DIY Versace-esque Flower Crown

If you were anything like me, you were obsessed with those absolutely gorgeous flower crowns the ladies on the Versace runway were wearing this season. The dresses were heavenly, the styling perfect, but those flower crowns... gah.

(An actual gif of me looking at Instagram shots of the Versace show.)

Being the very DIY/crafty (cheapskate) fashionista that I am, I decided immediately I MUST have a beautiful flower crown of my own to wear to important events like shopping at the grocery store, going to the movie theater, and meeting with my book editor. So of course I sat down with supplies and got to work.

Six hours of painful wire-wrapping, swearing under my breath, and praying for a miracle later, I had something quite beautiful on my hands.

Voila!

This baby is up for SALE! Feel free to comment on what you think of this recreation!

Half Lucid Is On Sale!

As winter drags on, I'm already thinking of spring and color and warmth. I'm putting together the beginnings of a new collection (inspired by street art), but until that's ready, I'm running a special sale on all of my back stock.

Make sure to grab these before they go- once they're gone, you won't have another chance!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HalfLucidJewelry

Read about the collection here: http://fashionnexus.net/london-calling-for-this-fashion-mogul-3/

LONDON Collection Launches!

The LONDON Collection is a very personal project for me, as it was inspired by a city that I have wanted to visit for most of my life, and it was made from pieces of the city that I brought home with me.

The collection is up for sale on etsy, but below I will feature a few of my favorite pieces and the stories behind them. I hope you enjoy the LONDON Collection, and that it brings you as much luck and inspiration as London brought me!


CAMDEN MARKET BABECATCHERS :

These beautiful earrings are inspired by the colors and global beauty of Camden Market and will add some spice to any outfit.


BRICK LANE BOHO SWINGERS:

 Inspired by the colors and hip culture of Brick Lane, these Boho Swingers will bring sunshine and global intrigue to every outfit you wear.


THE SHARD BOHO SWINGERS :

Inspired by the modern and somewhat disconcerting architecture of London's Shard skyscraper against a backdrop of historic buildings, these earrings feature a little new and a little old- repurposed pieces, and new beads from London. They make a sharp statement for the modern fashionista.


ISLINGTON'S WINGS BABECATCHERS  :

Inspired by the beautiful angel wings sculpture in Islington, one of my favorite parts of London, these earrings are smoky, sexy and mysterious. A must for the fabulous fashionista with her eye to the skies.


APPLE MARKET BABECATCHERS :

Inspired by my favorite night in London, these gorgeous Babecatchers reflect the colors of Apple Market and the love between longtime friends who finally get to sit down together over drinks and talk about life, the universe and everything. Sure to bring compliments and stares your way, so wear with caution! :)

Find the whole collection here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HalfLucidJewelry

MODELS WANTED FOR HALF LUCID SHOOT

I'm looking for 1-2 ladies who would be interested in modeling Half Lucid jewelry for a photoshoot, in exchange for a yummy dinner and some free makeup of your choice. Makeup and hair styling provided.  Must be able to travel to Webster NH. Please contact me by 12/12 if you are interested, and share this status to your local model friends to see if they are interested! All skin/hair colors welcome to apply; long hair preferred but not required.

Half Lucid LONDON Capsule Collection

So excited to announce that I am now at work on a VERY special capsule collection of Half Lucid Jewelry, inspired by my recent trip to London. England had a charismatic effect on my creativity, inspiring me to write and look at the world in a new way. While there, I gathered materials for the upcoming LONDON collection and am now working on it. The pieces will be one of a kind, so that means that once they're sold, they will be unavailable.

If you are a fashion blogger and are interested in featuring the collection on your blog, please contact me. I will be giving away ONE piece from the collection to a fashion blogger (chosen at random) so this is a good chance for you to win a special piece of Half Lucid Jewelry. If you know fashion bloggers who might be interested, please let them know they can tweet me ( @kendrybird ) or email me (kendralsaunders@yahoo.com). All fashion bloggers interested in featuring the LONDON collection need to contact me by 12/12 for more information.

