Specs appeal

We love a good spectacle design here at Cheeky Leopard and I have a few items in store with some fabulous specs on them. The most recent addition is this fun and summery multi colour glasses fabric that has been made up into  a variety of items. It lends itself perfectly to the glasses case, but also works well on the card case, tissue holder, coin purse and cosmetic bag and you can find them all in my store here.

Mix and match items for great gift ideas.

The card case would make a great pairing with the coin purse.

The tissue holder would make a great pairing with the cosmetic bag.

I designed this glasses fabric to work with a collection that I was involved with at Makower UK. The collection was called Vacation and we used pretty images drawn by illustrator Louise Cunningham. She created the illustrations and I then collated them into a fun vacation-inspired group that included a postcard design, scooters, postage marks and, of course, the spectacles print. You can see a selection of the designs below.

Custom order

Every now and then I have a client contacting me, asking for a custom order. I enjoy doing custom orders as it becomes more of a personal creative experience. I like to liaise with the customer and make sure that they get the perfect product. The most recent order was from someone who had bought a tissue holder from me in the past and wanted two more, made out of a fabulous map fabric.

He found the perfect fabric on Ebay and ordered it to be sent straight to me.

The fabric arrived in good time and I made it into two tissue holders.

The holders only use a very small amount of fabric, so not much was needed and I used a contrasting blue and brown scallop fabric as the lining.

I was glad to hear that the tissue holders arrived at their new home on Monday and were well received!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday to all. What a fabulously sunny day it was yesterday! I spent the day with family, having scrumptious food in the garden and going for a sunny walk along the river at Richmond.

I also managed to do a spot of Cheeky Leopard creating and here is my most recent creation. It's a necklace made from vintage Japanese kimono fabric and you can find it in my store here!

The flowers on many of the kimonos I have are so pretty and really need to be shown off on their own. This one uses a red and white stylised floral which I have carefully cut out.

I then bond the kimono fabric onto a leather base to give it strength and structure.

This necklace would make the perfect accompaniment to a summer outfit and you can find more like this in my store here.

The Beetles are back!

This little cutie has proven to be so popular that I just had to bring him back one more time. He is made from a fabulous VW Beetle fabric in black and white, and is the perfect size for storing small change or headphones. You can find it in my store here.

I also have this fabric in a green and cream version and will be adding more items made from that fabric to my store soon. Watch this space...

Silken beauty

This silken beauty has just been added to my store. It's a double-sided silk scarf made out of kimono pieces from my collection which have been sewn together. I started with a stunning orange and cream floral kimono as my inspiration and then created the scarf around that, piecing it together with a black and white stylised chrysanthemum fabric. The other side of the scarf is made from a black silk fabric pieced together with a black and white geometric kimono fabric.

You can find it in my store here.

Happy Monday

Happy Monday! I hope a good weekend was had by all. Mine was fab, with a great combination of culture, exercise and hanging out with friends and family. On Friday evening I went to see The Handmaiden, a beautifully shot and styled film about deception and seduction in Japanese-occupied Korea. The costumes were stunning, drawing inspiration from the kimonos of Japan as well as the delicate lace dresses of Edwardian England. I saw it at the Picture House Central which is just off Piccadilly Circus in the old Trocadero building and has a rooftop bar with stunning views over central London.

On Saturday evening I went ceroc dancing, which is always fun and a great way to blow the cobwebs away. On Sunday I went for a very long walk in Richmond park, ending up at the Isabella Plantation where the rhododendrons and azaleas were out in full force. The colours were stunning and very inspiring, in varying shades of magenta, fuchsia and everything in between. This is the best time to go, so get down there before it's too late!

I also put some time aside to create items for my Cheeky Leopard store, which I love doing. I have my lovely little studio and can spend hours in there, fiddling with fabrics and coming up with new ideas. As a designer/maker, I am always in awe of how other professionals create their wares and have just been checking out the beautiful film on the Anya Hindmarch website where it illustrates the amount of attention that goes into making one of her bags. I'd like to think the same care and attention goes into making a Cheeky Leopard bag. Click on the image below to see how one of her beautiful bags comes to life.

