December of Giveaways – Week 4!

It’s our last week of December giveaways! This week, we’re giving away this whimsical macaw feather fascinator:

Photo by VanZandt Studios.

This fascinator is handmade from naturally fallen, hand curled macaw feathers, white marabou feathers, a pink, green, and blue button finding with clear rhinestone accents, and vintage Austrian crystals floating mid-air on monofilament thread. The snap clip on the back makes the piece very versatile to wear (it can be turned at any angle.)

Here’s a close up of the piece:

It’s easy to enter:

1. Follow us on Pinterest here.

2. Pin the Pin It To Win It image on any of your Pinterest boards.

3. Comment on this blog post with your Pinterest username.

You can enter a maximum of once a day by completing steps 1-3.

The Week 3 giveaway will last through Sunday, 12/29/13. Open to US residents.Winner will be randomly chosen, and announced Monday, 12/30/13, on this blog page, our Facebook and Twitter accounts, and the winner will be contacted via the email listed with the account they use to comment (if possible.) Winner must respond via email (to buymelovestore@gmail.com) within 48 hours, or another winner will be randomly selected.

Good luck, and happy pinning!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Tuesday’s Treasure – Have an uncommon holiday!

Have someone on your “nice” list who dances to the beat of a different drummer? Let our latest Etsy treasuries guide you to unique, one-of-a-kind gifts for the season!

For nomads:

For glam rockers:

For horror movie buffs:

Pinteresting People – 5 Pinners to Follow

It’s easy to sign onto Pinterest and quickly fall down the rabbit hole of beautiful images, yummy recipes, DIY projects, wedding planning, kid activities, crafts, fashion, funny quotes, and cute animals! Needless to say, there are plenty of interesting (or “Pinteresting”) people to follow, but if you’re looking for some new content, here’s a list of some of our favorite Pinners.

Etsy Fort Worth – Ok, so we may be a teensy bit biased here, but, really, our team pins some awesome stuff. There’s everything from member items for sale to DIY and craft projects to fun themed boards like “Sweet Nostalgia.” Who doesn’t love pictures of The Muppets and Bob Barker? While you’re there, you can follow individual members from our team by looking to see who’s pinned some of the content.

Offbeat Home & Life – Ever heard of Offbeat Bride, the awesomely wacky site for all things nuptially related? If you haven’t checked out their sister site’s pins, do not passgo! Even if you don’t think you’re “offbeat enough,” trust me – you are. You will love Ariel and her team of weirdos, and they will love you back.

Alison Erion – I have no idea who Alison is, but if you love vintage and antique fashion (among other things, like sewing, quilting, and homesteading) she is one lady to follow!

Tiinia Auler – Tiinia has become a good friend of ours, and she happens to be a fabulous makeup artist in the DFW area! She pins some of the most gorgeous makeup and fashion inspiration, and some of the most bizarre and beautiful images. I see something excited and new from her every day.

Stephanie Robot Pop – Stephanie pins some of the most colorful and geekerific things I’ve seen, and I love it! Follow her and add some sunshine and rainbows to your day.

Of course, you can also follow us, if you haven’t already! Our business account, LoveAndEyeballs, is full of Etsy fun and what inspires us, or you can follow me personally here.

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Weird Wednesday – Featured on Offbeat Bride!

I was so excited to wake up this morning to a link on our friend Tiinia’s Facebook page saying that her wedding has been featured on Offbeat Bride! First, I was excited because their wedding was so unique; I knew it had to end up on the site at some point. Second, I was excited, because Mom and I were vendors for the wedding!

We met Tiinia at the Etsy817 (our really cool Etsy team) Handmade Holidays arts and crafts show last year. She was the makeup artist for the fashion show, which featured some of our work. (Click on Tiinia’s name above to visit her Facebook business page and see examples of her amazing talent for makeup!) Afterward, she stopped by our booth and we all chatted for a while. The subject of her pending nuptials came up, and she bought one of my bracelets to wear for the big day. Then we talked a little about what she wanted for her bridesmaids, and Mom told her that she would love to make the fascinators she wanted.

Fast forward to a few months later, and we’d not only become friends with Tiinia, we’d become friends with a couple of her friends who often model for her, too. They came over to raid Mom’s closet of vintage goodies to borrow for photo shoots, and the more we got to know them, the more we liked them! We had so much fun brainstorming once we learned more about the wedding, and making the vision she had come to life. Mom ended up making all of the fascinators (including the bridal veil!) the bridesmaids’ feather fans, and the boutonnieres, and, as well as making the bride’s bracelet, I also embroidered her vintage handkerchief with their monogram. We were happy to attend their Friday the 13th wedding at the 13th Street Morgue haunted house grounds where Tiinia, her husband, Kevin, and many of their friends work year round to keep the place in perfect shape for the haunting season. It was definitely the weirdest, coolest wedding I’ve ever been to, and we had a blast the entire time.

