What inspires me…weekend in NYC

As designers, we are often asked what inspires us, where we keep coming up with fresh ideas. For me, I find inspiration just about everywhere. Every detail I see  is tucked away in some nook or cranny of my brain, just waiting for a chance to breed a new idea. Sometimes I don’t even know where I saw something or even IF I actually saw it…I have a very rich dream-life.

Usually a trip to New York City is for a specific business reason,but this weekend, we drove up to NC to just hang out and play around the city.

We stayed at at The Surrey Hotel on the Upper East Side.

Tucked into the middle of the block on 76th street , just off 5th Avenue, the Surrey is the perfect basecamp for venturing up and down the East Side. Throughout the day, we kept returning to this lovely boutique hotel to relax.

The rooftop garden was extraordinary. We spent the afternoon sipping hand mixed lemonade.   Doncha love the quill mirror? Couldn’t help snapping a pic with 2 BBB’s.

We returned again in the evening after dinner to see the city lit up.

We wandered all over the city, enjoying great food,

    Candle 79  ,  The Smith  , PopBar and Almond

I love people watching, but I have to admit that I just don’t like this passion for Nude heels , if I saw one more girl wearing them I was gonna snap! I saw a lot of neon..not too fond of this fashion trend either…maybe for the young and very thin.

Thankfully home accessories shops were as gorgeous as ever.

Fell in love with Wolf Home and all the glorious silk pillows piled everywhere temping me to buy them for every room in my already-over-decorated house!

then on to Fishes Eddy where they are very smart! Look at this handy bench outside

Found some funky blue/green oval plates and some dandy glass bottles with swing tops for my green concoction.

and finally, I quick stop at a flea market in the parking lot while we were waiting for the car to be extricated from it’s space.

I picked up this pair of adorable little hobnail vaseline bud vases for $20.00..I was too much in a hurry to bargain ( turns out they may be Fenton ) …but what I nice little reminder of my wonderful and inspiring weekend in New York NY

If the shoe fits,adorn it

So I have big feet. Size 11!  They look proportional to my size , but finding shoes that fit , is an issue. Or I should say : finding shoes that fit, but are comfy and relatively cute, is the issue.
I found these black linen flats by Aerosoles and they are pretty comfy , but the glittery bows!!! Ew. When you are a size 11, the last thing you need are gold glitter bows.

If you know me, you know I don't co-own a business that specializes in adorned handbags , for nothing … these shoes had potential . I thought this could be an excellent way to illustrate what we go through to design every handbag we have in our line. The adornments on BB bags look effortless and interchangeable, but there is real thought behind the designs, and a lot of trail and error.We consider the aesthetics and the practicality, along with the construction, before we move forward with a design. Here is the procedure I went through to re-design the shoes…

First, Off came the bows...

Then I had to deal with the little tab thing...

When I took the tab off, left behind was this sticky gooey glue that required some glue remover and tweezers...

Then I had to use black Sharpie to hide some sins and I was all set to re-decorate.

***

Here are some possible ways to adorn these simple black flats.

photos R to L  :

1. flower garland

2.A round with small bee on left,  2B round with med bee on right

3A round w med bee on short flat,  3B left, tort buckle on right with big flat

4. tort buckle with short flat

5. sm bee on tort circle short flat

6. sm bee on short flat

7. long bee on black oval and short flat

8.med. bee on oval , short flat

9. Olympic rings w bee

10. universal monogram

..tell me what you think and when they are all done, I'll post the finished shoes.