Feather Take Over

Today let's talk feathers. I see them EVERYWHERE! 

Headbands

From my shop

Fascinators

From my shop

Earrings

 From my shop

Bracelet

Worn with long sleeves to make it appear as if it were attached to the sleeve

Necklaces

From Sophisticated Stones

Purses 

Coach feather zip top clutch

Tops

Mischa Barton

Evening Gown

Alexander McQueen

Suit Dress

 Chanel RTW Spring 2011

 Cocktail Dress

Emma Watson wearing Rafael Lopez 

 

The seasons to come will be showing us so many ways to layer different textures. Feathers will be just a small element but yet such a beautiful one. Keep your eyes out for them!

How to Wear Bib Necklaces 101

I hear how people think my bib necklaces are cute but they just don't know how to wear them. So I've gathered up some examples to show whom ever might be reading this :)

During this holiday season there will many occasions to wear it in an elegantly formal fashion. Pairing it with a strapless dress is classically stunning. Here is Amy Adams wearing one on the red carpet.

Check out LuLu's a la mode blog for more great tips for wearing bib necklaces with formal dresses.

Layering Layering Layering. I love Layering. I layer leggings with skirts under a Tee, under a sweater. Why should I leave jewelry out of this staple look?

Read more about these layered looks on Style Bakery.

My personal favorite look is to add them to a plain simple outfit for a spicy focal piece. It gives a feminine touch to a casual, everyday, or boyish look and transforming it into something stunning.

Read more on this simply stunning look at Mi Fashion.

Who What Wear gives the DL on this versatile new look. Showing you that they can be worn with a tee shirt and jeans, as a tie with a button up, with a stunning gown, or with a suit. So go out and get one. Put it on your Holiday list. Go to coelhandmade. But get one and put on with any of your favorite looks!

Winter White

Winter white is a trend that keeps coming back year after year. It can be worn anyway one chooses. Layer textures and shades. Wear a sleek dress and tights. Choose a white wool coat. Any way you choose, it makes the perfect bright neutral splash to any winter wardrobe.

Here's how Cameron Diaz wore white in the movie The Holiday

Chanel had many winter white looks in the Fall 2010 RTW Show

Marc Jacobs shows a sleek feminin look in his Fall 2010 RTW show

Here is how Erin Wasson X RVCA layered both texture and shades in the Fall 2010 RTW Show

Stay tuned for my Winter White looks for 2010!

Idiot

Sope, I am an idiot. I know, I know, old news. This time I'm really kicking myself.

I thought I had figured out a way to have my items uploaded to etsy and ready to post to my shop with out posting. That way I could have all my descriptions and photos done and ready. I thought I was cleaver and on top of my game.

Should have known better. What I really did was post everything then hide it so nobody could view my newly posted item. So, the whole concept of staying at the top of the pile was flushed down the toilet. In fact, I actually was working against myself. Awesome.

Day 22

It's been 22 days since I opened coelhandmade. Nothing. Not a convo. Not an nibble. Not a hint. Nothing.

I worked on my Christmas/winter line today. It has me so very inspired that I don't know if there will ever be a finish line. I love it. I hope others will as well.

I have also made smaller winter clips for my clients Christmas gifts. I finish all the ones for my clients who are booked from now to the new year. I'll have to make more, of course, for the last minute schedulers.

In my clients gifts I've written a note with my coelhandmade's address on etsy. Maybe that will give me some traffic. I know I need to get out on the blogger sphere and drum some up that way.

Not so funny today, sorry. For now, that's what I have. 

Rustic Wine

I have been inspired to do a collection sense the last time I have written. The Storque Etsy's Handmade Blog had an article about merchandising for the holiday season. Their suggestions have inspired me to create Rustic Wine.

They were very detailed in what was in demand for the fall season. Arrows, flowers, feathers, and mesh were some shapes, figures, and textures they suggested. The hot colors, they said, were torquoise, gold, rust, wine, and berry. I had a gold arrow shaped necklace and a couple of torquoise pieces of jewelry I wanted to upcycle. Not to mention a great pallet of feathers to work with. Combine all that with my two week obsession, looking at style.com's pictures of Fall Ready-To-Wear 2010 shows and Spring Ready-To-Wear 2011 shows a while back and bam, Rustic Wine.

Here are some of the items.

Mastering Pictures

Maybe I have not mastered them yet, but I certainly am on my way to where I want to be.  It only took me an hour, or so, to get 5 sets of 5 pictures done. Talk about a cherry on top! I am breathing a sigh of relief (sigh). That enabled me to not only have all of my item's pictures updated, but tonight I posted my seventh item to my shop. Luck number seven... Betty, a feather headband from the last picture below on the mannequin. I think of this one as a sexy little black dress that every girl needs. Here a few of my favorites pictures from tonight.

