fire + water

A down-home setting with down-home folk.

The fire & water festival is in a quaint bayou town just about 20 minutes north.  The setting is a rustic ol' tin building on the banks where two bayous meet. There's some good cajun creole music, food and ART of different sorts (like our jewelry). There will be lots of dancing and many handmade, one-of-a-kind gift ideas to get all your Christmas shopping wrapped up.

Guess where I'll be on Saturday Dec 1, 11a-11p? 

We are setting up a pop-up boutique 'BIJOUX RENEW' mostly focusing on recycled/upcycled adornments.  Great jewelry made with a conscious.  I will be there with ReStrung and Secondline Jewels.  Come visit if you can.

'tis the season for giving

Giving handmade is giving a gift with thought, a gift with heart because it's made with love. Support handmade this holiday season.

Only a couple days left to use the coupon code HOLIDAY2012 to enjoy 50% off everything + free shipping within the U.S. SHOP HERE!

HOLIDAY CYBER SALE

I might be over doing myself a bit here but it makes me happy to GIVE. Enjoy 50% off anything & everything in my shop for a few days only. Plus free shipping in the U.S.

the professional's take...

More Lady & the Tribe. The professional's take...

*having the most fun*

you can find pictures of all the artists that were part of the RAW: Semi-Finals Show here thanks to Jana Powers Photography.

...and now we are waiting on the pro video.

giving thanks

family + family + more family = LOVE

We started off Turkey Day with my family here in town. We gathered for our traditional feast to celebrate our Thanks.  We took many pictures of the generations of aunts and cousins and our children. Then we hit the road, headed two hours west to meet my hubby's family to let the children enjoy their Great Grandparents and their 20 acres, 3 ponds, orchard and bountiful garden. We are thankful for our two nights and 3 day visit with our lovely people. We need to get over there more often. We really do.

I give thanks for my wonderful family and the one I luckily married into.

You can find an old post with more pics of the Greats great land here.

thankFULL

I am thankful for the little things, the big things and all the between things! We have our nest, our belly's are full and we live a healthy life full of love and love is all you need.  We have that and much more to be thankful for, today and everyday.

reflections of a bayou bohemian

So for this show I keep talking about, we also had a limited booth space to represent ourselves.  I am very happy with how my setup turned out. I feel it honestly reflected a bit of all of the little things that inspire me. Flowers, herbs, leather and lace. Old cypress wood, pottery, baskets, and textiles. Drums, crystals, antlers, dreamcatchers and bonfires.

I have to say again how pleased I am with how my ladytribe so perfectly reflects bayou bohemian.  They danced about joyously like free spirits. Genuinely enjoying where they were. This makes me happy.

Find more pics and a video of the show here.

Lady & the Tribe in the Crescent City

What a great evening. We had so much fun and my show was a great success.  I love that I am getting the hang of this and my nerves are taking a back seat to the fun of it all, allowing full enjoyment. It is so exciting to see these fine ladies wear my creations so well and make my vision come alive perfectly.  My big sis and owner of The Beauty Shop always does a great job getting my ideas for hair (or headwraps) and makeup, creating my vision right-on.  I mentioned in earlier posts that this event was a competition and no I did not win, but myself and many others believe I was in fact the best in show, and I think we had the most fun. I met many new people that really feel and appreciate what I am doing and that is the most important to me. 

My inspiration for this Out of Africa, Ladies & the Tribe collection all began with a few very special authentic African textiles given to me by my wonderful mother-in-law ,who lived in Ghana for several years when she was a young girl, and a very special friend of mine who spent 2 years teaching english in Malawi gifted my mother a large cut of an authentic textile just this summer.  I love how it all came together and the best compliment of the evening was hearing these two beautiful African woman express to me their appreciation for my collection and how well I captured their fashion culture and traditions. Honestly, that to me is winning enough!!

I hope you enjoy these pics and video as much as I enjoyed the experience. I will post even more over the next few days and even weeks as the professional event pics and videos become available.

and heres an iphone video clip of the show...

I have to say I am pretty darn proud and that feels heavenly!!!!!

Lady & the Tribe

It's showtime darling. Well technically not until 7:00 this evening but it's very very close. I've been feeling the feeling since yesterday while I was loading the van to head out of town to the Big Easy a day early. Packing always makes me anxious, it's kind of silly I know but so real.

I'm looking forward to this show ya'll!  If your anywhere near New Orleans I would love to see you there.  7pm at the Howlin' Wolf. It's going to be an eventful evening full of Art and Creativity of all sorts.

More pictures to come...

2 days

Inspired by textiles, folklore, traditions, femininity, pattern, color, simplicity and versatility...

I have spent a little more than 2 weeks preparing for my RAW semi finals show coming up in only 2 days.  I am mostly excited this time with subtle bits of anxiety and nerves.  It's going to be an evening full of art of all sorts. It is the semi-finals competition there are 3 industry professionals judging for their favorites and the audience gets to participate in voting as well with 50% of the total vote.  I kinda can't believe I'm in a competition for indie fashion designer of the year in New Orleans but mostly I am trying to embrace how exciting it is when you see your hard work come together to the sound of music chosen specifically to make it all come alive. I think that is the best part of it all. It's great exposure and it feels so good when it's done. Wish me luck and if you happen to be in or near Nola I would love for you to come out to the Howlin' Wolf this Saturday Nov. 17th and enjoy the experience with us.

Are you tempted to see where I'm going with this, to see it all come together?

This RAWards semi finals show has been mentioned in
intheNOLA
INVADENOLA
Slow Southern Style

coming together

It's all coming together and I am quite pleased with what is happening here (insert smile here)!

gypsy sisters

These two Aussie sisters do what they do so well and clicking through their pictures always leaves me inspired. A bit dreamy to me with all of their earthy, tribal, feminine influences... all of my favorite things.

chamomile on a saddle how perfect is that

more found here

busy. busy. busy.

I am busy. I am spending lots of time making things with paper, cloth, metal, leather, chain and whatever else  might cross my inspired path while I hunker down to prepare for this. All while juggling my littles and their needs/wants/demands/schedules as usual (this evening I even fantasized for a tiny minute that I had no other responsibility but to create, while I was having a very productive/creative time in my studio but I was in a hurry to get back to Mama duties calling). Insert deep breath here.

Trying to get lots done this week because last minute makes me even more nervous. I am pretty excited about how things are turning out. I have chosen my music for my ladies to walk the runway to and I am looking forward to hearing these tunes blare through the Howlin' Wolf when my designs and hard work show up center stage all together for all to see.

11 days till 'judgement day' (hehe). EEK (for exitement) (i think)!

out of africa

 Inspired by the bright, colorful, intricate textiles out of Africa. How great are these?  I love how the prints and colors are so different from each other and mix so nicely!! Check out this fab designer! All pictures from pinterest.