Look forward to sharing it with you all!

Half Lucid Jewelry is on Facebook!

Finally, Half Lucid Jewelry has made a home on Facebook. You can visit and like the page here: https://www.facebook.com/halflucidjewelry

And I've recently marked down several items in the etsy store, so make sure to check that out: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HalfLucidJewelry

Half-Lucid Jewelry's Babecatchers Featured in a Magazine

A pair of my Babecatcher earrings was featured in this gorgeous shoot for NFocus Louisville, chosen by Project Runway's Gunnar Deatherage. Love it!

Grab your own pair of custom (or already made) Babecatchers: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HalfLucidJewelry
Photo source: http://nfocuslouisville.com/fashion-destinations/

Send Kendry Bird to England!

The Kendry Bird blog and its stylish owner would very much like to visit England this year for a research trip (for novels), to visit friends and to get some insider looks at English style.

You can help me get there by picking up a piece or two of Half-Lucid jewelry here or making a donation through Paypal to kendralsaunders@yahoo.com (any donation over $15 will get a postcard from England once I return to the US. US addresses only though, please!)

 See more here! http://kendralsaunders.com/sendkendratoengland.html

Once over there, you could expect photos of street style, a full write-up and maybe even some interviews with some stylish English ladies (and gents!) Ultimately I'd love the trip to take place in late September over to early October, so please share this link to your friends who love great jewelry and order some Half-Lucid! :)

Kendry Bird's Top 10 Style Rules

1. You don't have to put on your pants.

Really! I mean, you should probably wear something on your lower half, but it doesn't have to be jeans. Ever since I can remember, I've preferred skirts and dresses to pants. While everyone else talked about how comfortable their jeans were or how much they loved shorts, I waited and waited for the day that I, too, would magically fall in love with jeans and turn into a 1980s supermodel in denim.

At some point I realized I just don't like pants, and that's okay. They rarely fit my body type (curvy, small waist, short legs) and always feel too tight in the tummy area. So I gave up on the pants thing and shopped for skirts and dresses that I love, and never looked back. Frankly, I still don't understand the gals who pour themselves into restricting pants all day... especially with belts. *shudder*

2. Two statement pieces are better than one.

You know how Coco Chanel famously said that you should take off one accessory before walking out the door? I've always thought that's cool for those minimalist people who can weirdly pull off an itty-bitty gold chain necklace, plain white t-shirt and jeans, but reaaaaallllly. The rest of us just don't need to live with those kinds of limits. If you've got a killer bib necklace and some sparkly bangles and red lipstick and you're trying to decide if you should wear the pink heels or the black ones... don't be afraid to go full on awesome. More is always more for me.

3. If you can't afford to buy it, make it.

I'd love to own some Dolce & Gabbana but it's not in my budget just yet.. Many times, though, I can take inspiration from something on the runway and recreate it at home. Whether it's an outrageous pair of earrings or a dress with foxes on it, I've made DIY versions of favorite luxe looks... for much, much less. If you like a certain look, google DIY videos for it and then enlist the help of your creative friends for any part of it that you can't do (sewing, pattern making, etc)

4. Inspiration can come from boys, too.

Even though I'm usually a traditionally feminine dresser, I love snagging style ideas from my favorite male rock stars (Matt Bellamy, David Bowie, etc). Whether it's adding a pair of suspenders to an outfit or seeking out a t-shirt I spotted on a fashionable guy, it's fun to add a bit of boy-spo!

5. Wanna try that new hair color? Try it.

It's your hair. It's your life! If you wanna try pink hair or blonde hair, do it. DO IT. I've tried red hair, black hair, brown hair, dark blonde hair, platinum blonde hair and have had blue and pink streaks. In the end, I've always gone back to blonde, but do I regret my forays into other colors? Not a bit! Don't let anyone stop you from trying something new. Same goes for haircuts. If you really want to try it, just try it.

