Let's Play Catch Up : Sundance & Home Decorating

Wowza! I haven't blogged in quite a long time! What's going on with that?! So sorry all, sometimes my brain gets all A.D.D. on me and it's all I can do to just hold on for the ride :) I promise I've been absent for good reason! Let me explain...

Well first off, as you may or may not know, The Sundance Film Festival was this past week! To my utter euphoria, I was involved in an amazing art collaboration of video shorts that screened at Sundance on Friday! So exciting! Wahoo! So, that ate up quite a bit of my time last week, taking away from my blog of course :( It was all worth it though, I watched the screening via a Live Feed on the internet and I'm not sure I've ever had such an extreme overwhelming sense of pride in my life! It was truly otherworldly to see some of my contributions make it to Sundance! YAY!

Aside from the hoopla of Sundance, I've been spending a lot of time conceptualizing/sketching new designs for my Etsy Shop! As well as coming up with fun new ideas to make your A.N. Original Jewelry experience more fantastical! Oh yes, I'm also putting together some bead DESTASH lots to make room for new gemstones...yippie! Stay tuned if you want to get a sweet deal :)

Last but not least, I've been obsessed with trying to revamp my bedroom. I'm in an apartment so I'm avoiding the paint situation, although I'd really LOVE to paint, gah! I searched far and wide for a new duvet cover but opted to stay with the one I have for now and choose to revamp the artwork in my room. This is where you come in...

See, I have lovely Red/Cream Toile patterned Pottery Barn bedding, with accents of red around my room, as well as very vintage-y old hollywood looking lamps and floaty drapes that are a gradiation of sage green.Now, what I need from you is your assistance in choosing a huge ol' painting for above my bed! I have a thing for Vintage Ad Art, they are all over my apt so I think thats the style I'm going with! I also have a thing for monstrously oversized art...so all of these prints would be purchased in a very LARGE size :)

I've narrowed it down to these 3 options, HELP ME CHOOSE! Which one do you think would be most majestic and fabulous?

Design Envy: Time for a Bedroom Re-Vamp

Yesterday I toured the Saratoga Springs Parade of Homes with my Mom. I had never been on one of these things before so I wasnt expecting much going into it but I was in for a pleasant surprise! On The Parade of Homes, you tour model homes which are typically decorated to the nines, in unique color schemes, over the top accents, and decor one might typically be too afraid to try in their own home. That said, the decor is the COOLEST part about all of it. Sure, some of it is just too over the time, too many faux finishes, murals etc, BUT there are some awesome introductions to color schemes and motifs you might not have previously considered for your own home.

My personal favorite aspect of the tour was getting to walk into these decked out designer rooms and taking note of the initial feeling I got when I walked in. I was amazed at my reactions to some of the rooms because in my mind, the decor or color schemes werent something I'd go for if we were just chatting about preferences, but being able to step into the room physically, without the mind full of hypotheticals, can really change ones mind about their own "personal style".

Right now, I live in an apartment, a very nice apartment but alas, just an apartment. The Parade of Homes gave me home owners envy big time! I will be so excited when the day comes that I can really put everything I have into decorating my home, rather than decorating an apartment that you have few options with and know is going to have to be reverted back to its original state when you move out. Anyway, while home ownership is probably not in my near future, I've decided that I'm going to re-decorate my bedroom and change the color scheme a bit to mimic one of my favorite rooms I saw during the tour. I will be going from a red and green themed room to a room filled with serene blues, black, vintage patina metals and maybe a pop of red here or there. I just wish I could put rich, dark, wide planked wood floors in, I guess that'll just have to wait though and settle for my ugly apartment style carpet :)

The above picture is a little inspiration board I've done for myself. I'm dieing for all of these items! This process might take longer than I'd like it to since I'm going to need to aquire items slowly as not to drain my bank account :)

Clockwise from top left...

1. Pottery Barn Duvet Cover, love love the pattern and shade of blue!

2. Pottery Barn Vintage Inspired Wood "Rare Prints" Sign, it's huge, and I love HUGE art!

3. 2 Dorit Candle Holders in 12K White Gold Leafing, so gorgeous and unique! (ETSY Artist!)

4. Bella Lumina Teardrop Table Lamps, by Pablo Pardo, LOVE THEM! So graceful!

5. Dachshund Wine Co. Vintage Style Print, I have a dachshund, this is perfect! (ETSY Artist!)

P.S. Stay tuned guys! I will be blogging about how to throw your own home trunk show in a way that sets you apart from the pack!

Interpol & Inspiration

"If time is my vessel, then learning to love will be my way back to sea." -Interpol

I've loved the band Interpol for, well, a long, long time. There has always been something about their sound that could really stir things up inside me and help me to create, especially their first two albums. As I've said before, inspiration does not come easy for me, so when I find a bit of music, a movie or maybe even another designer who can manage to make me break out of my uninspired shell, I latch on.

Even though it's only mid- July, I am steadily preparing for what I hope will be a busy and successful Fall and Holiday Season. I'm working out new seasonal designs and tweaking new fall line concepts daily at this point. So much so, that I'm really itching for the crisp clean and nostalgic air that comes to NY every Fall. I will still enjoy the remainder of my summer, stocking up on sun and laughs, but I won't be sad to see the change of seasons.

