Patchwork Indie Art & Craft Festival

We've been so busy getting prepped and excited for this weekends Indie Art & Craft Festival and YOU are invited!!  Come down this Sunday to Helm's Bakery in Culver City and check out the Patchwork Show..come do a little holiday shopping and don't forget to say hello!!  We will have lots off goodies for sale including one of a kind hand crafted ornaments which are the perfect holiday stocking stuffer!  

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

An Ultra Feminine Bridal Shower

We all know its been a few months since my last post...but that certainly doesn't mean I haven't been super busy building the business and working on projects! In fact, a huge half of what I do is related to event styling and from it has evolved a fantastic business venture into vintage and boutique rentals.  In partnership with my mother, who is busy collecting of sorts on the East coast, we have been growing an amazing stash of irresistible loot available to brides, party planners and nostalgia seekers alike.  So since its been awhile since I shared some amazing pics I thought I would give you a peek at what we have been up to! Here are a few photos from an ultra feminine Bridal Shower I styled this past summer...For the full write up head over to our Borrowed  BLU blog and don't forget to wipe your mouth clean after you drool over the rest of the mouth watering photos!

photo credit: Larry Lien

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns   

Green With Glamour {follow up}

This follow up comes to you with news that both our "green with glamour" chairs have sold!! Off and shipped they went to their lovely new owner!  Parting is such sweet sorrow....but that just leaves more room for more chairs to be done...next color stop...Purple?!

{image credit: the two photography}

Creatively Yours,
Cassandra Stearns

Found Fridays {Green With Glamour: follow up}

A few fridays ago I posted on having found these two vintage caned tub chairs...in need of some love I sent them off to the upholsterer while I went on vacation.  Thank goodness for the distraction of my trips because whenever I send things out to get refinished I am usually antsy with anticipation awaiting to see the final result and combo of the fabric and finish I chose...And, while I didn't stray too far on changing the color for this one I did decide to take the tufting up a notch and elminate the caning all together.  So here are the after shots of my oh so {Green With Glamour} Tub Chairs!  What do you think?!!

 

To check out what they looked like before click here! I'm posting them up for sale on the sites shop now so they will be available to purchase by the end of day!
  

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

Trashing Textiles {Your Fashion By-Products}

Love this info graphic and had to share! Get all the deets and read the full article here on the "naturally advanced blog" 

If you already make an effort to reduce, re-use and recycle then great but why not take it a step further and buy more of the products you know are sourced and manufactured sustainably? Chrysalis Couture  provides just that over at our shop! 

{image via USAgain via naturally advanced blog}

Feel free to pass along the message!

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

The NEW chrysaliscouture.com

So proud to announce the newly designed and long overdue chrysaliscouture.com is live! I hope you enjoy because this is only the beginning!  With that, I encourage you to subscribe to my mailing list to get all the latest including when new product is added to the shop.  Currently this week I am finishing up the photography for my latest product including more furniture items so you won't want to miss it!   

A huge thanks to Kimber & Cassa Romero and Molly Cranna for all of the beautiful photos that populate my site. As more opportunities come my way each day I thank all those in my life who continue to been an amazing support system...you are all helping me grow my career every day and I truly appreciated that.

I can't wait to see what you think!

Subscribe & Send Me A Message Here 

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

Pillow Project! {With The Kids At PS1 School}

 A few weeks back a good friend {and half of my trusted photographer duo} asked me to help her out with an after school project with the kids at the PS1 School she works at in Santa Monica. {you might remember I also paired up with them a few months back for an art auction}.  Well this time around, a group of her students won a contest and thus won the prize of picking a project they all wanted to do...to my luck they picked pillow making!! So last week, we {Kimber and I} gathered up some leftover {but extremely funky} materials for the kids to get creative with while teaching them a thing or two about cool ways to upcycle and re-use random materials and we gave them a chance to be the designers! 

The day before we had the kids get a little "jackson pollock" on us by showing them what a little bleach could do to denim, and later that day Kimber and I finished the rest. A splitter splatter here and a splitter splatter there...

To give them a head start and a little inspiration I brought in some of the pillows I had done to show them what was possible..Then Kimber, myself and the 10 kids at PS1 School got to get even more creative and started picking, pinning and sewing up the fabric and trim.

  

Heres what they came up with....how cool right?! 

