Please join the poll and help me out!!

OK, this is a question I've been wondering about for a while, so I wanted to create a poll to hopefully see what most of you think!

As some of you know my butterfly earrings are listed in my etsy shop in a way that you can choose the color scheme, ear wire styles, butterflies etc. to create your own unique pair. Here is the listing if you like to take a peak; click click I'm aware this may not be the most convenient way for some of my customers as some people prefer to just click and buy without the hassle of thinking about which ones to choose, what colors etc.

So my questions is; what do you prefer? Take the time and create your own pair, or choose from the ready made ones listed as all you need to do is click to buy the one pictured and you are good to go! ?

I really appreciate everyone for participating, as I'm willing to do some changes in my shop depending on how this poll will end! :)


Love,
Derya

poll by twiigs.com

Please join the poll and help me out!!

12:49am Friday, A quick post to show this to you!

{Such a bad blogger I am I know I know..But to be honest I've been super busy, my shop was on fire for the last couple of weeks or so (no complains there!) I will come back again very soon to show you all the new super unique creations I've been working on, you can click here to see take a look at my new things (most of them are listed in my shop too)! I'm literally seeing butterflies flying around my head like in the cartoon movies but not birds; butterflies! lol }

will be back soon...

love

Derya

12:49am Friday, A quick post to show this to you!

Style & Inspiration Boards Time! {and exciting new gorgeousness-esss}

I know I've been absent lately and I feel bad for neglecting my little blog here, but it was for good! I'm just a little swamped with keeping up with my Etsy shop, custom orders, as well as preparing for 2 upcoming shows and some surprise projects going on. I actually can't wait to tell you about the surprise project and the story behind it because it was one of those magical things for me which made my jaw drop literally, anyway more on that later I promise! 

I have some super new designs to show you. Also new style boards I put together for some ideas on how to create different looks with my 'Fluttery Breath of Life Necklace' and one extra bonus look with  the little Take me to Istanbul Earrings! I hope you enjoy them, don't forget to comment and let me know which look is your favorite one!

Last but now least; if you are in the area; come and visit me at Patchwork Indie &Craft Show at Long Beach this Sunday! Yes, I will be showing/selling my designs there and I'd love to meet you in person. ;) I'll be at booth #61.


Let's start with the new designs, ohh how much I luuuve them and super excited too! ;)

 You know I've been creating my butterfly pieces with organza fabric so far? Now silk too! I just love how  silk gives such vibrant colors. I'm still loving my see through organza butterflies, how they take each other's colors and patterns when I cluster them, like watercolor painting. Both have different look and feel to them.

These below are the long/large single earrings I created them mainly with silk but some mixed with organza butterflies. I've done some photoshop magic on some of them. You can see some wings have a scene of nature (blue sky, trees and flying birds) within the silhouette of a butterfly. I think that adds a great interest to the design. I've also used gold framed acrylic spacers in different colors on these ones, they are very charming!


click here to go to the listing to see more of these pretties.

Meanwhile I also worked on my original organza butterfly earrings, the listing for them in my shop needed an update since I improved them a lot by time, also to be able to give more choices to my customers. Lots of more choices here

This necklace is a custom design I made for a client. I created it with the colors she preferred and in longer length of chain due to her request. It is a smaller version of my 'Fluttery Breath of Life' necklace.

This necklace below is created with the combination of silk and organza butterflies, I've also used hand died silk ribbon instead of chain which will be tied around the neck to desired length. Available in my shop now!

Here comes of of my most favorite butterfly creations so far; Fluttery Butterflies wide Cuff Bracelet or Anklet . Again mix of organza and silk butterflies clustered on stretch nude tone material which is adjustable to fit around wrists or ankles easily; also featuring 11 unique butterfly kinds!

Aaaand the style boards! For the butterfly necklace I put together 1 casual and 1 dressy look. I'm excited to hear which one is your fave.

