tis' the season: Royal Addition

I'm back to blog about the wedding again.  In my last post at around 6am Catherine was just entering her car. 

I have to say I am rather proud for calling the style of her dress before seeing it.  Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen did an amazing job on not one but two stunning gowns for the future Queen of England.

A departure from Burton's normal aesthetic for McQueen, I love how she captured the new Duchess of Cambridge's personal style.  From the lace to the impeccable fitting, the cinched waist and v neck you cannot deny the gown exudes Catherine's style. The handmade gorgeous and delicate lace was not only appropriate for a Royal Wedding dress but so feminine and a nod to the timeless style of Grace Kelly's dress.

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This has to be my favorite part of the wedding.  They left in a Vintage Aston Martin which Prince Charles converted to use green fuel.  Covered in balloons and the classic British Learning red L on the front.  I love how the Prince driving, they seem so normal or as normal as Royalty can be. 

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and at the end of the day I think I found my wedding dress.  All I can sat is this is perfection.  The perfect neckline, the perfect fabric, perfect crystals.

 I would not be shocked if more girls copy this gown that her actual wedding dress. Its a more easily accessible style to recreate and is sure to be readily available soon.

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Best Dressed Guests

Of course the Beckhams are perfectly dressed for the Royal Wedding of the Century.  David is looking quite dapper and British in his Morning Coat and proudly wearing his OBE.

Victoria looks simple yet stunning in her own cape style dress, I am in pain just looking at her feet though, she almost looks like she should be in point Ballet Shoes.

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Kate's Mother looks fabulous and appropriate for a Royal Wedding.  What a daunting task it must have been to choose an outfit for anyone today.

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As I type this the Queen is walking into West Minister Abby and the fanfare is beginning to play.  So patriotic for my country.  Although I live in America I am so proud to be British and of my country.

As soon as I woke up to watch the coverage today I posted a tweet that said I predict Kate would wear long lace sleeves, v neck, a cinched waist and a major train and from the little you see in the car seems as those I called it well.  More to come on the new Princess.



Stella Jewelry Update

This is our current header on StellaJewelrystore.com.  Thanks to my amazing friend Taryn, who created our new logo we were able to customize the colors to match the earrings.

What do you think? 

Right now I am feeling that the business side of my life is going slow and I want things to fall into place and be up and running right now. Realistically, I know I need to be patience, you know Rome wasn't built in a day.  However I am British not Italian and patience has never been my thing.  Once I decide I want something I obsess until I get it.  Unfortunately, this isn't as easy as buying a new Hobo wallet. With my business I spend more time thinking about how I want this to do be, rather than making my thoughts actions.   

Sometimes I do this because I don't have enough time to execute my plans.  Other times I have visions and need assistance but can't clearly explain the image, so then I become frustrated.   I also get frustrated when buying supplies, how many of each stone should I get?  How much chain do I need? Is this the quality I want for our line?  Then I question whether making just one of each item is the right thing to do.  I love that most pieces are unique but it is hard to keep the pictures up to date with items currently available.  If we make more than one of each piece, how will I know how many to make? What if they don't sell?  What if our current customers get upset because the pieces are not one of a kind.  

Logically I know I need patience, I need to make sacrifices when it comes to my use of free time and sometimes I will just to take a risk and then analyze the outcome.   Hopefully I let the emotion behind my business take a backseat and will be realistic about what is needed. 

So as stated yesterday, I will be more open on my blog and there it openness about my business right now.

On to a lighter note the Royal Wedding is tomorrow!! I will be up bright and early wearing a fancy hat, eating crumpets for breakfast.  Do you have big plans to watch?

How adorable to the happy couple look in their official program picture?

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Blogging

I have come to really enjoy blogging about my life and the things I love in fashion and travel.  Lately, I have been thinking about how I want to be more open on my blog on a personal level and that thought lead to another. Is anyone even reading my blog? 

