Tiny shop update :: more to come!

Posted on | Friday, April 17, 2009 | 4 Comments

I added a full birdcage veil and a couple lovely flowers to the new Twigs & honey online shop! I was hoping to have more up today, but all my orders took much longer to process. I will aim to have more lovely pieces up soon!! Thank you so much for your patience. Here is the made to order veil you can purchase through the new shop:

Athena

Sublimity is up too!

New pieces :: In my shop tomorrow!

Posted on | Thursday, April 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

Just a shop update notice. :)
I'll be adding some pieces in my new online SHOP tomorrow. I am not sure how many, but I will try to get as many as I can in the shop as time permits. Thank you so much for your patience! I'll do a blog post too! Here's one of the pieces:

Sublimity (link to come)

NEW Twigs & Honey online store is LIVE!!!! :: I am thrilled!

Posted on | Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 16 Comments

Do you know how many hours I have slept in the last 55+ hours? 3. Three hours!
Totally and completely worth it.

The NEW Twigs & Honey online shop is now live! There is a lovely assortment of some of my favorite pieces ever! I admit to not having as much inventory up as I wanted for the grand opening, but I did make it a point to include some gorgeous and truly unique pieces... some of which may be making special appearances in upcoming wedding magazines this summer. ;)

I've started a new bridal/special occasion mini hat line that I will be expanding on, but for now, I've listed a couple in the shop. I've also listed some great headbands and flora/fauna pieces. I had meant to have a bunch of customizable pieces up also, but all the nuts and bolts of getting an online shop going took MUCH more time than expected. I used Zen Cart, which is an open source online store program. It is very powerful, but very time consuming and not user friendly. I think that building the website from scratch was easier than using Zen Cart. All the forums/reviews talk about how cumbersome a program it is and how you really should hire a programmer to make it "pretty" and purposeful. Alas, I figured it out. Mind you, it is not 100% perfect yet and I will continue beta testing it this week to work out any remaining bugs. If any of you clever ones saw it already today, you may have witnessed the "bugs".

I will start listing to the new shop frequently and should have a batch of customizable goodies up soon (hopefully by the end of this week). Check out my labor of love for all the lovely people...

Here is what the default Zen Cart shop looks like (where everyone starts out).. i.e. BEFORE:

AFTER:

Silverton

Cascade

Click HERE to go to the new Twigs & Honey shop!

Visit frequently for updates, deals, and special giveaways!

Summer dress

Posted on | Friday, April 10, 2009 | 9 Comments

I don't know if I'm 100% happy with it, but I'll think of it as good practice for the next one. :)

Excuse my "I just woke up" disheveled look... I did just wake up for this photo.
Silk floral print dress, with ruffle neck and sleeves. I'm wearing my new favorite accessory from Etsy seller, Norwegian Wood. I love anything suspenders and androgynous paired with girly.

New boutique! :: Bella Bridesmaid Las Vegas

Posted on | Thursday, April 9, 2009 | 1 Comment

I am so excited to announce that the Las Vegas Bella Bridesmaid will now be carrying twigs & honey pieces! I just shipped a lovely assortment to the wonderful boutique including hair pieces, brooches and a gorgeous belt! The Las Vegas Bella Bridesmaid carries such lines as Simple Sillhouettes, Jenny Yoo, Lela Rose Bridesmaid, and many more. Brides... don't forget your lovely bridesmaids!
Thank you, Bella Bridesmaid!
The pieces are on their way and should be available within the next week.

New project :: Summer dress

Posted on | Wednesday, April 8, 2009 | 6 Comments

I have been drooling over these dresses:

Bibi dress from Toast.

Confetti Whirl dress from Anthropologie.

Alas, they are over my budget in terms of a dress I can just throw on during those warm, dry summer days in Oregon. I'm going to try to make something similar between the two. I got some lovely silk last week. A bold and crazy pattern...

Pictures to come if it doesn't look to bad!

Week of Inspiration :: Day 5 (overdue!) :: Best All Around

2 Comments

I never posted my last day of Inspiration week from weeks ago!

Elizabeth Dye! Need I say more. She was the talent behind my gorgeous wedding dress transformation. She owns and runs (yes, meet her in the flesh) a real shop, The English Dept., in Portland, OR. She designs and sews the most beautiful clothing. She also sells on Etsy! *sigh* She is superwoman - a total powerhouse! I don't think I know anyone that has it so together or who works as much as Elizabeth. I could go on and on (and on!) about how uber fabulous she is. What a great inspiration to us all! On top of it all, she is cool. Who uses the word "cool" anymore (makes me feel so 90s using that word)! That is how cool she is. One of those gals that always look effortlessly put together (she has the cutest outfits), can carry a lovely short hairstyle with ease (you always make me want to lob more of my hair off!) and makes you think, "I'd better work harder!" Check out her blog for more inspiration!

A lovely Elizabeth Dye dress and shrug (similar shrug available on Etsy).

I love this jacket she made - ruffles and poufy shoulders!

Oldie but I love it.
I'm doing a trade with Elizabeth and I couldn't be more excited (yes, I feel lucky!). I have a shrug addiction and I have a feeling this will be the shrug of all shrugs. I'll post pictures when it is ready!

Great news! :: New online store is almost here!

