Etsy finds Friday.... on Thursday...

I decided to do my etsy finds a day early this week. Seeing as I haven't had a chance to do any Etsy finds postings in a while, I'm sure all will be forgiven.

Block Party Press

This shop has really pretty polymer clay jewelry, and they love taking custom orders!

I love this little ring b/c it looks like wood, and their "My Block" necklace features a cute little skyline!

New Obsession: Antique Lace Collars

So, I want to start this by saying that I started to write this yesterday, and then I couldn't finish it b/c I had to run off to dinner with my friend before seeing a play.

Anyway.

I have a new mini-obsession. Antique Lace Collars. This all started out when I went to a local antique mall in the town where I grew up (ie. the old junk store) and I picked up a few crochet doilies and a crochet collar. My intent was to make some cool stuff from them.

So I finally used to crochet collar, and I've been noticing lately that a lot of cool projects using crochet collars in interesting ways.

So, without further ado, ways to use crochet collars and doilies in interesting ways!

My Dress


So, this really isn't so far a stretch from the general purpose of an antique lace collar. My dress is a Faux halter (that is, I made the back of the dress come up and attach to the collar, so that i could wear a regular bra with it) but the point is that an antique lace collar, which can often look semi-frumpy or too outdated if worn as it was meant to, can be instead used as a halter to add a dainty touch to your dress.

http://www.theblackapple.typepad.com/somegirlswander/

Some Girls Wander is the fashion blog of Miss Emily Martin, who is the brains behind The Black Apple shop which I am so terribly in love with.

So when I went to start this blog yesterday, I quickly went to her fashion blog, knowing I would find something there I could feature in this post...

And LO AND BEHOLD! She also decided to do a mini series about doilies/lace! (I guess the fact that I cut my hair so I could try to get it all cute and curly like in her New Years Eve photo might help indicate the fact that I adore her, and thus don't mind)

At any rate, this is by far my favorite lace/doily project on there. And yes. I know it's not lace collars. But it's within the same family. So it's ok.


Purses, In General, look good with lace!

.

So, this isn't the purse I wanted to post as an example originally, but of course I can't find the ones I saw before on Etsy, because it tends to be a pit were things get lost, and I was silly and didn't favorite the purses while I had the chance. Point being, though, you should look at the stuff you find and think out of the box...


Antique lace collars don't have to be used as collars. They can be used to embellish anything. They can be dyed crazy colors to make a statement, or left plain to keep a traditional look (I tea dyed mine, fyi, b/c it was stained. If you have yellow discoloration and don't mind an off-white look, I advise tea dyeing. Black tea works best). At any rate, just go out and be creative!

Love,
Shila

Etsy Favorites Friday, Vol. 1

So, I decided that I am going to make a post every Friday that will highlight some of my favorite finds on Etsy. Hope you enjoy them!

Favorite Shops:
TheBlackApple.etsy.com


This is probably one of my favorite sellers, and I'm sure that many of you feel the same way already. I happen to already own this little darling, which I recieved as a Christmas gift. The shop is certainly worth checking out.

AliciaBock.etsy.com

Alicia Bock's photography is downright brilliant. I love the simply beauty of her work, and the technique she uses gives many of her photos a very vintage, lost in a photo album look. I sincerely hope that you all check this out, because if you can't find beauty in these, you probably can't find it anywhere in the world.

SpittingImage.etsy.com

This brother/sister wonder duo is honestly one of the coolest things I've come across on Etsy so far. Amy draws out the designs and then sends them off to brother Glenn who screen prints them on American Apparel t-shirts. (For those of you liveing under rocks, that mean top quality t-shirtage, right there).

Well Kiddies, it's about time for me to wrap this up! Hope you enjoy your Friday (it's gorgeous where I am!).

Love,

Shila

A little about this blog, since I'm finally sharing it

I started out this blog as a place to weasel away my poetry where nobody could find it. I would show a few people that I wanted to share it with, and that was basically it. But I've since decided that this blog could (and should) be so much more. I really want to share what I'm passionate about.