And they all had so much fun...they wanna do it again next school year!

I even made specialty labels just for them...who knows, maybe a KIDS line of pillows is the next direction for me:)

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

Weekend Wedding {Heartstone Ranch}

Sorry for the lack of updating the past week but things got so hectic!! For the past two weeks since I got home from vacation I have been pulling together all the final details for a wedding I was asked to style for two very good friends of ours, Hilary & Gavin.  The couple got married up at the Heartstone Ranch in Carpenteria just south of Santa Barbara this past weekend and boy did it turn out great!  If you might remember those glasses I featured on one of my found fridays post {the blue indiana thumbprint glasses}, well, they finally made their debut as well as several other vintage peices I have been collecting!!  

So while I am waiting {with much excitement} for more of the photos to be received by none other than Leila Brewster {an amazing photographer with a notable dreamy, artistic style} who needs to be credited for all the photos provided in this post, I couldn't help but want to share a few photos of the event that she just sent me early this morning.  The location and the weather were perfect and all the hard work and details came together exactly as I anticipated! Enjoy!   

                   

                            

 All images are courtesy of Leila Brewster Photography 

&

All floral arrangements, tablescapes and vintage rentals were done and provided by myself on belhalf of borrowed blu 

A special thanks to the bride and groom, Naomi and the girls from DNT Events for their coordination efforts, as well as all others involved in contributing this special occasion {you know who you are:)}

I can't wait to share more pics of the event soon!  Lets just say we are definitely shooting for a feature on Style Me Pretty for this one!!

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns 

"Things I'm Afraid To Tell You"

Hey everyone...so I woke up this morning feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the things I want/have to get done this week and one of them was writing a blog post...it wasn't the actual writing that was getting to me but it was what to write about which was a mystery.  So I started like I almost always do.  I opened up my laptop and started checking and responding to emails, surfing social media and blog sites, and then I found this post from Coco+Kelley.

{image via EZ}

  This is one of those posts you stumble upon and its like ahhh (not to be confused with aghh) meaning I am glad I took the time to read it!  Its like going down a rabbit hole to reality that happens to be so refreshing.  The post was titled "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You".  After reading this post the doors kept opening to other "like" posts from bloggers involved in this now called "movement"...and a movement it truely is! As a newbie in the blog/small business start up world I can't tell you how the words have been taken from my mouth affirming to me that I am diving into a pool of like minded people...more alike than I thought!  I can't wait to take the time to keep reading others posts that have joined the "Things I'm Afraid To Tell You" movement..

So, until I gather my thoughts more completely to share, I encourage you to get to know me more through the words of others by reading a few yourselves!

Here are the links to "wave 2" and I will do my best to keep bringing you more! Happy Reading...

 MIMI+MEG/ Court & Hudson/ Sacramento Street /  My Cup of Te /Blog / The Decorista / Modern Eve / Apartment 34 / Design Blahg / Vmac & Cheese / Miles to Style / Life in a Venti Cup  / The Zhush / Radiant Republic / Savvy Home / The Doctor's Closet /  Design Manifest / Because It's Awesome /  {extra}ordinary wonders /  Sparkling Footsteps / Hitha On The Go / Note To Self / So Much To Smile About / Blogstar / The Goods Design / Style & Pepper / Small Shop Studio  / Long Distance Loving / Maggie Rose Blog / The City Girl In Me / The Best Laid Plans / Concrete Jungle DC / Food Fashion Fitness / East Coast Chic

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra

Found Fridays {Just In Time For Mother's Day}

I have been well over due for a little thrift store scouting since I have been out of town the past couple of weeks but lucky me I have had the past 2 days relatively freed up so I could do just that! Normally I have myself on my brain and what I like but just in time for Mothers Day I stumbled upon a partial set of these "Liberty Blue" dishes from Staffordshire China {8 dinner, 8 saucers, 7 b&b, 3 tea cups and 1 bowl}.  I was able to bargain with the lady and got them for $40 instead of $55.  To be honest, I would have bought them for $55 either way cause the going rate per plate is almost $10..but anyways back to Mothers Day...My mother is hooked on this collection...in fact she has an almost complete set for not just 8 but 80 people.  While I might be tempted to keep them for myself, I decided it would be the perfect Mothers Day gift for her.  So, I am packing them up all safe and secure and shipping them out...I just hope they get there in time! 

