Lulubelles

A Sweet Silhouette

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:56:07 +0000

At Lulubelles, we love vintage things with a modern twist. One of our favorite things to look at when antiquing are those sweet vintage silhouettes in pretty frames. Our friend, Brook Mullins, is a great photographer in Cincinnati and is offering the opportunity for you to create an heirloom of your own with your family’s portrait silhouettes! These are so precious and something to be cherished for years to come.

Here are the details:

A Sweet Silhouette Mini Session for your Valentine

Where: InspiringKind Boutique Bakery

7757 Five Mile Road

When: February 2nd from 3-5 pm

Cost is $45 which includes a yummy treat from InspiringKind and your choice of (1) 8×10 or (2) 5×7 prints of your child’s silhouette.

*20% of all proceeds will be donated to Cancer Family Care, http://www.cancerfamilycare.org/

Bring your Valentine to InspiringKind on February 2nd for a yummy treat while having their silhouette digitally created. Silhouettes make for a very special keepsake at any age. Digitally created silhouettes also give you endless possibilities for adding custom backgrounds and text (check out a few border options below). Feel free to add a custom border or your child’s name to personalize their silhouette. The creation of your child’s silhouette will take roughly 5-10 minutes and within 3 weeks of your session you will be presented a lovely 8×10 or (2) 5×7 prints of their silhouette. Perfect for wall displays of the whole family or decor for your little one’s bedroom.

Email Brooke Mullins at info@brookemullinsphotography.com for more information or visit the Events page at www.brookemullinsphotography.com

Vintage Style and Designs

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:45:04 +0000

This Feature Friday is about a local Louisville business women, who has just recently started her own business. Her name is Brandy Siemens. Her company is Vintage Style and Designs. She is the local distributor of Annie Sloan Chalk paint. This paint is amazing, and has been around for a while. We are lucky that Brandy is able to offer it to use locally.

In Brandy’s own words…

“Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is a line of paint that is best known for its ability to stick to most anything without sanding or priming first! It saves a great deal of prep time on any paint project. It is a very low VOC paint. Made right here in the USA! Annie herself is an artist/designer from England who has created this line with 28 great colors. It distresses quite easily and you use her soft wax to give it a wonderful finish. Her whole process is very simple. She says, “It’s a girls paint, but boys can use it too!”

I have always loved to antique and find pieces of furniture to bring back to life. And so now, I am making this love my life with Vintage Style and Designs. This allows me to use my background in interior design and art history and still be a stay at home mom!!

I have just started a retail space located in Traderbaker’s Consignments Plus at 5622 Bardstown Rd in Fern Creek (Creekside Terrace Shopping Center) and I have a website coming soon. I just started the FB page.

Brandy is offering a wonderful giveaway to our LuluBelles ladies. Here are the details…

We (stockist) have each been asked to host a holiday basket giveaway to help promote ourselves and the 2012 ASCP national tour. Info on the tour can be found atwww.anniesloanunfolded.com. She will be touring 8 cities. Nashville will be the closest. Out of every stockist basket givaway, those people will be entered in a second drawing for either one of 8 tickets to her workshop or $350 in paint!

So, for the drawing here are some guidelines:

1. Must become a follower of Annie Sloan’s Blog at http://anniesloans.blogspot.com and comment with “American Tour 2012″

2. Come over to FB and become a fan of Vintage Style and Designs and comment to me as to what you like about ASCP.

3. you can visit Traderbakers to check out the paint in person and fill out an additional entry.

My drawing must be by Dec, 23.

Annie will select the additional winners on Jan. 10th.

Here is the photo of the amazing giveaway basket, Thanks to Brandy!! It’s worth $150!!

Here are some examples of pieces of furniture that were painted with Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint…

LOVE THIS AQUA PAINT!!

So be sure the enter to win this amazing prize package that Brandy is offering! We know that we feel inspired now to paint some furniture, frames, chairs, or whatever else we can think of! Best of luck to you!

XO~Gretchen and Natalie

Cheers on the Catwalk

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:17:46 +0000

Last week Natalie and I were able to participate in the event called Cheers on the Catwalk, which was a fundraising event for ”Annie’s Angels” which provide to nursing home residents. Our part in the event was to help accessorize the beautiful models as they walked down the runway. The models wore clothing that was provided by Dress and Dwell Boutique in New Albany, and our Lulubelles jewelry. Another nearby boutique Colokial, was also involved. The night was a huge success, and we had so much fun styling the looks for the fashion show. They had wonderful food, wine, and live music, plus both boutiques were open after the show for shopping! Styling is something that Natalie and I both enjoy, and it was so fun seeing our LuluBelles jewelry going down the catwalk. Here are so photos that we took and wanted to share with you…

Live Music

Cheers to all who made the night a success, XO

Dress and Dwell Feature

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:51:29 +0000

We have exciting news….Dress and Dwell Boutique located in Historic New Albany, Indiana is now carrying our LuluBelles jewelry! We are so excited to have our jewelry in this beautiful, unique, stylish boutique. Dress and Dwell is a modern boutique with vintage touches, which is why we love it so much. They have a beautiful selection of stylish women’s clothing, accessories, home decor and furniture! Natalie and I found it to be a dreamy shopping experience, and both left with adorable outfits, and items for our homes. They also have the most amazing smelling candles for sell. We both purchased the coconut mango scented one . Dress and Dwell is owned by the beautiful and talented Amanda Gibson. She also offers interior design services and has a great eye for design, which you can tell immediately when you step into her boutique!