I'm a true craft junkie. I make things constantly. 

I'm also addicted to vintage fashion in general, and it really fuels a lot of what I make. 

In general, this blog is going to be a compilation of stuff I own, stuff I've made, stuff I'm selling, and stuff that I admire. 

I will be sure to post tutorials, links to other cool blogs, and anything else that I think will be of use to crafty folk like myself.

Hopefully  you'll love my blog. If you have suggestions, feel free to mention them!

Lots of love,

Shila

Conversational

"Your brain is addicted"
"Did you know your brain gets addicted to the person you love?"
"And it only gets stronger with sex, ya"
"You see, that's my problem"
"We make love and that's our problem."
"I know, I'm aware"
"I don't care"
"I don't care"
"Masturbation makes me more likely to cheat"
"No it doesn't"
"Yes it does! You get addicted to nobody"
"Ya, I guess you're right"

Pretty Bird

Agitation

Like something from an angry sex scene

Pent up frustration

Let out in a whisper

Let out in a song

Let out with a bang

Of the gun shot

From the gun that you carry in your heart

Punched in the gut

By infidelities

By your own

Infidelities

You're punching yourself in the gut

For being an infidel.

Shame on you, pretty bird.

Shame

Such a pretty bird.

Shame she had to fly so soon.

Self Deprication

You barely noticed me.
I stand in the shadows--
(You hear best when no one knows you’re there.)

I saw you look at her—
Touch her—
Pretty?
Ya, she’s pretty…
That easy kind of pretty,
Like she was born to be
A ball of light.

So Late...

In need of a break—
You also?
Prehaps a walk to clear heads?
Yes, no?
Circle the answer
Like when we were kids

Bicycle Poem

Warm nights fade—
Warm mornings—
The sun rising
Lazy,
Lifting stars from its face.
I feel I’m gliding
Thorough the world—
My legs aren’t in it anymore.
I am the bird I wish I were
Free to fly
Forever
Taking in the dawn.

my new summer

Winding roads that never end

The sound of birds

in the trees

and bees

and you

and me

and us together alone

once upon a time

in my dreams of countryside

always alive

in my mind we could be

so free

free from all this

madness here

and now

and then

and them

just us

just us

us

Familiarity breeds contempt

I’ve totally fucked myself

Again

I want to stop thinking these

Things

I want to love him that way

I used to

I don’t want to see you so

Truly

I don’t want to think of you so

Often

I don’t want to wait for you

Wait for you

Wait for you

gliding along aimlessly through the air

afraid to nest in one tree
afraid of being caged
afraid to fly alone

i am your little bird
you are my home.

I don't feel like I'm seen

I wish somebody wanted to use me in their art.

I have artist friends. Nobody ever asks.

I am never drawn, photographed, painted, anything.

It makes me feel undesirable.

I know I can just do that stuff myself, but that seems vain.

Why am I so bothered by it? I don't like the way I look in pictures anyway.

That's probably my problem. I want to be pretty enough to be someone else's art.

Running in Circles

My hands are stained again.
I didn't do anything to deserve it--this time.
Other times--ya, sure, maybe, whatever--
I talk and I talk and nothing comes out.
Nothing real, anyway.
What is REAL anyway?
Your side.
My side.
Fuck, it's all just perspective--paradigm, really.
Really...there's word again.

Cigarettes can kill, you know...

Smoke flows out of your mouth like your soul escaping your body.
That's how I see you sometimes.
Soulless, that is.

It wasn't always that way.
Once upon a time... There was love. 
Love that was sent in a letter to a child.
But that love faded--smoke dancing in air--
as you nail the coffin shut.

It wasn't all bad, though, was it?
I still sing that song you sang me.
You know. The one by The Beatles.
That was a pretty good lullaby, really.

I just hope you're still around
When I sing it to my own kids.