Upcoming events!

Hi all - here is a brief listing of some upcoming Pop Culture Princess events!


April 16 - Breast Cancer BBQ (private event)

...to honor Joselle's 5 years Cancer free! I will have a table there with net proceeds of all sales going to her Revlon Run/Walk fundraising effort, and my gorgeous Fancy Collar Necklace will be silent auctioned. If you would like to make a bid but will not be attending, just let me know by Saturday! Go Joselle!

The site to donate is: http://do.eifoundation.org/site/TR/RevlonRunWalk/General?px=1197714&pg=personal&fr_id=1041





April 30 - May 1 - Arts Alive Festival, Mission Viejo

The Arts Alive Festival is a free event on the Village Green in Mission Viejo. It is also my first juried art event that I will be selling at! Along with the artists, there will be a green expo, street painting, food and musicians as well as workshops.

For more information: http://cityofmissionviejo.org/artsalivefestival/


In the meantime, don't forget to check the Pop Culture Princess website for new items!

-luv J

Adventures in Inspiration

Life has been quite an adventure for me lately!

A post or two ago had a photo of a lovely coral and pearl cuff I recycled from an old moth-eaten Andrew Gn cashmere sweater. Little did my friend Joselle know that it and a matching necklace were going to be given to her for her birthday! Here is a photo of her ROCKING her new Pop Culture Princess custom-made jewelry. Thank you Joselle for your support (and your card, it means the world to me and is on my inspiration wall!)

I have been working a lot lately in another area - bartending and serving at special events. Something has to pay some of the bills, right? It's been quite an adventure - I have had the privilege of working some incredible events such as the Grammy's, NBA All Stars, Directors Guild Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and the Academy Awards! Strange how life takes you places you always wanted to go, but in very unexpected ways.

I also worked the TED conference this week, and was able to eavesdrop on some amazing "TED talks" - each presentation is allowed to go 18 minutes and is on ideas that are worth discussing. Some of the highlights were seeing Bill Gates and his presentation on education, seeing Roger Ebert and hearing his new "voice" publicly for the first time, Morgan Spurlock holding court, and watching Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) mentor. It was an incredible array of amazing minds working together to learn more about how to make this world a better place.

The absolute highlight for me was Eythor Bender's presentation. He is the the CEO of Berkeley Bionics, and presented an exoskeleton they are working on for both military and civilian applications. After showing an example of how it could be used for the military, he brought out Amanda Boxtel, a paraplegic who was injured 19 years ago in a skiing accident. She is wheelchair bound and was told she would never walk again. In the photo posted, she is walking again for the first time.



Her joy was boundless! There wasn't a dry eye in the house (including mine). Standing ovation - it was like watching a miracle occur before you.

Needless to say, it inspired me to no end seeing what the human brain, technology, design, and willpower can do. I am constantly amazed at our world, and the way the universe works.

Off to work later at the Reagan Library on Air Force One. Wonder what will inspire me today? -luv J


PS: keep good thoughts for me as I am a finalist for a position with an incredible company. And healing and loving thoughts to mi famiglia as they have suffered some recent losses that have been very hard on them.

Do good work, then get out of the way!

On one of the Etsy forums, an artist posted about a conversation she had with a successful sculptor who was a bit of a recluse. His advice to her was to make sure you do the best you can, do what you love, and stay the hell out of the way!

How many times do we see something we love, only to realize that perhaps there are unwanted "labels" attached to it? Silly examples would include a great dress, but the advertising for it features an overexposed Kardashian. Or maybe you need a loan, but those annoying pop ups on your computer make you shy away - or a car but the salesperson! Ugh.

OK so these are extreme examples. His point was that there is something innately beautiful to someone, somewhere, when you put your talents to work and enjoy what you do. With patience and persistence, your audience will find it if you just put it out there.

Of course in this age of internet, go go go lifestyle, Facebook et al., it's hard to know what is too much and what is too little. To Tweet or not to Tweet, that is the question.

How do you promote your business and work without it being offputting to a buyer? Where exactly is that "sweet spot"?

Something to ponder. -luv J

Greetings to 2011!

Hello everyone. I must admit to having been rather happy to see 2010 leave, and am hoping that 2011 isn't as challenging the rest of the year as the beginning has been for me!

I am very grateful for lessons learned, and lessons yet to be learned. Speaking of lessons yet to be learned, this is a photo of my new sewing machine I got for Xmas! I am taking lessons since my skills are rusty at best, and am really looking forward to incorporating more recycled textiles in my upcoming work. Yay - saving more stuff from landfills!

Of course with all the holidays and such it was hard to get a lot of creativity and work in, but I do have quite a few new pieces that will be making it up on my Etsy site soon. I also have just put together a Facebook page, so please like it! I will be doing extra discounts for my Facebook fans. There's a little "like" button on my blog here for it.

Thanks to everyone for your support and interest. I can't wait to get more active with craft fairs and seeing you all in person!

Cheers -luv J

More, more, more!

I am learning more things every day! Off to the left is a photo of a cuff I made from an old moth eaten cashmere sweater - it's made of coral and faux pearls. So pretty...that cashmere sweater has also turned into a necklace, a "scarflace", and numerous bangle bracelets. I love recycling pretty things!

