The Current Custom / Exit Art Mini Haul

So I mentioned this week in a previous post that I had purchased 2 items from The Current Custom which is Lorraine Stanick's (YouTube Guru) website. Well my package arrived in the mail today and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Here's the goods:

I purchased a Rumba Lafayette Watch in Snow Patrol(white) and a Lisa Taubes Sterling Silver Bracelet. Bracelet is $22 and the Rumba Watch is $35.

My box arrived in 2 days and this was even during their free shipping promotion. Everything was packed nice and neat. The bracelet was packed in the purple Exit Art box shown in the top photo and my Rumba Watch came in a tube like the one below, but I didn't photograph it.

I am very impressed with what I purchased and will definitely order from them again. I had UPS tracking on my box and was even emailed again once the UPS man delivered it at my home.

Just in case you are confused about why the website is The Current Custom and the box says Exit Art let me explain. Lorraine's website is called The Current Custom and the chain of boutiques her family owns down in Florida is called Exit Art. There you have it!

www.thecurrentcustom.com

www.exit-art.com

I Ain't Missing You Franken

Here is a new franken I made with NYC East Village and a plain white creme.... this is paired with another franken that is made with the same polish's, just different quantities.

These are both cremes with subtle shimmer. The darker franken needs 2 coats for full coverage, while the lighter franken needs 3 or more..... it is sheer but they both dried fast because both polish's that I used to make these have a great fast drying formula.

I used my nifty pattern scissors to make this scalloped design, I cut them out of mailing labels

see the gooey bits left over.... that's because it is very humid inside right now.

with a coat of TC

with Is This Love franken

with I Ain't Missing You franken

I made these two frankens with NYC East Village and Billie French White

above |L-R NYC East Village, Billie White, I Ain't Missing You and Is This Love Franken

♥ close-up ♥

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sale

As some of you know I spent the entire day yesterday on the couch when I got hit with a fever. Nothing bothers me more than not being able to do anything so I tried my hardest to work.

 photo: milenachka

I did decide that any of the unsold key paintings (as seen on design*sponge), would be sold for $100 before I move into a new space. It will be a one-week only sale and we'd love to feature your styled painting on the blog (American Eagle Outfitters bought the majority, but there are a few left!)

It's a steal since all of my work is currently selling for $450- $3000. Email if you'd like info before the sale. Begins Monday.

 www.dallasshaw.com, also see available key paintings here

OPI Femme de Cirque - So Many Clowns, So Little Time

Next is So Many Clowns, So Little Time. This polish is also a sheer shade, but not like In The Spot Light Pink. So Many Clowns, So Little Time offers a basic neutral color to your nails. This is a perfect shade for people who work in places that require you to wear natural/neutral shades. This polish would be great for a basic manicure for a wedding. The color is sheer enough to offer that naturalness for a barely there look, but also adds color for that extra pop. The ProWide brush also adds to this polish too. Making the application process a breeze.

As you can see, there still a little visible nail line, but still gives off that barely there look.

I also added I Juggle...Men on top for that extra pop of glitter. So what do you think? Love it or hate it? Click here if you would like to see my review for this collection. Click here if you want to see In The Spot Light Pink! Click here if you want to see Step Right Up!

Collection was sent to me for review.

Thrifting 101, Part 10: Cleaning vintage leather

This week I made an epic thrifting score. On my way out of a newly discovered thrift and vintage shop, I spied an ancient Coach satchel hanging on a shelf near the register. The asking price was twenty bucks, which I deemed astronomical considering how beat up the bag looked. On closer inspection, I saw the damage was far worse than I initially expected. Two dark stains were prominent on the back and bottom of the bag, a water stain embellished one of the bag's sides, and the entire thing was covered in dust and grime.

In addition, the bag smelled as if it'd spent it's life on the arm of a two pack-a-day smoker.  I imagined the previous owner was named something like Tracy or Thelma, a woman who lived alone in a basement apartment with four cats and dined on TV dinners washed down with Pabst Blue Ribbon. This was a woman who listened to Dolly Parton and worked at a bowling alley. She was sassy, and wise-crackin', and wore Hanes sweatshirts decorated with puffy paint and rhinestones. Twenty-five years ago her boyfriend Hank surprised her with her very own Coach satchel for her birthday. I visualize this woman carrying the Coach during special events like casino night or bingo down at the Elk's Lounge, where it dangled from her arm while she took long luxurious drags from a cigarette. But all good things must come to an end, and eventually she and Hank broke up. No longer being able to stand memories of that miscreant, she pawned the bag for something really nice like a .38 revolver or electric rollers for her hair. And that's how it ended up at the thrift store. Or so I imagine.

I knew that with a little research on cleaning leather, and a lot of elbow grease, this Coach had potential. So I haggled the price down to $10 and walked it out of the store. As soon as I arrived home, I got to work.

Here's the bag before cleaning:

The first thing I did was remove the strap and wipe down the bag with a dry cloth to remove any loose dirt and dust.

Then I brought out products I purchased specifically for cleaning leather: Saddle soap, a dry white cloth, mink oil, three white cloths, and a pair of rubber gloves to protect my hands. I purchased all of these items at my local grocery store, though saddle soap is also available at most pet supply and equestrian shops. 

I began by gently rubbing a generous amount of saddle soap with a cloth to the bag, moving in small circles. I repeated this process over the entire bag, paying extra attention to the grimiest parts - the bottom and handle.

