MAKING // whelp, the cat's out of the vintage suede clutch

Though I already blabbed about it on the Facebook earlier this week,
I'm totally siked to announce that I'll have a table at the Fall 2011 edition of the UNDERGROUND ARTISAN'S MARKETPLACE! Totally blog-worthy news, right? Seriously!

The event will be held Saturday, October 29th at Schlow Library in State College, PA. This will be my very first time taking part in a handmade market, and I couldn't be more tickled to be included in such a fabulous group of local artisans and crafters and makers and artists and vintage connoisseurs. I am definitely looking forward to being a part of. The anticipation! The copious amount of work yet to be done! Ha!

For fun, above are a couple of pieces I made for myself this summer:
fun and bright, with emphasis on repurposing and revitalizing vintage bits and bobs. My favorite (though you can't tell from the artsy-fartsy photo) is the enameled and inlayed wasp, which I pried from a vintage brooch that I picked up in a Paris flea market for a song. The brooch was....a bit "much," but the wasp alone, perched on a square ring shank, is pretty delightful, if I do say so myself. It flits about on my fingers pretty darn often.


More soon! I've got to go get my hands dirty!

Xo


| credits |

jewelry by yours truly | all photos my own

DIY // bang bang!

How-to hit the "refresh" button:

It was 10pm, Saturday night; I was getting ready to go out, Serge Gainsbourg on the stereo, when suddenly I was seized by an idea...a quick way to add some instant gratification and 'newness' to an evening that was looking to be just another replay...

The inspiration:

The tools required:

Et violá!

Haha! I love 'em!  Such an instant and easy look update, with enough change to garner a second look and put a spring in my step. (Also, much cheaper than wrinkle cream, non?) 

Xo!

| credits |

The ever-sexy Jane Birkin | via this pin

masking tape | from the wondrous puglypixel

scissors | courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

MAKING // come to mamma!

Eeep! I'm excited!

I just placed a HUGE order with a supplier (well, huge for me–and my first time using a jewelry-supply wholesaler) and yards and yards of golden chain and chunky silver bits and lovely stones are on their way to me. Like, really real supplies. A little investment. Because, I am doing this thing, and while I've managed to piecemeal a lot of pieces over the past few months, assembled from vintage components and this and that, I'd like to be producing jewelry of a certain quality...plus, I want lots of potential at my fingertips. You know, everything I need, right there, ready to receive my ideas. And I can't wait. I can't wait to share.

My studio feels like a nursery, waiting on a little (big) bundle of joy. Heh. I love it in here. But I'mma REALLY love it when I have to wade through spools of sterling to get to my jeweler's bench. LOVE!

Happy weekend. Happy dreaming, making, DOING!

Xo, Dianna

| photo |

I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR |  studio shot of handmade chain + rhinestone + vintage bead statement earring

TUMBLR // "I was born."

Whelp! I did it. I've TUMBLR-ED.
As I consider what I'd like this 'aestheticLOVEstory' to be, it's become clear to me that there is just too much freaking aesthetic goodness out there to share on this-here blog. I've not made the time to keep up with certain 'features' (Bueller just snorted) or post-ideas on here, and so I think I'd like to move my Link-Love and "oh! Lookie!" type impulses over to a space that's made for that sorta thing, ie. Tumblr.

So, there you go. Things and stuff I make and do over here on my bloggy-boo, and things that incite, inspire, and tickle me over there, at the <ALS TUMBLR>.

Do you have a tumblr? Do you follow some tumblr blogs that you think will knock my pixels off? Please, share! I'm always seeking inspiration, and my eyeballs can't ever seem to get enough.

Xo, Dianna


PS/ whenever I hear or think "I was born," I always-ALWAYS hear Ms. Melanie reading aloud from Dicken's David Copperfield. Weird? You probably have no idea what I am talking about.

DRESS ME // mamma mia, MISSONI!

Madonna-MISSONI!

Raise your (chevron-knit, elbow-length, gloved) hand if you didn't go buck-wild over the release of Missoni's collaboration with Target yesterday. Um....I sure did. In one of the very few times I was tickled to be biding my time in the-land-that-fashion-forgot, I had no issue waltzing into the local store to pick up a piece (or ten) from this highly saught-after collection. The Target site was crashing, things were sold out within minutes, coveted duvets were selling for quadruple their price on eBay, stranded Brooklynites were calling their mom's in Kansas*–indeed, Missoni instigated a rush of graphic-chevron-mania yesterday.

