Inside Fall Fashion Magazines: InStyle, Lucky, Elle

It's September! Which means one thing... Fall Fashion magazines...each of telephone book sized thickness! I thought I'd share my favorite ads and features of 3 September 2009 Fall preview magazines: InStyle, Lucky, and Elle.

To start- Marion Cottliard for Dior: Old Hollywood Glamour..

Ralph Lauren - I love how feminine this is. The combination of the embroidered and beaded bodice with the dirty pink skirt makes this quite vintage:

and here are the shoes... sigh...

Emma Watson for Burberry: Showing that sophisticated can be young. I love the jacket, bag and bracelet in this ad.

I love the color of her coat in this one- it's the perfect shade of tan, I really wish I could press her coat though..

I'm officially ready for trench coats.. and coffee.. naturally the two go hand in hand..

I have to say that besides the Burberry trenches, I have yet to find a trench for fall that I love. I was hopeful for J.Crew but what they currently offer doesn't seem to excite me.

A trench should do something for a woman; asthetically it should fit like a shirtdress and work to perfect your shape, and psychologically it should make you believe that when you put it on, you look exactly like Eva Green in last year's Mont Blanc ad.. ;)

I love, love, love high waisted pencil skirts with demure blouses. This outfit was featured in Lucky September 2009 issue. The blouse is Armani Exchange.

I'm so excited about the return of camel.. Its sooo retro and chic. The look is definetly in for coats but I'm even more thrilled to see camel pencil skirts.

Max Mara ad: Camel coat and pencil skirt

Another high waisted camel pencil skirt.. This one is from Ralph Lauren's Blue Label collection (from Lucky September 2009 issue)

If I could live in any other time it would be in the 40s and 50s so I could dress like this on a daily basis for no good reason.. (Lucky Magazine September 2009 issue)

I think this ad for the OPI Espana Line embodies brunette glamour.. After checking out the line I decided to buy the color Manicurist of Seville, after checking out this picture, I think I'm going to make an oversized red rose for my hair. :)

Well thats all for now.. busy working on new designs!!

Mad Men Yourself!

Oh how I love all the 40s inspired fashion coming out this fall-- high waisted pencil skirts, fitted sheath dresses, and pearls, pearls, pearls.... I love Mad Men for all the gorgeous vintage clothes and accessories and now they have a site where you can "Mad Men Yourself"
http://www.madmenyourself.com/

Here's how I turned out! Of course I put on ALL the jewelry available ;-)

You can build a virtual Mad Men version of yourself; picking your body type, face, hair, and other features and then choose from different 40s outfits, colors, accessories and put yourself in a Mad Men scene.

You can download your creation to your desktop, facebook, and other format options..

go to http://www.madmenyourself.com/ to create your own!

Winners of Blushing Pink Flower Pin

Thanks to everyone who subscribed and posted to my blog! Im really excited and thrilled to have some subscribers and you all are so very sweet.

Now without further ado... the drawing for the free Blushing Pink flower pin (pulling out of crystal bowl...lets pretend its a hat..;))

and the winners are:
gigiofca
reroha

gigi - I will be sure to send you an email for your addy. reroha- you didnt post your addy but I think I have it from the Turquoise necklace you ordered.

It looks like I only have 1 more flower left on etsy... I will try to make more..

I will have another giveaway hopefully this week for the J.crew inspired antiqued cream pearl and gold plated chain necklace!!!

Thank you again!

J.Crew Inspired XL Flower Brooch Pin + Giveaway!

I love the J.Crew XL Flower Brooch Pin featured on J.Crew's June Issue.

Here is my version.

It is 6 inches across in diameter, it has blushing pink, and rich pink colors, and texturally feels like real flower petals.

Since I would like some followers/subscribers (what can I say, im needy....lol, j/k;)) I've decided to give 2 away to 2 followers/subscribers.

