Yes, I know it has been a long time since I last posted. And that I disappeared without saying a word lol. I went on vacations! to GERMANY! And I was so busy trying to finish editing the VivaLaModa july issue before leaving that I totally forgot to update the blog. My apologies to all the fashion addicts out there ;)

However, be happy now! Not because I am back hahaha but because the 4th issue of VivaLaModa is online now! (totally FREE!)

I really hope you like it! Feel free to post comments, new ideas, suggestions, topics you would like to see, etc here or emailing me (You can see the email in the magazine website).




And this is a post full of announcements because my shop is in the galleria of PapernStitch until August 16th! Please visit it here:
http://www.papernstitch.com/

And my shop can be seen here: http://papernstitch.com/shop/gilbea
Please heart my papernstitch shop! I need hearts hearts hearts! (2 shops with most hearts win a prize!) =)

Thank youuu!

Also, relating the magazine, I am trying to get together some gift bags for the collaborators that have written most for the magazine. Since the zine doesn't make much money, I am trying to ask for freebies and samples from handmade/vintage sellers. If anyone wants to participate let me know! In exchange your items will be reviewed in November issue of VivaLaModa! =) yay!

And for the blog fans, let me say that I am not abandoning the blog at all and that more fashion is coming your way, starting with summer dresses trends! =)

Thanks for reading the blog!

I just got the new hand fans made with my hand painted silk and they are fabulous! Sorry for the promotional post but I wanted to show you the new pieces =)

One is already sold, but the rest will become available soon in my etsy shop. If someone wants one of them, just let me know and I will list it.

These will be the only fans this year, unless I sell them all in 1 week and order more lol!
So if you want one for yourself, as a gift (mothers day! *hehe*), etc... don't hesitate!

Thanks for looking ;)

Be ready for the next post on fashion accessories! =)

Yes, you heard right. One of the trends for this winter is going back to peplum wasists shapes. Now, I didn't have a clue what this 'waist' shape was before I saw this trend. But I realize now this is not a new trend at all.. it sounds... familiar! lol I just didn't know they were called "Peplum waists"



So, what can we do to achieve this look and still wear handmade? I found a few iems that would work well in this category:

Sellers, left to right, top to bottom, are: NodtoModvintage, Kalivoda, thebeeskneesvintage, shopgoodgrace, iheartnorwegianwood, pinkpoodlevintage

So, what do you think? will you be wearing this trend? ;)

On a side note, I just finished my first silk obi belt! Made of my own hand painted silk, sewn by me! (lol I'm a total beginner at sewing so I am super happy with the outcome of this first attempt)
So, what do you think? I love the reddish/orangeish overall color, perfect to combine with a black/grey/brownish dress/shirt. I think it adds a super fashionable touch to the outfit hehe
It will be soon availabe inmy etsy shop for around $45. Do you think it is well priced?



Catwalk image from Fashion tribes

A while ago Bonzie and I got together (virtually lol) and decided to do a collaboration where I would paint some silk and she would make a dress with it =)

So by christmas I saw the dress finally made, and seriously, I had no words! It is named Fall of Night Handkerchief Halter Dress =) She made such a fantastic work with the silk, the dress is simply stunning. I was left totally o_O cause I love the dress so so much, I never even dreamt something so cool could be done with my silks lol

I wanted to tell you all guys about this collaboration a while ago, but life got in the middle and I have had barly no time to post in the blog (as you have noticed, of course). Who would have guessed being unemployed would be so time consuming LOL

Anyways, Bonzie did a photoshoot of the dress last week and send me the pictures and it just looks too amazing. I couldn't resist it and had to share the photos with you! My silk is in a photoshoot!!!!!

And here is the dress on a mannequin:



I feel so happy to see the outcome of this collaboration!

And, the dress is for sale at bonzie's shop! =)

So, what do you think? By the way, this has always been my dream, to paint silk for a designer who can make a great piece out of it. If any other designers are interested in collaborating, drop me a line!

This week we have 3 giveaways!!!!

First giveaway: Rhodochrosite earrings by EarthsOpulence

Lovely earrings!!

Pink and gray swirls... 6mm Rhodochrosite beads sandwiched between sterling beadcaps. Black Diamond Swarovski AB crystals on each end, on a sterling ballpin. Earwires are sterling silver.

Rules to enter:

1. Visit EarthsOpulence's shop and pick a favourite item.
2. Leave a comment in this post with your favourite item and a way to contact you (email or etsy link. Leave a contact or I won't be able to place you in the draft).
3. I will select the winner from the comments with a random number generator.
   

This giveaway ends 9th November at midnight EST. Good luck!




