spotlight ten: antique key and pearly necklace

the outfit: dress, thrifted; belt, thrifted; boots, gift from my love (as was the wedding ring ;) ; and necklace, designed by me.

this necklace is fairly self-explanatory (and pretty :) - an antique key from a bunch given to me (thanks, Melana!) along with a vintage costume pearl dangly thing... see, it probably would've been better if i HADN'T described it (you were thinking that, admit it ;).

i didn't think of my outfit as monochromatic (read: boring) until i saw these pictures all together like this! in my mind there were tans and creams and yellows and browns... my usual outfits involve a lot more color, i guess... but i still love it! just want to add like some colorful flowers to my hair or something. good thing we shot these 10 minutes before i left for work, or i might've made jason retake them with a little extra pizzazz of some kind... actually, the truth is, i started making some lovely mustard yellow legwarmers out of a beautifully crocheted scarf, which i was planning to wear with this dress. but it became too time-consuming (i am so all about immediate results - no patience for a couple hours of retying loose ends of yarn. i think i stuck with it for about 3 1/2 minutes. probably could get it done in an hour. but that's if i have the desire for delayed gratification sometime soon... which is unlikely with all my deadlines looming in the next three weeks (yes, finishing all my inventory for this light of christmas boutique next week is one, but then my sister's wedding is the next week. in honduras. i need to figure out how to travel in unsafe foreign countries with my almost-two-year-old quick. for example, do you bring a carseat?? and then her california reception is the following week, with lots of details still to work out, but not until after the women's retreat that i'm in charge of the nametags and gift bags for. and all the while, i'm supposed to be coordinating decor for church!) so much good stuff and even my-heart's-desire stuff. but i think it's too much - what do you think? ;)

spotlight nine: golden flower necklace

 the outfit: top, my drawer? i really can't remember, it's been so long. it might even be considered vintage ;) skirt, thrifted; sweater, thrifted; belt, forever 21; shoes, ross, then altered by me (before & after pix here); earrings, renegade craft fair (can't remember the vendor's name - boo), and no, that little piece of gray crud is not part of it. not sure what happened there...; necklace, handmade/altered (used to be a guess necklace, with a big capital G where there is now a paper flower - some might question my priorities, but i say they are with beauty.)

golden flower necklace 
this necklace is part of my line of riveted paper flower jewelry, using various papers and various means of sealing them. this one was a page in a 1970s vogue brochure, and the whole thing was dipped in melted beeswax afterwards. i love the way the wax gives a little golden glow to it (also, the fact that we were shooting at sunset made the colors a little warm, too ;)

i love this yellow wall. especially the multi-tonedness of it as they keep having to paint over new tagging. and it's amazing when the tree in front blooms - it's yellow, too :)

spotlight eight: lace window necklace

the outfit: top, skirt, belt, shoes, and coat: thrifted, earrings: forever 21,  and necklace: handmade. these are colors i would have never thought of pairing until i found this belt at savers last week; then i couldn't help putting them together! :)

 i love this one! drilled the hole through the maroonish gaskety thing (how's that for official description?? ;) and attached it to the chain, then pulled a tiny piece of lace from my vintage collection and used the washer (?) as a window!

  i guess i just love that it is see-through, so you get to see the color behind, too :)

 with and without the vintage coat - our weather is still sort in-between around here ;)

spotlight seven: green angel earrings

the outfit: top (last seen as a dress, here, before i shrunk it), ross; shorts, ross, polka-dot shoes, thrifted; polka-dot scarf (around wrist), thrifted; bag, thrifted; earrings, handmade

spotlight on: green angel earrings. made from a length of chain, a couple of beads, and of course some hardware (in this case a wingnut), once this piece came together, i couldn't help noticing they look like angels dangling from my ears! which is perfect for "the Light of Christmas Boutique", where they'll be for sale november 4th (the boutique is on the 5th, too, but don't expect these cuties to still be hanging around by then ;). i know most people would tell me: make more like this! if you find something you think people will like, mass produce them! these ones aren't so weird like your other jewelry... (i actually had a friend tell me this week, "YOU can pull your jewelry off, but i'm not sure anyone ELSE can!") but i have to tell you... i just can't do it. which is i guess part of why i consider myself an "artist" rather than a "crafter". i don't just come up with a good audience-friendly product, then make it in large (cookie cutter) quantities. my artistic soul needs to make new and fresh things every time. so any piece you see of mine is truly one-of-a-kind, and will stay that way! new things might include elements i enjoyed from some past piece, but never a duplicate. so, only one of you will be wearing these angels when the weekend is over (love it!)!

spotlight six: melted chrome statement piece

 note to self: a pumpkin patch that includes 12+ bounce houses might not be the best place for a shoot. you might end up with slightly busy backgrounds, some of which include scary skeleton pirates, spiderwebs, and witches. note to the rest of you: sorry.  (see below - i clumsily photoshopped the worst parts out of this first image ;)

 the outfit: layered tops: thrifted, jeans, thrifted (used to be flared 90s style when i bought them and i made them skinny in the 00s... and now it's the 10s ;), flip flops: old navy, necklace: handmade

i have a lovely friend who always brings me little discoveries from her hiking all over southern california's mountains. this time, it was a piece of melted chrome with all these little rocks embedded (found after the fires in the area)! and i turned it into a necklace :) as an artist friend said this week, "you couldn't have designed it better if you'd done it on purpose" - love capitalizing on those little "accidental art" finds (click on link to head over to my art blog and see some more accidental art captures :)! 

and now, of course, the real reason we went to the pumpkin patch ;)

 aren't my boys the cutest? i love their flannels :)

spotlight five: yellow pendant and found hardware necklace

close... closer... closest! 

i love the closeup of this necklace - you can really see the detail of the found hardware pieces and all their different textures...!

and i made a meal this week that joey ate! 

cook 8oz penne pasta according to package directions, drain.  cook 8oz sausage and 1 cup sliced onion in 2 tsp. olive oil for 4 minutes (until browned). add 2 tsp minced garlic (you guys, for the first time in my life i bought the packaged minced garlic...! such a timesaver! though i guess you give up a bit of freshness? we didn't notice ;) and cook for 2 minutes. add 1 1/4lb chopped tomatoes (this equaled 7 Romas for me), cook for 2 minutes.  take off stove and add the cooked pasta, 2 Tbsp grated Romano cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper. sprinkle with 4 Tbsp

grated Romano, and 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn. - serve! jason, joey, and i all loved it, and it only has 389 cal per serving (this recipe makes 4 servings)! :) we had broccoli with it, cause i knew joey'd eat that even if he wouldn't eat the pasta - but he did! yay! success! need more recipes like this one (but different ;)