If you are interested please subscribe and leave a comment saying "count me in" or something to that effect. I will do a drawing once I have 5 subscribers. :)

I included 2 pins on the back of my flower: a traditional bar pin back and a hair clip, so it can be worn as a brooch pin or in your hair.

I recommend the following in depth tutorial video by hairstylst Johnny Lavoy where he shows how to do a Katherine Heigel Inspired hairdo accented with a large flower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEW_0E08kA

Video stills (front view)

(back view)

For anyone interested in purchasing one of these pins, I will put them on etsy for $15 each. :)

J.Crew Inspired Antique Cream Pearl and Chain Necklace

I was inspired by the J.Crew Pearl and Chain necklace to make my own version using a antiqued cream glass pearl.

I love how versitile this necklace is - I wear it often and love how it instantly refines an outfit.

It's 38 inches long and is made with 14K plated gold. Here are some pics of my latest piece!

Zoom of the antique cream glass pearl:

Up on etsy for $35.

FREE gift from Coach- Coach Poppy Pencil Set!

I just got back from Coach today with my FREE Coach Poppy Pencil Set!



Coach’s Facebook group is giving away Coach Poppy Pencil sets. All you have to do is fill out the form below and take it into Coach.

http://poppyfacebook.coach.com/?langId=-1&storeId=10551&storeId=10551&catalogId=10051&cid=PPFA0017&bannerCode=PPFA0017

I would advise calling Coach first to make sure your nearest Coach store has some left.

I am going to use mine to sketch my jewelry and clothing designs. :)

DIY J.Crew Glass Pearl Necklace Tutorial

I love the J.Crew Glass Pearl Necklaces, so I decided to do a tutorial for anyone who would like to make their own!

The necklaces come in several shades of pearl; I will be making a pink pearl in this tutorial.

Let’s get right down to business!

Supplies
- Gold plated chain
- 12 12-mm pink glass pearls
- 6 8-mm gold plated crystal disc rondells
- Gold plated or non-tarnish brass wire – 24 or 22 gauge thickness
- Clasp

Equipment:
- Round nose pliers
- Chain nose pliers
- Wire cutters
- Ruler

I’m using disc rondells in between the pearls instead of the barbell ones Jcrew uses- Once I finished the necklace I realized that I actually prefer the look of the disc rondells more. :)

For the gold plated chain I chose a thicker chain as the original necklace has a thicker chain with a dark gold, almost brassy, color.

For the chain you’ll need (3) 7-inch pieces and (4) 3-inch pieces

For those who are beginner or novice, here is an excellent diagram showing how to use pliers to create wrapped loop.

1) Grasp the wire about 2 inches from the end with chain-nose pliers. Bend the wre flat against the pliers to create a 90 degree angle.

2) With round nose pliers grasp the wire at the 90 degree angle you just made. Pull the wire up and over the top of the round nose pliers.

3) Place the lower jaw of the round nose pliers back into the look you just made and,

4) continue pulling the wire around the bottom jaw into a full round loop.

-Before you finish your loop entirely you will want to run the end of your chain segment onto your wire.-

5) Hold the loop you just made stationary with chain-nose pliers (I wrap mine in masking tape to protect the wire) and using your fingers or bent nose pliers wrap the wire around the neck 2-3 times. Use wire cutters to trim excess wire.

Box # 6 in the diagram shows the finished wraped loop. If you like, you can then use pliers (needle or chain nose) to tighten the loops ontop of one another.

Now place your pearl, rondell and second pearl on the wire and create another wrapped loop (steps 1-6) with a chain segment . This is what it will look like:

Repeat the process--the order of chains between the pearls from clasp to clasp will be the following pattern:
Clasp, 7-3-3-7-3-3-7, Clasp.

With a pearl-rondell-pearl combination (-) in between each stretch of chain.

The finished product:

Some artisitic shots:

I also made this necklace in a purple toned pearl:

I hope this helps! Enjoy!