byhand.me spotlight by moi byhand.me allows you to create spotlights featuring your own or other artists' creations. Here's a vintage glamour themed spotlight I made today:

Etsy Finds for 2nd Feb 09 I woke up this morning under a big blanket of snow. I'm staying at my parents' house in Belgium for a couple of days but with this weather there isn't much to do around here, so why not post some of my recent finds on Etsy! I'm still decorating my flat and I'm always looking for new ideas and Etsy is the perfect place for that. As you know, I have a thing for vintage and that section of Etsy is just full of beautiful eye candy:

Vintage yellow and white round ceramic canister jar with lid from highstreetmarket

Maid of Honor Canisters from AntiqueAttic

Mid Century Gold And White Carafe from PeacockEnvy

Vintage 1960s 70s Doll Face Ice Bucket from dollsandmolls2

Vintage 1950s Lamps from bittersweetdesign

Arm Chair

I've discovered some beautiful furniture pieces thanks to mydeco's room planner, which i blogged about a few posts ago. I found an arm chair in their catalogue which i absolutely must have : the Albert Arm Chair from Egamma. It is a combination of classy French elegance and a funky modern comic book print. I really love prints, but i do have a weak spot for comic book prints and this one is simply fabulous. At 218.99 £ it is a little bit too expensive for my taste, but nothing can stop me from dreaming about it!

On Etsy i found a few more unique gems that are really worth to be shown off:

60s Mid Century HOLLYWOOD REGENCY Floral French Vintage Chair - fabulousmess

Hollywood Regency chair redeaux - tuffetlady34

VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD REGENCY LOUIS XVI STYLE MEDALLION BACK ARM CHAIR - aquadesigns

Beauty Grace and Charm Dress by Angel Damico

My dress arrived today! Not so long ago one of Angel Damico's dresses was featured on Etsy's frontpage and i could no longer resist. This shop has been one of my favourites for a while now but i never got the chance to order anything...or better yet : i never knew what to choose because i liked them all. Then my eye was caught by this beautiful pink and blue dress and i just had to get it, no more hiding behind excuses. It was exactly the type of dress i had in mind to buy for my trip to Syria. Each year it is a big drama to organize my suitcase because what can you wear on a 45° C day in Syria visiting old monuments? Certainly not shorts and i can't see myself wearing a maxi dress climbing ruins or visiting the souks. I can combine this dress with a comfortable pair of jeans and my hot pink diamond slippers and i'm ready to go! Apart from the beautiful design by the talented Angel Damico ( so much detail to discover! ) and the stunning colours, the fit and feel of this dress are a big bonus : so soft and light as a feather as if i'm not wearing anything at all. All i can say is WOW. Go have a look a this beautiful shop now and see for yourself!

Makeover over Makeover

Sometimes things don't happen the way i want them to happen. For example this bag : it's been sitting in my collection for months and it's the third one of my circus themed bag. The first one was about zebras , the second one about snakes, but this last one just didn't want to be captured. The circus theme is inspired by a picture and that picture decides type of animal print i will paint for the top section. It took me forever to find an interesting picture and a matching animal print. It's hard to paint elephant skin and i have no idea how to turn acrobatic dog fur into an attractive element...so leopard it was. The picture was printed, the animal pattern painted and the rhinestones glued into place. I've had it ready to put for sale for months, but something was missing and it was driving me crazy everytime i looked at it! I took of the prints, changed the colours and replaced the blue lace trimmings with this funky gold and black lace trim from Syria. I have finally fallen in love with this bag which means it is ready to go. It actually reminds me a bit of Cavalli's style,one of my favourite designer!

Mirror Mirror on the Wall - Valentine's Edition

I finally found a use for the brass wire hearts that i bought on my last trip to Syria! I love how an idea can just pop up while cleaning up the crafting boxes and stumbling upon my forgotten treasures. I found these hearts in a little shop right outside the Souk of Aleppo. It wasn't even a craft or supply shop, they were selling bolts and hammers and then i saw these beauties in a box in the corner. I think the shop owner didn't even know why he had them there...they looked like they had been in that corner for the past 100 years. A good reason for me to buy most of his brass shapes inventory! Right in time for Valentine's :)

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions because i just can't keep up with them. Every year it's the same story and every year i simply fail at most of the things i promised myself to do better next year. Maybe i should keep things easy and not stress myself...live day-by-day and don't stress about nothing and everything. Don't they say "good things come to those who wait"? To be honest, i have really neglected my promo-plan since i've been travelling up and down from Belgium to the UK, but yesterday i was contacted by the newspaper for an interview about Etsy and handmade creations. Everything happened really quick so i didn't get time to think about what i was going to say and how everything should look...but also : no time to stress about it! :)

Many thanks and congrats to Karlita, who got the whole thing started and ArtMind, my fellow belgian etsians and EST team girls!