Second giveaway: I am giving away one of my silk mini scarves! This giveaway is hosted at a fellow fashion blog: Fashion Fling

To participate in this giveaway, you have to go to Fashion Fling's blog, visit my shop (GilBea), pick a favourite item and post it in the entry form (not in the comments) in Fashion Fling's post.
Deadline is November 11th =) Enjoy!
Click here to enter the giveaway


Third giveaway: We are extending the deadline for LaurieRyan's print up to 9th November. Please keep participating! =)

One last thing. Please subscribe to our monthly newsletter that will be coming out this week! =)
Thanks to fellow etsians we have articles on: how to make soap, scarf pattern, recipes, fashion, hair styles, and much more!

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Thanks!
If you are a seller and want to offer an item for a giveaway, contact me (see contact details in last section of left column)

I would like to announce my new collection!!! =)
Yeah, I finally finishied the catalog, and here you can see it:

Get your own - Open publication

If it doesn't work or want to see it full size, you can see it here: GilBea at issuu

I will be adding the new items to the etsy shop this week.

The catalogs I made last season were so popular that I decided to launch a new shop: LarumbaDesigns where I offer catalog creation. There are many options:

1. You can buy a premade template where you can place your photos
2. Have me create a custom template for you
3. I can design the whole catalog!

And more options of course =) Hope you like it!!

Let me know what you think about the catalog, the new collection, and the new shop!! =)

I thought I could get into this graphic adventure since I'm "between jobs" - lol - still looking!

I'm getting old... hahaha
I got a couple presents from etsy that my parents bought me from a list I made (this is super useful if your family doesn't know what to get you), which I really loved and soon will write a short product review on them.
However, there will always be too many things I like in Etsy and that I don't feel like asking my family to buy because they are a little pricey. (I'm still considering asking for a Wii or iPod but always feel it is too much lol)

So, here are some stuff I would LOVE to have. And someday will own... mwuahahaha! In the meantime, if you want to buy me something.. *wink wink* email me and I will tell you my size and address hihi =)

Sellers, from left to right, top to bottom, are (link to the item): PascaleMark, TamamiKoBag, perfectionstore, tinctory, ndeurshoes, KillTaupe, roselabiche, GeekCentralStation, OSSMedicineJewelry

Now after sharing this favourites with you, I just hope you don't like them as much as I do and don't buy them before me! (Unless you buy them for me of course :P )

Have a great weekend!

Hi!

Last week I had a home party to sell some of my silk creations ;) and it was fabulous! I sold much more than expected and people loved the new collection!!

This is my last home party before the fall collection, and probably won't be doing many more craft shows this summer, so in the next days I'm going to be adding to my etsy store the complete stock of silk scarves, skinny scarves, tshirts and hand fans =)


Thanks for reading and hope you like the new items!

Hi people!
Sorry for taking so long to post again. But here I am back again with one more summer trend for you: Ombre items :)


I've seen some clothes like these in the shops in the mall, and some of them are quite nice. So I tried to look for something similar in Etsy. First of all I discovered the search had changed a little, but after a couple seconds realized I can still search in all the types of items. And here they are!

Sellers, from left to right, top to bottom, are (link to the item): akaisilks, salvagelife, rocketmansion, karenw45002, ThreeFiveEightyFive, hodgepodgefarm, modestambition, samhoh, inspiringcolor

As you can see there were not that many of them. Seems this trend didn't really make it to Etsy.

Anyways, I hope you liked the items I pickes. Do you like this trend? Is it something you will be wearing or adding to your etsy shop?

For now I think I totally run out of trends to talk about, so if you have any new ideas, something you would like to know about, please let me know ;) Or if you have any clothes/accessories you don't know what to wear with, let me know and I will try to find something that suits you in Etsy. Thanks!


On a total self promotion point, wanted to announce some new silk handfans being added to my shop:

Thanks a lot for reading!

I couldn't help it.... I bought a pair of shoes! I'm the kind of girl that always wears trainers/snickers :) But I have a couple nice sandals for summer and boots for winter. However, this is my first pair of nice SHOES.


I got them at Zara. Yeah, cheap shoes. And also, not the most comfortable ones evah (compared to trainers! haha) But I swear I will learn to walk on them and not die! :D After all, I'm not going to walk a lot on them. I suppose I'm just one more female victim of the addiction to shoes... argghh

Definitely I bought them just because I love them, not for any outfit or occasion. So now comes the very famous female say: "What do I wear this with?" And I have a very cute denim skirt that will go great with them, but decided I also wanted to know what could the handmade world offer me to wear with this awesome shoes, from clothes to accessories and jewelry.

