Congratulations to the Winner of Contest 4!

Congrats to notjustanyprincess for winning Customized Girl's Fourth Design Contest! She wins $200 and her design will be featured in the May 23rd issue of US Weekly.

We like the design because it stands out, with very big text and nifty use of the soccer ball clipart to replace the “O”. We also like the personalized touch with the name and jersey number. Very nice. On top of all these cool qualities, it also happened to coincide perfectly with our “sports” theme this week. If you're joining a rec league or just cheering for your favorite player, you've come to the right place for custom shirts!

Thanks so much to all who entered! You guys are doing a terrific job on these designs, and we are very happy to continue with these contests.

And with that, Contest 5 is launched. Simply create, save and tag your design “contest 5″. Please see our post about Contest 4 for more details.

Thanks again, and congrats to notjustanyprincess.

All About Celebrities Blog Carnival: Volume 4

Welcome to the 4th Edition of the All about Celebrities Blog Carnival. This has been a lot of fun for us to host thus far and we plan on continuing it as well. To link to The Customized Girl Blog and any of our editions of the All About Celebrities Blog Carnival use this code

BeThisWay presents Brushes With Fame posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?.

Silveral presents How Celebrities Achieve Their Life’ Goals With Life Coaching posted at Celebrity News, and Gossip.

Jeff Sullivan presents Six - Best New Shows In Branson posted at Branson Travel Attractions.

Fenny presents Fashion & Styles posted at Fenny Lopez.

Jennifer Longe presents People's View N Opinion posted at People's View N Opinion.

Jason DeFuria presents Britney Spears, crazy in a good way? posted at What Planet Is This?.

Rickey Henderson presents Rickey Reviews This “Iron Mensch” Movie That The Kids Seem Rather Keen On… posted at Riding with Rickey.

Michael presents Superstar Attorney Willie Gary Paying $28,000 a Month in Child Support posted at International Law News.

sarah presents Harry Potter's mystery dream girl taken but “keen to meet up” posted at SARAHSPY.

Dichroic Glass Pendants

Great Necklace Idea

The best thing about these little beauties is that you don't have to be a jewelry designer to make a gorgeous necklace for yourself. You just buy the pendant, run a cord or chain through the holes that run through the top of the pendant, and voila! You have a necklace that will be the envy of your friends and coworkers. These pendants are very affordable, and the colors are breathtaking.



Some beautiful examples:





Gold and Copper Rectangle Pendant

Each pendant varies slightly in color and size.

Measurements: 11 x 21 mm.

Hole runs through top edge of rectangle.

Made in USA.





Silver Triangle Pendant

These stunning pendants are individually made and each pendant varies slightly in color.

Hole runs through wide edge of triangle and measures approx 2mm diameter.

Made in USA.





Pink Rectangle Pendant

Individually handmade.

Each varies slightly.

Hole measures approx 2mm diameter.

Made in USA.



About Dichroic Glass

The brilliant optical properties of dichroic glass are the result of multiple micro-thin layers of metal oxides. NASA developed dichroic glass for use in face shields in space suits. Layers of different metals - gold, silver, titanium, chromium, aluminum, zirconium, magnesium, silicon - are applied to the surface of the glass. The glass is then kiln-fired at extreme temperatures in a vacuum.



The resulting plate of dichroic glass can then be fused with other glass in multiple firings. Certain wavelengths of light will either pass through or be reflected, causing an array of color to be visible. Due to variations in the firing process, individual results can never be exactly reproduced. Each piece of fused dichroic glass is unique, and no two pieces can ever be the same.

See full article.





Related Entries:

Jewelry Gets Buggy - 11 August 2006

Manak Jewelry Mania - 16 January 2007

Glass Jewelry for the Home - 24 February 2007

Break Your Heart Glass Rings - 23 April 2007

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Fashion Mad Libs: Are Presbyterians getting their annual pancakes?

I am SO sorry for the massive Mad Libs delay. I got suddenly and extremely ill on Tuesday night and was unable to perform my blogging duties (or, for that matter, any duty that involved getting up off the bathroom floor). From now on, I will be sure to appoint a Daddy Likey Vice President who can fulfill posting duties in case I am sick, killed, or entranced by an Elimidate marathon.

Anyway, back to the long-awaited Fashion Mad Libs results! This week I borrowed a post on Reiss skirts from everyone's favorite fashion blog, Style Bubble. I figured Susie wouldn't notice because she is currently in France covering some totally boring fashion thing (in case I threw up my writing skills: yes, I'm being sarcastic).

And so, without further ado, our sometimes creepily perfect (the adjective "blue" in a string of color descriptions?), sometimes creepily odd (fucking into Reiss and shrieking at lemurs?) Mad Libs collaboration:

I think we have established that I eat skirts but we haven't gone to the lengths of moist skirts. Now I'm a kitchen sink who doesn't often go pass the £50 mark to buy just the bottom half of my artichoke which is why once again, I find myself faced with the kangaroo of Reiss. Their set of skirts for a millisecond are once again stinky...all irregular ruffles/meerkats and curvy/voluptuous highlighters in blue, pink and yellow and elderly taupe/white. It would really make a lot more sense if I was a Louvre high-flyer who talks of Disney World and um... that sort of stuff... I could fuck into Reiss and take a bunch of the clothes and shriek down at the lemur without so much as looking at the yetis.

So as pungent as french fries are, Reiss will glamorously make me feel like I should be exchanging alligators with fellow hairs and exploding fingernail clippers about whether Presbyterians will be getting their annual pancakes.... and as I embark on new safaris in about a month's time, plonking down the prism for some sticky buys at Reiss seem even further away from the fetus.

