Friday already?!

Holy wow, I did not realize how quickly this week has flown by. I have been desperately trying to photograph new jewelry for the holidays, but thanks to the Daylight Savings time change, I keep missing the afternoon sun. By the time I’m settled in to start shooting the pieces, there’s not enough natural lighting and I end up pushing the listing of items by a full day. This has been the case for the past 3 days, so the new items that were supposed to go up before the weekend are going to have to wait until next week. It makes me sad because I was really hoping to have the new pieces out by tonight, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that this weekend is filled with lots of Californian sunshine so I can get to work on posting the holiday stuff.

Happy Monday! It’s November!!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had an enjoyable Halloween weekend! My weekend included eating lots of chocolate and exploring San Fancisco while dressed up as a zombie-sailor. : ) Sounds like a typical weekend in California for me, minus dressing up!

To kick off the month of November, I am sponsoring another giveaway!! This time, Christina over at Down and Out Chic has graciously offered to host this giveaway for a Fallen Leaves Lariat and a special, one-of-a-kind pair of matching asymmetric earrings! Head over to D&OC to enter today. Contest closes on Nov 3.

I hope you guys are enjoying all these giveaways! I have a couple of other surprises up my sleeves before the end of 2009.  Stay tuned!

Fallen Leaves Lariat

October Giveaway!

Wow, sorry for the week-long dry spell of posts! I’ve been super busy with some visitors in the west coast and haven’t had time to sit down and write a proper entry. This post should make up for it!

I recently had a bunch of my bunny pendants sent out to be plated, as I had too many raw brass bunnies with small scratches or aging that couldn’t be made into necklaces unless they were somehow refinished. This was a great opportunity for me to go ahead and have a couple of bunnies plated in silver, as a lot of people have been messaging me and asking if a silver version of the Lone Hopper necklaces would ever be released.

The Baby Lone Hopper in Silver

If you’re interested in getting your hands on one of these cute bunnies, they are available in the shop.  If you’re also interested in trying your luck,  The Clothes Horse is currently hosting a second anirtak jewelry giveaway, where one lucky winner will get to take a silver baby Lone Hopper necklace on all their adventures!

Happy Monday everyone!

Productive Weekend

This weekend was amazing in terms of productivity. I set a goal to have X number of pieces made before midnight on Sunday. Not only was I able to get all the necklaces made, but I even got a couple of them photographed and posted to my Etsy! Woo hoo!

Here’s a little peek of what was added to the shop:

New items!

I hope you guys like the new pieces! More on the way soon, I promise.

Simplicity at its Best

I just discovered polyvore.com a few weeks ago (yes, late on another fashion website’s bandwagon… what else is new?) and have been playing around with making my own sets.

For this installment of the Recession Wardrobe Challenge, I’d like to talk more clothes and less accessories.

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of simple, solid colored articles of clothing. Dark wash jeans, a white t-shirt (or camisole) with a solid cardigan on top is my staple outfit.  I find that jeans are so versatile for those “lazy days” when you don’t want to think about coordinating your outfit. Slap on a t-shirt or blouse and 99% of the time you’ll look decent enough to go grocery shopping!

As you can probably tell, I just cannot get enough of pearls. I think they are so simple, elegant and timeless. I pretty much wear pearls with any outfit. Because I can’t leave the house without some sort of jewelry, pearls are the best accessories in terms of their ability to make any outfit look polished.

Today’s lesson: Invest in a pair of jeans and some simple solid tops that will last you through the rest of the recession.  Don’t try to keep up with all the trends if that means you’re going to drain your bank account.

Pearls, pearls & more pearls

I have been on a real freshwater pearl kick lately. Everything I make has to have a pearl or two or three incorporated into the piece.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with the new “Sophisticated in Pearls” line of necklaces. Every piece in this line features a string of pearls and a dainty matte silver charm with enamel detailing:

Sophisticated in Pearls Necklace - Forestry

Another awesome feature of these necklaces are their versatility! As mentioned in my first installment of the Recession Wardrobe Challenge, why pay for one necklace with only one look when you can wear it multiple ways?What are your thoughts on these 2-ways-to-wear-it necklaces? Personally, I love them! I can’t get enough of the pearls and the fact that I can change up my accessories without even having to unclasp a necklace!

Find More Ways to Wear It

This is my first installment of the Recession Wardrobe Challenge. Rest assured that this will be one of few, if not the only, post about accessories. No worries, I will get to clothing!

