Guest Post // Ocean Inspired Jewelry

Hi Loves....Happy Friday! 

For this Falling for Friday I have Kel Thompson here to talk about where she finds her favorite ocean inspired jewelry! 

Kel Thompson blogs over at www.kelthompson.wordpress.com and is always writing about paddling, ocean inspired things and her latest adventures. She always has fun ocean inspired jewelry on so asked her to write up on where she finds all of her jewels.

Enjoy!

Kel wearing MCKMetal earrings

I am a HUGE fan of Ocean Inspired Jewelry, well really ocean inspired anything. I try to keep my blog related to the ocean life somehow, because that is my lifestyle. It is a big part of my life, and a big part of what I LOVE to write about! It just so happens that ocean inspired jewelry is one of my favorite things to discover!

One of the easiest ways to find jewelry with elements of the sea and ocean involved is ETSY. Etsy has a HUGE database of handmade good and jewelry that can be easily found by just searching for what you want!

A fun way however is to search INSTAGRAM. I personally post on my instagram (@KelThompson) everything I buy that’s ocean inspired to support the small businesses I buy from! The women (I say women because it usually is) work day in and day out to provide their social media followers with jewelry they think they will enjoy. Now one day, go and search #SeaGlassEarring, #ShellBangle, #TahitianPearl! This is what I found:

Mermaid Jewelry HI bangles and ring

Mermaid Jewelry HI

Name: Senchal

Instagram: @MermaidTreasureHI

Website: MermaidTreasureHI.com

Mermaid Jewelry HI ring

I love her rings and shell bangles, I never take them off! The work she does with silver is amazing, and everything is reasonably priced! I buy three a time!!

Photo Credit: MCKMetal.com

MCKMetal

Name: Mckenzie

Instagram: @MCKMetal

Website: MCKMetal.com

Photo Credit: MCKMetal.com

A lot of the times jewelry you like you find at music festivals or even outrigger races. That's how I met McKenzie of MCKMetal! And I absolutely LOVE her earrings! You could easily say I'm obsessed with her earring collection, and I love supporting small businesses!

 

BoMo earrings

BoMo Designs

Name: Bobbie and Morgan Poppler

Website: Bobbiepoppler.com

BoMo necklace

Another way to find great jewelry is to just look towards your friends! Sometimes they'll surprise you! My best friend on Oahu just started making jewelry a couple years ago and I'm her #1 fan! Her jewelry is simple and beautiful! It goes with everything!

BoMo Earrings

I most always wear a piece of BoMo Designs with almost every outting I have to get dressed up for! She's currently working on getting a website up and running for just her jewelry! So stay tuned on Bobbie Poppler!

Bettys Belts

Instagram: @BettysBelts

Website: www.bettybelts.com

As a bigger company, Bettys Belts has made quite a name for themselves as one of the larger ocean inspired jewelry business! Don't forget to check them out! She does wonderful work with left over surf resign as well!  



I love ocean inspired ANYTHING! Jewelry is just one of my favorite things! 

You can check out my blog:

www.kelthompson.wordpress.com

Instagram: @KelThompson
Twitter: @KelThomp

as I move forward in my adventures to find the newest ocean inspired gems!

But for now, check out the people I mentioned above because they won't disappoint you! These were all brief descriptions as I could go on for hours on each individual business! Just explore your social medias, Etsy stores and local events to find the hidden treasures you may have passed over before!

 - Kel Thompson


xo,

 

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Mad Style // Beach Style

Paddling season is up and running with the third race of the season happening tomorrow. One thing the paddling season brings are those at the beach all day kind of days.

Summer is upon us and in California we have been having some great weather, but we also get a huge marine layer in the am, June gloom and eventually wonderful warm nights. So what should a girl pack for a whole day at the beach? I am talking waking up at 3am and not getting home till 6pm kinda beach day. I know, not your average day at the beach, but they are the best!

These are my favorite essentials for spending a day at the beach with my paddling ohana and getting a work out in while I am at it!

Inspiration:
(once the sun comes out)

I love this...hat, chambray cover up and a comfy pair of shorts = perfect.

The faves:

*At 3am I have got my leggings and big jacket on. I usually stuff my feet into my comfy uggs, grab my beach bag and go. There is no time for hair, so I almost always have a hat on.

Jacket: Patagonia Down Sweater Full-Zip Hoodie
Leggings: Lululemon Wunder Under
Bag: Roxy Start Stop Bag
Hat: Rip Curl Island Fever Trucker Hat

*We race in the mornings, so it is still cooler with the marine layer, but I always make sure to have sunscreen on, along with my favorite bathing suit top. We are all about cross and racer backs when it comes to tops.

