The Flemish has landed

The Make It Show is over and done ...and it was fantastic!

With the addition of another day, the show was intense. Saturday being the most intense. They broke a record: 1000 customers passed through the gate in 1 hour. A grand total of 8400 in 3.5 days.

I don't know how I managed it, but I found the time to make a Bike sign that really made our booth stand out. People loved it and kept complimenting us all throughout the show. I used christmas lights.

We brought along a huge diverse inventory. The big star was our wallet, and we introduced our newest 100% winter cycling cap; The Flemish! I redesigned the pattern and modified the ear flap to fit even better. We realize our caps would fit better if we offered two sizes. A great success! We are planning to look at the way we size our caps in order to provide a better choice of sizing.

As you probably guess, Richard has many caps and now he has a 100% wool winter cap. After a week without a ride, Richard didn't waste time to jump on his Marinoni. The next morning after the show, he went out to test the new Flemish cap. It was a cold morning close to 0C, perfect conditions to test the Flemish cap. The picture below is Richard back from his cold weather ride. He was tired ...but warm!

Make It Big Time!

Roberts Creek, Sunshine Coast  BC

(image by Richard)

I took a blogging break...

You know when you're juggling so many balls and you lose site of everything else?

I'm sorry that I've neglected my blog but life got so crazy with work I've turned my attention to my sewing machine instead. 

In August, Richard and I decided to spend holiday time in the Sunshine Coast (Gibsons). But, work forced me to bring along my sewing machine to actually... work. Call it a work holiday. At least I did enjoy my evenings with the beautiful scenery and a glass of wine. Richard was able to squeeze in a few rides exploring unknown territory of the Sunshine Coast. To say that we both fell in love with the Sunshine Coast would be an understatement!

Galstudio is in growing mode. We just finished a huge wholesale order that left us completely exhausted but happy. It was a grueling tens days of production. 

Circle Craft Christmas show

The Christmas craft shows have started. Richard and I went to investigate one of the top three shows in Vancouver, called Circle Craft. They've been around for over 20 years. Our friend Graham was there and he's a mainstay doing this show for the past 15 years. I was excited to help him design his newest children's music CD cover. 

Circle Craft is top notch with quality merchants but the admission fee of $12.00 is too high and I didn't feel that this show is a good match for our products.

On the other hand, we are back at the Make It Show for our second year. We're very excited that they added another day totaling four days. We have a larger booth sharing with our friend Helene... I'm definitely feeling this show and we will have lots of fun.

So, I'm back to my sewing machine and need to produce a few more items for the Make It Show. I also started teaching a crochet workshop... I'll keep that for my next post!

MAMILS at the Whistler Farmer's Market

Check out Richard's old Mavic wheel!

I haven't been back to Whistler in over fifteen years and it has sure changed!

With the Winter Olympics, this resort town has grown up. I was there often working in the special events industry and it was small and quaint. The trade and convention centre was beautiful and quite new back then. Also, I was decorating in the Le Chateau Hotel when it first opened in Blackcomb.

Now I don't recognized the town anymore. Sunday, Richard and I was selling our Galstudio products at the Whistler Farmer's Market. It was beautiful and sunny... everything a market should be. Plus full of people and samples for all.

I had a chance to try sea asparagus. It doesn't look like asparagus it's actually a type of seaweed. It's green, crunchy and salty collected at low tide. Definitely good for salads and pasta.

Sea asparagus.

This vibrant market is on my list as must have markets to be in. So, next year we plan to be back.

Often in these shows, there is a tendency to have too much of one type of vendor. Not so here. There was a full array of different products to discover. The organizers did a very good job of curating the show. Our unique cycling accessories were appreciated by everyone. There were many outdoor types especially cyclists and their spouses that bought our products. Richard was doing so well selling cycling caps to middle age cyclist guys. These cyclists are the MAMILS; middle age men in lycra. Richard's part of this fast growing tribe. I still laugh when he mentions it.

The foam core display didn't survived our last market, it was destroyed. So I came up with a clever fix. Richard's Mavic wheel held up to nine of his cyclingart cards and he was so pleased to use it again. It works so much better.

Special thanks go to our partner, Helene for allowing us to share the tent with. It was a wonderful day with her!

Wish I had a dog...

beside our tent was a fabulous organic dog treats!

June Bike Month

Today is June 1st.

And the weather, is a beautiful 14 C Spring day and I feel there's hope yet, for Summer. June is Bike Month here in Vancouver. There's quite a few of bike activities for the month. Here's a just a few: Velopalooza, Car Free Day (June 19th), & MEC Bikefest (June 25th).

Yesterday, Richard and I helped Karen with the June Bike Month window display at Bird On A Wire Creations. Richard took the opportunity to use his retro fun 1984 Team Pinarello wool cycling jersey, looking very nice. Special thanks go to Nic & Jamie of Super Champion Cycle Shop for their beautiful bicycle. The window would not be the same without their bicycle. It's stunning. And, I would like to thank Karen (Endure Upcycled Designs) for the great 'I love Bikes' banner.

Richard has three cycling art framed prints for sale. And, we will be back as the Artists in the Window this Saturday (11-4) producing another handmade cycling cap. He will also have on hand his portfolio of cycling art prints for everyone to look at, too.

