About low key leather bracelets & sophisticated furoshiki bags. Who fired this changes? Surprises inside!

Low key leather bracelets: to the beach

If you are not an exuberant person, don't like bling bling, if you are rather low key, I have the perfect choice of bracelets to wear during your holidays or at home.

I am a sea person, not a mountain person, thus my heart goes out to creating jewels you can wear at the waterside. This ones are different  from my also minimalist & low key creations I showed and styled 2 weeks ago (French Riviera Style) and very different from my flashy pool bracelets.

This creations are very simple, inornate but still make a statement due to the nice quality of the glass beads. And you can wear them in the water because there is no metal that can corrode.

Wear LoveLea's leather bracelets with vintage beads to the beach!

I made a leather button and a loop to close this bracelets and the beads I used are glass vintage beads.

I am a bit old fashioned or you may call it prudeness, but I don't walk around in my bathing suit but wear a light, transparent beach dress to go from home or wherever I am staying to the beach. This type of dress works well with my low key bracelets and neck laces. No need to go shopping, look in your closet and see what you have in similar colors!

Beach dress to be pared to a bracelet.

Beach dress paired to a LoveLea bracelet with vintage beads.

The same beach dress, this time with a neck lace: the evil eye bead will protect you from jealous looks! It closes with a sliding knot: no metal involved! The bead is a glass bead, no vintage, knew.

LoveLea's leather blue evil-eye bead necklace

Here another beach dress with a choker that can function as a double wrap bracelet.

LoveLea's leather choker/wrap bracelet.

LoveLea's leather choker/wrap bracelet.

Maybe you have a pareo or 2, always handy. Pair it with a simple necklace but a contrasting one!

LoveLea's leatherevil-eye necklace 

Close up of red evil-eye bead.

That red bead is a modern version of the traditional blue evil eye bead. It is new and made out of glass; the necklace has a sliding knot: just pull the two ends to open or close the necklace; sliding knots are so ingenious!


More sliding knot bracelets, very basic but perfect for a teenager's wrist: the beads look the same but they aren't: the left one is slightly more yellow and the right one is a bit more green and the leather is more supple, almost not visible.

LoveLea's leather bracelet with bead and sliding knot

LoveLea's leather bracelet with bead and sliding knot

and as last, again a very simple, basic, low key necklace with a single new glass bead and sliding knot; let the bead do the talking:

LoveLea's leather necklace with big bead!

Close up of bead.

wow, I have a lot of picture this time!

Leather handle for a sophisticated furoshiki bag

Since we are talking beach, pack your stuff into a furoshiki bag! You can make them very easily. The most easy is to take an (old) scarf, a square one the size as you need and fold them as shown here. It is in Japanse but you'll get it, easy peasy and I'm showing you the real stuff. If you don't want to use your scarves, find a piece of (square) cloth, hem it or don't hem it, fold it and there you are. For a beach bag, a good size would be 95x95 cm or 105x105 cm.

But if you like to be sophisticated, use a leather handle with D-rings; this way you can put more stuff into your bag. I saw them on Pinterest and made one myself. A handle looks like this:

LoveLea's  pink leather handle for furoshiki bag.

If your cloth or scarf is silk or from a slippery material, when you attach your handle via the d-rings, make, wrap the end around the rings, make a nice knot as extra safety so your bag wont slip out of the rings! It happened to me and it is very very embarrassing!

Furoshiki bag with LoveLea's pink leather handle.

With the handles, it does look more like a bag and less a knapsack.

The author with her leather pool bracelet.

Me, myself and a pool bracelet I made last week!

This is a picture of the old me even if the picture is only 3 days old. Next post, I'll look different. You know who fired this changes (blog and myself ): it is Professor Lyn Slater from Accidental Icon: what a revelation, what a source of courage, what an inspiration!

Yes, I changed the background colors of my blog! I wanted it to be light and airy, but not white! Blogger limits the colors and since screaming, neon colors are not my style, I opted for grey (only 2 shades 😇 😏)  and had to change the color of the fonts too. Do you like it? Is it easy enough, comfortable to read? Tell me in the comments.

By next post, I'll be 65! I'll post lots of pictures of my party, so you'll meet my beloved family!

See you!

About leather bracelets styled for the pool; my big event; hand painted sheer curtains.

With a Leather Bracelet to the pool.

This is the second part in the paring sequence: pool wear. The next part will be on beach wear. Why this distinction? Leather and water don't go well together! Metal and pool water don't match well either. My beach bracelets are embellished leather strings, while my pool bracelets are more elaborate; you want to look good at he pool, don't you?

When designing this pool bracelets, I made them easy to put on: a snap button. If you decide to have a swim  before hitting the water, with one movement you take them off and when done swimming, with one movement they're back on. And they have some bling content.

Look at this bracelet, one of a kind!

LoveLea's red leather pool bracelet.

LoveLea's red leather pool bracelet, detail.

