Victoria Beckham's Got Classic Style

Victoria Beckham's Classic Style (center image from PeopleMagazine.com)

Love her or hate her, Victoria Beckham's style is (of late anyway), a beautiful classic, great for the office or a well-dressed date. While many can't afford her beautiful fashion line, there are ways to get a similar look - and for a fraction of the price.

This week I did decide to show more expensive pieces, but as they are classics, these are pieces that will get literally years of wear. They will still be in style for another few decades, and with proper care, many of these pieces should last you that long too. Classic sheath dresses in slick grey, cardigans in bright, sophisticated blue, nude patent heels and sexy-simple jewelry will never fail to excite, while looking so polished and feminine, everyone will be asking you for style advice. Let's see the winners, shall we?

Lena Tweed Dress from BananaRepulic.com

First, the dress. The dress Victoria is wearing is her own, in a light plaid pattern. I chose this simple, slate grey Tweed Lena dress from Banana Republic (bananarepublic.com), as it has a square neckline that will complement just about every figure. I also like that it is sleeveless so that you can wear it year-round with different weights of sweaters and get maximum use out of this dress. It sits just above your knee and has subtle pleats at the waist line, which will accentuate your waist and fit better around your hips when moving or sitting. For the perfect fit, take it to a tailor. There is nothing worse than gaps or folds where there shouldn't be. Pair this with nude sandal foot tights for the ultimate professional, polished look. About $160 for the dress.

From Left: Marie Antoinette Raspberry Ice Bracelet, Earrings, Necklace from Littlestudiojewels.etsy.com

To decorate your person, without overwhelming your super-chic look, this great set of jewelry will go far. Each piece is sold separately, but if purchased together you get a great discount. The Marie Antoinette Raspberry Ice Necklace, Bracelet and Earrings from Little Studio (http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleStudioJewels) will give you that little bit of pink, and a little bit of luminescence. Pretty, simple, stylish. About $45 for necklace, $30 for bracelet and $20 for earrings, buy 2 of the set, or all three of the set and get $5-$10 off!

Featherweight Cashmere cardigan from Jcrew.com

To keep the goosebumps at bay, pop on a great cardigan, like this gorgeous Featherweight Cashmere Cardigan in Byzantine Blue from JCrew (jcrew.com). It is slightly fitted and has long sleeves, so that you can keep your arms warm with the sleeves down, or go for effortless chic with them pulled up to your elbows, like Victoria. Cashmere is great as it is lightweight, it will keep you warm on those over-air-conditioned days at the office, yet will be cool enough for most light summer days. The ultimate style-upper? Define your tiny waist (or create the illusion of one) by belting a skinny black belt around your waist outside your cardigan, a la Beckham. It screams feminine, without being too girly or too revealing. A splurge at $200, but it will last decades with proper care, and when have you ever seen a classic, fitted cardigan on a "not in style anymore" list??

Calvin Klein Sandie Pump from Piperlime.com

Nude pumps are a must. Every woman should have at least 2 pairs - peep toe for summer and round/almond toe for winter. These Calvin Klein Sandie peep-toe heels from Piper Lime (piperlime.com) give you a little extra height, but will save your feet with the subtle platform. They are high, yes, but professional at the same time, and not above being totally sexy for that last minute, after work date *wink, wink*. About $110, these are an investment in your wardrobe that will get so much wear, you might just want to buy 2 pairs.

What do you think? Is this your style? What would you wear?

Fashionable Browns and What's New This Week

Brown and Animal Prints are Very In Style Right Now, Why Not Try it Yourself? Here's How!

This week I've got some great things for you on the blog, but first I'm going to start something that I've wanted to do for a while - style posts. I love fashion (I do make jewelry after all, so I suppose it's to be expected!). Sure, I may wear yoga pants and t-shirts at home when I'm running around like an idiot, but when I have any excuse, I like to dress nicely. I pour over fashion magazines, stalk the stylish online stores, and think of how the latest trends match with my (pretty conservative-classic) style.

