Curious What I'm up to? I've Already Been Asked "How Did You Do That?" Here is the Answer to This Easy I D.I.Y.

It's not a joke, European's go to Florence, Italy for a weekend of shopping.

While I spent the last 5 months there, I was definitely not oblivious to the amazing fashion and awesome new edgy styles I was seeing. On the contrary, I was taking a ton of mental notes!  

One trend in particular which grabbed my attention and hasn't let go was awesome STUDDED TRIMMINGS. 

Everything had studz. Studz on sneakers, bracelets, head bands, earrings, rings, shirts, jackets of course, and vests. And no, it doesn't end there! If you can punch a hole in it, you can stud it! 

The one things which held onto my inner fashionistas hand was the studded boots. All the time I was there, I couldn't wait to get back home and D.I.Y. the studzz out of this project! 

I am so happy I went for it. I did have to go and buy studs in particular, but I knew I had the perfect pair of boots for this project. It took one time of wear to get questions like where I'd purchased the boots! Now that's proof of project worth the hour and a half!  The 99 degree weather isn't scaring my tootsies into not wearing these beauties either!! 

Go grab yourself a bag or two of studz from your local craft store, or, do as I did and check out Studsandspikes.com. Super great prices and super fast shipping! 

Here is your HOW TO GUIDE! VIOLA! 

1. Here is your first step. You want to find a pair of boots that you love and would really love with studs! These were a trusted pair of mine from last fall. Are those buckles not asking to be studded? *** You could get this look by adding a super thin belt and adding studs to that! {BONUS} This would give you a detachable stud-wrap for not only one pair of boots, all your trusty boots! 
2. OK, here is your step number 2! You're going to gather your other materials. You will need a leather punch, pretty affordable at any craft store, a pair of pliers, & your awesome studs! Thats it! 
3. Ok, THE FUN PART! YAY! The way that I went about placing my studs was simple; I decided where I wanted my stud, starting from the inner part of the boot, and worked my way around. Hold the stud in place, exactly where you want it, and press firmly to mark where the prongs land. Then, adjust if it is not perfectly straight, and punch two holes where your marks are with the smallest setting on the leather punch. Even for the larger sized studs!
   
4. To measure the distance between each stud, I just used my pointer finger width! You could make them all very close or touching, depending on your desired level of studdage. (Now an official word.) :)
5. And just a final point, when studding, you will want to firmly secure your studs! You simply bend the prongs down in the back, inward, but not so much so that your leather buckles and create a weird shape. Just enough so they don't wiggle around. :)

And now ya' rockin' a totally hip, before-any-one-else-cathes-on pair of boots! (p.s. ankle boots are great for summer and fall! And if you're creative, winter and spring! Wait... is that all of em? Well, holly shmokes! These are year round, boots of awesomeness!
 

Ciao for now peeps, and craft on!

Why Does Sparkly Nail Polish Feel & Look Even Better After Crying?

No, it't not because tears in your eyes make the sparkles look all kaleidoscope-ish... it is surprisingly moving.

Ok, I think I've got this, I think...

I feign anger. It is clearly false & just a shell of what I'm truly feeling. I hold on to that empty shell so hard that my mouth won't open to speak and my neck is starting to twitch. Ok enough.

Finally I say something. And slowly, the oozy feelings start to leak through my "tough" exterior. 

I don't believe I am an artist. I don't think I will succeed at being a small business. I am scared to let people down by moving to another country (possibly) for grad school. WHAT IF I FAIL? I don't know how to do this. Shouldn't I be saving the planet by making major developments in environmental sustainability? and my favorite:

Can't I just don't know the future???

Hm.. well... Unfortunately, most of us who are blessed to be part of the homo -sapien genus, haven't quite gotten to perfecting our talent for knowing the future. (Probably due to our pesky To-Do lists.) And although I do believe in feeling what is right; in our hearts we get a sense of what might happen, we know when something is looming around the corner, I think there is something to be said about jumping into the next step.

We just can't know what the UNKNOWN holds for us. And that is one of the most beautiful elements of this life we get to live. The brevity, and the simplicity.  We feel like we need to add so much to complicate it all! And yet... and yet... it truly is as simple as being in this moment-right here-right now-all of yourself-all of your beautiful self.

Ahh... ok. Breathing is back. 

So, I spent a good 45 mins-at least-going further and further down my inner spiral stairs, deepening my introspection, and come to find out, the dream that I AM  so clear about on the surface, is the big scary thing hiding down there afraid to come out, full throttle!  (It was a good thing we were on a 5 hour road trip to visit family.)

Lets back track for a moment:

It's hard growing up. (uh, duh?) But I think it gets harder when you are finally, for real, becoming an adult (adult readers forgive my innocence and naïvety, I know, I know I just don't know but this is what I got.) I think that it's more subtle what you loose during this time, going from young adult to-ADULT. Of course we don't just loose more and more, we are gaining all the time! But being in this moment this is what I feel. 

