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A Clack Clack Blog is a CLOG!! Right?
October 16, 2007
maybe it's time to get some of this stuff off my chest? i dunno. read it if you want, or not!
so i wasted another lunch break at Finch's trying to figure out how the eff i'm going to pull this off! i have no idea what i'm doing. ha! none. but i WANT to do it. so i did it. anyway...receipts, leases, ideas, people with different ideas, budgets being blown, crazy credit applications that scare the poop out of me...oh boy...i haven't slept, but i'm still oddly awake. and strangely, almost obscenely excited about this whole thing! and it's kind of weird/RAD that other people are too! genuine people, with authentic and fresh ideas. friends and strangers alike that just want to do something, and are all for this shit. you know, "like hey, that's sounds sick! i know a dude who knows a dude who's sister's friend designs this or that." and they're actually making good on their drunken promises to get me a name or a number. holy! it's pretty rad...daunting...but SO absolutely worth whatever happens to 23 year olds when they attempt to go several weeks sans sleep trying to build a little empire. i got help though....oh do i ever. i may have drank slightly too much with and told them all i loved them PROFUSELY. sorry about that, but it's true.
~e
October 22, 2007
How great is Fleetwood Mac, eh? I don't think it gets much better than "Tusk" at 6am brushing your teeth getting ready to go to work at dawn in the depths of the industrial heartland of East Vancouver. Honestly. AND I made a soft boiled egg for breakfast. WHAT A MORNING!! And I made it to my desk exactly at 0830hrs. Sometimes I impress myself.Anyhow, it's gorgeous out, absolutely gorgeous. And probably the last day of sun Vancouver will see until it bursts through the wintry wet skies in late March. I'm hoping that I can round the ladies up for an afternoon fixie ride. Oh yes, 4 hawt broads on fixies. 44t/18, 42t/16, 48t/17 and 40t/15 respectively. Well, I think M rides a 40t chain ring could even be a 30 something. Not sure. Either, it's a hot bike. I'm thinking it may be prudent to put my front brake on! But holy! I feel a little radicle, perhaps even....sexy?! It's an absolutely RIDICULOUS idea to ride down the mountain that is Main street at rush hour with no front brake but I do it anyway. HONESTLY, you should see my hawt quads! Joke. That's a joke. I mean my quads are hot, but....anyway, forget it.
Stanley Park...Beers. Broads. Bikes. Business Planning? Sounds like a plan to me.
~e
November 6, 2007
SO, thanks to a friend I landed the most fantastic piece of plastered heritage China town greatness. 400 square feet of 1913 timber and brick...
It's going to be interesting to renovate but the building certainly has character, and I'm just glad I found a space that actually met all my criteria! Which were...heritage, rad, near gastown/chinatown/railtown, and almost more importantly....CHEAP-ish!
I'm RELIEVED that I managed to lock it down! I had been starting to feel a little discouraged with the availabilty of spaces in Vancouver, so HOLY, was I ever happy...honestly happy. Fist pumping, leg kicks and heel clicks. SERISOULY excited.
The woman whom has the space adjacent to mine has been selling really sweet handbags for years, and is very happy with the space and the location. It's also my luck that she knows everybody in the Vancouver industry, so she's been very helpful with tips.
But it needs no small amount of work...thankfully many of my friends, and the like will work for beer or vodka they tell me. But perhaps I'll "pay" them AFTER we've finished painting!
~e
November 26, 2006
So it's been a long month. BUT!! A lovely month, the month within which I found a space! How exciting. It won't break the bank!
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Friday January 11th, 2008
After a beer or two, “A” and I decided to stop by the shop to drop off her wounded bike for the night as it was unfortunately un-rideable; long story but dearest “A” was still aggravated by the preceding incident and needed to release said anger. And what better way to do so, than to remove gross gyprock drywall!?
“A” was kind enough to take her aggression out on the wall and not I, and managed to get the process started with two bare and determined hands and a well placed leather-boot-clad foot on the wall.
Not knowing her own strength she mightily heaved and released a HUGE slab of crackling drywall, and launched a hunk of it at my face!
Luckily, the now free flying piece of ancient wall managed to miss important bits like my eyeballs and teeth, and met (though quite forcefully I might add) the bridge of my nose. Not too worry! T'was just a flesh wound! And my glasses were not harmed.
With me bleeding and “A” frustrated, us two women of slight stature doggedly pressed on, attacking the wall with a vengeance to reveal something astonishing!
As the dust settled form the assault on the old wall, it revealed 100 years of history! History in the form of four different layers of wall paper, a false wall, ancient plaster, gorgeous painted wood, and newspaper ‘insulation’ from the 50s! FANTASTIC!
As we stood there gazing at our handiwork, out of breath and a mess, I felt as though we had stumbled across an ancient tomb full of secrets and mystery! There’s more than meets the eye of these old buildings in our little city by the sea! Much more…
Well, it wasn't perhaps quite as exciting as all that but it was certainly fun!
