1.31.2013

THREADS // SHEER + PATCHWORK

 outfit details:
sheer top // chicnova
pants // handmade
shoes // blowfish
necklace // roots and feathers
rings // f21
bracelet // spiral drift

There might be a bit more outfit posts for a little while b/c its just been so darn pretty outside!  The warmer weather creeping in has got me excited to get out more.  I'm sooooo ready for spring.  So unbelievably ready.  I just want to lay on the ground and feel the warmth of the sun all over me.  I cannot wait! 

Thank you so much for the love you showed for my new mini prayer flags yesterday!  I'm excited to be in the studio all day working on custom orders.  You guys make this dream of mine come true!!!  

And can I just say... my heart is constantly in awe at the love you guys show through your comments, and through personal emails I receive.  Thank you for allowing me to feel safe and loved in this space.  I am someone who has to feel safe in my environment in order to open my heart, so thank you for creating that kind of environment here.  It means the world to me.

Be sure to check back on the blog tomorrow b/c Bella is presenting a fun giveaway!  Eeeek!

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1.30.2013

MINI PRAYER FLAGS

So, Im a bit obsessed with the prayer flags I have been making, and I decided to make a mini version.  These little darlings are so precious and can be hung just about anywhere.  I'll be adding them to the shop very soon, but I will also be taking custom orders if you would like one with your own word on it.  Just message me on etsy if you would like one.  
 
What is your word of intention for this year?  I'd love to know what others are cultivating in their lives.... (my word is Cultivate)

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1.29.2013

THREADS // AZTEC CASUAL

 outfit details:
sweater // flying tomato
jean // target
boots // blowfish
crescent ring // laurel hill
leather bracelet // spiral drift
necklace // roots and feathers

This adorable sweater is unfortunately sold out at Flying Tomato, but if your quick, they have one left in another color!  Coziest sweater ever.  I wore this outfit a few weeks ago, but Ive been waiting to share it until the release of the bohemian collective lookbook came out.  This is a casual version of that outfit.  This necklace is one of a new collection I have waiting to be listed for Roots and Feathers.  I may be keeping this one b/c I just love it oh so much, but I can take custom orders for them!  I have four others ready to be listed, soon!  

After feeling very jumbled up in my headspace for about a week now (or more)... yesterday I went to yoga, had a great long talk with a friend and released my new creative lookbook.  Those 3 things combined really cheered me up and put me in a better perspective.  Later on today Ill begin working on several custom orders, so Im looking forward to some good creative studio time.  Thank you to everyone who checked out the new lookbook and left some love over on the blog!  Makes my heart so happy!

ANNOUNCEMENT:
The winner of the Datevitation giveaway is CHRISTINE R.  Please email me at violet_bella (at) hotmail (dot) com.  Congrats!

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1.28.2013

AZTEC DREAMS // MINI LOOKBOOK

Eeeekk!  Go check out the new lookbook on The Bohemian Collective!

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1.27.2013

INSTAGRAM LOVE

Lately I have not quite felt myself.  Ive been feeling a bit more inward.  I think from being sick, its just taking me a little while to crawl back out of my little crab shell and back into the world.  But tomorrow that will change!  Ill be releasing the new Bohemian Collective Mini Lookbook!  Im so stoked.  Its like our big ones, but with just one look, and a bit more stripped down and simplified.  Even though its not quite as artistic as the others, I'm still really digging it, and looking forward to doing many more of these throughout the year.  So make sure to check the blog over there tomorrow!  The pic above is from the other afternoon when I went outside to draw.  Ive been doodling before bed every night, sort of as a meditation, but I got the urge before bed the other day, so I went with it. 
And guess who joined me?  Ha ha.  I think this is MY FAVORITE photo Ive ever taken of her!  I want it blown up HUGE and framed on my wall.  I crack up everytime I look at it!  God I love this cat!

And when she got on top of the table to join me she showed me just how excited she was to be there!  Ha.  She couldn't help but just scream at the top of her lungs! 

Then the next day she got herself stuck up in a tree.  She is allowed to hang out in the backyard by herself with Violet whenever she wants.  Its fenced in and big enough for her to roam around at free will.  (although lately she has been sneaking under the fence, little rascal!)  But yesterday I heard Violet barking, so I went to go check to see what it was at (make sure it wasn't a snake), and I saw two big labs running around outside the fence.  And I couldn't find Bella anywhere.  I was looking all in the woods, on all sides of the house, etc... Until finally I looked up!  I never expected her to be in a tree b/c she doesn't have front claws, so tree climbing is not really her thing.  But I'm proud to say she doesn't let that stop her in a time of need!  She was actually pretty relaxed up there and wanted to stay there for a bit before coming down.  She rubbed her mouth all over the branches up there. (she likes to rub her mouth on all sorts of things).  Then finally she let me get her down.  A little adventurous day for this little lady!

