.. and for the boys: the handmade prom

thanks for tuning in yesterday and sharing your favourite prom looks from your own lives! what a gorgeous bunch of lovelies we all must have been @ our own grads & proms! (i especially loved all of the royal blue satin dresses & teased hair tales i heard!) ... now it's time for the boys...

4 handmade prom collections, for the men!

prom style #1
eco friendly gadget bag by humade
james bond french cut mens shoes via dahlila found
mens vintage suit in charcoal gray via shopgoodgrace
modern square ring by anne holman

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prom style #2
record vinyl inlay belt buckle by miss courageous
irezumi jacket by studioyoshida
mens windowpane trousers by stewwie
vintage beatnik glasses via ChicDeuxChic

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prom style #3

compass cufflinks by ragtrader
El Primero by urbanblazer
wind turbine silk necktie by toybreaker
recycled mens bag by FRockmen


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prom style #4

buckled wrap leather cuff by hollyhawk

jared gold colonial coat by jaredgold

jellyfish necktie by SugarLust

argyle skulls buckle by BionicBenz

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what's your fave?

what are some of your fave *boy* prom styles from over the years?

have any fun prom tales to share?

(still a few more hours to enter my little clutch purse giveaway! hurry!)

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the handmade prom: 4 styles

the reddest dress: signed digital print by MichelleBrusegaard

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i don't know about you... but when i was a teenager i was prom crazy! the fun of dressing up in fun dresses, dancing the night away with dear friends and the celebration of the end of an academic era was a thrilling idea!

'tis the season again soon.
i see our neighbourhood teenage friends talking prom.
i see fun DIY prom ideas across the internet.
and i'm so proud of the young handmade movement for incorporating handmaking into their prom festivities! so here's to the iconic event: the prom! and here are 4 handmade styles to cheer on!

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prom style #1

pretty little things earrings by nancywallisdesigns

1950’s vintage tulle dress via TimelessVixenVintage

spring bouquet ring by cookoorikoo

white tulip flame heels via Persephone vintage

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prom style #2

linen handmade vintage style scarf by linen me

floral fete made to order dress by fcpcares

seafoam beachglass nugget by sophiapip

sage frame purse by oktak

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prom style #3

vintage copper & coffee bean earrings by enthral

chameleon gown by Isadora clothing

dandelion headpiece by tidabeads

upcycled gold clutch by GetReadySetClutch

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prom style #4

womens wallet in red by interrobang

handmade chiffon dress by yystudio

Sandoval curly red feather headband by FeatherBrain

dancing shoes photo by Glowbees

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did you ever go to a prom? what did you wear? ... myself... 3 prom dress highlights were certainly: a crazy mint green flapper dress, with the highest heels i've ever worn in my whole life! a full-length ball-gown with silvery bolero jacket to another. and a fully sequined straight ballgown in royal blue glittery craziness to another! oh the styles!

have a great time @ your prom, lovely graduates...
and a trip down memory lane, to us old-timers! :)
{ & don't forget to enter my little clutch purse giveaway here!
it would be a lovely addition to your handmade prom look! }

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one of my favourite signs of summer!

vintage nhl hockey teams bib by rikrak

{ psst: can i tell you a bit of a secret? it's not a very popular sentiment here in my lovely homeland of Canada, but i am SOOOO excited about the NHL hockey season... almost being over! }

it's true. no offence to all of the hockey fans out there, but i love that soon... soon... there will be a ever-so-brief hockey break..... *sigh* ... and it will be a lovely wonderful summer... til hockey starts again!

the boys @ the rikrak home are hockey nuts. fun hockey playing (that part i like!), 24 hour a day hockey updates, hockey news, hockey reading, hockey costumes, ... it's pretty much all hockey craziness, all the time....

so while it sure isn't very Canadian... i've gotta say... i'm kinda happy that soon, when the stanley cup is won by either the Detroit Red Wings or the Pittsburgh Penguins, there will be a brief, little, happy hockey break. *sigh* .... anyone with me? so here's to the end of one LONG season (hockey) and the start of another (summer!)

have a great weekend, hockey nuts and all!

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let's celebrate: architechture! doors open ottawa

inside the wonderful national gallery of canada
photo by Intrepide98

i just love architecture.
i've been a longtime fan of amazing buildings & fabulous structures. and one of the many funfun things our lovely city of ottawa celebrates each year is the amazing architechture all around us with *doors open!*

yay!
so this weekend, throughout our lovely city, folks are celebrating *doors open* : a rare chance to glimpse inside some of our city's most amazing buildings.

the ottawa experimental farm by Lin-Na Tan via the doorsopenottawa photostream

first of all, it's free! wonderful!
2nd, doors open is a fabulous chance to see many usually *private* buildings from the inside out, just for one or two days a year! this year, there are 108 buildings opening up to the public in ottawa. in the past few years, the family rikrak has been amazed and thrilled to explore the Canada Post Mail Processing Plant (you know how i love mail! - it was AMAZING in there seeing the letters whirrr past as cyber speed!), the Brittania Water Purification Plant (seeing how that works was so fascinating!) , and various science labs, goverment buildings, embassies and places of worship!

many museums and art galleries are also free over the weekend, like my very favourite, the National Gallery of Canada! woohoo!

started in 1984 in France, the doors open movement has spread throughout Europe. in 2000, toronto was the first city in north america to celebrate it's heritage buildings with doors open toronto! and soon the fun spread throughout ontario. according to the doors open ontario website, numerous other destinations, including new york, denver, newfoundland & alberta celebrate doors open each year!

so check your local doors open calendar, OR maybe encourage your own municipality heritage group to think about it!

interior detailing of the Chateau Laurier by georgia.g

it's a wonderful way to see, up close, the amazing architecture of our hometowns and cities. and i think a wonderful way to garner appreciation for the beautiful buildings that are part of our everyday designerly lives!

does your city participate?
if you had the chance, what's a building in the world that you'd love to see inside? i'd love to hear!

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with thanks: followers giveaway

you folks sure are sweeties! what fun it is to write little things and have nicies like you leave lovely comments & cheers & even want to *follow* what i'm thinking about each day! thanks!

so... in honour of reaching 300+ followers sometime last week ... i'm having a little giveaway.

on tuesday june 9 @ 9pm est, i will randomly select one of the kind nicies that follow me here on the rikrak studio blog. the winner will receive a fun vintage fabric clutch purse in the fabric of their choice from my rikrak shop! (value $21.00 US + free worldwide shipping)



now...i'm able to see/contact folks that follow me thru blogger blogs, and can access folks who have signed up to receive the blog emails thru feedburner. so.. if you're already a follower thru blogger or feedburner.... you're already entered! thank you! and if you'd like to enter, just sign up to follow the blog before next tuesday! thanks nicies! you sure are sweeties! i really appreciate it!

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the rules:
1. only blog followers or feedburners are eligible to win.
2. following my blog is worth one entry in the giveaway.
3. to earn a possible 2 extra entries, you can a) twitter about the giveaway (1 extra ballot) and leave me a link to it here in the comments and/or b) blog about the giveaway (1 extra ballot) and leave me a link to the blog post here in the comments. therefore, each person can enter a maximum of 3 times.
4. on tuesday @ 9pm, i will tally all blogger followers, plus all feedburners, plus any additional twitter or blogged entries (as counted from the comments here) and randomly draw one winner.
5. thanks!

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you're all lovelies! thanks for following my little antics!

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the rikrak slumber party { part 2 } : top 3 things you wanted to be when you were very young

when i grow up t-shirt by Teedious

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don't you just love a slumber party? comfy pjs, silly movies, telling your friends, old & new, your thoughts & crushes & dreams.... such fun! so i thought i'd invite you to a new series on the rikrak studio blog... the rikrak slumber party. last time, we talked *secret tv crushes!* .... so come on over... here's the next question :: the top 3 things you wanted to be when you were very young ::

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the lovelies @ fawn & forest asked me this question a little bit ago, and i just love hearing nicies answers to it! while i think my hubby's answer might be the funniest i've ever heard (he REALLY wanted to be a train when he was little. yes. a train. ) .... they're often pretty fun, aren't they?

so my top 3 things i wanted to be when i was little are:


1. an old-school telephone switchboard operator
from the early 1900's. all of those cool cords and switches. getting to talk on the phone all day seemed like a dream job! *sigh* it just looked like so much fun! i was pretty crushed when i found out that technology had become obsolete. alas...


2. the prime minister of canada.
i wanted to be this one for a very long time. i did end up moving to ottawa, so that's pretty close.




3. a spy.
in my mind, a spy hid behind corners, wore fun ball gowns all of the time and went to fancy galas and the like. what a life! ahhhh... spying...

so there's my top 3.

let's snuggle into our cozy sleeping bags, open another bag of sour cream & onion chips,
turn on some cyndi lauper, giggle & whisper and hear yours!

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proud family moments!

happy monday, lovelies!
hope you had a wonderful weekend.

we celebrated two very special occassions this weekend.
i had the fabulous experience of being doubly proud of my wonderful family.

it was my wonderful mom's annual piano recital. she is an amazing & fabulous musician and teacher, and every year her many students join together to share their wonderful talents! it's always such a joy to see the children of all ages doing their very best and performing songs they've worked to hard at! my mom's one of those superfun, interactive teachers that encourages each of her students to achieve their very best by sharing her own genuine love of the joy of music, in fun and interactive ways. her students LOVE taking piano lessons (imagine!) and i'm so proud of her.

this was an extra special concert. it's my mom's 40th year since she started teaching piano lessons. so as a little surprise, my siblings and i invited back a handful of some of her 100s of students from over the years. it was such a joy for us to see what an amazing impact she has made in the lives of so many students, and their touching musical tributes to the fabulous woman she is. they talked of how her rare kindness and friendliness and loving nature encouraged them in their diverse musical interests and careers, and as part of her family, i was so proud of her.

it was also a special night for another wonderful reason.
it was little rikrak's 1st musical recital.
gosh - i've gotta admit, was i ever nervous! :) (ever a nervous parent?!)
i knew he'd do wonderfully, and he did! he did his very best and i'm so proud of him!
he played "the Tennessee Waltz" , a family favourite, and i entered a new world of mommying.... seeing our little sweetie up on stage, so proud of his own success and hard work! and he was so proud of his grandma. it was a wonderful thing!

i'm a lucky daughter & mommy indeed!
hope you had a great weekend!
have some proud family moments you'd like to share?

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