Dedicated Italo-phile and fashion-junky that I am, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my fingers on some democratically-priced knit-goodness. For wearables, I settled on the hair pins, infinity scarf, silk foulard, and elbow-length gloves. ALL of my favorite colors (hello, chocolate, chartreuse + coral!) all crammed into the iconic Missoni zig-zag, in pieces I felt I could wear often. Love!

The haul doesn't stop here...I mean, Missoni DID do 400 pieces for this collection...

Check-back for more stash!!

Xo

| what I'm wearing |

emerald-green silk box-cut blouse / vintage

high-waisted cropped grey jeans / Gloria Vanderbilt / vintage

cropped ivory wool blazer / vintage

healed suede oxfords / Sonoma / thrifted

leather rectangle cross-body bag / Coach / vintage

turquoise pyramid studs / Native American / the Fair

fitted brass bangle / vintage

brass and clay necklace / vintage

big button ring / handmade (by me!)

hair clips / MISSONI for Target

rectangle silk scarf / MISSONI for Target

infinity knit chevron scarf / MISSONI for Target

knit, elbow-length gloves / MISSONI for Target

*I love my BK girlfriends! And it's true, I shipped some Missoni myself. GUILTY! 

today // FEEDING A COLD

The first touch of cool, damp Fall weather...

and I crumbled. (Or maybe it was dancing in a field with mud up to my ankles? Hmn.) Regardless, we had, oh, 72 days straight of rain-rain-rain (or so it seemed), and I came down with a lil head cold. 

I fixed up cup after cup of "Meow Mint" tea, finished an "American Novel" (capitalization and quotes intentional), and revamped an overly-sugary peanut butter cookie recipe, adding rosemary and a touch of sea salt. Hello, awesome. I love having herbs at my fingertips! My sister (with her simple palette) went cross-eyed over the cookies, but I'm telling you, they are scrumptious! Would you try one? I just love complex flavors! (And no worries, I am not in any way suggesting that cookies are sufficient care for a cold...I had plenty of herb-y soup, too.)

The sun is out today. MISSONI for Target is out today. I've nursed myself well-enough, I think, to handle all that aesthetic loving!

Take care!

Xo

today // SCARLET BEGONIAS + A HARVEST MOON

I hope ya'll had a great weekend!

I picked flowers and played in fields and ate peaches and danced and danced. There was a Harvest Moon festival, here in the valley, a woodstock-esque tribute to community and music and freedom and each other. Oh, such welcome contrast to a college-town gone berserk over a pig-skin!

When a fellow came by to offer us home-grown fruits, and my buddy asked him, "Who are you?" and he responded, "I'm just like you," it wasn't so much that this was profound, but true. Once in a while, we get shown a bit more of the light, eh?

Much love, and peaceful Sunday eve to you!

Xo

Musique : Grateful Dead/Scarlet Begonias (clearly)

PS / I also gave my Wal-Mart wellies a make-over. (They now say "GATHERER" in a psuedo-snub to their pretentious Hunter cousins, heh. I amuse myself to no end.)

MAKING // to the mattresses

Is it just me, or is there an echo[o-o-o-o-o] in here?

Yeah, and so it is. Bueller has been cutting class (and woefully hasn't been responding to his pager–what's new?) and I, in a manner of speaking, hit the mattresses for a while. No, I haven't been gorging on boxes and boxes of ice-cream sandwiches and dozens of bags of Pretzel Crisps from the comfort of my bed (yeah, well not that many, anyway), nor have I spent the month frolicking about on 400 thread-count sheets. (Hmn.)  Instead, I've been laying low, in a rather intense huddle with my dreams and aspirations. I've been studying. And yeah, I went a bit off radar over here. So it goes.

I found myself on a visual diet of sorts, and I went with it;
a month with no manic pinning, gorging on envious blogs, or fantasy online-shopping. Instead I have been trawling a mixed-bag of resources which focus rather specifically on technique. I'm on my very own crash course in jewelry making and fabrication. 'To the mattresses' with my trusty "Workbench Guide to Jewelry Techniques" and a mountain of other (sometimes fantastically archaic) metal-working books. Hours of tutorials, lots and lots of sketching, and tons of materials research and sourcing. It's been good. It has signaled progress, a move toward actually (really really) making my dream of launching a little jewelry line a reality.

And yes, I've been fiddling with what I have on hand--though for now, I'm still playing with my cards held rather close to the chest. My tender dream has taken root: I hope you'll be there when it begins to flower. (Or jeez, PRODUCE. Fruit. Come to fruition...)

Heh. You get the idea.

Xo


| credits |

TO THE MATTRESSES (not quite) | 'downtown' State College, PA | photo my own
ODDS + ENDS (in the studio) | edited from Spell + The Gypsy Collective