Fabulous Felt Sweet Strawberries Barrette
Dress: Modcloth
Blouse: Marshalls
Shoes: Ami Clubwear
Bag: Candie's, Kohl's
Belt: Wet Seal
Sunglasses: Michaels
Fabulous Felt Pastel Celestial Barrette
Top: Wet Seal
Skirt: Necessary Objects, Annie Sez
Shoes: Worthington, JCPenney
Bag: Princess Vera, Kohl's
Belt: Wet Seal
Sunglasses: JCPenney
Dress: Modcloth
Blouse: Marshalls
Shoes: Bongo, Kohl's
Bag: Marshalls
Belt: Apt. 9, Kohl's
Sunglasses: Michaels
Bracelet: Cloud 9, Ocean City
Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City
Remember when you were a kid and you'd go on car trips with your parents and look for things outside the window that were yellow or started with the letter "k" or looked like a giant marshmallow (I'm looking at you, Michelin Man)? Well, this post is like that in no way (except for maybe echoing some of the whimsy of one Mr. Michelin). It's about revamping my Etsy shop, a process I feel compelled to document despite the dangers of revealing how the sausage is made.
Some time ago, I decided to narrow my shop categories down to a spare and sassy three: Carnival Candy, Rustic Romance, and Twee Party. Because Necklaces, Barrettes, and Other made too much sense and were kind of boring. No, I wanted magic and mystery in my categories, weird and enigmatic phrases that would make shoppers go, "What the . . .?" Even I'm not entirely sure what they mean. (What is a rustic romance, anyway? A dalliance between garden gnomes?) I just knew that they conveyed certain styles. Carnival Candy was supposed to be glam, Rustic Romance was supposed to be boho, and Twee Party was supposed to be sweet. And they were. Sort of. But after a while they also started to look alike, all melting into a morass of Willy Wonka-esque, rainbow-colored goo. If Will Ferrell's Mugatu were weighing in, then he'd say that they were the Blue Steel of handmade accessories; Carnival Candy, Rustic Romance, Twee Party -- it's like I'm taking crazy pills; they're all the same! So, I needed to find a way to lose the uniformity but keep the crazy (a plan that surely even Mugatu would approve of). And I decided that the best way to do that was through color. Carnival Candy would be all crayon box brights; Rustic Romance would be earthy browns, tans, oranges, yellows, evergreens, fuchsias, and deep purples; and Twee Party would be sugary pinks, mints, lavenders, yellows, turquoises, tans, and browns (these last two exclusively for portraying caramel and chocolate, but of course). I thought, what better way to do this than to remake some old designs in new colors? So I took these strawberry, celestial, and pastry themes, all initially done in a carnival palette, and recreated them as kawaii copies baked to be the life of the twee and crumpets party (even if the moon isn't edible except for maybe in that classic kid's book Mooncake. Also, if you subscribe to the green [or in this case, green-blue] cheese theory). I'm looking forward to trying this with other food motifs as well as flowers and palm trees.
Like all things Trove, it's a work in progress.
Like all things Trove, it's a work in progress.
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