Shop Your Closet!I love to shop for clothes (as long as it's not too crowded!) but since I need to save money for bigger and better things, I'm going to have to shop my closet for a while. Which is okay, because I have a lot of clothes I really do love. Above are a few sketches of my favorite outfits.

The left ensemble is an outfit I recently got from Uniqlo and I wore it out for my birthday this year. It was my first time at Uniqlo and I loved it! I got an awesome tribal printed tunic with ruched sides and semi-shiny black leggings with gold zippers at the ankle. I wore beautiful antique gold and black gem earrings by La Vie Parisienne and a chunky emerald green gem and gold chain necklace sold by Guru at the Brooklyn Flea. I used my grey coach wristlet (a gift from my sister-in-law) which is a great bag because it goes with everything I wear, practically. And maybe my favorite part of the whole outfit was my MaryRoks shoes by Jeffrey Campbell in grey suede! Love them!
The center outfit is a lot simpler, but super cute and comfy. The top is a really interesting ruffled bubble tank from Victoria's Secret (on sale, of course) and the bottom is a acid wash grey denim mini from Uniqlo. I love the contrast of the really feminine top with the slightly edgier skirt. The top is great too because it has a built in bra– ladies, you know you love that. I wore this with my Natural Comfort gold platform sandals I got a few years ago, and another great pair of antique gold earrings from La Vie Parisienne.
The right look is an outfit I got from Forever 21 a couple seasons back. I loved the top the minute I saw it because the stripes and colors really reminded me of the beach. I think it also reminds me of one of my mother's tops from when I was a kid. I also love the back because it has a V neck, which shows off the tattoo on my back, and a there's little sliver that shows a peak of the lower back, which is pretty hot. The shorts are standard dark denim bermudas, which are great because they're classic and I'm not really one for short-shorts (on me, anyway!). I usually wear white lattice-work style earrings with this outfit to complete the beachy look.

Paris Chic

I haven't been posting too much lately, because I've been working hard at a nice, big freelance project, which I'll post about in a few weeks. But recently I was able to do a really fun piece promoting La Vie Parisienne Nouveau and Deco-inspired jewelry for Whole Body at Whole Foods Market Chelsea. This jewelry is amazing– so elegant and interesting– and I wanted to create some really stand-out signage for it.

As much as I enjoy doing full-color work, I would often find that there would be a little nuance from the original sketch that was missing from the finished product, so I've been experimenting with layering some of my sketches into the finished paintings/color work, and so far I like the results. I am also continuing to use vector art in my illustrations, which I enjoy doing, to switch it up.

So, if you know a girl who loves shiny, sparkly things (that's most of us), get some of La Vie Parisienne's gorgeous jewelry for her, at Whole Body at Whole Foods Market, Chelsea. I may have to get a pair (or two) of the earrings myself to get me all set for my trip to Paris this Fall!