For me, Fall and Interpol go hand in hand, but I'm not totally sure why that is. I think it has a little to do though with all of the crisp Autumn nights I spent on my rooftop terrace 40 stories above Manhattan, listening to Interpol on my trusty iPod, sketching, and taking in the city lights. I never tired of the view from that terrace, and anytime I think of it, and of Interpol, I miss my days in New York City more than ever. Maybe one day I will go back, but for now, I have work to do here in Saratoga Springs. I will be posting some pics from my NYC days soon, of my INCREDIBLE view. I'm telling you, it is...well, inspiring :)

Here's one of my favorite Interpol songs, "C'mere", Enjoy!

more about "Interpol & Inspiration", posted with vodpod

World, Meet RockLove...

I think it's time for all of you lovely people to meet my good buddy, RockLove, also known as Allison! She's talented, she's genius, she's makin' big moves, and, did I mention she's a total vamp? No doubt about it, Allison Hourcade of RockLove is the total package and then some! Her jewelry is edgy, unique and highly stylized and she herself, bleeds with alternative scene style that I could only hope to one day be cool enough to pull off (all jewelry in these photo's is RockLove, by the way!).

  RockLove Jewelry is hand carved and cast in NYC by the original RockLove herself, Allison. Her carving skills are thanks to a combination of her natural artistic ability and an old world apprenticeship she was lucky enough to experience in Italy. Beyond her artistic talent though, Allison is truly one of the most driven entrepreneur I know! With a steadily growing roster of celebrity clients, invites to some of the most sought after vending opportunities and a growing fan base of her own, she is seemingly unstoppable! Her hustle, determination and her unique sense of design have allowed her business to steadily climb the ladder of success! At this point, it never seems like Allison is in one place for too long. She's flying from east coast to west coast and back to vend at special events and festivals like Ink N' Iron, teaming up with the brains behind Repo! The Genetic Rock Opera and designing a limited edition scalpel necklace for Repo! fans, and she will soon have the pleasure of vending at the SWAG/Gifting Suite at the Teen Choice Awards. If this girl isn't headed to the top, I don't know who is! She is a true testament to hard work and dedication, proving that the little guys CAN make it to the top, and on their own terms! 

But beyond all of her gorgeous jewelry, her sick talent, her impeccable business sense and her seemingly never ending triumphs of the indie design world, Allison is a sweetie with a big heart who is always eager to help out her friends. To me, thats the best part about her! Well, aside from her amazing work! Take some time to get to know Allison and RoveLove Jewelry at her ETSY Shop, her Official Dot.com Site or her Blog! Oh, and tell her Ashley sent you :)

Horse Feathers and Lemonade

      

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. " ~Berthold Auerbach

Just when I thought modern day music was going down the toilet, an Etsy friend of mine (who's Etsy shop filled with lovelies and photography can be found here) introduced me to what has fast become one of my favorite bands. The band is called Horse Feathers, but don't be distracted by the quirky name, they aren't to be lumped into the emo-crap bands who hide behind strange names to look more off beat and hip. Horse Feathers is good, clean, salt of the earth kind of music. Unapologetically making use of  instruments like banjo's  and mandolin's in such a non stereotypical way that it really impressed me right off the bat. Whoever is the pianist of the group, really needs a round of applause as well. They are  what I like to call indie acoustic folk, but really, their music needs no label, as it speaks for itself.

 Their album, "Words Are Dead" has been occupying my iPod and my headspace for a solid week now and I've felt more creative than ever. There's nothing like finding an album, or a band, that really puts your soul in a place of clarity. For me, this is a big deal, as I am not particularly very easily inspired. Check out the tracks "Falling Through The Roof" and "Dust Bowl", two of my personal favorites, for some goose bump inducing discoveries.

 Their sound is much like Sufjan Steven's, Zero 7 and Iron & Wine, but not without it's own unique attributes. I'm so excited to have new music I could just do a cartwheel! Or...maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea, ya know, for my own safety... I can't think of a better summer sunday afternoon than laying in the sun, with some lemonade (maybe spiked?) listening to my new best friends, Horse Feathers.

Etsy-Chic Decor : A Study in Black and White

Theres nothing like having a vision of what you want an empty room to look like in the future and then seeing the *pretty much, kinda sorta, but will never really be "finished"* finished product! When I first moved into my new apartment I knew I wanted my spare bedroom, which does double duty as a guest room and office, to have a fun and chic theme that made me *want* to be in there to get work done. However, it's a fine line to walk between making the space gorgeous visually but still functional as an office space that doesn't distract TOO much. My solution? A Black and White themed room! Chic, stylish and amazingly inviting in my opinion. And more importantly, affordable! I decorated the walls in *mostly* Etsy artwork, I'd say a solid 2/3 of the artwork I purchased on Etsy , some of it I made myself, and a couple things I got for a steal of a price for a couple different stores like Target and Marshall's ( THE BEST places for chic updated decor on a budget! I'm always buying nice black wall frames with mats from A.C. Moore when they're on sale, they look so chic! Anywhoo, enough chatter, I might as well just show it off! I don't think the space will EVER be finished, I plan to add more and more black and white artwork as I stumble upon it, and of course, still have to get up my fabulous window treatments as well! I will link to the Etsy artists who adorn my walls as well...

Seedling Accent Pillow: Miso Decor

Two Silhouette Prints: Vol. 25

Elliot Smith & Andy Warhol Prints: Lake Illustration

Typewriter Print: Lou & Lee