A note on the "Liberty Blue"...According to Robbins Nest website it was designed in and sold in 1976 to commemorate America's 200th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  It was made by Enoch Wedgewood in the Staffordshire district of England in the tradition of the 19th century Staffordshire historical blue china.  This china features various scenes all referencing early American historical events.  


Happy Mothers Day Mom!!  

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns

Chrysalis Beach Shoot {a sneak peek}

This morning I received an email with a few photos from the shoot we did a few weeks ago...what a teaser!! The few I've seen so far have come out so good I am  restless just waiting to see the others!  While I would like to hold out on you too till I get all the photos I just couldn't resist sharing....Enjoy the sneak peek of part of the table setting I put together! Oh and styling services and vintage rentals are available through me so don't hesitate to contact me! A special thanks to my friends Kimber and Cassa Romero for helping me organize and photograph the shoot! While their website is in development you can check out {here} to see more of their photography as well as other photos that inspire them! 

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns 

Paris and Rome..I Didn't Wanna Go Home!

Sorry for skipping out on my posting dutys last week but I happened to be on a very belated honeymoon in Paris...following with a short stop in Rome.  It was an amazing trip despite a few bumps here and there (i.e rainy weather and missed flights and have lots of inspiration pics to share!  With that you all know I wouldn't travel abroad without trying to find a local flea market to scout out the local good finds! After plenty of research I narrowed it down to heading just north of Paris to Port de Clignancourt, known for the "Les Puces de Saint-Ouen" a.k.a. The Flea Market of Saint-Ouen. We were able to get there via the metro in just 20 minutes time! 

Streets full of antique dealers at every foot seem to be a permanent fixture here unlike the ones i'm familiar with in the states that just pop up and down each week..I was in heaven!  Since I had been looking for vintage brass fixtures for my night-stands for some time now these were the first priority item to look for.  You should have seen my eyes when I turned around the corner and saw crates full of them!

 I dug and dug and found several pieces I liked individually but couldn't find any two the same...Since I needed 8 total I decided to keep moving on and scout out another favorite indulgence...vintage dishware!  Tons, and tons of it filled each vendor space like nothing I have ever seen! If it weren't for the difficulty and cost to transport such fragile finds I may have had to splurge...most of it late 18th and early 19th century...But seriously, what a feast for my eyes!   

  Next on to fabric...

 And I finally ended up stumbling upon these early 20th century perfume and toiletry glass bottles and labels in new and unused condition all marked on the bottom as being Made In France....Tons left over from companies that never used them all....I immediately thought of my friends Kimber and Cassa who in addition to their mother have started an all organic and natural skin care line called Lollique! Being that they and the name of their business are of French descent,  I thought these would be a fitting gift to them.  They have been on the lookout themselves for vintage glass vessels to use for their products so why not these?!... 

   

While I could have spent a fortune on all the goodies I found this trip I had to restrain myself.  I now know its a must for my next trip to to put aside a little business money for some one of kind treasures that can't be found anywhere else!  For now, happy travels!

Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns 

DIY {re-furbished antique bench}

As you already know, this past week I was back home in Connecticut helping my mother get ready for her Bi-Annual Garden Art Sale.  Since I am contributing some handmade pillow covers to the sale I needed to create the perfect display.  Now my mom has lugged this antique bench around for almost 20 years and still hasn't re-furbished it and   we thought, what not a better time than now!  With my need for a cute display and her wanting to add a custom piece to her upstairs hallway, this bench was the perfect fix for both of us!

So we went on the hunt for the perfect fabric and trim to coordinate with my pillows but more importantly her decor! With us being in a sort of time crunch we narrowed our choices down to this variegated, "vintage looking" fabric wit coordinating avocado piping. 

 Next, my mom sanded prepped and primed the bench while I worked on upholstering the new fabric, foam and batting to this custom made piece of wood we are using for the seat {you may have noticed in the first pic that the actual seat was missing}

 Thank goodness for a warm sunny day! Between my mom and I we were able to get this DIY project done in a day and a half{including drying time}!!  Oh how I love having someone working beside me, I get so much done a whole lot quicker than if I were doing it by myself!  Oh, and my apologies for the iphone pics...I have much better ones when this bench makes its debut at the sale on May 5th, but until then....

 Creatively Yours,

Cassandra Stearns