Take a look at the OBB article for more inspiring photos and info about the wedding, then click on the gallery link to visit the Havi Frost Photography page for even more photos!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

P.S. Want to place a custom order with us for your own wedding? Visit our Etsy shops, linked on the right side of the page, and send us a message!

Whatever Weekend: In The Works

As I worked on finishing the letters for my friend’s little girl, I realized that we haven’t listed much in our shops lately! So, finished and listed a hair clip in our JuJu Eyeball store:

Click on the image to view the listing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As my hubby would say, it’s made with my two favorite colors: sparkly and shiny! I covered a plastic skeleton hand in blue glitter, made a couple of pinwheels from green tulle and black lace, and cut/formed shapes with patent leather ribbon and added an ostrich feather. Viola! Super lightweight and super fun to wear.Now, back to the letters, here’s what the progress looks like so far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies for the crummy images – I’m definitely a fan of natural light as opposed to flash. Anyway, a fairytale princess theme with lots of pink and a dash of sparkle equals four year old heaven (I hope!) I’ve said before that I’ve never considered myself a painter, but I think I’d like to take a class to beef up my unexistent knowledge of mixing, highlighting, shadowing … because I’m just making it up as I go along. Although I am pretty happy with the results as is; it’s hard not to be proud of completing something of which you have little to no history or skill.

Finally, happy Father’s Day to all you dads and single moms out there! (Single moms wear the dad hat, too, you know.) I hope it’s been a wonderful day, and I wish everyone a fantastic week!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Fruits and Feathers of Our Labor

I nearly forgot to share the fruits of our labor for our new friend Tiinia’s wedding! Mom did an amazing job on the fascinators, fans and bouts. My amount of work paled in comparison, but I embroidered the bride’s vintage hanky and made her bracelet. (The only two good shots I have of our work right now are a little blurry – oops!)

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The wedding was wonderful and we had an absolute blast talking, eating, and dancing the night away!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday’s Favorites – I Wasn’t A Huge Fan Of Felting Until …

No offense to the people who do wool felting, but I’ve just never been keen on a lot of the designs that go along with the technique. I appreciate the time and patience it takes, but most of what I’ve seen just isn’t quite my style.

Until this:

AnnieCooper on Etsy

These little dolls are folky, bright, colorful, and make me smile! I can’t wait to see more from this shop. The scenes depicted on their dresses remind me of one of my favorite artists, Jim shore:

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Make It Monday – Paperclip “Chandelier” Project Result

Finally! The paperclip chandelier project is complete:

Colored paperclips and faux multicolored crystals.

The project took about half a day to make. If I had been working from a pattern, it probably wouldn’t have taken as long, but I decided to be brave and go without one. I altered the project by using multicolored paperclips and adding “crystals” – because you can’t have a chandelier without crystals! I eyeballed the size I needed, made the wire hoops, and started linking the paperclips in a triangle/diamond pattern. The hubs came home to a colorful surprise – and he really likes it. Which is good, considering it’s above the desk he uses in the kitchen. Since I already had the steel wire, this project cost me less than $2 in paperclips; well worth the investment.

This is the third and final of the first group of top 3 projects I picked last month. I’m so excited to finish the list and move on to new craft projects! Next Monday, I’ll list my next 3 projects to complete.

What are your top 3 project picks?

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Weird Wednesday – We Got JuJu Eyeball

Needless to say, since we’ve opened the new etsy shop, I’ve had “Come Together” by The Beatles playing in my head on repeat! At least I love the song, right?

We’ve been working hard to bring you weird. Mom is working on an amazing hat/fascinator using a doll from the 60’s that will blow your mind – I can’t wait to list it!

Meanwhile, these little ladies are becoming favorites in the shop:

 

One Eyed Ofelia, Envious Eleanor, and Dismal Delia

These neon skulls are actually stick pins that can be pinned to scarves, hats, lapels, purses and bags, tucked in your hair, or anything else you can stick a pin in!

 

I’m also working on some sparkling earrings of the creepy crawly variety … bugs like glitter, too, ya know.

 

We’re really having a lot of fun with this shop, and hope that these items are bringing a smile to your face like they do to ours!

 

Share The Love,

Chelsea

 

Tuesday’s Treasure – On Wednesday

Do you ever have one of those days where you’re aware that it’s one day, but it feels so much like a different day that it throws you off? I was so tired and useless on Monday that yesterday (Tuesday) felt like Monday and I totally forgot a blog post. Ooops! I have some good ones to share with you, too.

Pretty treasury made up entirely of decoration for your decolletage by our friend from Etsy817, larkspurstudios:

16 Reasons To Fancify Your Neck by larkspurstudios

 I’ve made 2 treasuries in the past week under our new account, JuJu Eyeball. One showcases members of the AbbyNormal team:

Weird Is The New Black by moi

The other is for all the troublemaking men out there, who we love so much. Featuring members of the Clickety team:

Here Comes Trouble! by moi

Don’t forget – Father’s Day is Sunday! If you are fortunate enough for you father to still be around, be sure to at least send him a card to tell him you love him.

Share the Love,

Chelsea