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

Marie Antoinette & my Messy Studio

Secret is revealed! (see my previous post) Marie Antoinette brooches.

They are nothing like I've done before, my creations never looked this delicious, 

more importantly I had a lot of fun making them! What do you think?? 

They fancy your sweet tooth?

 "LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

(I made the sliced cakes with felt and leather mix, and teeny beads on top. The doily pieces are hand crocheted delicate lace pieces, and vintage brass stampings)

...and my messy studio corner! That is how I usually work; just messy. You can see some ideas I'm working on currently and also new upcoming pieces *wink wink!*

Love those metal mesh fabrics!

Hair comb with organza butterflies

Peacock Earrings, transfer on organza

Marie Antoinette & my Messy Studio