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Love this idea. So simple and yet so effective...
All you need is a pumpkin, some adhesive glue and a selection of buttons ... voila a original pumpkin.
Wishing all of you out there in cyber space a very happy halloween .
May it be one filled with copulous amounts of candy and sweet kids looking as cute as ever in their dress ups beaming from ear to ear from their candy high!
Albertus Swanepoel is originally from Pretoria,South Africa, where he was a Coty Award-winning clothing designer. He arrived in New York City in 1989 where he set a up a glove making business and then moved onto hats.
"Hats," states Albertus "are like sunglasses. They detract and attract attention at the same time."
The best way to wear a hat,Albertus suggests "is with wit". A woman with a round face,for example,should wear a square hat, one with a long face,a wide brim"
It seems up until now his talent and name is well known and a well guarded secret amongst the cream of new York designers including Marc Jacobs,Proenza Schoeler, Carolina Herrara to name a few.
In 2004 Albertus was asked to make hats for Marc by Marc Jacobs show. Others designers flooded and he now has a large and wide clientel list of designers all using his designs to accessorise their lines.
Albertus has a collection which he stared in 2006 which sells in Barneys of New York, Louis in Boston, American Rag in Japan and En Suite in Russia. He has a mens collection that sells at Paul Smith and Odin in NYC.
This well guarded secret is just about to be revealed very soon as Albertus Swanepoel has been named as one of the ten finalists for the coveted 2008 CFDA/AVogue Fund Award.
Albertus is recently featured along side the other top ten in a article that has just come out in this months Vogue.
Hats Albertus designed fro the Carolina Herrara's Fall Winter 2008 collection.
Albertus lives in NYC and is inspired by the different cultures and buildings. His native South Africa remains a huge source of inspiration for him as well.
Albertus in his studio in NYC...
I have known Albertus for the last ten years. He has been a customer of our business for the last thirty as he bought from my grandfather and then my father...and now me.
I consider him a dear friend. Besides being absolutely blessed with talent that is beyond words so too is he the sweetest, the most hard working and definitely the most humble human being I know. (Lets not forget extremely charming and handsome)
When we opened our store a year ago he made us a small collection of hats using our vintage embellishments to embellish them. What a treat it has been to share his creations with those he
So for all those that would like to reach Albertus his number in NY at his studio is 212 629 1090 otherwise if you are in the area and would like to come and see his master pieces we have a few in store right here in Bethesda.
This is a rather large thanks to The Bethesda magazine and Washingtonian magazine. Its so lovely to be seen and appreciated in the city we chose to make our business and home work..
Thanks to the art directors and writers xxx If you are in the area come and check us out yourselves..
If you read my last post you will see that I was away for a few days in Europe. One of the places I was visiting is definitely the center of the universe where chocolate is concerned
Put it this way I ate myself through Zurich ! In order to repent for all my chocolate,pastry,cakes and beer sins I will have to eat bread and water for a month...seriously
If you are a avid reader of my blog by now you would be able to tell that I love color,art,anything creative in any form,flowers and yes ..food...
Art and food definitely go together... let not forget the rest of the city...(things I saw between meals!)
I was recently away in Switzerland (thus explains my absense from blogging for a few days) and had the honor of spending a day in the Alps.
It really makes you realise how we are mere small details on the great big canvas of life.
As much as I adore colors in each and every tone I have to pay homage to the color WHITE.
There is nothing more bold than pure undiluted WHITE.
I was so inpired by the boldness of the white powder coverings on every mountain top that I have decided to dedicate this blog to WHITE.
LOVE THE WHITENESS OF THE WHITE xx
White with a splash of color.....
Love the look of white with a itsy bitsy splash of color....
I have to add that white is not for the fainthearted....
I myself will have to wait a few years before I can allow myself any pure white (that will stay pure white) with all the little feet running around my house!
...and then there is yours truly a mere speck amongst the boldness of the Alps...
And then of course there is last but not least..
the little sweet mountain tops of white icing that we can get right here instead of going all the way to the Alps...
Pretty hair barettes...
My ultimate favorite which take the prettiness award hands down are these hand made celluloid barettes which were made in Czechoslavakia in the 1950's.
Of all the items we have in stock I have to say I do have my favorites.
This barette is a beaded hair ornament that was made in Osaka Japan in 1947
Love the novelty clips and their cute little designs...