Fabric Friday

 I'm always on the lookout for new fabrics and came across these beauties on Etsy recently. Each one is just a small piece of a kimono, but perfect for making my kimono cuff bracelets and my new kimono necklaces. I can either pick out one motif to use for the necklace, or use a packed decorative area for the cuff bracelets. They only use a small piece of fabric, so need a busy design to fill the space. I love the vibrant colours and can't wait to get creating!

Two new necklaces

I've been a busy bee recently and have added two more kimono necklaces to my store. I'm really happy with them! Each one uses a motif cut from a vintage Japanese kimono fabric and bonded onto a matching leather base, which is then hung from a simple chain.

This blossom necklace uses a very simple, stylised blossom motif in orange and white. It has an orange leather base and is hung from a gold chain.

 The necklaces look stunning against a dark top, but would also look great against the skin or with a white summer dress and matching Cheeky Leopard clutch bag.

 This butterfly necklace uses a pretty red, white and gold butterfly motif and is attached to a soft pink leather base. It has a gold chain that goes around the neck.

You can find these beauties in my store here.

Shell we dance?

The other day I mentioned some fabrics that I bought from a shop in Tickhill called From Rags to Stitches. I've been a bit busy since then, sewing and gluing, and now have some fab items to show for it. The first to be added to my store are these two little shell cuties made from fabric that I designed for Makower UK.

This card case is perfect for storing business cards or credit cards and has a fun red and white polka dot lining.

This shell design was part of a nautical collection I designed for Makower UK that included boats, starfish and crabs in a fresh red, white and blue colour palette.

The coin purse is the perfect size for small change or for storing headphones in. It also has a red and white polka dot lining.

You can find them both in my store here.

Fabric Friday

Last weekend I went on a little trip up North to visit my dear friend Cherry. She lives in a village called Tickhill, just outside Doncaster, and is a fellow fabric addict! There is a lovely little shop in Tickhill called From Rags to Stitches and we made a pilgrimage there to pick up some inspiration. Needless to say, I came out with quite an addition to my fabric stash and a very light wallet!

Horse designs are popular and this one is pretty in pink and navy blue, with the odd white one scattered around. It will have a pink and white polka dot lining.

The swans are quite quirky and I loved the colour combination. They are going to have a hot pink lining to match the waves in the design.

Pineapple designs are still popular and I thought the lemon slice lining was a great match.

From Rags to Stitches has quite a selection of fabrics that I designed for Makower UK, including these two nautical inspired pieces - blue starfish on cream and cream shells on blue. Both prints will have a fun polka dot lining.

I love a lobster print and just had to have this one that I found at Doncaster market. He will have a red and white polka dot lining for a bit of fun.

The pandas below were also picked up at Doncaster market and I couldn't resist them! They are so sweet and will look fab with a black and white polka dot lining.

Watch this space for some new items to be landing in store soon!

Beach babe

It's almost the end of April, but it's feeling really chilly here in Blighty! I'm dreaming of long hot summer days and so decided to make a selection of beach-inspired items to cheer me up. They include beach huts, anchors and sun specs, all in shades of red, white and blue, and all with a fab red and white polka dot lining. These items are all made using fabrics that I designed for Makower.

This cosmetic bag is made with a fun beach hut fabric.

Beach huts are the quintessential British beach item and are often set out in rows along the beach front in brightly painted colours. Above you can see the original design.

I love an anchor design and this one comes in either a cream version or a navy blue version, in two different sizes. The small coin purse is perfect for storing small change or earbuds. The large coin purse is big enough for small change and credit cards.

Below you can see the original design for the anchors.

I also added a fab little tissue holder made from a multi colour spectacles fabric. 

Cheeky Leopard shop