Love Erin Designs Giveaway - Winner

And the winner is....


*drumroll*


number 13, or BAM

Congrats!~ Shoot me an e-mail at erindyan @ gmail dot com and we will work out the details.

Thanks to all who entered and I hope I can do it again soon!

Pretty Raccoon

It took me a while to really figure out how I wanted to style this top, but I am glad I took the time to get it right. I knew I wanted a black shrug to make it work for the office, but I am not really shopping for new clothes right now, so I was looking at thrift stores and not finding what I needed. But last Saturday, Lara sent Nathan home with a couple of sweaters she was no longer interested in and this perfect shrug was one of them!


(oh my goodness, my legs!~ They are glowing like suns!)



I felt really amazing and curvy and fun in this combo and can’t wait to wear it again. I’ve been watching a lot of Mad Med Season 2, and this shape felt very Mad Men to me.

These shoes don’t get a lot of play anymore. When I first got them, I was a good 30 pounds heavier than I am now, and working with an entirely different wardrobe. I used to wear them all the time but I almost never wear them now.



I still really like them but the linen wrap around the heel really limits what I can wear them with.



This bracelet combo is getting a lot of play lately, just because, I’ll be honest, it’s easy, and I can just throw it on and not think too much about it. I’ve been pretty stressed and not getting tons of sleep, so lazy accessories are a bonus right now.



Meh. This picture does zero justice to these earrings, but it’s the best one I got. They are long enough to dust the shoulder and very striking.



Hopefully I’ll get a better pic next time!


Blouse, Pretty Raccoon at Etsy.
Belt, American Apparel
Shrug, Hand Me Down form Lara
Skirt,
Target
Shoes, Payless
Bracelets, Vintage
Earrings, Love Erin Designs

More Impressive Than I Thought

I was not that impressed with this outfit, but Pilar commented that she liked it at work, and Nathan asked me to wear it to meet friends that night. And in looking at the pictures, I’m not sure what I was unimpressed with!









I am actually kind of sick of that blouse, it has this big bow at the top that I used to REALLY like, but for some reason find myself sick of all of the sudden. But using it as a layering piece worked really well. You still get the pretty pattern and I don’t have to look at that stupid bow.



I have got to get these re-soled ASAP, kids. And the worst part is that the shoe repair place is next door to my office. All I have to do is put the shoes that need repair in my car and stop for 2 minutes to drop them off. I can be such a ditz. (I also have a ton of stuff in my car right now for the tailor. Some of it has been in there for months. )



I made these this weekend and I love them.



But I have no plans to make them for the store because they were such a huge pain in the behind. I got so sick of counting links. They are all uneven on the individual earring, but of course earrings come in pairs, so I had to have two of each length. It was totally worth it for personal use, but I think labor costs would price them out of my stores price point, to be honest. And I’m sure you can get something similar (made of out inferior components though) at Forever 21 or Claires.



This is the other side of the reversible cuff from Trilby Made. I find I want to wear this pretty much everyday. It’s so bold and original and comfortable!



Jacket, Target, altered
Blouse, Target
Pants, Wal-Mart
Shoes, Target
Cuff, TrilbyMade at Etsy.
Earrings, Self made(which is sort of but not quite that same as being Love Erin Designs if I never intend to sell them)

Blogroll

If you are a regular reader and/or commenter, and you have a style blog, and I don't link you, and you wish I would, let me know. I try and catch them as you comment but I often read my comments on my phone, and can't really do it when I do that.

(That is a super run-on, isn't it?)

Calling All Wizards

(My outfit yesterday was a repeat and I wanted to eat my cheeseburger while it was still hot, so no pics. But the cheeseburger was amazing, so I’m sure you understand. Instead I’m going to blog about what I did last night)

Recently I saw a few Golden Snitch necklaces on Etsy and I thought that they were really cute! I thought “hey, I want one of those” but I also thought “dude, I have wings, and I have brass balls!*”

So last night I set about making a Golden Snitch of my own, and it turned out to be a lot more difficult that I thought it was going to be!



But look how cute!~



There was MUCH fussing about and putting together and pulling apart and putting it back together. I tried all different combinations of the two wing sizes and the two jump ring sizes I had. Then I had to determine placement. It ended up working best with large wings with small jump rings at a FIXED place on the chain, and a large jump ring on the ball in between (not fixed).


I’m super pleased with the result.









I have already had one request for one at work, and I think I have materials to make two more than that for the store if there is interest, but I just love how it came out.


