Nuts and Bolts

CHRISTMAS LOOT!

Kai, blogger brains behind TEXTURE sent me a Christmas gift. I am about to share the intense beauty of it with you. You ready? Because opening this gift seriously made my day.

By the way, she MADE the gift box (and shares how here) and she MADE the bracelet. This DIY goddess is my hero.

Without further adieu..









Wait til you see how perfectly it goes with my clusterfuck of DIY friendship necklaces. Which, by the way is getting out of hand when I stopped in at The Rock Barrel in Dallas, Texas, my favorite rock, gem and jewelry supply store. The clusterfuck of friendship necklaces just got a serious upgrade with Kai's necklace and all of the jade beads, freshwater pearls and other semi-precious wonders I bought.

Thank you, Kai! I didn't think I could adore, respect, admire you any more than I already did, but you just upped the ante.

Truest of True

There is no beauty more true than Jane, Charlotte and Lou. Sexy motherhood, effortless chic, busted teeth, natural glow, 100% comfortable in their own skin, shameless nudity, precious, dainty charm necklaces, tousled locks. Just goes to show that beauty isn't a packaged standard, it's not Barbie perfection but about being completely and utterly comfortable with yourself. Everything else follows naturally.

I guess excessive croissants and smoking help.

























All images via the great, creditless source of inspiration in the sky-- Tumblr.

Immortalized

Because I know that one day I'll want photos immortalizing my naked youth.







Photos by Cameron Ballensky

Priceless

Humor my obsession a bit more, please.





I'm still making DIY friendship necklaces like a madwoman. I'm in this maniacal rut when I just ... make them. However, they take so long to make each one...

I'm inspired by the thought of the "million-dollar bohemian", which is completely contradictory, in that it's layered and disheveled, nomadic and free-spirited, yet all perfectly lux: real leather and fur, silk, pearls, gold, diamond and jade. Nothing fake.

I'm also digging on the layered dainty charm necklaces of Jessica Hart.





And the real wishbone I wore on a choker in my last outfit post? Well, I decided it needed a setting that did it justice. So on an absolute whim I strung the wishbone with a handful of loose pale pink freshwater pearls I had laying around. (Yes, this is the kind of stuff I have 'just laying around', it's kind of ridiculous).



Those that know me are no stranger to the fact that "I love dead animals". Taxidermy, leather, fur, you name it. And the fact that this necklace is made from oyster warts and the bone from a real animal (charmingly sent to me from a friend from across the country)-- completely enchants me.

The other necklace here is a custom piece from my favorite jewelry designer on Etsy, Priyanka Sodhi. She specializes in dainty, natural and raw. I wanted an impossibly dainty, incredibly tiny yellow gold daisy with a canary diamond. So small and precocious, it could be children's jewelry. And that's exactly what she delivered.

Here's the rest of what I've been DIYing that I'm sure you're sick of seeing by now.

Day Tripping

I think we can safely say that I like my editorials to look heavily drug-induced. Remember when Gemma Ward was the it-girl, Vogue was still edgy and Nick Knight was churning out amazing spreads?

Yeah. Those were the days.

























UK Vogue Sept 2004

This was my favorite editorial ever for years. It was one of the first editorials that inspired me, made me fall for Gemma's alien beauty and introduced me to Nick Knight. I still have the ripped out pages from the magazine in a notebook somewhere. Nostalgia, much?

Jeans and a Tee Shirt

The daily. The staples. The what I throw on when the blogosphere's back is turned.

The only pair of jeans I ever spent more than $40 on. I got them years ago at a boutique in Germany and they are so soft and worn-in and baggy now. Quite possibly, my favorite pair of jeans. I guess they'd now be considered boyfriend fit. The tee is from F21, but has since gotten a few small holes, some accidental bleach splatter and soft and drapey from sleeping in it so many nights. And cowboy boots? Well, I am from Texas, y'know.







My gobs of friendship necklaces are coming along quite nicely, if I may say so myself. Can you see the choker? On a tiny white thread is a star carved from bone and a real wishbone. My old roomie and I got matching stars together at the last Renaissance festival and the bone was given to me by a friend some years ago.









This last picture pretty much sums up my last few weeks. Fun things, good music, dancing and being crafty but I can't shake the blues. Or in this case, the purples. But I did shoot with a new photographer today, so hopefully I'll have some cool new stuff to show you soon. Beware, nudity is involved.

Passage to India

I'm normally not a Chanel fan. This doesn't mean I didn't own a Chanel wallet when I was 19 and thought I was the shit. But now that I've gotten over designer labels, it's rare I dig anything on their runways. However, the Chanel Pre-fall show got me by the balls with tons of face jewelry, bindis, fake dreadlocks and hardcore Indian garb. Some even on legit Indian models. Talk about refreshing!























Jesus, it's so beautiful. My old roommate was a legit and beautiful Indian. I need to hit her up-- get her to take me to some Indian clothing boutiques. I can be shameless, I can be that gawky ginger trying to be ethnic.