JUNK GYPSIES

Tonight on Great American Country, The Junk Gypsies Celebrate their Season 2 Premiere!! Keep your eyes peeled for some Contrived to Charm Items! Episode airs 9/8CST They Carry a small selection of Ready-made belts on their site and in their new store in Round Top Texas! Read More about their Journey HERE on their official Blog.

Amie & Jolie Sikes, Amie In The Contrived to Charm Desert Rose Belt

Amie & Jolie Sikes, Amie In The Contrived to Charm Desert Rose Belt

"Harlequin" Belt Now Available!

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Inspired by the look and feel of tucked velvet upholstery,
 fish-net-stockings, bordellos and carousels...
masked balls and burlesque.
A very versatile design with loads of texture!
Now available in my Shop!


Be My Valentine Giveaway!

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Contrived To Charm's First ever Giveaway! This week I am hosting a Valentine's Day Giveaway on Instagram! The Winner will receive their very own made-to-fit "Muse" Belt. Sound Fun? Simply repost your favorite finished Belt photo from my Instagram Feed to yours and be sure to tag it @Contrivedtocharm #contrivedtocharm #Leathervalentine. Easy right? On Friday February 1st I will post the Winning Name Via Instagram. The lucky lady (or Gent) will just have to email me the desired size along with the address it should be sent to, and I will have it shipped out just in time for Valentine's Day! Feel free to contact me with any questions.

" Hyped "

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A huge thanks to Shan Shan at TinyToadstool for sending me these amazing pictures from her Lookbook.nu shoot. Check out the way she styled The Contrived to Charm "Muse" F-Holes Belt with her rockin' DIY studded boots! Love it! You can view more of her "looks" HERE.
xoxo to SatelliteVintage for spotting these great photos! Thank you Ladies!

Stellar

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Stellar Art Show Entrance

On June 30th 2012, The BackFence Society, in conjunction with Mother Earth Brewery, hosted "Stellar: An out of this World Art Exhibit." With crop circles laid out underfoot and asteroids glittering above, over 30 local artists pulled out all the stops bringing us one night of space-tastic sensory overload!

My Piece was a shadowboxed set titled "Heavenly Glow."
Getting a halfway decent picture was near impossible so here's a pre-framed picture of the left "box."

Thank you to all the family and friends who came out for this show, couldn't have done it without you! XOXO

You can view more photos of this event HERE.
Photos Courtesy of Anthony Malizia

Miss Sarah Spinks (Rocking her super sweet Pentagram Belt)
& Myself
(always reppin in the Susan Studded Belt)

 

" The Wheel" For EYAOV



This month I had the opportunity to donate a piece of artwork to the annual Angel City Derby Girls - "Eat Your Art Out V" silent auction fundraiser! The theme was "Dark Carnival," and if you know me even the slightest bit-then you know I was super into it!! I attended the show last year and was thrilled to be a participant this time around. All proceeds from the auction go to benefit The ACDG.
In my super charged carnival dreams I made a huge wheel where the sequin clad girl lays down, straps in and has knives thrown at her while its spinning (LOL)...In reality I took it down a notch and created a veritable "Wheel of Fortune!..." or misfortune depending on which slice the playing card ticker lands on! Each slice is hand-tooled leather, painted with leather acrylics and then mounted to the wooden wheel. A special thanks to my ridiculously good looking and extremely manly boyfriend for helping me mount it - to make it a bona-fide spinning wheel! xo




AND....A HUGE Thanks to the winner, Mr Pierre Bernard Jr! Thank you for all the compliments and support, and for your appreciation for the details and work that went into this piece.


Photo courtesy of Mr. Bernard


In addition to being a donor I was also a winning bidder! I saw a sneak peak of this online before the show and fell in love with it! "Stephen Bibrowski" By Tony Guaraldi-Brown.
All-in all I had a great time participating. If you didn't make it out this year you can find more info and photos on this annual event at: EYAOACDG
First Photo: Courtesy of April - ish Fauxtography

"Desperately Susan"


New "Desperately Susan" Design!
Inspired by one of my favorite Movies, Desperately Seeking Susan. This belt is literally PAVED with an array of studs, cones,domes and grommets!! My goal was to make myself an accessory that would have the same GLAM feel as those rhinestone boots Madonna trades her bitchen' Jacket in for.... I think I succeeded! Now available in my Etsy Shop!
Model: Melinda Solares
Photo: Courtesy Of Home Mercantile & Ron Rauto Photography

"Helena Haunts the China Hutch"



Wanted to put together a little photo sequence for you all showing the different stages of working leather. I am frequently asked if I stamp the picture with a giant stamp or if I buy things already made and paint on them. The answer is "sort of" and "no." Every piece I create starts with raw veggie-tan hide, a pattern for the leather and a pattern for the image going onto it. This Piece was created for "NOCTURNE." An Art show coming up on November 12th. The theme being that submitted artwork should be "Inspired by Night".
In addition to the given theme, I was super excited to make something from the salvaged wood piece (the frame), and actually created the scalloped,studded border before I even sketched out an image! So The photos start with my sketch and end with the finished result,hopefully giving you an idea of all the layers in between.
Enjoy! xo

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Just received this gorgeous wedding photo from Rebeka Sobodacha. She ordered the Shoe-Spat Belt in custom colors, caramel and honey brown! I was pretty pleased with the end result having never tried that color combo for that design. Just goes to show that if you have something in mind when ordering don't hesitate to ask! Thanks Rebeka! I may have to use this as a color option in my shop :) Photo By: Jamie Farage, FaragePhotography




"Strange" LOVE



When Jill McKeever sent me a link to her blog Craftressing.com , I literally gasped in awe. Her photos featuring the Muse belt perfectly capture the romance and timelessness of the design.
If you haven't already, check out her Etsy Shop ForStrangeWomen, where she has a wonderfully woodsy-victorian inspired line of natural perfumeries for your perusal. I was also very excited to find that Jill wore her belt in an article featuring her business in the April issue of O Magazine! These sort of special occassions do call for special ensembles and I get downright ecstatic when you Contrived to Charm ladies choose my handmade goods!! Love and Thanks!
Photos By: Kevin McKinney

A Fairytale Wedding!

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I can't say enough how much I enjoy seeing my designs in
action. It really is the best kind of feedback, and
I couldn't pick a better scenario for my Sweetheart Belt!
Mr Ron Betts And Whitney Hamrick Tied the knot on
March 21st, 2011 on Aero Island Denmark.
All of their pictures are positively dreamy so it was
especially hard not to post every single one of them!
These Photographs were taken by Camilla Joervad from
EnnaWeddingPhotography.com.
I am thrilled that one of my handmade creations was included
in their special day!! They would like to thank the great
people at DanishIslandWeddings.com for taking the best care of them-making sure all their
documents were in order. Thank You to the happy couple
for sharing these with me.
LOVE! xo