Make it match, not your clothes, but your bathing suit:

LoveLea's red leather pool bracelet, styled to a bathing suit.

The edge of my bathing suit inspired me to another bracelet: I laced the same red leather through (another kind of) chain. Voila!

LoveLea's chain with red leather bracelet.

Here is the same type of leather bracelet in cerulean leather with a slightly yellower chain. Pair this to any bathing suit with metal or gold details.

LoveLea's chain with cerulean leather bracelet styled to a bathing suit.

And this white leather bracelet will show off your tan!

LoveLea's chain with white leather bracelet.

More pictures and details at my FB shop, here and here.
Remember, if you get one of this bracelets, wear it to the pool, not in the pool, 😃😃.

THE event

Two weeks ago, I told you about an event. Here it comes: within less than 2 weeks, I am turning 65! And I want to celebrate this amidst my family! We will be around 30 people.

Our townhouse is rather small and the garden is only a 20 m², too small for 30 people, I needed to look out for a nice location. My son's companion talked about this with my son and they both agreed I could have my birthday celebration at their place, it is considerably bigger. This is really great!

My confirmation email to the family members is out; when I have my numbers, I can mail the party-rent firm how much tables, chairs I need and glasses, plates and cutlery; and a drinks fridge. I have to check my table cloths for their size, I want the real thing, no paper cloths! My husband and I are doing the catering. We used to run a restaurant and cooking for 30 people is no big deal.

We have been thinking about the menu: I want "Circassion chicken" so very yummi: chicken with walnuts, this is for my husband to prepare; and salmon paté, this is my responsibility; and sorrel omelet! I want 3 salads: a very fancy avocado salad ( I like to be creative), maybe a potato salad and a variety of green leaves salad.

I want some side dishes like hummus, feta cheese in oil, black and green self grown and cured olives, some dips and baguettes or French loafs! Dessert will come straight from the baker. Only the coffee is a problem, I haven't figured that out.

Since we live in Belgium, no celebration without wine and beer! Personally I love apple cider; this is  for ever connected with my youth: my grandmother made apple cider. When we went for a visit in the summer, we would get apple cider diluted with water; once 12, we were aloud to drink it straight, sitting under an umbrella in white painted wooden garden chairs on the lawn. Bonus: apple cider has a low alcohol content.

Some people will stay till late and I will serve a choice of cheeses with bread. Hmm, there  should also be some butter.

I can't wait to turn 65 and have my party!

If you want any of the recipes, ask by email.

Hand painted sheer curtains.

I washed my hand painted sheer curtains. Look how nice and cozy they look at the clothesline! Very intimate. They would look gorgeous as a pavilion!

LoveLea's hand painted sheer curtains.

That's all for this week! My next post will be about beach wear and how to pair it!  and other stuff, of course.

See you next week.

About minimalist leather bracelet and styling tips; easy, practical ways to be mindful.

If you get this post in your mailbox, please, do me and yourself a favor and click on the title to experience the original form, to share the post, send to someone and to pin my images. Thank you for humoring me.

Where are you heading this summer?

I am doing a sequence of styling posts along with my usual content. This first one is about styling my minimalist bracelets with French Riviera Style. I'll have more in the weeks to come about pairing bracelets to pool-wear, to beach wear; I love creating boho/hippy style. And Gothic of course, maybe steampunk!

Minimalist leather bracelets.

What will you be doing during your summer holidays? If you planned a day on the beach, a week at the beach, a 1-day boat trip, a mini cruise, anything that has to do with being near the sea, I have the perfect minimalist leather bracelet for you!

What d' you say about this leather navy&white minimalist bracelet?

LoveLea's leather, navy&white minimalist bracelet

The styling of your bracelet

I hear you saying: nice to have a  minimalist bracelet, but how will I wear it, what kind of clothes goes with this bracelets? I got it all figured out for you: the French Riviera Style: 1 top + 1 bottom with 1  minimalist bracelet; I have loved the understated elegance of this style since I was a child.

My beloved striped vest!

My navy T-shirt

My French Riviera Tops

 I love the boat neck line, even if this one is a bit square.

My striped boat neck shirt

Pair this tops to dark jeans or exact the contrary: white pants or stylish cream colored "pants éléphants" and off you go to Deauville. Never mind the designer, it's the style I want to show you. Sew yourself a pair of them.

Chanel's wide leg, pants éléphants.

Do you love the French Riviera Style, then this bracelet is for you!

And here are its variants; you can still where your bracelet with a striped Brittany's T-shirt and a  yellow or pink bag, a subtle dot on the i!

LoveLea's minimalist leather bracelets

Did you like my bracelets? It can be yours!

What does mindful mean to me and how it can be to YOU.

Being mindful is not only for meditating, serious, boring people. We can all benefit from it. To me, being mindful is a necessary, especially when I am very busy; when doing too much or multi tasking it is even more necessary.