Well, I Guess It's Time To Wrap This Up, Then

Yes, I did see the NYT article about the "demise of the dress". (I was actually surprised that the story didn't make the NYT's most-forwarded list, since so many people sent it to me!)

The main point of the article seemed to be that those in the fashion industry are tired of dresses, and are looking towards pushing "the pant" for fall. Yes, even though the article touts dresses as "glamorous", "easy", "slimming", "efficient", "flattering", and "attractive", (not to mention the obligatory nod to the patriarchy with "guys like [them]") their time is UP.

In fact, Anne Slowey, of Elle, was quoted saying that the "expiration date" for the dress “is end of August.”

Which gives me, what, 124 days, more or less? Is "PantADay.com" already taken?

No, no, no, don't worry -- I've made it this far without taking the pronouncements of the fashion editors seriously, and I think I can struggle through an autumn where "the full-legged, pleated high- and low-waisted legions will be out in the urban jungle" (as Ms. Slowey put it).

But if, like me, you are going to continue wearing dresses past 31 August, there are some strategies for getting through this difficult time of dress shortages and rationing. The most obvious work-around is to learn to sew, so that you simply don't care what's in the stores (aside from the fabric stores). If you don't think you can swing that by the end of August, you should start looking to buy vintage. Don't wait until October when the shortages will be most acute; start searching now -- especially if you're an odd size. If you are shopping for velvet in July you won't have many competing bidders, and you can ward off the tragedy of having to wear pants to all your holiday parties.

Don't forget the downturn in accessories availability that accompanies a dress shortage, as well: tights may be in short supply, along with slips of all kinds and full-skirted coats. It's a little trickier to predict what will happen with shoes, but if you want taller boots, they tend to be harder to find in an environment where dresses are scarce.

With some careful planning you should be able to continue dress-wearing activities well past the expiration date forecast by Ms. Slowey and her ilk. And, while they're waiting in line at the tailor to get things taken in and let out and taken up and let down (pants are notoriously NOT one-size-fits-all), you can swan by in your easy, nicely-fitting dress. Don't forget to thumb your nose as you pass.

Mother of Pearl, Labradorite, and Lampwork

It's a miracle I have any new pictures to post: besides doing custom work and packing like crazy, we have been remodeling our home (new floors in 3 downstairs rooms, a new upstairs bathroom, and downstairs bathroom as well as some cosmetic changes and painting the den). The workers are finally finished and my work has just begun. All the furniture in the rooms we changed had to be moved and while the workers moved the furniture back (my whole closet had to be emptied - shelving and all!) this is a wonderful opportunity to clean, clear out old clothes and all the junk we seem to have collected over the years. Of course, we still have to get a lot of decorating done. Fun, but whew! time-consuming and tiring!
A couple of nights I stayed very late at the studio, and the result is what you see on this post today.
When I started out, I didn't mean to work with mother-of-pearl, but like so many times, these funny silver mother of pearl pieces were on the workbench where I kept looking at them until I had to pick them up and play with them. The result: earrings and a bracelet made with silver mother-of-pearl with an Aurora Borealis coating added and Swarovski crystals in Silver Shadow.
Of course, I love labradorite and work with it any chance I get, so the natural thing to do when I realized I needed to replenish the abalone jewelry stock was to mix abalone and labradorite together with sterling silver and some of my favorite lampwork beads from Robin Weber. It's a combination that I've used before, but one I don't think that I will tire of anytime soon.
The last lampwork bracelet is one of the prettiest bracelets I've ever made. Unfortunately, the picture is one of the worst that I've ever taken. I think that the soft almost opalescent pink on the beads is so subtle that it just doesn't show up well. The lampwork beads are made by Lynn Nurge of Laffingull (she's the beadmaker who makes smaller scale beads that are perfect for bracelets). I've mixed the lampwork with good gem quality peridot and sterling silver. The second strand of the bracelet is a very large linked sterling chain with the tiniest little sterling daisy charms hanging from the links (these don't show up very well either).
To my readers in the Scandinavia and Estonia, I'm sure that you're beginning to snuggle in and get cozy while to those of you in Hawaii (you know who you are), once again, I am so jealous of your climate. Meanwhile, I can see that a fire in our fireplace is in the near future.


jewellery accessories jewelry fashion shopping braceletsbeads handmade beaded jewelry beading helmi gioielli smykker tak? juvelen lampwork beads The Jewelry Blog jewelry trends accessories lampwork beads abalone jewelry mother-of-pearl jewelry jewelry trends labradorite peridot bracelets

Shirtdresses I Have Not (Yet) Purchased

I know the general perception is that I am cornering the market on shirtdresses, but I swear that is not true. As evidence, I present these patterns that I have not (and probably will not -- probably) buy:




This one, from Miss Helene's, is really cute. I love the faux-western yoke. But I am NOT BUYING IT.

And this one,




Sent by Deb, and available from BootyVintage, is really elegant and sophisticated. (Probably too elegant and sophisticated for me, as those of you who know me will attest.) So it's available to YOU!

Both TCarole and Deirdre left comments pointing out this one, which is a new Vogue pattern, and so is available both at the Vogue Patterns site and in major fabric stores:




And William N. pointed out this one, at Cemetarian:



Just the thing for when you can't decide between a wrap dress and a shirtdress.

So, see? I haven't bought the ALL. There's plenty left for you guys!

[Update: But that Butterick 7373 at Vintage Martini? Was already sold! Sob.]