Walking In Heels

Picking up

2007-10-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the prolonged and unannounced hiatus, but a series of projects all came to fruition at once and I was unfortunately a bit overwhelmed for quite awhile. Expect InHeels to be back in full swing from now on though!

I'd like to share with you all the beautiful creations of Dutch industrial designer Tord Boontje. There's something in the clean, elegant aesthetic of most Dutch design that I've always admired, but Boontje has recreated that feel with more than a touch of fairy tale. His lighting designs are surprisingly elegant and incredibly emotive. These are pieces which truly speak to their environment.

Garland Light

Realto Deco Table

Head-to-toe: Adventure Stylings

2007-08-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I've always wanted Indian Jones' job description, whip-cracking included. Alas, that sort of swashbuckling doesn't always go over too smoothly with the bosses. So, here's an exponentially sleeker way to wear that style to the office while supporting Indie designers.

Incorporate whip at your own risk.

Too Much Fun

2007-08-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

While cruising around the Domino Magazine forums, I came across a post titled "New Time-Waster" and of course had to look into things. The poster offered a link to Polyvore.com, a site of images that you can mix and match to create outfits, room designs, whatever you can dream up. She even had a few examples of lovely interior designs to check out. I tried it out and before long was signed up, clipping images of my own to use. It really is a fun creative space and some of the work being done there is quite lovely, go have a look-see and go wild!

Hot art

2007-08-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

The East Bay is boiling today, and I can't make it out to the beach. Bummer. To tide me over, here are some lovely prints by Etsy artists with a beach theme. These are some truly impressive, fun illustrations that I'd love to have in my own home. The expressiveness in the lines of "Down By the Sea" just blows me away.

I mean really, Merbots! What's not to love?

Head-to-toe: Indie Night Out

2007-08-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Harajuku Marilyn Dress, $59.99 Elegant Junque : A truly classic shape with a lot of flirt in the swirling skirt and daringly deep neckline. This is a beautiful dress and because it's a sample it's listed at a fraction of the price! Make this your little-black-dress and have a lot more fun in a classic.

Fuschia Fling Earrings, $26.00 Tilley Jewels : There are so many beautiful pieces in this shop! But these earrings look ready set for a night out on the town. Bold and sparkly, they'd look fab paired with a sweeping up-do and all black.

Fuschia Dancing Pearl Bracelet, $25.00 Tilley Jewels : The perfect bracelet to match those lovely earrings. Compliments without being too matchy-matchy.

Supernova, $120.00 Ndeur : Yesterday I suggested listening to Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole" to spruce up your day and, these Supernova shoes by Ndeur are the perfect heels to slip on and dance about to that song in!

Italia-flora-phile

2007-08-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

I've had a small collection of barely budding dried pink roses peeking out at me from my dried flower drawer for a full year now. Every time I reached in to pick out on of their pressed sisters, these little buds would catch my eye and just beg to be used. I just couldn't decide what would best showcase them.

So I waited, and plotted, and scrapped one idea after another until the other day I was about to toss some excess resin and.. wait a minute! These little buds deserve to stand on their own. So here they are, fully preserved, wholly durable, and glorious in their simplicity. Look for them soon on Raphaelina.

Also, if you're of the rock-n-roll persuasion, listen to Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole." It makes me dance... A lot.

She's a lucky girl

2007-08-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

For Indie Fixx's one year anniversary, they handed out packs of sampler items to the first 200 people to sign up for the newsletter. I had planned on signing up for that little gem anyway, not thinking I had gotten there nearly quick enough to partake in the goodies.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I received a package a few days ago of really wonderful goodies I hadn't expected! There's still time to be entered in the grand prize raffle, so head on over and sign up for the list!

Here are just a few of the designers I loved from the packet of goodies.

Artful Sentiments : Amazingly beautiful prints, check out the penguin design. It looks as if it has texture, I kept expecting the paper to feel bumpy!

Little Flower Designs : Beautiful painted ceramics with a prevalent blue bird theme all handmade by Linda Johnson. Her new wall hangings are beautiful!

ShortCake Gifts : They sent along an adorable cloth button-style hairpin that really caught my eye. Their shop is full of sweet little things for mom and baby, go check them out!

Mi : A handmade spa bodycare company, these guys have a really beautiful website- almost as relaxing as going to an actual spa! I have not yet had the chance to try out their products first hand, but that green tea & honey rice based soap is definitely calling my name.

Head-to-Toe: Blue, Grey & 100% Handmade

2007-08-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

Crystal Waters Bracelet, $25 Raphaelina Jewelry : My own sparkly creation from the Raphaelina line, I think this bracelet would be a nice match to this collection of talented creators.

