Shrinkage & Growth

"How's the jewelry business going?"

I used to get this question a lot, and still do occasionally. When I answer, I always feel obligated to explain why I don't push harder, market more, make higher quantities in shorter periods of time. As of this time two years ago, I had the option to sell in boutiques. I owned the www.loialcreative.com domain. My sales had somewhat steadied, and could be taken to the next level with some moderate effort...

But the answer is: 

It's a hobby. I mean no disrespect to those who ARE jewelry designers. I have a lot of respect and admiration, in fact, for those who grind, day in and day out, and don't burn out on their craft.  But for me, filling orders will never be fulfilling. There's something about being financially obligated to make a piece that makes me not want to make it. The process has to be completely organic and spontaneous, or my inner artist begins to shut down.

As of two years ago, the questions about my jewelry nearly stopped. For the most part, they were replaced with questions about my belly, and now, they're questions about my son. While I'll never burn out on answering those questions, or taking care of him, I do find myself longing to get back to my hobby.

And so, I'm doing just that.

Supplies have been ordered. Sketches have been drawn, edited, and redrawn. I'm in the process of rewriting my design statement, and am now feeling much more in-control of my production. Instead of mediating an ongoing battle between my design inspiration and my "real" life, I'm finding new inspiration in being grounded in reality. I'll have more to say about the new collection soon, so stay tuned, and as always, thanks for reading.

An Imagined Summer

This year has been...big. I turned 30 in March, graduated in May, had my first child in July, and start grad school this month. Needless to say, I haven't had a lot of extra time on my hands. Although my creative outlets are always important to me, they've taken a back seat these past 10 months, and rightfully so.
This past summer was unlike any other summer of my adult life. No cocktails on patios, no tan, no traveling. Instead, this summer was spent indoors, somewhere in between remembering what life used to be like, and imagining what was to come.
I did manage to find a little time in my last week of pregnancy to make this one, special piece. This necklace represents that place of transition. Wearing it requires confidence and a mature, focused sense of personal style - qualities I hope to develop, yet it's whimsical and slightly irreverent - qualities I hope to keep. I imagine myself wearing it some summer, with bare shoulders, undone hair, and a long dress...drinking responsibly on a patio in my quite satisfying future.

Imagined Summer necklace.

Yellow turquoise, faceted lapis lazuli, 14k gold filled chain, lobster clasp

Nursery, pt. III

It's finished, and he's here. Miles Lawrence was born 7.18.11 at 6:29 pm, weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz and stretching 20.5" long. He's now nearly a month old, and we can't believe how time has flown by already. Although we've attempted to put him down for naps in just about every room of the house, on just about every surface, he seems to prefer his crib above all else. Considering how lovely this room turned out, I can't say I blame him.

Our sleeping angel.

We absolutely love and cannot live without our Aden + Anais swaddle wraps (shown here in "Paparazzi")

Had to include pictures of my grandfather, who is undoubtedly watching over the little one. 

This photo of us was taken by our good friend Ben the day after our wedding. He sent a framed copy shortly after Miles was born as a gift for the nursery. It might be my favorite picture of us.

Nursery, pt. II

We've come so far, we have so far to go.

The previous homeowners left us with a LOT of work to do on this house, particularly the guest room/nursery. Rumor has it, the Mrs. was in design school, although you'd laugh at that if you saw what they had done to this house. "Hot pink" doesn't even do the master bedroom color they used justice, and the guest room was a blinding neon green. In addition, they put up a chair rail about six inches too high in the guest room, and decided to attach it with ... wait for it ... hot glue. This made removing it a disaster. Chunks of plaster came down along with the misplaced rail, and the same thing happened when we removed the outdated crown moulding. Needless to say, we've spent a lot of time and energy repairing the walls in this room. Below is a pic of our recent rehab project to fix the walls.

West wall (before) with plaster repairs, paint swatch above, and the old green paint barely visible on the trim below.

Many thanks to my dad, whose excitement about having a grandson motivated all the free labor that went into this room. I've finally finished re-texturizing and painting the walls, and the fruits of our collective labor are slowly coming into view as we assemble furniture and add accessories. There is still so much to be done, but as you'll see below, we've also made a lot of progress.

West wall (after) with the newly assembled crib, by Baby Mod.

East wall with dresser and rug. Dresser: Hemnes, by Ikea. Wall color: AF 45, Benjamin Moore. 

Closer view of checkered drawer pulls.

North wall with bookshelf and rocking chair. Chair: by Dorel.  Bookshelf: Expedit, by Ikea. 

The chair needs a little something, don't you think? Just ordered this pillow cover on Etsy, and there may also be a matching crib skirt in this room's future...

Stay tuned for part III!

Nursery, pt. I

While I haven't been making much jewelry lately (just custom pieces and special requests), I have instead been working on my biggest creation to date: a son! Our first child is due this July, and we're in the process of transforming our guest room into his nursery.

