29 June 2011

Mini adventures-Manchester ship canal

Day-out_1

In an effort to explore our surroundings me and James took a boat tour of the Manchester ship canal which sailed from outside our apartment to the Liverpool docks. The day started out cold, wet and incredibly windy, not the most encouraging weather for a day out but slowly it began to brighten up making the views more appealing as we approached Liverpool.

Day-out_2

The huge industrial swinging bridges were rather impressive too but I'm happy I took my book along for when things got a little repetative. Anywho I did take my camera to keep myself amused and document the day. Most were blurry even though we were traveling at a snails pace but still managed a few beauts which give you a feel for the day.

Day-out_4

I had never been through a lock before so it was kind of exciting navigating through each one watching the water drain away from beneath us before progressing to the next part. There were so many old lock keepers cottages and decaying buildings that looked like they had seen better days but fun to imagine how they would have been back in the day.

Day-out_3

Day-out_5

Me looking a little battered by the elements in my Pixie's Tweety dress. It was my first outing in this pretty, I felt so happy in it teamed with my fave Cos cardi which made the birdies sing...

Day-out_6

27 June 2011

Giveaway winner!

We put all our entries names into a big hat at the weekend and drew out one lucky winner...
A HUGE congratulations to Ashley Moe! Hope you adore your Lula's untie me top, from what I can see it will fit nicely into your dreamy world.

sleepyfawnYou can get your very own Sleepy Fawn illustrations by Ashley Moe here, I think this one is my favorite!

We will be announcing the prize for next months giveaway on Friday, be sure to leave your sticker up if you wish to re-enter.

22 June 2011

Visits to San Francisco

San Fran
Image via Oh Happy Day

I'm so pleased me and the Mr have booked a trip to San Francisco in September, we are hoping to combine two joyous events; our first wedding anniversary and my 27th Birthday. I can't tell you how long I have been longing for visits to this adorable city! I have collected so many links and must see areas, but I would really love to hear any personal recommendations you may have for places to stay, eat, visit and play  around the city and beyond. We really want to make the most of this holiday as it is our first America trip together and I would love for us to find a place we feel totally at home. I have a good feeling this may be our happy place! 

20 June 2011

Saying bye to Demo

 Last week was our first week without Demo and it was quite easy to see how much she contributed to our little team as we were slow and totally unbalanced! I did have a bit of an accident while moving the machines in a an effort to spring clean and sliced my finger open which slowed things down even more but having to negotiate Demo's work load was a bit of a shock. Thankfully my finger is healing nicely and I am also happy to tell you we have found ourselves a shiny new intern by the name of Raquel! She will be joining us in a few weeks time from Portugal. We look forward to welcoming her into our team and getting her up to speed!
Demo popped in this morning to say bye before flying home to visit family in China and told me she had posted about her experience at Nadinoo on her blog. I thought it was such a sweet write up of her time here, you might like a read if you are thinking of interning with us at a later date. She also posted a few pics of her cute self playing in her Spinning tea cup dress. A style which Demo named for us and frequently chatted to while working away... cooing a little something like; "you are soo cuuuuute! tooo cuuute! OooOoo how cuuute!.." Indeed her little crazy ways will be missed in the studio.
Demo_5

"My internship with Nadinoo came to an end last Friday. I spent such a lovely time with our little team in the cozy studio. I still remember the first time I saw the Nadinoo website and the images of Nadinoo collections, I opened my eyes so wide and said out loud to my boyfriend that they are so pretty! My heart was filled with excitement and I so much wanted to be part of it. I was so passionate to apply my internship with Nadinoo. I have learnt so much in the past few months. I learnt the proper way of cutting fabrics.  I can't tell you enough how small a thing cutting fabrics seems but how big the knowledge behind the job it actually is. There are so many things you have to be aware while cutting, for example, to line up the prints, to make sure the fabrics do not have marks, to know which pattern piece refers to the actual garment, to draw the patterns accurately and follow the grain line,  and at the same time to save fabrics and time as much as possible, etc. There are loads other little things I have learnt, such as making beautiful self-fabric buttons. Anyways, I know how much this internship will affect my future study. It has already made me into a more confident person. It was really an amazing time and experience in Nadinoo. I sure will miss the cutest designer Nadia Izruna. I loved how she suddenly starting singing and dancing in the studio, and laughing out loud to the silly jokes in the radio. She is the first designer I have ever worked with, I am really grateful for the opportunity she gave me and the time she spent teaching me."
Demo_1

"She gave me a surprise on my last day when we went out for an afternoon tea after work, a SPINNING TEACUP DRESS! I was so happy and I almost cried. This dress is special for me, I love the name so much, and I always looked at it in the studio and couldn't stop making the "awww" noise. It is such an beautiful dress. I loved the print so much, the colour and the silhouette, what I love the most are the pockets and the scalloped double collar. Cute! Cute! Cute! Yes, so demdem cute!"

