GIVEAWAY: Allison Izu Premium Denim

The giveaway is now closed - the winner is Thu!  Congrats and send me an email to claim your prize!

Shopping for jeans has always been a bit of a nightmare for me.  Being 5'2" with a 27" inseam often meant that I had to hem every single pair.  But then it seemed like the proportions were wrong.  The thigh / knee area was always off and I hated that self-hemming my jeans meant that the hem didn't have the faded pattern (see Kelly's post here on original vs. regular hemming on jeans) that regular jeans had.

"To hell with hemming!"

Allison Izu, a denim brand specifically catering to petites (that is women 5'6" and under), not only offers a variety of sizes / inseams, they have also solved the problem of proportions.  The waist-hip-knee-ankle ratio as well as other denim details are now proportioned for petite figures.  See Allison Izu denim reviews from Extra Petite, Petite Little Girl, and Really Petite.

Now on to the fun part - win a pair of Allison Izu Premium Denim with the size and style of your choosing!

The winner will be randomly drawn on December 4th and will need to contact me within 2 days to claim their prize.  If unclaimed, another winner will be drawn.

To enter, please leave a separate comment for each of the following:

1. Visit the Allison Izu website and let me know which style is your favorite
2. (Optional Bonus Entry) Publicly follow this blog (click "follow" in my sidebar)
3. (Optional Bonus Entry) Click to tweet and leave me your Twitter ID

Good luck!

Jewelry DIY: Ode to Pearls

I've always been in love with pearls and incorporate them into almost every piece I make.  This one is my ultimate pearl piece with 5 strands of ivory nugget pearls to add a little bit of drama to every ensemble.

5-Strand Nugget Pearl Necklace (sold here)

It winds up being a rather heavy piece as I prefer glass to plastic materials but I like the end result.  As you can tell, I made this piece right before DD was born :)

I'm also experimenting with less traditional pearl necklaces like these ladder necklaces:

Customizable Pearl Ladder Necklaces (sold here)

And finally, I've been wanting to create a chevron necklace.  I think this one is "getting there" but still needs some work:

In other DIY jewelry news, I'm working on some bracelets but I'll save those for a later post :)

What type of jewelry are you most drawn to?  Chains?  Pendants?  Beads?  A mix?

Sweatshirt to Tote Bag Easy DIY Tutorial

I've been aching for some DIY time and finally pieced together enough kiddie naps to finish something :)  (BTW, don't get me wrong.  I adore my children with every part of my being but I have a bunch of DIY ideas bubbling in my brain and love it when I get the time to see one through).  This one is a result of a closet cleaning.  I found an old sweatshirt from Old Navy that I haven't worn in ages and I thought it would make a cute striped tote bag.

This is the finished tote.

See tutorial after the jump!