Further Adventures In Travel And Retail...

I saw both this and a manatee mailbox!

A week after my North Carolina trip, I took a week long trip down to Florida with my dad to see my sister's beach cabin in Ormond Beach. She's been spending week-long vacations rehabbing the house for when she and her boyfriend eventually move down there for good. Before the trip, I realized I didn't really have clothing for the trip, my summer stuff from before no longer fit so I had to supplement what I did have with a pair of sandals and some linen drawstring pants from Target for the trip.

I've been to Florida once before but I flew to Miami then, this time we would be traveling by Amtrak Auto Train, a seventeen-hour ride so that we could also transport the car and avoid the 900 miles of driving. But still, seventeen hours is not easy, especially when you have to sleep in your seat and even though the seats are similar to a recliner with a raised foot bed, the backs only recline about 25%.

What can I say, but it wasn't until the last day of the trip that I actually bought anything. First, we stopped at a Sports Authority since they were going out of business. My dad stocked up on fleece lounge wear and I purchased a unique fleece top from Capezio with a cowl large enough to be worn as a hood and front side tucks that double for shallow pockets much like the tucks on the StyleArc Daphne Duo top.

Later, I was able to get my family to visit the St. Augustine Premium Outlets because my sister wanted to go to the Clarks outlet too and I was able to buy a pair of Brynn Ivy pumps. However, the family became quickly bored so we left to check out my second suggestion, the Daytona Flea Market. Now, it seems I was sadly mistaken on what a flea is. I was expecting something akin to the Antique Fleas I've attended in Northern Virginia. Instead, this was full of items like, novelty t-shirts, used romance and thriller paperbacks, discount or hot electronics, purses, backpacks, tattoo artists, and pretty much anything else you would find available on late night infomercials.


As we were about the leave, I stumbled upon a booth selling loose gems, jewelry findings and some finished jewelry items for amazingly cheap prices, like $5 each for the pieces pictured. I ended up purchasing three items, a pair of earrings composed of  amethyst, labradorite, and black tourmaline; a carnelian teardrop pendant, and a polished disc of Brazilian agate, the last two are to be made into necklaces. I found a YouTube tutorial for creating an adjustable necklace by using a slide-knot  mechanism. I can use that or mount the necklace in a more traditional way like this example:

 

After this, the next project is pants.

Again, With The Craftiness!

Woo hoo! Another piece of jewelry made by me! Next I'll have to do up some earrings to go with these, right?

le voyage creatif necklace

The inspiration:



My version:

 

 In all its double-tiered glory.



Just a peek at some of my other necklaces.

Next time, I work with these wooden beads I'm going to do something about painting them.

Images:  le voyage creatif, my own photos

Frustration Breeds Craftiness

Frustrated about my delayed sewing project this weekend, I just moved on to another project.

Like many, I have become obsessed with Pinterest and have been pinning things like crazy. I noticed a few people have created so-called "Made From Pinterest" groups, where they hope to actually follow through on their inspiration pins. Well, I went and made one of my pin projects real.

As seen in my Pinterest and Flicker pools:

Sally J Shim tutorial, Oslo necklace by Le voyage creatif

My versions


Though this kind of necklace is REALLY easy to make and I had the materials for a few months, I still dragged my feet. You see, I really wanted to make a necklace like these but couldn't figure out how to approximate the fired enamel look of the beads. Well, since I had enough beads to do that project later, I instead decided to try the natural look.

The final is made of two strands of 1/8" black satin ribbon while the practice one is made of inferior white twine (the ends frayed badly). Both necklaces used the same decorative metal beads and wooden ones in three different sizes from Ben Franklin.

The making is SO EASY, but I did refer to this tutorial by Sally J. Shim.

Images: Sally J Shim , Le voyage creatif, my own scans

Favorite Collection - Donna Karan

Donna Karan Spring RTW 2012

I love almost everything about this collection! The colors, the jewelry, the diagonal lines, the contrasting bands on the asymmetric, randomly pleated skirts and pretty much all of the shoes. Oh, and yes, that lipstick color too.







The fabrics used were stretch canvas, silk gazaar, organza, paper canvas for the skirts (!), polished raffia, and linen/rayon/spandex blends in shades of black, bone, earth, African violet, copper, terracota, clay, papaya, citrus green, and orange! By the way, I need one of those wooden necklaces stat!

Images: Style.com

What I'm Up To Now

Sorry, I don't have time to write any meaty posts (it's the last two weeks of the semester and I have two papers and two exams to do) so instead you're going to get a list of what I'm currently doing and what I'm gearing up to do.

• Received some vintage patterns from a friend's late mothers' stash and they are almost my size. They include 1950s Simplicity, Advance, and several mail order patterns still factory folded and in their mailers (Marian Martin, Anne Adams, etc.) Of course, I'll do some posts on them after I get the rest of them scanned. The ones above are my favorites. Here's another that I received, Simplicity 4697, and I've seen it being sold for $30 and up.




• Bought supplies to make some necklaces similar to the Kristina Klarin ones that I wrote about. I now have wooden beads and blocks and just need to paint them. Hopefully I can come up with luscious color formulas and combinations like she did.




