Elva Fields Blog
Leading Lady / July: Bri Emery of Designlovefest
From her love of color to her whimsical approach to life and art, we have long loved Bri Emery's musings, photographs, graphic goodness, and eye for style on her blog Designlovefest. Along with thousands of others, we look forward to her daily doses: discoveries of a great new shop, a fun and crafty how-to on making something unique for your home, a go-to cocktail recipe, or just a peek at an inspiring interior. Her latest endeavor, Blogshop, has her sharing her creative spirit and imaginative expertise with others, working with friend and photographer Angela Kohler to teach a crash course on Photoshop for Bloggers. Whether in London, Portland, L.A., or Chicago, eager students sign up to hone their craft and soak up what these skilled and talented ladies have to offer. (Read all about it on The Everygirl!)
Bri is every bit the kind and cheerful person she expresses in her writing and her art, and we were honored and, well, pretty pumped to have the chance to feature her as our July Leading Lady! I mean, a trip to the local flea market--our favorite destination anytime--would be a whole new adventure with Bri as our partner-in-crime (we were equal parts smiling and swooning over this lil' post on her Rose Bowl Flea finds recently...) so we couldn't wait to get started on a vintage-inspired jewel for her!
First, we started by asking Bri to put together an inspiration board to kick-start the project. She gathered some snippets on Pinterest for color, texture, pattern, and mood, and Bri also mentioned that she might enjoy having a signature style inclusion in the design by adding a heart jewel somewhere in the mix, as a tie-in to Designlovefest's logo.
So...once we reveled in her mood board pins (a feast for the eyes!) we pulled from our vintage collections and did a bit of sourcing at some of our favorite fleas and antique shops to find a fun assortment of hearts for her to see. (From rhinestone to lucite, we found some beauties!)
We also sent Bri a line-up of colorful beads, inspired by her picks from our archives and some of her inclusions on the mood board as well. Saturated green glass and jade, melon-hued resin, and even some vintage pink lucite strands made the edited cut.
And here's Bri's initial reaction to the materials:
So, taking her cue, we tried a fun and festive mix of her favorite colors in a random arrangement, with the vintage rhinestone heart brooch at the side. Eye-catching, a bit quirky, but completely cheerful, we loved it, but something seemed not-entirely-Bri about it, and she agreed.
At that point, she suggested she might be more in love with a single solid color for the beads, and we thought maybe that would allow the heart gem to glitz a bit more... So, opting for a sunny, sparkling yellow crystal, we went for eight strands and incorporated the brooch into the design, rather than just pinning it at the side...
And Bri loved it! She can keep the strands lined up in a delightful, more polished drape like this:
Or make it more creative and haphazard...and more her own as only Bri can do! (As seen below.) Paired with bold and brilliant hot pink, we were dazzled by the results and LOVE that our jointly-designed jewel is headed on some seriously stylish and fun-filled adventures with Bri. (I mean, it has already made its debut at a Blogshop gathering, so let the games begin!) A giant and colorful thank you to Bri for jumping in on this collaborative project with us...we had a fantastic time working (should we really call it that?) with you!
[above photos of Bri by Kimberly Genevieve for designlovefest]
love it! now can i have one too? <3
Is this just the greatest website…..I love the vibrant colors and quality of design…so beautiful! Joan R.