The renovations continue, with lots of help and love from friends and family! And we're excited about the transformations taking place!
More to come! And I just looked at the calendar...the store opens in 51 days!!! Goodness!!
~E
February 16th,
RENOS!!! Oh tortuous renos, but they're almost done! The old wall beautiful as it was needed to be covered by something a touch more sturdy. E and I managed to find some lovely clear kiln dried cedar 3" planks...GORGEOUS! So, we loaded them in her truck, convinced her uncle to skip the hockey game and bring his nail gun to the store and help us with the wall. And as they say, many hands make light work! Or something...but anyhow, E measured, I cut, and Gregy did everything else! And now?! The new wall is up and looks fantastic!
Here's a before shot of the 100 years of walls that were hiding behind the drywall...
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During...go Greg go, go Greg go!!
And then....the moment of truth! The last board is in place!
Yay! Reclaimed cedar! Oh. But now I have to paint. DAMN IT! Does it ever end?!!
Saturday March 8th, 2008
So it all came together quite nicely! The store was painted and beautified JUST in time for the Pre Opening Social! That particular evening was fun and the first time Clack Clack opened its doors to the public. It was fantastic! Beer, Clack Clack Wine (thanks Steve), copious amounts of snacks, and even larger amounts of good times. I really quite touched by everyone who came out for the Social; everyone from my parents, to old co-workers from the geology job, siblings, old friends, and new ones....even the random strangers passing by on their bikes! I was really quite nervous as to how the shop and its concept would be received, but all in all it seems to be making a good impression. It's only a matter of a few days now before we're ready to ACTUALLY open the doors with the store full of stock and good stuff to browse. The count down continues....March 29th suddenly doesn't seem very far away!
Saturday March, 22
On this glorious cool spring afternoon with the magnolias all in bloom, I quietly opened the doors to see if I could snag any walk by traffic. I did! Local folks whom live in the area were kind enough to poke their heads through the door and remark on the radically changed interior. Some browsed through my still limited stock (thanks customs) but were seemingly intrigued by that which hung on the freshly mounted racks.
I wasn't expecting to make any sales that weekend...but I did make one! And to whom you ask? Why, to my dearest ol' mother of course! Ha! What a sweetie.
"Aw shucks mom, would you let me give you a discount or something?" I asked, "NO!" she retorted definately, "Absolutely not! I want to support this little shop of yours, now wrap that please. I shant want it to be damaged in my purse!"
Awesome....thanks mom!
This is that wall that gave me so much grief before! Now look! Clothes and things!
Above is a piece of art from Vinny's radical girlfriend, Kelsea Heino...she is our first featured artist at the shop. Anyway, following her opening on the 25th there will be more awe inspiring and conceptually defiant pieces on the wall...and hopefully some more clothes! Hahaha!
~e
March 28th, 2008
I'm at work (the office, yes I have dayjob...I make maps) so I best keep this quick, but wasting time as I usually do I was googlin' Clack Clack to see if anything other than my own shameless self-promotion popped up! And holy gonzales, guess what I found...
http://flickr.com/photos/shallom/2359729159
Ms. Shallom Johnson looks like a fantastic photographer! She takes photos of all the random things I wish I had camera to document when I walked by them...well even if I had a camera, I don't think my snap-shots would end up as nice as this!
Randomness is greatness! Hooray for googlin'!
May 27th, 2008
Oh kay, I hadn't realized it had been nearly 60 days since I last wrote anything up here. Not that anyone ever REALLY reads this. And if you do read this thanks but PLEASE, disregard all the horrible mistakes. There's no spell check and being of the generation I am I can't spell or write or do math for that matter without electronic assistance...makes you wonder why I like typewriters so much huh?!
Tangents aside...the Shoppe…
It's actually doing well! I have had some repeat customers, some random folks that learned about the shop through some medium or another, and of course some kind friends that bring food on those long GORGEOUS sunny days spent at the shop. So really, it's all coming together. It's a little more stressful than I would have thought, but I think that's just me. According to my mother I'm a "worry-wort". Sick. I never like that term but I guess it's true.
ANYWAY...apparently it's tangent Tuesday. I digress.
The art openings are going well, Amber's stuff looks great, we got some new stock in, and I'm terribly excited for Ken Diamond's new line of exclusive handmade shoes to arrive! That should be excellent. And! My lovely neighbour/bag maker/cobbler extraordinaire Erin Templeton has got some interesting things up her sleeves for the coming season! I'm excited to see that come to life.OH! The fashion show! We hosted a fashion show at a local bar called 1181! It was fantastic, don't let me forget to get some of the photos up.Well, it's coffee time... I promise to keep this 'clog' more up to date...for those of you whom actually DO read it. Hahaha!
love...e.