Pictures Round 2, 3, 4, and 5

Let me start by saying that I am making progress and am becoming optimistic about my skill level improving. Having that said, it is taking forever. I can't tell you how many times my camera has died on me in the middle of a session. If that does not give a clue to how long my sessions are, I can help you. I have been taking pictures since Saturday morning and only have been able to replace the 5 pictures for the Victoria, Vanessa, and Ester pieces. I am not completely happy with them either. I'm getting a good idea of lighting, angles, backdrops, and props but have not reached the destination. Ahhh! But I have got to start moving forward otherwise I will accomplish nothing. 

I must add that after searching for my own items on etsy, I am now secure with my pricing. I might have actually under shot it. (sigh)

Pins and Needles

I have immediately regretted posting my six items in my shop. What have I regretted about it? I have regretted not taking more time to master the art of taking pictures of my pieces. I took about twenty pictures of each inanimate object and am unhappy with them all. That is how terrible I am behind a camera. I did, however, receive some rather good pointers from a friend who happens to earn a living from behind a camera and think I will be retaking the pictures and editing the postings. Thank God that etsy.com gives that option! Actually, thank you to etsy.com for giving us etsians that option.

I have also regretted pricing my items high, as suggested by many in the industry, then going to a local arts and craft show, The Girly Show, directly after my first postings in my shop. I regret seeing similar items, seeing their prices, and seeing their items sit on the display not selling. This leads to a question, Is my product worth it to etsy.com shoppers to pay $45 for a one of a kind necklace? A necklace with the name, bib. Would anyone pay $20 for a fascinator. Fascinator, a fancy name for hair bow. At least it is better than a reference to an item of clothing that if worn by an adult would imply that they are like an infant.

Like I said in a previous post, I think I might be masochistic.

Bibs

I haven't even posted any items in my etsy shop to sell yet and I am already on to my next creation. Some may say I have ADD tendencies. Maybe even suggest that I need to stay focused or I will never actually sell anything. Perhaps tell me that this is just a waste of time and money. All of which, most likely, are true.

Non-the-less, I am super excited about my new addition to my inventory. Bibs. Funny word for a necklace, however, completely appropriate. I like to think of them as a woman's ascot.

I have noticed them in retail stores and on lovely fashionable ladies. Not to mention Chanel's Spring 2011 Ready-To-Wear collection being an immediate source of my inspiration. Can they ever go wrong? When in doubt, always Chanel.

Here are a couple of snap shots that I've taken of the the two I've done thus far.

What's My Worth

etsy.com has a Holiday Boot Camp Challenge. One of the Challenges is to reevaluate your prices. So, what I am to do is to take the cost add the labor and multiply it by two and the sum is to be the wholesale price. Then I am to take the wholesale price and multiply that by two and that is to be the retail price. How am I to determine the cost of a button bought in a jar of old buttons. Or two inches of ribbon. Better yet, two little leaves cut from a $.25 square of felt. How do I determine the cost of my labor? This is tough. Wish me luck....who ever is listening.

Jack

Today my boyfriend gave me a gift. He gave me a night together carving a pumpkin. Here's how Jack came to our home for Halloween.

Pictures Round 1

I am not handy with a camera. Excluding my brief obsession with the iPhone application, Hipstamatic. We won't visit that discussion today though. My boyfriend gave me a samsung TL205 last year for my birthday. He always is asking me if I've taken pictures of my clients hair so that I can show him my work. I never do. It's an odd concept pointing something at someone or something and clicking.  I feel a sense of over importance. I question the relevance of taking the picture. 

However, if I am going to attempt to sell items on etsy.com then I am going to have to warm up to it. In order to prepare myself for this unfamiliar but necessary task, I surfed around my fellow etsyian shop photos and discovered a similarity.  White, bright, plain backgrounds. Seems simple enough. Highlight the item and only the item. Here is the set of photos of my favorite baby clips I've made.

I Might Have Lost My Mind

Thirty is just around the bend. I'm unmarried. I'm childless. I'm in a rut at work. I'm in a rut in my relationship. My family is in the middle of a crisis. To top it off, somehow, I've found myself in the very same suburban town I swore as a girl I would never end up in.

So, what better time to attempt the start of a new business? Why not blog about it while I'm at it so I can share my failure and humiliation with the world? I obviously have some serious self loathing to work through. That or I'm a masochist.

None the less, I hope to bring (to whomever may be reading) a comical narration of my quest for something new, something freeing, and something me to this blog.