Now I really want to share with you some ideas for how to wear the current trends, how to style jewelry with them, how to match trends with safe-for-work-wear, and how to go from day-to-night in a jiffy. And please give me your feedback on what you want to see and any questions you have!

See that pin board up there? These are a few trends that are very apparent now, but are still classic enough to wear for years. Recently, the Duchess of Cambridge was seen wearing a beautiful brown and tan shirt-dress style that has everyone talking up a storm (in a very good way!). Of course, hers was printed with birds, and was well tailored and probably cost a fortune, but there is no reason that "the rest of us" can't look just as good at a quarter of the price! Now, first-off, one of the biggest keys to looking good is tailoring. No one has the same measurements for every off-the-rack garment. Take an item of clothing, from jeans to an expensive dress, have it tailored or hemmed (anywhere from $10-$200, depending on what you need done) and see how magically your wardrobe is transformed from nice to WOW! Keep that in mind when trying on items. If it is a little loose in one area, take it to a tailor and get it fixed. You'll look and feel like a million bucks :)

Back to fashion! Browns and animal prints are very in style right now. Though I am not normally an animal print person, this dress "Tucker Slim Fit Shirt Dress" from Bloomingdale's (http://www.bloomingdales.com/) is very nice. The animal print isn't too wild and bold, so you could easily wear this to work with a few modifications and still look professional. The key is to not tie the waist tie too tightly, and not have the buttons all undone. Maybe one at most, should be undone, to show a very nice necklace underneath, or have it on top of your dress (see below for necklace ideas). For day time office-wear, perhaps add a dark, single color cardigan, and put your hair in a simple bun. To finish, do a simple berry lip, and understated eyes. Accent either eyes or lips, not both (you'll look like a clown, not the best thing when wanting a raise!). For night, let your hair down, maybe unbutton just 2 buttons, and put just a bit more lipstick on. You want to darken your makeup a bit more, but not too much (we ARE ladies after all, and want to look feminine and still respectable!)

Katherine was also seen wearing booties similar to the ones on the pin board as well, though these probably aren't the same. These "Brown Lumiati Maddy Booties" are considerably more affordable, and yet very stylish, from 6PM.com (http://www.6pm.com/). She also paired the outfit with dark brown opaque tights, which is perfect for those of us still knee-deep in snow (don't worry, I'm hoping the snow will disappear soon too!). If you're looking for something a little lighter, go for nude hose. BUT ALWAYS WEAR SOME SORT OF HOSIERY! Nothing screams "Unprofessional!" like nekkid legs. Seriously. Don't do it! For the office, I'd probably go with brown flats (save your feet for the killer heels when you go out later that night!)

To add your own personal style, add some pretty, yet not too flashy jewelry. The Cleopatra's Blue Goddess Necklace (http://www.etsy.com/listing/91033798/cleopatras-blue-goddess-necklace) is displaying some of the most popular trends right now - turquoise, gold, blue, green, amber, and multiple strands, to name a few. It is demur enough for the office, yet will easily transition to night. Pair it with the matching Cleopatra's Blue Goddess Bracelet (http://www.etsy.com/listing/93540180/cleopatras-blue-goddess-bracelet) and you have a surefire win in your hands. You'll look put-together, polished and professional, while not looking like another cookie-cutter office zombie.

What do you think? What is your style?

Coming up this week: Tuesday has new earrings you won't want to miss, on Wednesday Arwen gets serious about doggy health, Thursday shows a beautiful Treasury of Etsy items to usher in spring, there will be a fantastic feature on Friday of a very talented photographer, and another seriously cute Saturday Squee animal to start your weekend off right.

See you tomorrow!

Project Sneak Peeks!

