Hot Hardware!

I am so in love with my new Aisle 15 Collection, I almost forgot how horrible the heat and humidity are in Kansas City right now!

I chose basic black today (as I often do) and accented the outfit with two items from my Aisle 15 Collection; the Washer Cross Necklace and matching cuff bracelet.

I discovered a new layered look, pairing a frilly fitted black top with a basic dark grey tank as an overlay. I simply pulled the collar over the top of the tank and voila! A new look! Exciting indeed! : )

Don't forget to check out the Aisle 15 Collection! If you live in the Kansas City area, check out select pieces exclusively at NGBoutique in Westport, 4149 Pennsylvania, Kansas City.

Aisle 15

Before I officially started my jewelry business, I had been involved in graphic design, as well as rehabbing homes for resale. Odd combination, I know. For the five years I spent painting, tiling, tearing things out and putting better things back in, I practically lived at places like Lowe's, Home Depot and Ace Hardware. Everything I saw at these stores my mind contorted into a piece of art. Aisle 15 at Home Depot was my favorite aisle. Washers, retaining rings, nuts, bolts...wow. It was like a gold mine for my artist mind!

When I first started designing and selling jewelry in 2007, I constantly thought about creating a line that revolved around that simple hardware I had passed by almost every day when rehabbing homes. So, when exploring concepts for my fall collection, I re-visited this idea and started experimenting. I created a necklace for myself using a steel retaining ring and a jet black Swarovski pendant and knew I was on to something by the sheer number of compliments I received.Local singer/songwriter Jillian Riscoe models what was the original necklace design that inspired this line.

Utilizing the elements of that necklace design, I created a collection that is edgy and elegant at the same time.Stunning local model Courtney Lace, wearing numerous pieces from the collection. All pieces feature brass or steel hardware paired with genuine Swarovski crystals.
Jolie Carrillo-Allen, make-up artist, styles Courtney for the shoot.

In addition to Jillian, Courtney and Jolie, Jen Thomas, owner of The Last Tangle Salon was on hand for hair, and all photography was taken by the incredible Vicki Smith. It was such a pleasure to collaborate with this group of talented and professional women!

Aisle 15 will be available in my etsy shop on August 1, 2010. Select pieces will also be available at Nikki Grant Boutique in Westport.

Things Are Happening!

Things are super busy here at the "studio"!
I just finished shooting the new collection, I completed my first tutorial project, and I am super excited about a recent collaboration with local singer-songwriter Jillian Riscoe!

Recently, I met Jillian down at Kansas City's Plaza. I just love going down there and hanging out, and it gives me motivation to dress up my look a little. For this outing I wore this super-cute Forever21 dress paired with long denim shorts and my favorite black wedges. Speaking of Forever21, I cannot WAIT until their new Plaza location opens next month.

For jewelry, I wore my own crystal studded resin bangles and a multiple-cross necklace as a bracelet. With all the ruffles on the dress, a necklace was just a little too much.

It was a gorgeous day to be at the Plaza, with a nice break from the typical midwest summer heat and humidity. Jillian and I discussed our most recent collaboration for her merchandise, featuring a play on her heart and bullseye logo.

Here she is, modeling her uber-cute collection! She will be debuting it and performing live tomorrow night at Haute Market, Kansas City's premiere shopping party!
(photo by Vicki Smith, make-up by Jolie Carrillo-Allen)

I am also researching a First Friday opportunity, so stay tuned for more news on that as well!

Beautiful Eighty

As a woman who has officially entered "middle age" (I turned 40 a few months ago), I spend a little more time thinking about the future of my appearance. I have been blessed with good genes, which do help out, but eventually even those genes will give way to old age. In a world that is so obsessed with maintaining a youthful appearance, it is nice to see someone of older age out there in full force...modeling, no less. And modeling for top designers. And walking the runways.Meet Daphne Self, who, now in her eighties, didn't land in the pages of Vogue until age 70!
You can read more about this amazing woman's life here.

She Was A Skater Girl

About 23 years ago, I could be found most days on some local parking lot or in some drainage ditch "shredding" it with my Lance Mountain skateboard. I was really pretty good, skated for about eight years, and somehow managed to escape serious injury. When I turned 25, I got a really awesome Tony Hawk board, from my now ex-husband no less (I was hoping for roses. He bought me a skateboard. The next day I filed divorce papers. Just kidding. There was much more to it than that.) I still ride this gorgeous Tony Hawk board on occasion. Sometimes my daughter, husband, or I even use it to roll across our ranch home from the bedrooms to the kitchen - yeah, we're cool like that - or extremely strange, take your pick :).