Bathing Suit: Patagonia Print Kupala Top
Towel: Land's End Dot Beach Towel
Sunscreen: Neutrogena Suncare

NAC surfing in Santa Barbra, CA:

Photo Credit: C. Silvester

*After our race it is all about showering off and getting some food before the guys get back. The sun is usually out by now and it is warming up so I love an outfit like my inspiration above or a good sundress. Fun sunglasses are a must.

Sandals: Rainbows - Expresso Leather
Chambray Shirt: J. Crew Selvedge Chambray
Sunglasses: Sabre
T-Shirt: Rip Curl X Heather Brown Tee Into the Sea
 + my fave pair of denim shorts!

Photo Credit

Now after completing this Friday's favorites for the beach, all I can think about is August! On my birthday, I will be off to Hawaii for a full 10 days...GET ME THERE!

Happy Friday!!!

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Mad Style // Giveway for FFF

Happy Friday!

Okay guys, this is a fun week, because Mad Dream Design is in, not one, but two giveaways!!! 

Mad Dream Design on Feast.Fashion.Faves

My good friend Amanda stopped by my shop a few weeks ago to check out what I was up to and to do a fun interview! I am very excited that this weekend she is featuring my interview and designs on her blog Feast.Fashion.Faves! Check it out here!

Her photos are gorgeous, fun and natural. She hand picked my Arrow Drop earrings in copper to giveaway, because they are my most original design and for what they represent. To find out more about this design check them out in my shop!

Arrow Drop Earrings

This design was inspired by a the waves and ripples of the ocean's surface and the dash marks made by an arrow across a surface. Plus, 5% of the purchase price goes to BlueVoice.org, an ocean conservation organization founded in 2000 by Hardy Jones and Ted Danson. Its mission is to protect dolphins, whales, and other marine mammals and to raise popular awareness about the plight of the oceans. Find out more at www.bluevoice.org.

FFF for FFF
feast.fashion.faves for falling for friday

Not only do we love Friday, but we also love a great fashion blog!
Here is one with some Mad Style!

Feast.Fashion.Faves

If you have not been over to her blog yet...you should because it is a great resource for food, fashion and stylish favorites with a Southern California flavor. She has some of the best style to boot! FFF is celebrating its two year anniversary! Congrats Amanda, keep it coming!


Now head on over to Amanda's blog to enter for a chance to win my Arrow earrings!

There is also another chance to win a pair of my Bolt Drop earrings at Westover Manor!

Good Luck Friends and have a wonderful long weekend!

xo,


 

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Falling For Friday // 4-5-13

Hello Friday, my good friend!

Spring Love Fest

What are your favorite things about Spring?

I am loving the warmer afternoons, my garden going off with flowers everywhere, the smell of jasmine, that it is lighter later, the smell of salt on the wind and that fresh feeling...you know what I am talking about!

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 Here is a fun graphic for what I plan to do this spring and summer..anyone else?

by Maddie Dierkes

And now, I am going to leave you with this, one of my favorite quotes.

Photo Credit

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears and the sea." - Isak Dinesen

Enjoy your weekend!

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Falling for Friday // 3-29-13

Happy Friday y'all!

Last weekend I was in lovely Ventura, Ca and I shared all my fave things to do in Ventura, check it out here! This week I am going to share my fave things from Craftcation! There are so many things I love about Craftcation, so I will be making this a series of posts through out the next couple of weeks, so I can share all of the goodness with you!

Craftcation :: Part 1
1. The location::
We were are the Crowne Plaza hotel right at the end of Ventura Pier where (1) you had a view of the ocean from any room, (2) you were able to head out for a walk along the boardwalk, which was as at our front door, and (3) it was in walking distance to everything: the beach, downtown, city hall and more. Ventura is all about the arts and was so welcoming to all of us makers...it is a real treat.

2. The community::
Markers was the word of the weekend and that is what we came away with, a community of makers. You can take a look at #makers2013 and #craftcation on Twitter or Instagram to see all the wonderful makers and creations that this community offers. This year I was much more prepared to network and make new friends because I have been longing to find my creative community close to me. Thankfully I have found them and I will be sharing most of them in my Craftcation series posts.

3. The workshops::
So many great workshops and so many ideas for new workshops next year that it is impossible to pick just one you want to go to! There were about 6-12 classes going on at the same time for four days straight! That is a lot of love and knowledge to be had and shared. So I will also be highlighting some of my favorite workshops and the craft classes I enjoyed while at Craftcation in this series.

4. Our fearless leaders::
Let me to introduce, Delilah and Nicole! There are no words to describe how awesome these two women are. They are so inspiring and without them Craftaction would not have been born and that is a sad thing to think about. Their own stories are amazing, as well as their story as a partnership in business with Craftcation and Patchwork. For sure check out their crafty businesses!