• Working on another tester dress pattern that I'm really looking forward to wearing before it gets too hot. The fabric is so nice but it is more suitable to a mild spring or mid-fall. I already pictured how I'm going to style it and that will involve a lavender enameled flower brooch. So, now I have to find that brooch because it only exists in my imagination right now. If you have any ideas, let me know, ok?




• Writing more fashion history posts for the Colette Patterns blog (soon to be re-launched as The Coletterie). I am currently researching 1960s style and miniskirts!




• I now have a good collection of projects already matched with fabric for at least five articles of clothing to make over this summer...hopefully to be worn this summer. I better get on it!




• Oh, and taking a summer semester class on Richmond Architecture, but luckily, I have a few weeks rest before it starts.
  

The Color Side of Necklaces

The other side of the coin is one also needs to bring color into the wardrobe in other ways. Why not try a colorful necklace? Perhaps something fun and whimsical?

Though these necklaces are metallic, the color of these Shabd fabric prints at Totokaelo lighten the mood and celebrate the great weather coming to us here on the East Coast of the U.S. You won't find fabric like that at Jo-Anns though. So a colorful piece around your neck may be the best way to go.

Similar ones to these are priced as $40 and $100.

First up, are these gorgeous wooden enameled bead necklaces. Unfortunately, these two specific Kristina Klarin necklaces are no longer available but I love her style (check out her personal blog here). They set me off on another journey looking for something similar and that is how I found the necklace below offered by The Vamoose.

Serpentine bead & metal necklace, $51.27 USD

However, these types of designs could be easy to duplicate, especially if using cord instead of chain, you just need to purchase some wooden balls, some cool tester pots of paint, some silk cord and use this tutorial provided by Jenny Gordy at Wikstenmade.

Another why to bring in color is to incorporate floral images such as these by new-to-me company, Ruche:

Charms of the Garden, $45, Rustic Romance, $40.

I think I've already found my colored necklace. It's only $40 dollars so I will probably get it as an "I survived another semester of college" gift in a few weeks after I actually survived. Here are some pics from the amazing site where I found it, Elk Accessories in Australia:

Fan necklaces, long and short, $30-40.

Image sources: totokaelo.com. Kristina Klarin images via Jennskistudio; The Vamoose, Ruche, Elk Accessories

Another Look At Statement Necklaces

OK, I'm officially obsessed now. I can't stop searching for necklaces! So here are some more that I've found and there will probably be even more. I have also found some pretty fabulous jewelry tutorials too if I decide to save my money afterall.

These first three pictures (from Talbots and Totokaelo) show you how a great necklace (even worn without earrings) can make a simple outfit look polished and finished. Don't you agree?

See how a statement necklace pumps up even the most basic of garments?

Samma Extended Study in Space, $288

This one is a little over the top (and out of my price range!), but it is adjustable and can change shape, either massed into a tinier shape or furled out like eagles wings, as seen here.

Labana necklace, $48; Garan necklace, $58.

Agnes necklace, $44; Takia necklace, $54.

Believe it or not but the pieces above are all from maligned clothing manufacturer, Chico's. Note: In some otherwise fussy stores you may have to look through the overly designed to find the simpler designs but it can be worth it.

Modern abstract brass necklace, $125.

Is this not fabulous?! It should be, it's from online store Slap Me Fabulous.

Geometric Diamond Bib necklace (1036N), $96.

Geometric Pendant Necklace (1038N), $52. Another possibility.

This store, Brodie Hall Jewelry came up in a Google image search after about an hour and I am in love! Isn't that last necklace almost perfect?

Any ideas which one from this or the other post I should buy? Please help.

Sources (listed in order): Talbots.com (1), Totokaelo (3), Chico's (4), Slap Me Fabulous (1), Brodie Hall Jewelry (4)

The Statement Necklace

Note: I just received an AdSense check from Google and have a bit of profit in my Etsy shop, so I'm thinking of treating myself to something nice. Otherwise, I would not be looking at jewelry. Isn't that sad but it's just not a necessity.

Lodge, $98.

I suddenly had a desire to buy myself some jewelry, especially a statement necklace, much like the ones I admire all the time at Totokaelo, all metal but simple in style. Something that would make a simple T and shorts combo look "artist" cool.

Copper Ladder, $40.

This feeling all came after I saw some old posts on Simple Lovely showing the jewelry that the author Joslyn owns. She is almost always wearing some fabulous necklace to go with her very cool clothes. This time, the necklace was by Laura Lombardi via the Pretty Mommy site. Checking out her items available there, her namesake site, and her Etsy shop these are the ones I just can't stop thinking about:

Spiked Fringe, $70. A real possibility

Mida, $110

Triangle Cascade, $115

Remigial, $200

Such a favorite, but oh...the price.

So an actual Lombardi is still a possibility because she does have some affordable pieces, but I still went searching the Internets for similar pieces and other artists who use these materials.

Here are two that I found:

New Grid by Nikki Koru, $39

Tribal Tubular, $29 on sale!

I should snatch this last one up now, right? Before I regret it like I regret missing out on this gem?

Sources (in order): Pretty Mommy, Laura Lombardi.com, Laura Lombardi at Etsy, Nomoikoru at Etsy, Banana Republic.com