*ehehehehe. Brass balls. eheheheheh

Oh Hi!, I Stole Your Style

Oh Hi Stephanie N! I stole your style.

I bought this fabulous necklace from orangyredink at Etsy, just like you.



My husband has always wanted me to get a chest piece, but it’s not going to happen. This felt like a good compromise. It’s custom and totally adorable.

I wore it like this:







Tee, American Apparel
Skirt, Thrifted
Pumps, Target
DADA Bracelet, MOMA (NYC)
Silver bangle, gift
Necklace, orangyredink at Etsy

100

*points at followers*

Do you follow your own blog? I am totally considering following myself to hit the lucky 100 mark.

ETA: What what!~ Thanks to Erin for saving me from being a huge dork.

I Got Me Some Horses

Once upon a time, this tank was over 40 bucks. It was beautiful, and I longed to have it. But come on. More than 40 bucks for a tank top? No.



And then one magic day, (seriously, I was on my way to see Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, so, it was a magic day) I went to visit it, and lo and behold…it was 9.99.



And then it was mine.



It costs less than the movie!



I originally tried on a Large, because the sizing at Urban (I know, I know, the devil, but…9.99!) is not all that friendly, but as it turns out this particular brand is all about vanity sizing so I ended up with a small.



Just look how pretty the pattern is!



This gorgeous cuff is by TrilbyMade at Etsy.



It is made of recycled leather, it is cut so that your arm doesn’t get all sweaty, and it is reversible! The other side is solid black leather. And it's super comfortable!

I love a good deal, and you know I love Etsy. In fact, the main reason I keep up the shop is so that I can have some spending money. I put almost everything I make on Etsy, back into Etsy. I buy my supplies there and I buy clothes, jewelry and handbags there as well. Since Nathan has been unemployed and money has been really tight, that flow has been invaluable to me. I would have totally lost my mind without it.



These are from mark (by Avon), but I customized them when I got them. They are really great, I love the way they swing.



I love those boots. When I put them on in the AM, they seem like they are going to be super comfortable all day, right? And then around noon, I think I am going to die, but it passes. It’s so weird, but by 4 I’m fine.

And last but not least…another handbag thrifted by my husband. For $4.25.



(I was meeting one of my girls after work and I stopped in a random parking lot to take these pics)


$4.25! It’s in perfect shape, and it’s a great size. I love it!




Cardigan, Alternative
Tank, Silence and Noise
Denim leggings, Target
Grey ankle boots, Payless
Earrings, mark, customized by me
Cuff, TrilbyMade at Etsy.
Bag, Vintage and thrifted

This Was About The Earrings.

Lara gave me some really funky earrings that she had made a couple weeks ago. They are amazing.



Stunning. Bold. Arty. I love them.

I wanted to wear something that would really let them be the star of the outfit, and I went with this pink patterned shift.



My hair looked pretty awesome that day! Am I right or am I right?





Simple gold gladiators…



And that was it. I let the earrings do the talking. I can’t wait to find another way to wear them.


Dress, Isaac Mizrahi at Target
Shoes, BC
Earrings, handmade by Lara

Fashion Blog Inspired

The way the sleeves on the cardigan are shorter than the sleeves on the blouse is totally something I tried because of fashion blogging. I’m not sure if it’s something I’ve actually seen on a blog or if it’s just something I knew to try because you guys will try anything, but I do know I would not have tried it before.



I was really happy with how it came out. I liked pretty much everything about this outfit. I felt like the proportions on everything were really good.



And I just love that pop of sleeve coming out of the cardigan.



These bird skull earrings are so great. They are classy and arty,but have a bit of edge to them.





So I love love love this necklace. It is perfection in my opinion.



And yet I have sold zero of them. I always find it really strange and slightly disconcerting when I really think a piece is great and it doesn’t sell at all. On the one hand it keeps the piece a one of a kind (or in this case two of a kind as I made one for a friend as a gift). On the other hand it does tend to make me doubt the design just a bit and only for the briefest periods of time. I’m sure other jewelry designs have similar things happen sometimes.



The bunny pendant was the perfect necklace shape and size for this look, but it is hollow and it banged up and down on the button on the cardigan all day long. It looked great but it drove me nuts. I think I’ll avoid the paring in the future.




Sweater, blouse, tank, denim leggings and shoes, all Target
Bunny pendant, Haute Hardware at Etsy
Bone bead necklace, Love Erin Designs at Etsy
Bird Skull earrings, Moon Raven Designs (mrd74) at Etsy