So here are my Etsy picks for my new shoes, I hope you like them as much as I do!

Sellers, from left to right, top to bottom, are (link to the item): hollystalder, larimeloom, megamimoon, eninaj, VC2o, daniellejewelry, roselabiche, cocoirene, vaivanat, isadoraclothing, nervoussystem, thefaintinggoat, missbrache, laurenkroberts, flutter, ninu

From all these artists, I really love all the work of daniellejewelry, eninaj and nervoussystem! :)
(And my birthday is coming soooon)

Please let me know if you liked this post, and of course, if you have an item you don't know what to wear it with, I'd be more than happy to search Etsy for you! :) Just post a comment about it!
This was a lot of fun hehe

On another note, I finally decided on who would do my alchemy dress... so yeah, can't wait to get it! :) I will post pictures of the final product heh

I also got new silk handfans I will be adding to the etsy store soon...

Next post: Really no idea! Help!

And If I can ask you one favour... If you like the blog, please rate it :) It's here on the right column ------>

Hello again people! Yes, I know it's been at least 1 week since my last post... lazy is my middle name.
But here I am again, bringing you the latest trends in makeup :) Since I run out of trends for clothing and accessories I remembered that well, I do put makeup on sometimes, so why not research a little on what's hot?


Let's take a look at trends in each category:

• Skin: matte and uncolored or glowy (great for summer looks if you are tanned)
  
• Blush: pink :)
• Lips: any shade of pink to almost white / bright red
• Eyes: gold with smokey eyes, silver (icy eyes), pink/violet, deep colors like green, coral, blue, yellow.

Overall I'd say pink is the color for makeup this summer: blush, eyes, lips.

I did a small hunt in Etsy to bring you the handmade products we can use to achieve this looks, and here is what I found:



(click to see full size)

Sellers, from top to bottom, left to right, are (link to the item): PureMineralsSource, pinkquartzminerals, Clearmineral, MineralMakeup, anaaya, pinkquartzminerals, PureMineralsSource, beautybysaria, MixologyMakeup, PureMineralsSource, Clearmineral, Backtotheearth, PureMineralsSource, Clearmineral, Lollibomb, beautybysaria

If you are the kind of girl that doesn't use heavy makeup I think you won't really care about makeup trends, but on what makes you look best. I'm one of those girls. When I go to work I only use a bit of concealer (aarrgghh dark circles!), and sometimes a bit of mascara. If I go party at night then I wear some eyeshadow, mascara, sometimes eyeliner, blush, ya know, the whole kit. For me what is most important is what kind of eyeshadow to wear to make my eyes nicer.
Eyeshadow color depends on your eye color, and blending in etc depends on the shape of your eye/face.

I found some kits for different eye colors in Etsy, I really like their colors:

• Brown eyes
• Green eyes
• Blue eyes
• Hazel eyes
  

I'm a mix between brown and green eyes, so depending on the day I choose one or the other style :)

A couple articles on eye make up for different eye shapes:

shapes of eyes and how to enhance them with make up
Eye Makeup for Different Eye Shapes

And if you want to get the whole star look, I found this super awesome videos on youtube that describes step by step how to achieve different looks from videoclips or famous girls: amy winehouse look, leona lewis bleeding love, britney spears I'm a slave for you, and a big etc



Amy Winehouse eye liner makeup inspired look
LEONA LEWIS - Bleeding love inspired make up look
DUFFY -Mercy make up inspired look

I have to say for me it's a little difficult to understand her because of the accent lol but I'm sure for native English speakers will be easier ;)

Hope you enjoyed this makeup review and that it helped you a little, maybe?
Tell me if you liked it, what is your favourite makeup/look, what you think looks better depending on the eye color, and, very important if you know, how to make the dark circles under the eyes go away???? (or at least be less visible... mine are sort of a genetic thing so no way to get rid of them I suppose)

Next time: I don't know yet! Need new and fresh ideas ;)

Found the makeup trends in this blog: Beauty Care Blog

I was running out of ideas for fashion blog posts, so I run to the Etsy forums to ask people what kind of outfit would they like me to search for in Etsy. I thought I could do a massive search to accomplish one look with Etsy items :)
Read some of the ideas in the forum.