I thought I'd give you a sneaky peek at tomorrow's posting - I've been very inspired by Cleopatra lately and have created two beautiful necklaces, each inspired by a different time in her life. One of these babies will be featured tomorrow, once I get it properly photographed and listed on my Etsy store. I've been working really, really hard on rephotographing and styling my jewelry, as for Christmas my whole family chipped in and got me a macro lens. Now I can get up close and personal and have everything in focus, huzzah! It has meant many hours (so far) of bending over, crimping one eye shut (I swear I'm getting lopsided wrinkles from squinting through my camera with one eye), and taking hundreds upon hundreds of photos, trying to get "the one". I am going to photograph my new Cleopatra necklaces today and post one of them tomorrow.
For now though, you'll have to make due with portions of these two, badly lit and selectively cropped to whet your appetite.
I've also been thinking of posting DIY tutorials every once in a while - is there anything you'd like to learn from me? Recipes? Jewelry-making techniques? Tools and tips of the trade? Let me know, I'd love to share some of my DIY things with you :)

January's Charity of the Month and Laptop Issues

(Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com)

It all started so innocently. I had planned to start blogging, if not daily, then nearly daily. I had planned posts in my new daily planner. I had taken, or planned to take, photographs. Life, as they say, is what happens when you are busy making plans. I had made many plans, all involving my lifeline, aka, my laptop.
Then my hard drive decided to start making funny noises, the day before New Year's Eve.
Many loud, funny noises that a laptop, or any computing device should not make, the day before New Year's Eve.
Then I started getting notifications from Windows saying that my hard drive was dying. That was the worst part of all - by the time Windows starts sending you notifications, you know your hard drive is pretty much pooped. I tell, you, the whole world is against me! Okay, not really, but it felt like it.
So enter Brennan, who has spent nearly all of the last two weeks, not only helping me move my workshop around (which was supposed to be posts January 2-4), but also fixing my laptop by replacing my hard drive, recovering all of my documents, etc., so that I could get back to my online life, which is pretty much my whole life (which I love, and am pretty addicted to. When I don't have internet access...well, it isn't pretty).
By the way, have I said how lucky I am to have Brennan lately? No? I am VERY lucky to have him!
Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled posts.
And go through the 120+ emails I received in the past week. "Delete all", anyone? No? Okay, I'll get through them all... eventually.

In other news, the first post for January was supposed to be to tell you all about the charity that I will be donating a portion of my sales to this month.
This month I will be donating 10% of the total sales in my Etsy shop (before taxes and shipping) to Polar Bears International. They are a fantastic, registered charity, that is devoted to saving our white giants of the north. Polar bear populations are declining rapidly and Polar Bears International are doing everything they can to educate us as to how important they are, and how we can do even the tiniest things to help them. Not just donating money, but small things, such as turning off lights when we are leaving a room, turning down our thermostats, etc., all in the name of saving these wonderful, enigmatic creatures.
I encourage you to visit their website, and see for yourself the wonderful work they are doing, in addition to the great photography that they have on their site (including totally AWWW worthy photos of a baby polar bear, TOO CUTE!), and some great tips on how you can easily help polar bears with small changes to your routine, and information on how to donate if you are able to.
I have symbolically adopted 2 polar bears so far, and I hope to adopt at least one more this year, if I get the sales to allow me to (again, 10% of all of January's sales, before taxes and shipping, go toward Polar Bears International).
Please visit my shop (at http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels/ ) to purchase some beautiful pieces of jewelry, and help polar bears at the same time.
Have a great day, see you on the flip side (yo! LOL),

New Cuff Bracelet in the Works!

 I've been very busy this last little bit with the Farmers' Market in Merrickville and with my lessons at Rain's Art in Metal for my metalsmithing courses. This is the last piece I did at her studio, and it is still in progress as I have quite a bit of work to do. I took a piece of 16 gauge copper sheet, sawed it into a 6" x 1" length, sanded the surfaces and filed the edges. I then took a piece of beautiful antique lace and wrapped it around the cuff blank and put it through the rolling mill, which exerts high pressure on the metal (and the lace, in this case), to imprint the lace pattern onto the surface of the metal.