Anyhow, this casual style of dress with a little of what I like to call "skater chic", is hands down my favorite. Although I appreciate a nice dress and heels, I've never really been a girly-girl. Truth be told, on most days I have to struggle with myself to either not wear black or grey, or at least add some sort of color! Also, if it's not cotton or if it's not as comfy as cotton, forget it. I cannot stand anything that is itchy, scratchy, or constantly reminds me of its presence.
The outfit I am wearing here is a perfect example of what I naturally grab out of my closet. Comfortable, usually dark grey or black, which are great neutrals for accenting with jewelry. To accent this ensemble and dress it up just a bit, I added a suede dogtag necklace accented with Swarovski crystals (this one isn't for sale, but I can make a duplicate, a fancy schmancy chandelier drop necklace from my Cocktail Hour Collection, and a wide plexiglass cuff, studded with black diamond Swarovski crystals. The cuff is a prototype. I hope to produce some of these for sale by fall.

Now I'm going to grab my Tony Hawk and roll into the kitchen for another latte. Skate or die! : )

Outfit:
Jeans: To The Max via WalMart / $7 on Clearance
Top: 2Kuhl via TJMaxx / $8
Shoes: Converse One Star / Ebay / $12 including shipping (I was especially excited about the shoes because a new pair like this goes for about $70)

Butterfly Rising

It's hot here in Kansas City. Really hot. And humid. Really humid. And that calls for a gauzy, light maxi dress. Covered in butterflies :) and accented with pieces from my Rising Collection.

I wore this dress to a somewhat informal wedding about 12 years ago. I love it! The colors are amazing, and it is very comfortable. Trying to find pieces from my collections to accent this dress was rather difficult. I didn't want to select any piece that would compete with the fabric design.

Therefore, I chose a simple necklace and earrings. Cast in clear resin, they feature glass seed beads, meticulously hand-placed in a cascading arrangement. The pieces shown here are my own that I sanded to a matte finish. You can see the actual collection for sale here.

Happy Summer!

A Vine Time

I recently had dinner with a group of women who blog about fashion. Since discovering fashion blogs, I have had SO much fun perusing through hundreds of them! It is so interesting to see how different people put fashion together in different ways throughout the world!

I never considered myself a fashion blogger because this blog is mainly for my jewelry designs. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that jewelry is such an integral part of fashion, that I should infuse more fashion with my jewelry to better show it. So, I have decided to try my hand at photographing myself wearing my jewelry - thank goodness for my tripod!

The other day I finally got to my hairstylist for a long overdue cut and style. This was my ensemble for the day, accented with my one-of-a-kind Waffle Necklace, and a stack of three of my resin bangle designs: Floating Gold, Muted Gold, and Black Crystal , which was recently sold to a buyer in London (yay!). I should note that the jewelry shown was only worn for the photo.

The rest of my outfit consists of: vine-printed shirt, Frazier Lawrence via TJMaxx (I bought this shirt years ago and it has been fabulous! It's just stretchy enought that I was even able to wear it through half of my pregnancy six years ago), skirt (I love a skirt with pockets!), Forever21, $10.50, shoes, Mila Paoli, $20 via TJ Maxx.

Collections?

When I began designing jewelry a couple of years ago, I never really thought about where I wanted it to go, who I wanted to market to, what my ultimate goals were. I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out, but am starting to realize some things.

First, I've realized that I want to be a brand. I want people to see my product and know that it is a "Deanna Burasco". How to go about that is a long and arduous journey. With so many designers out there, I think it can be daunting to establish yourself apart from everyone else. Also, I've seen how designers are constantly copied, and that to remain on the forefront, a designer has to re-invent themselves constantly to stay ahead of the copycats.

Second, I've realized that I have wasted a lot of time creating pieces and have not spent enough time marketing. I would try to make new pieces weekly or even daily, hoping each new design would spark a sale. This led to a mish mash of products (I think) with a lack of consistency and direction. One of my new goals is to create fewer pieces, then focus on marketing them, eventually gaining a solid fan base and establishing some solid wholesale accounts.

Third and last, I am working on creating "collections", which ties into what I just mentioned. Not only do I want to create fewer pieces, I want to have lines of pieces that coordinate and compliment one another. Whittling down all of the designs that I'm excited about is the hard part. My mind seems to not understand the concept :). When I look at the mainstream successful designers, most, if not all, have collections. They carry these collections for a time, then retire them and introduce new collections. It allows them to have a more cohesive grouping of products, which is easier to market and sell, in my opinion.

So, that's where I am...

On a side note, I am excited to be involved in the next Impact Fashion workshop. It's a day-long event for fashion designers, make-up artists, photographers and stylists to explore ideas and build portfolios. I'm the only participating jewelry designer, so this will be a great opportunity to get some model shots of my "collections", which I will figure out soon....I hope!