Friday, May 27, 2011

Newhopebeading giveaway


Dream Team Member Giveaway: Fine Silver Kanji Pendant Necklace by Newhopebeading

Here is your chance to win this gorgeous fine silver necklace with your choice of one of 48 Kanji symbols that are hand stamped into circle pendants. This giveaway is for one necklace that is 16” in length on sterling silver bead chain. Kanji are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system.




TO PURCHASE:

This necklace is available for immediate purchase HERE!

TO WIN:

Mandatory Entry:

Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry.
Make sure to include your email address or a way to contact you if you win! 

1 Entry Visit newhopebeading’s shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/newhopebeading and browse around and leave a comment here with your favorite item!

1 Entry Follow this blog, the Dream Team Blog, leave a comment here that you completed this.

1 Entry Like newhopebeading on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/NewHopeBeading and leave a comment here that you are “liked” her facebook page.

Extra Entries:
Make sure to include your email address or a way to contact you if you win!
Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1 Entry - Follow newhopebeading on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NewHopeBeading

1 Entry – Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment here that you did! You can tweet once per day and each tweet will count as another entry, just make sure you leave a separate comment for each tweet. Feel free to use this tweet or something similar: 

Win #handmade fine silver PMC Japanese Kanji Necklace #blog #giveaway Ends 6/10! RT @dreamteametsy @newhopebeading http://ow.ly/54I4N

1 EntryHeart Newhopebeading’s Etsy shop and leave a comment here with your Etsy username.

1 Entry Grab the Dream Team blog button and put it on your blog! Leave a comment here that you completed that with a link to your blog.

1 EntryBlog about this giveaway and leave a link here.

GUIDELINES/RULES:
  •  Please make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry.
  • This giveaway will end at midnight EST on Friday, June 10th
  •  The winner will be chosen by Random.org. I will have the winner announced by June 13th and he/she will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address. If a winner cannot be contacted, another winner will be randomly chosen.
  •  This giveaway is open worldwide.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

get the look



Breakfast at Tiffany's

Sometimes it's hard to decide what to wear or how to decorate. This series aims to make it a bit easier! We'll show you how to dress like your favorite star from a movie, or how to make your home as posh as your favorite TV show setting. Or how to go boho chic or do your bungalow up like a Paris apartment. 

And what better way to start this off than with the super chic look worn by the iconic Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's? Let's break this look down, shall we?

You must start with the classic Little Black Dress. This movie made a staple of the LBD and it continues to be as important today as it ever was. Check out this cute number by Lucia Verona:



Coming in at $95 dollars this classic dress is a must!

How about those oversized shades from the movie? Check out these from SunofaBeachEyewear:



Of course you need a classic black shoe for this look. Try these stiletto pumps from Vintage201:



Add a pair of opera length black satin gloves to take the look to the next level — and then consider the jewels. Audrey is blinged out in this movie —  think pearls and diamonds. For the earrings, consider a vintage option, like this one from moondogcottage:



And lastly, as the icing on a big, beautiful cake, why not make your very own chunky pearl and "diamond" necklace! Check out this great tutorial from PS I Made This. There's even a video version on Fashionista.

Now go and get your Audrey on.

            xo,

                Rhett

things we carry

left to right, bottom row: bucktoothedbunny bag, vintage change purse, vintage measuring tape. Middle row: Kiehl's hand salve, Burt's Bees lip shimmer, Smith's lip balm, silver hairband, beat-up iphone, envelope from dad, Muji ruler, Moleskin notebook, Muji pen, other pen, Robert Marc custom clip-on shades in vintage leather case. Top row: keys to the warehouse with Tekserve lights and gym pass, sports tape, 1950s vintage mirror from mom's high school dance purse.
Jana's bag

Hi. I'm Jana, from luncheonettevintage. The truth is, I don't really have one bag. I have about five of them going at any one time, some vintage, some not, some big, some not. I just use the one that suits the day. The day I photographed this was a go to town day: trips to the organic supermarket, a thrift shop, and a stint in a cafe to work on an article (there's nothing like a soy cappuccino from this place). And the best go to town bag is the Alice in Wonderland shoulder bag by bucktoothedbunny, which I use all the time. Having Alice with me is a nice reminder to enjoy the ride.

