HAIR TREASURES SUPER SALE!!

hair treasures is having a ultra super mega sale! i'm really excited about this. who doesn't love a sale? it's my little gift to the treasure lovers of the world! 

you can visit the hair treasures etsy shop for more info or check out the sale announcement here:

hair treasures is having a super sale!

25% off any 1 item!
50% off all additional items!  

just follow these simple steps BEFORE YOU BUY to receive your discount: 

1. convo me and let me know which item(s) you have your heart set on.  

2. take a look at the convo you receive from me with info about your discounted items. 

3. head back to the hair treasures store and snag your sale stuff!  

 *most expensive item will receive the 25% off discount.*  

**sale ends 6/6/10**

take a gander at the shop and convo me (through etsy, please!) if you want to cash in on the sale. here's to discounted handmade hair accessories. clink! 

is it time to move yet?

i have taken a bit of a hiatus from creating new hair treasures. i think part of the reason is i that i don't have any craft shows lined up for the summer. it's kind of a bummer (a summer bummer, if you will), but it's given me time to focus on getting things ready for my move, and i have also begun operation: summer '10 hot bod. i'll leave that one to your imagination.

all this extra time on my hands has led me to one of my favorite (and most dangerous) pastimes: online shopping. i've been saving my money like a good little girl all year long, and now that i'm getting ready to move into a new place, i'm thinking of ways to spruce it up already.

speaking of new place, here are some photos of my future abode:

it's little and cute and just perfect for gretta and me. all those hardwoods require some rugs, so i decided to see if anything new was on sale at urban outfitters, and lo and behold, i found this little guy: 

a 3x5 rug for $10? yes, please. 

it's sold out now, so this close-up is the only picture i could find. 

my apartment is close enough to campus that i will be able to bike to class! i hope to save a lot on gas and continue operation: hot bod by engaging in these forms of transportation. to make my journey a little more fun and fashionable, i have this coming my way: 

it's called "drippy" from nutcasehelmets.com. 

i'm just excited to have a helmet that somewhat matches my bike and doesn't have pokey things or make me look like i'm trying to be lance armstrong. 

despite my brief departure from new creations to sell on my etsy store or at craft shows, i am starting a new project this week for jara. i met with her a while ago about her bridesmaids pieces, but now that i have exact colors and inspiration from her bridesmaids' shoes and jewelry, i am ready to make make make! i am also creating her bridal piece, which i can't wait to do! 

that's all for now. enjoy summertime, ok?

featured!

i just woke up to this little surprise! 

it has something to do with the treasury because i can't find it on there now. (i guess i could, but i'd have to navigate through 883 "pages" of treasuries on the front page.) it boosted the traffic to my etsy store, so that's fun! anyway, i'm glad my facebook profile informs me of what's going on in my store. 

ps. it's my birthday. party on!

hair treasury.

hair treasures is included in a new etsy treasury! it's a stitch from brooklyn NY created this treasury and titled it "sappy singer songwriter," which i, of course, love. what girl doesn't? she makes some sweet jewelry that you should check out in her etsy store.

click on the picture below to see more of the treasury in detail!

 

click here to get a closer look at my oversized navy / white heart layers band. 

thanks, it's a stitch! 

babies in a wagon!

oh, hi! i just wanted to share a couple of adorable pictures of my cousins' kids (second cousins? i've never been good at diagramming the family tree).

a while ago i worked on some special orders and posted pictures of them here, but i couldn't reveal the recipients at the time because they were a surprise! my cousins kelsey and lindsey requested them for their girls to wear in professional pictures as a mother's day present for their mom, my aunt deb.

westin, sadie, and brenna:

brenna's clips are barely poking out from her pigtails. so cute! (poor westin didn't get any treasures. he'll thank us all later.)

the baby cousins:

(lindsey asked for clips for sadie so that she could attach them to her favorite comfy headband.)

the pieces, up close and personal:

i'm glad i could contribute to this precious mother's day gift. i know my aunt deb is a proud grandma, and my cousins kelsey and lindsey are the best moms around! 

ps. check out kelsey's all-things-motherhood blog. my mom is frequently raves about her skills!

a weekend in the windy city.

i spent last weekend in chicago with three of my best friends: brittany, stacey, and abby. i commonly refer to them as "my college bffs," considering that we were brought together by our beloved alma mater, taylor university. i feel blessed to live near enough to my friends to see them on occasion, but we decided that a special trip was something we definitely needed!

the view from our high rise michigan avenue hotel room:

one of our many "bean" photos at millennium park:

when we decided on chicago, i knew right away that i wanted to make a visit to the renegade handmade store in wicker park. i know a little about the renegade craft shows that go on around the country and decided that i wanted to get my hands on some handmade treasures in the windy city. 