And here is the bonus one; Traveling to Istanbul.. Turkish Tile earrings are available in my shop!

I hope you enjoyed everything you saw in this post, I'm so happy my creative mojo is back lately and only I wish I could make everything happen floating in my mind impatient to come out! :)

Love,

Derya

Style & Inspiration Boards Time! {and exciting new gorgeousness-esss}

Amazing Wrapped Trees

I was just going through my bookmarks (overflowing! Yeah I'm messy there too) and couldn't pass this one without sharing with you, because they are so inspirational so is the story of the artists; Christo and Jeanne-Claude are a married couple who created art together for 51 years! They met in Paris, France in 1958, sharing the same date of birth. Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009.

Here is their statement for Wrapped Trees; "The temporality of a work of art creates a feeling of fragility, vulnerability and an urgency to be seen, as well as a presence of the missing, because we know it will be gone tomorrow.

The quality of love and tenderness that human beings have towards what will not last - for instance the love and tenderness we have for childhood and our lives - is a quality we want to give to our work as an additional aesthetic quality."  (isn't that just beautiful?)

 

Wrapped trees by Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Foundation Beyler, Berower Park, Riehen /Switzerland (1997-98)

Breathtaking, aren't they?

All the images and information are taken from their website! I reccomend you to check out their FAQ and About pages too if you like to know more about the artists and their artwork, also to get answers to why/how they do that +more questions.

{I hope you are having a nice weekend! My Saturday was fun but a little sad-emotional at some parts. I'm looking forward to Sunday to go to Santa Ana Patchwork craft show. I'm visiting this one, but I will be vending at the Long Beach Patchwork at 27th, will let you know about the details later!}

 

love,

Derya

Amazing Wrapped Trees

Where are you fairies?

I'm missing my creative fairies today.. 

My mind is at somewhere peaceful by the sea, a quite little beach, a cold drink in one hand and a good book in the other, I'm under a big colorful umbrella, sun is warming (not too hot) but there is a little soft breeze too bringing the calming smell of sea salt and sea weed mixture I'm breathing in.. Sigh..

What is in your mind today?

Where are you fairies?

This paper cut doesn't hurt!

I've been wanting to tell you about Elsa Mora here for a while because 1. Her work inspires me so much  2. Her work is worth being seen (trust me!) 3. I just admire her; she is one of the people I feel so connected even though I never met her in person, but I know in my heart that I'd love her if I did.

Elsa is a multimedia artist, she makes art dolls, she cuts paper the way no one does, she paints/ illustrates, she does ceramics, sews, writes four blogs including a personal style one and she is a mom of 3 children! Oh, not to forget she has a book too 'Blossom Buddies'!

If I could I'd put all the images of her art here but I tried to gather the ones I admire the most. Enjoy!

Don't you just feel like looking at these not to miss all the beautiful interesting details?

This is one of her dolls, Elsa makes everything with her hands from the tiny pencils to intricate miniature wall hangings.

Examples of her sculptural work

Elsa's ceramic work collection, I love all the organic details!

Elsa made this dress herself entirely! If I saw this dress in a store, I'd buy it in a heart beat. She says; "I made this dress dedicated to my Grandma Maria Julia. I named it "El Jardin de Maria Julia" which means Maria Julia's Garden."

To read more on the story of this dress click here

If you like to discover more about Elsa check out her; Etsy store Elsita, see more of her work in flickr, main blog, Papercutting blog, Art doll blog and personal style blog.

love,

Derya

P.S. Thank you THANK YOU so much for all your sweet comments on my style boards and liking them! I really enjoyed seeing everyone's responses! More of those coming soon.. :D

This paper cut doesn't hurt!

So Which one of these Styles are more YOU?

I recently got the news about one of my metal mesh vintage reconstructed necklaces will be in a great magazine very soon! (more details coming, once the issue is out!) So I'm working on more  necklaces in the same theme with metal mesh material to have more unique choices in my shop. This one  came out from the studio first, it is all vintage materials/jewels re-purposed to create this piece.

