HFB Awards and Last Hurrah Party - Image Post

A couple weeks back, the Houston Fashion Bloggers hosted their last event, as the HFB will be discontinuing. While it's sad, I am truly grateful for all of the friends I've made, people I've met, and events I've been able to go to because of them. Taylor and Shalanda, and the other Fashion Bloggers helped to make this a truly awesome event!

It took place at Lily Rain on South Voss, a location I was happy to have gone to the Opening for some months back. I love this cute little store, and got a couple of books while I was there. 

People mixed and mingled, had food, entered a raffle, and just had a good time. It was just the kind of laid back get together that I enjoy. Below are some of the pictures I captured of the event, and have listed the winners of the HFB Awards as well, courtesy of the Houston Fashion Bloggers. I was so happy to have been nominated, even for one category! 

Here's to a new year and new opportunities! 

We had some awesome sponsors for this event! All donations and toys were given to the Children's Assessment Center.

My OOTD was a silver bodycon dress from Karen Kane, tights from Torrid, and booties from Target. :)

SO many great ladies were nominated, congrats to everyone!

HFB Awards Poster from HFB's Facebook Page.

The raffle featured all kinds of awesome items!

Until Next Time!

Heart of Fashion Kickoff Party at Tootsie's Houston - Image Post

Last night I had a chance to go to Tootsie's for the Heart of Fashion Kickoff Party. It was a simple mix-and-mingle event, with lots of socialites and a few of my fellow bloggers. There were cocktails, bites, a photobooth with Phlash Phactory, and lots of gorgeous fashions on display at this amazing store.

I remember the Tootsie's in Dallas was one of my favorite places to walk around at the Plaza at Preston Center, and I definitely plan on visiting here again to see more of West Ave. as well. 

I definitely wish Heart of Fashion good luck with their upcoming Fashion week! It's going to run from November 18th-20th, and I'm hoping I might be able to attend at least one of the days. It seems like it's going to be a great time!

You can learn more about Heart of Fashion event, charities, tickets, and more at their website here.

Below are some of the pictures I managed to snap of Tootsie's and the event, including a picture of the flyer detailing the tickets.

Until next time!

Live Life in Style X Absolut Elyx Martini Class

Last night I had a wonderful chance to spend a Girls' Night Out with my good friend Shalanda Turner of Live Life in Style and a few other bloggers for a private event with Absolut Elyx at the Federal Grill here in Houston. Shalanda hosted it, and myself and six other ladies got a chance to learn how to craft the 'Perfect Martini'. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot! It was a wonderful time. I had never had a martini before, so it was a great experience to actually make my own first wet martini. It was pretty good!

We learned how to make a classic traditional martini using the Absolut Elyx vodka instead of gin. Elyx is the Absolut line's luxury brand, and is an extremely smooth vodka. In our lesson, we learned about the history of Absolut, and the traditional recipe for a wet or dry martini. I opted for wet, which is a shot of vermouth and a shot of vodka. More vodka makes for a drier martini. I garnished with an orange peel, since I hate olives.

You can learn more about ordering martinis from this Huffpost post here.

After the cocktail mixing, we retreated to a couched area and had yummy appetizers to munch on along with our newly crafted drinks, and got to get to know each other better. 

There was a lot of talk about blogging, and a lot of laughter! 

I think in the end, while big fashion events are great and I enjoy them very much, I prefer these smaller, intimate events. It's these events where you get to make friends and build relationships with people who enjoy similar things as yourself. I hope that there will be more in the future! 

Below are some of the pictures I took! Enjoy!

Such gorgeous accessories to mix our martinis in! <3 

Shalanda, looking as fabulous as ever!

We also got these cute little pineapple pins - so sophisticated and chic!

Cheers!

We created our martinis in a rather un-James Bond fashion: Stirred.

So much great food!!

Chic polaroids to accompany our amazing event!! <3 

Until next time! 

Monday Sketches - Catching Up

Things have been so hectic lately, I haven't had a chance to do Monday Sketches all month! Depending on how my schedule goes in the near future, this segment might become a Monthly thing rather than Weekly.

So without further ado, here is an image post of all the stuff I've done in the past month or so, so enjoy!

Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel is my current all-time favorite super-heroine right now! She's awesome, so I had to draw her, naturally. Ms. Marvel was specifically commissioned by a friend of mine. You can buy products with these illustrations on them at my Society6 store here.

Working on expanding the subjects of my personal advertisement projects. My Thesis Review is coming up soon, so I needed something to add to my portfolio! Took some references from the internet and sketched and rendered everything in Corel Painter 2015.

School's been keeping me busy, so here's a look at my latest project - an advertisement for Whitman's Chocolates! The first image is a couple of color studies, the first one being what I went with. The completed image was done in watercolor, pencil, and pen, then digitally enhanced. I added the slogan and the Whitman's logo to complete the Ad. 

NFYW had lots of fun and amazing things to offer! I wish I could have done some more sketches, but these definitely made me very very happy. <3 I was so happy to see plus size models walking down that catwalk for Project Runway!

In addition to fashion sketches and advertising illustrations, I also dabble with Medieval illuminations from time to time. Here's an example I did a few weeks back, based on a manuscript featuring St. Michael and the Dragon.

Being a Body Positive advocate, I felt that this older illustration of mine needed a bit of a pick-me-up! Loving the #AllSizesMatter campaign idea. I might do more of these! You can buy prints of these gals at my Society6 store here.

One of my other graduate classes is an Interactive Illustration course, where I'm developing a Dress-up Doll Game. My character is a Steampunk Fortune Teller, and boy I tell you vector illustrations are a challenge! I've been learning a lot, however, and I look forward to seeing how this project turns out. I've included the sketches, the flat colors, and the finished rendered character. 

Finally, a quick look at a sketch from a previous event I attended at LaCenterra of Cinco Ranch. Had a lot of fun!

Hope you enjoyed the return of Monday Sketches! I definitely will try to update more often with more art and illustrations! 

Until next time!