Amanda Gibson

We just wanted to share a little bit of the experience you will get when you step foot into her gorgeous boutique!

Feature Friday

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:26:26 +0000

This feature Friday post is about our beautiful, hard working, mother of three, cousin, Christen McDonough Boone. She was recently recognized as Forty under 40 Honoree through Business First. She works as the Director of external relations for 21 Century Parks Inc., which is located here in Louisville. One of the projects that they are working on is the Parklands of Floyds Fork, which is a wonderful addition to our community. This park system will include four major parks, that will be linked by a park drive, and urban trail, and a water trail that will follow Floyds Fork. It will be so nice to have access to this park, and be able to take our families there to enjoy them! Here is a link to 21st Century Parks, if you would like to find out more information or contribute in some way!

21st Century Parks

For more information about the Forty under 40 Business First Honorees please visit the link.

Forty under 40.

Lulu Style Board

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:43:32 +0000

So fall is in the air, and here in KY the weather is changing daily. The leaves are changing quickly, and fall fashions are in full swing in all the stores. Here are some inspiration style boards that I came up with, to show you how to incorporate the latest fall fashion trends, with some of our LuluBelles pieces. Enjoy, you trendy lady!

XO~Gretchen

LuluCouture piece

Feature Friday – Louisville Stoneware

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:40:53 +0000

For nearly two centuries, Louisville Stoneware has been a part of the culture and history of the city. Since early on they have taken pride in sticking to the handmade craft of transforming clay into functional art forms. In this day and age where everything seems to be made by a machine, Louisville Stoneware continues to make works of art that are functional and can be used and enjoyed for many generations to come.

When my son was born I received a few pieces for him as gifts…a bowl, plate and mug with his name on them and a little star. They are personalized, special and of good quality and we use them pretty much every day. I had good intentions of ordering a set for my daughter too and now that she is almost two I finally did it. My friend, Lisa Mullins Masters, actually runs the company so I contacted her and ordered a set. It turned out so cute, beyond my expectations (pics below!). If you are looking for a special gift for a baby or child in your life, this is it. It’s such a wonderful keepsake and something they can actually use too!

So, I think Lisa is pretty amazing for owning this special company and wanted to spotlight her for our Feature Friday. I know many of us admire a woman owned business and so I asked her to share with us how she got started in it and to tell us a little about her story and this is what she had to say:

I became the steward of Louisville Stoneware about 4 1/2 yrs ago. I had been In medical sales for years and was looking for a creative change and wanted to remain in sales and also have ownership of my daily work. I met my business partner Steve, who was ready to purchase the nearly 200 yr old pottery company and was looking for someone to partner with and run the company.

A meeting at Starbucks, 2 hot teas and 2 hrs later I was resigning from my career in medical sales and launching on a new career path. Little did I know it would be one of the best changes in my career that I had made! Change is scary and uncertain but I felt in my heart the risk was worth taking. Starting all over again with a fresh perspective allowed me to be a better leader and helped steer the company down a road to success.

Louisville Stoneware operates entirely out of one location at 731 Brent St., in Louisville, KY. We take clay that millions of years old and transform it into enduring, functional art forms. We work with basic elements of earth, water, air and fire. Skilled artisans create timelessly beautiful dinnerware, bakeware, serving pieces and collectibles that can be enjoyed and cherished for many generations.

Most generations collection starts at birth with our birth plates or 3 pc child sets as toddlers and they continue to collect for many years! We also have retirement, wedding and anniversary plates. All of our pottery can be peronalized, It’s a great way to commemorate a milestone event. And we never forget our pets. Both of my dogs have their own personalized pet bowls.

Our stoneware is lead free and non-toxic. In addition, all pieces are oven, microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe. Louisville Stoneware offers factory tours, paint your own pottery, and has a large retail showroom. You can also shop online at www.louisvillestoneware.com.

Thanks Lisa!

Xo, Natalie

Vintage Mosaic Jewelry

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:01:32 +0000

Over several trips to various flea markets, Gretchen and I have collected a batch of really great vintage Italian mosaic brooches and earrings that we felt had Gold Locket Necklaces written all over them! These are exquisite and my amateur photography skills don’t do them justice! They are made with tiny pieces of multicolored glass tiles or ”miniature mosaics” also called Tesserae, which were less than 1 mm thick. They gained widespread popularity in Italy in the 18th century and were sold to visitors, and this trend continues today. The pieces were arranged to form beautiful designs, most often flowers, as pictured here.

This is a little sneak peak of the new 8-piece collection that will be on www.lulubelles.com soon.