My husband is really into maps - he could sit with an atlas in his lap for hours and be perfectly content. So, I found some "vintage" (authentically vintage? who knows...) maps to hang over his crib, the dresser, and bookshelf. The paper the maps are printed on has a gorgeous peachy-beige aged look, so I chose a wall color one shade lighter.

The furniture is all white, and we plan to accessorize in graphic black and white patterns. Besides looking great, these patterns will provide extra stimulation for our baby genius. I'll update with pics of our progress over the next several months, but here are some pics of the pieces we've already chosen:

Baby Mod Modena crib in white. Clean lines, great reviews, awesomely affordable (ignore the girl's room decor in the photo)

"Road to Success" map, which will be framed in black wood and hung above his crib. 

Ikea's Hemnes dresser - which we plan to dress up by switching out the hardware for the knobs below. 

We originally found these at Anthropologie, but shhh...Hobby Lobby sells the EXACT same ones, and they were half off. 

The photo is small, but this 5' x 8' black and white graphic rug was another great find. 

I've been in a love affair with chevron patterned anything for as long as I can remember, and I'm tempted to go for these window panels...still undecided, but I'm sure this pattern will end up in this room somewhere....

You're unsure of all this black and white, I know...but have a little faith, and stay tuned for pics of the finished product!

Lulu Love

I have been obsessing about Lululemon Athletica since this past summer, when I finally stopped in their Clarendon, VA location. What I found was quite possibly the coolest clothing company, and maybe even the coolest company, period. I bought two bags, a tank, and some cropped tights, all of which continue to make my day each time I wear/use them. Every item is so thoughtful, inspired, and versatile. And I'm talking about an athletic clothing company.

Like many big-name, legit athletic clothing brands, they've trademarked their own fabric (called "Luon"), offering what they call "4-way stretch," which allows for greater range of movement, and can take each piece from sans-belly, to maternity, and back without compromising the integrity of the garment one bit.  The color combos are what you wish other brands offered, and they even offer a few pieces in a reversible option.

Possibly the best part of all, is each store sponsors free yoga classes for their community. Employees are even encouraged to attend local classes on the company dime. In-store you'll find the most helpful, genuine sales people, sales you won't find online, and a wealth of info on yoga and fitness classes in your area. Check out my favorite Lulu finds below:

Reversible tote, comes in an array of bright colors. Mine is black/coal reversible. Three big pockets, and snap closure.

The Everywear bag.
Twisted handles, tons of pockets, a long strap, and totally wipeable fabric. This also comes in an array of color combos.

The Wear With All jacket.
My favorite jacket, hands down. Mine is charcoal with black lining and aqua lulu accents. Long enough to cover your whole rear end, and the sleeves can be worn extra long with thumb holes to keep them in place/for extra warmth, or the extra cuff length can be folded in. Super flattering fit, and worth every penny.

The Wunder Under pant.
These exceed any and all expectations you'd have of both athletic tights AND leggings. Mine are reversible: black on one side, coal on the other. Wide waistband for the most flattering ass profile possible, and I swear this fabric eliminates all traces of lumps and bumps. Wear them during workouts, or throw them on with a tunic and boots. They work both ways.

The Cool Racerback tank.
The most comfortable, flattering tank. Longer length covers your goodies in the back, and the colors are fully satisfying. 

Check out Lulu's facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/lululemon

And their online store at: http://www.lululemon.com 

Enjoy!

September Polish

There's a reason I started making jewelry. I was never the "throw on random array of items, walk out door" type. In order for me to look put-together, I put something together. There's something undeniably interesting and effortlessly cool to me about the girls with fifty mis-matched bracelets up their arms, wearing layers of found frocks from who-knows-where. It just doesn't work on this girl. 

Do I scream effortless? Maybe not. Polished? That's more like it. So rather than throw on a smattering of whatever shiny things happen to be laying nearest to me when I get dressed, I consider just a few (or less) pieces that really round it all out. Often that means imagining jewelry that doesn't necessarily exist, and before I made my own pieces, that also meant searching for something similar to what I really wanted. Now, that means making it myself. I get exactly what I want without the crazy mark-ups, and those who've purchased Loial items know, you won't find crazy mark-ups here either.

There are a few clothing lines that help me bridge the gap between "effortless" and "polished," and one.september is a favorite. Tailored tunics are essential for my body type, and I found this artfully embellished one (on SALE!) earlier this week. Since I'm having an affair with the New Hoops right now, here are my latest version, customized to polish off my latest one.september acquisition:

New Hoops in Big Sky.

peridot, sapphire, gold, sterling silver

one.september tunic, with New Hoops in Big Sky, and a leather cuff I found for 5 bucks at the Festival of Nations last weekend