Last fall, I was contacted by Amanda Star about using my arrows for a photography shoot she had in mind with little girls as Indian Princesses. It sounded adorable and I traded a set of the pastel mini arrows for these lovely photos. Aren't the girls just darling? The teepee looks like so much fun too, I'd love an adult size version for a romantic picnic! You can see more her work here and if your in Central Florida, you can contact her for your portrait needs. Thanks again, Amanda!
Today is the last day for Bijou Market! Don't forget to stop by and check out all the great artists at my Mineral and Matter booth and my own work at my Native booth! There are lots of other fantastic local artists there too, it's not to miss!
I sent some of my arrows off by request toBabiekins Magazine awhile back and here they are in the spring issue! Babiekins has a great curated collection of all that's amazing out there in the baby and kids industry and their editorials are fabulous! So far, it's been an online only magazine but word is that they'll be offering it in print starting with the Fall 2012 issue and I will certainly be picking one up then!
Photography by Jessie Kenney, Styled by Heather Rome, Creative Director Priscila Barros
I have updated my shop tonight with a bunch of jewelry and a few new colors of arrows. I currently love wearing this simple, long, horn necklace with pretty much any tshirt and the peaches arrows are my new favorite. I also have a sale going on right now on GroopDealz for the simple chevron necklace. Take a peak here, it's 50% off for the next two days!
Last month, I went on a winter camping trip with some friends to a yurt. Started off with me breaking a ski pole in the first three minutes (thank goodness for people who plan ahead and bring extras) but it was really fun overall and so, so beautiful! The air was so fresh, skiing in was a nice and the yurt was cozy. Despite having the most uncomfortable beds ever. My favorite part was the night ski. The sky was so dark and was filled with stars that I can't even remember exist when I'm in the city. It was cold, as evidenced by my frosty hair, but completely worth it!
I've been working on a new collection of jewelry, all in ceramic and here's a sneak peak at it! I originally wanted to make an arrowhead necklace out of an arrowhead that I found while on a camping trip in Montana with my grandparents. I found it in the parking lot of these health mines that we were visiting and I still remember how proud my grandpa was when I found it. He made me show it off to everyone we came across. I saved it for the longest time in my keepsake box but I've searched everywhere for it and somehow between my last 5 moves, two of them being cross country, I seem to have lost it. So, these arrowheads aren't the original, but the long one is from an antique store and the fat one is from a trading post here in SLC, made by a local Navajo gentlemen. The rest of the collection is Southwest inspired and I'm really loving the colors so far. Hopefully the first batch will be in the shop before the end of March!
Please excuse the mess right now, you may have noticed that I've changed my shop and blog name. The store used to be called Verla Ivans, after my grandparents and I really liked it, but I've been itching to change and to brand everything the same, so I started thinking up names a couple months ago. Plus, no one can say my old name right, as evidenced by the godaddy hosting rep who called me this morning and said verlaivans (pronouncing it verlayvans), which I assume is how everyone has been reading it all this time. Even with capitalizing VerlaIvans, in some fonts, like a url font, it still read verlayvans. The blog name, Love Independent, was a weird combination of a Wilco song I was listening to, as I drove by a German Independent car repair shop late at night a long time ago when I was living in LA and my state of mind during a crushing (but for the best) breakup. I've been wanting to change that name forever. So, on to the new, pronounceable and hopefully memorable, Native.
My friend that I talked to last night about the name change says I am milking all I can out of the 1/8 bit of Cherokee blood in me, which is pretty much true, but I really love the new name! I'm still working out the kinks, as you can probably see on my blog header right now. You may also need to adjust your reader to my new home: www.nativeshopblog.com I apologize in advance for the extra clicking around I'm asking you to do!
You may have noticed that I have a tendency to like pretty much anything that's sparkly. I admit it, shimmer a bit and I'm yours. Like this geode wooden ornament by Michelle Hartney (via Design Crush), found a little too late, since I took the Christmas tree down last night. I know, I know. But James likes the tree up until his birthday and that was just a few days ago. For his birthday, I surprised him with an overnight stay at the darling Peery Hotel downtown. We have a bit of a thing for old hotels and since that visit, I also now have a major crush on his and her sinks. Nice rectangular ones with pedestals and big, flat edges.
Welcome to the New Year! My first day back at the job job was a busy one and also unfortunately full of grumpy people and a coworker who sings - a lot, poorly and songs that I would rather not have stuck in my head (Barbie Girl...really?) But then I got off work, had a great dinner, spent some time relaxing and then was productive all evening. James even picked up the place before I got home, extra treat!
We spent the past weekend at a condo with a bunch of friends and had a great time. Lots of laughing, lots of laziness and lots of good food. My friends can cook! We had homemade falafel, annual black bean soup, best blueberry muffins from scratch ever and baked oatmeal all in one weekend. I also finished off this book that my dear friend (who got a pixie haircut for the first time and looks stunning!) recommended to me and quite enjoyed it.
I say it's all a great start to 2012, welcome, new year, welcome!
I and many other talented vendors will be participating in the Beehive Bazaar this weekend. Stop by for some shopping and Mother's Day gifts! I'll try to put up some sneak peeks of my new stuff tomorrow.