a sufjan stevens record (michigan) was spinning during our renegade shopping time, which added immensely to my happiness. i think i picked up every item i could touch, and i noticed a few other shoppers doing the same. browsing the store made me that much more excited for homespun to open in indy. i am hoping it will be comparable to my experience at renegade!

some adorable fashions that i wish i could afford:

dinner napkins made from repurposed sheets:

my heart's desire:

journals made with oldtimey book covers:

stuffed animal taxidermy:

the store was sweet! and while i wanted to come home with one of everything, i decided to put all of my eggs in one basket and make a purchase that best expressed the depths of my soul. midwest IS best, and i have it in writing right here, folks:

we traveled all over the city on the L, walked for miles, shopped, and ate. we survived about 30 seconds of hail, 2 minutes of rain, and three days of windy coldness. overall, it was a fun, much needed weekend with three of my favorite people, and i loved every second of it. here are a few more pictures from our trip:

a yummy concoction from berry chill yogurt couture (plus a color-changing spoon!) :

black bean burger from chicago diner in the boystown neighborhood. mmmm. :

brittany at sweet mandy b.'s in lincoln park, where i purchased a snickerdoodle cupcake (!!!) :

the college bffs in the midst of a celtic festival, proms, and weddings, millennium park:

i (obviously) give chicago two thumbs up:

our triumphant return to indiana. we were asked if it was "national yellow day," so we decided to take a picture in front of brittany's yellow house, sporting our yellow shirts.

my upcycled vintage dress from Bid Me Wings.

a while ago i posted about about my bff beth's etsy store, Bid Me Wings. she started her vintage shop to raise money for her trip to africa this summer. originally bound for kenya, she will now be traveling to ethiopia for a couple weeks to serve the people there. i am so excited and proud of her!

i bought a lovely dress from Bid Me Wings, and when it arrived, i realized that it was in need of some alterations (mostly because i'm so short). i had to put off this project for a while, but i finally got around to making some changes including: shortening the hem, taking in the sides, and removing the sleeves. i didn't originally set out to change the style of the dress, but sometimes unforeseen transformations just happen!

before:

after:

when i started detaching the sleeves, i noticed these perfect ruffles underneath, intended to keep the sleeves' shape. i re-attached the ruffles, and now they are a visible part of the dress! 

i styled my upcycled vintage dress with a red belt, white flats, and this hair treasure.

i'm so happy that it's actually getting warm here so i can wear my summertimey dresses, including this little vintage gem. thanks to beth at Bid Me Wings for providing the materials for this most recent project! 

handmade nation.

on saturday night i went with my friend jessica (check out the string theories, her etsy shop!) to see a screening of a documentary called handmade nation. we had been planning our big night out for over a month, originally with dreams of wearing bedazzled horse sweaters (yeah, you know what i'm talking about) and metallic stretchy pants a la leslie hall. that dream never came to fruition, but we did have a grand old time for a great cause.

(outside the irving theatre, the venue for the event)

(some homespun paraphernalia)

i have posted about homespun a few times in the past. it's a store that is set to open this summer from the creators of the indieana handicraft exchange. it will be a venue for the sale of handmade goods as well as a workshop space. the handmade nation screening was a fund raiser for homespun and included live music, a silent auction (i didn't win), and, of course, the movie.

(music from pholly, two supercute girls who i want to be when i grow up. i think they are in high school. they're definitely way cooler than i will ever be.)

(one of the silent auction items that stole my indiana-loving heart)

the venue for the handmade nation screening was the irving theatre in downtown irvington. it was a raw space full of church pews, folding chairs, and these fantastic newspaper lanterns. they glowed like fire! ooh. ahh. jessica and i milled around the silent auction for a while (all items donated by IHE vendors), sipping some treats from the coffee shop next door. it was a pleasant experience and one that i am happy to have participated in, especially because i love the idea of homespun so much.

(inside the irving theatre)

handmade nation is an hour-long documentary that chronicles the journeys of crafters all over the country. the tagline of the movie is "the rise of DIY, art, craft, and design," which is pretty much the entire angle of the film. the director, faythe levine, interviews artists, craft magazine execs, and supporters of all kinds who share their passion for what they do and what the "rise of DIY" means in a mass-produced, consumer-driven society. it was really inspiring and encouraging to see all these people who have formed a community based on their love for creating treasures of all shapes and sizes. and the parts about knitta made me laugh. genius.

i could relate to a few of the interviewees who talked about the release that comes with creating. i know that what i do and the things i make aren't the most elaborate, don't involve a lot of emotion, and are less than thought provoking. but starting something and designing it in my mind and then seeing a final product is so fulfilling to me. using tools to bring something from start to finish -- i love it. i think i got that from my dad.

if you like documentaries and/or arting-and-crafting, i highly recommend handmade nation. do it!
check out the handmade nation blog, too!