No Shopping (except shoes) Challenge, Look #2 & Giveaway

Ok, so I'm almost certain it's going to be difficult to post a look more than twice a week. Plus, I don't always want to bother Nubia to snap pics of me, cause she will not send me an image without first editing it and look at all this equipment she has...

I know it takes her valuable time to take pics and edit, so I'm taking my own with a little pink Kodak digital camera. Sucks, right? But it gets the job done.

I don't know why I was cheesing so hard...lookin real crazy :-/

The blazer, I believe is from Macy's...it's more than 6 years old. I love the snug, but not too tight fit that gives the hourglass silhouette, plus I'm a sucker for stand-up collars. Leggings about a year old from The Avenue.
Madonna T-shirt from Old Navy, about 2 years old. Camo Platform Heels just bought this year, maybe a few months ago from Shakita Conklin, owner of the mobile boutique, Chic Rockz. I made the old school boombox necklace. I may reintroduce this line.

Right hand...Vintage button ring and fabric wrapped bracelet in the middle available for sale at Urban Chocolate. Vintage gold tone bracelets from my personal collection. These I got from my mom about 8 years ago, she got them from her sister. The thicker one closest to my hand is just one of the giveaway pieces! Yes, I am giving away one of the staples from my own jewelry armoire.

A close-up of the camo platforms by Dollhouse. Oh and I rarely wear matching finger and toenail polish...don't know why.

Left hand...my signature layered bracelet wrist and an antiqued gold, double-finger ring. Just got this from my aunt. She gave it to me to sell in the Spot, but it's the second piece in the giveaway! The wide "artist" band I bought from RiteAid earlier this year.

GIVEAWAY!

The ring and the bracelet are being offered in the same giveaway. They are not matching pieces, as the ring has more of a pewter finish and the bracelet has a shiny, antiqued gold finish. But you can win both simply by following my blog and leaving a comment here on the blog. A comment as simple as " I love these pieces," or "I hope I win" will do just fine. The contest ends Friday, September 29th. I'll use a program to randomly select the winner and announce the winner on or after Saturday, October 1st. Must reside in the U.S. to be eligible for free shipping.

So simple. As always, it pays to follow Urban Chocolate!

Best of luck.
Kim

No Shopping (Except for Shoes) Challenge

So being in business for myself without the assistance of a bank loan has proven to be a real live faith walk for me. Some still haven't figured this out, don't know how, but I am a full time entrepreneur. I've had to and will continue to evaluate my spending habits to make sure I have enough money to keep my life and my business afloat until Urban Chocolate makes it big (and that day will come). Many tend to think that business owners just have money to throw away, that we're rolling in the dough, but if you only knew. With all that being said, I still know that quitting my full time job to pursue my passion was one of the best decisions I ever made. It has opened the door for me to TOTALLY and FULLY depend on God for EVERYTHING!

So not having a big disposable income means I have to really be able to stretch my wardrobe. Not a big deal for me, cause styling is like breathing. But I wonder how many looks I can get from the clothes I currently own...which means no shopping :( I know I can handle this, or can I?

So here's the deal, I will continue this challenge as long as I possibly can. The challenge ends when I go shopping for any type of clothing. Shoes not included, cause I really do need a few more. I admit, my shoe game is definitely not on point right about now. Before I go too far, let me give a big thanks to photographer Audria Nubia Arnold, a good friend and fellow full time business owner. She's agreeing to take pics!!! This will probably be my next post, but let me go ahead and say. If you're planning to be or do something great in life, it is ABSOLUTELY imperative that you surround yourself with individuals who plan to be and do the same. Got it? Like seriously, I really need you to grasp that.

Anyway, as always, I digress. Below are the pics of my first choice. It's a maxi dress from Target, maybe about 2 years old and a cropped denim jacket from Wal-Mart, maybe 5 years old. The shoes are Jessica Simpsons purchased at this store in Bartlett called Half of Half about 2 years ago. And of course the vintage travel bag and the abundance of jewelry from Urban Chocolate!

The bag was for sale, but it's sold. I didn't think to show my shoes in any of the pics,
so they're below.
I must have lost weight cause once upon a time, I couldn't button this jacket...yay me! But then again I am obsessed with tight blazers and jackets. This is a little snug, but it works for me.
I have been walking about three times a week though, so we'll see how that goes.


Vintage gold bangle from my personal collection and fabric wrapped bracelets all available for sale at Urban Chocolate. Vintage Gold and lime green post earrings and button ring also available for sale.

Those who know me know that I love to pile on the bracelets. I can't even begin to tell you what I have on here, but if you like this look come see me, I love to style wrists too.

Iridescent purple/green/blue Jessica Simpson pumps. Lucky for me fall, my favorite fashion season, is quickly approaching. So this may prove to be easier than I think. We'll see!

Urban Chocolate Challenge - Piece #4 - The Unexpected

I can't believe I completed a piece tonight, like really? Yes, really! And I finished it before 10 pm. I had no plans on even touching the tools, plus I left my magazines in the car and it's cold tonight. While I checked my emails, I thought I might just steal a peek inside Essence Magazine online, since it was the next issue I planned to buy. My fav section on their site and in the mag itself has got to be Street Style, hands-down.

Talk about everyday women with fashion flair. Yep, they're all right there. One day, in my glazed over, daydream tone, I'll grace Essence Street Style with my eccentricity. Right...with my luck, the day I see the photography crew headed my way, I'll probably be wearing my I just went to the corner store to buy some milk diggs...note to self, always be found with style.


Now back to the piece. No the inspiration didn't come from the magazine, but it came from the online version and today is March 9th, so technically, it counts. The inspiration, dramatic stones & simple chains. This was a no-brainer. I recently added some super thick, rich brown, glass stones to my collection, really didn't have a project in mind for them, but one look at the inspiration and it instantly came to me!

Yes, I celebrate colors, and wildly insane graphic prints, but I also appreciate the simplicity of monocromatic tones. I was asked by a styling client recently, while painstakingly deciding upon her accessories, about my approach to accessorizing. A really tough question for me and maybe some can understand, but the answer can really be sought in the shapes, angles and lines and not always in the colors. So yea, the structure and design of the pieces below is what really caught my eye.

I toyed around with adding color or various shaped stones to this one, but thought it best kept simple and clean. It's approximately 18 inches long and it's pretty weighty. Now, let me add that while I adore this piece, I wouldn't mind adding one more stone. Something wider and eye-catching. I may stop by Bead Couture close to the Main Library and scope out something real special. But I'll leave it be for now, but when I find that perfect stone, please believe...I will be reconstructing.Good night, beautiful people. Tomorrow is a special day for me and I'll need the energy to take it all in. Say a prayer for me and I'll do the same for you.

Love,
Kim

Urban Chocolate Challenge - Pieces #2 & #3

Good Morning, Beautiful People and it is 12:19 in the morning as I type this post and I am sleepy as all get out (disregard that time at the bottom of this post, it is soooooooo wrong) . I still have some exciting news that I will share with only the readers of my blog, because you are tops! Facebook is fun and necessary for me, but I find it to be vain and superficial and not always befitting to share every thought. But blogging is so me.

Now, back to the challenge and I do mean a challenge. I assumed that I would at least be able to design 3 pieces during the week and 4 on the weekend, but that has proven to be negatory. Yet, I have not given up! Now let's dig in.

Piece #2 was a major move for me because it's my first pair of clip-on earrings, inspired by probably one of my favorite spreads ever in Vogue. The spread, beginning on page 554 and aptly titled The Life Rhapsodic, is full of color and ethnic inspired prints, plus Savion Glover, John Legend and Anthony Mackie - three reasons why this spread may go on my wall.

Let me say, the May 2011 issue of Vogue is FULL of ethnic inspired prints, I mean from beginning to end. Allow me to also add, that I played around with the idea of such prints like two weeks ago with my hand-wrapped bracelets from the Ultimate Urban Collection and I just picked up this mag today.

So here's a few pics of the spread and the earrings, made from a Kente inspired cloth...I almost wanted to add something to the center to balance it, but I love the simplicity of, plus I didn't want to take away from the cohesiveness of the colors.

I love clip-ons and post earrings, especially now that my hair is short; they provide a certain crispness, that larger pieces many times fail to do. I'll rock them this weekend to test and make sure they're ready to brave the elements and I promise to give you better pictures, you know when my make-up is right and I'm actually awake. You can click the pics to make them larger...
Now to piece #3, inspired by a FOUR page fold-out, Fendi spread-actually the inside front cover.
Four pages, yes!!!! These are great, cause they offer a panoramic view and allow the reader to just take it all in. Now, I chose this spread simply because the colors were just too magnificent to not mimic. Deep sea blues, corals, chocolates and emerald greens with splashes of magenta and gold. I mean, the possibilities of what I can do with all these colors, is like crazy endless.

These bad boys are from my new Urban Candy Collection. Sweet and unashamedly colorful! They're kind of like charms for your ears. Absolutely love them. Be sure to check out the blue chain and the copper trinkets.

These actually proved to be a lot more difficult to design than I expected. Making sure they were both even in length, spacing the charms just right, the feng shui of the charms...it was such a headache to piece together. But oh my! The end result was most definitely worth the pain. I'm glad this Fendi ad was placed in the inside front cover, cause had it been in the middle or towards the end I would have skipped right over it :(

Now that's all for me tonight...no, this morning. I wish I could tell you more about these pieces, cause I really do adore them. Both will be in my Etsy shop, which I have not set a launch date, but soon.

3 down and 27 pieces in 22 days to go. Let's get it!

Mess to Masterpiece

What I absolutely love about making jewelry and accessories is that the possibilities are endless. Allow me to show you just a portion of the mess I call my workspace...

Yea it's all a big mess until I put some thought, time and energy into it and it becomes somewhat of a masterpiece.

I will one day turn this passion into a full-time endeavor, which is my long-term goal. Some days, I get tired of working the 9-5 and my mind so vividly transports me to my storefront boutique. But, not now. Just not my time. Plus, my full time is pretty cool. I work with and around people who want to change the world, social workers. Not to mention, the Division of Social Work and the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy is growing and I know God has me positioned right where he wants me.

Alright, I need some Bible time tonight.

Good night, good people.