show me your red carpet looks: academy awards style

 

poshfairytale couture   + vanessarwilliams

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pstore + leilanniland

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 taylor says + lamfine designs

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karla wheeler design +  yystudio

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SDmarie jewelry + kimeradesign

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it's that time of year again!
when we all head to the oscars, walking the red red carpet with our favourite dashing hollywood star!

*swoon*

now i know you're probably very busy preparing your acceptance speech, doing interviews with vogue & ellen, and tactfully having to turn down offers from johnny depp, george clooney, & jean dujardin who are all begging to escort beautiful you! ... but be sure to take a second and show us the handmade (or vintage) lovelies you'll be wearing to the academy awards!!

just...
1. choose a fun gown (or something else)

2. choose a fun accessory for the look.

3. cut & paste a direct link where i can find each of the two items on the net into your comment.

4. make as many 2-part outfits as you'd like (feel free to include goodies from your own work, too, if you' like!)

5. next week i'll include 10 of your looks in a follow up post, and i'll be sure to link to your lovely shop/site, too! great free advertising for creative, dressed-to-the-nines YOU!

6. and hey... if there are LOTS of entries, i'll get the random.org generator to pull a few for us to see!


can't wait to see what you come up with this time, nicies! see you on the red carpet, cutiepies! i know you'll look marvelous!

 

and check out other fun party outfit challenges here like:

 your royal wedding guest looks

your 2011 red carpet TIFF looks

from the year before

and from the year before

your oscar looks revealed: part 1
part 2

  your lovely springtime teaparty looks.

your beach party looks

your winter gala looks

see you on the red carpet, sweeties!

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 azucena delarosa-doherty  + starlet vintage

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polished two + nuichan

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 milloo + crimsonhouseofstyle

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inner evolution  + rozmarinjewelry

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maria jewelry designs + plus size clothing

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chabri + 2212 jewelry

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dominique ansari + glam girls unlimited

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  shireeodiz + decadent designs

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winter on the lake

our wintry lake :: image by kristal davis / rikrak

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snowy winter has finally arrived.

and the lake is lovely in white: fishing huts punctuating.

i so adore the pixelated view of snowfalls dusty in the camera viewfinder.

how's your winter looking, sweeties! 

(please share fun photoy links if you have them!)

road trip

her little red suitcase photograph by sugarlily

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back from a wonderful little road trip to ottawa, nicies.

traveled with a dear friend.

to see some dear friends.

so good to be back visiting our old hometown.

i'm a lucky girl indeed.

i so love a great road trip.

the fun visits.

the great music.

the adventure of stops along the way.

the yummy road-trip treats that inevitably make their way into us en route!

and best of all: exploring places and friendships; catching up and learning more.

been on any good road trips lately, sweeties?

come advertise with the rikrak studio blog!

i just love my sponsors! i'm so thankful for their kind and artistic support each month! and i'm just delighted with how things are going, growing here on the blog with you lovelies. thank you!

so i'm very happy to be offering a few new ad spots as of today for FEBRUARY.

with february comes  a great time to continue building your wonderful indie business!  i hope it might be the perfect opportunity to showcase your beautiful shops & blogs for all of those handmade-loving shoppers & bloggers & media out there! it's  such a great time for fresh starts, and i'm offering a few new ad spots, all at GREAT prices!

if you feel that your shop, group, Etsy Team,  or blog would be a good fit with the rikrak studio blog feel & focus, and are interested in rates, please email me at 
---> rikrakmail @ yahoo.com <---

there's lots of continued fun coming up on the blog: funfun guests, little inspirations, more fabulous giveaways you're not going to want to miss, great games, fantastic features,  and, as always, a few extra fun surprises, too. being part of the fun is a great way to boost sales, increase exposure and build your little business in the handmade community, too!

i'm a handmaker & mommy and know it's a challenging economic time out there... so i try to keep the rates nice & reasonable and promote your wonderful businesses as best i can all month!

i also love designing ads for folks that need them, too.
so just let me know if i can help!

so come & be part of the fun!
thanks so much, lovelies!
k.

what are we reading { part 5 } ?

one of jane mount's brilliant * ideal bookshelf  * prints

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sure has been a busy week here: meeting a WHOLE BUNCH of fun new friends in the blog-a-thon,  making art from special mementos , oohing & ahhing over cool stamps and lovin' gold!

so let's cheer our friday by taking a little break, and hear what you're reading these days. novels? cookbooks? inspiring blogs? great magazine articles?

tell us {&  what do you think of it so far?}

hope your day is filled with yummy tales, nicies!

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5-minute handwritten memento art { part 1 }

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i'll confess:  i'm a paper-keeper.

little scraps of handwritten memories fill boxes and boxes at our home.

but let's liberate those most special 2-D keepsakes and give them the attention they deserve!

i've been saving a very special-to-me piece of paper for years now: the luggage tag from my beloved grandmother's 1960's vintage over-the-shoulder samsonite bag. { i love that bag. now mr. rikrak lovingly uses it everyday these past few years)  and the memory of my grandparent's great travel adventures is alive for me in that well-loved luggage and the tiny scrap of paper she took with her to locales around the world. her handwritten name and address (& the great shape of the tag itself!) thrill me!

here's a super easy project i've just finished for a new colour-themed art-wall we're making at home. (more on that later!)

you can use ANY special-to-you paper memento. in the past i've used a special event ticket, a receipt stub from a special dinner, a handwritten recipe from a loved one, etc. the possibilities are endless!

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5-minute DIY handwritten memento art decor project

all you need for a project like this is:  

   ::  a flat special-to-you momento 

  :: a little bit of archival tape (available at art & craft stores) (or    regular masking tape if you prefer)  

   :: a inexpensive frame to match the porportion to your memento 

   :: a piece of paper to use as a background (or you could use a mat

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how-to

1. choose a special to you paper souvenir. (liberate it from your keepsakes box!) 

2. cut a piece of plain paper to the correct size as a background to your frame. (don't forget to clean the glass so it'll look extra fabulous!) i used white paper - but choose whatever colour or patterned paper you'd like!

3. play around with placement of your special token of love within the frame. my luggage tag has a great shape, so i liked it best with ample *white space (i.e. blank space!) around it, positioned to one side. centering it, or placing it in the top, or bottom, or any corner will give different fun effects!

4. gently secure your memento to the paper backing. 

5. add to frame (i repurposed one, and painted another out-of-use frame white for my next project! )

6. stand it on your desktop, on your nightstand, on the mantle, hang on the wall, and smile everytime you see it and think of your special memory!) 

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one of OTHER my favourite things to do with special scraps is to make them into Christmas tree decorations. then they're forever a part of our special memories, and we swoon & feel great joy with a tree filled with tiny notes for just a few weeks each year! try it! you'll love seeing your grandfather's signature hanging from a ribbon on one bough, or that adorable doodle your best friend drew in class from public school or the 1st time your child wrote their name!

care to share any FUN ideas on how to display your most special paper keepsakes?

blog-a-thon

happy wednesday, cutiepies!

thought we'd start a fun new tradition here on the blog today - it's mid-month  & what better-a-time then to thank you all for coming by & playing!

so leave us a link to your own blog + it'll be a superfun way to meet new folks + share your writings with everyone!

it'll be a permanent, up-date-able feature on my sidebar here, so all can visit your lovely blogs!

can't wait to visit all of YOUR beautiful blogs!

have a great day, sweeties!

{ps: have a gorgeous online shop? add your link to *my talented, talented friends* page here for all to see, too! }