Sweet collaboration- Genevieve Godbout

I can’t tell you how happy I am to introduce this wonderful collaboration with the talents of Genevieve Godbout an illustrator based in London. This delightful project came about when Genevieve emailed me an illustration of a darling character named Adele she drew wearing our Fleur’s Penna dress who was to feature in her upcoming children’s book. I instantly fell in love with this dear character and wanted to see her in more Nadinoo creations! I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the cuteness that followed and a sweet friendship that sparked from this collaboration.
Adele-by-Genevieve
Genevieve is such a charming lady I though it best that she tells you her tale and more about how she creates these delightful pieces of art! 

Hello there Genevieve, can you tell us a little about your background? 

Hello Nadia ! I’m French Canadian, I grew up in a small town near Quebec city. I left home quite early to study traditional animation in Montreal for 3 years and then moved to Paris for a 3rd year diploma, still in traditional animation, at Gobelins l’ecole de l’image.
I’m now an illustrator based in London, currently working for the Walt Disney Company under Fashion & Home Consumer Products. I’ve been living here for 5 years and I must say that London has become a second home for me.
Adele-et-la-rose_6
What inspired you to become an illustrator?

I know it’s so typical, but I’ve always loved to draw ! At a very early age I already enjoyed drawing characters, designing their outfits and surroundings.
As a professional, I guessed what influenced my style the most is my background in traditional animation and my love for animated movies such as the Disney classics and Miyazaki’s masterpieces.

Growing up which kind of stories did you enjoy the most?

I was completely bewitched by the tale of the little mermaid who ends her life as sea foam for the sake of her true love (who loves another one). It really broke my heart.
Other than that I enjoyed most stories that capture a child’s imagination. I could believe anything as if it was the absolute truth.  I was such a naïve child and still am sometimes !

Can you tell us a little about your thought process and how an artwork is developed?

I always try to get as much visual references as possible and then start by sketching on paper. I do tiny thumbnails for the general composition and very rough drawings to get the essence of the characters in their environment. The hardest part is to translate everything into colour pencils without losing its initial energy. That’s why I usually keep my rough drawings very rough so I have more freedom and fun with the finals, as if they were completely new drawings !
Very often I’ll end up doing a few colour versions … It has to feel right and look good enough. With time I learnt not to be afraid to start again from scratch if the result was not up to my expectations.
Adele-et-la-rose_4
These are a few sketches that Genevieve worked on before creating three darling wooden panels for our studio of Pixie, Fleur and Lula in our AW10 collection. Can you spot who is who?
Adele-et-la-rose_5
What materials do you enjoy working with the most? Is there anything you would love to try?

I really love using color pencils, more precisely Faber-Castell polychromos. They’re the best !
In addition to do illustration for books, I’d love to try creating patterns for fabric & clothing… A bit like the ones you use for your lovely creations ;-)

Describe your perfect day off and who would you take with you?

Hum… that’s a hard question !! Is there such thing as a perfect day ? If so I guess I’d be wearing a Nadinoo dress !
On the morning our cat will have been kind enough not to wake me up.  And as if by magic the whole flat would be clean and sparkly !! The birds would be signing and the sun shinning inside. I would have a lazy morning in bed reading my favourite book, would get lunch with my friends and sister, have a cosy afternoon with my family and a romantic dinner with my loved one. Of course, all of this on the same day is absolutely impossible !!
Adele-et-la-rose_7
Can you tell us about any new exciting characters or projects you are working on at the moment?

Rose a petits pois is a project I’ve been working on for a while with a friend of mine, the main character being our dear beloved Adele. We hope to be in touch with publishing companies soon to see what comes out of it.
In the meantime, I’m also working on another book called Joseph Fipps with La Pasteque, a publishing company based in Montreal. And Joseph is another really sweet character to work with ! (even though he can’t wear Nadinoo ! ;-)

Why did you think Nadinoo was the right fit for Adele?