Heather blue scoop top, $45 Devil May Wear : A ridiculously fun Etsy shop, Devil May Wear has everything from the basic tube top to bloomers.

Orange Cream Handbag, $26 Chet and Dot : Another great Etsy find, this store currently has 157 items for you to ogle over! I know I spent far too much time looking through all their sweet creations. This lovely, creamy bag with the top of a tree peeking through is the perfect offset to the Lovebird Skirt. After all, the little birdie has to have a place to roost, right?

Blue Crochet headscarf, $5 RedBerryCrochet : What better way to maintain your tresses than in RedBerryCrochet's lovely creations? Super light weight and totally luxe.

Lovebird Skirt, $15 Moxiedoll : The inspiration for this Head-to-Toe, Moxiedoll takes this recycled pinstripe wool skirt and really makes it something special. Only $15!? I had to look twice. Then blink a few times and look again. Such a steal, go buy it up while it's still available!

Homemade mary jane's, $58 Netamir : There is a surprising shortage of Indie shoe designers out there, which is just such a shame. Plenty of baby-booty makers, sure, but what about us full-grown ladies? Netamir stepped up to the challenge to create these adorable mary jane's, inspired by her doll's tootsies. I'd recommend them in grey to go with this outfit.

What's this Head-to-Toe deal all about? The idea came to me when I had yet another conversation with a good shopping buddy about how she loves Indie stuff, but never knows what to pair the pieces with! So, every Tuesday I'll be posting up a complete outfit put together from the talents of Independent Designers from all over the globe. Got some recommendations? Comment me!

Websitery

2007-08-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

I did it! I did it!

The Beast, she is finished!

Ahem. The last few weeks I've spent in an intensive redesign of my jewelry website, Raphaelina Jewelry which seemed like a marvelous idea at the time of conception. Clean up the site a bit, make the colors more web-safe and have the overall feel of the design better reflect my style of jewelry. Brilliant! Right?

I did not take into consideration how much inventory I have and just how many pages that would be. Holy cow. But she's done now, so go have a look-see. (And maybe alleviate me of some of that inventory, eh?)

Youthful excitement

2007-08-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

I spent a full day today doing something I absolutely love to do and really should be doing more of- teaching. I visited a local high school's yearbook class room where the kids were full of enthusiasm, they had chosen the class and were actually interested in learning all about it. I taught them basic design terminology and helped them get together a stylebook that they will be utilizing all year. This Thursday I'm returning to help them get together template layouts for all their sections and teach them the nuances of "magazine-style" layout which is what they've decided they want to employ throughout the book. Wonderful.

Here are some books with good graphic design inspiration:

Colorholics meet the Cinema

2007-08-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

I was recently referred by a coworker to the wonderful work of Jason Salavon. His body of work focuses on the relationship between color-association and digital media. Utilizing his own computer processing methods, he breaks down video scenes to their mean average color and then arranges the color blocks from left-to right to create beautiful prints of pure tonality.

Thriller

In his recent installation, The Top 25 Grossing Films of All Time you view all 25 films at once in the same one-color-per-frame format. Best of all, you don't have to travel to view the show- you can download segments of the footage directly from his website.

The Top 25 Grossing Movies of All Time

Stepping outside of the cinema, he also has an extensive body of similar work-styles on the rest of his site. Every Playboy Centerfold was particularly interesting.

Sweet & Cool- Great Iced Teas

2007-08-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite drinks during the summer is homemade ice tea, its refreshing and looks great in your prettiest glassware. Always a plus, that. But just plain tea can get a little boring after awhile, so I turn to either Specialteas or Golden Moon Tea to add a little extra flavor. What I'm currently obsessing over is the Vanilla Mint Tea, iced, by Golden Moon Tea. It comes in a beautiful package and the tea itself is just lovely.

If you don't want to blow the bucks on specialty teas, just brew your regular black ice tea and mix in a can of frozen juice concentrate. Cran-Raspberry is great for this!

Fresh Canvas

2007-07-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Lately most of my design energy has been focused into a ground-up redesign of the website which showcases my own jewelry designs; raphaelina.com. As it exists at the moment the site is rather dark and some of the photos unclear. I felt that the site needed a little pick-me-up, something more representative of my work and personal aesthetic.

I've always been a big fan of Ukiyo-e style artwork, especially the muted, yet boldly defined colors of many of the style's landscapes. The shades and textures I'm using for the redesign are inspired by these works, infused with a modern edge. The site is due to launch late this week but in the meantime, here's a teaser: