Gift wrapping in review...............softly filtered

Just experimenting with a soft and feminine palette in gift wrapping today. I have in mind a petite collection of beautiful gifts. It always means hunting for interesting papers, combining colours and patterns, finding the right ribbon, closet hunting for embellishments, the right background and the correct camera settings. Sometimes my review shots tell me to leave one idea behind and to start over, some say keep going. This one says keep going...............but it still has a ways to go, just a start in the direction I am heading. Thought you might enjoy seeing the process as it evolves. And yes, that is the silk bud that Daisy had stolen in my last post here. Which got me going in this direction in the first place. 

Thank you to readers who left such great comments last week and a warm and wonderful welcome to new followers.

Photos by Sande Chase

Daisy......................trouble in pink

On the wrap table last Sunday afternoon.

 Looking for trouble in all the wrong places...............again.

Photos by Sande Chase

Something really funny..........and some girls really do have all the fun

Some girls have all the fun. 

 This girl is having fun with the most shoes ever, go see here.
To say nothing about the nail polish collection.

And this creative lady with the most fun bracelet and bangle collection ever.....

Now back to those killer shoes that are "possibly orgasmic". We were just talking about Killer Shoes in this post here. Who would have thought? Click here for the most far-fetched laugh-out-loud claim of the day actually said out loud by Mr. Louboutin himself (sent to me by a friend). I do like to bring you a little chuckle now and again.

Photos from here

Buttoned-Up in Style........... gift wrapping

As you know by now, I am a big believer in hunting around in your own closet for stylish gift embellishments. In my last post seen here, that sparkly bauble was a button if you can believe it! Spare bits of sparkle (single earrings), brooches, bracelets, even pearly and colourful strands which I am working on right now. Next up was the box of random buttons that we all store away so I was delighted when I saw this most lovely of buttoned-up gift packages on this beautiful blog right here. They certainly close a gift parcel up beautifully, don't you think? So special on a gift envelope too. Now go see what buttoned beauties you already have on hand.








Photos from here

Gift Wrap Inspiration...........on a Sunday evening

Gift Wrap inspiration........started in the morning with these colours and mood.

By evening I was happy with this. 

Where do you find inspiration?

Photo 1/Photo 2 and 3 by Sande Chase/Background image from the book Woman In The Mirror/Richard Avedon

Killer Heels..................and my simple blog template is back

I feel like I am forced to say goodbye to a really good friend...........forever. Last you heard from me I was playing dress up for a wedding which was lovely, lovely, and putting on a pair of sky-high booties and layering a neck party. But back to the brand-new sky-high booties. I just don't think I can wear a sexy high shoe or boot ever again and that strikes me as downright sad. By 8:30 I thought it was quite possible I had a foot fracture, by 9:30 I hobbled out to the parking lot and put on a pair of flat boots which made me feel really silly and old.............like my 57 yr-old body just couldn't suck it up for the sake of looking taller and leaner. But then I noticed a few younger girls were also heading to their cars or changing to the flip-flops that the hosts thoughtfully provided. Then it hit me, none of us can but we do it anyways. We love our higher heels, how they make us feel and how they make us look. 

This is a gorgeous pair of heels. I love high heels, everything about them. Trouble is this Louis Vuitton model was wearing high heels all day long during a grueling fashion month and I can't imagine the pain she must still be feeling. Models help sell fashion but I bet you are as surprised as I was to see what they must do to earn those big modeling bucks. You can read about this disturbing part of fashion here. I am not quite wiling to say goodbye to higher heels quite yet, it would mean disregarding most of the pairs I have and the outfits that go with them. I just need to be smarter about it. Perhaps I just need more practise? I admit to becoming overly-dependant on the comfort of stylish flats in the past year so let's be fair to my feet. I was asking too much of them and my leg muscles that night. So here is the big question..........how do you keep wearing high heels? Or have you given them up completely? 

But if all practise attempts fail.................I can always wear them to stylishly ride my bike. I just can't say goodbye to my lovely heels.