I absolutely adore the hair barettes and happen to have a whole stash put a way for my two daughters when they can appreciate them. The great thing about them is not only are they exquisite in their own individual way but so are the cards they are on. There is just something about the old graphics from the 1930's.
Check out these French 1950's tortoise shell barettes with rhinestone. We have sold alot of these to sylists for movies and stage..
What about the graphics on these Betty Grable 1930's hair grips..
and then there are more...
I have taken some cards and framed them for collectors and sold them that way..(also a cute idea instead of stashing it away withe the rest of your fab collectables you only take out once in a while)
Lets not forget the 1960's bobby clips...
This is a little taste of what we have... seriously in the store we have a dedicated wall of barettes waiting to find new homes with people that love them!
For a view of our more barrettes have a look at www.accessoriesofold.com
I couldnt possibly blog about inspirational English designers without talking about Cath Kidson.
Cath Kidson established her business in 1992.
Her fabrics are inspired by roses,florals,vintage fabrics and soft pastel colors.
She has combined vintage with modern items...check out this cute pull along..
and these wallets and purses...
I could easily live surrounded by any of these wonderful fabrics and linen....
and of course not to forget this cute bag to hold all your knitting yarn,swatches and vintage emellishments....
xxx
In the years that I lived in London living on a student salary, I would go down to the West End window shopping. I was always drawn to Heals,Habitat ,The Conran Shop and Designer Guild. Everytime I had a little money I would hop onto a bus and find something small to take home as eye candy wether it be a single tea cup or a bowl.
The design of Trishia Guild always inspired me . Her unbelievable use of colors and how she forms such striking relationships between all colors. For those of you that have never seen any of her work I highly recommend going off to the book store and checking her out... a true fantasy of colors.
What I love most about having this blog is being able to show and share with everyone reading it all the people,things,places,tastes and experiences that have inspired me up to this point in my life. All the pieces of the creative puzzle that have come together forming what and who I am today.
The best time of the year is on its way. FALL.
I have always felt as if I was in the middle of an oil canvas splashed with colors of oranges,yellows,reds and browns.
I expect to wake up with paint marks on my hands sometimes!
Being born in Africa I never thought I would get close to the pictures I used to look at in awe in the pages of National Geographics -
The images of forests sprayed with fall colors, of parks strewn with the most wonderful colored leaves and pictures of kids with red cheeks lying of piles of leaves.
Now that I live in a area that is mostly forest for the last eight years I am still in awe of the first glimpse of fall each and every year. There is something refreshing. It is taking a old canvas and redoing it all over again.
I got this idea to put a collection of some of our vintage buttons,sequin and beads together and creating a fall palette of colors using the leaves and trees as inspiration.
Pick a few vintage buttons,buckles,beads,ribbon and sequin...
mix together...
One of our many scrapbooking kits put together with all 100% genuine vintage embellishments.
After having so many requests we are now going to start our very own scrapbooking classes.
Like there is Stitch and Bitch so too is there going to be SCRAP and YAP !!
Who could beat a hour and a half of a few ladies letting their guards down and scrapping away.
So, for all you woman (and men are welcome too) out there who want to have a good laugh, great cup of tea and a creative outlet here is your chance.
Or even those that need a good old therapy session but can't afford a therapist in this economy!!
Classes are going to start on October 11th and carry on each and every Saturday until the sun shines again.
In each class we will start by learning the basics of page layouts, organisational skills whilst using the best vintage products (ours of course)
You will receive one on one personal instruction by one of my favourite people in the world - Michelle.
People bring your water proofs she is a riot... besides being incredibly talented in scrapbooking, so too is she a stand up comedian.
For those that do not rise early we are offering two different sessions that will be available.
The early session will be 10 -11.30
The late risers will be 4 -5.30
Early session tea will be served
Later afternoon session cocktails will be served !!! (just kidding of course)
So anyone living in the Maryland,Virginia,DC area sign up either by emailing me lisa@accessoriesofold.com
or call for bookings at the store 301- 760-7228.
Min people per class - 6
max - 8
Cost of class - $29 (including all materials + tea / biscuits)
Please be sure to book min a week ahead so we can organise the classes accordingly.
We also offer private sessions if you and your friends want to work on a project together... just let us know when and where it suits you and your word is our command.
Looking foward to scraping,yaping,having a good chuckle,analysing and creating together
xxxx
Just a glimpse of our many scrapbooking packs we have filled with vintage goodies.
