spreading the love around

i've got two new articles up!

this first is on we can re-do it.

i made this clutch, and you can too!

the second one is on slow fashioned, and i'm quite proud of it.

it's an exploration of the collaboration between h&m and swedish hasbeens.

please let me know what you think!

love vs. love to do

my first foray into beauty writing was just posted on slow fashioned.

i really enjoyed meeting with mordechai alvow, the founder of yarok hair...

and i am absolutely obsessed with beauty blogs like into the gloss, and beauty counter at style.com.

but, you know how they say that you should "write what you know"? i think it's really true.... as much as i'm interested in hair care, and skin care, the newest lippy and of course anything nail-art-related....

i think i'll be leaving it to the experts. i can't quite wrap my head around it, and i don't think i'm adding anything really new to the conversation.

it's just not my bag.....

(this is also not my bag)

the results of my labor

quite a while ago, i wrote a couple of blogs about a trip that i took to china, for work.

here's one.

here's the other.

i mentioned at that point that it would be a long time until i could share with you the project that i was working on. but now i can!

below is the collection of sandals that i designed for the simply vera by vera wang* collection at kohl's:

although this line is not designed by what i would personally wear, i am very proud of them. i designed and executed these styles very very quickly, and they look exactly like what we expected.

i'm disappointed that i won't get to continue to work with the kohl's team on this project. i really enjoyed working with them, and i think the collaboration worked out nicely.

if you need a cheap little pair of sandals to wear to a summer wedding, or other event, and want a little bling, i think these guys fit the bills. you can click on the photos about to buy, if you're so inclined ;)

*oops. you didn't think ms. wang did all that design work by herself, did you? hope i didn't burst anyone's bubble!

new at etsy

i just listed a whole bunch of bracelets at my etsy store:

and i've just added earrings! here are a couple of examples:

(i made other colors too. for some reason, the green ones are just particularly photogenic!)

abk

good morning!

as i mentioned before, i have a new writing gig, as a contributor to slowfashioned.com.

a few weeks ago, i got to meet alya kazakevich, who designs the accessories label abk.

read more about alya here.

new site!

i finally, finally, finally put the finishing touches on my personal website.

you guys may recognize the background image from the new look that i created for this blog a couple of months ago. believe it or not, it took at least that long to get the main site together, mostly because i am not a master of my own digital domain, and finally gave in, and enlisted the help of a friend.

so, basically, if you want to know anything about me or my work, check it out. i'm hoping that i'll do a good job at putting up new content.... particularly the videos section! i have a great plan for that section, but first i'll have to learn how to use imovie.

i'd love to hear your feedback on the site!

that's spectacular!

i was asked this week to participate in the.....

i'll be selling the jewelry that is featured on my etsy site, as well as some possible other goodies.

here are the details:

saturday, may 21st, 2011-

82 mercer street

between broome and spring

new york city

11am-8pm

1 day only!

i've heard really great things about this event, so i'm really looking forward to it.

hope you can make it!

a yearly occurrance

i don't spend a lot of time on polyvore, but i just logged in for the first time in about 6 months.

about a year ago, i put together this set:

citrusy by noclevername

and i totally stand by it, a year later.

it's nice to know that my style (while changeable) does have some consistency to it!

addressing the subject

i design shoes.

that's my gig.

i don't design clothing.

that's not my gig. i never studied apparel design, i don't know much about it. i'm pretty comfy with that.

however, a number of years ago, i worked for a designer who shall remain nameless. she, apparently was not comfy with that, and decided that i could design (or re-design) clothing.

so, she gave me the responsibility of re-designing the seasonless "key items" that had been great sellers in the past.

that makes sense, right? since they were great sellers, it is probably best to entrust the only person on your design staff who knows nothing about apparel to re-design them. right?

wrong. obviously.

and i now have photographic evidence:

yesterday, i spied one of the only dresses i've ever "designed" on the website of a high-end consignment store in brooklyn.

i'd almost entirely forgotten about this badly conceived part of my design career. but here it was, back in my face, with hilarious results!

honestly, i think this dress is butt-ugly not so pretty. i'm glad that someone thought it was nice enough to slap down some cash for it. perhaps someone will take it home and love it a second time. i hope so.

but mostly i am just laughing at the reminder of the fact that...

i am definitely not an apparel designer.

nope!

(omg! what if i see someone in my neighborhood wearing it, this spring!?)

we can re-blog it!

yeah. me n kat are definitely blogger bffs.

as you guys may remember, she recently started the fun and inspiring blog we can re-do it.

she's been asking me for a while to do a posting for it, but i was intimidated by her mad upcycling skills. however, i finally took the plunge, and gave it a try. with pretty good results!

you can check out the saga, as well as a lot of photos of my feet, here.

enjoy!

my block

as i've said before, i've always been put off by the idea of color blocking, until this spring.

but now that i've become a fan of this idea, and have been having a really fun time playing around with it when i'm getting dressed in the morning...

the shoe designer in me wants to figure out how to apply this fun technique into footwear.

and, with just a quick trip to the converse store in soho, and $4 for some new laces... i've figured it out. i thought some of you might want to give it a spin yourself:

neon yellow laces for an old pair of distressed canvas boots from topshop, and bright turquoise ones for grey suede desert boots from zara.

a cheap way to add some spring-y-ness to my step!

opening ceremony

in addition to the bracelets that i am selling on etsy, yesterday i also added a number of necklaces to the store:

in order to celebrate my new store, i'm offering a 15% discount on any orders!

just enter the coupon code "GRANDOPENING" when you place your order.





and of course, as always, i would love to collaborate to create custom pieces!

wrist-y business

i am pleased as punch to announce that i have finally...

launched my etsy store!

i've been making these fun little bracelet for the past week or so, and i'm really pleased at the way they've turned out.

the colors and combos have definitely been inspired by some of my favorite runway looks for spring 11, so these should fit quite well with all of the things you're coveting in the next few weeks.

a couple of styling ideas for you, below:

i'm working on necklaces now, so those will be coming soon....

if you see anything that strikes your own inspiration, contact me! i'm super excited to collaborate on custom orders!

heads up!

kat and i are having a bit of a blogger romance, right now.

i hope you guys enjoyed the link to her new, fun d.i.y. blog. i'm excited to see what other projects she comes up with.

in the meantime, check out my guest contribution to her other blog, i see heads, people.

i know my blog has relied heavily on the creativity and awesomeness of my friends recently, but that will be changing soon. i've got some fun projects in the works.

stay tuned!

speaking of hair...

just in case i never have a hair day this good again, i thought i'd post a photo of it.

even if the only available photo studio happens to be the bathroom in our office.

please ignore the circles under my eyes. i would do the same for you!

i'm ade it!

so, some of you guys know that i teach a shoe-making class at 3rd ward, in brooklyn. yesterday, a repair man came to fix the industrial sewing machines, there, and....

in order to test them out, i made a 5-minute project:

and i'm kinda psyched about it...

what do you think?

if i get my ass in gear, i might even start an etsy site. i have a pile of belt buckles that i've made that now need belts.

oh, the projects i start, and don't finish.....