I'm not exactly sure which cap to make; the Ventoux or the Espress O. I'll have to decide very soon. Hooray for June Bike Month!

Celebrating our new Paris-Roubaix cycling cap!

Richard wearing the new Galstudio...

Paris-Roubaix Cycling Cap!

Today is the 2nd anniversary of Galstudio's very first cycling cap sale. It's hard to believe it's two years ago. And, to celebrate we're proud to introduce our ....new Paris-Roubaix Cycling Cap!

French Tricolore detail...

Vive le France!

Images: Galstudio

When I first discovered Etsy, my ambition was to sell my knit goods. Here are some stats. That was November 2008. By March, 2009 Richard suggested that cycling caps will sell. I listed my first cycling cap in mid march, a few days later it sold in the United States.

That was my first sale on Etsy and I knew that my cycling caps would be popular. This was the first step for Galstudio to become a platform to sell cycling caps. When Richard came on board, last year, it became our real business.

My very first cycling cap was called Paris-Roubaix. It took me many hours to develop it. Richard was picky with the design, he said, “It just had to look and fit right.” The cycling cap had to sit comfortably on top of the head. It's not a baseball cap. So, I had to make a mock up design... many of them. I chose the fabric a classic brown/beige plaid. I haven't seen a cycling cap like it before. I had purchased enough fabric for two caps. And, both sold right away.

Now, I like to bring back the name and a new cycling cap. I love the name Paris-Roubaix, and I'm so excited to present it as a 3 panel cap with a new feature; 2 bold black stripes for that racy feel. Richard's idea was the French tricolore and my idea was the placement of that splash of color. I think it works elegantly well.

After close to a thousand caps made, I’m so happy how Galstudio’s cycling caps have evolved. I feel that, with this new Paris-Roubaix, I’m bringing the cycling cap to the world of haute couture!

Winter Classics

Galstudio's Condorito winter cap.

If it wasn't for Richard asking me to create a winter cycling cap I probably would not have. He showed me his earliest winter cap a precious red, wool Colnago. He asked me if I could make one similar. I was inspired by how the ear flaps fit on the neck. So I set out to create my first winter cap the Bobet.

Many models later, I'm happy to say my winter caps are popular. I now have seven models to choose from. The newest one is the Presta.

My best seller is the Condorito. I found more fabric and made more. In fact, I have a good supply of caps in stock. But, once they're gone that will be it for that model.

Richard was out riding this chilly morning wearing his Condorito cap and he happily reported how comfortable and warm it is. And, with winter fast approaching I was reminded by Guy when he said, "You cannot think of going through winter without a Galstudio winter cycling cap!"

Richard's precious 1980's Colnago winter wool cap.

Bring it on Podcast!

Stage 2: Bikes, Books, & Beers from Bikes, Books & Beers on Vimeo.


I'm having fun producing the Podcast's. I love the behind the scenes detail of directing Guy & Richard. Enjoying being the camerawoman and loving the post production aspect of it. Yesterday was a cloudy and dark and we had to solve the lack of lighting in our 'studio'. Never fear we have the daylight balance lights available and thank's to our background in photography we rigged up an appropriate lighting setup. Placing the two lights apart and aiming them as high as we could close to the ceiling to evenly disperse the light. It worked well.

After using Vimeo I'm convinced and happy to use it. It took me a while to choose from all the other video providers but Vimeo is simply the best, so easy to use.

They're planning a different setup for the next podcast. I don't know if it's possible. But I do like a challenge!

Behind the Podcast.

I love everything about computers. Now, I'm not an expert but I have owned four Macs and I must say a computer is more interesting to me than fashion. Apple is in my eye.

Richard and Guy has a cool podcast on their cycling history and beer. What is it with guy's and beer? Us girl's love it too! Ok I'm starting to rant.

I knew my camera is just a basic digital one. Four years old, the Canon PowerShot ELPH is a little workhorse. I explored the video mode and discovered I could shoot for 8 minutes with a nice definition. Tested it on Richard and used available light and the sound was surprisingly good. I'm not ready to spend 1000 bucks for a better one. My Canon is good, very good for what I want to do.

The approach was simple. A low key casual podcast. Two guys with their beer and books. No tripod used, in fact, I am the camera operator. I used iMovie to insert the text and edit. It was so easy to work with. Good ole Apple, they make their products FOR people. There's talk in the air for part two. I'm so excited for them. Guy is showing enthusiasm and being part of this project, I'm happy.

As easy as it was to edit, it was a challenge to launch the podcast on line. I couldn't go through youtube because the clip was too long. Youtube takes only maximum ten minutes. So, I checked out Vimeo & Viddler... Viddler was too expensive charging for product content. Vimeo was the choice. Easy to use and the best thing, it was FREE up to 500 MB a month. I can do one a week. And it looks like the guy's will go for two per month. But, you know, when it comes time for the Tour de France it begs to have more often.

I'm so proud of Richard and Guy talking about the history of cycling. Happily, I get to play with my computer and learn about cycling history and have the chance to sample a brew!



The Prologue. Bikes, Books, & Beers from Bikes, Books, & Beer on Vimeo.