Marketing is a Party

So, after a very long year of being "out of production," I'm getting back into the game of slinging my wares.  My fashion accessories, wall art, and jewelry organizers will be featured, as well as the collage art of Invisible Maps creator Sean Fleckenstein and the products of AWEH (worldenergyhealing.com) for Being, my mother's project and baby.  I'm so frenzied and excited for this I can hardly breathe!  My hope is to pull together this combination of handmade goodness for events at least once a month in the near future, so please, please, please come to the Village Merchants Streeet Fair Party and let me know what you think of my latest marketing venture.  Happy Summer!

Monogram Magic

I LOVE it when monograms are the trend headliners.  Not just for weddings anymore, personalized capital letters are popping up everywhere fashion and design go.  Stella McCartney's patterning of antique monograms is fresh, fun, and covetable beyond belief.  Awhile back I dropped off eight lovely vintage gold-fill initial pendants to Thea's Interiors in NW Portland, where the owner is as enamored by monograms as I am.  The monogram mix-and-match charm earrings and necklaces that I hand stamp with a thin Modern font can be found at Manzanita News and Amenity Shoes.  Also at Manzanita News are adorable vintage monogrammed heart charm earrings.  Whenever I wear mine, I am asked to tell the story of whose initial I am sporting that day, because, as it turns out, everyone loves monograms.  So go ahead, go to the place where the meta possibilities of monograms live, and get yourself some capital letters and adorn yourself asap!

Goofy is the new Awesome

About | Where The Hell Is Matt?

Mineral of the Month

Pyrite
The Mineral of the Month for January 2012 is the earthy and metallic Pyrite, the most common of the sulfide minerals.  Pyrite, like it's cousins nickel and marcasite, performs the job of oxidation in the natural world, a job that transforms rock formations.  Legends go all the way back to the Neanderthals, who ground it up and used it as a pigment to paint their environment and their bodies, like an early form of glitter.  Its name is derived from the ancient Greek purites "of fire" because it sparks when struck against steel.  Who even knows how long it's been called "fool's gold" for its brassy metallic color?

Pyrite's job in nature aligns solidly with the First Moon of the year, a time when Earth has shed what was and waits for what will become.  It carries a combination of fire and earth energy and is perfect for the Zodiac sign of Capricorn.  Cappies are usually chasing gold, afterall, are they not? *wink, wink*  It also promotes the activation of the first energy center in the Human body, providing physical and emotional protection while thoughts gestate and turn into action.  Ban the Winter blahs with pyrite!

Pyrite is a mirror of the Winter landscape and the perfect compliment to the coloring of a Winter person.  Famous Winters include Catherine Zeta Jones, Halle Berry, and Cher and Snow White, of course.  It's a great foil for a Winter wardrobe, breaking up the monotony of neutral woolens, and enhancing the boldness of primary silks.  It simultaneously exudes luxury and humility, and is good for urban or rural settings, guys or gals.  Wear your pyrite treasure while working on that new project expected to bring fortune and fame, and you're sure to exert an unshakable confidence and momentum in your endeavor.

Color Theory

 
While everyone is running about for Black Friday, White Friday, Small Business Saturday, and et al, I am obsessing over this color palette for next spring, dreaming up an edgy new concept that focuses on color instead of material.  I'm so excited for Spring 2012 to come that I feel like a little kid at Christmas.  I can't stop thinking of how I want to combine colors and sizes of silk cord with ombre oxidized sterling silver chain, and add in some monochromatic combinations of letterpress paper cutouts.  I imagine the pieces to be modern takes on traditional craft, and when I debut the concept just in time for next Spring, it will be like opening that huge present that every kid secretly hopes Santa is delivering special for them.  Now, please excuse me while I get back to my tangerine powered visions of driftwood covered in bellflowers, starfish and sweet lilacs....

Poetry

'complicate me/
if it means/
I get to see/
the parts of you you hide/
simplify me/
if it means/
I get to feel/
electric waves of your tide

https://twitter.com/#!/PurplePoetry77/status/118782053968912384

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Pendant Love

coolhunting.com

ecouterre.com

vogue.com

All over the internet I am seeing the resurgence of the classicly simple and chic pendant.  Thank the Heavens, because I was becoming very weary of clunky, heavy, and complicated neckpieces worn as everyday wear.  Are we cartoon characters? Really?  The 18"-24" length of the 2011 pendant keeps it from seeming too much like the dainty chokers of the late nineties, and the bold centerpieces keep them visually strong.
Buh bye big baubles.  See ya next time around. 

Summer 2011

Donald J. Pliner sandals from Due Donne Boutique...style AND comfort.

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The Perfect Wardrobe

My favorite pieces for early spring 2011:
LA Made hoodie jacket, found at Due Donne Boutique
Luminata hat made of recycled cashmere sweaters
Kenneth Cole Reaction leather pumps purchased at Buffalo exchange
3 dots long sleeve v-neck baby rib tee and 3 dots super thin baby rib racer back tank, both at Due Donne Boutique
Western style boots found secondhand on Melrose in LA, one has a steel toe detail, one doesn't
Cotton thigh high socks from sockdreams.com
Elbow length gloves purchased at colorado co-op
Level 99 skinny jeans, so soft, at Due Donne Boutique
LA Made cashmere cardigan, Due Donne Boutique
These compliment my Knot Collection perfectly, but now its time to say see ya later to some of the heavier pieces and make way for summer wear....

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Spring Fever

Debra came into Due Donne just as I finished merchandising the case with new designs.  The bulb pendant and earrings flew onto her and were joined by the most perfect black tee ever and a pair of high rise flared jeans.  Perfect!  I'm in love with how they all layer together and play well with the pieces she wore into the boutique.....ah, springtime shopping doesn't get any better....

New Earrings at Flora

I LOVE that these Knot styles are part of the collection at this amazing jewelry gallery and perfume shop. Owner and perfumer extraordinaire, Jewelie, has an amazing eye for beauty and always picks the best of the best of my pieces.  Plus her shop smells more lovely than lovely!

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New Shop

I just left these pieces on consignment at colorado co-op in downtown Colorado Springs. I love everything about this contemporary lifestyle boutique.  The jewelry lines are luxe and simply elegant, and their merchandising is absolutely, no joke, the best I've ever seen!  I leave Colorado Springs wishing I could call the shelves of cashmere sweaters home, and looking forward to a return visit to see what's new.

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Looks of 2011 that I adore

diminutive earrings
wide leg trousers
matching jackets
ballet everything
mineral tones
fluid fabrics
walkability
petal pink
mixing gem hues
frizzy hair

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Icy Blues

Whew!  What a task to create these shoulder duster earrings inspired by the wintery Colorado sky....but it was so worth getting to view the combination of natural chalcedony, rainbow moonstone, labradorite, pearl, and sterling.  They are part of the collection designed for my little sister's wedding, the reason I was able to view such a glory of nature...she definitely knows what's up when it comes to coordinating colors with the seasons.  Now, that I think about it, it seems that all of the brides I've created custom suites for had the same idea...hmmmm.  Clever.

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