Valerie Bothell's Blog, page 2

Spring Shoe Picks

This week I spent some time browsing through the Nordstrom website to get a feel for the new shoes that are out for spring.  Shopping for shoes online can be really tricky, so most of the time I order shoes from Nordstrom's.  They have free shipping/returns, so you can order multiple sizes and then send the ones that didn't work out back.  The first trend I noticed were platform tennis shoes.

 I have one pair of Shoreline Converse tennis shoes and I love them!  I think these Platform Converse tennis shoes are so on trend and will be comfortable at the same time.  You can find the Shoreline Converse here, and the Platform Converse here.

 
I found these Sam Edelman Platform tennis shoes and I think they look dressy even though they are calling them a tennis shoe.  The blush gold color combined with the jute covered platform just looks so classy!  You can find them here.

Everything leopard was a hot item this fall/winter and it looks to be the same way for spring.  I love this updated version of a loafer with a pointed toe.  They are the Steven Madden brand and are very comfortable!  They would work for casual/business casual outfits.  You can find them here.

 
Because platform shoes are on trend this year as well as sequins on everything, I thought this would be a great pair of shoes that could be worn casual or dressy.  You can find them here.


This is a pair of flat slides that were very popular last summer and I don't see that changing for this year.  I have several pairs of Sam Edelman slides in different styles and they are comfortable and will last several summers.  You can find this pair here.

That's it for this week!  Have a great week and I'll be back next Tuesday!

Busy Creating Today!

I am busy creating today, I'll be back next week with some fashion news!

Good Morning!

Good Morning!  It is a gray, cloudy day here, so I am counting the days until spring!  Last week I gave some suggestions for a few things that would be great to have for spring and I decided to order a few of them.  Here are the sandals that I featured last week in the color Dusty Mink.  They have a low wedge which I liked and the color would go with everything.  I ordered these in my regular size, but I would recommend sizing up 1/2 size as they feel a little tight!





Here is the same pair in the color Metal Silver and I would say the same thing, size up 1/2 size.  You can find these sandals here.




 I also ordered the blue tee that I featured last week.  I thought it would be a bright blue color, but as you can see in my picture, it is actually a blue grey color.  It should be no surprise that I am wearing it with my favorite cardigan!








Last week I noticed that this wand (L'ange Curling Wand) was on sale and I have been interested in trying one out, so I ordered it.

I am sad to say, it did not work for me!  I kept burning my fingers and it never really got hot enough
 to curl my hair, so back it will go!



On the stitching side of things, my FB group has been working on this cute sewing kit pattern I gave them and there have been some really nice kits made!  If you would like to join the group and be encouraged to stitch daily, here is the link to my group.


 This week, I recorded my first video and posted it to the group mentioned above.  I love to make my stitches as even as possible and so I designed these templates to help with that.  This video demonstrates how to use one of the templates to make a feather stitch even in a short amount of time.If you are interesting in purchasing a set, you can find them here.

Have a great day and I'll be back next Tuesday!
Val

Looking Forward to Spring!

I am not a winter girl....I love summer.  I love it when I teach in Calilfornia in the winter time, because I get a brief break from cold temperatures.  Since I am dreaming of summer this week, I thought I would share some spring/summer loves that I found on the Nordstrom website.  What I love about Nordstrom's is the free shipping/free return policy they have!  This is especially nice for me because the closest one to me is in Kansas City, 3 hours away.


  Because I embroider for a living, it should be no surprise that I love this top.  It is part of a resort wear launch for a blogger I follow.  I have no doubt that this top will sell out quickly and it also comes in pink, white and black.  It is 60% cotton and for the summer months I prefer cotton.  You can find the top here.  You can find the entire collection here.

   




















I love this pair of wedge sandals!  Last summer, I tried to find a pair of sandals like this that were comfortable, but never had any success.  I have high hopes that this pair will be a winner!  I have ordered them, so I'll keep you posted on what I think.  They come in 12 different colors, which is an added bonus!  You can find the sandals here.
 I have wanted a pair of tassel earrings for awhile and these might be the ones!  Pink is my favorite color but they come in 5 other colors.  You can find the earrings here.

I also love colors in the lilac/purple color family and I thought theses jeans were really cute for spring!  They would coordinate will many things and could almost be used as a neutral.  I may have to order these and show you how to style them since they are so cute!  You can find the jeans here.

I hope you are looking forward to spring as much as I am and maybe you will be inspired by some of my choices.  Have a great week and I'll be back next Tuesday!

Great Cardigan!

Last week I featured a few sweaters that you could use to transition into spring and I ordered them to see what I thought.  I had on my eye on the cream cardigan that I am featuring today for quite some time and kept waiting for it to go and sale and it just hasn't!  I have to say, I just love it and it goes with everything.


This cardigan is the perfect cream color and has a some texturet to make it interesting.  So I put together a few outfit ideas so you could see how versatile it is.

I paired it with some blue jeans, black booties, a plaid scarf, white tee and my new favorite earrings I got for Christmas.  The sweater is available here, and a similar scarf can be found here.The earrings can be found here.

I switched out the black booties for a pair of Uggs and it looks so cozy!

I switched the blue jeans, for a pair of olive green jeans and it is still looking good!

Next, I used a pair of black corduroys to make it dressy and added a taupe pair of booties.

I traded the white tee for a blue and white striped shirt like it is pictured on the Nordstrom website and it is still a winner!

I switched to the olive green jeans for a different look.

I then I tried it with a pair of blue jeans.  I just love all of the looks I created with this sweater and I am sure there are a hundred other ways to style it!
Have a great day and I'll be back next week!

Sale Sweaters!