As always, we like to make modern pieces out of vintage finds for you. We hope you enjoy them and we appreciate your continued support!

Xo, Natalie

Feature Friday – Jar of Vintage Buttons

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:38:53 +0000

Isn’t it funny how you come to meet people sometimes? I was a Chi Omega at Eastern Kentucky University and when the email came out to share your recent updates for the annual newsletter, I wrote back about my kids, their ages and that I own and create for a jewelry business called Lulubelles. Shortly after the newsletter came out I received an email from Leslie Marshall, also a Chi-O but a few years younger so we had never met. She said that she saw my information in the newsletter and thought our jewelry would be perfect for an event she was putting together. She explained that she and her friend, Misty Porter, decided to put on a handmade craft show that is “not your grandma’s craft fair” and that they would hand select modern crafters in order to make it more of an “Etsy in person” event. I thought that was a great idea and Gretchen and I were happy to sign up! This event, the Birds of a Feather Craft Fair, will be in Northern, KY on November 6th and we hope to see you there!

Leslie’s blog, Jar of Vintage Buttons, is so cute. I had checked it out when she contacted me and saw pictures of her cute, curly haired daughter in some of the pictures. So, when the Kentucky Derby Museum featured the most adorably cute derby themed birthday party I had ever seen, I immediately noticed this same cute, curly haired girl in the pictures and realized that it was Leslie’s party. What a talent! Here are just a few of the pictures, but you can find more at her blog.

Leslie's cute daughter, Kate

A snapshot of the party.

Leslie's Blog

The Birds of a Feather Fair that Lulubelles will be a part of!

A handmade cupcake stand.

In Leslie’s words:
I’m Leslie and to say I love vintage buttons is probably an understatement. I have hundreds, possibly even thousands of them. I love the stories that they have told from the garments they have held together over the years. The ones I love the most are from my grandmother, who was a super talented seamstress. I keep my buttons in a jar in my craft room to inspire me and I hope that’s what my blog Jar of Vintage Buttons does for all of my readers!

My blog started several years ago as just a sounding board for whatever came to mind. I took a hiatus from blogging after my very adorable curly haired little gal came along. It wasn’t until she was over a year old that I decided that it was high time I got back to blogging. Other exciting things were happening in my life that I wanted to share and I still think blogging is a powerful way to share your life’s story. My husband and I were looking forward to building a house and I wanted to shift my focus not only to the house building process and decorating, but I also wanted to share DIY project tutorials and other projects. My blog also branched out into my adventures in party planning. My daughter’s 2nd birthday party received a lot of love from the blogging and Facebook communities and was featured on Ohdeedoh.com, Penandpaperflowers.blogspot.com, Party-wagon.com, the Kentucky Derby Museum’s Facebook page, Modern Lola’s Facebook Page, Modern Frills Facebook Page and Kreavie Facebook Page.

www.jarofvintagebuttons.blogspot.com

As if having a toddler, building a house, maintaining a blog and working full time isn’t enough for me, I’m also the co-creator of the Birds of a Feather Fair. This modern handmade craft show is being held on November 6, 2011 at the Florence, KY Hilton. We’ve assembled some of the areas most incredible talent and absolutely cannot wait to share these vendors with our community at the Fair! If you are anywhere close to Cincinnati on November 6th, please stop by and see us from 11-4pm at the Hilton! Also, make sure you check out www.birdsofafeatherfair.blogspot.com (also search for us on Facebook) for more details and vendor biographies coming in October!

Also, pop over and say hello at my Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jar-of-Vintage-Buttons/132315443487772

So, have I mentioned that I haven’t actually met Leslie yet? I just feel like I have!

Thanks for reading.

Xo, Natalie

Wardrobe Therapy

admin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 15:54:56 +0000

Thursday night I went to a really fun launch party at the lovely Hyde Park home of Genine Fallon for Ivy Pitzer’s new business venture, Wardrobe Therapy. Wardrobe Therapy was started by Elizabeth Bean Smith in Columbus, OH and offers wardrobe consulting, personal shopping and closet organization. It’s been such a hit that they decided to expand their business to Cincinnati and choose the talented Ivy Pitzer who was formerly the Apparel Manager for Anthropologie. By the way, I became friends with Ivy due to my many trips to Anthro through the years. Hmm, you might have a shopping problem if…you make friendships with the employees of the stores you frequent!!

Elizabeth Bean Smith, owner, (far left) introducing Ivy Pitzer (far right) as the new Stylist!

Ivy Pitzer, Cincinnati Stylist. Ivy@wardrobetherapyllc.com P: 513.470.2358

This was a menu of the yummy h'ordeuvres served.

Yummy smelling candles as a parting gift - how nice!

Such a pretty fall arrangement.

The pretty brochures explaining the fabulous offerings of the Wardrobe Therapy.

Hannah Eaton & Whitney Simon, personal shopper for Anthropologie.

Hannah Eaton & Me

The Hostess, Genine Fallon, & Ivy Pitzer. How pretty is that coral velvet couch?!

Good Luck Ivy! Xo, Natalie