Angela Hamilton

Angela

Illuminance Jewelry Shop

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I planned to save this post for later on in the week but yesterday was one of those days where I didn’t feel particularly inspired to write about my own work – so I present to you the lovely (and complete, unlike mine!) art of someone else… Illuminance Jewelry on Etsy!
You’ll never see me wearing rings or bracelets… I just can’t seem to get through the day without messing with them + ultimately taking them off and never wearing again. But these rings are so unique and delicate, that I found myself rethinking that necklace only policy I take on when shopping…

Su from Illuminance only sells organic + handformed jewelry. I think this is so amazing because even on Etsy it is sometimes hard to tell just how handmade something is. Given her success on Etsy alone (2200+ sales!), it is a really impressive thing to see.

Another perk of this gorgeous shop is that 15% of all of the proceeds go through Compassion International to help those in need. 

This shop also features necklaces (this is my favorite) and over 75 other unique pieces.

Have you seen Illuminance Jewelry before? 

New at East Magnolia Vintage

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I’ve been working on new photos for the shop, taken on my floral wallpaper, as well as listing new items. I must say my Etsy shops have been almost nonexistent this summer! But with fall being my favorite season, I’m inspired to bring new fashion + accessories to my little boutiques. 
The pictures above are just a sneak peek of the things you’ll see in E. Magnolia Vintage this autumn, but there is much more on the way! 🙂

Our outdoor space

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Happiness is a bright + shining thing. A few shots of the new, cozy (read: tiny) sitting area outside my apartment…

…adorned with freshly painted flower pots, plants that I’d like to say will thrive under my watch (I already succeeded in killing an indoor cactus due to lack of sunlight, all plants will now live outside), notebooks and a post-photo session addition of sunflowers and candles. I can’t wait to relax out here, watching the hummingbirds fly by (away from over-eager kitties, sometimes one needs a break from the clapping of kitten paws on the floor…) with coffee and my new writing book.

PS notebooks are an eco-friendly brand found at Target (I love) + in case you’re on the market for the tiniest patio set ever, Ikea has what you need. We searched for most of Saturday for a set that would fit our space.

Filed Under: DIY

Seal Beach, CA

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Last weekend we went to the beach town of Seal Beach. Seal Beach isn’t really considered a hot spot here in L.A., and I actually just read about it online. Being always eager to see animals, I immediately figured we should go to Seal Beach to see….seals. Well, they don’t have them. For that we’ll have to go south to San Diego. After some Wikipedia research, I found out that the town was named Seal Beach basically to attract people. They got me.

We went anyway and I had a perfect afternoon. There is a little downtown area with shops and restaurants, and the cutest cafe (photo of the framed prints), that we got coffee at, though the food looked delicious. The beach was lovely, though there were bits of garbage in some parts of the water, which is awful. Not only is it amazing that this many people swim next to floating plastic bottles and bags, but that people actually contribute to it… I’m not sure if I noticed more because I actually read someone’s yelp review about the garbage in the ocean there, but it definitely stuck out to me more than other beaches I’ve been to so far. This sort of thing makes me realize just how good I had it in my hometown. Most people are environmentally conscious there, and I don’t know many people who’d leave their garbage on the beach.
It makes me cringe. So you can imagine, the town itself must have been pretty amazing for me to still have had a great time, even when walking down a boardwalk that provided views of floating waste. The neighborhoods were so nice. My favorite part of our day trip was wandering down the quiet streets. There are cute homes (reminding me of my college town), white picket fences, and lots of little gardens. The house shown above is for rent :). Overall we had a great time in Seal Beach and will be back. I hope (and summer) that the majority of visitors care for the ocean more, too.

My DIY floral monogram wall art

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I decided to give this floral monogram wall art a try. The blogger of the project does it so beautifully, so I didn’t even try to imitate it. I just happened to have an a that I hadn’t done anything with & knew this would be perfect for my work in progress, the gallery wall.

I followed the tutorial pretty closely as far as attaching the flowers, and used some from clearance bunches at Michael’s. Then, I trimmed back so it would once again look like an a!

So far the only photo I have of my decor is a few instagrams. My living room doesn’t get a lot of natural light (literally my only gripe about this apartment, though a pretty big one), so it’s hard to get good photos! I also think the cut-out a looks good without flowers, even. What do you think?

Filed Under: DIY

Non-toxic nail polish

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Over the last two years I’ve become increasingly aware of the ingredients in just about everything. Swapping my beauty products for nontoxic brands has been a lengthy battle and I’m not yet there. The first hurtle was realizing that there are unhealthy preservatives, fragrances with who knows how many chemicals, and other scary ingredients in most of the products I absolutely loved. 
I wanted to share my experience trying to go natural, starting with nail polish…

This article on the daily green is helpful in understanding natural beauty. 

Going green can be very expensive and confusing – but once I found out that there are possible carcinogens in my makeup, I had to change! You can’t unlearn that! This site is helpful for finding natural makeup. And this site will scare you with the long list of “ingredients to avoid”. Note: I pay attention to what I wouldn’t want on my skin personally – some have warnings because they cause skin irritation that I don’t get, but some have been shown to provide danger to everyone.
While I definitely don’t know everything there is to know, I take it one step at a time. This summer, I swapped my nail polish for brands that are nontoxic. The upside is that some brands that were toxic have changed their formulas over the years. Many are proudly 3-free (and 5-free). 
What I’ve learned is that if it doesn’t advertise as nontoxic, it probably isn’t…being eco-friendly is trendy and a brand would market it as such if it were (and sometimes if it isn’t!)

one recent mini shopping-spree 🙂

My collection is MUCH smaller and does contain more “high-end” brands, but over the past year I’ve spent WAY less money on those products I’d normally buy just because I love shopping or they were pretty or smelled nice, especially now that each trip takes thorough investigation. You can check your products here.
Here are some nail polish brands that I either like or have read good things about – let me know if you have any recommendations! Especially less spendy brands. I can’t wait to learn more.

· Scotch Naturals 

· Julep
…many, many more.
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