When finished, I rubbed a dampened white cloth on the bag to rise off the saddle soap. (Failure to rinse the soap could cause the leather to become dry and cracked.) I repeated the entire process to remove as much dirt and grime as possible.

When I finished cleaning and rinsing, I rubbed the bag with a clean dry cloth to remove any lingering moisture. Then I hand-applied the mink oil, which is used to condition and make leather water-resistant. I used the same process as I did with the saddle soap - rubbing in small circular motions gently over the entire bag, paying extra attention to the seams, handle and bottom. Using my hands helped warm the oil, allowing it to penetrate further than if I'd used a cloth. When finished I gave the bag one final wipe to remove any extra mink oil and buffed it with the cloth to make the bag really shine. The entire process took forty-five minutes from start to finish.

Here's the finished product. The bag is lustrous, soft and gorgeous. And look at all that dirt left on the cloth - ewww.

As an extra step, beeswax can be used on the bag's hardware to polish and help zippers run smoothly. Cleaning and conditioning vintage leather should be done every six to nine months in order to prevent cracks and damage from drying out.

And the smell? Well, that proved to be far more challenging to remove. I sent out a tweet requesting advice for removing cigarette smoke from leather and received a number of suggestions. Erin of Work With What You've Got instructed me to air the bag outdoors in the sun for a few days, filling it with dryer sheets for good measure. Tina of T Minus, T Plus mentioned I put the bag in the freezer to kill the odor. Kate of Divergent Musings suggested I stuff it into a plastic bag with Odor Eaters. Juanette of Fashion Nette-Work voted that I spritz the interior with Febreeze, while Erica of The Put Together Girl recommended I spray the interior with vodka (which roused a pretty hilarious debate between Erin, Tina, Julie, and Juanette, who thought it sacrilege to waste perfectly good vodka on a bag.)

Initially, I went the vodka route. When finished, the bag smells like an alcoholic cigarette smoker. Then I did a bit of research and came upon a tip to stuff the bag with a tube sock filled with baking soda. Voila! Cigarette odor significantly vanquished.

Do you have a thrifted leather item you were wondering how to clean? Have these tips encouraged you to give it a shot? Got any further advice regarding cleaning vintage leather? 

(Are you curious about the previous posts in my Thrifting 101 series? Up to this point, Thrifting 101 has focused on tips for newbies and those dealing with the squick factor, advice regarding how to shop at a thrift store, thrifting for the clothing snob, recommendations for finding the best thrift and consignment stores, tips for determining what days are the best for thrifting, a post where I explained my love for thrifting, and advice regarding thrift store etiquette.)

melanie acevedo

some of my favorite pics by talented photographer, melanie acevedo.

melanie acevedo

Shop her Style: Beyoncé

Beyoncé  stepped out for a business meeting in New York last month looking quite the professional in a leather jacket, white shirt, layered necklaces, sequined shorts, gorgeous platform YSL Tribtoo heels and a £1,625 Bottega Veneta bag.

Beyonce in New York

If you like the look but can’t quite stretch to those prices (not many of us can!) try these:

Ted Baker Hat. £24

Reiss Shirt. £79

Day Birger et Mikklesen Necklace. £29

3.1 Phillip Lim Silk Shorts. £550

The exact shorts Beyonce is wearing!

Warehouse Leather Shorts. £70

Vivienne Westwood Leather Jacket. £655

Levi's Leather Jacket. £300

Miss Selfridge Leather Jacket. £120

Office Shoes. £80

D&G Heels. £270

See by Chloe Bag. £399

Mulberry Shopper. £562

Ted Baker Leather Bag. £99

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips - Laced Up

I really love the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. They are a lot of fun and really worth the price to me since if you had your nails done like this at a salon you would pay a lot more than $9.99.

This is the pattern Laced Up which is black and nude lace. Very sexy and I'm really loving it!

You can see my original post HERE from when I used these in Wild Child (which is the zebra pattern).

These are available at drugstores and mass retailers.

Click HERE to visit sallyhansen.com to see all 24 patterns and colors now!

Holding Hands on an Escalator franken

I used NYC East Village, With NYC West Village and a sparkly silver micro-glitter with blue iridescent flecks from Icing. So basically, this is my franken East/West Village  with some sparkly shimmer/micro-glitter thrown in. It is a little too sheer for me ~ here I have added 3 coats and there is still alot of bare spots. I find that the formula on NYC In a New Your Minute polish's do dry very fast. It's my favirote brand of department store polish!

I'm calling this one Holding Hands on an Escalator, because I don't want to get sued. I still have 4 more frankens to show from my 80's hair metal power ballads........... stay tuned!


Below is my Franken from the other day made with NYC East Village and a white creme. I named this one Is This Love, and I wore it for two whole days..... 3 coats without TC

I added the shimmery blue polish diagonally across my nail, at 3 coats there is still some bare areas and I should have added another coat. BUT -  I am lazy so I just added a coat of TC and called it a day.

Polish's I used for this franken East Village, West Village, and Icing Starry Eyes. Icing Starry eyes came in a mini 5 set from Icing by Claire's Stores. I have some photos of it floating round on my Picasa somewhere....

Gabrielle from The Edge of Sanity who thank goodness is posting again, has done some great swatches of these no-name icings HERE.




.... and a few more photos

With my Franken Holding Hands on an Escalator

With NYC East Village

With Billie French White

♥