Oregon Bride Magazine :: fall/winter 2009

Posted on | Wednesday, July 22, 2009 | 2 Comments

Aw~ just lovely:

This amazing photo shoot was taken in May on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Elianna Bar-El did the amazing styling and the spread was for the lovely Oregon Bride Magazine. I see several tops from the English Dept., including that amazing shrug that Elizabeth Dye made for me! There are a couple twigs & honey pieces in the shoot:

Just stunning. How funny that a few years ago, my MA thesis was on Mt. Hood, glaciers and environmental change. When I chose Mt. Hood as my region of study, I never thought that years later, I would have designed a couple pieces for a fashion shoot on the dormant volcano. Full circle. :)
Photo credits: Oregon Bride Magazine
Video by Kevin Focht

shabd simon-alexander :: loving right now

Posted on | Tuesday, July 21, 2009 | 2 Comments

I saw Shabd Simon-Alexander's work a few months ago on various blogs and bookmarked the site... I just loved everything (I am sure you have seen her work already). I recently started thinking about her fabulous dyed clothes and am now slightly obsessed. I guess it was one of those things that just grows and grows on you until you find yourself daydreaming a bit about it. Her new fall line should start to become available in a few weeks. I cannot wait! Here are a couple of favorite pieces including a top in her shop and a previous custom made dress:

I really love this top. I wish I had the abs to pull it off!

I love this dress way too much.
I was never a fan of tie-dye until now. Thanks, Shabd!

Vintage finds

Posted on | Friday, July 17, 2009 | 6 Comments

Thank you so very much for all your thoughtful comments and emails after my last blog post! They have meant so much! Matt and I are still in search for the perfect dog. We have narrowed the breed down to either a german shepherd (thank you bloggers for the great recommendations!) or an english mastiff (thanks, emily!). I'll keep you posted. :)

Recently, I nabbed an armload of goodies at the antique shop a couple blocks away from our house. I felt like I hit the jackpot. Spending just over $30, I nabbed a great vintage wooden soda bottle box, a vintage hard suitcase, a handful of vintage brooches and earrings and a wonderful woven and leather belt. Here are a few photos:

Vintage wooden soda bottle box, hung on the wall to create a storage shelf.

Perfect for storing lots of little supplies.

The top box is the vintage hard suitcase.
Anyone going to be in the Salem, Oregon area today-Sunday? The Salem Art Fair and Festival will be taking place at Bush's Pasture Park, which is conveniently a few blocks away from our house and also where we took our formals for our wedding. It should be a great weekend! See you there!

It's a crazy world out there

Posted on | Monday, July 13, 2009 | 14 Comments

I had never previously considered having a dog that was a companion and a "protection dog" until recently. Not to get too personal, I'd just like to say that harassment that is unprovoked and ongoing is not okay. It is not right in this day to be afraid to walk out of your own home when you haven't done anything. That said (I may remove this post later), I'm looking at getting a second dog to protect myself and my family, which includes Indy. Indy is a great companion dog, but she loves everyone and isn't a good "guard dog". I know that probably, not everyone agrees with me about having a "protection dog". I don't think I agreed with it in the past, but things can happen in your life that change everything. I don't like feeling like I have to watch my back for my own safety and Indy's if I go for a walk. That's just ridiculous. Anyhow, life got a bit rocked this past weekend, and I haven't been out much at all, so posting might be a little light this week as I try to get my life back to a level of normalcy.

Oregon Bride Magazine

Posted on | Friday, July 10, 2009 | 6 Comments

I need to grab a copy of the latest Oregon Bride Magazine! I'm dying to flip through the whole issue. I noticed that they have a few of the pages online HERE and they did a lovely little write-up on Twigs & Honey HERE. They included a picture I took for my website. *smile*
Thank you, Oregon Bride Magazine!

I can't wait to see the fashion spread styled by Elianna! I'll keep you posted.

Rise and Shine Necklace :: Spotted!

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I just happened to visit the Etsy FrontPage this morning and saw a flash of something that looked familiar. It didn't totally click in my head at first and then I realized it was the Rise and Shine Necklace. Remember I originally designed it for my sister?

Fun stuff.

jane.bird :: lovely Flickr photostream

Posted on | Thursday, July 9, 2009 | 3 Comments

I'm loving all of the photos by Savannah Jane on flickr (jane.bird). I love the settings, lighting, fashion, everything...

Remember these shoes?

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I really loved the Banfi Zambrelli shoes on Gilt Groupe a little while back... they retailed for almost $700! Even at Gilt Groupe, their "sale" price was way more than I was willing to spend for shoes. So I sighed a bit and was resolved to the fact that I was never going to be able to afford them. BUT... thanks to all the lovely people who signed up for Gilt through my invite (thank you, thank you!!), I was able to get a pair today! For almost free! Be sure to sign up and then be sure to invite all your friends so you can enjoy credits! Thank you to all my fellow stylish friends and blog readers who love a good deal as much as I do.

I received my nearly free Hunter boots last week... LOVE them!!! I'm so glad I waited for them on Gilt Groupe (For a long time, I couldn't rationalize spending over a hundred for wellies. Anyone feeling me?). Click HERE to join.