With the recession still pushing at full force, I can definitely feel myself starting to pinch pennies. Things that I would normally splurge on, like a grande Americano from Starbucks, have been cut from my budget. I have learned to live with just a few staples: two pairs of jeans, jogging pants, basic vneck tshirts, and plain hoodies. Mind you, my outfits have never been all that exciting, but I love to accessorize!

The one thing I can’t leave the house without is a necklace. I don’t know why, but I’ve grown so fond of having something around my neck to draw people’s attention with. I have a soft spot for simple pieces that match with more than one outfit or can be layered to complete different looks.

With the economy in its current state, I like looking for versatile accessories– ones that I can wear both day and night for different looks. Pieces that I can wear during the week as well as on weekends when I’m running errands are hard to come by!

To save my piggy bank from breaking, I have told myself that I can only buy jewelry that can be worn more than two ways; being creative about how to wear the jewelry is the best part!  The more ways to wear it the better!

The Lustrous Pearl Necklace in Royal Blue is super versatile and can be worn 3 different ways for three totally different looks:

Lustrous Pearl Necklace in Royal Blue

LEFT: On weekends when I’m just running errands or doing some window shopping at the mall, I would pair this look with a plain white vneck tshirt and my favorite pair of jeans. The detailed toggle clasp adds an extra “kick” to the otherwise “boring” outfit.

MIDDLE: Looking for something a little more classic and dressy? Swing the toggle clasp around to the back so that you get a full strand of pearl across the collar bone. Pair this look up with your favorite cocktail dress and you’re ready for an evening of fun! The best thing about a full strand of pearls is that it adds to your color palette without attracting attention away from your outfit.

RIGHT: I call this my “Serious but fun” look. Wearing the toggle clasp asymmetrically off to the side gives people the view of a full strand of pearls from the front, but once you turn to the side, they get a glimpse of the highly detailed clasp.

I once went to see an orchestral performance wearing this necklace asymmetrically (RIGHT view) and as I waited in line to use the ladies room, the woman behind me commented on how lovely she thought the pearls were. As I turned to thank her for her sweet compliments, she saw the clasp and gasped a little. I could tell she wasn’t expecting to see the toggle clasp, but she loved it! She thought it was a very unique adaptation of the traditional pearl necklace with the tiny silver clasp. : )

Moral of the story: save money by buying jewelry that can be worn more than one way. Your wallet will thank you.

Back on the bloggin’ horse!

This weekend was a little busier than I thought it would be. Thanks to some unexpected visitors in the west coast, I probably spent over 10 hours walking all over NorCal doing touristy activities and getting to know the cities. It’s true, my legs have been feeling like Jello since Saturday; I’m sure I’ll recover from all the walking soon enough!

Over the weekend I also managed to make a new necklace, but someone beat me to the blogging about it and already scooped it up from the shop:

Owl Baby Necklace

Now that I’m pretty much back to being 100% better and my visitors have returned to the east coast, I should be back to my regular blogging routine. Stay tuned for this month’s Recession Wardrobe Challenge posts!

P.S: I haven’t forgotten about the Secret Knitting Project either. I told you, I’m a really slow knitter so it’s still in the works.

Battling a cold & new things on the way

I had a great story to tell you all from earlier this week, but now I can’t remember it for the life of me. I’ve been getting these ridiculous sneezing and coughing fits at night that wake me up at 4am. Unfortunately for me, I’m one of those sleepers who can’t fall back asleep after they’ve been woken up once. I have been feeling absolutely miserable for the past couple of days.

Hopefully I make a full recovery by tomorrow as there are lots of fun activities planned for my weekend!

Aside from the sniffles and coughs, I have been working on a new Recession Challenge. I will be taking on a wallet-friendly wardrobe challenge for the month of October. More details to come!

Feeling sophisticated?

This week was probably one of the roughest week’s I’ve ever had. Between assignments, working full time and making dinners (which is probably not a good idea to be put on the back-burner of my ‘to do list’), I’ve been pretty exhausted. Waking up in the morning on weekdays knowing that I have to rinse, wash and repeat my daily routine is never a good feeling when I’m in a less-than-happy mood.

Sophisticated in Pearls Necklace

This week I wanted to get more necklaces finished, photographed and listed, but that never happened. Instead, I ended up remaking the necklace above for myself. I was so in love with the sheen of the pearls when I first made it that I knew I had to make one for myself!

I made my new necklace on Thursday and have since felt a lot better! I got tons of compliments on my commute to work, which was a huge pick-me-up from my previous dreary days. Amazing how something so small can make you feel 10x better!