Whew...........thought I was on another planet while trying out the new Dynamic Blogger template for the past few weeks. As you can see I am back on a simple template and changes to my other pages will be ongoing. Let me know if any of the changes are affecting your reading or viewing pleasure as this new template is wider. Thank you for staying with me while I experimented. I did enjoy visiting Mars but it was a bit lonely out there so I am back for now, or at least until blogger adds some more features. 

 Object of Desire here

Photo 1/photo 2 and 3 

Neck Party underway............for tonight

What I like in this Coveteur feature on stylist/designer/blogger Kelly Framel is how she displays her belts. And she has the most fabulous hair style. This whole jewelry display looks like a party ready to happen and is there anything more fun than layering and mixing up necklaces when you have a party happening tonight? 

I thought I was going too far, too many...........until I saw this on Kelly's blog The Glamourai. I would consider this a Neck Party for sure and I have one of my own underway for a wedding tonight. Have a fun, fun weekend. 










Photos via The Coveteur/The Glamourai

Healey & Grisham............dog lovers extraordinaire

~ Poncho Jesse ~

By now you know how I love dogs. Everything about them. How they curl up in your lap while you blog. How they burst with excitement when you take them for a walk. How they quietly wait for you to wake up even if you are sleeping in and they are wide awake. How they sit patiently while you straighten their pink bow each morning even if they find it kind of annoying and silly. What is not to love about a dog? What is not to love about a talented duo that photographs animals so beautifully? I fell in love with the website Healey & Grisham and their animal photography, but I fell really fell in love with Janet Healey and Joe Grisham when I read their story and found they are much more than that.  

~ Priscilla With Blue Feather ~ 

Along with running a boutique commercial photography/styling business in Dallas with high-profile clients such as Neiman Marcus, JC Penney, and Pet Smart, the stylist/photographer couple created a e-commerce site named Hooray For The Underdog where you can purchase their stunning images of rescued dogs. Their work has been featured on Oprah and this just serves as a gift source reminder, the exceptional Healey & Grisham animal photography is available for purchase on prints,  notecards, journals, folders, and other stationery products which is a wonderful gift for any pet lover on your list. Regally posed Priscilla above is available on a thank you card titled Merci. If you are in the Dallas area, you can visit their boutique where they display more of their work or you can arrange your own pet photo sitting. But I do have to say, I just love this concept of talented photographers styling shelter pets so that abandoned animals find a loving home. Because the sad truth is..........not every pet has someone to put pink bows in their hair.










Photos by Healey & Grisham

A few favorite posts this week.............on the graceful age

~ Beatrix Ost via Advanced Style ~

Every time I see this photo of this gorgeous woman I want to get up and cheer. And I want to direct you to two blogs, A Femme d'Un Certain Age  and Cashon & Co., that both focused their posting on aging this week, as in graceful aging, stylish aging, vibrant aging, the best kind. I prefer to gracefully side step the subject of plastic surgery, every woman to her own but if you do indulge and people start looking at you with a bit of puzzlement, obvious face scanning, and asking you to repeat your conversation, consider you may be over-indulging. Enough said. But fashion? That is a whole other story............I have nothing but admiration for inspiring women over 50 who knock-it-out-of-the-park when it comes to exploring tasteful, creative, and personable fashion. Now for some that might be a more conservative, classic approach, others a creative re-invention, both require a decision from any woman over 50. How am I going to fashionably enter this next era of my life? I know what it means for me.............and I know I wish I could wear a turban. Maybe I can?






My most sincere thank you to readers who offered input and support in the past week as I explored our new blogger template options. We are working hard to see how I can make this dynamic format work without giving up a blog header and my list of lovely bloggers. Today I have set the default view to Classic but remember you can click on the title and view this blog in any of the other views such as Magazine, Flipcard, Mosaic, etc. If you do experiment on your own blog, please make sure you back-up your original template. Enough said. 








photo from Advanced Style