Mmmm... is this not the pretty record youve ever seen?  I just love Donovan.  I have the silliest memories of me and my friend Justin in junior high listening to Donovan, especially the Intergalactic Laxative song.  We thought it was the best thing in the world!  And I still love listening to him...

Last night's beautiful Leo Aquarius moon was amazing.  It was soooo bright I could barely look at it like usual.  Oh and I had a hard time sleeping last night too, I felt so much energy.  A sweet sweet (9 year old) friend of mine gifted me a huge amethyst quartz cluster, so I put it out last night to charge under this beautiful moon.  It is so beautiful and something Ill treasure forever.  She was so sweet to give it to me!

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1.25.2013

NEW JEWELRY & GYPSY PRAYER FLAGS

Above are some of the custom wall hangings I made this past week.  Some very special ones for some very special ladies.  It makes my heart burst to know that these will be placed in each of their sacred spaces in their home.  I can't think of anything better.  Each one holds a special meaning for each girl, and after 2013 is over, they will each have a keepsake to remind them of the impact this year made on their lives.  Beyond just making beautiful art, this is where its at for me.  Being able to create something meaningful for someone, something that has an encouraging or positive affect on their spirit.  Yes!!!  This kind of stuff makes my heart so happy.  I'll be making a few more customs this week if you want to add your name to the list, just message me on etsy.

I also listed a bunch of new stuff in the shop the past few days.  Some of these are already gone, but many are still available.  If you ever see something I have sold that is no longer available, don't hesitate to ask if I can make you something similar.  Chances are I might!  

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1.24.2013

THE ADVENTURES OF LOU FROM STARS IN JARS

Hi friends! Lou here, from Stars in Jars.
 
First of all, thank you so much to our sweetest gal Laura for inviting me over! It's pretty darn comfortable over here on the Roots and Feathers page I have to say, y'know she's got the sage burnin' and spinnin' that good Bob Dylan ^.^
 
The topic of conversation on the table today will be my curious living circumstances. I'm a British gal hailing  from South London but for the past 3 years and counting I have lived in South Korea, 'The Land of the Morning Calm',  earning my bread and butter working as an English teacher.
 
To get to the root of how I landed so far away from home we'll have to rewind roughly 4 years to when I was backpacking solo through India. 25 years old, single, no job, no binds and the travel bug's fangs had well and truly bitten and injected me with that lovely little venom they call 'wanderlust'.

It was on the last leg of my magical mystical Indian experience  that I met a fellow female traveler in Mumbai; we became friendly when we were both picked up by street touts hiring foreigners to work as extras in a Bollywood movie.  On the set of the movie (it was a Casino scene) as we sipped on our fake cocktails next to the one armed bandits we were trading travel stories when the topic of South Korea came up.  She mentioned she had had a wonderful experience working there for a year and that it was extremely easy to apply successfully for  a job as an English teacher.

{{India magic}}

My only prospects for after I was to return home to England was to move back in with my parents and presumably try to get back into my old profession in online marketing.  Suddenly a new window of possibility had opened up to me and when I peeked through it I saw magic and adventure. I was on a flight to Seoul, South Korea within 4 months of returning home from India.
 
Do you believe in destiny or a Universal plan?

It has become my belief that I was destined to travel to this country at that moment in time.

That very first weekend in Korea I was sent to an orientation session with around 50 other English teachers, fresh off the airplane, for a few days training and initiation into Korean life.  It was on that weekend that I met a 6 ft sandy-haired powerhouse of personality, freshly picked from Tennessee, who I'm proud to still call my boyfriend more than three years later.

Chance? Coincidence? Maybe. But I can never quite shake it from my mind that it was kismet; that had I not met that girl in Mumbai, had she not opened that window of possibility, had I not looked through it and had my gypsy blood all stirred up, I would have ended up choosing a different path and ending up somewhere very different in life.
 
{{me + my beau}}

Well, apart from cosmic prospects proffering "the one" what else does South Korea have to offer?

I recently read that Koreans were once dubbed the "Irish of Asia".  This resonates with me deeply because both of my parents are Irish. Koreans, like the Irish, love a drink and have a warm and welcoming culture. Korea is also a very small country, surrounded by big superpowers, which has managed to maintain it's cultural identity through centuries of war and bullying.  The dichotomy between the young and the old of Korea are one of the most stand-out features to any fresh face in the country.