A few people said they were looking for a summer dress but couldn't find in Etsy one they liked, so today I tried my best to find some nice ones in different styles (didn't do goth style, I'll do that in a next post)

Here are my Etsy picks:

Sellers, from top to bottom, left to right, are (link to the item): gaiaconceptions, Wildewear, Madrone, strangelittleduck, LaMadeleine, colorada, replicca, gaiaconceptions, enigmavintage, OracleClothiers, LaMadeleine, missbrache, missbrache, colorada, gaiaconceptions, Wildewear, VenniCaprice, Branches, mapetiteamy, themachinestops, cherrypievintage, neneee, VenniCaprice, sweetcharlotte, hodgepodgedesign, ktjean, themachinestops, VenniCaprice, VenniCaprice, fabricfun, themachinestops, decades

It's easy to see my favourite clothing shops for dresses in etsy! missbrache, VenniCaprice, themachinestops, gaiaconceptions and Wildewear. Just waiting to have money to get a dress in any of this shops! =)

I hope you liked this post and that it helps you out somehow with your dress hunt.
Did you like these? Do you have any other favourite shops? If so, please tell me =) I love to find new shops in Etsy.

Next blog post: Summer trends in Makeup!

Believe me, I always hate when summer gets closer and I realize I have no nice swimwear (aka: all my bikinis are old and falling apart) because for me it's so hard to find a bikini that fits right. And I always panic deciding 2 months before I need to loose weight! Which never happens, by the way. I end up eating more because of the stress of dieting! lol
Anyways, I swear this year this won't happen, after all I only go to the beach 5 or 6 days in the whole summer! haha So why worry :D

What does the fashion world say it's fashionable to wear in the beach this year?


Asymmetric designs, geometric and African prints, tankinis, small bikinis and cut-away swimsuits

More or less what we have seen in the regular spring trends but applied to swimwear. Get some animal print bikini or a white or neon cut-away swimsuit! =)

But definitely it's sooo difficult to buy a bikini, specially those that are just in one size, top and bottom can't be mixed!! In top parts I'd be an S or M, bottom an L. So that won't work for me. And I don't wear full swimsuits anymore because, well, I don't want a white tummy =)

If you have the same problem as me, why not get a custom made bikini/swimsuit at Etsy? These are my picks:

Sellers, from top to bottom, left to right, are (link to the item): missbrache, jMarieBoutique, ladramaqueen, kandiswim, missbrache, littlepinkdress, Harajaku, missbrache, missbrache, saleyla, FlingActive, ladramaqueen, Harajaku, trywesley, MySugarDoll, missbrache

You can tell I like missbrache ah? hehe I really think missbrache and Harajaku are the best swimwear shops I have found in Etsy. Do you have any other favourites? please please let me know! :)

Personally, I'm not a big fan of tankinis, and I kind of hate cut-away swimsuits (what's the point of having a white stripe in your tummy?). This last ones are very fashionable and chic, but I'm not going to any Puff Daddy party in the Hamptons this year so no thanks. :)

Well, I hope you liked this trend review! What kind of swimsuit do you wear? Will you change style this summer?

I did a little research again and found a couple videos about what kind of swimsuit to wear depending on your body type.
These ones looked really helpful: How to pick a suwimsuit for your body type

Yesterday I posted in the Etsy forums about the babydoll dresses. Most people said they like them and their favourite outfit is a babydoll dress with fitted jeans + sandals, or boots over the jeans, or with leggings. So there you go! Also, to show people that you have a waist, wear a belt or scarf around your waist. Good luck with the look, I'm gonna try it too! =)

Find the swimwear fashion article here

And on a totally self promotional note... sorry guys! Just finished this new scarf design:

Hope you like it!! And that you enjoyed the little fashion trend.

Next week:... I don't know yet! Ideas anyone?

I saw a lot of babydoll dresses last summer in the shops in my city. But it seems that this year the are out of fashion! (Or that's what designers say because I still see them in the shops!)

So this post is for those of you that bought a babydoll dress and like me, care little about what fashion says and you are going to wear them again this summer. :) After all, it cost money, and I can't just use it only one year!

I've always asked myself this question: What to wear with a babydoll dress??? Most look kinda shapeless and all that, always thought they weren't very flattering to my figure. I'm more fan of babydoll tops than dresses, but I still think they are pretty nice and wish I could wear one and feel pretty! ;)

And I did my research, finding this awesome video where it explains what type of babydoll dress fits you better depending on your body type.

After this video maybe I have tempted you with getting a handmade babydoll dress! HA! See my Etsy picks and see if you like any of these:


Sellers, from left to right, top to bottom are (link to the item): srbdesigns, AnastasiaChatzka, ouma, kristalovesyoda, AVCCrevamp, fabricfun, Makool, SecretLentil, unparalleledumbrella, AllisterAnn, blackheartbunny, Neurasthenia, Madrone, radclothing, alisondahl, Deadworry, sweetcharlotte, KellyMadden, malam, Nostalgia, KoreanDollz

Yeah, a lot of Etsy babydoll items!! Seems like this is still a strong trend in Etsy ;)
And you? Is this for you? Are you gonna wear something like this?