May 28th, 2008
So here's some shots from the fashion show!
Lars, Blair, and Missy, les models...except for Kasha, she insisted on arriving via helicopter....diva.
Lars the Swedish Sailor.
A slightly blurry shot, but Missy is rockin' Evan and Dean and some lovely F-Troupe Oxfords!
Kasha looking SERIOUS in a House of Cassette piece and Devotte shoes!
Blair in the Hooded Trench from Apolis, Grey Organic Denim from Good Society and some nice Biviel classic leather shoes.
Oh Lars...
T'was a full house!
Cute....Nauti Dancing...
Les Models!
Here's some shots from the peanut gallery that evening, thanks to Nic form "keeping up with the Joneses"...
The inspiration for the show? This handsome couple...Jean Luc Goddard and Jean Seberg seen here in "Breathless". A classic 60s fench crime drama with some seriously good outfits, cars, music and sunglasses!
June 5th, 2008
OOoooooh m'gosh! Someone blogged about us! Cute.
http://the-new-niche.blogspot.com/2008/05/clack-clack-empire-at-1181.html
June 6th, 2008
Une petite sale! June 6th through the 8th!
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July! 2008
So, July was certainly a fun month! Sales, art shows, fun stuff! Marianne Goldin from Seattle had a great opening at the ol' shop with her LOLCats show! The link below also includes the artist's statement and other goodies.
http://www.urbanmixer.com/index.php/2008/07/21/lolcat-art-at-clack-clack-empire/
So here's Vicent and Marianne....not sure why Vincent looks so sad with so many awesome illustrations around him!
Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for THE EVENT OF THE SUMMER! The Alley Art Market and Fashion Show: Out w/ the old, in w/ the new!!
We're gearing up for fall and there's a lot of GREAT stuff on it's way...we'll let you know when it all arrives!
August 29, 2008
Holy crow! It's already nearly, almost, SO very close to being September....I can't handle this. I haven't been to the beach, or sailing, or rowing, or hiking nor anything of that nature yet this summer yet and the summer is nearly over. Ridiculous I say! I guess I've been busy with things. Like le shoppe! SPEAKING OF WHICH...
September 5th 2008....thanks to Vincent Parker, curator extraordinaire, we're pleased to be participating in the SWARM art crawl this year! Our featured artist this month is none other than the lovely Charlotte Matthews. Her installation is actually a collection of canned foods of similar social and artistic features. Interesteing indeed! Canned food!? You betcha!
Here's what Ms. Matthews has to say!
"The Green Collection originates from a larger assemblage of more than 300 canned food items accumulated since 2002. The collection is both practical as well as decorative, which is reflected in the breadth of items displayed. Label design appeals to both the collector and the consumer and is the main means for categorization.
The predominate colour in food packaging is often related to the contents, but most importantly is used to deliver a message to the consumer. Green for example, was once perceived as somewhat of a putrid colour, but is now linked closely to nature. Green packaging tends to contain food that has fewer calories, is higher in protein, and that which is marketed to be "healthier". Red, on the other hand, is an appetite stimulant and is used with more savory foods, most notably the Campbell's brand.
Colours popular in packaging currently in North America, however, may not work well overseas. While green is popular here as well in the Middle East, it does not work well in France or China. It would be a particular mistake to use such a shade in Egypt where the national colour is green. Colours outside of the normative red, green and blue packaging are used to catch the eye of the consumer in the competitive market that is the supermarket. This, however, can be risky and unlikely to draw more traditional buyers. Thus, it is imperative that a package is coloured correctly for the product to be successful in its niche market.
Aside from the fascination with the psychology used in the production of food packing, the notion of collection is also central to the project. Collection can quickly turn into obsession, and with a food product, it could certainly be considered hoarding. Perhaps, the retention of food products is justified through the classification of art and the appreciation of design. The collection also works to negate the stereotype of the "starving artist". Assurance that one will be nourished allow for confident production of art.
Charlotte Matthews is a Vancouver based artist and curator. She typically undertakes research based and collaborative projects. The artist plans to continue the collection with further acquisitions and improved levels of consumption."
September 4th, 2008
Hoooooooo diddy! Things are heatin' up for the upcoming SWARM events which actually kick off tonight! The Georgia Straight took a liking to Charlotte's concept and a website called ItsNovel was interested too....
http://www.itsnovel.com/2008/09/clack-clack-empire/
http://www.straight.com/article-160111/getting-buzz-swarm
Novemeber 2, 2008
Well, October came and went...along with our nice autumn weather!! OH WELL...at least we have lost of cozy stuff at the store to see you through the bleak winter! I FINALLY took some photos....I'm a terrible photgrapher and the camera has never acted the same since I dropped it, so forgive me.
This is the women's stuff...I'm working on the boy's stuff so I'll try to post it ASAP.
Thanks!
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