Arts Festival and Accessories

Over the weekend I went to the Utah Arts Festival with my mom.  There were a lot of cool booths and I got inspiration of things to share with you.

I love when people have an idea, and can execute it well.  I love crafted, handmade, things, IF they are well made and don't look cheap or hand made.  Does that make sense?  If you are going to craft things and sell them, the quality should be good enough that others won't know that it's hand made.  No offense to kindergardners and their cute craft projects, but when I buy something, I don't want it to resemble those...

What are things that I loved from the festival?

The first booth that we went to was Mistura Designs (www.Mistura.com).

Eco watches.  Made of wood, leather, plant matter, recycled materials, etc.  These were very well crafted and very cool!  I would have loved to have bought one but they aren't exactly cheap (I believe they said they run from about $140 - $250) and I am broke.  They are very cool though.  The clasps and faces of the watches (except for the recycled ones) are carved wood. The watches are light, durable, and very comfortable.  You can see the different styles below.

Next on the list (and the list doesn't necessarily mean order of what I thought was best.  Just a list at random), You Got Mojo (www.yougotmojo.bigcartel.com).

They make jewelry out of metal from cars.  Above are necklaces and below are rings.  They also do mens accessories, bracelets, earrings, etc.  They are delicate and have a southwestern/modernness to them that is pretty cool.

Next up is Fat Cat Jewelry Studio (www.FatCatJewelryStudio.com).  Similar to the above, they make re-purposed jewelry but instead of from cars, their metal comes from vintage tins.  They had some cool things.  I was especially drawn to their bracelets.

This picture is one I took at the festival.  I love the bracelets.  I wish I had shown all of the one on the left.  It's a logo and I can't remember what it was for exactly.  Lemon Heads, Lemon cookies...., IDK, something.  I checked out their website and I don't feel like it was necessarliy the best website out there, which isn't bad but if I were going to buy from them, I would go to their Etsy store rather than their website to do so.  You can find that at: www.etsy.com/shop/fatcatjewelrystudio.  They had a cute business card too.  I'm loving it.  It's about 2" square (shown with another for size comparison):

Next is Bykali (www.bykali.etsy.com).  Up-cycled, unique belts and jewelry.  I believe I've seen these guys at the festival in past years and have always been impressed by their work.  Very creative and original and the quality seems to be great so that's even better.  Below is a picture of a belt and belt buckle that they sell. You can see that it's washers and nails.  Very fun.  Doesn't look how you wold expect if you were to just explain these to someone.

And the last one from the festival that I'm going to tell you about is, Octavia Bloom (www.octaviabloom.etsy.com).  Handmade jewelry.  Mostly bead-works from what I saw.  I am not normally too impressed with bead jewelry as most of what you find at craft fairs and things like that are not great quality and seem pretty elementary.  However, I did like these designs quite a bit.  They are delicate, simple, and have a soft, feminine feel.

I believe in supporting local artisans, craftspeople, small businesses, etc.  You can find more unique, one of a kind pieces when you shop that way.  Plus, it's just nice to support people that are trying to make it doing something they love.  I wish I had enough focus to come up with a plan for something like that.  My problem is that I have to broad of a range of interests so I can't seem to pick just one thing and stick with it.  Maybe one day....

One last thing before I call it a day on here:

There's a craft blog that I sometimes like to read called Stars for Streetlights.  You can read it at: www.StarsForStreetlights.com.  Some of her projects are really cool and some others I'm not very crazy about but I think that is just the nature of crafting in general.  Anyway, she posted Friday about something she's partnering with a start up craft company for.  It's for a magazine purse kit, see below (picture stolen from her blog):

I think that these are actually pretty cool.  You can buy the kit at: http://www.darbysmart.com/projects/magazine-clutch for $29, which I feel is pretty reasonable for the kit.  The kit comes with the current Vogue magazine.  I'm not in love with the cover so that doesn't excite me too much but it would be cool to do with a different cover.... not sure what exactly but I'm sure you could find something cool that matches your personality (and she talks about that on the site).  The site says that there are only 164 kits available left, so if you want one, you might need to jump on it.

That's it for today.  Support small businesses, crafters, local stores, etc. :)

Betsey Johnson

So, as I've said before, I am not super familiar with different designers and as a general rule, I can't tell you who designed what but there are a few exceptions to that rule.  Betsey Johnson is one of those exceptions and that may be just because of how unique, edgy, and rock and roll she is.  She is eccentric and is herself through and through.  I love that about her.  I love that in such a "serious" industry, she isn't afraid to be who she is.  She does cart wheels and splits down the runway at her fashion shows.  I don't know of any other designers that could get away with that.  I LOVE that about her.

Betsey Johnson isn't afraid of color, or print and while her designs aren't quite as edgy as she is (who else wears a tutu over boyfriend jeans and gets away with it?), they are edgy and classic in a sense not many could get away with.

Check out this lace inset dress on her website (www.BetseyJohnson.com)

It's a classic, fitted, sheath dress, but the turquoise in contrast with the black lace, really gives it a unique, young look to it.