Sea shells Now here's a fun substitute for settings! I'm recycling sea shells so i can use them for making resin pendants. It actually looks like there is water inside the shell, and a little matryoshka floating in it, surrounded by rose petals ( ok, not really : it's red mica glitter, but use your imagination!). I painted the shell in bronze-gold tones so it would match the jump ring chain i made for it. I have a lot of double shells that i would like to use, if i can find a way to keep together with glue i could turn them into diptychs or portrait lockets. To be continued!

Tsarina Winter Coat & Trashion Baroque Japan Jacket I think autumn is the most productive time of the year for me. I 'm working day and night on my new ideas and the best thing is that i really enjoy it and don't feel tired at all. I worked on two new designs last week, something i've been wanting to do along time but never got around doing it in summer. I'm always a little bit hesistant to work on a piece of clothing because i'm afraid to mess up and not be able to cover up my mistakes. Anyway, i decided to take the plunge and restyle these two items into something very different. The long coat is inspired by Russian Tsarinas and Matryoshkas (yes - again russia, can't help it). I painted bronze hearts, embellished with lots of hand sewn seed beads on the sleevs and around the edge. Then i put little matryoshkas in the middle of the hearts and taller ones alternating with the hearts. The most difficult part was stencilling the art nouveau pattern. I had to cut it out of flimsy paper and keep it still on this thick coat, but it was worth it because i think that pattern really makes the coat stand out. The other jacket is an upcycled trashion creation, with a japanese twist. I have loads of fabric scraps and i thought it would be a nice idea to use this jacket like a canvas and turn it into a collage. I actually worked like a painter here, with my jacket on the dress dummy, paint brush in one hand and glue gun in the other. I was not sure what to put inside the cameo frame, to be honest, of all things that decision too the most time! I wanted something that really contrasted with the baroque style of the jacket and the fabrics i used, so i chose a japanese geisha. many thanks to my lovely sister for modelling them for me :)

Resin Ring I have to admit, i really love resin. And matryoshkas. And sparkles. I love the preparation, slowly pouring it into the molds and then wait anxiously for a hit or miss surprise. I think i used too many hardener drops in my last batch, which caused an "inner combustion" or something like that. I do like the result though, it looks like chipped crystals or flakes.

Cabaret Cairo Bag

My newest bag! I'm quite happy with this one because this is the first bag that is completely "My Design". I still can't make bags, but i found someone ( a little boutique in Aleppo) that wanted to execute my designs in their own workshop...et voilà, my first line of bags was born! I love the look of the fifties and sixties so i wanted a firm bag with an old fashioned clasp, but with a modern touch like a pocket for a mobile phone. For Cabaret Cairo i used a fabric that i brought back from my trip to Syria and the picture featured in my dissertation about fashion, so you could say this is a real Yasmin Bochi bag :

Bringing this blog back to life...

I hardly get a chance to do anything else besides writing my disseration these days. I'm counting the days till 21sth of May and then i will be able to breathe again...and sleep...and have fun again. My breaks are never longer than 15 minutes, but the past few days i just had to do something with this free time insides of staring into the void. I'm so sick of looking at fashion shows, fashion books, fashion essays...enough!! I decided to look at my resin charms instead and made a few rings and earrings:

Etsy finds for my Day of the Dead Shoes

I bought new shoes, i just couldn't resist them! The only problem is that i don't have any matching accessories. I asked for help on the Etsy forums and these are some of the lovely suggestions:

Red Delicious. Red coral and turquoise beaded necklace by mountainvintage

Fire and Ice Bracelet by AnnaAhrensNZ

Love Is Redrum Sterling Silver Charm Bracelet by GalinaKirman

Skull Patches - Set of 3 - Sugar Skull - Day of Dead - by terryann

I still haven't made my mind up!!

Etsy finds for 31sth March I love Etsy's time machine 2. Not just the recently listed section, but the sold section is simply fantastic! I have found the most beautiful items and great new (to me) sellers. This morning i found a lovely coin purse in the shape of a boot, sold of course! I rushed to the seller's shop (Studio X-tine) and found an even prettier version of the one that was sold...lucky me! Admire my latest purchase: Here are a few other lovely creations from Time machine 2 - Sold: By paraphernalia By Tenlittlefingers By Elsiecake By 1ofmykind

I'm featured on my indie jewelry! I've been featured on my indie jewelry, a beautiful blog by talented jewellery artist Bombalurina. Please visit her blog and keep and eye on it because she's going to feature many more artists! And then you must visit her etsy shop because she has the most gorgeous and unique vintage jewellery designs... you don't want to miss this!

Etsy Finds for 24th March If you've been reading my blog, you must know that i like crazy colourful bags! Here are a few bags that i found on my Etsy treasure hunt of today: FrolickingInk annalinnjace dollybags cindyhoose maxineorange