Pssst... Women's Final Sale at Gilt Groupe today

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They are having the Women's Final Sale at Gilt Groupe today. Over 30 designers with prices up to 90% off retail. Be sure to visit. :) To be invited, click HERE. Sale starts at 9 am PDT.

Everyone loves a good before and after...

Posted on | Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 9 Comments

I think I said ages ago that I'd post some photos of our home remodel. Well, Matt and I got busy! We have been tackling it one room at a time. When we bought our house a little over a year ago, it was 2 bedrooms with a large den in the back. The den was nasty and dated, with wood paneling on the walls, uneven floors, old carpet... generally speaking, it looked like crap. We decided to create a home office and a third bedroom out of the space. This also created a new hallway to the backyard. So far, Matt has finished the home office and the walls for the hallway and 3rd bedroom. I'll post progress photos as we get farther along. At the moment, we've switched gears and we're overhauling the landscaping while the weather is nice.
So here is the second home office before and after:
Before:

Yuck!

This is the east half of the former den.

After

Much better! Mind the clutter... I called Matt before this post and he was like, "no... I need to clean the room first before you do the post." ;) Clutter is so much better than what the room was before!

New lighting.

New dry wall, texture, paint.
New crown moldings, floor boards and the windows got a nice coat of accent paint.

New hardwood floors.
Matt also put in french doors, but I could not get a good angle to photograph them... but more to come once the hallway is finished.
Question: "...did you guys do all the work yourselves?" - Sabrina
Answer: Yes! Although, it was 99.999999999% Matt. :) I think I held the crown moldings for a moment so they could get nailed in. Mostly, I cursed at the dust and the tools lying around. But Matt gets all the credit.

Little updates

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I'm so sorry if anyone hopped over to my online shop over the weekend and didn't see anything there. I just found out late last night that something with my host company changed and for some strange reason, my shop disappeared. Anyhow, all is fixed now, but the url is different so update your bookmarks. :)
To shop right now at Twigs & Honey click HERE (twigsandhoney.com/catalog).

This week, I need to send my camera in for repairs, so expect to see lesser quality photos for a couple weeks. I'm so sad. :*(

AND! I'm not totally sure what they will use, but if you happen to watch the Early Show on CBS tomorrow (Wednesday from 7-9am), look out to see if you see some Twigs & Honey pieces. They chose this one and this one. Crossing my fingers.

Oh! And I thought I'd post a few photos I recently received from Loren, a lovely bride I worked with over a year ago now. Time flies! Congratulations, Loren and hubby!

Lovely real bride :: Melissa

Posted on | Wednesday, July 1, 2009 | 2 Comments

I worked on Melissa's piece over year ago and was delighted to receive a few photos today. What a lovely, lovely bride and gorgeous photography!

Congrats, Melissa!!
Photo credits: AMB Photo Company

One more new piece in the Etsy shop

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Old World Charm

A few new pieces in the Etsy shop

Posted on | Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 4 Comments

I haven't done a big update to my Etsy shop for a while, so I've added three new pieces. Each one is very different, one of a kind, and fun. Enjoy!

Blue bloom

Blooming

Bridal headband

These ones are all finished and ready to adorn a pretty head.

Tuesday...

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Hooray for short weeks!
Just a quick announcement, but Matt and I are giving ourselves a mini-vacation this weekend. We are leaving Thursday evening and will be back Sunday. Pieces purchased on Thursday/Friday that are not made to order will ship Monday.
Random photos...

We've been working on the yard quite a bit over the past few weekends. Here's a bit of our new lawn and some shade plants including hostas and viburnum. You can't see the hydrangea in this photo, but it's pretty big and blooming already.

Our new sidewalk full sun garden. We wanted it to look a bit natural and wild, while providing color. There are a few zucchini and tomato plants here as well. Low maintenance was our goal.

The alley garden I planted with a wild flower mix that is suppose to be good for butterflies and requires minimal watering. There were already some daylilies planted by the previous owner. Lots of lovely poppies. This side of the house gets tons of weeds for some reason. I see some in this photo and it drives me nuts.

We also planted bell peppers in the sidewalk garden. Did I ever mention that our sidewalk garden is big? We haven't planted it all quite yet.

I planted a bunch of pots again this year, and this woodland-esque one is my favorite.

The loyal dog (holding a down position until "released"). We've put Indy on a new training program. Have you seen those Perfect Dog infomercials? Well, we decided to get it for Indy because the one problem we have with her is that she wasn't coming when called in some situations. Well, after watching the DVD series (per the recommendation of a vet assistant who said it was really effective), we realized we had to totally re-program Indy because the traditional method of training with treats was all wrong (according to the DVDs). It really works! I can go on and on, but just wanted to mention because until the training is finished, she has to wear the special collar and leash that you can see in this photo.
Happy Tuesday!

One of the most beautiful weddings...

Posted on | Monday, June 29, 2009 | 4 Comments

I loved looking through all the photos of Ginny and Ed's wedding. Gorgeous. I spotted them first on 100 layer cake blog and then on Once Wed. All the colors, flapper vintage style, straw hats, location... PERFECT.

I love these dresses!

Old world charm.

That bride is beautiful... so much sophistication! Makes me want to plan a garden party with the hubby so I can have an excuse to buy a flapper dress and straw hats... I wish I'd thought of it for our wedding!
Photo credits: Josh Goleman