This dress is super simple in the front with just a little ribbon and ruffle around the bottom, but then in the back, there's the heart cut out.  I think that is very fun and flirty.  Love it!  And honestly, who doesn't love polka dots?

Betsey also has fun jewelry, handbags, intimates, shoes, etc.  Definitely worth checking out her stuff from her site or at Nordstroms (it's the only place locally that I know of to get her things in SLC).  I've gotten cute earrings of hers at Nordstrom Rack and I love them.

Betsey has tons of personality.  Check out how awesome her perfume bottles are:

That's very punk rock.  I love it!  I haven't smelled it so I don't know how it smells but the bottle is awesome!

What else is awesome about Betsey?  She has a new reality show on the Style Network.  It started last month and is called XOX Betsey.  It's about life with her daughter Lulu, work, etc.  I don't have TV service so I have been watching online but so far I am really enjoying.  I just love that she is who she is (I know I said that already).

She has a couple of offers on her site right now:

• Free shipping on orders over $100 with keyword "LOVEBETSEY"
• Spend $125, get 20% off with keyword "BOLD20"

Check out her Spring/Summer 2013 runway show collection below:

Even her shows are rock and roll.  Her models are skipping, dancing, throwing things to the crowds.  So different from the usual predictable walk/stomp, straight faced models shows that you usually see.  Be warned that toward the end there are swim/underwear models, so young eyes may not want to watch as there are some scantily clad women.

Accessories, Accessories, Accessories

I've wanted to talk about accessories since day 1 but haven't quite known where to start.  I've taken a little time to think about it and am going to wing it so hopefully I manage to get the point across how I intend.

Most people know that accessories can make or break and outfit and can take you from "blah" to "wow" but accessorizing can be a lot harder than it seems like it should be.  I mean, all you have to do is throw on a necklace, a hat, shoes, something right?  What's so hard about that?

Well, there are a lot of things to think about.  What's the occasion?  What look are you going for?  Do your accessories match the style of your outfit?  How to combine prints and colors?  Etc.  But really, accessorizing isn't as hard as we make it out to be.

Start with your outfit.  Now, where are you going?

Work?  Wear practical shoes, either heel or flat, just something you are comfortable in and is appropriate for your work.  Good accessories for work are cardigans or blazers.  Keep jewelry keyed down for work.  Some good work outfits and accessory examples are:

Accessory wise, there isn't much to this outfit.  A simple cardigan, black heels, a belt, and a watch.  Easy.  But still a fun outfit.

I love this outfit.  Love the sharp lines on the blazer.  Simple necklace, bracelets, watch, belt, clutch.  Again, not too much to it right?

I could post dozens of examples for work but I think you can get the idea.  For work, keep it classy, keep it simple.

Date night is a little more fun.  You can use more accessories, brighter colors, just have more fun with it in general.  You still don't want to overdo it but you have a little more flexibility.

This outfit is fun for a casual date.  A statement necklace and a belt.  Super easy.

I love this outfit.  I could go from work to a night out pretty easily.  Work with a blazer and probably some different shoes. Date night, lose the blazer, sexy shoes.  Super easy.  You could add a necklace or some earrings.  Easy to put together and looking hot!

Summer casual?  Hanging out, shopping, going to the beach, luncheons, etc.

Simple eyelet dress is amped up with a belt, bracelets, a hat, simple jewelry.  Very cute.

Blazer, belt, bracelets, shoes.  Effortless but very polished and put together.

Accessorizing is easy, takes little time, but makes a huge difference.  Just keep colors, patterns, and proportions in mind.  Don't mix big, loud prints with more big, loud prints.  Aim for solids or simple prints instead (and yes, it is OK to mix prints with prints within reason).

Still not sold on accessories completely changing the look of an outfit?  Check out The Uniform Project (http://www.theuniformproject.com/year1/home/monthly/June.html).  A woman wears the same dress every day for a year and just styles it differently every day.  Some of her outfits are interesting to say the least, but it goes to show how differently you can make the same thing look depending on what you pair it with.  Here's an example of 10 days worth of her outfits:

I am sure I will do more posts on accessories in the future (I already am planning one dedicated to scarves), but I think this is a good, basic overview of accessories and the effect they can have.  Have fun accessorizing, but also keep it simple.  It's very easy to over accessorize and that can make you look like a little kid playing dress up (or worse, like a cheap hooker - that may have more to do with makeup than anything else but accessories can get you there too).

Side note, I pulled all my example pictures from Pinterest.  I generally try to search the pins back to their original source so I can give credit where credit is due, but I didn't have time for that today so I apologize for that and if anyone knows the source of the above photos, feel free to leave that info in a comment below.  I'll do my best to avoid doing this in the future.

"A woman makes an outfit her own with accessories." Oscar de la Renta

One last thing, Banana Republic is doing a giveaway right now.  You can win a $1000 gift card there, a 2 night trip to one of two locations, and a Fiat 500.  Enter here: http://on.fb.me/13qpRRI.  You can enter every day this month so be sure to enter daily :)