Ready for Fall: Purple + Grey

This fall, I think I'm most excited about pairing deep plums and smoky greys to create a moody, sultry palette. Here are my picks for (almost) under $100!

Graphic Floral U-Neck Cardigan $79.50

via Martin + Osa
This one is $8.50 over $100 but I had to include because I love it like it were already my own.
Ted Baker Bow Detail Sweat Top $108.50 (here's hoping for a sale).

via asos
This slinky shift would be super easy to wear. I'd pair it with grey tights.
The Post-Punk Dress $69.99


via ModCloth
J.Crew has this color combo down.
Ruffled San Remo Cardigan $98

via J.Crew
I've been wanting a feathered headband. This bright purple would stand out against my dark hair perfectly.
PRIMA purple and guniea feather headband $22

via Feather Brain
What color combos will you be wearing this fall?

**Important! The winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway has still not gotten in touch with me (and I can't find an e-mail address!). If you're out there please contact me before tomorrow or I'm picking another winner.

Danish Mag and a D&OC giveaway!

Happy Monday dearest readers! If you're having an unhappy Monday, I want to encourage you with some pretty interior shots from Boligliv, a Danish Magazine I recently came across. Granted, I can't understand a thing that's being said, but when you have this many pretty pictures, frankly I don't care.

It appears that the Danish like pattern as much as I do.

{all photos via Boligliv}
If those didn't cheer you up enough, maybe the giveaway I'm offering on My Teacups in Peony will? Nicole is a very sweet person and I was honored when she asked me to do this.

Did you read that, it's my very first giveaway (of my stuff)!!! So yeah, go enter, it'll be fun.

{If you haven't entered the Artaissance giveaway, then you definitely should (it's worth $300!)}

Sunday Shop Update

I've been working, working, working, on some new pieces for the shop that I'd like to share with you. There's plenty more coming this week but these are some of my favorites...

These and some other new additions, can be found here. Hope you're having a happy Sunday!
{pssst...I'm also adding some clip on earrings for my non-pierced friends! }

Giveaway: Artaissance (don't miss this!)

Whew, Happy Friday! I don't know about you but there has been a lot of excitement in the blogging community these past couple of days and I am definitely looking forward to a calmer weekend. What are you up to this weekend? I have a date with the September issue of Vogue. It's been sitting on my coffee table for over a week, sadly unread.

I am stoked (stoked!) to chat with you about this weekend's giveaway from Artissance. I was contacted by an unbelievably nice representative of this company and after taking a gander through the site, I knew it would be perfect.
Birds and Roses by Elena Illku

Here's the deal, Artissance is offering a $300 gift certificate to one (holy cow) lucky Down and Out Chic reader! $300 to choose the perfect print for your home, office, craft room, etc.
Hepplewhite Sofa Acorn/Sky from Biltmore Collection

As the winner, you can choose a print ranging from 6" to 54" on the smallest size and have the "high quality giclee reproduction" printed on your choice of either conservation-quality paper or canvas. Framing is not included. I'm pretty confident that there's something for everyone and every taste here (there are over 3,300 prints).
Birds A by Jonathan Adler

In case you're curious about what gilcee actually is, you can see a pretty neat video all about it here. Not sure what size you would actually order? Here's another helpful video.
So, if you interested in winning a $300 print of your choice, all you have to do is a leave a comment. Visit Artissance and let me know what you think.
{open to U. S. residents only, sorry!}
Winner will be picked next Tuesday night, Sept 1st. Good luck and I hope you have wonderous weekends.
~Christina

I'm being serious so listen up!

I won't bore you with sentiments although I'm tempted to gush over how lucky I feel to be part of a strong, loving, supportive community of bloggers. I don't want to sound cliche although I can't help but say, it's nice to have someone to lean on, to be pushed and encouraged towards bigger and better things by like minded individuals.
I hate to sound dramatic, but I need to mention that I'm still confused about how I can feel so loved by people I've never met.

The blogging community isn't all sugar and spice...sure there's plagiarism, and manipulation, attention seeking behavior and bad mouthing, there's gossip, cruel comments, quick severing of relationships, and jealousy. Sure, there's all that, but I choose to focus on THIS... the goodness, the POSITIVE comments, the cheering on when someone has a success, the applaud when a new shop is opened or a new endeavor sought.

I want to sincerely thank these bloggers that have mentioned my new shop and I hope you'll take the time to go visit them. Each of these blogs is incredibly unique and run by wonderful women that have a story to share and many posts worth reading.