I listed this gorgeous necklace in my shop, click here to read more details and to see more photos!

I know that not all of us are style gurus or fashionistas and sometimes when we find an accessory we love that may bring the question: How the H I can wear this with? So I decided to start making style boards with  my jewelry designs to bring some ideas on minds about how to wear them.

Here comes the first look! The outfit is simple and plain with jeans, a white tank top and classic blazer jacket, but the outfit gets exciting with the fabulous emerald green high heels and the necklace. Maybe a going out at night look, but easily convertible to a day look if you change the shoes to low heels or flats!

And the second look I put together is more of a day look with a simple white summer dress, and the I wanted the metal studded look continue so I chose the jean vest and the shoes in that style! (I love that Vivienne Westwood purse by the way, isn't it so pretty?) The green on the necklace continues on the purse..

I hope these ideas inspires you! Comment on this post and let me know which look suits your style more! Would you like the idea of seeing more style boards like these with my designs in them? I enjoy creating them but will do more if you enjoy them too! :)

love,

Derya

So Which one of these Styles are more YOU?

A Great Reason to upgrade Your Flickr Account to PRO!

I LOVE Flickr and I've been using it for free until a few days ago I upgraded my account to Pro. The reasons I decided to pay an extra $20 something (the price is for 1 whole year) while I could keep using it for free are most importantly; the ability to submit each of my photos to as many as group pools I want, and also to be able to have a 'stats' page where I can track where my views are coming from, which photos are more popular, etc. Last but not least; limitless photo upload!

I know we all love FREE but sometimes even a tiny investment can bring you a lot more benefit that you'd think! Here is why; today I realized a sudden increase on the views to my photostream, favorited photos, all followed with many -super nice- comments. I was wondering where all those were coming from then I remembered to check my stats page and voila! My Fluttery Breath of Life necklace which I've added to the CRAFT group pool, was featured on Craftzine blog! (yayy) That feature also brought a lot of views to my Etsy shop, blog, as well as new members to my Facebook page. I don't know how else I could find out about it if I didn't have the stats page when I was using flickr for free.

I'm aware this post written promotion all over, but I don't really care because it is my own experience and I wanted to share this with you because; especially people like you and me who has a creative business loves a genuine input from an insider. I'm not saying you go and upgrade your flickr to Pro and all the happy pink clouds will come to your way, we never know that but they may and  I hope they do! ;)

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Please leave a comment if you have any questions about Flickr, how to upgrade to Pro etc., also if you have your own experience or input about this!

love,

Derya

A Great Reason to upgrade Your Flickr Account to PRO!

Couch Potato- Busy Potato- Down Potato & a little Sweet Potato PART-1

All above is what I've been last week! Now, let's examine them throughly and truly;

1. Why I have been a Couch Potato?

Being a couch potato is actually one of the staple ones in my list! :) Right side of the large-cozy and very comfortable couch in our living room is where you can usually find me (even if I'm not there, you can tell I have been there by the look of the misshaped couch) especially at nights, TV is always off, my laptop is 'well..on my lap', pandora station is on, and I do all kinds of stuff on the internet. Blogging, reading other blogs, listing new stuff in my online shop, editing photos, updating my flickr & facebook, catching up with friends online, searching for new unique materials, getting lost from link to link in the ocean of internet, and getting lost in the magnetic nature of Etsy with all the interesting items/shops (that is a dangerous one because whenever I do that I end up spending monees!) etc. 

Soooo... long story short even though I feel like a couch potato while doing all that, I'm usually pretty productive and constantly learning new things. I guess at least that makes me feel not so guilty about the time I spend on the internet and the couch, right RIGHT?? :P

Here are some new Etsy finds I drooled over last week, which made my couch potato times more exciting!