January is a great time to find sweaters on sale and I usually look for ones that I can wear on into spring.  That means I am looking for bright colors and lightweight.  I found a few I love and I wanted to share them with you!




I have had my eye on this sweater for quite awhile!  It has bright spring colors, puff sleeves and stripes  making it a cute sweater!  The two reviews on it gave it 5 stars, always a good thing.  It is now half price and you can find it here.

I just love the pink color of this sweater!  Pink is my favorite color, so it is no surprise that I would love this one.  It looks cozy, has puff sleeves and is perfect for cooler spring days.  It is on sale too and you can find it here.

This sweater is on sale on the Nordstrom website and this bright blue color would also be perfect for spring days when the temperature is still cool.  As always, Nordstrom's has free shipping and free returns, so that is always a good thing!  You can find this sweater here. 

This sweater is not on sale, but I have had my eye on this one for quite awhile.  I ordered it this week, so I'll keep you posted on how I like it.  I think that the neutral color makes it a very versatile sweater.  You can find it here on the Nordstrom website.



Last week I did a post on closet organization, and I mentioned that Netflix has a new show with Marie Kondo helping people tidy their house.  I have watched all of them and they are really good!  If you are in the mood to do some organization in your house, I would highly recommend that you watch them.  She features families that are in different circumstances and it was just so informative!
See you next week!

Closet Organization

With the start of the New Year, it seems like that is a great time to organize your closet.  Several years ago, I read this book:


It really did help me to organize my closet!  I learned that if I really didn't like an item, I need to get rid of it.  I made many trips to the thrift store as I was cleaning my closet.  I have things from 10 years ago that I hadn't worn in a long time.  It just stressed me out to see all the clutter, so out it went!  Now I get rid of things every couple of months and I know exactly what I have in my closet when I go shopping.   If you subscribe to Netflix, she has a new show that I haven't watched yet, but I will!

Here is a picture of one of my drawers, three years later!  It may not be as perfect as Marie Kondo would do it, but I am happy with it.  I can see everything and I know what I have.
I use wooden hangers for my skirts and the clips are strong enough to hold 2 skirts on each one.  You can find them here on Amazon.  I use these hangers from Bed Bath & Beyond and I love them!  They are slim and they have grips on them so your clothes don't fall off the hangers!  You can find them here and I always use a coupon when I buy them!
I hope that encourages you to try some closet organization as we start the New Year!

See you next week!

New Year, New Project!

For many years I have had this cute little sewing kit that I could take everywhere with me.  My needles and scissors fit in there perfectly!  As you can see in the pictures below, my sewing kit is a little worn out looking.  I need to make a new one!  Because I need to make a new one, I thought I would share the pattern with my Joyful Embellishments group on FaceBoook and we could make one together!


Here is a picture of the sewing kit closed.  It is missing the little ribbon that closes it and some of the stitches are coming out, so time for a new one!


Here is a picture of the sewing kit open.  Plenty of room for scissors and needles!  You can also put pins in the top part of the case.  I think this time, I will put a piece of wool there to put the pins in.


I pieced a new one with all cotton pink fabrics just to change it up!


Here is what the pattern looks like.  It is really is very easy!  If you would like to join my  FaceBook Group,I will be  posting a pdf of the pattern there for you!
Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with my regular Tuesday fashion post!

Before Christmas Sales!

There are many before Christmas sales going on right now, so I thought I would do a post with all of my previous outfits and how there are on sale right now.  Sadly, virtually everything I have featured in the past month or so, is sold out!  So, I searched some of the sales going on right now and found some cute things for you to think about.


I went on the Ann Taylor website to see if the black plaid coat I featured a few weeks ago was on sale and it was sold out, so while I looking around their website, I found this cute tunic.  It looks so comfortable and it is 50% off right now.

 I also found this cute camp shirt and it comes in these two different fabrics.  The leopard print is to in this year and the green one would look great with jeans because of the blue print on it.  The are both 50% off also.  The green one can be found here and the leopard print can be found here.

Anthropologie has a few sweaters on sale right now and this one caught my eye.  This red one really is cute with the denim shirt that the model has on.  It also comes in taupe, purple and dark grey.  You can find it here and it is 50% off!

 I loved the color of this sweater!  It would be fun to wear on gloomy winter days.  It is also 50% and comes in a medium pink color.  You can find it here.
 

On another note, I received an email from GHD Hair and they had a video for this cute hairstyle.I tried it out and it was pretty easy and wasn't a total pinterest fail!  My hair isn't as long as the models hair but it was still fun to do.  You can find the written instructions as well as the video here. 
Have a great day and because of Christmas I will be back in two weeks!

A Fun Festive Top!

Good Morning!  I found this fun festive top the other day and I loved it so much, I thought I would share it with you.  I felt that it could be worn many ways, both casual and dressy.  So here we go!

I started by wearing it with some skinny jeans and my black suede booties.  I felt so festive in this outfit!  You can find the top here and it is on sale right now!  Here are some similar black booties.

I get chilly in the winter when I wear tops like this so I paired it with my white vest and I loved it and felt warm at the same time.  I have had my white vest for around 4 years and have really gotten alot of use out of it.  I found a similar vest here.  It's a little pricey, but I think you would really get your money's worth!


I tried it with my military vest and I liked it but I think I prefer the top with my white vest.

I put it with my jean jacket as another way to keep warm and I loved it this way too!

Then I changed into my black velvet pants for a dressier look and it thought it looked great also. 

I took a side shot so you could see that the hemline is high/low which I also loved!
I hope you are enjoying the holiday season as much as I am.  It is a busy time of year, so remember to not be so busy that you feel stressed!
Have a great week and I'll be back next Tuesday!