Mini menagerie

There's a mini menagerie growing here at Cheeky Leopard! We have funky zebras, cute elephants, a flock of birds and even Boston Terriers!

You can find them all in my store here.

I love the bright red of this zebra purse. It is a great contrast to the black and white zebras.

Check out the zebra print lining.

I love these white elephants and they have a happy green ground.

Apparently a trunk facing upwards is good luck!

This flock of birds purse has a nice colour combination. I matched the lining to the purple bird.

Who could resist these gorgeous Boston Terriers?!

Tokyo trip - Day six

The second day of the International Bazaar was slower, but went well and finished at a decent time of 2pm! All the vendors slowly packed up and said their goodbyes to each other for another year. I've made some great friends from doing the Bazaar and feel very lucky to have met them! I also made a new friend, Keiko Fujishita who creates beautiful pottery items. Our stalls were next to each other and she was a lovely person to be next to.

I just had enough time to go back to the apartment and freshen up before heading out to Shimokitazawa to meet my dear friend Michiko. Shimokitazawa is a great little town just 5 minutes out of Shibuya on the Inokashira line. It has a laid back feel and is made up of lots of bustling little streets full of independent bars, restaurants and shops. We took some time wandering around, dipping into shops and having a fiddle about. There's a fabric shop I like there, so we dipped into that and, needless to say, I came out with some purchases....

I loved the bird fabric and found a fab floral fabric to use as a lining.

Theses apples are great and will make a fab cosmetic bag.

I couldn't leave without picking up these two cat fabrics that are so different in style! They will both look great as coin purses, card cases and glasses cases.

We then went on to a vintage kimono shop and, among other things, I picked up this stunning piece. I love the colour combination.

Another shop we went into, called Wargo, sold beautiful chrysanthemum-shaped obidome. These are the brooches that go on the obijime, the 'strap' that goes around the obi, which is the 'belt' that goes around the kimono!

The obijime come in lots of lovely colours and you could spend hours choosing the right combination.

Some of the obidome had been attached to leather belts or bangles, showing the different uses for them.

All this shopping had made us hungry so we headed off to a fabulous izakaya in the neighbourhood where they served beautifully fresh sushi and sashimi. God I miss that when I'm in the UK!

Of course we couldn't leave without sampling the sake options! This one was extra dry. Note the overflowing cup! This was done traditionally as a sign of prosperity. The saucer underneath catches the overflow and you just pour it back into your cup once you've made room for it!

Fabric Friday

It's Fabric Friday time and today I decided to make a trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia as I needed a bit of a fabric fix! It's a great show for getting inspiration for new designs and seeing what's out there, and I also saw a lot of designs that I had worked on for Makower. Of course, the main reason for going to the show was to stock up on fabrics, and that's what I did! I'd obviously had a bit of a barren phase fabric-wise as I ended up coming home with a rather large selection. Here's a little taster.

My favourite stall there is The Eternal Maker, a mother and daughter run store based on the South coast of England. They specialise in unique and quirky fabrics as well as stocking haberdashery, notions, paper crafts and buttons.

 I loved their selection of animal prints, especially the birds and foxes.

 Yellows are very popular right now and these ones are lovely and fresh.

  I couldn't resist the quirky cat heads and will make it up into a cosmetic bag with the yellow geo as a contrasting lining. A little project for the weekend perhaps?

 Elephants are popular and these ones are really sweet, with a matching polka dot for the lining.

I really liked the subtle gold on these three geometric designs and may incorporate them into a clutch bag design.

Magenta tote

I haven't made many tote bags recently, so decided to run one up in this fab magenta bird fabric that I bought in Tokyo. I have already used it for a clutch bag and in both cases, mixed it with a vibrant Indian block printed cotton lining.

You can find it in my store here.

Fave fabric Friday

This Friday I have homed in on a rather vibrant purple and gold fabric. It is actually a 1960s coat that I picked up at a vintage fair in the UK. For a while I thought I might actually wear it, but have realised I don't lead that kind of lifestyle! Instead, I'm going to make it into a vibrant clutch bag. I am thinking of combining it with a pretty grey and purple bird kimono lining. I love the idea of having a flash of bird when the bag is opened.

The finished item

Yesterday I mentioned my favourite fabric for the week. Since then I have been busy cutting, sewing and glueing and here is the outcome - a lovely little modern cotton clutch.

You can find it in my Etsy store here.

Mix and match

These two new additions to my cosmetic bag/clutch selection now have a matching glasses case each! Both are made from fresh, modern printed cotton and have a juicy contrasting lining to add a bit of interest to the inside.

You can find them in my Etsy store here.