Well it is almost summer and I need a new bathing suit. This pin-up style polka dot one from ladramaqueen makes me happy

when I imagine myself in it!! 

And this Sailor tote bag to carry everywhere all summer including the beach!

It is only $33from bayanhippo I hearted a lot of their handbags actually,
I'm sure you will too!

Funny I always wanted RED shoes and T strap shoes and both never happened! I'm dreaming a pair just like these vintage shoes from bootmeister 

They are a little small for my size but if you know any source I can find similar shoes (preferebly new) please let me know!

Last but not least I purchased these thank you cards from  BusyBree  

and these, because I think they are very cool and will look perfect

with my special packaging!

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I'm leaving the other chapters of me being Busy Potato, Down Potato & a little Sweet Potato to my next posts, so come back to read those very important things if you enjoyed this one! :P

Are you a couch potato too? What is your description of being a couch potato? Leave some comments, especially silly ones! ;)

love,

Derya

Couch Potato- Busy Potato- Down Potato & a little Sweet Potato PART-1

What is cooking in the studio..

It started with that beautiful vintage lace fabric, I have a vision 

but usually things end up a lot different than I imagined first, 

so let's see what's gonna come out of it!

What is cooking in the studio..

Fluttery Breath of Life

My new butterfly necklace I recently finished, it will go to a photo shoot for a magazine very soon but I couldn't resist doing a photo shoot myself before I send it over! I'm so much in love with it, the photos were not enough so I did a tiny video too where you can see how butterflies are becoming alive with the soft breath of the wind

-click here to check it out-

Fluttery Breath of Life

Venice Beach

                            This is me!

Hello friends! 

Saturday I went to Venice Beach for the first time. It has a definitely different atmosphere (Hey, I wrote 'definitely' without any spell errors for the first time, yayy!) from the other beaches in Southern California. I must admit I felt a little uneasy first but then I started enjoying the crowd and all the vendors selling stuff mostly looked like each other, but it was fun to find really unique things at some of the booths. 

I purchased a few things; a handmade cuff bracelet brass and has a few tiny pastel colored glass beads on it. I liked that it was roughly made and very simple. Then I found a really adorable onesie for my niece to be born soon, it is pink and has a BIG crown on the front with all rhinestones (pretty girly huh?) Then I found asymmetrical leather earrings, leather pieces are cut like leaves. We had a short chat with the sweet seller lady named Yolanda who makes them and I asked her if she sells on Etsy, and she said she was just thinking about opening a shop. We both agreed that it was a sign we did that talk and that she should do it! :)

    Overall Venice Beach has sort of cosmopolit and very colorful feel to it, 

and I mostly felt like watching around like a live performance with different characters, feeling like a tourist. The graffiti and paintings on the walls of buildings were really cool, I wanted the photograph everything, though it was cold and windy (I mean for California weather in the middle of the May) so I couldn't spend much time to photograph everything as much as I would like to! I got some quick snap shots though, I hope you like them. Even if you can't make it here, at least they will give you an idea of what 

Venice Beach look like, eh? ;)

I love this one above!

Belly Dancer. A lot different than what I used to see in my country. I liked it though!

I wowed at these sculptures, all made from hardware and different metal components. Amazing job!

I put this one the last because it looks like it doesn't belong to the same theme as others, right? Well, that is how it is though in Venice Beach, at least that is how I felt like; On one side there is this ocean front street you walk through along with the colorful crowd watching interesting scenes, sales vendors etc. then you look over to the beach (sand and water side) and there is the peace and quietness, clean and smooth nature with no drama. Maybe I felt that way because it was called so there wasn't anyone swimming or laying down on the beach, so there was no action there..

love,

Derya

Venice Beach

Moth to Jewels!

 

      Lately I've been seeing butterflies everywhere even
when I close my eyes! Though that is a little overwhelming from time
to time, I'm extremely happy and excited my butterfly designs are
receiving such wonderful interest & feedback from all over! 

