Jun 8, 2011 | Fashion
Do you change your accessories up in the summertime? All winter long, I adorn myself in heavy silver pieces and big, black bags and shoes – but come June it doesn’t feel right anymore. I switch up things to thin silver and gold bands, wooden accessories, natural, earthy stones, and rope, hemp and straw accoutrements. Somehow Summer feels like it’s finally here with the changeover to lightweight, natural accessories!
Designer Rachel S. has been making bracelets and necklaces out of handwoven hemp for over 10 years, and sells her lovely creations in her Etsy shop. She adds lampwork beads or silver charms that can be customized to make your very own one-of-a-kind item – and has a great variety of styles that would work just as well for both men and women. Both eco-friendly and biodegradable, jewelry made from hemp is a great alternative for people with nickel allergies (guilty;-)
So if you’re in the market for something hemp (or even looking for a Father’s Day or birthday gift for someone special) – pay a visit to Custom Hemp Treasures or Rachel’s other store Rachinator87 to find something beautiful and at a steep discount.
Enter code CHIC40 to receive 40% off any purchase!
LOL!:-)
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 7, 2011 | DIY
Hot And Heavy, Baby! Spring 2011 by TheAcademic ♥s Andrej Pejic! featuring flared jeans
Kaftans (or Caftans) seem to be on everyone’s mind lately as a summer staple. Polyvore even put together an array of latest looks featuring caftans – and I’m loving the breezy, lunch-on-the-Riviera feel to them. From Elizabeth Taylor to the Olson twins, caftans have always been a mainstay of A-listers, but now they’re most definitely on-trend for the rest of us.
From left to right: French Connection Diamond Embellished Caftan, ASOS Pleat Front Chiffon Cover Up
, Helene Berman Oversized Flower Short Kimono Kaftan; all ASOS.com.
How to get the look without breaking the bank:
Besides sourcing one from a lower-priced store, like TheOutnet.com, ASOS.com, or even Forever 21, a great alternative would by thrifting something sheer, oversized, and fabulous – and just repurposing it as a caftan. (Adding trims or details as you desire.) You could also sew your own in your favorite fabric with a pattern from Burdastyle.
BurdaStyle’s 07/2010 Caftan Pattern
This 07/2010 pattern an extremely simple one, easily made more modest or revealing as you may choose, and for me, the fun part would not only be choosing the fabric – but also finding my favorite trim to adorn the neckline and sleeve-openings! You could make it as glamorous or as casual, as sheer or as opaque, as bright or as neutral a poolside cover-up as you wanted! Speaking of cover-ups, there’s also another item that’s been playing on my mind:
Sienna Bikini, $55; Saskia Attachable Skirt, $40; Rebecca Manning.
(I know it’s not a caftan per se since it doesn’t cover the shoulders…but it’s too pretty not to mention!) This gorgeous convertible bikini cover-up is from Rebecca Manning on FashionStake [a website that allows emerging designers to sell directly to the public by allowing them to secure orders before going to the manufacturers, paying for a full run of items, and then being stuck with excess inventory and no cash at the end of the season – which is a fantastic solution to the incredible waste in the fashion industry by over-manufacturing, and the high start-up costs to the independent designer. Plus because the order is placed by the customer first it allows the designer to offer the item at a high discount compared to what it would retail for if it were manufactured first and then sitting on a retail shelf, waiting to be sold. I LOVE the innovation of this site!!)
Anyway, not only is the above bikini top flattering and chic, but the “caftan” part simply attaches to the front. Choose your favorite color for the bikini and print for the caftan skirt part. Ingenious!
Also: how timely! TheOutnet.com is currently giving away a $920 Missoni Kaftan!
(giveaway period closes in 14 hours!!)
How do you feel about caftans? Loving them? Or too “Golden Girls” for your taste?
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 5, 2011 | By Carly J. Cais, Life
I created this in record time, spending both yesterday and this morning doing it. A 3-story Haunted House with a mummy and a Frankenstein to play with, 2 beds, a sofa, 2 ladders, an open chimney, and removable log fire. The architecture is based off an existing piece, though I modified the shape of some of the furniture and the house structure. Tracing, colors, details, characters, layout, printing, cutting out, and assembly all by me. (Though some of the texture patterns were downloaded from the Internet.)
Hi everyone!
I’m slammed.
I have no less than FOUR final projects for my classes due this week (three due at 5:00 PM tomorrow, and the last one due at 5:00 PM on Tuesday). Plus I just made a couple of portfolio pieces to apply for an internship.
I’ve had about four hours’ sleep for the last 3 nights – at 20 yrs old, no prob, but at 30, it’s rough!! I feel like a zombie.;-)
So I’m probably not going to be able to blog about DIY stuff at any great length until after I hand in everything and can breathe a little easier.
Just to let you know – I’m still around and in front of the computer, though editing and animating and drawing like crazy and barely able to answer email/formspring questions/respond to comments etc.
