Alterdelenda: January 2012

1/26/12

GIVEAWAY Earrings by Fivelittlegems

Jewelry Giveaway

Do you love jewelry?
Do you love getting it for free?

FiveLittleGems is a jewelry shop run by a woman named Holly.

Everything she sells is completely handmade. Most of it is one of a kind! A bead obsession and great eye for color means her shop is a never ending supply of fantastic jewels. She has a fantastic talent of fitting together pieces that look like they were meant for each other, though she states in her profile "The beads create their own jewelry, actually. I'm just here to hold the tools for them."

Would you like to win a piece from her shop? FLG is giving away one set of earrings to a very lucky winner!

Rules and Regulations:
1)Stop by here and take a look at her current selection of earrings.
2)Let us know down below in the comments which is your favorite pair. Include your email address in your comment since this is how I will contact the winner! You could win the EXACT pair you tell us that you love!

Want to get an additional entry?
Like Fivelittlegems on facebook. Leave your name in your entry so we know who it matches up to.
Contest will end Tuesday January 31st at Midnight!

BONUS to taking part in the facebook piece! There will be a surprise posted on her facebook page for anyone who doesn't win. You have to be subscribed to the FLG page in order to know what that surprise is!

1/24/12

Valentines Crafts

Valentine Crafts Round Up!

Pancakes by More Design Please

Grocery Bag Valentine from Family Chic.

Valentines Cards by Valley & Co

1/23/12

Fotoshop by Adobé (Adobe)

This lil gem I saw on Outsapops blog.
Fotoshop by Adobe.

This raises fantastic points about how airbrushed models are in the world of fashion and beauty.

1/21/12

Balenciaga Pre Fall 2012

Took a quick peek at Balenciagas pre fall collection.

Overall? NOT impressed. At all. These pieces don't impress me.

I found one "gem" in the collection I'd say. This one.

Change the shoes.

Ditch the hat.

What is with the gloves?!?!
Now... belt it. One thick waist belt or maybe a few strappy ones going all the way down.

That may look better.

What do you think?

Image from style dot com.

1/15/12

Spragwerks

Did you keep up with the first season of Project Accessory?

I'm not big on TV shows. I've never been one of those people who has to catch the newest episodes of their favorite show, or say "I can't go out tonight because I have to have the TV on at 8pm." It almost feels lazy to be that type of person. Almost like you're watching life go by for other people instead of living it yourself.

I made the mistake of turning on the TV on a Thursday night.

It was the season premier of project accessory. I was dragged in.

Very quickly I picked a few favorite designers. Both of them made it to the very end of the season. The girl, Nina, I picked mainly because of her awesome chain body harnesses she always wore. I. seriously. love. them. The other, Rich, had a style that screamed to me.

Very rough looking pieces. Metal work. Fantastic stuff. His line is called Spragwerks.

Belt buckles that look like tail lights and break pedals. Rings fashioned into corests and wrenches.
Pendants sharpened into scissors and saws.

Not into jewelry? There are wallets, wine accessories, cheese knives, notebooks, and more. The whole brand carries a distinct style that can be seen in any of the pieces. Simple, yet detailed with an industrial feel.

Want to meet the guy behind the line I love so much? Everything can be bought online at spragwerks dot com. You can even read a little about him, his product, and how his background as a mechanic brought him into the word of jewelry.

Oh, and wondering what my favorite piece is? You can just go ahead and buy me this if you'd like.

1/12/12

Only A Shoe

“Yes, only a shoe,
but if I provide escape for the woman who wears it,
if only for a few minutes,
it brings a bit of happiness to someone,
well, then, perhaps, it is something more than a shoe.”
-Manolo Blahnik

Monopoly shoes

1/9/12

T by Alexander Wang

T by Alexander Wang.

Want to see the rest? Stop by Style
Piece that together with Wangs Pre fall 2012 collection

and you have tailored and basics to complete a fairly awesome look!

1/7/12

Custom Color Headphones DIY

Ever want to know how to give your black plain earbuds a little bit of color?

Ok, maybe quite a bit of color...

Embroidery floss. 3 skeins
Scissors

Earbuds or headphones

Do you remember making friendship bracelets when you were younger?

These wrapped headphones were made the same way. If you don't quite remember the steps, here's a good place that shows you the swirly twirly pattern.

That's the process you're going to use.

I used 3 skeins of thread. One for the bottom piece (which was the perfect amount), and two for the top (and I had some left over).

Start at the top of one pair.

Take your embroidery floss (or thread. or yarn. whatever you're using) and tie a double knot.

Cut the extra trim off the short end.
Then tie one knot after another with your long piece, going down the wire, just like you would your friendship bracelet. Each tie will produce a tiny knot. Every few ties, turn your wire a little so that the knots create a swirl effect down the wire.

If you haven't done this technique before, it could take some practice. Maybe start out with some extra thread and try the original bracelet first. With some experimenting, you can figure out how to get shorter or longer swirled knots by how often you "turn" the wire as you go.
Once you get to where the Y connects on your headphone wire, start going up the opposite side.

You should end at the top of the other ear piece.

If you run out of thread, just tie another piece onto yours, trim the ends and keep going.

It won't be noticeable in the final outcome.

Since my ear buds were yellow, I went with two colors for this.

Yellow for the top and copper for the bottom.
Get creative! You can use one color, even use multiple pieces to get a striped look.

Last step? Plug into your ipod, and make everyone else jealous.