Designer Focus - Michelle Chang Jewelry

 I was very excited to see one of my favorite Etsy shops featured on Fab.com the other day.

I've been a fan of Michelle Chang's jewelry for a while now and had been planning on making a purchase but this gave me added incentive.  There were a few pieces on Fab that I had not seen in her store so I made sure to add them to my cart right away.

What I love about her pieces are the delicate details combined with the soft finishes.  Each piece has a warmth and humor that is so engaging.  

The piece that first got me interested in her work was this whimsical (you know I can't resist that!) snake ring.  As a fan of snakes (they're much maligned and misunderstood), I was instantly smitten with his playful expression.

This ring also has a lovely brass version holding an amethyst.

I actually purchased the silver snake ring directly from Michelle's Etsy store but I did nab two pieces via Fab. First was the fox necklace in sterling with diamond eyes.  She has this without stones, as a ring and earrings as well.

Two snakes are better than one, right?  I also nabbed the brass "holding is tail" (very ouroboros, no?) snake with ruby eyes.

Working with Michelle through Etsy has been a pleasure so far.  I love that she'll adjust sizes and stones to suit your preferences.  I've had nothing but great experiences with the artists on Etsy and I can't wait to wear my new pieces.

Help a Sister Out

We all love a good cause, but dammit, we love jewelry too!  How do you reconcile that.  Well I've got just the thing.  Fabulous jewelry designer and blogger, Wendy Brandes is helping (AGAIN) a fellow blogger friend in need.

Wendy is donating proceeds from sales of her Woolf necklace and Swear Rings towards Sister Wolf's new roof.  Collapsing roofs do not make for a good winter and Sister Wolf needs our help.

I have both the Woolf necklace and the first set of Swear Rings and I can honestly state they are fabulous.  I wear my Woolf necklace ALL THE TIME.  It's a bit of an obsession really.  And the Swear Rings...well, they're just perfect for work.  They've also garnered attention at several trade shows, including Blog World in Vegas.



So head over to Wendy's NOW and buy some rings or a necklace either for yourself or for a gift.  Then bask in the fact that you get amazing jewelry and help someone too!

Disney Dreams

Once I left working for Disney, I pretty much stopped buying any Disney paraphernalia.  I have enough princesses and pixie dust to tide me over for the next decade.  But I do admit to being more than a little tempted by the nOir Jewelry collaboration for the 50th Anniversary of Fantasia.

I especially love that they focused a number of pieces on the Rites of Spring scenes...

Scene 1: Genesis

Scene 2: Evolution

Scene 3: Extinction

I love the dinosaur bone cuffs.

Although I do have quite a fondness for the Nutcracker scenes. Dancing mushrooms. Fairies and snowflakes...

But really, who can resist the dancing hippos in Dance of the Hours?  I may have gone as a dancing hippo for Halloween one year.

And I've always thought the Pastoral scenes were the prettiest.

I do wish they had done something devilish for Night on Bald Mountain (I love saying the name Mussorgsky!)

Check out the full collection at nOir.

Project Time: Grosgrain and Chain Necklace

In the spirit of P.S. I Made This, I saw this cute little neckace from Ann Taylor and thought it would be fun to make my own version.  I don't do a lot of jewelry making but I loved the pink ribbon combined with the gold and the crystal drops.

So off I went to Michaels for supplies.  I decided to do two versions, one in silver and one in a gold.  I would say I felt a bit limited in terms of chain and crystal options, not having exactly what I hoped for, but I found some pretty good options.   I didn't take a lot of supplies - 1 package of chain each, the crystals, 1 spool of pink grosgrain ribbon and jump rings and clasps (enough for more projects too)

I ended up using 24 inches of chain each because they get compressed when you thread through the ribbon, losing about 4 - 6 inches.  I wanted the crystals to hang down so this length worked out perfectly.

I used little briolets for the gold version.  I may go back to get more so I can continue them up, more like the inspiraiton piece.

For the silver, there were two sizes of the crystals in the packet so I took advantage of that to creat a more dangly piece.

All in all I spent about $50, including for the clippers, to make two necklaces with material to spare.  As P.S. I Made This says - I saw it, I liked it, I made it!

Bubblegum Plastic: Steel, Glass and Concrete

For some reason I'm drawn to cloud jewelry lately.  I don't have a reason for it.  The pieces that catch my eye just seem to have a peaceful, whimsical quality to them.  So it's not surprising this necklace jumped out at me on Etsy the other day.

It's sort of like cartoon cloud.  Simple, peaceful and... sturdy.  It's made of steel, glass and concrete yet retains its fluffy cloud integrity.

The cloud necklace is great but, after visiting the rest of DrCraze's shop I found myself liking quite a few of his pieces.

