Elizabeth Dye

Ivory beaded bolero We spotted these over at Wedding Bee recently and just fell in love with Portland-based designer Elizabeth Dye's fabulous creations, especially this bolero re-fashioned from a vintage beaded sweater. So genius! Her bridal collection is available at her boutique, The English Dept.

Silk taffeta bolero

This one's our fave! The perfect way to add drama to a wedding gown, and keep you cozy and chic!

Oyster tafetta shrug

Simple and oh-so-pretty!

Clound Nine Bolero

Elegant, ethereal, dreamy!  All of these little number are available at the English Dept's etsy shop here. And don't forget to check out Ms. Dye's everyday collection here!

John Patrick Organic

JPO DressJPO Dress 3 We're at the New York International Gift Fair this week and one of our favorite finds has been John Patrick Organic, an ultra-chic organic cotton fashion studio created by designer John Patrick. We love these airy dresses from his Spring collection - how fabulous would these be for to wear to a summer wedding (as a bridesmaid or guest!)?

JPO Sweater and ShortsPants and Shirt

Love these looks!

JPO and Olivia

John was at the show with his lovely assistant Olivia previewing his gorgeous new beach line, Playa Organic.

Playa Organic

Elegant flow-y beach lounge wear  organic straw hats, and light striped wool scarves -- on display at their booth at the Gift Show. Makes us want to get on a plane to Cabot!

What we love most, though, is John's passion,  ethic, and super-positive attitude -- he sources from small cotton growers and is completely dedicated to creating chic, lovely clothes; the details and quality are amazing!  We heart him!!!

The Handmade Hellos Crafting Party!

dsc_0249.jpg The crafting party last night was a smash hit!

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All of our demo stations were full of ambitious crafters–Hello!Lucky's snowy variation on Petra Boase’s Owl-y Friend yielded many colorful results! You can download the template here to try it out for yourself!

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Our Handmade Hellos contributors demonstrated various craft projects. François Vigneault instructed guests on how to make postcards composed of found maps, a fun and easy project for anyone with a crafty eye.

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Sarah Adler's magical banner project used dainty little boxes to enclose a quirky greeting one letter at a time!

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Stacy and Nicole (above) from Pancake & Franks had a station devoted to their accordion card, which uses durable board ends to make up a booklet.

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Jody Warshaw, Christina Loff, Kate Woodrow from Chronicle Books showing off their projects!

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Happy crafters!

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Jeffrey McGrew from Because We Can fashioned his card into part of his ensemble!

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Nancy Deane from Chronicle Books shows off her owl.

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Sarah Adler watches as one of her students displays her very own magical banner.

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The Hello!Lucky staff were, of course, busy at work! Pictured above, Max Koch and Shauna Leytus were the studio bartenders while, below, James Tucker and Alex Ewers greeted incoming crafters!

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Aaron Cohick, our lead pressman, was kind enough to demonstrate the ins-and-outs of our vintage Heidelberg presses throughout the evening.

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Have a great weekend, everyone!

Featured Retailer: Hygge & West

indexphp.png Online boutique Hygge & West opened last week with a fabulous selection of clothing, accessories, stationery, home decor, and really fantastic wallpaper. Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is Danish term that translates loosely to mean the heart of living well. You'll certainly be living well with exclusive items like Julia Rothman wallpaper (above) and Jessica Rust San Francisco mug (below).

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Just in time for the holidays! Happy shopping!

Topsy Turvy's Fabulous Hats!

Satin Bow Fascinator We always love an excuse to don a smart hat (don't you wish someone would bring back that trend? We do!).   The charming, vintage-inspired chapeaux from Oakland-based Topsy Turvy make us wish that hats were a de rigeur fashion accessory!

This Oh-So-Flirty Cocktail Hat was modeled after a vintage headpiece found at the flea market dating from the 1950's.

Rhinestone Cocktail

We love this sassy, burlesquey number...

Kim Brown-Dye, the sometime costumier & full-time milliner behind Topsy-Turvy makes a wide range of beautiful hats, with nods to a wide variety of eras and suitable for everything from a swank evening out to an outrageous costume party.  She builds each one from scratch using buckram & wire construction which is then covered & trimmed using the finest materials & hand finishing.

Victorian Top Hat

The Evelyn - Victorian Top Hat...makes us want to don our riding habits, slap on the side-saddle and ride off into the sunset!

Marie Antoinette Tricorn

Who wouldn't want to have an excuse to channel Marie Antoinette?

Leopard Pillbox

Leopard print pillbox!  So rock-a-billy fabulous!

Bell Hop

Leather Bell Hop!

Rhinestone Top Hat

Rhinestone Mini Top Hat! Glittery!

Oh So Flirty Fascinator

Ah, glittery AND feathered...who can resist?  We are positively swooning - if only we could have one of each!

Check out a video on Kim's studio and her hat-making here!