6. Not everyone looks good in a cat eye.

I've tried! I've tried so many times to draw on a cat eye; I've tried liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner, and magical alien marker pen (okay not really but might as well have). No matter what style or color of cat eye that I've experimented with, though, it never looks right on my naturally-squinty eyes. Instead, I've discovered after many years of trial and error that my eyes look best ringed lightly all around, tight on the waterline, with no extensions on the side. Keep experimenting with eyeliner, if you haven't figured out your best look, and take note of famous gals you respect with a similar eye shape to yours. They probably have a fancy makeup artist to give them their most flattering look, so it'll almost be like getting help from a professional.

7. Find good shoes. WEAR THEM. Always.

If you wear uncomfortable shoes, you're going to unexpectedly have to walk for 6 miles uphill or something. Seriously. Or, like me, you'll have spent the day at NYFW and be at a party with fashion designers and realize your feet are so swollen that they're about to burst out of your shoes, at which time you're going to limp very, very, very slowly to Old Navy at 10:30pm and buy a pair of fluorescent orange clearance-priced flip flops.

Conversely, if you wear ugly comfortable shoes, you're going to run into someone important. Or, like me, you'll end up being asked to take part in an impromptu photoshoot, photographed for a magazine and tagged in about 199 pictures, all while wearing the ugliest flip flops that exist on the planet.

Spend however long it takes you to find a pair of comfortable and cute flats. Spend however long it takes you to find a pair of comfortable heels (you never know when you'll need them). And really, for the love of God, find a pair of great ankle boots that look good and feel good. You'll live in those, trust me.
 

8. Short skirts are great.

As I've chronicled on this blog previously, I've struggled with self image/body issues for most of my life, but something particularly freeing took place when I discovered how great my legs look in short skirts. I've tested the limits of job dress codes and personal comfort zones ever since.

9. Find your style muse and borrow without shame.

My go-to style muse is Kate Hudson. She's a gorgeous blonde who can pull off the breezy boho looks just as easily as the glam ones. I love her inner and outer glow, easy laugh and don't-care-what-others-think attitude. I love to keep an eye out for what she's been rocking lately, because we share a similar fashion sensibility and facial features. One of my recent style mantras is "Be the fabulous Kate Hudson-esque boho babe you were meant to be." Find your muse and your mantra and keep it in mind when you're in a fashion rut.

10. If you're having a bad day, rock some lipgloss.

You can ask my Mom... this is my greatest advice to all gals. If you're having a bad day, you need some sparkly lipgloss. It just makes everything better.

Happy dressing and shopping, fashionistas! <3

***Note: I'm currently raising money for a research trip to England. You can help me get there by buying some beautiful Half-Lucid Jewelry or adding a couple dollars to my donation button. Check out all the info about the trip here: http://kendralsaunders.com/sendkendratoengland.html and look at my Half-Lucid inventory here: http://kendralsaunders.com/halflucidjewelry  :)

New!! "Boho Swingers" from Half-Lucid

Soooo I got creative the other day and made a new style of earrings called Boho Swingers. The prototype was made specially for me, but I'm thinking of adding them to Half-Lucid's inventory. (And speaking of Half-Lucid, two pairs of Half-Lucid's Babecatchers will be featured in a fashion shoot for an upcoming issue of a magazine. More details on that soon!)

What do you think of the Boho Swingers? Leave a comment or tweet me @kendrybird !

Accessory Artist Spotlight: Louzart

Louzart is perhaps more of a state of mind than even a jewelry mind. It's colorful, unique, and screams for attention. The creator of Louzart, Lou Romine Ratliff, is similarly fabulous. I had the honor recently of chatting with her about her steampunk-meets-high-art creations. Read on to learn more about Louzart, hear Lou's advice for curvy fashionistas and much more...

I’m such a jewelry lover myself, and usually I feel frustrated that jewelry just isn’t… well, big enough! Outrageous enough! Colorful enough! Is that why you started creating jewelry?