 I feel less unique, less imaginative, less into the funky and completely different. This is probably more aptly called a refining of taste process. Ok, I like this. I like refining. But changing is hard. It's hard becoming something more! I like this feeling; the experience, the excitement, the emergence. It's just different. It's the UNKNOWN. AHHH!! RUN! Ok, just kidding. But that is our natural instinct, right? Fight or flight? And we see change as something which may threaten what we have already invested in, in our oh so precious lives. But this is not what makes our hearts skip a beat, or our eyes shine with happiness. Running away isn't what we truly want! 

And getting back to the Sparkly nail polish bit at the beginning:

For some strange stroke luck, living in this 21st century moment means that 

Nail Junkie Glitter
+
Lagoon Blue
=
Happiness. 

Haha! I know, right?!? Nuts. 

Ok, let me explain. 

 I used to paint my nails all sorts of wacky colors. I would create patterns and paint my friends nails with them too. Spending my free time perfecting all those funky techniques. Clearly going through my "struggling to find my voice through my nail lacquer" adolescence phase. And my favorite thing in the world at that time? Yup, SPARKLES! 

Side Story to emphasize: Once, in preschool, I fought over ONE sequin. You know those tiny plastic sparkle things with a tiny hole in the middle? Yup. IT WAS A GONNA BE MINE BABEH! Uh.. any way... I like sparkles.. love might be an appropriate word. I even talked my Nana into buying me Dorothy style red glitter covered slippers instead of patent leather. I know, right? 10 X more practical! (and a million times more glitzy!)

And, jumping back to now: 

I no longer wear those amazing red sparkle covered shoes, but I have been on the hunt for a deep blue nail polish; CVS selections failing me, and Walgreen's just not making the cut. And then, today, while grabbing some kombucha (perhaps a post on this-kombucha-later), I thought I would give a quick check for the ideal blue. And LO AND BEHOLD! Lagoon by Gabriel. (AND the best part: not tested on animals!)

Magic has shone it's sparkly spirit... 

Combining this with Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie" makes my inner tween jump with glee, around and around, spinning hand in hand with my less-fearful artist self! 

What a weekend! Working through some fears and  finding the perfect blue nail polish to guide my inner creative & unique self out further onto the surface!! Deep breath in and out.  

Sparkle on. :)

Here is to living our bliss, wearing sparkles on our nails, and living our true unique self-made lives without FEAR. Or maybe just living with fear well. 

Here is to loving ourselves. 

Is there a special something you've been thinking of lately that would make you jump with excitement just because? Some thing that would make your inner girlie happy? Something pink? Something blue? Something fun & new? It is always fun to share! :)

-Erin

Living in a Tousled Habitat

Open an Umbrella Over My Hats A-Plenty

I wear the artists hat, the environmentalists hat, the fashionistas hat and the crafters hat, and the "take life by the horns" and the adventurers hat. This is often compiled into just one favorite fedora that I wear. It works for me. I am so many things, and yet its simply me. 

I am all of those things, and being who I am means that they all fit seamlessly together. But how to create a space where all of these things, components, passions if you will, can play or mingle freely? Where I can share the things I learn, the things I yearn for and the travels and trials that I experience?

 I find that any place on the internet makes a great home for my many passions. My habitat is one that knows no bounds and is often messy, mixed and jumbled. Its tousled like hair that has blown in the wind on top of a mountain, taking in the breathtaking views. This habitat is tousled like after a day at a sandy beach, or a day its been pulled back in a bandana while crafting away.





This life feels tousled to me all the time. Its never a clear straight path, there is work to be done to clear it, to shape it and to make the right plants grow.

We need to find the seeds and then plant them at the right season in the right kind of light.

And while I genuinely love this type of thinking about plants, I also like to think of life this way. A life which we can dream what we want to live. Do I want to create? Do I want to be the girl who makes things and becomes a stay at home crafter? What type of future do I see?


 And the beauty is that its all open.  The experience is there. We need to soak it in, without getting burned. We need to make the right mistakes and learn what we can from them. And most of all we need to keep loving for the sake of it. For the pure life blood it generates to this planet.

The limits we make up in our heads do not exist beyond our minds. We have the ability to keep them there if we want to feel bored and comfortable like that, or we can choose to say, "Fuck that. I don't want to follow the system. I want to be a artist, and discover the artistic gift that rings true for ME.

I've been traveling. I've begun to understand the true size of the planet, which is just impossible to do without doing it. Without immersing your self in its size. Allowing yourself to become a speck in the universe. We do this through travel. It takes our visual ability from this: [our life]  to this
                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 Peace for now. This is just an introduction.