Thank you...
The Cottage Cheese


La Marquis de Anges


Our City Lights


Felinofelice


Dalipstickbandit


Lovely Clusters


Kotori


Thank you to the rest of you that consistently leave uplifting comments. If you're new here and you haven't heard from me, I'm not ignoring you. I will be by for a visit soon. I know I'm blessed with unbelievably wonderful readers so THANK YOU.
Group hug anyone?
{if you've mentioned my shop and I'm not aware of it, please let me know so I can thank you properly!}

Perfect Package Part II

I have recently become enamored with Etsy's Packaging Pool on Flickr. Etsy artists share their favorite packaging for inspiration and there is plenty to be had. Thankfully, luckily, and with much gratitude, I have been packaging orders almost every day and it's become this little mini-obsession of having things 'just so.' Yesterday B said to me, "You know, you could save like an hour if you just put them in them in the envelope, a WHOLE hour." (Ok, B, that's exaggerating a bit, don't you think?) My respone was, "Wouldn't you want to receive a package like this? Throwing stuff in an envelope is lame." (I'm so mature). Good packaging takes a bit longer and it costs a bit more, but it's worth it, right? Being proud of my product means being proud of the package it comes in. The package say, "Dearest customer, if you LIKE me, you're going to LOVE what's inside!"

Here are my recent favorites. Please note I've linked to the individual's blogs or flickr account...

via Little Paper Dog


via Paperleaf


via Cutiepie Company


via Celeste Frittata
If you missed the first post on packages, click here.
Whew, happy Thursday, we're almost there!!!

I want you...

I love that I can share all my wants with you. It might appear that I want a lot, and I suppose I do, but really just talking about it kind of makes me feel some type of ownership so I don't actually have to buy anything, you know? Anyway, I was taking a peeksie though Urban Outfitters today and now I have a list of UO wants (it happens).

Yes, B and I just got a new camera a few months ago, but a girl can never have too many, right? Plus this one is extra pretty.
Lomography Diana + Aviator $65

Oh look, it's a key holder shaped like a key. Novel. I still like it.
Key Hook $24

Crap, this would be perfect in our bathroom against the sea foam walls.
Filo 50's leaf shower curtain $28

Granted B and I already have one door knocker we never use, but this one is extra fun. Fake deer head lovers unite!
Deer Head Door Knocker $38

{all photos via UO}
We're not going to go over shoes and clothing today, b/c that's a whole other list and I'm pretty we can only handle so many "wants."
Happy Hump Day!

No more creases

Winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway, according to Random.org is...
lucky #12! Madamesoleil! Congrats and I'll be in touch with you soon.
Big THANK YOU to Shabby Apple for making great dresses and for sharing one with us!
~
There are some things in life that I've simply resigned myself to accepting, one of them being creasing eyeshadow (i.e. eyeshadow that looks fab when you first put it on but 4 hours later leaves this gunky line in the middle of my eye lid). Eeew, but it's simply been a thing for me, no big deal, right? Well, it wasn't a big deal until recently.

See, I won this giveaway on Iva Messy (wahoo!). I'd never heard of Illuminare Cosmetics, but the prize was pretty sweet- an eye kit with three creme eye shadows and two brushes. This mineral makeup has the added benefit of some serious sunscreen so I was pretty excited about trying it, but as for their promise of no creasing, well I was definitely skeptical.

All Day Eye Color Kit Special $48
There's nothing fancy about the packaging (in fact, it kind of reminds me of toothpaste). I decided to test this makeup on a Saturday, which for me means all day at the very warm vintage shop. The application was a little tricky as the products are thick and need some extra care for blending but the neutral colors are very pretty.
After a day of work, I skeptically peered at myself in the mirror ready to smudge out the crease lines and holy S%#* my eye makeup looked completely fresh! NO CREASES! Thinking this was a fluke of an application, I've worn this makeup everyday waiting for a crease and, alas, nothing.
I'm in awe...of an eye shadow...is that ridiculous? How am I supposed to go back to regular eye shadow when I've found one that doesn't crease?! Crap.
Do you have an eyeshadow that doesn't crease? Don't keep all of your tricks to yourself!

