New Bobby Pin Design

So, Helen has been serving an awful lot of masters, lately, and is very distracted. On the one hand, it's great to be needed and active! On the other hand, it can be pretty stressful, what with the Problems Helen and her colleagues are dealing with.

Anyhoo, I wanted to show you Helen's fun new bobby pin design. Take a look!

Aren't they cute? We are unsure of the fiber content, as Helen got this bright pink chiffon remnant from longtime dressmaker Susie F, but it might be silk. It sure works well with this petal shape. Helen used vintage faux pearls for the centers. Buy 'em here . We're thinking about what other fabrics and colors Helen can use for this design.....maybe they would be good bridal hair accessories.

In other news, our friend Joana now has a fabulous licensing agreement for some of her work! Some of her whimsical fashion illustrations now adorn phone and iPad cases. Check 'em out here .

Lastly, Helen now has a new place to sell some of her wares. Third Coast Style is a beautiful new store in Milwaukee's fashion district. Here are some of Helen's new Christmas-y silk pendants, which will be in the store starting mid-November....

Note the blood trillium in the upper right corner. OK, so gotta go. Helen has a lot of work to do, and I'm working on staying warm.

Kanzashi Fun with Blogs

Helen started working again with these people , so her time has gotten a little more limited for creative work. Luckily, she gets to bask in a little recognition that's been happening recently!

Helen's friend Joana featured some of Helen's hair accessory designs in this whimsical little blog post . Joana knows Helen from the musical world. A few years back, Joana became a goldsmith, and began producing award-winning designs. While she currently has left jewelry design behind (we hope temporarily!) she has become quite a sophisticated fashion illustrator, and she sells her fun drawings as prints and cards here .

What else? During the summer, a young woman blogger in LA emailed Helen, asking to review some of her work. Helen sent Christine a few things, and Christine took some wonderful photos. The full review isn't up yet, but the sneak peak is here .

I can't leave you without posting some kanzashi pictures, however. Helen is selling her kanzashi necklaces at her neighbor Terry's store (one of them already sold!!!) and Helen took a few photos, luckily. What have we got?

Here's a little number in dupioni silk with a pink jade bead...

....another dupioni one with carnelian....

....and a couple in kimono silk from Helen's kanzashi fairy godmother in Japan; this Christmas-y one with yellow jade....

...and this salmon shades one with a sort of off-color carnelian bead....

Next: Helen made a kanzashi bobby pin in chiffon that she would love to show you. She's going to make another one in the same design, only a little smaller. Sorry, you're going to have to wait.