Here is a little story: I moved to Santa Ana almost three years ago and literally right around the corner from my house was this cute little store called The Road Less Traveled, this is Delilah's store. One day I had a little time to finally pop in and check it out...I was in love at the first step in. One side of the store had all these handmade goods made by local artists, and they other half was a classroom with a giant calender of workshops on the wall. Oh yeah, I liked this place. I signed up for the newsletter and low an be hold a few months later there was Craftcation in that newsletter and the rest is history. :)

5. The wealth of knowledge::
The wealth of knowledge at Craftcation about crafts, business, web, food and motivation is out of this world. With all the classes available and all of our favorite "craftelebrities" (as Nicole calls them...love it!) in one place - there is nothing you can't learn. They want to help and are so willing to share their expertise that you feel so welcomed into learning new things to make your business work. Then when you are ready to take a break from all the business classes you can pop into a craft class to just have some fun or learn a technique you have always wanted to learn! I am still processing everything I learned.

Follow along with this series under my craftcation tag in the side bar under Labels. It is going to be fun and I promise to share some of the good knowledge I learned from my fave craftelebrites!

Enjoy!
xo,

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Falling for Friday // 3-22-13

(1) Pete's // (2) Busy Bee Cafe // (3) Betty Belts // (4) The Pier // (5) City Hall

Today I am featuring my favorite things to do while I am here in Ventura, Ca.
Right now I am in Ventura at the Craftcation Conference! You can find out more here.

Ventura, California
Ventura is located about an hour north of Los Angeles, Ca and about 40 minutes south of Santa Barbara, Ca. It is a beach town known for its great surf and their wonderful downtown area with great food and shops.

Here are my favorite things to do in Ventura!

1. Pete's Breakfast House
We always leave so early to go to Ventura, so the first thing on the list is always breakfast.
And it is always Pete's!

2. Main Street - Downtown Ventura
Shopping and Dining
Antique Stores
A good lunch - Busy Bee Cafe, Nature's Grill
Craft shops - Betty Belts, Superbuzzy
Fun retail stores

3. The Pier
Paddle
Watch the surfers
Enjoy the beach

4. The Architecture
Gorgeous buildings all around town that are so hard to miss.
The Mission San Buenaventura
Ventura City Hall building

If you ever get the chance to go or enjoy it as much as I do, you will find it is a great place for some R&R. Who doesn't love some of that?




Happy Friday!

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Falling for Friday // 3-15-13

Happy Friday!

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The jewelry finds I have been inspired by.

1. Roots Jewelry - stacking rings...yes. feather....yes.

2. So many triangles and all the different shades within them. love.

3. GiantLION - chunky distressed brass.

4. Girl on a swing around your neck...so fun and playful!

5. Simple triangles for everyday wear.

6. Shop Rare Bird - leather chevrons, please!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

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Falling for Friday // 3-8-13

I love S'mores. 

We love to experiment with s'mores in this house.

Here are some of our favorites and some Pinerest finds. Yum!

The Thin Mint S'more.
*Substitute with Thin Mint for the chocolate. 

The Sugar Cookie S'more.
*Substitute with Sugar cookies for the graham cracker.

The Pinterest S'more.
*Goodness.

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Enjoy and Happy Friday!

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Falling For Friday // 3-1-13

Hello March, Hello Spring. Since winter is coming to a close and we are heading into spring, longer days and lots of flowers...I thought I would share my winter favorites, what I love about the transition from winter to spring, and my excitement for spring today on Falling for Friday!

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I loved this Winter!

cinnamon pinecones.

beanies, boots and scarves.

peppermint mochas.

camping and bonfires.

home, cozy, blankets.

crisp morning walks.

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Crazy about for Spring!

roses.

maxi skirts.

iced tea.

camping and the beach.

being out in the neighborhood.

morning light through the window.

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This winter has been good to me, as it is every year. Such a busy time of year with all the festivities, but always a favorite, because I get to hibernate and get cozy with a fire.
What is not to love?

I like the changing of the seasons and even though we don't get extreme weather here in California, the one thing I love most is watching the seasons change here. The subtleties in the air, the turning leaves, new growth, and the smell...each season has that smell, when you first walk out your front door in the morning. Right now we are getting crisp nights, mellow mornings and sunny days...there is still that quietness of winter, but a new light coming through the window that only means warmer days ahead. My roses are/were trimmed back, and I am already seeing tons of new growth.

Spring means getting back into it, starting anew, and finally getting more sun in my life. I am always ready for the longer days...they are my favorite. The lighting at this time of year is amazing, as if it knows we need to be woken up, but does it ever so softly, slowly preparing us for the harsh light of summer. All the flowers and the birds start to come out, and I start to get back out on the water more. It is a good time to appreciate what I had been missing while in hibernation.

Happy Spring! 

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