Lingerie, Shoes and Fabrics Obsessions

Another lackluster fashion season is upon us with lots of retail companies playing it safe to get them through one more fiscal year. Too dismal?? Don't worry, Fall is always the best season for style and fashion. There are still plenty of style obsessions for me to have. I once owned a fine lingerie boutique and one of my favorite lingerie labels is Aubade. Here are my picks from the new Fall collection. Clockwise: Russian Cancan, Neiges Brulantes, Dentelles Eternelles, French Kiss in Paris.

There's a lot of wishlisting going on around here. Here are my picks from Irregular Choice. Clockwise: we Found Love, Hook Line and Sinker, Take Flight, Lemon Pips.

 ...and my current fabric obsessions are: Penny's Garden, Whimsical Mist, Bluebird Park Rabbit, Peter Panda Bamboo.

My Sweater High Five's

We are finally feeling the Fall nip in the air in Bucks County prompting daydreams of sweaters, boots, puffy vests and bonfires...

Here are my Fall Sweater picks so far....

J Crew Camel Sweater in cashmere blend

Anthropologie Bushy Tailed Pullover

...and my obsession with pheasants is finally catching on! Anthropologie's  Faison Pullover

Modcloth Bake Sale Away Sweater

and from an awesome shop on Etsy, clever me Fox Sweatshirt from nicandthenewfie

Accidental quilting

I reached a big milestone this week in my career. -going full-time with my Etsy shop ZhalaClothing! I am also devoting more time to my health coaching business. I kinda dual-wield~
To get things started off right, I am rearranging and cleaning out my overly cluttered and disorganized sewing room/studio/office.
Of course, I quickly get distracted, and this happened:


I had these fabrics for about ten years and never found the right project for them- until today. I needed to break up the strong zebra print so I ran to my quilting shop and grabbed a 1/2 yard of this specialty fabric I've had my eye on. 

**Update! I finished the quilt and you can see it now on my Etsy Shop here!



I love using fine fabrics and home fabrics in quilts; velvets, herringbones, flocked fabrics. They add much needed texture and luxury to a room. Texture is one of the most overlooked design elements, which is my pet peeve.
I tried a shortcut for cutting and sewing pinwheels where you cut two large squares and sew around all four sides, right sides together. Then, mark a line diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right., top right to bottom left. Cut along the lines and you've just created 4 pinwheel squares! Quick and easy!


I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend so stay tuned for more...

Join my LinkedIn group Etsy Artists and Crafts and chat with me about your crafting aspirations!

posted from Bloggeroid

You Deserve a Little Luxury

The essence of Luxury is gratitude, simplicity and beauty. 

Adding luxury into your daily life is like having good feng shui. It invites good energy and leaves no room for crummy old energy. The essence of Luxury is gratitude, simplicity and beauty. This is the formula for living in luxurious abundance. First: Gratitude. Being thankful for all the beautiful things in your life will in turn attract more beautiful things into your life(remember that health and family are beautiful things too). Take inventory of all your things of beauty, dust them off and display them with love and pride in your home. 
Second: Simplicity. I am sorry to tell you this but you don't need a million of everything. This is hard for us Americans and most of us are kind of in denial about this. A few high quality multi-functioning heels is way classier than a bunch of redundant styles tossed on the floor of your closet. 
Third: Beauty. I have a rule. Only bring home beautiful things. Appreciating beauty is not shallow. It is nurturing to your spirit. You feel good when you gaze upon a thing of beauty. You're wired to do so. It gives you pleasure and joy. 
Luxury is an attitude that through these three elements, you will eliminate clutter, excess and bitterness from your life. You deserve it. 

I believe we need more luxury in our lives and this is the first post in a series of Living with Luxury.

gold dalia candleholder--