I love the simplicity of this tee-recon from Alter.

So I am not doing as well as I thought I would be. I am down to 2 models out of the original 5 that I chose. I think Celia may go home after what she pulled last Wednesday. I understand why she spoke up but there is an appropriate time and a place for talking Tyra.

Aminant

Celia

Between this shirt and Breaking Bad, I feel like tweak has finally worked it’s way into every facet of American culture.  I am so glad that I don’t actually live in Meth Country anymore.  Back to the shirt, I’m slightly shocked there isn’t any homo-eroticisim, because ya know, meth brings out the gay in people.

Purchase @ Tshirt Hell

I was just checking out  Sunday Brunch Dress and this lovely number caught my eye. My God! It is just so beautiful.  This silk dress features a features a print created by the designer herself that resembles the forest floor. The strap is actually silk that is twisted to resemble a vine in the forest. This a truly a breathtaking dress. Wear this to any formal occasion and you will be the belle of the ball.

Sometimes I buy clothes in the little Girls department and cut the tags out so no one will know.

Am I secretly afraid that I’m going to show up somewhere wearing the same thing as someone’s eight year old daughter? Yes. Of course I am.

But before you go judging me, let me just say that I’m short, I have a short torso, narrow shoulders, and most women’s clothes just don’t fit. I usually shop in the Juniors department since it‘s less embarrassing. But, Girls clothes are cheaper than Women‘s or Juniors, and thanks to the childhood obesity epidemic, I’ve found that a size large in Girls is usually bigger than a size small in Juniors. So, sometimes I buy my clothes from Limited Too or Toys R Us. Suck it. You would do it too if you were me. (or maybe you already do…)

I’ve been looking for a new dress for Easter with no luck. So, the other day, I left Sam home with daddy and went to yet another store to see if I could find anything. The baby came along with me.

I’m beginning to think that little girls are the only demographic that the stores cater to at Easter. The women’s/juniors department only had 3 dresses. One was a polyester floral grandma uniform. And the other two were a tragic, identical pair of man-made-fiber wrap dresses– one in black and the other in red. They were hideous and not very Easter-y.

So, I checked out the girls dept. and there were dresses galore. Some too juvenile and frilly, and some too short and geared for prosti-tots. Not much there that I could see myself in. Then I found a dress that I didn’t particularly love, but I also didn’t hate it and it looked like something an adult would wear. It had a fitted halter bodice, a full, A-symmetric skirt, and was a dark dusty pink in a nice, heavy cotton. (Maybe you’ve seen it. Perhaps your daughter is wearing it right now.)

I decided to try it on. I wheeled my sleeping baby into the fitting room with me, and squeezed the fitted bodice over my slightly enlarged nursing-mama breasts.

BLECH! I held my arm against my forehead to shield the glare coming from my pasty white legs. My breasts became one in the tight bodice…a smothered uni-boob compressed in a pretty pink wrapper. The hem hit just below my knee in the front and back, and tapered mid-calf on the sides, making my colorless calves look swollen and ugly. As if that weren’t bad enough, I learned that a full skirt does not hide widened hips and a little extra junk in the trunk like I thought it would …it accentuates it.

Why didn’t I just order something online? I love online shopping. It’s quick and easy, and you don’t have to wear pants if you don‘t want to. I’ve taken hours and hours to look in several stores, just to find there’s nothing out there. I could’ve done that at home on my computer in 45 minutes.

I untied the halter straps behind my neck and began to pull the top down. Hmm, too tight…won’t come down. I tugged and pulled. Trying to lift it up or pull it down. It wouldn’t budge.

Crap, it’s stuck.

I try again and again to peel the top half of the dress from my womanly figure.

CRAP. Crap, crap crap. It’s really stuck. Apparently, little girls’ dresses weren’t made for nursing mothers, who knew? I never tried on Girls sizes with my current breast volume.

Maybe I should have thought this out a little more.

• The baby starts to cry *

Ohhh, crrraappp. Please don’t let his crying cause my milk to come down and my breasts to swell even more.

That’s it. They’ll have to cut me out of this thing. I’m going to have to call the store clerk in here to cut it off of me. There’s no other way it’s coming off.

I divided my attention between consoling the baby and trying to get myself out of this pink nightmare of a dress. And after some circus-worthy contortion on my part, I finally got it off.

So, I went home defeated and looked online. I found a dress that I LOVE and that is unmistakably adult. I’ll leave the tag attached and I won’t have to worry that anyone’s daughter will be hunting Easter eggs in this little number.

…I just hope it fits.

Good Old Bracelets:
No one can ignore the charms of cute bracelets that can go with any outfit! Fashion accessories for teens are incomplete without the mention of bracelets! Bracelets look great with blue denims and you can get a range from the delicate to the chunky kinds! If it’s a bohemian look you wish to create, go in for the chunky and colorful bracelets where as a simple delicate one would look good for a party. Some native jewelry made of shells or coco beads can also gel well with any outfit.

Cool Shades:
Sunglasses can never go out of fashion and besides they do the prime function of protecting your eyes from the glare outside! Go in for those huge styles sported by JLO! These are totally cool and a very haute item! Look for some unusual tints and shades like a hint of pink or glares in cool blue! A style tip - white frames are very much in vogue!

Fashionable necklaces:
A simple white top can be enhanced with a chunky necklace! Well, that’s the beauty of accessories. Chokers look great for V-necked tops or off-shoulder tops where as long chains go best with plain attire. These long necklaces look fabulous when teamed with long skirts. One can never have enough of necklaces so the moment you spot a good design; make sure you grab the same!

Trendy Earrings:
Bling earrings or the tiny varieties, whatever the size, these are a must for every teenage girl. Go in for some different styles such as hand painted earrings, shell earrings, and glittery shimmer pieces or even simple danglers. If earrings are a must fashion accessory then purchase those, which can blend well with many outfits! You can even try making them yourself to have that unique touch!

Zany Bags and Belts:
Your bag can also say a lot about you! A stylish messenger bag will look cool and can hold all your required college gear. You would be surprised to see teens spend a lot of time decking up but their bags are a giveaway of their true self! So, bag that snazzy bag right now! A large belt can look good when worn with a simple white long tunic. The shimmer kinds can be left for the girl’s night out! Bling accessories have always been the first choice for many, celebrities such as P. Diddy and 50 Cents are known for their fashionable accessories. This look may be flashy but can suit a teenager very well!

The list of fashion accessories for teens can be never-ending! The fun part about being a teen is getting to wear all the wacky and the hippest things without really worrying about other issues! So, go ahead and experiment…make the most of your teenage days!

Now that the weather is beginning to warm up I am going to be doing another shoot for the adorable leg warmers, and hair clips of www.crawlercovers.com. 

We are looking for 7 new boys, and 6 new girls between the ages of 6 months-8 years to model the leg warmers.  No experience necessary, and each model will receive one free set of 8 wallets. 

I am also looking for 11 girls to model hair clips.  Hair clip models must have enough hair to hold in a clip, and they must be under 13 years old.  Hair clip models will also receive one free set of 8 wallets. 

For those of you that are interested please e-mail me at sarahwheeler.blinkphotography@yahoo.com for further details.  Also, please pass my blog link along to anyone that you know that might be interested in modeling for me, as I do have quite a few spots to fill

For those of you that aren’t interested in modeling, but are interested in booking a session, I am currently booking for April-July.  I only take a limited amount of sessions per month, so dates typically book rather quickly.  Please book now to ensure your spot.

May your week be filled with sunshine, lollipops, happiness, and love!

Radiance - www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Today we follow Hannah Nunn though a day in her life . . . .

Hannah Nunn

Getting up

My daughter Ffion (14) gets up first at around SIX o’clock (way too early) and clatters around the house running the bath, drying her hair etc. Once I’m awake I’m not very good a dozing off again so I get up too and leave Robert, who IS very good at dozing back off, in bed. I get up, feed the cats who are camped outside my bedroom door waiting for their breakfast, make the kids packed lunches and then do my yoga. I’ve been doing yoga everyday for YEARS. It’s utterly ingrained into my routine. I love it. It keeps me healthy, sane and straightened out! Then Euan (13) gets up (he only takes 10 minutes to get ready) and they leave for school at 8. I have my breakfast and then switch the computer on.

www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Starting work

I like this time of day. Kids have gone, Robert’s still asleep. The house is peaceful. I do most of my computer stuff at home at this time of day. I check my emails and Etsy conversations, bumble around on the net looking at blogs and things, update website stuff, do a bit of blogging on either my Hannah Nunn blog or my Radiance blog, print out orders and get anything I might need when I go to the workshop. Then Robert gets up and goes to work and I get dressed. It’s up to me what I do then. My shop opens at 11. This gives me the mornings free to do what I like - I might go straight to the workshop if I’m busy or stay at home working on the computer until then, or I might go for a walk in the woods with my camera for inspiration or go for a coffee. It’s nice to be able to choose!

