Bohemian Styled Shoot

In October, we participated in a styled wedding photo shoot organized by the talented wedding planner Kirsten of Four Winds Weddings and her husband Jonathan of Costa Vida Photography.  The shoot took place at a breath-taking location named El Chante (Costa Rican slang for "the house") nestled up in the hills overlooking the Tamarindo bay and estuary.  This time of year the only word that comes to mind when taking in the view is "LUSH".  

I was super excited because not only did we do the make-up and hair for the beautiful model, Pam, but I also provided my tribal etched brass cuff, chunky leather ring and etched brass leaf necklace for the shoot, which is awesome because for years I've intended to mesh the wedding styling business with my jewelry business.  My jewelry obviously isn't "traditional" wedding jewelry -- so this styled shoot was a perfect fit for the bohemian bride looking for elegantly handmade boho jewelry.

We set up to do the hair and make-up on the fabulous deck of one of the villas surrounded by beautiful Indonesian carved furniture and doors on one side, and the stunning panoramic view on the other.  We have definitely worked in worse places.  So pretty!

I don't think I could have better captured the way I envision my jewelry being worn if I had thought up the whole shoot myself.  And the hair and make-up turned out so beautiful.  It was so much fun to work on this creative shoot!  Thanks to Kirsten for her amazing eye and style!!

White Wire Crochet Earrings

I'm a huge Etsy addict --- probably in need of a 12 step program!  It constantly amazes me how many truly creative artists there are out there.  If you haven't browsed wedding items on Etsy, you must!  There are so many unique handmade items and it's a great way to support independent artists. 

I stumbled across these gorgeous white wire crochet earrings made by Albina Rose and thought they were so delicate and unique.  They are available in white or cream.

 

Wedding Crown

My full time, everyday job is as a jewelry designer.  I have a boutique here in Tamarindo named De Bajo La Escalera where I sell my handmade jewelry, accessories and customized t-shirts.  I've been trying to connect the dots between the wedding biz and the jewelry biz and develop a line of wedding accessories.  That hasn't exactly come to fruition yet, so when I recently received an order to create a wedding crown I was really excited to take the first step in that direction.

My client's friend (who was Swedish) was getting married and she wanted to gift her at the wedding shower with a wire wrapped Swedish wedding crown.  I didn't know what a Swedish wedding crown looked like, so of course I Googled it (what did we do before Google for God's sake?) to find images and also perused crowns on Etsy to get some ideas about shape and size.  Since I'd never made anything like this, I was definitely was on board for a bit of a mental and artistic challenge!!

She shared her ideas with me and together we came up with a basic goal to work towards.  Next, I attempted to sketch up the design, however, drawing is absolutely not my gift.  Luckily after a few attempts, I was able to doodle up something that somewhat resembled what I had in my head.

Although I have lots of experience forming things with wire, I've never made a crown before, so I had to put a bit of thought into how to construct the frame and then how to structure it so that it was durable as well as beautiful.

After constructing the frame and the first bit of wiring to stabilize it, I sent some photos.  We decided that after each "row" of wrapping I'd check in with some photos until she felt we had what she had envisioned.  We wanted it to be structured around the base, but definitely keep a feeling of airiness as well.

After one row.....

 After the second....


......third and final.....



We stopped after three rows, but if someone wanted a very ornate one, the wiring could have been taken all the way up, or even had a few beads or rhinestones thrown in.  Hmmmmm, I may have found my new pastime, constructing crowns for all the fairy princesses out there.