Flamenco me crazy

I first saw this video on Glass of Bubbly and I can't get it out of my head. It's by one of my very favorite artists, and the women are absolutely spell binding. They're strong, graceful, gorgeous, and I'm beginning to sound like I'm not straight. Ah, I don't care, I think you'll enjoy this as much I did. It's almost 5 minutes but it's worth the time.
Iron and Wine-"Boy with a Coin"

This makes me proud to be a Latina, but let's just be honest, I'm kind of a sorry excuse for a Puerto Rican- my spanish sucks (I was raised by native speakers), I have no ass (I mean it's there, but it's nothing special), and I can't dance very well (all of my friends agree, but this doesn't stop me). Oh well, I am going to practice my flamenco skills though. I want to BE one of these women.

{I won't have time to announce the Shabby Apple giveaway winner tonight, but I will first thing tomorrow morning! Make sure to enter if you haven't already.}

Keep passing notes, the teacher isn't looking

My wishlist from Chronicle Books is growing larger and larger by the minute. Somebody stop them from selling such cute paper goods or I'm going break and go on a shopping spree I DO NOT need to be going on.
I've been meaning to learn the art of stitchery. Why not learn with some cards?
Stitchable Stationary $14.95

"Stickers for projects, home organizing, and gift giving." I love stickers and wouldn't this be a perfect gift for your label obsessed friend?!
Crafty Stickers $10.95

You could use this stationary for just about any occasion and with all the variety, you'd never tire of writing notes.
Correspondent's Delight $31.95

Ok, these might be slightly superfluous but they're adorable and would be a cute addition to a package.
The Cutest Sneeze in the World: 30 cat postcards 9.95

{all photos via Chronicle Books}
I would take a handwritten note any day over an e-mail. What about you?

{Rachel has announced the launch of the Lovely Cluster's website and guess who is included in the list of "lovely shops?" Please go check it out, there are lots of amazing shops to be found here! Thank you Rachel for including Down and Out Chic!}

Crafty people need crafty spaces

B and I are really trying to get creative with a way of organizing a potential workspace for my crafts and his illustrations. You'd be appalled to see how we work now, but everything creative is happening in our kitchen table and it gets a little overwhelming. Plus, last night I picked up a bottle of glue thinking it was my drink, I COULD HAVE DIED!!! Ok, that might a tad bit dramatic, but still, we need a better space to work. Since our modest home won't be growing a craft room anytime soon, we're going to have figure something else out. Until then, here's some studio/craft room/workspace inspriation.
A cheery, energizing color on the walls to help the creative juices flow.

via Real Simple
Lots, and lots of shelving is definitely a must.

via here
I could make this space into a mess in about 5 minutes flat. I like the idea of thin drawers, perfect for decorative paper.

source: Anne Naumann {via Desire to Inspire}
My style of work, whether it be making jewelry or painting, is to move around the object. A center table is definitely ideal for this.

via Country Living
This lovely space has made it's rounds in the blogosphere and for good reason! It's pretty stinking ideal.

via ish and chi
Ribbon spools are so much easier to work with when they're organized. I'd like a station much like this one for packaging.

source: Crafy Intentions {via AT}
Lots of baskets, jars, and canisters help to keep a space organized and as clutter free as possible.

via HGTV
I may have to use a corner in my bedroom and divide it off with some shelves.

via Living Etc
Do you have an ideal studio or craft room? What would your space be like?

Under $15: Trendy Necklaces

Happy Monday, or unhappy Monday, depending on your perspective. I thought we'd start out this week with a super affordable under $15 post. Currently, I'm loving the embellished, layered, bling blinging necklace that are popping up everywhere. I definitely prefer handmade, but until I know exactly what I want, I think I'll try some pieces out at Forever 21. They've hit all of the biggest necklace trends and I've pulled my favorites for you.

Bib

Floral Felt Bib Necklace $7.80


Pearl layers
Fantasy Pearls with Floral Clusters $8.80


Floral
Linda Floral Pearl Necklace $12.80

Knots
Looped Rope Necklace $14.80

Tassels
Satin Entwined Chain Wrap $6.80

Bows
Multi Chains with Ribbon Necklace $8.80

all photos via Forever 21
These are a super easy way to spice up t-shirts and bleh outfits and if one of your drunk friends accidentally falls on you and rips off your necklace (I swear this has never happened to me) you've only wasted $15.
How do you feel about the bigger, flashier, necklaces this season?

{Don't forget to enter this weekend's giveaway; it's your chance to win a super cute dress! Winner will be chosen tomorrow night.}