I’ve collected wild and large jewelry pieces since I was in high school. I’ve never had my ears pierced, as I have hundreds of pairs of huge colorful vintage clips that I wasn’t going to get rid of or pay to have retooled. I taught middle school for 30 years, and my jewelry was always my banner of recognition, not to mention unusual clothing and accessories. The kids really liked my “look”. When I retired, I began looking at some of the pieces and thought I could probably do this, too. And, I did. That’s how my little jewelry industry began.

  

Louzart uses some wonderful, unusual materials, many of them looking vaguely like ‘found’ items from the past. What’s the most unusual material you’ve ever used in your jewelry?

The most unusual piece of jewelry I ever created was a cuff bracelet made with fake dog poop. I saw it in a gag shop and thought it would be a hoot as jewelry. It sold immediately! So did the necklace I created out of fake barf! I never created with those two items again. I didn’t want a tag on my jewelry that it was nothing but crap.

Haha! I doubt very much that anyone would think that. So, do you wear your own creations?

Sometimes I wear my own creations and have sold them right off of my body! More often than not, I wear my own collection pieces.

How did you first find the steampunk aesthetic, and what do you love most about it?

Ah, steampunk…I’ve been a devotee for several years of the Victorian/Edwardian industrial period. I like the raw, heavy and industrial tool box look about it. My father collected mechanical pieces small and huge, most were steam powered, and as a kid, the look of it with all of its brass, cast metal, noise, and smell, etc. fascinated me. I’d give him the credit from my love of steampunk.

 

I think that definitely makes you one of the most authentic people in steampunk right now, then. How can new fans find and buy your work?

The easiest place for new fans to find me is on Etsy at my shop called Louzart. They can find all manner of jewelry, in different genres, altered bottles and jars, altered dolls, plus wall hanging décor, and in the summer they can find my clothing line called Gypsy Rags. All of my items are hand done using a myriad of media and none are ever duplicated. If an item is small enough, I’ll upcycle it into something that I find interesting and wearable.

I’m also in retail at the prestigious Mac Worthington Gallery of Contemporary Art in Columbus, OH, as well as shops called Simply Vague (one at Tuttle Mall & one at Polaris Mall) in Columbus, OH and a kicky little boutique in Grove City, OH called Déjà vu. 

 

What’s your greatest advice for curvy fashionistas?

I’m not sure how to raise consciousness for the curvy or older fashionistas.  I always get oodles of comments, all good – though there are snickers from time to time, from strangers.  Many of them say they love the look but couldn’t carry it off. I think younger gals in the majority know exactly what their style is, or the look they want to achieve, curvy or not. They’ve been exposed to a lot more edgy fashion and accessories than us older gals. As for the curvy gal…GO for it. That little black dress and black hose look is OUT. Many of the plus size retailers were heading in the right direction, but then got slack. It’s just too plain and everyday for my tastes. I’m hoping that my style will translate into a statement to the curvy gals, don’t worry about it. If you’re covered up, you can do it!

Are there any celebrities that you especially enjoy watching for cutting edge fashion or accessories? Are there certain songs, bands or movies that inspire your work?

I’ve never modeled myself after any notable gals. Perhaps I’m just too independent for that. I’m not inspired by movies, books or music. I’m only inspired by the firing of my mental synapses and don’t always know how anything’s going to look when completed.

Just the way I'd expect a lovely and independent gal such as yourself to be! What are your biggest plans for 2014?

My biggest plan for 2014 is to continue with Louzart and remain focused on the rare and unusual. 

Half Lucid Jewelry

So... I did it. I did the thing. I finally, after loads of requests, opened an etsy account. http://www.etsy.com/shop/HalfLucidJewelry?ref=l2-shopheader-name Half Lucid is so named because the lovely Fabio Costa made a comment to me about some earrings I made while recovering from sinus surgery, and the name stuck. The jewelry has magical, colorful and somewhat melancholy themes. The main attraction, though, now and probably forevermore, are the "Babecatcher" earrings. They can be made in a variety of colors, and all of the details are on the etsy page. Enjoy! :)