Lily Inspiration: Ice!

While I am generally very thankful for the mild winters we enjoy here on the West Coast, one thing I wish happened more often is frozen ponds. Nothing is more invigorating that hitting the open ice with a hockey stick and mittens.


We had the pleasure of playing a little shinny recently while we were in Hamilton and it was such a through and through "Canadian" adventure. Thanks to my fabulous brother-in-law, Steve, for insisting we fly out with our skates!

Sale Continues!

December 27th was a kooky day in the Lily shops, crowds of customers descended upon us to get first dibs on sale items - it was lots of fun! You got to scoop up great deals, and we got to start making room for new stock (Yes, we are working on Spring designs for February!).

For those of you who didn't make it in on Monday or Tuesday, there are still a lot of great deals to be had. Here is a smattering of the items that we have left for your bargain shopping pleasure (in person or online!):

Fushia Hama Hama Top! $25!

Portobella Skirt! Conquistador Bolero!

Plucky Pink Plaid Skirt! $76! Applique Scarf! $21!

(Wanderluxe Sweater NOT on sale, $82)

Accogliente Skirt! $76!

Boiled Wool DD Jacket! $144!

Boatneck Tees! $30!

Eleanor Top! $30!

(Obi Belt NOT on sale, $44)

Nighties! $57!

Easy Rider Bike Bag! $50!

Linen Tea Cozy! $29!

Vancouver Update: Rocking the Hammer!

Hello everybody! This is Erin, reporting in from the wilds of Hamilton (or, rather, Mount Hope, to be exact). Yes, Scott and I have been enjoying his family's hospitality in Ontario this Christmas--despite the rather un-West Coast temperatures, we have been having a great time.

As you can see, everyone was so good this year, Santa got them awesome Smoking Lily shirts!


All good things must come to an end, however, and Scott and I will be flying home tomorrow. I hope everyone in Vancouver had as much fun last week as we did! See you soon, Vancouver!

Boxing Day Sale!

Notice to all lilieophiles!

Boxing day sale on now, come to any of our three locations in

Victoria and Vancouver and treat yourself to some post-xmas goodies.

Lots of dresses, skirts, tunics, scarves and other fun treats on sale!

And don't forget the awesome sales tees.

Happy Festivus!

Boxing Day: the Lily shops are closed today

Our three retail locations, and the studio, are closed today (Sunday, December 26th), but we will be reopening for your sale shopping pleasure tomorrow.

No reason to line up for hours (like our annual Garage Sale line-up pictured, in small part, below), but reductions on discontinued items and deeper discounts on fun bits and pieces from previous seasons means you should definitely drop by, if your muscles haven't atrophied too much over the last couple of days of feasting.

If you were brave enough to battle the crazy Boxing Day crowds, here's hoping it was well worth your while!

Happy Christmas!

Look what I walked past the other morning at Main and 21st Avenue in Vancouver. Someone's taken holiday spirit to the next level! Hope you are all having a lovely day!

... Bill Murray Christmas.

Do It Yourself - Ugly Sweater Kit

I am the youngest of three in my family. My brother, Brian the middle child, and his amazing partner, Richard, live in Vancouver. My older sister, Charlotte, and her two awesome children, Charlie and Parker, live in Gibsons, along with my fantastic parents, Brian Sr. and Christine. With all 8 of us it's really tricky to organize family events. We don't see each other as much as we would like, so this year I really wanted to give everyone in my family a gift that would bring us closer and force us to spend quality time together. I came up with an idea that would make us all laugh for years to come.

Do It Yourself - Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

Tape is #1 because not everyone in my family is a sewer. Glitter ribbon, sequins, ric rac to resemble snow, poinsettia things, and some sparkly trees. Oh, and... the reindeer. Yours doesn't have to be doing that, but in my family nothing is shocking....I doubt my mom will even notice.

Then you bag it all up pretty in a zip lock bag. Print yourself off a label, and presto! You have a one-of-a-kind hilarious gift that will bring smiles to the grumpiest old man (my Dad) and have the practical joker of the family silenced in awe (my sister). And if your mom is like mine, your Do It Yourself sweater kit will end up being proudly worn to the grocery store.

Christmas Hours

Hello Everyone! Happy Holidays!

We will soon be closed for the 25th and 26th, but just wanted to let you know that all our locations are open today until 2pm.

In Victoria, both the Johnson Street store, and our new location, The Milkman's Daughter, at 1713 Government St., are open. Come by and say hi to Liz or Korinne and let them help you out with the last few items on your list.

In Vancouver, glenda and Cathy are looking forward to "Man Day," as Cathy calls it. They'll be open 11:00 to 2:00 to assist all last minute shoppers.

Merry Happy Joy!

Merry Christmas Steph!

It is Steph's turn to do blog about the studio today, but she is on a train somewhere between Frankfurt and England right now. Instead the studio is sending her all our love via James Brown.