  One of the best parts is that I've been getting a lot of bridal
orders lately on the bfly designs, especially the large bold single
earrings which  excites me even more because as I see there are a lot of
cool ladies who are willing to go bold and non-traditional
with their bridal accessories! Isn't that great? 

Kudos to all like minded ladies out there!!

I need to take more photos of this one, then it will be available in my shop! 

Update* I couldn't wait and listed it as it is to add more photos later! ;)
click here too see!

love,

Derya

Moth to Jewels!

As promised here they are!

Well, I just wanna say I'm in love with these two!
If I wasn't already married, I'd just keep either of them for my future wedding (maybe both)! :) 

I didn't make them as only bridal pieces of course, I just think they have the quality to be worn by brides as well as your cool old jeans and a tank top combo! They are both one of a kind pieces because I've used vintage finds/brooches/components to make them. Anyway, I hope you like what you see, they are both recently listed in my shop here!

love

Derya

As promised here they are!

How far are you willing to go?

I mean as far as the unusual-ness of the jewelry you wear? Would you wear this salt shaker ring?

I don't know about you but I just love creating this kind of unexpected jewelry pieces as well as wearing them. There are so much of the cookie cutter stuff in the market already, so why not go for something bold and surprising? ;)

Here are my latest designs, freshly added to my shop. I hope you enjoy what you see! Oh, there are also 2 new gorgeous cuffs I just finished (sneak peek on those are in my previous post) and I will share them with you here tomorrow, so come back to check them out, I know you won't regret! :) 

 Vintage sterling silver salt shaker ring- It is a keepsake piece which you can put a special note, or your favorite quote or whatever you want as long as it fits!

My newest addition to the cotton plants collection -double layered braided batik fabric with cotton boll charms and lucite flower on the side!

You may have seen these gorgeous earrings in one of the shots from my studio, well now they are available in my shop! 

love,

Derya

How far are you willing to go?

I'm working in Frida's presence

 Diane -  Mexisoul.Etsy.com

   Yesterday I stopped by at Cantera in Santa Ana, the store my friend Diane has her art works besides little things she loves and hand selects for re-sale. Luckily she was there herself!! Diane is one of the biggest fans of Frida Kahlo (can you tell?) I love her style, but I love her soul more than anything about her.We like having long deep conversations about life and relationships, though we also crack up by our silly jokes a lot (ok 'my' silly jokes mostly). She calls me 'my gem friend Derya' I really like that, because she says it so genuinely from the heart. 

This small print of Frida Kahlo caught my eye on Diane's display and I couldn't resist . I didn't hang it on my studio wall yet, so for now she is leaning towards my little blue sewing machine and watching me create, also inspiring me.

Frida also watched me making these new cuffs last night..

Is this just gorgeous or not? Purple enamel large flower is re-purposed from a vintage brooch,

I've added the rhinestones around the pearl at the center of the flower. The bigger rhinestone chain is going to drape towards the hand when worn on the wrist. This bracelet is not finished yet though, I will add leather inside of the leaf cuff part.

     This cuff has a different base than the other ones I've designed.This time I curved a large intricately cut brass dragonfly wing, and did a white faux enamel on it. There is beige color recycled leather piece inside, so the cuff is also gentle on the skin. The large butterfly brooch is another vintage find, I've changed the rhinestones and added freshwater pearls on it. This cuff bracelet is almost finished, I will only add chain and clasp to the back side.I'm excited for both of these new cuffs! 

¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨

My friend Diane has a fresh new Etsy shop Mexisoul 

She just started adding some of her jewelry designs, and some vintage finds, I'm hoping she adds some of her amazing embroidered wall art works too, so you can see those as well. Go and take a look at her shop, heart her, add her items in your favorites etc. I'm sure she will enjoy all your interest!!

love,

Derya

I'm working in Frida's presence