Oh, and I also made a gun out of paper that shoots wadded-up tissues. (It took a little longer than the house since there’s so many moving parts.) It uses 2 rubber bands to sling an internal “bullet casing” forward and launch whatever’s sitting against it into the air (well, sort of towards the floor really).
My son really likes playing with the haunted house.
You’ve all been so kind in sending me your fabulous DIY projects – and I’ll be sharing them all in a big DIY Links of the Week coming soon. Thanks so much for letting me know about your creativity!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 4, 2011 | Fashion
Here are a few things I’ve bought in the last couple weeks that are quickly turning into favorites:
(center) gilligan by Gilligan & O’Malley Ruffle Balconet Bra I’m in love with the whole line of lingerie from this brand, available at Target. All of their pieces are decorated in chiffon, lace, and ruffles, and the prints are sweet (but not too twee). And they all look so much more expensive than their Target pricetag. Now I’m not sure where I’m going to wear this ruffled bra…but I loved it so much I had to add it to my lingerie drawer.;-)
(bottom left) Scunci Soft Cloth Rollers: I know it just looks like a wad of tissues…but these rollers are meant for curling your hair at night and then sleeping in them! They’re each like little tiny pillows with a thin wire through the center…surprisingly comfortable. And my hair looked great as soon as I woke up in the morning.
(bottom right) Goody Simple Styles Spin Pins
: my hair is finally getting log enough to where I can twist it up in a [small and anorexic-looking] chignon. These pins are amazing, even on shorter lengths!
(center) YSL Arty Oval Ring lookalike from La Dama (but Etsy seller Snefter was also selling these on Etsy for awhile…using the same photos…so I’m not sure if they’re selling to La Dama or what, since what I received didn’t have any Snefter branding on it and La Dama’s website made no mention of it. V. confusing.) In any case, it’s beautiful, chunky, and a whole lot less than the original (um, $38!! Score.)
(left) Shimmering Knuckle Ring and Hinged Armor Ring (no longer avail.; similar here; just pull the center stone off) from Forever 21.
(top left) Viviscal Extra Strength Hair Nutrient Tablets
: Secret of models for thick, luscious hair for years – and featured last year in Vogue magazine. That’s good enough for me! (check back in about 4-6 months re: the results of daily supplementation – if any:-)
(top middle) Goddess Hinge Bracelet from Forever 21.
(top right) Mr. Rush
: I’ve finally turned my son onto the magic that is the Mr. Men series of books
…and he loves them! Many of the ones I had as a child have been lost over the years, so I recently placed an order for a group of 6 from Amazon. Mr. Rush was always my favorite – I’m not sure if it was because he was purple (one of my favorite colors) or because he was a triangle (my favorite shape) or because he was rushing everywhere (a kindred spirit!!), but he was just awesome.
(center bottom) Target ombre socks (not available online): they also had hot pink ombre and tangerine ombre. And I just love ombre! They look awesome worn with a pair of summer sandals with wood heels.
A couple items I’ve also recently acquired (but forgot to include in the photograph) are:
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish in Blue-Away: the perfect robin’s egg blue for Spring/Summer.
gilligan by Gilligan & O’Malley Dot Tapset (but I stitched the front opening closed on my cami so I can wear it as a layering piece in an outfit and not feel so…exposed). It’s so silky and lovely.
Forever 21 Poncho Hoodie: not quite as warm as the average hoodie, and looks great paired with something skinny (or short) on the bottom. I may even cover the front pocket in black leather a la Alexander Wang.;-)
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 3, 2011 | Fashion
Hey everybody – just a quick announcement to let you all know that I’ll be changing my username on Twitter.
Up until now I’ve been @carlyjcais…but that’s my name, not my blog’s. I figured that would be a little confusing.
So from here on I’ll be
@ChicSteals
A lot easier to remember, right?:-)
If you’re following me on Twitter, there’s nothing special you need to do. Everything will be automatically updated in your feeds and my feeds, so no worries. Just if you want to mention or DM me, it will have to be @ChicSteals from now on!
So sorry for the confusion – I’m still keeping @carlyjcais as my own personal Twitter, but that will be solely for animation- and media-related stuff. If you’re interested in such things, including the Portland multimedia, animation, and videography scene, please feel free to follow me @carlyjcais for tweets pertaining to that.
See you on Twitter!
xoxox
Carly
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Do you change your accessories up in the summertime? All winter long, I adorn myself in heavy silver pieces and big, black bags and shoes – but come June it doesn’t feel right anymore. I switch up things to thin silver and gold bands, wooden accessories, natural, earthy stones, and rope, hemp and straw accoutrements. Somehow Summer feels like it’s finally here with the changeover to lightweight, natural accessories!
Designer Rachel S. has been making bracelets and necklaces out of handwoven hemp for over 10 years, and sells her lovely creations in her Etsy shop. She adds lampwork beads or silver charms that can be customized to make your very own one-of-a-kind item – and has a great variety of styles that would work just as well for both men and women. Both eco-friendly and biodegradable, jewelry made from hemp is a great alternative for people with nickel allergies (guilty;-)