I get a few random comments here and there and have a few followers who aren't obligated friends, but I just wonder, do people enjoy my blog?  I decided to look into the Blog Stats and see how many people were taking a peek.  I was hesitant at first to look, what if only my Mum was reading? would I be so disappointed that I would stop writing my blog? I decided that either way I would continue to blog, cause I do enjoy it.

After viewing the stats I have to say I am pleasantly surprised, the numbers aren't huge but more than I expected which is great and certainly helped my insecurity.

I am going to put more time into my blog and be more open about the good and the bad in my life and growing my business.  If you are following me along the way I thank you.  Please leave me a comment saying hello sometime to appease my insecurities :)

Living life with Intention: Let go and be Open.

30 before 30 Update

As April comes to an end and my 30th (gasp) birthday gets closer I read over my goals again and give a little update on this lovely Spring day.

30 before 30

2. Visit my friends all over England

Oh how I miss England, I can't wait to be home and feel complete. My plans for this are coming along nicely.  I will be in England from August 26 to September 19 and will hopefully get to see a lot of childhood friends and come back with even better memories of my homeland! 

 7. To fully Launch Stella Jewelry.

Still a work in progress, some days I am really motivated and others I am clueless as to what I need to be working on.  The website is getting better, my product photos are improving so overall slowly but surely I feel I'm getting there.

20. Take a ghost/historic tour.

This is on the agenda in England, either a tour in London or in York.  I can't wait.

30. Have an amazing 30th birthday party :) 

 Planning a weekend in Vegas, Hangover Part 3? only if Bradley Cooper is involved lol.

I really need to get to work on the other 20 something items not crossed off.

Anyone else have a 30 before 30? If so how's your progress?

London Calling

London is literally calling my name, its calling and telling me I need to finalize my summer vacation plans in the gorgeous city.  

It is also calling me to buy this adorable Kate Spade Bracelet. 

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Although Red is not a typical color for Spring I think it would be a great addition to my bangle collection and add a little edge to my simple style, which is just what I am looking for in my accessory purchases right now.

What's your opinion of my current obsession?  To touristy, like I picked it up from the airport or edgy and stylish?

Tis the Season

Ok its the not the season to be jolly BUT it is wedding season and I have at least seven weddings to go to before the end of September. 

Its going to be one fun Spring and Summer filled with lots of love, laughs and cute dresses.

This weekend I hitting the road to Winchester, Va to see my friend Jamie get married on a civil war battlefield.  Awhile back I mentioned designing a head piece for a wedding and this is the wedding.

The plan was to make something similar to this:

Well I took a bit of creative license and went with something with smaller flowers and added more crystals.  Right now I only have a picture of the headband but it will be paired with a short vail on the day. I think it turned out quite well for my first try and hopefully Jamie will love it.

please forgive the blurry picture and the mess on the table! I should clean up my craft items before taking pictures :)

So what do you think, good enough for someones wedding?  Does anyone else have a crazy wedding season coming up?

Back to Paris

I can't seem to get Paris out of my mind this week.  After my travel and fashion posts last week I have been searching for Paris related Art work. 

So here are a few favorite's I found on Etsy.

With Tiffany Blue being my favorite color I couldn't resist choosing these prints from littlebrownpen.

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How adorable is this je t'aime Eiffel Tower Print from LilyGene? I would love this with a gray or turquoise background.

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and finally how darling is this Chanel No. 5 illustration from Cathrynsdesigns?  I can see this in a cute little black frame on a vanity.

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#winning

Ok I am sorry for the Charlie Sheen reference as the blog title but I couldn't resist because today I am WINNING. Thanks to my friends, family and co-workers all voting for me I won the Jess LC Design Your Look contest.

I am so EXCITED! I get to pick out two pieces from her collections, I haven't decided what to pick yet but I love everything so I can't wait to wear them!

So again, I thank you for me making me a #winner and suggest you check out Jess LC for a fabulous Mothers day gift!  The Franklin Braille, I love you Necklace is perfect.

Braille letters on front with text in English on reverse side. Pendant comes on a plain gold-fill chain.

Thank You

Voting is almost over for the Design Your Look for Jess LC and hopefully I won some beautiful jewelry. 

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me and apologize for the obnoxious facebook posts asking you to vote :)  I am really impressed at the number of you that clicked the link to choose me! I am very lucky to have great friends.

Ladies I think you should all take a look at Jess LC she has gorgeous pieces perfect for Spring so SHOP, its fashion friday afterall.

Dinner in Paris

Yesterday I told you about my favorite location in Paris, Montmarte, so I wanted to keep the Paris theme for Fashion Friday. 

As I put this together I kept thinking, what would Chanel wear?.  Coco Chanel for me, like most girls is a style icon.   Her clean lines, perfectly structured and fitted clothing is the epitome of chic. 

My Parisian dinner style is a lovely little black dress, a side chignon, neutral color blocked Louboutin heels and to complete the simple outfit a Chanel Clutch and Chanel Pearl and chain necklace.  The necklace adds a modern twist to classic string of pearls look.

What do you think of my look? To safe for fashion forward Paris?

Do you like the Fashion Friday button? If you want to participate feel free to use it. Next Friday's theme: The Royal Wedding!

P.S hop on over to Emyselfandi.com and for a Stella Jewelry spotlight.  There might be a discount code for you :)

Montmartre, Je t'aime

and this view is why!

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Lately I have been itching to travel and it has made me reminisce the fun I had in Paris and this gorgeous view is one of my favorite memories. 

Montmarte is 130 metres high and the home of one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, Basilica of the Sacré Cœur.

 

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At the end of the 19th century many people descended to Montmarte as it was outside the city limits meaning there was no Paris Tax.  Due to this it became a favorite drinking destination and the centre of art and entertainment.  Today it remains popular for similar reasons.  As the home of the Moulin Rouge, scrumptious cafes and restaurants as well as magnificent street art.  The artistic inspiration surrounds and consumes you. For me knowing my favorite Artist, Monet, studied there made the experience so much more than a tourist attraction.  I imagined living a life of a Parisian filled with Art and chic fashion, sketching the skyline of Paris while nibbling on decadent sweets and fantastic wine. 

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For anyone visiting Paris this is my number one pick for must see places, even over the Eiffel Tower!  I must find a way to get back there to enjoy a stunning sunset!

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What's your favorite vacation memory?

Vote for Roxy

I told you I would be shamlessly promoting my look for the Jess LC contest :)

So please take a look at the entries for the contest and then leave a comment saying that you vote for the look by Roxy B ~ A Spot of Tea!

VOTE HERE 

Thank you darlings!!

working on my business update

The new logo!!  What do you think?

To continue building Stella Jewelry I felt a new logo was in order, luckily my business partner Tricia was on board too.  My friend Taryn created the logo above and I am in love.  The clean likes and fun font are just what I wanted!  

I love the chic yet modern look and feel it represents my grown brand really well.

Along with making the logo she also made us a blog button for advertising.

Check out emyselfandi.com to see it in action.

Today we also had a trunk show at Plantagenet Rose, Roanoke, which went really well. Thank you to all those that came out.  I loved being able to show off the new logo.

Design Your Look for Jess LC

Design Your Look for Jess LC by Roxy1021 featuring cream dresses

My look for the Jess LC contest. What do you think?

I love this cream top shop dress and of course the Jess LC jewelry!!

Starting Monday you can vote for me to win the contest!!  So look out for my shameless blogging and facebooking :)

Fashion Friday

Fashion Friday by Roxy1021 on Polyvore.com

While I was writing the below blog I began think about the direction I want go in with A Spot of Tea.  True to the idea of having a good catch up and "a spot of tea" with friends, I want my blog to be fun and random but feel a few consistent topics will improve the site.

I know I want to document my successes and failures as I work to make Stella Jewelry a thriving business, providing beautiful handmade jewelry to women all over. I know I want to document my travels but seen as I won’t be doing much traveling other than to weddings until my big trip to England (more to come) I need find other things to talk about. So to relate to my love of fashion I declare a new little project ~ Fashion Friday. I will use sites such as Polyvore.com to create style an outfit and maybe pick my best dressed of the week from the gossip columns, give make up advice and hopefully much. I would love for others to participate too; I believe this is called a link up in the blogging world!

I hope you enjoy Fashion Friday and decide to join in.

A little about the outfit: You all know I am huge fan of Victoria Beckham and her style. I decided my first Fashion Friday would be a tribute to her with a gorgeous dress from her line, an adorable British Flag Clutch and the hottest shoe trend for this year, Rose Gold Brian Atwoods! I dream of being able to wear an outfit like this :) What do you guys think of the look?

When I grow up I want to be….

There is something to be said for that innocent statement, “When I grow up I want to be…..”  No fears, no insecurities, just a feeling or a dream.   I either wanted to be a dancer, detective or a fashion designer.

I can honestly say my dreams and wants have not changed from what I always wanted to be.  Now realistically I knew I wouldn't be a Prima Ballerina, even when I was little I knew this.  I danced from the time I was 2 until I was 17, then I moved to America and gave it up.  Although I never took dance classes again I never gave up my love for watching the ballet or being inspired by dance.  It was a great gift my Mum gave me to experience and understands the beauty of dance.

Now the part of me that wanted to be a detective, that is still alive and well.  It all started when I was around 7 or 8 and I would watch Murder She Wrote and Colombo with my Dad.  Maybe not the best TV choices for a 7 yr old but I loved putting together the clues and the puzzles.  I then fell in love with Poirot and Ms. Maples, anything about a good mystery and I was glued to the TV.  Today, I would say 75% of the shows I watch are in the Mystery Genre.  From my current favorite NCIS to SVU to White Collar, I love almost all of them.  Now I’m older I'm intrigued by the psychology of why the things happen and of course love figuring out who did it.  In real life I have a weird ability to use people’s actions, words and emotions to figure out situations.  It has a helped me a number of times during our unconventional Charades games (ill explain how in a later post).  Unfortunately or fortunately it has also helped me figure situations where people were being deceitful or hiding something, I don’t like those situations and thankfully don’t happen to often but I appreciate being able to put two and two together and see the truth sooner than later. Good or bad I have an analytical mind and could definitely be a detective or criminal profiler for a living.

Now on to the final “what I wanted to be when I grew up” job, and real reason for this post, a Fashion designer! I would day dream of making and wearing gorgeous clothes for the glamorous, sketch outfits in math class all day long, its no wonder I can’t do basic algebra J.  While in High School in England, my fab. friend Joanna and I would talk about when we were rich and famous designers what would we do, the people we would meet, and the places we would travel.  When I moved to America I took fashion merchandising in high school and then went on to Radford to pursue my degree.  Well in the end college wasn’t for me and I let my desire to be creative and some how involved in the fashion world drop to the background.  This was a huge mistake, probably the biggest I’ve made on a personal level.  I have always been interested in creativity, it’s in my blood, pushing my creativity away meant loosing who I am as a person.  I need to express who I am through design, art or even marketing.  I even let myself change the way I dress, my make up because I just didn’t feel like I was that person anymore.

I want to find the fashionable Roxy again, the one that took risks with clothes and make up and although I doubt I will be the amazing fashion designer I knew I would be at 16, but I CAN make my mark locally with Stella Jewelry and maybe even the country if I work hard enough to make my dream happen, who knows maybe the world J  I'm still a dreamer as you can see.  I want to take away the worries I have about building a business in something I love and regain the confidence I had that I can actually do this and WILL be successful.

This post was kind of all over the place but I just wanted to write how I feel about finding myself right now.

What did you want to be?  Did you become that?