Posted on | Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | 4 Comments

I've been on overdrive for the last few months with so many projects that one important one kind of kept getting put on hold.
I just wanted to leak that a new fabulous store is in the works (okay, I announced it on my website... but I don't think I blogged about it!).
The new store will have lots of styles and options - including hair pieces, veils, headbands, a new bridal hat line, and some surprises. I have to get it streamlined and polished up at the moment, but it should be working very soon, so for anyone who has been unable to reach me through emails, hang tight and the new store might be just the thing! I'll make a major announcement when it is LIVE!

Just for kicks. :)

I never showed you...

Posted on | Friday, April 3, 2009 | 16 Comments

...the dress I made to wear to my sister's wedding in February. I ended up wearing a different blue dress, but I promised to post some pictures!

Silk chiffon overlay skirt and slightly shiny cotton faux corset top with some embellishing along the bustline. With a pretty bow in the back, of course!

Happy weekend!!

More from the photo shoot :: Lisa Warninger shots

Posted on | Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | 11 Comments

I gasped...
when I opened my email from Lisa Warninger and viewed these pictures. Gorgeous.
Lisa, thank you!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the previous post! I'm so excited to hear that the shoot is being well received. Expect to see more soon!

Photography credits: Lisa Warninger
Hair accessories: Twigs & Honey by Myra Callan
Lovely dresses: Elizabeth Dye at the English Dept.
Styling: Chelsea Fuss
Model: Anna Adams

Wedding dream team collaboration :: Photo shoot

Posted on | Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | 15 Comments

Whew! Yesterday was fantastic! I had a great time collaborating with some of my favorites (the best!) in the Portland wedding arena for a gorgeous photo shoot.

Dress extraordinaire, Elizabeth Dye
Photographer, Lisa Warninger
Stylist, Chelsea Fuss (of frolic!)
Accessories, Twigs & Honey (yours truly)
Model, Anna Adams
Location, Ace Hotel

These are just some of my photos... but more beautiful photos by Lisa should be coming in a few weeks.

More photos to come!
Thank you Elizabeth, Chelsea, Lisa, Anna, and Jaime!! I had a wonderful time!
Visit my Flickr photosream for more photos... HERE.

A new favorite piece :: just listed in my Etsy shop!

Posted on | Friday, March 27, 2009 | 5 Comments

This morning, I was reading one of my new favorite blogs, 100 Layer Cake, and I came across one of my favorite wedding inspiration boards ever... and what are the beginnings of possibly a favorite wedding dress too! I was instantly inspired:

The inspiration board was made by the talented Jenna for her upcoming wedding and the dress will be made by her sister, Sarah, of hello, handmade (board and sketch credits go to Jenna and Sarah).
I love Marie Antoinette fashion and have been inspired before. Also, you know that show stopper hat I made for the Novel Romance bridal show last month? It is featured top right of this blog in the logo photographed by the fabulous Lisa Warninger (whom you already know and if you don't... you need to know of!). I received so many inquiries about that hat (expect to see more of that hat in the future)! BUT... that hat took forever to make. I think I was up until 4am hand sewing it together... so naturally, I have to price it accordingly. Anyhow, with this new inspiration and with current interest in the hat, I've decided to make more for the fashionably adventurous bride (yay, right??). Here is the newest of a whole new line I'd like to build on that is much more friendly on the wallet:

This piece is completely hand sewn and features something new and something old... lots of luxurious silk, lace, just the right amount of sparkle and a pretty ostrich plume (I'm on an ostrich kick as of late - expect to see much more ostrich!). In my SHOP right now. Enjoy!

Just listed a couple new pieces in the Etsy shop...

Posted on | Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 2 Comments

Some lovely and flirty new pieces for my shop today...

Current clothing crush :: Lauren Moffatt

Posted on | Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 3 Comments

I recently found Lauren Moffatt's work through {this is glamorous} blog and I am just swooning. Visit the new Lauren Moffatt online shopping site HERE.

I love androgynous looks.

This dress is my absolute favorite.
Go to this is glamorous blog for your chance to win a Lauren Moffatt dress!
Photo credits: Lauren Moffatt

Ever have one of "those" days?

Posted on | Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 2 Comments

I was feeling a little down today... a little under the weather and Indy has been too (she has an appt. later today). I was so happy to see these pretty blooms from Matt, when he came home for lunch earlier. It's gray out, but these really brighten my day. I love you, honey!

I love the color of these hypericum berries. They remind me of this stunning and delicious dress.

Matt is too cute. He normally picks out the flowers at the shop and tells the lady to put them into a vase with fillers. He likes to pick out all the pretty blooms... regardless of the color coordination. I can just picture him now, "this one is pretty... that one is too... ooh, Myra would like this..."
He is going to hate me for typing this, but I thought it was too funny/cute. The other day, I was just exhausted and not in the mood to bake, but he was wanting sweets and all we had in the cupboards was a box of lemon bar mix. He baked it! I never even attempted lemon bars. While they were in the oven, I was going to cut his hair (I always cut Matt's hair), and he was like, "oh, hang on. We had better wait until the lemon bars are finished baking." ...while keeping a close eye on the oven. I don't know why I find this so cute. They were pretty tasty when finished! Previously, while going through the cupboards, I found a box of cake mix. And I thought, "I didn't buy this..." And then it dawned on me that Matt did and he just put it in there like, "oh, the box will just bake itself," as in if it is in there, Myra will automatically make them. So the lemon bars were a huge step for him!

Puppies :: They grow up so fast

Posted on | Monday, March 23, 2009 | 6 Comments

Just some more pictures of Indy. She has grown so quickly! She's about 6.5 months now. Also some before and after photos:

Today, she hasn't been feeling well. Poor pup!