Adele is a very pretty, delicate and feminine character doted with a strong personality. Just like Lula, Pixie and Fleur from Nadinoo, she’s seductive, playful and a bit of a day dreamer !
Adele-et-la-rose_2Adele-et-la-rose_3
What would Adele enjoy wearing from our SS11 collection and where would she wear them? 

I really feel like this collection it was made for her ! She loves everything that puts the emphasis on her very tiny waist so her favorite is Lula’s darling dress. She’s probably going to wear Fleur’s summer breeze skirt too with a very fitted top. And because Adele is living on the coast and enjoys some lazy afternoon under the sun, she can’t wait to put on Pixie goes sailing dress in blue !

Personally since I know Brian Wildsmith, one of my favorite illustrator, is behind the Tom’s Jet print from your Pixie’s counting plane style I’m dreaming to get either the shirt or the dress !
Adele-et-la-rose_1
And finally do you have any advice for any aspiring illustrators reading?

Illustration requires a lot of work and like any art it brings a lot of self-questioning and doubts. That’s why it is so important to enjoy every step of it !
Being inspired and keeping the inspiration flowing is also primordial. Trying, failing, questioning and discovering are part of the creation process… Do not be afraid of it ! And never ever undermine the power of a comfortable studio space ! It may sound superfluous but I find it so important. It puts myself in the right mood and it’s the only place where I can really concentrate.

Thank you so much Genevieve for taking the time to incorporate our Nadinoo clothing into your latest book and for generally being such an inspiring lady, I hope we get to work on many more fun projects together in the future!

13 June 2011

ahoy there Sailor!

Erin_1

Erin_3
Was overjoyed today to see Erin's outfit post from what she wore at the weekend. She has always been a huge inspiration to Nadinoo so it's wonderful to see her out and about in our Pixie goes sailing dress, which I have to say looks pretty darn cute on her! Her tattoos look so cheeky popping out from behind the dress, I love how they add to the sailor theme. If you are still hungry for more pics and want to find out what she got up to in this little number then hop over to her blog and be sure to compliment her on such a fine look...

Erin_2
Photography by Calivintage

7 June 2011

I ♥ Nadinoo Giveaway

Lula's_untie_me_Top_2
As it's summer we have decided each month to give away a Nadinoo garment from our Spring/Summer collection!
This month up for grabs is our Lula's Untie me top which I have found is the perfect compliment to a sunny day.

Lula's_untie_me_Top

To enter simply show you ♥ Nadinoo by sticking one of our colourful stickers on your blog/Site/Tumblr page for a month, linking our website www.nadinoo.com
stickers
Don't forget to leave us a link to your site in a comment below and if you have already entered via email your name has gone in the hat.

You can find all the individual coloured stickers here as this dear blogger has done! 

One lucky lady's name will be picked out at random on the 25th of June!

Good Luck x

1 June 2011

Fancy an internship with Nadinoo?

Internship_1

It is time once again for us to find a talented new intern to join our small Nadinoo team here in Manchester. If you enjoy pattern cutting sewing and have a real love for all things vintage this opportunity could be perfect for you. You will gain hands on experience and a great insight into the inner workings of an emerging clothing label.

We hope to get you started as early as mid June so you can learn from our talented intern Demo before she leaves us to return to her final year at university.Please note this is an unpaid full time internship that will last 4-6 months depending on your availability.

Please send in your CV and available work dates along with a few examples of your work e.g. design ideas, sewn garments, samples or even mood boards  
info@nadinoo.com

Internship_2
 Demo working away

 It's always sad to say bye to our lovely interns after sharing so much with them, I still miss Alva and Caitlin dearly.

Internship_3
Above is one of Demo's daily jobs cutting and preparing each garment ready to be sewn. 
There is so much to learn from this process as you understand how a garment is put together from the earliest stage..

Internship_4
This our super skilled seamstress Alison who joined us early this year, her work is divine and there is no one I trust more with a needle and thread!

Internship_5
There is so much work that goes into each Nadinoo garment, never leaving us with nothing to do. 

Internship_6
Internship_7
Internship_8

We look forward to welcoming you into our cosy studio :)
Nadinoo © . Design by FCD.