Sale at Vitae

Gift Ideas

There is still time to get the perfect gift for that special someone this holiday season. Here are a couple of ideas to help you out.

Acanthus Apparel t-shirts! All of the t-shirts are available at Vitae Design Collective in Des Moines. Vitae also has gift certificates in case you just can't decide which one to get. Some styles are available at www.acanthusapparel.etsy.com and at www.joshuabowers.com.

Tattoo gift certificates are available at Iron Heart Tattoo in Des Moines. Get a $100 gift certificate for only $80 through Christmas Eve. What a great gift!

2012 Tattoo Conventions

Here is Joshua's tentative convention schedule for the beginning of 2012.

Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention

February 10th- 12th, 2012

Philadelphia Convention Center

Chicago Tattoo Arts Convention

April 13th- 15th, 2012

Crowne Plaza Hotel

Ink-N-Iron Festival

June 8th- 10th, 2012

Aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA

Email Joshua at joshuacbowers@hotmail.com to book an appointment at any of these conventions.

December at Vitae

It was a bit slow at Vitae today but it gave me a chance to get caught up on a few things and to take some photos of all the fun new stuff.

Tagging, sewing, and shipping some new Acanthus t-shirts.

Some of the cute gift ideas Vitae has to offer. Knitted hair bows by Downtown Bow Brown, knee high socks by Sweet Marcel, Iowa coin purses by Florence Oliver and feather earrings by Dani Awesome. Everything pictured above is under $18.

Flashy jewelry by Shu Shu Maus and Girl Friday.

I was really feeling the warmth inside Vitae since it was freezing outside. Pictured above- Shu Shu Maus garters, Acanthus Apparel hoodies, Spacecraft hats and vintage boots.

The Joshua Bowers Web Store

The web store at www.joshuabowers.com is finally working! There are a few t-shirts up including this new one. Check it out! http://www.joshuabowers.com/Shop.html

Fall Photo Shoot Part 2

Here are a few more photos from the recent photo shoot by Jake and Joelle Blomberg.

Indian hoodie, the top pic show the Indian henley underneath the hoodie

Indian tri-blend t-shirt

Skull t-shirt in olive

Fall Photo Shoot Part 1

Julie of Magpie Designs recently set up a photo shoot for her new collection and she was nice enough to give the photographers/ models a few of my items to photograph. Below are the fall 2011 designs... the Indian, bird and in part 2 you'll see the skull design. The models and photographers are the very talented Jake and Joelle Blomberg. They have modeled for Acanthus many times... I love using then in my photo shoots.

Unisex henley with Indian print

Pencil skirt with bird print

November Tattoos

Here are some tattoos Joshua recently finished. The top 4 were all done in St. Louis at the Old School Tattoo Expo. For questions about getting tattooed email Joshua at joshuacbowers@hotmail.com or visit his website, www.joshuabowers.com.

Etsy Holiday Sale

I added a few new items to Etsy and then decided to put everything on sale! Through the end of the day on Monday November 28th everything will be 15% off when you use the coupon code BFCM15 at checkout. As always there is free shipping in the United States.

Holiday Promenade 2011

There has been a lack of blog posts this month because I've been busy stocking up for the East Village Holiday Promenade. My Acanthus racks are full and I even put out some scarves (which make great gifts, hint hint). We also had to decorate our store window for the event. Julie was the one behind the nostalgic window display and I think it looks amazing!

Along with all of the store window displays there will be fireworks, horse and carriage rides, performances from the Nutcracker and lots of goodies inside all of the shops. It's always a magical night in the East Village.

For everyone that lives outside of Des Moines... I'll be updating Etsy next week with lots of cozy hoodies, t-shirts and scarves.

New Pencil Skirt

At Vitae we've had a lot of customers looking for pencil skirts... well here you go. This is the perfect skirt. It's an American Apparel cotton skirt featuring our bird design in a pearl black ink. It's so comfortable and flattering on everyone! Best of all it's only $25!

We used it in the fashion show last Friday. We paired it with a Suzabelle blouse and a red vintage skinny belt. This is one of the first photos of the show and was taken by Jetim Art Photography. I'll share more photos when they become available. You can also keep up with Vitae on Facebook to get updated info from the Accidental Industry Fashion Show...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vitae-Design-Collective/129967813696416

St. Louis Old School Tattoo Expo 2011

Joshua's going to be doing some tattooing in St. Louis this weekend. He'll be at the St. Louis Old School Tattoo Expo. It's one of his favorite conventions to attend. He still has a few openings so email him at joshuacbowers@hotmail.com to book an appointment.

Accidental Industry Fashion Show

It's finally here... this Friday night is the Accidental Industry Fashion show. At Vitae we have been preparing for the past 2 months and are so excited to be involved. This will be the first year for the show which is being produced by Sarah Jae Johnson, Lacy Brunnette and Lucy Shay. The focus of the show is party wear, a perfect kick off for the holiday fashion season.

The show will feature collections from: Hill Vintage, Atomic Garage, Shu Shu Maus, Raygun, Magpie and Vitae Design Collective.

There will be a silent auction at the event to benefit Geez Louise! Young Woman's Organization and Van Holmgren (who also did the poster) has been busy designing the runway.

Tickets are $12 at the door or are still available for $10 at Vitae and Raygun through Thursday evening. There will be a cash bar and after party at the venue. 21+ to attend.

Check out the event Facebook page for more info... https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261346020576345

I'll be sure to post some photos after the event!

New on Etsy

I added a few new things to Etsy. I'll try to start updating Etsy weekly for all of your holiday shopping needs! If you don't see your size please email me at alyssabowers@live.com or convo me on Etsy. Everything on Etsy is also available at Vitae Design Collective in Des Moines.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84856405/mens-brown-tri-bland-indian-tshirt

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84856405/mens-brown-tri-bland-indian-tshirt

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84712744/unisex-v-neck-t-shirt-with-indian-design

More bee burnout baseball t's listed!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/72559040/unisex-bee-burnout-baseball-tee

Saturday at Home

I thought I would share a few photos that I took on my Saturday at home. I spent the day screen printing some new stuff for Vitae, blogging, playing with my chihuahua's and started my Christmas shopping via Etsy. Sometimes I feel so lucky that I get to work from home. I get to have many days like this, not just today.

Acanthus Apparel 2006 Part 2

These were the first 3 shirts by Acanthus Apparel. Very different from what we do now. The only screen printing involved was on the patches. Everything else was bleaching, dying, color removing, sewing and painting.

Acanthus Apparel 2006 Part 1

Here are some of our first Acanthus designs... Enjoy!

These were all sold at Melrose boutique in Des Moines.

Shu Shu Maus Trunk Show Update

My dear friend Sarah Jae and her mom April are the designers behind Shu Shu Maus. In September we had a trunk show featuring their designs along with some champagne, miller high life and chocolate covered donuts. Here are a few photos I took using Instagram.