Etsy Store extravaganza!

These past few days have been an eye opener for us! We have been taking photos of ALL our inventory to put on our etsy store. I never realized how much the photos mattered, but after posting just a quarter of the inventory, we had 3 customers! More than what we get in a month in one 2 hour period! We are happy to report that this spawned a new found determination to practice better marketing for our store. I have never been good at being social, but if we want to keep KUZU alive and well we have to get on it.

So, because of this I bought a new book on handmade craft marketing and am planning our new business strategies! One of which is this blog. I am not sure how many of you actually follow it, but with how often we post I am sure there aren't many of you! But that is something I am going to try and change! That, and the format of the blog. This blog is primarily to keep you updated on KUZU's happenings, but we want it to also be a blog about our interests and happenings! So, we are going to include our daily, ever-changing interests, like rare, cult films and all the crazy things I find working at a used book store, as well as baking recipes and up-to-date fashion information! I would like to change the format of our blog to look like a 'zine, but that will take some work and transition!

As of now check out our etsy store at:

www.kuzu.etsy.com

It will soon have EVERYTHING we sell at our store! And stay tuned for more posts and hopefully a new formatted blog!

If any of you that do read this have any ideas or want to help us ( I am computer challenged) please feel free to comment!

Something To Hold Onto.

The beautiful opening for Diana Yakowitz' "Something To Hold Onto" is also the name of one of her photos in this exhibit. The event reception (if you missed it) was March 26th and the exhibit will run until April 17th. So, if you didn't make the opening, you ought to come and see the photos even if you can't meet the artist!

Diana's photos are a culmination of a life long pursuit in photography, a honing in on skills throughout the decades, constantly improving on eye and technique. I would say that her time was well spent! The photos are haunting images of nature and still lifes (a befitting exhibit for KUZU being that it ties in with our fashion theme of plants!) taken at different times and locations last year. She captures the moment purposefully, waiting for the right time when everything lines up properly. As in "The Masses" a picture of a field of tulips, it could have been a picture of tulips anyone could have taken, but she had this field lined up against a background of sky filled with ominous clouds. The image is a perfect horizontal line where the tulips end and the clouds begin. The tulips are beautiful milky pastels and the clouds are shades of greys and blues. It is so perfect in it's simplicity yet she must have waited for just the right time for the tulips to have all bloomed and the clouds to have lined up just right in her field of view for that one perfect shot.

In fact, she talks about having passed by many of the places she photographed before actually photographing them. The photos are as good as they are because she waited for just the right moment for all those minor details to be just right. In one photo she didn't see the beauty until the same spot months later the grass grew where it hadn't before. These photos are successful because of her unique eye for detail and her patience. It is also great that she provides the descriptions and stories of each photo to give the viewer a deeper appreciation to what really goes into the making of her photos.

Don't miss seeing these photos for yourself! The last day is April 17th, so mark the date and come down to KUZU!

FREEZE FRAME FASHION REVIEW

Well here it is, the long overdue post on our previous fashion event! After six months (with a somewhat slow start) it has come and gone and I am more than relieved! Not just because it is over, but it was also a huge success! For those of you that came, we are glad you enjoyed yourselves and we thank you for your continued support! But this post also goes out to the friends and family and others who couldn't make it, here's what you missed:

If you haven't kept up with previous posts regarding the events theme, we decided to go with plants and nature. I came up with this idea while browsing an inspiring book: "Natural Fashion" by Hans Silvester. In keeping with our theme, we wanted to incorporate plants into our garments as well as our decor. Our previous fashion show was quite a production as it was, but we felt it was sorely lacking in the decorating department. That was not going to happen again, ever. We also had minor time constraints with this show compared with the last, so we decided on not having a runway show with many outfits, but instead do something where less would be more. Our solution to having half the amount of outfits was to keep the models stationary, like mannequins, only to rotate posts 3 times in the 2 hour period. This way the guests could come up and examine the garments personally and at their leisure!

We hold our events in KUZU's warehouse behind the actual storefront. Needless to say, there is lots of clutter and tools laying around, not a very chic atmosphere! So, we covered everything except for the sculptures, with black tarps. Then we could really decorate! The space was covered with vines, branches, tropical plants, living, dead or even fake. I mean covered! There were 7 focal points in the space where each model would pose. These spots were lit with soft spot lighting. Our overhead lighting was provided by floating X-mas tree light strands giving it a very dim, yet tropical feel. Kinda of a tiki-torch porch party vibe! Unfortunately the photos dont give the full effect.

The garments were all hand-made as per usual by my sister and I. We kept with the plant theme by using fabrics with mainly floral designs, but I also incorporated leaves into a few pieces as well. I feel the pics do the garments better justice than my descriptions could!

The models were decorated according to my inspiration with the book I mentioned earlier. Each model had a hand-made, living plant head piece and very tribal make-up, unconventional for modeling as it wasn't meant to be pretty but was regardless because of the overall look and beauty each model already had. They were living sculptural installations!

The makeup was provided by Glynis Burton, hair by Laurel Burton (also the designer).

Our beautiful models are: Kate Kish, Sarah, Elise Hicks, Rene, Cindy, Tamra James, and Tessa Burton (my other lovely sister!). Thank you guys you did a great job!

This was not KUZU's last fashion show, but it was a marked ending to KUZU the store. Well, it is still a store, but only online, at least for now. KUZU Salon's last days are coming as we close up shop the beginning of May, only to open again for events. Even if you missed this amazing event, we will continue to have more, and will be better than the last! I hope you enjoyed our store and events and hope to see you and new comers at our next fashion show scheduled for November ( we will post more on it as it nears!) Thank You!