HOLIDAY ART & STYLE: The Silver Doe

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Santa BABY! This isn't your typical reindeer game.

As we begin the holiday week and roll into a brand new year, I am in awe of the collaborative work Dawn Stone Couture has been a part of in 2015. This has been quite a year of transition, inspiration and creation, reminding me that we have so much to give by expressing our inner most thoughts and dreams. This shoot is exactly that. And one that I am completely mesmerized by the magnificent beauty this team of talent made happen. 

Once again, I'm aligned with my good friend, stylist and photographer Stacy Childers, pictured here with me as we prepped our gorgeous model, Antoinette, on a conceptualized body-painted photo shoot. 

The idea for this shoot came from conversations between three powerhouse photogs - Stacy, Jenn Bischof, and Stephen Vosloo. Inspired to create a personal project that all three could express their creativity and strengths, a concept was born: The Silver Doe.

Based in Chicago, Stephen Vosloo is a former publishing house art director turned photographer whose work has been featured on the cover of many New York Times best-selling books. Being that he was in Los Angeles for business, he took a jaunt down the 5 South to join us in San Diego at the E Warehouse to shoot this editorial. Our model, Antoinette, a dancer with stunning lines, curvature and body poses to-die-for, was completely open to allowing our creativity flourish with full-on, all-over silver body paint to contrast with Stephen's lighting scheme and vision. 

The crown is a Dawn Stone Couture original, one that had actually been featured in a fairytale fashion show, that I reworked and painted silver to complement our "Doe." 

Inspiration is what we live for. It's in our breath, our hearts, our minds and our soul. I am grateful for this and every opportunity to collaborate with amazing artists to create real works of passion. Thank you to this incredible team! I look forward to what's in store for Dawn Stone Couture in the upcoming NEW YEAR! 

DREAM TEAM: 
Editorial Photography & Lighting: Stephen Vosloo Photography
BTS Photography: Jenn Bischof
Stylist: Stacy Childers 
Crown Designer & Stylist Assistant: Dawn Stone Couture
Location: E Warehouse  
Model & Dancer: Antoinette Sinquimani
 

A Coronado Island Thanksgiving

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Giving thanks on Turkey Day is so much more special when sharing the occasion with great friends. It was such an honor for us to host Thanksgiving Day at our home in Coronado - more importantly, having our wonderful family and friends join us to celebrate this grateful day! 

Being a floral and event designer, it is to be expected that I would set our festive dinner table like a photoshoot. Having my good friend and photographer Stacy Childers take professional photos wasn't. I am so unbelievably thankful for my friendship with Stacy and her amazing husband Dan. We have collaborated on so many wonderful projects this year with many more to come! THANK YOU Stacy for capturing our day of Thanks! 

Sunflowers, oranges, and pineapples were just a few of our favorite decorative elements to enhance our feast on Coronado Island. We love celebrating the holidays and styling for special occasions. Thank you for sharing in our special day of gratitude and we hope to share many more festivities with you!  

Photos by Stacy Childers Photography

Home for the Holidays

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This is my most favorite time of year!! The holidays are HERE! While I've spent the last week planning our Friendsgiving Feast, I spent the week prior getting our home ready for Turkey Day! 

Me and my sidekick, Max (pictured above) decided to spruce up our dining and living room with a few DIY projects to refresh the house for our guests. 

First up - I wanted to reupholster these cream wood chairs. They needed a bit of an update and I had this tropical holiday color palette in mind: deep coral, rich turquoise, and fern green. I found this wonderful textured faux-leather fabric and decided to cover the seat cushions. It was my first time taking on reupholstering, but my good friend Anthony helped me smooth the fabric over the cushions and staple underneath. The coral pillows were a finishing touch and matched the seats perfectly. 

Curtains were next on my agenda for the dining room and of course, I ended up falling in love with the print on a pair of SHOWER curtains! Not to fear, this made hanging them very easy but the length did not fit my expectations. To extend, I sewed a green and coral checked fabric to the ends of the shower curtain and transitioned both prints with a corded trim. To complete the look, I draped two squares of the green/coral fabric to create a valance between the two curtains and finished with cording and a tassle for decoration. 

Because the shower curtains were so easy to work with - I decided to use the same fabric for the best seat in the house! Our built-in bench in the dining room was the perfect spot to complement the design with a matching cushion.

 I loved the way we wrapped the fabric so that the hardware from the shower curtains became a decorative element on the outer side of the cushion. To complete this "seat" I made two roll-top pillows and embellished with touches of fancy accoutrements. 

If you don't know me, once the "embellishmints" start - I can't stop. I decided to make a couple more pillows with my favorite elements for a variation on our newly upholstered chairs, utilizing the same fabric from our extended curtains. 

And since the curtains in the dining room had worked out so perfectly, I dove right into my living room. Knowing that I was planning to serve our Thanksgiving dinner in this room, I wanted to decorate the windows for the holidays with two-toned fabric. I loved the brightness of the lime green against the navy blue satin with floral motif, creating a festive and fancy look. 

With the house in order, I moved right along into the kitchen to start baking up a storm. Being that I love playing hostess, I couldn't let my guests go home empty handed. Before the bird, comes the favors! I had found the most darling green baking trays in various sizes and decided to make yummy goodies for everyone to take home after dinner. It is, after all, about the presentation! 

"Gobble Gobble Til you Wobble" - filling these sweet trays were monster peanut butter cookies, mini gingerbreads, key lime cookie bars, mini chocolate cakes with peanut butter filling topped with chocolate brittle and cardamon muffins with brown sugar crumble topping. 

Setting up for our actual feast was so exciting! We used our dining room to display all the delicious treats with dinner served in the living room! 

With the house ready for our Friendsgiving Thanksgiving - we wish you and yours a very Happy Holiday season! Stay tuned for more inspired images from our celebration! 

On the Dark Side: Queen of the Damned

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HELL-oween ignited our spirits at Dawn Stone Couture! This festive holiday celebrating the Day of the Dead inspired us to bring out our inner dark side and create some incredibly wicked crowns that go beyond those you find anywhere else. From bones to skulls and spiders crawling up these headpieces, fashionistas with a flair for the frightful would certainly be crowned Queen of the Damned wearing an original Dawn Stone Couture masterpiece. 

Don't worry - these pieces are available for photoshoots, film projects or Halloween next year if you're already planning your 2016 costume.

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