Sneak Peek :: NEW Website.

Okay, so today's post will be short, but super sweet. I am so excited about my new website design that I wanted to give you all a little sneak peek at it. Alex Penny has done a wonderful job of listening to everything I have wanted and it looks absolutely awesome. I can't wait to see it all finished.



Thanks Alex!

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Swan Lake.

The inspiration for this photo shoot was ballerinas----think a beautiful mix of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Black Swan. Lace, ruffles, layers, and pearls. As I got to designing the pieces for the photo shoot with Claire and the ladies, I decided to incorporate this vintage fabric I had hidden away.



When I bought the fabric I didn't really have an idea in mind, but rather just loved the look and feel of it. I loved the delicate embroidery, scalloped edges, and those sweet little eyelets. I wanted the piece to incorporate all of the inspirational elements as well as to have this feminine feel that also evoked a sense of innocence.



Thus this ruffled half-Peter Pan collar came about. There are several items that distinguish a Peter Pan collar from other types of shirt collars, however, the most characteristic is the rounded edges.



As I got to researching more about Peter Pan collars and how they came about. The name of the collar is actually a reference to Peter Pan (yes, that lovely fictional character that lived in Neverland in the novel of the same name, which was written by J.M. Barrie in the early 1900s). As many of you know the story is a fairytale about a mischievous little boy who can fly that refuses to grow up, and the Peter Pan collar is intended to evoke the same fairytale sense of eternal youthfulness.



The shape and name of the Peter Pan collar seems to have originated in the mid-twentieth century. This design was very popular for school uniforms, but also started to spill over into popular culture. Despite the collar being named after a masculine character, the Peter Pan collar has been mostly associated with feminine fashion and rarely does it appear in men's fashion.



Peter Pan collars are typically quite modest, since the collar itself hugs the neck thus not leaving much room for display of décolletage or cleavage. Instead of creating a full traditional Peter Pan collar I opted to make half of one.



I love the way it looks worn on the body. The necklace gently hugs around the neck mimicking a Peter Pan collar with the rounded edge in front, however, it starts to take on a new look with the focus being on the center adornment. The middle portion where typically the collar edges would meet is layered with various white freshwater pearls that have been hand stitched and mixed in with pieces of vibrant amethyst and layers of sterling silver chain.



This has definitely become one of my favorite pieces. I can't wait to share with you next week some of the other images from the Swan Lake shoot as well as a wedding-esq inspired collar plus more custom/personalized work. Have a wonderful weekend!


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Fashion Shoot :: Swan Lake.
Model Photos by Claire Eliza
Hair and Makeup: Melissa and Ashley at Che'mel Salon
Outfits: Vanity Boutique. Tacoma, Washington


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Fa'atasi.

This past summer, Katie had contacted me in regards to personalizing a rectangle shaped bracelet in my Etsy shop. The bracelet was a gift for her boyfriend and she wanted the bracelet to be personalized with the word: fa'atasi

Fa'atasi is Samoan for together, in unison. She wanted to get matching bracelets as a way to show their commitment to each other and their relationship as she was leaving for the Peace Corps in Samoa in October. Thank you Katie for sharing your story.

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Wedding Walk Tacoma.

So my table at the Wedding Walk this past Sunday was at the Tacoma Union Station. The Tacoma Daily Ledger had once praised the building as "the largest, the most modern and in all ways the most beautiful and best equipped passenger station in the Pacific Northwest". The space now serves as a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The space is now adorned with various Dale Chiluly installations that are truly massive in scale. His pieces look absolutely stunning against the architectural details at the Union Station. The bursts of colors pop against the coffered domed ceiling. It so neat to imagine that at one point in time this was a key hub of transportation for so many.

Tammi's (TLB Events) vision and execution of the design for the space was absolutely brilliant. The space was adorned with crystals, pewter tones, and splashes of hot pink throughout the space. While Maria of Weddings Northwest created these gorgeous floral arrangements.

I got to share the afternoon with some of my favorite ladies. Our tables were arranged together in one corner of Union Station. Here is Melissa's lovely table of Che'mel Salon:

Lillie's table of custom wedding hair pieces--- flourish by lillie.

Plus Christy Pelland's Sweet Betty Jean pin up artistry.

And here is a few pictures of my table as well as some detail shots of my custom wedding jewelry. Plus you can also see how I used those collection cards that I blogged about yesterday.

To see more photos from the day, head on over to my: flickr page

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Wedding Collection Cards.

Today, I thought I would share with you some new collection cards that I designed for the Wedding Walk this past Saturday.

Thank you to Tammi of TLB Events for inviting me to be a part of such a lovely event. I will post some photos of my booth tomorrow.

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re-styled vintage jewelry :: french inspiration

These next few images of pieces from my new re-styled vintage jewelry collection have a bit of a French feel to me. Adorned with coral pink bows, a golden floral bouquet, and sweet little faux pearls.

Each piece is romantically chic, yet a bit whimsical and darling.

re-styled vintage jewelry.

Here are some of the pin-up esk jewels that I promised to share with you. This new collection of jewelry is a collaboration that I have been working on these past few weeks. All the pieces are made from vintage jewelry/materials that have been re-styled into new pieces. These pieces were designed with Christy Pelland's Sweet Betty Jean pin-up artistry in mind. Each piece of jewelry is one-of-a kind or limited edition and is truly unique and special. Here are just a couple of pieces from the collection....

As you can tell each piece is bold and fun! I'll be posting another batch of jewels tomorrow.

Che'mel Salon :: new jewelry.

I can't believe it is already February. Eeek.... what happened to posting more often. I guess a few weeks have gone by since my last post. Things have been quite busy in the studio with new pieces for Valentine's day, an absolutely special custom order, and a few different collaborations. I have been trying to keep my facebook page updated with quick posts as much as possible, thus I have neglected my blog. Oops.

Anyhow, I wanted to share with you some pictures from my new installation of pieces at Che'mel Salon.

Also, as Christy Pelland prepares to launch her official website launch of Sweet Betty Jean pin up Artistry on Valentine's Day, February 14th. Che'mel Salon will host be hosting the Sweet Betty Jean presents The Peep Show event on Saturday, February 12th at Che'mel Salon on Tacoma's 6th Ave from 6pm -9pm. I am creating some pin-up esk inspired jewels. I will be sure to post some pictures tomorrow.