 Here is the pattern close up! It doesn't look much like lace, to me it looks a bit like snake scales, but I love it either way. Now I need to get a rolling mill for my own workshop!! The only issue is that, with my being so busy with my baking, I kind of forgot about the cuff bracelet in my bag and when I took it out I noticed that it needed some cleaning on one side. Not a big deal, I just took a scrub brush and warm water with dish soap and started scrubbing. The only problem came when I turned it over to do the other side...

Alas! It has apparently been resting against a piece of copper that I had recently etched, and the etching solution mustn't have been properly rinsed off. Now I'll have to sand that part down, leaving that part potentially with a reduced image on that area. Oh well, live and learn. Now I know NOT to put anything that has been etched anywhere near any other pieces I'm working on!
See you all soon,

Farmers Market in Merrickville Starts Saturday!

I am so excited! This Saturday, June 4, will be the first day of the Merrickville Farmer's Market! I will be sharing a tent with Louise of Fireseed. We are in a great location, right beside the Main Street Restaurant, across from the Blockhouse and we'll be there each Saturday from 9AM until the afternoon - pretty much we figure we'll be there until the customers stop coming :)

Not only am I selling my fantastic jewelry, but I'll also be selling some delicious Gluten Free, Low Allergy bakes goodies! I made the "mistake" of telling some of the other market goers that I bake gluten free. Let's just say that was all it took for them to pounce on me and tell me I had to sell it at the market! So far I am planning on selling my Maple Peanut Chocolate Fudge with Sea Salt, Oatmeal cookies (made with certified GF oats, some with GF chocolate chips, some with organic raisins), Chocolate Chip cookies, Peanut Butter cookies (some plain, some with GF chocolate chips), as well as my Famous Apple Cranberry Chocolate Bundt mini-cakes, and hopefully some bread as well. I'll also be happy to take custom orders :)

In other news, the photo above shows a custom necklace that I just finished today. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but wow, the client has such good taste, and it turned out beautifully! I used about 100 shell beads attached with headpins to a simple chain mail chain to make a bib-style necklace. Then I used silver plated chain and a hand crafted sterling silver clasp to finish it. In total, it is about 18 inches long, but wears like a 17 inch necklace due to the bulk at the bib part. Heavy and gorgeous, I also have enough beads to make another similar one... any takers?? It won't be exactly the same, but that is the great thing about one of a kind, you will never see the exact thing on someone else!

Until next time, have a great day!

New Celtic Knotwork Drawings

A long, long time ago I posted photos of a drawing I did, with the phrase "Siochan Leat" (meaning "Peace Be With You) on it and a myriad of Celtic knotwork. Today, I wanted to show you that one again as well as a new drawing that I have finished, and one that is in progress! The one above is about 8-1/2" x 10-1/2", done in pen, pencil and waterolor pencil. I didn't use water over the watercolor pencil as I had already done the gold pen on it and I am afraid it will smudge...For now I am not making jewelry as I have boxes of already made jewelry that I have decided must sell before I go and make any more. The sale is still going well in my Etsy store, check out the new items here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleStudioJewels
Lest I drown in jewelry (I am sure there are worse deaths), I am taking some time to go back to my drawing roots:

Here is another one I just finished, a Green Celtic Knotwork Circle. I used pencil, pen, ink and watercolor pencils. I painted the watercolor pencils to give depth to the knotwork and border. It is about 8-1/2"8-1/2".

Here is a closeup of the knotwork. I used gold pen in the center to give light to the middle, like sunlight shining through the center.