I am working more with textiles, learning better beading and wire wrapping techniques. Below is a sample of some wire wrapped CD pendants. It is so much fun to make these, the CD's glitter like rocks would, but are so much lighter and great to work with. I hope you like these!

The exhibition in Mission Viejo has gotten a good deal of interest. The exhibition has been extended through December 29 now, which is a fantastic and tough as well since I don't really have a ton of inventory left so have to make do without doing Holiday Boutiques this year. But on the plus side, it has garnered interest from actual gift boutiques and shops, so who knows? Maybe I'll have some big announcements to make coming up!

So, until next time, enjoy your week and don't forget to check out the Pop Culture Princess website for gifts!

Annnnnnddd Exhale...

Whew! What an ending to a few months of fretting, working, planning, etc. The exhibit is UP! I haven't had much feedback on it yet, but everyone seemed excited and while we were getting it ready, people were stopping by and saying how beautiful everything was. Many thanks to Ashley, Claudia and Dru as well as my temporary assistant, my cousin Dan - thank you! Don't forget to go visit my babies - here's the flyer information again :) Oh, and 15% of all sales go to the South County Outreach Food Pantry, so if there's something you like on my Etsy page (http://www.etsy.com/shop/popcultureprincess), now's the time to buy and help people have a good holiday meal!

So, what's next? The holidays!

I'll be bartending a private party tonight for Halloween, and am pounding pavement for more holiday gigs. I am registered with a couple of bartending staffing companies and the Pasadena Convention Center, so hopefully calls will come my way - they are starting to so that's good!

I am looking for Holiday craft fairs, so if you know of any in your neighborhood, school, church, work etc. just let me know - I would appreciate it!

Wishing everyone a fantasmagorical Halloween!

-luv J

How's November sound to you?

I feel badly for my friends and family lately. If I'm not working on the jewelry, I'm working on photos from Fashion Week on the Bite Me! blog. If I'm not working on the blog, I'm trying to find paid jobs as a bartender. And if that's not working, then I'm cataloging for the jewelry show (and putting them to work - thank you Dan!) Crazy!

So it's all set. 15% gross of all Pop Culture Princess' sales from October 26 - November 22 will benefit South County Outreach. To find out more about SCO's programs to benefit South Orange County, you can take a look at their website here. Thanks Claudia for your assistance - I love it when a plan comes together!

One of my kitties (Curry) just jumped into my lap to remind me that she needs love too. Have to give rubs now - hope your week is great!



(Pictured: unisex dogtags - available soon on my Etsy site)

Coming together...

It seems hard to believe, but everything is coming together! This week, I made some seriously groovy rings - the one on the left is made from 2 layers of DVD's and catches the sunlight like crazy! I made two others from recycled goodies like faux pearls, swarovski crystals, and turquoise. After more creativity (and productivity) this upcoming week, I will be ready to edit, get displays together, and polish it all just in time for exhibition set-up on Friday the 26th. I swear I keep learning more and growing every day.

The postcard designs are in and off to the printers! Here they are (front and back):

Looking forward to seeing it all printed out and sent! Thanks go out to Mike @ Jet Set Art & Design for the graphics work.

One last (but not least!) thing going on is that 15% of all sales proceeds during the time of this exhibition will be donated to a local Orange County Food Bank to help out families during the holiday season and in this time of need. More information will be forthcoming...

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend!

October? Already?

There are some weeks you tend to remember for a long time - such was this past week for me. It turned out to be notable for many reasons: 113 degree weather followed with thunderstorms by the end, finishing bartending school (anyone need a bartender? Gotta earn some mortgage cash while getting PCP off the ground!), and being out for events and such almost every night it seems (two more tonight, really?)!

Oh, and the best part, getting my FedEx boxes from a supplier to hopefully finish off my collection (yay!) Still trying to get the hang of chain mail (I'll show that photo another time), but I really like this piece I finished today. Sophisticated yet still minimalist and kind of messy at the same time made with upcycled CD's, vintage pearls, gunmetal and a little moon charm I found. Just a quickie photo from my Blackberry - am hoping to take some good shots this week, assuming it stops doing that whole "occasional downpour" thing so I can take photos outside.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Life gets in the way sometimes...

Hi there! Remember me, haha? It's been a while since I've had a chance to post. Sometimes life gets in the way, and boy has that been the case lately.

Now it's time to get back to the fun of creating! I can't believe it's only a month left to my exhibit in Mission Viejo, must get cracking. On the business side, I finally sent the specs over to Michael today who is doing the graphics for the postcards that you will be receiving next month announcing the show and giving all the details. The printer is all set up and ready to go with 2-sided recycled postcards. It's somewhat unbelievable how quickly I have gone through business cards as well - have to start thinking about getting those done again!

I am excited about taking a metalworking class early next month! I've been learning so much about how to make jewelry, I suppose I should actually make some more, eh?

On the press side, I have been told that the Hollywood Chamber Magazine had a photo and small profile of Pop Culture Princess in it, am eagerly awaiting receipt so I can share it with you all.

OK, off to go broil in the 105 degree heat!