Skinny, kitten-faced Korean girls  shimmy down the street in their high heels right alongside stooped and shuffling ajummas (old ladies), their short height and bent stature declaring them relics from the dog-eating, rice-field working days of the Korean war. Large Starbucks coffee houses are crammed full of middle class Koreans so obsessed with their iPhones or laptops that conversation is only sparsely heard while outside these ajummas will be selling root vegetables from a sheet on the ground. The old, tough way of life is still palpable against the rich and glossy Louis Vuitton bag totin' ambition of modern-day Korea. But this sense of tradition and history, this mix of old and new, makes it a fascinating culture to live among.

{{Beautiful Korea}}
 
Mixing travel with work has been one of the biggest memory-makers of my almost 30 year old existence. When I'm a tattooed old woman I will still remember seeing Radiohead play at the Jisan Valley Rock festival, Dallas and his friends dressed in hilarious traditional Korean peasants clothing to take part in a Korean friend's wedding, countless nights drinking Makkoli  (Korean rice wine), sating myself with delicious Korean barbecue, soups, pajeon (pancake) and baap (rice), having my fortune told for the first time and enjoying the abundance of pink cherry blossoms that explode like popcorn over the entire country each Spring.
 
The plane ticket is free, the beer is cheap, the summers are sweet and the kids are adorable.

If you've ever wanted to plunge down that rabbit hole, my advice is this:

hold your breath, close your eyes, don't look back..... and jump.

Peace & love

1.21.2013

MY WEEK + GIVEAWAY WINNERS

My week.  Let's back up all the way to last saturday.  I went out with my bestie for a date night to watch some local music... We had a great time, but little did I know that somewhere in that building was a little bug called influenza waiting to pounce on me.  At least I believe the culprit was residing there according to my timeline. 

Then monday, after yoga, I started to feel a little tickle in my throat that lasted all day.  Just a tiny one.  We went that night out to our friends house and by the time we left, I knew I was sick.  I thought at first it was major allergies from being out in the hills... but oh no!!!  By the time I woke up the next morning, full on flu.  And a high fever for the next few days, and you know you, all that goes along with that.  So.... there was a whole lot of this below for the whole rest of the week.

Then a few days later, James started to get it too... so just as I was coming out of my fever break, he was going into his and I needed to take care of him too.  It's been about 5 years since Ive had the flu, so I had conveniently forgotten how rough it is.  I'm sooooo happy we are both coming out of it.  I still feel exhausted and I'm having a hard time finding my energy, and still have a bit of a soar throat... but this I can handle.  And I'm so happy that we did not have to go to the doctor, and I fought the whole thing naturally. It's kind of weird though to wake up one day and realize youve spent an entire week in bed. 

And FINALLY!!!  I have the winners for the past two giveaways...  Thanks for your patience!
 
The winner of Catina Jane Art's giveaway is RACHEL AWES!!!
The winner of the Flying Tomato giveaway is ELIZA KASZTNER!!!
 
Ill be emailing you ladies soon, congrats!!!!

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1.19.2013

DATEVIATION LOVE COUPON BOOK GIVEAWAY

For James birthday I surprised him with this cute little date coupon book from Datevitation.  I chose 5 different dates he could redeem at anytime.  It was so fun browsing through their site to pick out the dates b/c they have over 200 to choose from!  And some of them are pretty hilarious!  They even have an entire 'adult section'.  I decided to stick with just a few so it wasn't overwhelming, and pick ones I knew we would both really enjoy.  You can see my selections below...

You can personalize the first page to say anything you want... along with the descriptions next to each date photo.  The little drawings are cute and silly.  And there is a tear off spot on the end of each coupon to fill in the date it was redeemed!  One other very cool thing about the site is that it can be for anyone.  You have the option to have it be boy & girl, girl & girl, or boy & boy.  So it can also be used for same sex couples or friends!  I love it!  And the best part is its a family run company by a husband and wife duo, Alex and Olga. Oh, and it came in a gift box, ready for giving, bonus!


I'm excited to announce that Datevitation is giving one of my readers a FREE love coupon book!  You get to create your own customized book for whomever you want with 5 date coupons.   AND through January all of my readers get $10 off their first book with code VIOLET, just in time for Valentine's day!!!

To Enter: follow datevitation on facebook  // follow via twitter  //  visit datevitations library of coupons and tell me your favorite one  //  share this on your fb - twitter - pinterest - instagram

Fine Print from Datevitation: winner will be chosen using random.org and will receive a promo code.  winner will pay $3.50 shipping and tax will be applied to california orders.  books ship to US ONLY.

Please leave a comment for each below. 

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