My mindfulness is very practically, earthly-minded oriented: when I go to the kitchen to retrieve something, I want to remember what and where the object was to be retrieved! Lately I've been very busy and focused on webinars and the like;  webinars are exhausting and for some of them I had to get up early to take the webinar. Lack of sleep and stress kills me. But I know that good habits make everything easier. Let me give you some examples of what I mean and what I do.

- me: my keys on the right place when I enter my home;
  you: give everything its place and put it in its place!

- me: my id card placed back in my wallet  after using it;
  you: store precious things immediately

- me:I shouldn't follow different threads of ideas in my head when I am tired
  you: don't multi-task when tired, go slowly

- me: when tired, and making mistakes,  I should take a break immediately after noticing and not say: I'll finish this off first.
  you: take your break when you need it!

- me: when I take this break, I should do something totally different, not using my brain but my hands (clearing my work table, watering the plants, stroll in the garden..)
  you: do something totally different during your break (have a list of what you can do ready)

- me: being concentrated on the now, helps me to say: don't worry before something happens
  you: live in the present and don't worry about the future

- me: I used to take a book with me when it was likely I was going to wait; I don't do this any more but occupy myself with concentrating on the task ahead, observing myself, just "being" instead of doing.
you: it's ok not to do something; simply "being" is ok! (Reading is an ascape.)

It also means to me:
- me: being observant of my body: when I eat this, what happens? when I do this, what happens? When too many hair sticks to my comb, my body tells me: slow down!
  you: be aware of your body when you change your habit, diet etc. what signs does your body give you? hair loss? stumbling over your words? being forgetful? 

- me: I close my eyes when brushing my teeth to feel what I am doing
  you: close your eyes to feel what you do and to focus better

- me: being observant when I am home- being observant when I go some place
  you: be alert to what happens around you, when home, when some place else.

- me: being aware of the sounds around me
  you: listen to the sounds in your home: is everything ok? no strange sounds?

Being in the now, leaves no room to fret over the past or worry about the future.

Wow, this is different! I'm curious to learn if you guys like this! you can let me know in a message.

Watch out for my next styling tips and other tips! You can subscribe in the box below or use the box in the column on the right.

See you! Have a nice week.

Philososphizing about marriage; leather bridal jewelry with vintage motifs; boho style colorful leather bracelets.

If you are getting my post in your mailbox, please, do me and yourself a favor and consider reading it in it's original form by clicking on the title: more elegance, color, pleasure will be added to your reader experience and you can pin my images. Thank you for humoring me. 

 

Philosophizing!

An acquaintance of me has been left by her boyfriend a couple weeks ago. This event fell from the sky apparently. He left her just like that and went living with his new girlfriend! She had no clue! But at the same time she makes fun of him on the internet, never has a good word for him and is never pleased. She has 2 children and an unpaid house. Drama is coming and I feel sick to the stomach when thinking about it.

This makes me musing about this "outmoded" institution: marriage. People say: is a piece of paper going to make the difference? And I say yes! I felt this when my daughter got married, it felt good! Off course, if you are not married, the paperwork etc is a lot less when you separate.

But why should you think about separating easily when marriage is mend to last. I think, no I am sure that if you consider marrying someone (not moving in with someone), you think twice and thrice about it! After all, you speak out  marriage vows and promise to care for each other, to be there in good and in bad times. It makes you ponder: can I live my whole life with this person and then you marriage has more chance to last.

This does not mean I view unmarried couples badly (I know plenty of unmarried couples who have a good life together), but think twice before you decide to live together when knowing the person for only a couple of months.

How do you think about marriage and I mean beyond the day in  church or your grand garden party?

Leather bridal jewelry

After making this statement, it is the perfect moment to show you the bridal set I made with repurposed vintage motifs. (I already showed a cuff bracelet with vintage motifs in an earlier post.) I had a big scrap of cream colored leather and made a choker, bracelet and earrings out of it and applied the vintage motifs to the choker and bracelet.

LoveLea's leather bridal set

Details off the vintage motifs:

Lovelea's leather bridal set, detail of vintage motif

Colorful, lively leather bracelets, boho style

I love making cuffs! Cuffs have more to do with leather, as raw material, than narrow bracelets. But unfortunately cuffs are too warm for this season, unless you were them in the evening or at night. That's why I  am working on, designing, creating summer jewelry.

Summer means for me sun, beach, swimming in the sea, living leisurely, eating salades... I designed 2 boho style bracelets, boho being the epitome of easy summer life: I created 1 wrap bracelet that can double as a choker and 1 bracelet.

Lovelea's Boho style bracelets.

I attached big glass beads with little straps of leather as well as metal charms to the wrap bracelet/choker.

LoveLea's leather boho style wrap bracelet/choker.

Event coming up!

I have a big, personal upcoming event. Everything is not yet on point but I want tip off my loyal readers. You can subscribe either in the right or in the left column so you won't miss out. If you get this post in your mail box, you can subscribe using this link, either in the left or in the right column.

See you next week.

P.S: tell me/us your thoughts about marriage using the comments box below.