conscious living

Gift Guide: Ethical Fashion

December 7, 2014 by Angela

We’re finally getting to a place where handmade and artisan fashion is becoming more mainstream and that means more affordable. When looking at a price tag, it seems people rarely consider the materials, costs, and most importantly, work, that went into creating a piece, so yes, prices can seem unreasonably expensive. Everyone is looking for a rate that’s only realistic when compared to mass-produced, lower quality products. I’m excited to see makers and designers turning their passion into a product that others can choose over the alternative, and get a lot more out of.

This ethical fashion gift guide has is a jumping off point for anyone who has a fashion-forward, modern girl on the list, and it hits a lot of price points. I imagine the cozy scarf, moto jacket, or ballet flats for your sister or best friend, the cuff as a more personal gift for a jewelry lover, and the bags for friends, coworkers, or stocking stuffers. The headbands are so cozy and cute, you can get away with a one-for-me-one-for-you type of situation!

Renegade LA + the Echo Park Craft Fair are next weekend, so I’m hoping to find something special there.

How is your gifting going this year?

New design + updates

December 2, 2014 by Angela

December is an exciting month for many reasons, but for me relaunching my blog is is number one. It’s difficult for anyone to make blogging a priority when they have full workloads and so much else happening outside the browser window. For me, I blog all day long for work too, so it’s easy to unconsciously put everything in the same pile and lose perspective. Anyway, it seems I always choose to go for it at terribly inconvenient times, so here I am posting during my busiest month of all!

Bare with me while I work out all the kinks, namely duplicate posts (and a few missing ones) on the home page and any broken links floating around out there—I decided the moment I took on more freelance work that I’d like to also learn to code this site (not recommended, by the way). You can peruse all the new categories I’ve added to if found, make. at the top. Find is for small business and creative features, make is for all things DIY; learn is dedicated to creating a creative career, and explore is where all my travels + adventures fall. Speaking of, I’ll be posting about my trip home to the Pacific Northwest tomorrow! If you’d like to follow along, update your reader with the new URL and let me know what you think.

Yael Herold fashion design

November 12, 2014 by Angela

Lately I’ve had less time for hanging out on Etsy (so. sad.), but before I took a little hiatus that led to only having 3 items in my shop, promising new vintage listings and not delivering, and totally (temporarily) abandoning the treasury team, I discovered Yael Herold, a fashion designer. Her shop, YaelHeroldSparkles, is all about interesting, quality fabrics, and unique, feminine pieces. Each design is a work of art in itself, which isn’t surprising considering Yael’s other media include paintings and installations.

All of her different forms of art are distinct from one another on first glance, but they all come together in being Yael’s business and form of expression. I really just love when people are able to turn their creative genius into a career (why can’t that be everyone?!), so I had to get her story…

I am a free spirit, traveler, festivals decorator, and a fashion designer. My mother is an artist and a fashion designer and I got from her the passion to create. While doing inflatable 3D installations I was sewing a lot of different shapes together, which got me inspired to work more and more with special cuts and soft cloths.

I need this top!

How she got started in fashion: I started sewing my own clothes and got very positive feedback from people around me, so I started to take orders and make more. So every item I design, I wear for awhile to feel it and to hear what people’s desires would be, that’s a good tip for other designers to do. The most important thing for me is the quality of the cloth and its softness, and that the designs are unique, feminine and special.

This top is one of her favorites right now, made with a soft viscose in “stone”, one shoulder zipper, and a long drape on one side. She loves it because it looks beautiful on different kinds of women. I love the minimalist but intentional design.

Yael creates from her Berlin studio – a big art house in the center of the city, and also sells her clothes in select Berlin and Tel Aviv boutiques.

Yael Herold | Artist & Fashion Designer | Tel Aviv & Berlin

Website | Etsy | Facebook

New garden & sea headbands

October 3, 2014 by Angela

Gosh I just love fall. It’s been cooler for two days in a row (and by cool I mean the 70s and I am well aware that’s nonsense) so I got all over-excited and wore my scarf out and about yesterday morning. It was pretty chilly actually. Not to mention that grocery stores are freezing…

So really, I consider myself prepared. But judging from the looks and comments I got, we haven’t quite reached scarf wearing weather yet. Sigh. It’s also been super foggy for two days and I wish I could’ve hiked up to where we shot these headbands and done another little shoot.

I’ve been seeing that a lot of my crafty friends are getting ready for fall shows. Sooo exciting! I went back and forth about applying to some when I decided that with my prices and pieces online-only might be good for me right now. Selling on Etsy is basically the least expensive business you can have, so to do anything else I’d have to raise my prices a bit – definitely enough to surprise people – so I’ll have to think on that. But I can’t wait to go shop the LA markets this year.

National coffee day

September 30, 2014 by Angela

Did you celebrate National Coffee Day today? I love these days but they really sneak up on me. It’s not like NCD is on every calendar. So naturally, I really feel like having simply my morning cup was super inadequate. We’ll call it a low-key holiday. I managed to put together a commemorative list of coffee posts old and new from around blog world, based off some of my favorite pins to my coffee board (yep). Check ’em out here:

A lovely Portland food recap from way back in 2012, featuring my favorite coffee ever, Stumptown, on Desserts for Breakfast. Pretty much my whole top 5 lattes list consists of lattes brewed by Stumptown, though only one has actually been purchased in their cafe, in the LA Arts District.

I recently tried this recipe for Coffee syrups + Cold brew by How Sweet It Is… It got me through many a 90 degree summer day without having to turn on my coffee pot.

Flickr photographer Marika (mariyaki) knows just how to photography coffee for autumn. I must say, coffee pairs well with fall leaves.

This photo from the Lily blog reminded me how much I love to sit down with a good book and sip my coffee. I’ll definitely make a point to do that this week.

Portland blogger Kali of Bird is the Word shares a little home/studio tour in this post, and looks so cozy with her coffee during work-at-home afternoons. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit inside on a rainy day, working along, drinking your coffee?

Stumbled upon this Caribbean Coconut & Espresso Milkshake by Cooking with Books and it’s #1 on my list of coffee desserts to make (yes, there’s a whole list now!). Next would be this Coffee Chocolate Pudding by FreshGround.

Of course, one last amazing thing about coffee: all the pretty mugs! The one I photographed is from Starbucks. I also love this “but first, coffee mug” by Printable Wisdom (I have the saying posted in my kitchen too) as well as this photographer mug.

National Coffee Day – what’s your take?

Home inspiration: living room update

September 17, 2014 by Angela

I’ve been ever so slowly collecting inspiration for a BIG living room revamp…

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

I finally got around to creating this inspiration board to brainstorm a little before I start shopping. Earthy elements, native patterns, watercolors, bright whites, and a little hometown love… To be honest, I’ve never had a very cohesive style in my space. Just like with fashion, I jump around from one style to the next before deciding what I want, and when I do decide… I change my mind two months later. So when I revamp my apartment I want to add pieces that all have interest and honestly just make me happy! A lot of times I’ll shy away from mixing prints or pairing different designs, thinking that’s too much. But every good designer I’ve seen makes bold moves and combines unexpected elements, and even if I’m unsure – they always end up creating one amazing space. What is your home decor style? Can you sum it up or is it a mix too?