The size on this simple circle is wonderful.  The chunks of aquamarine sparkle have to sparkle.

I'm particularly fond of the black glass pieces especially when they are bound in brass.  I think I need the Void design above.

His designs are simple and graphic.  They have strength and size but their elegance is what really stands out. And the prices are reasonable, most around $35 - $45.

Just don't buy my cloud!

Bubblegum Plastic: English Summer cloud necklace

Bubblegum Plastic is where we talk about all the other fun stuff... where I try to think about more than just shoes!

I love cute little whimsical necklaces, especially from the talented folks on Etsy. When I was browsing around the other day, I saw this sweet cloud and rain necklace from Mixko.

The piece is about 4" from the top of the little felted cloud to the bottom crystal raindrop.

Even though it is a raincloud, it's a happy little cloud with sparkly blue raindrops. So it makes you smile!

English Summer rain and cloud necklace - $30 from Mixko on Etsy. She also has an adorable rainbow necklace and some delicate butterfly rings that I love too. Check her out!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit

I'm doing the transitional thing again. Trying to work in some of the clothes from summer that I haven't had a chance to wear as well as putting together color combinations that I like the look of.

On Wednesday, I decided to wear this bright pink patterned silky wrap dress from JCrew with the much more substantial dark brown corduroy blazer from Target. One of my favorite elements of the dress (and the reason I bought the same style in three fabrics - on sale!) is the ruffle collar. What's fun with it, is when you wear the dress under a blazer, the ruffle gets pushed up and creates this sort of ornate neckline that really frames your face.

The two colors are very strong and contrast each other well. I walked in the door to work and got all sorts of compliments which I directly contribute to the colors working off of each other.



In keeping with the simple/ornate look I wore one of my new Paraphernalia pieces - a "P for Poochie" Petit Nom Initial Necklace. If you have not found a Paraphernalia piece that you like, you just can't be looking. I think I have about ten pieces and I love them all - from girly to a bit goth.

You're going to be seeing a lot more pieces of hers because I just received a bunch and I'm so excited I'm wearing them almost every day.



For shoes, I wore these Casadei dark brown suede mary janes. I love the shape of these when they're on and the color and material are an equal weight to the blazer - they help to ground the dress.



Plus they have giant pom-poms!



The Focal Point

It was all about the dress and the great color and pattern. I am a sucker for a great saturated pink. I really cannot resist, even when I should.



I think this weekend might be the right time to do the seasonal switch for the closets and pulling out the sweaters. But I'm going to have to keep this transitional idea in mind and not bury anything too deeply that I might want to layer with.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Yeah! It's finally warm enough today to wear some of my new stuff. I'm wearing my red Gap light knit v-neck top, which is so flattering that I should have bought several in all the colors, and my denim skirt. To add a bit of tonal craziness, I'm wearing my Paraphernalia Anatomica Heart necklace.



I love how this thing freaks people out.


It's so weird. I love it.



The Focal Point
White shoes before Memorial Day, OMG! Hey, it's warm enough, it's not raining and they're new. So there. I'm a rebel, Dottie.




But how could you wait to wear shoes as cute as these?



You just can't!

You will be seeing a lot of these babies this Summer.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
We had off on Friday and it was awesome. I went to Target and went absolutely crazy. Luckily I'm taking about three-fourths of it back. I just hate trying stuff on in the dressing room.

But even better, we went out for a delicious Indian dinner straight after I got home from the store. I wore my stripe-y ribbed top, grey corduroy Old Navy skirt, lavender thigh-high socks from Sock Daydreams and my new vintage magenta suede pom-pom heels.



I got this necklace from Target. Doesn't it remind you of the JCrew bubble necklaces? But way less expensive. I like the color, its so happy and bright.



The Focal Point
But it was all focused on my dark lavender knit thigh-highs from Sock Dreams paired with the vintage heels.





They both have a lot of texture and the colors are equally strong. I just got these from eBay. They fit okay but I'm not sure how much wear I'll get out of them. I'm debating keeping them. They may not be worth real estate they take up. We'll have to see.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I'm a total slacker today. Just jeans, a red v-neck sweater and printed flats from Target.



The Focal Point
I don't even know if I really have one today. Maybe it was just to get out the door and get to work and get the day over with.


I made a necklace from a glass bead just like this. Michaels has all these pretty beads and some larger ones, like these, are perfect for an inexpensive necklace. One larger graphic bead in a striking color on a thin wire is an easy 5 minute project that give a great result.


These sable floral flats from Target are now on sale for $12

Red sweater from Target. These are actually much warmer than they look here.

But I was still kind of chilly. We're predicted to get freezing rain tonight. I hope my car isn't covered in ice tomorrow morning.