Hope you are staying warm and having a fun time Steph. See you in January.

Christmas Hilarity

Oh, this is just too good!

Christmas Miracles: Ochazuke

Miracle may be a little over-doing it, but I am prone to exaggeration, and to running out of the house without a home-made lunch in the morning. So, imagine my delight when while getting ready for another busy day in the Vancouver shop, my boyfriend delivers a lunch parcel to my door (granted he does live next-door, but any food delivery is welcome in my home!). The lunch contained some of his home-made Japanese pickles (which are excellent) and this secret parcel - sweet!

Yes, the Furoshiki is a pot kerchief. I did mention this miracle was instigated by a boy, right?

When I got to work, I sneaked a quick peak into the parcel and found that my lunch would include Ochazuke, one of my new favourite comfort foods - yay!

So mid-day, I made myself a cup of green tea and started the process of making the heart-warming Ochazuke.

Inside the Furoshiki was a jar (my favourite method of food and drink transport) of Japanese rice with an Umeboshi plum, and the magical packet of goodness.

I sprinkled the magical goodness over the rice and...

...then poured the green tea over it all. Mmmmm, the scent of the tea and the dashi and seaweed is so comforting. And the Umeboshi adds such a wonderful tartness to the dish.

and so, another Christmas miracle ends with a warm fuzzy feeling, mmm...

May your holidays be filled with many special little moments!

Vancouver Update: The Milkman's Daughter Rocks!

This was supposed to be a Vancouver update, but I just received an email that our new Victoria location (The Milkman's Daughter) received kudos in the Victoria Times-Colonist. Victoria fashion writer, Sarah Petrescu, named Smoking Lily's latest creation "Best New Handmade Store"! In this era of DIY, that's definitely a mention to be proud of.

To make the leap to a Vancouver post, she did mention the silk-screened ice skates that were our Vancouver winter window display last year!

Cheers to Trish and her continued conceptual creativity - yay fearless leader!!!

Victoria Store Update: Embellished Vintage Handkerchiefs and Erica Weiner Jewellery

For those left on your Christmas List who believe good things come in small packages, the Victoria Johnson Street store has something in just the right size. We have silk screened more of our Embellished Vintage Handkerchiefs and received the latest shipment of Erica Weiner Jewellery.

The delicate lace or cotton vintage handkerchiefs feature prints for people who like lovely things, and can be used to decorate tabletops, wrap smaller gifts or for more practical purposes. $5 - $6 each.

Our recently arrived selection of Erica Weiner Jewellery includes new and unique necklaces such as the Wolf with Tooth and Long Feather in Brass as well as beautiful earrings like the Little Swallows and Lucky Silver Buttons. $21 and up.

Come in and peruse, and find that perfect little present just in time to put under the tree.

Christmas Gift Idea: Children's Quilt

We made these quilts to keep babies and small children warm in their beds or buggies, but have sold many of them as lap blankets to snuggle up with while watching movies from big beds or reading on chaise lounges. Though unplanned as such, they are the perfect length for wrapping around yourself like a skirt while scooting from that chaise lounge to grab more tea and bon bons.

Studio Update:Wrist Warmers

Our latest creation made entirely out of left over fabrics. Nothing goes to waste around here, we save bits and pieces of fabrics we like, knowing one day we will find a use for it. The other day Rachael was pulling down the bins of sale merchandise to send to Milk andVancouver for their Boxing week sale and we came across a bag full of leftover Donka and Wolfshire wool blend fabric bits.It tooks us about 10 minutes to come up with these last minute gift idea. These babies are $24 a pair and available at all three of our retail locations. There are lots of brown and moss green available, and limited amounts of Fucshia, pink and blue denim.

Lily Inspiration: A good Breakfast

The outside window of Lady Marmalade on Johnson Street in Victoria.
From Left, up and around: Rachael, Joanne, Renee, Trish, Aiko, Steph, Liz, Harmony, Nicole, Korinne and Nico
Liz all full of good food and excited to go to the studio and start her day! Random nose picker cell phone man to the right.

Trish and Aiko excited for their orders to arrive.

To celebrate the holidays Trish took us all out to a wonderful brunch! Traditional, horrible staff parties aside, we know how to do it here. Tinsel, Santa hats, rum and egg nog eschewed we instead went for a tasty start to our day. (Well sometimes the tinsel and rum is nice... but yes, this was refreshingly different.) Lady Marmalade, which is a super cute local favourite gladly welcomed us. Located on Johnson Street, just barely a block up from our tiny Victoria shop this little restaurant is known for its tasty eggs benny, mexican inspired dishes and my favourite- the in house made granola. Everything was super tasty, the decor was colourful, and the company was... well... all my favourite ladies! We are all very thankful that we could have such a lovely morning out together and that the food kept us full till about three. Here's to keeping it festive in a Smoking Lily fashion!