Leather and Horn Necklace by A New Heirloom
Happy sunny Sunday, everyone! I am about to go out the door for some breakfast at Marcy’s, but in the meantime let’s ogle over some goodies from Ashley Tyler: A New Heirloom.
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Ashley Tyler is a recent Maine transplant whose work in the fashion industry is bringing muchas cosas to the Portland, ME apparel opportunities available to fashionable women in these region. At Picnic last December my booth partner, Kate, and I were set up across from A New Heirloom and I think we were slobbering and drooling at the prints, shirts, scarves, necklaces, ponchos for the entire two days. Tyler’s work is inspired by Native American prints, customs and animals/nature — she says “it lights my brain up” which is just about the best way to describe inspiration I’ve heard in a long time. This influence is clear in her design, but a deeper level reveals her love for space, stars and technology as well. Her prints are modern reflections of ancient designs.
Black Printed Scarf by A New Heirloom
When you swing around the floor at Mayo Street next week you will find A New Heirloom stocked with her signature scarves, shirts, bags and necklaces with some sweet summer additions. How’s about some Aviva t-shirts, tops and skirts, dresses and (drumroll, please…) braided bikinis! I can’t even believe how awesome these are, and A New Heirloom will be selling them at a steep pre-season discount for all you Maine ladies who just can’t wait to get in to an ocean-state-of-mind.
A New Heirloom: Bikinis! Yes!
And if you’re worried about missing Ashley’s booth at The THAW, never fear: you can pick A New Heirloom out of a crowd quite easily: in addition to executing beautiful, luscious silk creations and soft and tactile leather work Ashley also happens to be a whiz out of making something out of nothing: her craft fair booth set up is one of the most creative we’ve seen at the Maine fairs. Flashback December 2010 and Kate and I are setting up our Picnic table — Ashley shows up (in wool plaid and jodphurs!) and starts setting up apple crates, towered high, on her table. A rickety wooden ladder goes on top and garments are hung from the rungs to weight the apple crates which hold folded items. Oh my gosh! We asked her how on earth she came up with such a creative way of displaying her work that still did justice to her inspirations and materials. Here’s what she said:
Just look for the awesome booth set up to find A New Heirloom at The BIG THAW
“I’m so glad you liked my improvised booth set up. I knew I wanted to do something tactile and unique and needed to figure out a way to utilize a small space w/ only a table without a rolling rack. sooo I decided to use whatever I had around me: Our barn in Limerick is full of apple crates and old ladders so…I literally awoke one morning with the idea to stack the apple crates on the table and then put the ladder across the top of the crates to create a place to hang the garments and stabilize the crates. The end effect was a sort of ‘stage.’“
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We can’t get enough of Ashley’s goodies. See below for some more pictures! Or better yet, see her next Saturday at The BIG THAW Arts, Crafts and Vintage sale at 10 Mayo St (Mayo Street Arts Center) in East Bayside, 10am-4pm. One block down from the big Catholic church off Cumberland Ave/Franklin Arterial in Portland!
Ladies and Gents' T-Shirts
Braided Bikinis by A New Heirloom
Amazing, versatile Diamond Dove top from A New Heirloom
Tree Top in a spring ensemble from A New Heirloom
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The BIG CHILL 