All laid out on our kitchen table (1950s, from a yard sale) is what you might call the daily carry. The bag may change, but the daily carry doesn't:

Wallet, a pebble grain leather Tusk which my mom gave me years ago. It holds an amazing amount of stuff. See Fellini's concept of a film within a film: it's my carry within a carry.

Vintage see-through change purse that was a welcome surprise from someone I did a shop trade with. I was really after a 1960s green-flocked paisley recipe binder, but this has proved far more useful. The binder sits on a shelf look. And haven't used but like to admire.

Very weathered, softened, faded (to the point of not being entirely readable in dim light, but I'm loyal) measuring tape I got from my great friend and superb artist and metalsmith Carolanne. She moved to LA and I miss her big terrible. Great to have a measuring tape in your bag when you're looking at vintage and can't figure out a size, or just feel like whipping it out to look official.

iphone. not the 4g. the 3g. As in, I'm not fallin for your hype, apple. Not until I've saved up enough to upgrade.

And the photo on the iphone is my sister, posing in front of a barn from a recent upstate jaunt. Sisters rule!

Kiehl's ultimate strength hand salve, a must. We live a farmer's life around here, and then there's all that hand-washing after rifling through vintage. If you spend any time at your local Salvation Army thrift shop, you know what I mean.


Smith's minted rose lip balm, which tastes delicious, and was a present from my sister. Every year we give each other lots of little items like this. We're both hard workers who sometimes forget things like brushing our hair. So often, we give each other hair brushes

Note there is no hair brush in this carry. Draw your own conclusions.

Burt's Bees pink lip shimmer. My Chanel lipstick lives in the night bag, I swear.

Hairband, silver, which unfortunately matches at least 20 strands of my brown hair.

Sports tape, to tape up the arch of my foot before I go for a run. This way I never lose the tape, at least theoretically.

Set of keys to the warehouse with a great little Tekserve flashlight tab on it and the "You're #1" key-fob from my friends at the RV sales place. Sometimes they have airstreams, and I get to look and dream.


Very delicate and worn out clip-on shades (custom-made) to my very delicate and worn out Robert Marc eyeglasses.



2 essential pens: a Muji multipen with 6 different colors, and a black uni-ball Signo.  Muji rules.


The anti-moleskin moleskin notebook: it comes in packs of threes, and the pages are big enough to hold my notes for the article or story I'm writing. I color code them by month by coloring in the spine stitches (e.g. 5 stitches colored in = this book was used for May). I go through a lot of these.

Envelope from a letter my dad sent me recently, because I love his handwriting, and he's been writing to me at nearly a hundred addresses all my life.


Mirror in a satin case from a 1950s clutch that used to belong to my mother in the actual 1950s. I think she wore it to a high school dance, and no doubt looked absolutely elegant. I find myself keeping all sorts of these little artifacts close: they remind me of her, but they also remind me to check in the mirror, as she might say.

Debatable as to whether or not this is necessary, but I love the muji aluminum 6" ruler.

The only thing missing is my car key, but that lives on the end of a bandana that I've kind of twisted and tied to make it very large and unmistakable. That lives in my car, unless I am in town and tie the bandana around the shoulder strap of the bag, then tuck the key inside where it can finally have a nap.

That's it. That's the daily carry.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

pets & gardens

Althea of BlackStar

Howdy. My name is Althea. I’m the cat that runs BlackStar. I’m living the good life, here in Tennessee. My life hasn’t always been a bowl of cherries. I spent some time in lock-up back in ’03. On May 14th of that year, Katie walked into the shelter looking for a white cat to adopt. She looked over my papers, which read like a rap sheet. It said “does not get along with others." Did they have to write that? She didn’t flinch though. She paid my bail and off we went.


Oh yeah! I hit the jackpot. Sure I have to work, but it really is a cool job running a jewelry shop, and chatting with people from all around the world. While I have your attention, summer is coming up and lots of folks go out and get pets. Don’t forget to check your local shelters and rescues. Give a pet like me a second chance at happiness.

           Kitty kisses,  
                       Althea