Here is my newest work in progress, a Celtic Cross done in knotwork. Here you can see the pencil drawing, and I have started to go over it with pen and when that is done (I have already done about 3/4 of it now at this posting), I will start to go in and color each part of knotwork and background of the cross. I am contemplating what to do the background of the whole piece...do I do grass and sky, or just leave it white? What do you think?


Another question arises...what do you think I should do with these drawings? Should I make blank greeting cards with them? Would you like to purchase or receive a card with something like this on it? I am interested in opinions, so please join in the discussion :)


On the exercise front, I am (sort of) plugging away at it. I'm trying to do yoga everyday, but with the weather changing, I am finding my fibromyalgia pain is coming back. The good news is that when I do yoga, the pain almost instantly lessens or goes away so that is absolutely fantastic. I just need more cardio...I went for a walk with Arwen yesterday (she says hi!) and that was wonderful. I need to get out there more with her and also ride my stationary bike more. Anyone know a really good company for doggy rainsuits and boots? Arwen needs to get some as the roads are wet and I now have half the dirt road on my hardwood floor...hmm...maybe I should go and clean that up...


See you soon, and please, let me know what you think of the drawings and what I should do with them!

Saturday: The Sale is Still Going Strong, and So Am I!

The Sale is still going strong in my Etsy shop - more items have been added so be sure to check out all of the great deals.

I am still exercising as per my pledge on Chatelaine's Fresh Start Contest. I did 40 minutes of yoga on Monday, 30 minutes on my bike followed by 40 minutes of yoga Wednesday morning and then another hour Wednesday evening, and I rode my bike for 30 minutes yesterday morning, followed by an hour of yoga in the evening - woo hoo!

Have a great weekend!

HUGE 50% Off Sale in My Etsy Store!

I need to make room for all of the creations I want to make, and to do that, I am selling almost all of my jewelry for 50% off! Why not get your holiday shopping done now, and have some money left over to buy something for yourself? See the sale section here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels
Happy shopping!

Meghann

Time to Celebrate My 2 Year Etsy-versary!

It's been 2 years to the day since I opened my shop on Etsy, LittleStudioJewels - http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleStudioJewels - and to celebrate, everything in my shop will be 20% off before shipping and taxes! I'll refund your discount through PayPal after you've paid.

What a great deal! Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Happy shopping :)

Fantastic Friday: A Few of My Favorite Etsy Dresses

Here are a few of my favorite dresses from Etsy sellers - please visit their shops for more delightful creations!

1. Tuileries Linen and Cotton Dress - Indigo, by TortillaGirl

2. Red Polka Dot Strapless Summer Dress by emilyelizabethcoutur

3. Perfect Little Audrey Dress Your Choice of Any Color by audreyandgrace

4. Hand-draped red silk cocktail dress by CoutureDivine

5. Roses and Creme Ruffle Dress by amandaarcher

Aren't they all just divine? From a simple dress for running errands to a silk concoction worthy of a gallery-opening, these dresses have you covered - in sexy, pretty style!

Another New Bracelet!

Here is another new bracelet with rainbow fluorite beads dangling from a sterling silver chain. Rainbow fluorite is hard to find in good quality, so it is expensive to use, but the results speak for themselves - gorgeous jewelry that no-one else will have!
I created a custom hook and "S" clasp from sterling silver wire, and then hammered it for strength and durability.
The drape on this piece is really fantastic - it isn't very heavy, but flows nicely on your wrist, as you can see here. This is now available on my Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/51503481/flora-sterling-silver-and-rainbow
Thanks for visiting!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: New Bracelet!

Boudicca Sterling Silver Hearts Bracelet with Amethyst, available in my Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/listing/51423235/boudicca-sterling-silver-hearts-bracelet

Thank you for stopping by, have a great day!

Happy 4th of July!

Arwen and I would like to wish all of our American friends a happy and safe Independence Day. Happy 4th of July!!Here is a new ring I just listed on my Etsy store, I hope you like it. See more here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleStudioJewels
Have a great Sunday!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Find them here in my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels