Emitations Jewelry

Go Glam Week continues here at The Sweet Jelly Bean with the introduction of an online jewelry shop I’ve had my eye on for a while. I possess neither the money nor the desire (aka I am lazy) to try and imitate celebrity style very often. However, every now and then I’ll run across a pair of earrings a movie star is wearing that make me want to say, “Hey, I want those!”

Enter Emitations Jewelry, a place for cubic zirconia and sterling silver jewelry for those of us who haven’t quite made our first $10M just yet. This shop boasts affordable versions of the latest celebrity and movie trends along with rings, earrings, necklaces, and men’s jewelry in just about any color or style! Some of my favorites:

Star Necklace, $34.95 (inspired by The Hills) - I can’t say I ever have watched this show, but I love this little starfish!

Mother of Pearl Ring, $99.00 (inspired by Alice on Twilight) – I try to keep my mostly-in-the-past Twilight obsession to myself, but this ring sure brings back the memories!

Dogwood Flower Earrings, $54.95 (inspired by Hayden Panettiere, Kate Winslet, and Penelope Cruz) – Adorable yet elegant little studs would perk up any outfit!

Emitations is featuring a couple of deals to help your wallet out. Get $0.99 shipping on any order through 12pm on Thursday, April 2, by entering coupon code M991.

Not ready to buy just yet? Join Emitations’ email list and get $5 off your first order (to do so, scroll down to the bottom of their website home page and jot down your email address).

Happy shopping! We are all movie stars at heart, right? :-)

SwitchFlops Review and Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING. 

Back when I first started this blog in January, I’d mentioned a cool new concept in footwear I’d recently stumbled across called SwitchFlops. As the name applies, SwitchFlops have the style and build of a typical pair of flip-flops, but features a piece of Velcro along the strap. When you’re ready to change your style, whether its from polka dots to skulls or a solid color to preppy stripes, just peel off the current fabric strips you’re sporting and replace them with a totally different design!

The 411
Shoe Styles and Colors:
LuLu Flat ($32): available in black, tan, brown, navy, pink, and white
Taylor Wedge ($36): available in black, brown, white
Lilly Kitten Heel ($48): cork and black

SwitchFlops straps are undeniably stylish and affordably priced! At only $12 per strap set, you can create an endless shoe wardrobe with over 70 strap choices from six different collections!

My Review
I was fortunate enough to be able to try these lovelies out for myself! I have a pair of the LuLu flats in brown and 3 sets of straps. My take on these:

Pros
Comfort – I was worried that the Velcro would rub against my feet and blister, but they did not! Also, I was afraid that the sole itself wouldn’t be as cushy as the Reef flipflops I consider my staple, but they were just as comfortable – if not more!

Ease – The straps are very easy to change – it took me a total of about 2 minutes (probably less) to change both of the straps out, and only that long because I couldn’t decide which design I wanted to try out next!

Price – For $12, you can get a new set of straps to add to your collection and it really does look like a totally different shoe!

Variety – With over 70 straps to choose from, I bet you can’t find some that you love! My next purchase will be the Kitten heels, which I think will be perfect with pants or capris for work!

Cons
Seriously, I can’t think of any at this point. Maybe availability? Currently most of the straps and shoe styles are available through the SwitchFlops website and a few select boutiques across the United States. For their store locator, click here.

The Giveaway
SwitchFlops has generously offered to give away one pair of their flops to a lucky reader! To enter: Visit the SwitchFlops website and pick our your favorite style of straps. Return to The Bean and leave a comment on this entry telling me which strap is your favorite. If you do not do this, your entries will not count!

For more entries:
1 EXTRA ENTRY: Begin following this blog. Let me know if you already do so!

2 EXTRA ENTRIES: Mention this giveaway on your own blog and link baack to this post. Please let me know if you do so!

3 EXTRA ENTRIES: Make a purchase from SwitchFlops during this giveaway and let me know about it. I’ll ask you to forward me your order confirmation!

This giveaway ends Monday, April 6, 2009, at 9pm PST. All eligible entries will be thrown into a bowl and a winner will be drawn. The winner will be announced here and contacted following the close of the contest. Be sure to check out info on The Bean’s upcoming giveaways - look over to the right hand column near the top of the page and you'll see links to them. Good luck everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing you a Happy Leprechaun Day on this March 17th, but who cares?! Have a great day! Drinks lots of Guinness, wear lots of green, and pinch lots of non-believers! Here's a Polyvore collage of my favorite green finds for your viewing pleasure. Click on the image for more info on any of the items.

St. Patrick's Day - by thesweetjellybean on Polyvore.com

Shop It to Me - "Better than Sample Sales!"

So many times I have fallen in love with an item in an online store only to forget to return later to snatch it up when it goes on sale. Shop It to Me is a new service that can help remedy this by giving you a heads up when your favorite brands goes on sale in your size!

You can think of Shop It To Me as your free personal online shopper. Select your favorite apparel brands (such as Theory, Prada, Armani, Ella Moss, Juicy Couture, Seven Jeans, DKNY, or BCBG) and sizes. We'll scour the websites of leading retailers like Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Banana Republic, Gap, Zappos and Bluefly and send you a Salemail™ - a daily or weekly email summary of which new items go on sale in your size.

Shop It To Me has partnered with dozens of leading retailers to make sure it will always be a free service. Sign up and recruit 10 friends and you get a $10 gift card! Would you like to sign up to thank me for telling you this great service? Sign up and mention tori correll at gmail dot com as your referrer!

Where did all the hats go?

Question of the day: Why did women stop wearing hats? I’ve always been told that men stopped after JFK’s inauguration (he came sans hat), but then Jackie was always so well known forher pill box hats, so what the heck happened? When did it stop being in vogue to wear hats? Call me hopelessly romantic and old fashioned, but I think that hats can be really beautiful. I practically claw at the screen when I see Rachel McAdams in her adorable hats on “The Notebook.”

So why is it now just either baseball caps or beanies? Why do most women today think Blossom (and hot pink lipstick, shoulder pads, blue eyeshadow, hair bands, etc.) when they think of hats rather than of realizing they could be so stylish? At least a flower up in there or something?!

Additional benefits of hats I’ve come up with (some more original than others):
1. They keep your head warm.
2. They protect you from bird poo.
3. They counteract all variations on “bad hair day.”
4. They probably make you look taller.
5. You can keep mace and other weapons in them.

I found lots of hats at mainstream online stores, so I can’t be too off base, can I? Check out these stores for some great hats:
Bluefly
Urban Outfitters
Hats in the Belfry (the name itself deserves a mention!)

Giveaway: Messenger Bag from Satchel Studio

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING! As a recent post described, I am in love with all of the products from Satchel Studio, a San Francisco-based company that specializes in truly unique messenger bags. Satchel Studio combines found images, original photography from around the globe, and familiar iconography to make the unique collages that give these messenger bags true attitude! The company features two signature messenger bag sizes and a limited-edition hip pack – each of these pieces is available in up to four colors with your choice of design. I contacted the owner and artist, Kelty, and asked her a couple of questions about her work:

Tell us a little about Satchel Studio and how you got started.
Satchel Studio began almost two years ago in the same manner as most of my business adventures have- as a gift for someone. I grabbed an old army surplus messenger bag for my boyfriend and decided it would be that much cooler if I added some transferred collages to the front... it looked so cool that I haven't stopped making them! I graduated from Stanford in 2005 and Satchel Studio has been my main endeavor since then.

Where do you get your inspirations from?
Most of my designs begin with one element that I just KNOW I want to use in the collage and I sort of just go from there. I'm inspired by bright color, textures, nature, city, and vintage prints. I've also begun to incorporate a lot of my photography into the designs (see the limited editions), and love doing custom collage work for people! My greatest inspiration is the world and the people around me, and seeing how all of those parts interact together with the above list of elements is more fun than any girl could hope for.

What are your plans for 2009?
2009 has been an exciting year for me already! Soon, I will be launching Steep Street, a website representing my various non bag-related adventures in the art world. My photography, mini websites, print work, jewelry, custom collages, personal books, invitations, announcements, and other knick knacks... you can see the beginnings of this on my blog and more updates are coming soon! I'm also planning on debuting a new line of bags, and will continue making custom designs on bags for people. In this tough economy, I've decided to stick with the things people want and need most... useful gifts that are meaningful to both the giver and receiver- which also happens to be the most rewarding to me, as well. Thank you!

After tirelessly answering all of my questions, I asked Kelty if she’d be interested in participating in a giveaway on The Bean and she said yes! One lucky winner will receive the fantastic butterfly messenger bag shown here, a $55 value! Some simple steps to enter:

1. FOR ONE ENTRY: Visit Satchel Studio and check out all of the designs and pick your favorite. Return to The Sweet Jelly Bean blog and post a comment to this post identifying your favorite (please don’t just steal an answer from someone else’s comment). Be sure to leave your email address instead of commenting anonymously (if you’re not logged in) so I can notify winners!

2. FOR A BONUS ENTRY: Begin following this blog – please post a separate comment here if you are already doing so or if you begin to do so.

3. FOR 2 BONUS ENTRIES: Mention this giveaway on your own blog and link back to The Sweet Jelly Bean. Please comment on this post to let me know you've done so!

This giveaway ends Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at Noon PST. The winner will be chosen using random.org, and will be contacted following the close of the contest. Good luck everyone, and please send a special thanks to Kelty for her generosity! She’s very talented and we wish her the very best!

IsABelt - a solution for the blue jean blues?

Are jeans made these days built for any woman's body? Even my stick-figure-body-type friends don't always have a lot of luck in the dressing room (makes me feel a little better), so what is the deal with jeans anyway? For me, it's trying to find a pair that fit my bum and thighs without gapping too much in the back. Otherwise if I get something that fits my waist my thighs look like rolling pins trapped in sausage casing!

I was recently in need of a new belt and wanted to check out what online stores carried. This is how I first discovered the IsABelt, a new product specifically designed to help eliminate the creeping, crawling, sagging, butt crackag-ing, and other wardrobe malfunctions associated with low-rise jeans. To use it, you just loop the 1/2" plastic belt (which adjusts in a similar way to your bra straps) through you jean belt loops and cinch. The IsABelt is available in clear as well as many colors; in children's, misses,' and plus sizes; and for both men and women. Although it retails at many stores (both brick-and-mortar and online), you can order an IsABelt directly from the company for $16.95+$5.95 shipping.

I think I may have convinced myself I should (and need) to try this one out. If I end up doing so, I'll be sure to give you all a detailed report! Have any of you tried IsABelt before?

Cupcakes

There is something really great about cupcakes. No matter what sort of bad mood I’m in, they make me happy (and that’s not just when I’m gobbling them up two at a time). If I walk past a display of them in supermarket bakery, they bring a smile to my face! In my opinion, cupcakes are the cheerleaders of the pastry and sweet treats world. In celebration of these little num nums, I’ve created a collage of all things cupcake using one of my favorite online toys, Polyvore:

Don't call me cupcake - by thesweetjellybean on Polyvore.com

My favorite product from this collage (aside from the horribly overpriced Tiffany charm)? The Cupcake-themed dish gloves made by a store called Carolyn’s Kitchen. Somehow I don’t think I’d mind scrubbing burnt chicken char off the dollar store cookie sheet I forgot to Pam if I were wearing these! They’re also available in a lighter blue and even have a matching apron. Talk about domestic bliss!

Satchel Studio - a place for Unique Messenger Bags

I was recently strolling through artisan booths at a local arts festival when I rounded the corner to find an enormous display for Satchel Studio, a company based in San Francisco that specializes in unique messenger bags! After happily discovering that Satchel Studio has a great online presence, I felt like I should share this amazing find with you! Let me assure you that if you buy from Satchel Studio, no one you know will have a bag like yours! Self described as a “one-woman show,” the company is indeed run by just one artist named Kelty who combines found images, original photography from around the globe, and familiar iconography to make the unique collages that give these messenger bags true attitude! Satchel Studio features two signature messenger bag sizes and a limited-edition hip pack – each of these pieces is available in up to four colors with your choice of design. Some of The Sweet Jelly Bean’s favorite designs:


The really fun part? You have dozens of designs to choose from (including from collections such as Tiles, Japanese, Grafitti, Portraits, Travela, and more), and trust me, it’ll be tough deciding on which one to get! My advice - check this site out!

Wet weather gear (Rain rain, go away...unless I can buy a new pair of galoshes)

3 Rainy Weather Looks - by thesweetjellybean on Polyvore.com

Happy Thursday. Today in Northern California it is cold, wet, and rainy. You’re probably thinking, Duh Ms. Bean, if it’s wet outside it’s probably raining! Well yes, that’s true, but what I mean is that the air itself feels wet and chilly with the unique capacity to chill me to the bone! I truly left the house totally unprepared today: wearing non-waterproof ballet flats that attract puddles, leather jacket that I refuse to get wet and therefore left in the car, and (my favorite) absolutely no umbrella! What’s a girl to do? Should I carry around one of those foldable ponchos in my purse during the winter months? I don’t know about you, but most of those things end up looking I’m wearing like a wet plastic grocery bag! Here are some quick (and cute) fixes to anytime you find yourself swimming out into a storm. Stay dry and warm out there!