming. And because this ain’t just a one woman show and I have so very many people to be thankful for, do bear with me through the following closest-I’ll–ever-get-to-damn-my-thwarted-acting-career-quote-Oscar-like-acceptance-moment-unquote… 

Thank you to the family and friends who believed, supported, blogged and promoted throughout the months/years. You are kindness in a hard crowd.

Thank you to my patient and understanding suppliers near and far. You are much appreciated!

Thank you to Sarvi, my first fan, all the way over in Los Angeles, who fervently advocated I open a store, stat!

Thank you to Todd & Liesl at Oliver + S and the editors at F+W Media for first showcasing my work and giving me a chance. 

Thank you to CBC/Radio-Canada for the attention and repeat 15 minutes of fame. It’s more than any girl deserves! Mille fois merci tout particulièrement à Emilie et à Evelyne !

Thank you to Jukebox Printing in Vancouver and Mo at Print for Brand for helping me to get up on my feet and running.

Thank you to my beautiful soon-to-be sister in law for support, promotional and marketing savvy.

Thank you to my daddy and Auntie Laurence for my first sewing machines. Much obliged.

Thank you to my mother in law for teaching me oh-so patiently how to thread a needle and do beautiful things with it. Je serai à tout jamais reconnaissante !

Thank you to Antoine for putting up with my creative schizophrenia, never ending startup costs, for happily sacrificing guitar space for sewing space and for kicking my ass out of procrastination and self-doubt. Love you more than words can say.

And to Félix for your encouragement and sweet forbearance as my often unsuspecting sizing model. If the senility doesn’t get to me first, I promise to be understanding when you put me into a home.

Lastly, but certainly not least, many thanks to the ever marvelous Julya… this project would be nothing without your friendship, generosity and sheer photographic genius! I thank my lucky stars every day we both survived (barely!) Craigie Hall, the incumbent asbestos poisoning, other unnamed airborne pathogens and one French Canadian lit class too many! I’m gonna go with Nietzsche on this one… it made us stronger… or mutant. Next stop… Vogue right?

It’s been a topsy-turvy, meandering adventure full of tears and joy. It’s an unfinished process in growing up and letting go. It’s an ongoing story about craft, art, fabric, perseverance and seemingly impossible ventures pieced together as much with thread as with the understanding, intelligence and kindheartedness of people who were willing to believe in me and thought I was worth the trouble, those who let me do my own thing and others who managed to kindle vocation, told me that I was OK and finding my own way in this big, old world. So again and again and again to all who have made this wonderful thing possible, thank you!

Time to uncork that champagne… 

To see what's in store…