Hannah’s Desk

www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Going to work

www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Then I make the long commute to work (it’s about 30 seconds away) with my cup of tea and my cat following me all excited. My shop is Radiance - a lighting and craft boutique and I have my lamp making workshop up some steps at the back of the shop. I switch everything on so it’s at its glowing best, I light the fire in the workshop and then get on with my work. I manage somehow to run the shop and the workshop. The shop isn’t that busy in the week so I’m able to get my head down to my making but I’m there for customers if I need to be. On a Saturday when it is busy I just sit behind the shop counter chatting to people and catching up with shop paperwork on the computer there.

There is always a lot to do but I don’t do it in a particular order. I just choose what I fancy doing next. This includes - making my lamps which involves lots of cutting out with my craft knife and then laminating, packing orders for galleries or individuals, making up cables and tripods for the insides of lamps (that’s a boring job), unpacking deliveries for the shop (lovely job), contacting designers and makers, photographing things for the websites, doing shop displays, paperwork and accounts etc.

Hannah Nunn Lamps

www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Lunch

I put a back in a minute sign on the door and nip home to make a quick sandwich and a cup of tea which I bring back down with me. I don’t have a loo in the shop so it’s a good job I only live round the corner!

Afternoon

In the afternoon when all the jobs and orders are done I might do a bit of development work and play with any designs that I’m working on. I’m developing some new wall panels at the moment and have lots of ideas for designs. I like this part. I can get very excited about new things I’m working on.

www.hannahnunn.co.uk

Hometime

I finish at 5 and usually need to walk round to the post office. It’s nice to get some fresh air. Don’t know what I’d do without a post office 5 minutes away. I’m so glad it’s there!
Hannah Nunn Lamps

Evenings

Then home. Evenings are usually cooking something nice for tea, having a glass of wine, cosying up on the sofa with a pile of cats on top of us. Euan’s electric guitar can usually be heard in the distance (but that’s OK, he’s very good) as can Ffion’s tapping away on the computer keyboard.

I try not to work in the evenings but sometimes I get sucked in. I’m doing a new Radiance website at the moment and turning it into an online shop. I can really get into doing web stuff in the evenings but I have to fight with Ffion for the computer as she is Tumblr mad and also always has lots of homework to do.

Things I like about being an indie designer

It’s a pleasure to be able to do the things I do. To be allowed to follow my inspiration and make lovely things for a living. It makes me very happy that people want to buy my work. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. It means I can do the things I love everyday like sitting in the woods with my sketchbook or cutting out pretty things from paper or buying flowers from the flower shop for inspiration. This is my JOB! It’s great!

www.hannahnunn.co.uk

Things I don’t like so much about being an indie designer

Sometimes I can feel a little overwhelmed at the task of keeping everything running smoothly and knowing that I am responsible for ALL aspects of the business. It’s usually just when I’m tired so I have to be careful not to wear myself out too often. When I’m excited about work and full of inspiration I just go and go and go! I have to remember to slow down to keep balanced.

Hannah Nunn Lamps

www.hannahnunn.co.uk

Summing up

It’s a nice life. I’m very happy. Although I work alone mostly I feel quite connected to the other makers through the Internet and through the network built up at trade and craft shows. And I’m never alone for long in my shop. I have lots of lovely customers without whom I would have no business so thanks guys! The indie Craft world is a lovely, friendly and far reaching place and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it!!! Long may it flourish!

——————-

Thank you Hannah! For more information about Hannah Nunn please go to the websites and blogs below…….

- www.hannahnunn.co.uk
- www.hannahnunn.etsy.com
- www.radiancelighting.co.uk

Blogs:
- www.hannahnunn.blogspot.com
- www.radiancelighting.blogspot.com