Tag Archives: Handmade

Meet Me at the Corner of 9th & Elm!

I was recently introduced to a great site called 9th & Elm (“Handmade, independent, or otherwise cool™”). If you are a regular reader of Any Second Now, you know I’m in full support of anything and everything independent and local, so 9th & Elm is right up my alley! The founders of 9th & Elm, Clay and Elly Bethune, started their site back in 2013, wanting to provide their members with fashionable clothing and accessories that they have curated from some of the best handmade and independent designers.

I spent many an hour marveling through the fantastically fashionable items on 9th & Elm, and found three items that I fell in love with (all pictured below). I can’t wait to share with you the fun outfit posts for each of the items, which I will post up in the next few weeks. Since the weekend is coming up and July 4th is just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to shop handmade and independent on 9th & Elm!

This bracelet reminds me of my father, who was in the US Navy (and matches my tattoo). It almost looks vintage!

Tan and Black Anchor Arm Party Bracelet

This t-shirt is hand painted by the designer. You can choose whatever phrase you want, and I chose what was pictured on the site. Cute and funny!

Choose Your Own Short Phrase Ladies Notebook Paper Graphic© – T-Shirt

I love this Stripe Chiffon Dress because it can be dressed up or down. It looks great with sandals, as well as heels and a blazer!

FTC Disclosure: I received product and was asked to review the product and site in return. Although I did receive product, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

Weekend in Pictures: The SoCal Etsy Guild Market

This weekend was quite the busy one! My mother-in-law was in town for a conference on Friday, so she requested that we hang out on Saturday, going anywhere and everywhere throughout San Diego. We started our day off at The Headquarters near Seaport Village and browsed around the SoCal Etsy Guild Market. Although the weather here in San Diego during the weekend was quite temperamental, going between hot, cold and rainy, we stuck it out to take a look around and even listened a bit to the live band.

The Headquarters at Seaport District invites you to a unique San Diego event. SoCal Etsy Guild Market will feature Southern California’s premier handmade artisan vendors in the beautiful setting of our intimate, outdoor courtyard. The market will include live art & music and free children’s activities. All products featured at the market will be handmade, vintage, artisanal food or art. This collection of merchants is one you won’t want to miss. Support local artists and buy handmade at the SoCal Etsy Guild Market, Saturday April, 26th from 10 am – 5 pm.

– From The Headquarters Website

Afterwards, we headed up to The Forum at Carlsbad (again); then had a snack at Harbor Fish Café (my mother-in-law’s favorite little fish shack); bought some confections at The Chocolate Bar; shopped a little at The Beat Clothing; dropped off our sleepy little boy at home with Nana before heading back to Fashion Valley Mall for some final shopping. Whew! That was quite the whirlwind of taking in as much of San Diego as we could in just one day! She then brought our little one up to Las Vegas for the week while my hubby and I do some spring cleaning, which includes setting up our vinyl listening area (pictures to come). Although we were all over San Diego, I took most of my pictures at the SoCal Etsy Guild Market, featuring a couple of booths where I made some lovely purchases. Hope you had a great weekend!

As we entered, we were greeted by the cutest little cast of characters from The Yarn Crate.

Immediately smitten by the donut, I purchased it along with some equally adorable macarons (all of which are going to be on display on my desk at work)!

My final purchase of the day was from Cirello Gallery, featuring laser cut stainless steel jewelry.

I purchased the hand cut gold plated skull pendant. Right up my alley!

To learn more about the SoCal Etsy Guild and possibly join, click here. Also follow them on Twitter at @SoCalEtsyGuild and Facebook!

You've Got it Made

This outfit includes a couple of handmade items: the vintage purse I re-worked by adding pom poms from Monday’s post, and a scarf that I knitted myself. Also included in this outfit are pieces made by the talented Suki of Suki Bijoux. In the detail picture below, you can see the vintage purse necklace, the “Recoil” ring and typewriter ring. Lately, I have been wearing her pieces mixed in with my favorite ones, like the @ ring by Wendy Brandes. Pieces like these handmade items give character to an otherwise simple California winter outfit.

Outfit – H&M jacket, sweater and jeans; Tod’s suede boots; Honeybadger glasses by BonLook; Wendy Brandes ring; vintage purse necklace, custom-made “Recoil” ring and “C” typewriter ring by Suki Bijoux; handmade knitted scarf and pom pom purse

Photos by Rholnna Jiao

How To: Pom Pom Purse

Ages ago, I vowed to try my hand at making a pom pom purse ala PS I Made This and my friend Sara (my original post here). I know that was a few seasons ago, but now that it’s winter, it seems appropriate to bring it back up again. In my previous post, I was going to add pom poms to a black vinyl purse that I had where the embelishments started to fall off. I changed my mind, and decided that I would actually use a very cute vintage tweed purse that I purchased on Ebay nearly 7 years ago. It’s been sitting in my closet and I was trying to figure out whether I should just add vintage brooches or appliques to it, or maybe even studs. Because I chose pom poms that were in browns, tans and yellows, I thought that it would fit this purse very well.

Also, rather than use a glue gun, I opted to use a fabric glue, to ensure that the pom poms would stay put (I found Aleene’s Fabric Fusion at my local Michael’s). I first stragetically placed all the pom poms generally where I would like them to be, then used the fabric glue to stick them all in place. To ensure that they adhered correctly, I made sure to add the glue to the pom pom, then pressed the adhesive side down onto the purse. I held it there for a few minutes before moving on. The glue actually dried fairly quickly and I was able to get through the purse in just about an hour.

Check out the finished product (below); I think it worked out quite well! This was a very simple and fun way to re-work a purse that would otherwise have been relegated to the back of my closet or a donation bin. An outfit post featuring this purse will be up next!

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this: