Photo booth Beauties Revisited

One of my all-time favourite themes for my designs is vintage photo booth photography. These tiny little photos let you have a glimpse of the past and the mood of the person posing for the picture, but in a way that is so much more interesting that today's selfies...don't you think? I have collected quite a few and every time I look at them I wonder about the person on the photo...some looking confident and fierce,some hopelessly shy or just giggly having fun with friends or a loved one. Now and then I seem to recognize a look or a smile that reminds me of a person I know today and I wonder what people will think of our photo's in 60 or 100 years from now and if they in turn will recognise themselves in a cheeky smile or a distracted glance. I have been using these old photos as a theme my for vintage restyled handbags and with success, as they have become a very popular item at Things British shop in London. 

I wondered if there was a way to take the theme to the next level and perhaps create a jewellery collection that could connect with the handbag collection. I wanted something light and fragile, something that could bring back that feel of the little piece of photo paper that captured that instant moment of happiness, sadness or shyness so many decades ago.
I think I might have found it.

I used vintage puzzle pieces and transformed them into vintage photo booth picture frames. I embellished them with embossing powders and then I tied them up in very fine metal wire decorated with beads, rhinestones and other small findings. The result is a unique piece, elegant and shimmering (a lot more than you see in the pictures) and almost ephemeral...so light it might vanish into thin air in front of your eyes. I am so pleased with the results and will include pendants, earrings and bracelets in this new collection. It will be possible to request custom made pieces with vintage pictures of your loves ones. To find when this collection will be available, please favourite my etsy shop.

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 :)