Today I'm In Love With...

I don't know about you, but right now I'm hating my wardrobe! With higher gas and food prices, it's hard to justify buying new clothes and shoes (unless I can make a few sales in my Etsy store that is!). Still...it's tons of fun to look! Here's what I'm currently lusting after, mostly on Etsy.

Fun hair accessories

I've been letting my hair grow out, and now I'm ready for fun things to accessorize it! That, and just get it out of my face some days. I love all the gorgeous hair sticks available on Etsy - like this funky one (which I see is on clearance now...hmmm).

Barettes are harder to find, as I don't like lots of fuss - but this gorgeous copper one has caught my eye, and will someday be mine!

Girly Summer Clothes

As an engineer, I mostly wear sensible clothes - pants, flats, loose tops. It serves me well when crawling on the floor beneath a lab desk to hook up equipment...but it's not very fun. I miss dressing like a girl, and LOVE to wear skirts and frilly things whenever I can!

This "pillow shirt" seems like such a great compromise...casual yet girly. And this cut-out skirt could be dressed up or down as needed, yet still be feminine.

No new outfit is complete without shoes of course! I'm a huge fan of Cole Haan...I grab whatever I can find in the thrift stores, which isn't much. But what I really, really want is a pair of their Nike Air shoes for work. I'm on my feet a LOT, and would love to have shoes that look great and feel great! This pair of Jena Air pumps, for instance, would make me supremely happy. (Too bad I can't grab a pic of them!)

Product Lust

Since I had to go shopping for ear wires online anyway (see the last post)...I did a little window browsing too. There are so many gorgeous pearls, gemstones, and findings I would love to use someday - hopefully someone will either commission a piece, or I'll sell enough on Etsy to just *make* one! Come lust with me - maybe I can inspire *you* to commission a piece! :-)

Tsavorite is my new favorite gemstone, since I heard about it from my brother (he's currently in Sri Lanka). It's a green garnet, in shades from khaki to near emerald. It's rather rare, and so lovely, and the price is high as you'd imagine too.

I love blue opals - my birthstone, but also a pretty gem on its own. Pink is ok, but tends to show dark veining that I don't like. But rich blues...oh my. Opals can be so versatile too - surround them in gleaming sterling silver and they are fancy....but string them with wood beads and make them everyday.

Staying in the gemstone theme...about 4 hours from our house is a national park where you can mine your own Sunstone. For free! I'm sure it takes some work, probably more than just walking around and looking. Still, the idea is intriguing, and has me wondering...could I find some? If so, could I rough-shape and polish it enough to work with it?

Gemstones aren't the only thing I'm lusting after! I enjoy working with pearls - I love the creamy luster of good pearls, and find them a good compliment to so many other beads (and beautiful on their own too). The cultured pearls I normally get are nice, and Swaorvski makes very pretty crystal pearls...but to me, these Akoya Golden pearls are just the epitome of PEARL.

Coming back to earth a bit more...I keep seeing gorgeous silver findings by Hill Tribe Silver. So far, the extra cost has kept me away, but the more I see, the more I want to incorporate some of these lovely pieces in my own work!