The "Swear On Chanel" Collection

Those little words uttered by Carrie Bradshaw to Aiden when dishing on Steve and Miranda's breakup seemed to stick to me as a fashion appreciator.  If the art of fashion had a religious following, the House of Chanel would be the most appropriate to lay your hand upon and swear the truth.

I was very lucky to be one of five winners of the book Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life by Justine Picardie from HarperCollins Canada, and it's a mesmerizing read.  Behind such an iconic figure and empire, one wouldn't expect such sorrow and sadness to help propel it to such heights.  I'm not quite done the book yet, and I suspect at the rate I'm reading I'll have it done before the month ends.  Yet so far, from what I have read about this astonishing woman, she was a force to be reckoned with.  Born in a poor house in Saunur, France in 1883, her childhood in an orphanage run by nuns, to her bourgeois lifestyle scorn with heartache, loss and death in her early adult years - and I'm only halfway through!  You can have a read of an except of the book here!

Nick had found a collection of vintage Chanel charms at a garage sale and brought them home for me a few months ago, because he's a good boyfriend. *sigh*  I had also received a $25 gift card from the good people of Artbeads.com, and spent it wisely on the beautiful beads used in these pieces.  I had been waiting for the right setting for these charms, and the images in Justine's book have started to craft colours and silhouettes that I could shape around them.  Chanel believed in simplicity in design and well-cut garments.  "Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury," Coco had once said.  These pieces pay tribute to the classic style of Coco Chanel and her contribution to timeless luxury fashion. 

Diamond-shaped white howlite with black veins dangle on gunmetal headpins from a silver-plated square-link chain, and a smokey grey acrylic bead dangles from the end.  The Chanel cut-out tag and Eiffel Tower stamp are both vintage pieces, repurposed from previous lives as souveniers of la vie en rose, n'est pas?  This is all secured around your wrist with a gunmetal lobster clasp.

Bead Soup Sneak Peek!

Without giving too much away, I've already made a few pieces from the lovely batch of beads sent to me by Sue of Hello Gorgeous Design!  Here's a sneak peek before the big reveal on February 26th!

No hints!  Nada!  Nothing!  Other than the colours ... that's about all I'll give you.  Keep an eye on the BEAD SOUP! page for more updates!

SHOUT! in the Orangeville Citizen!

If you live in the Orangeville area, betcha you'll seen us in the Citizen!  Click on the article to enlarge!

Blogger's note:  On behalf of the reporter, I'd like to correct the names Josh Priess and Cassandra Watsham.  Onward!

This picture was taken when we were goofing off at the piano between breaks, but we gave it our all with lots of gusto and photo-snapping!  Maybe we'll get a chance to see the rest of the photos!

Brampton Music Theatre's RENT Voted Best Community Theatre Production!

The votes have been cast on BroadwayWorld.com's Toronto Awards, and Brampton Music Theatre's Rent wins big as best community theatre production!  Hard work pays off!

Check out the others that made the final cut:


Best Community Theatre Production: Rent, Brampton Music Theatre
*and bonus points for BMT's 2nd runner-up Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat!

Best Leading Actress in a Musical:
3rd runner-up - Erin Hyde for 'Maureen'

Best Musical Direction:
1st runner-up - Josh Priess
*Josh is currently working with us on Shout! The Mod Musical!

Best Performance in a Feature Role/Ensemble (Female):
3rd runner-up - Jamie Birnbaum for 'Mimi'

Click here to see the rest of the winners on BroadwayWorld.com! 

Tasty Ingredients for Bead Soup from Hello Gorgeous!

My package had arrived a few days ago, and I couldn't wait to tear it open!  I must say, Sue's just too generous for words - and she knows my weakness for candy!  Check out the surprises in the package!

Here we've got a Hello! British tabloid rag, a package of Percy Pigs, a Galaxy chocolate bar (which I'm told is the best chocolate), and a couple rolls of Love Hearts.  And, of course, not one - but two! - Bead Soups!  Take a look below!

Etsy Treasury: Love to Egypt by Down To Earth Creations

Thanks to Down To Earth Creations for including the Scarab bracelet, no. 1 in this Treasury honouring Egypt's political victory!

Birth of an Egyptian Queen -... chloesvintagej... $34.00	Egyptian Heart Flag Egypt Mi... CreativeClam $2.25
Bab Zeweila davej1983 $30.00	Mixed Metals Ancient Egyptia... kmaylward $48.00
Sterling silver Egyptian hoo... jersey608 $38.00	Priestess of Nyarlathotep - ... strangeling $29.99
S A L E - Scarab bracelet, n... designbycassan... $15.00	Tauri in Chocolate - Brown a... dicopebisuteri... $22.90
Nubian village in watercolor... NaderShenoudaA... $75.00	Tutankhamun with Scarab maiaart $2100.00
inner vision eye of horus st... Hint $36.00	cairo undeadmushroom... $12.00
The Great Pyramid - Egyptia... shadowofthesph... $12.00	Egyptian Cat Magnet WithAllMyArt $2.50
Desert Camel watercolor prin... baylesdesign $34.00	Pouffe- square tribal red CairoCorner $140.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Etsy Treasury: Put the Lime in the ... by Sego Studio

Thanks to Sego Studio for including the Coconut necklace, no. 1 in their latest Treasury!

Coconut Earrings - Piasava M... TribalStyle $	Lime and Gray Wool Felt Coas... fuzzylogicfelt $21.00
Coconut Scented Whipped Crea... CARIBBEANSCENT... $7.00	Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Mac... ButterSugarFlo... $9.00
unDressed Lip Balm - with Sh... DressGreen $3.50	Tahitian Coconut Goats Milk ... countrysoapsby... $4.00
1/4 Pound Coconut Tea layla $6.00	Organic Cotton Cowl Coconut ... QueenHeronCrea... $45.00
Coconut Lime SOY Candle 12 o... boardwalkcandl... $11.00	Black wool felt tricorn, gol... GoFHats $75.00
Spring Buds Fabric Flower Br... youaremysunshi... $12.00	S A L E - Coconut necklace, ... designbycassan... $20.00
Coconut Lime Verbena soap ba... soaperia $6.00	Coconut Shell Pendant and Co... hippiekingdom $12.00
Chocolate Nesting Bowl Set clamlab $100.00	Margarita Earrings vintage g... BlackStar $22.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Design by Cassandra's Hitting the Stage!

Not only am I part of the cast of this swingin' number, I'll also be designing some groovy accessories for Shout! The Mod Musical!

The script has a specific costume and accessory list for each character, which is very handy.  While cast and crew have haunted local thrift stores for '60's and '70's fashions, I've started designing some "smashing" pieces for the cast!

Liz's character, the Orange Girl, has a little infusion of purple in her costume.  One piece of jewelry called for a string of purple pearls, and struck some luck with these glass beads with a pearl-like glow.  I've still yet to size the necklace for Liz, and then will be attaching a magnet clasp for easy costume changes - no one wants to mess with a lobster clasp in the dark, nor have your necklace fall into your costume, especially during choreography!

button test

New buttons!  Whaddayathink?

Orange Daisy Necklace With Interchangeable Pendant!

A fellow Shout! cast member, Liz, had asked me to fix a broken necklace for her.  The original pendant to this ribbon necklace had broken, and had found a great complement with the daisy pendants in the 'character bead kit' I had given her earlier!  Remember these beauties?

Liz's 'orange bead kit' had three daisy pendants in all, two of them with the same orange-and-green colour scheme.  She couldn't decide which pendant she wanted to have on the necklace, so I figure I give her the option of both!