That was all for today. Next post will be about.... SWIMWEAR! :)
If you have any ideas for another post let me know, I'm running out of trends! lol

I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading.

Video from AmberMag found at Brightcove

More fashion trends for you guys! =)

As I found in the internet, seems that white clothes are not only for babies and brides. White clothes, as we all know are a summer classic.


Wear a white dress to a summer party, to take a coffe in that cool outdoors cafe and see thesunset, to the beach, etc. Specially to the beach! The hippiest the dress, the better ;)
Find that loose white dress to wear over a bikini and a pair of simple flip flops.

In case you are not wearing this to the beach, I would recommend a nice grey / brown bolero and nice sandals. Nothing too formal, you know. Something that makes you look cool and like you didn't take too much time in you outfit. However, if you enter with a white dress anywhere, you are sure to get many looks ;)

You can find white clothes in any store. But if you want the handmade version, here are my Etsy picks for you:

Sellers, from top to bottom, left to right, are (link to the item): VenniCrapice, UsThemWe, fabricfun, owleyesvintage, PassionIt, missbrache, RedemptionVintage, treehouse28, sweetcharlotte, urbneve, annedarlene, youmeyou

Hope you have enjoyed this new trend review! I really like having a small white dress for going to the beach (although I only go 3 or 4 times a year! LOL!)

Is this your trend? Are you going to wear any of these?

Next trend will be: Babydoll dress

Hi! Remember last post I talked about how I placed an alchemy request? This week has been crazy so I didn't get time to take a close look at what the sellers previous work was. I hope to finish this this weekend :)

But, after all your comments, (thank you girls!) I decided to go for one of these two versions of the dress:


(the right side one is a frankestein composed by me like a collage! haha Wish I could draw sketches!)

Where the part that is not black would replaced by my silks. I think it will look really nice :)

I will keep you posted on how this goes! yay! AKA: A buyer's perspective of alchemy =)

On the other side, an etsy fellow requested me a custom item (this ones are handles by alchemy too) and this week I bid on another alchemy request and I got it! YAY! So two other views of the same thing: A personal sellers alchemy request, and a seller's bid in an alchemy accepted by buyer.
I'm still a little confused on the payment of these. It looks like I have to send the buyer a paypal invoice, but I wished Etsy would do it automatically, like when someone buys a regular item!

Will come back tomorrow with some fashion trend report, enough of boring things! hah! :)

Since last summer, I have wanted to have a dress, top or skirt made with my silk designs. However, I can't sew to save my life.

So this week I decided it was time to get a custom item made for my by a seamstress. I didn't really want to find one in my city, because I know how great sellers there are in Etsy and wanted to give them the chance to create something unique for me :)

I made an alchemy request in Etsy. If you don't know what Etsy is, I'll tell you it's an online site where you can find thousands of shops that sell handmade items. And alchemy? Well, it's the way to ask for something custom made, and sellers can bid on your idea.

The only problem is, I really have no clue what kind of dress / top /skirt I want! I just need different ideas from people! :) What I know is that I don't want something formal, because then I will never wear it! lol So probably the key to getting for example a dress I can wear in summer but also maybe as a babydoll with leggings / pants is to make something that is not 100% made of silk, but mixed with other fabrics.

Here are a couple dresses I found in the internet. I like their style and flow, but most of them look too formal to me. I don't want this to go to a wedding or prom.



The thing im not sure about is empire waist. A lot of dresses have that nowadays, but I have this crazy idea that it makes me look like I'm pregnant! hahaha

And now, how do I look? That's important to choose a dress shape! :) I'm about 5.7 feet tall and not very thin lol Not much waist, wide hips and small bust. (yeah, maybe I should just do a top for myself, but I like the idea of a dress!)


Yeah that's me! haha

Ohh I already talked too much. Just wanted your opinion on what kind of dress to get. Or if I should get something different at all. Also if to do all silk or only a piece (I was thinking the bust part in silk and the rest in another fabric would look awesome). And if someone is a seamstress, awesome! Go bid on my alchemy request please! :) Oh, and... does anybody want to make me a nice sketch with his/her ideas??? lol

See my alchemy request at Etsy.

I will be posting a series on my alchemy experiences with this. Right now I got a couple bids and I'm doing the reviewing of their previous work part. Will write about this alchemy again once I find the right seller, and you'll go through the whole process with me if you want!

Please help me decide on a style!! Thanks! :)