My New Business Venture

As a lot of you may know I am a total accessory addict and one of my major weaknesses is jewels and brightly coloured baubles.  I got to know the Stella and Dot brand a few months ago and really loved their collections.  So I'm delighted to announce that I now have my own Stella and Dot e-commerce site where you can shop all my fav jewellery and accessory styles.

I'll be posting up my pick of pieces in the next few days but in the meantime take a pick at all the lovely bits on the website Stella and Dot/Natasha Crowley.  For all you magpies out there beware, there is some serious temptation here!

Brave and Beautiful Makeover Project

I recently had the pleasure of styling a really emotional photoshoot and video project with The Girls Club. The Girls Club is a Cork based charity and support group for women with or who have been touched by cancer.  The project was the brainchild of make-up artist Magdalena Bodziony from Elite on McCurtain St. and I have to say she did an amazing job of co-ordinating the whole day.  We all had such a fun day in Elite and I know all the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few behind the scenes pics and I've also included the video which had me totally bawling!!

Toddles, 

Txx.

Amazing Grace

I've been mad busy the last few weeks so I feel like I haven't posted anything in ages and that's probably because I haven't!!  I've been doing some really interesting shoots of late and so I have loads of cool pics waiting to be uploaded.  Here's one that I did not so long ago with the beautiful Grace Gray from Lockdown Models and the super talented snapper Kestutis Anuzis .  This shoot was pulled together at the last minute but everything just worked brilliantly together from the gorgeous pieces from Miss Daisy Blue to the locations that we scouted just by strolling around town together. 

Hope you like them.....







Toodles.x

Oh Baby! Photoshoot

I'm a firm believer in people still being able to retain their personal style during and after pregnancy so I was delighted when my favourite maternity and infant mag  Oh! Baby Magazine asked me to style some articles showcasing and discussing maternity and post maternity style.  Instead of me preaching the do's and don'ts I decided that it would be far more interesting to actually show the readers how real life super stylish Moms are doing it.

Luckily I know a couple of these said Moms so for the Spring issue my friend, the very lovely Cathy O'Donoghue very kindly agreed to let me interview and style her for my piece.  Cathy is the owner of the online vintage store  Turquoise Flamingo a store where I have purchased some of my most favourite vintage pieces over the years.  Cathy also designed my new logo and this blog which I absolutely adore.  I love Cathys sense of style and that combined with the amazing work from White Cat Studio photography, Sinead Egan MUA and Andrew Cronin from The Edge Hair Design. made for a thoroughly enjoyable shoot.

Here's some behind the scenes pics from the shoot and the article.
Enjoy!!

Major thanks also to Perry St. Cafe for allowing us to use their fab restaurant as our location.

Toodles,

T,x.

Andy's Hair Hints

While I may be a superstar stylist with a wonderfully vast knowledge of accessories and the like. I will hold my hands up and say that when it comes to hair I don't have a clue.  My styling repertoire includes holding the hairdryer in my hand whilst briskly moving it back and forth, a topknot and if I'm feeling fancy a mildly sleek side parting.  That is why I have asked my dear friend and the man who makes my own hair look so naturally lush Andrew Cronin to contribute a little hair segment once a month with lots of tips and ideas for those of us who maybe lack a bit of hair creativity.

This month Andrew shows us how to do one of my fav hair looks the FISHTAIL BRAID.....

Hi, I'm andy! I'm a senior stylist in the Edge Hair Design in Cork. I am the only Loreal professional hair care expert in Munster , I have numerous hair qualifications including Vidal Sasson certified stylist and a Great Lengths certified stylist!
I love everything about hair, long , short , colour and styling!

To get the perfect fishbone braid I prefer to start with natural hair texture by just blast drying hair with very little product.


Divide your hair into two large sections, parting straight down the middle. For a sharper look, you can use a comb to part your hair evenly. If you'd prefer the tousled Katniss Everdeen (from The Hunger Games) look, though, simply part it with your hands.

Pull a thin strand of hair from the outside of the left section. Pull it over the top of the left section, and grasp it under the right section. In other words, the strand of hair has gone over the left section and finishes under the right section.

In general, try to use the same thickness for each strand throughout or your braid will look uneven.
For a more intricate braid, use skinnier strands. It takes more effort, but it looks gorgeous. Using skinnier strands is very lovely.
For a beginner, pulling it tighter helps you to learn the method properly.

Repeat on the right side. Pull a skinny strand of hair from the outside of the right section, pull it over the right section, then weave it under the left section.

Tie off the end with a hair bobble or elastic. Add a cute ribbon, barrette or charm to give it some personality if you'd like!

If you feel that the fishtail is too tight, use your fingers to gently massage into the strands a little to loosen it slightly.
If your hair is really long, more can be done at this stage, such as tucking the hair into a bun, weaving it around your head or across the front, etc. If you have slightly shorter hair, just fishtail it as far as you want.

Some celebs rocking a fishtail braid.....

Et Voila!!

Hope everyone is inspired to do some braiding, would love to see how people get on following Andrews easy to follow steps.  I shall let you know how my own attempts go.

Toodles,

T,x.

Weekend Workshops

I spent this past weekend in Dublin at a fashion illustration workshop and I have to say I'm feeling totally refreshed after it.  Like loads of people I completely struggle with the ol work/life balance and even though I absolutely love my job sometimes I feel like I have no interests outside of it.  Some of you may know that I actually did a degree in Fine Art in CCAD and so art has always been a major interest of mine although sadly I hadn't done anything in years not even keep a sketchbook going.  So when I saw that the designer Sorcha O' Raghallaigh was running a three day fashion illustration workshop in Dublin I knew it was something that I really wanted to do.  Sorcha is a designer that I really admire and her own illustrations and beautiful avant-garde pieces are just divine.  I've included a few pics from the weekend and some of the drawings that I did aswell as some of Sorchas own collections.  My drawings have a long way to go but it's completely inspired me to keep it up and I'm going to aim to do a couple of drawings each day from now on.







Pic from www.sorchaoraghallaigh.com



Pic from www.sorchaoraghallaigh.com

Pic from www.sorchaoraghallaigh.com

So that was my inspiring weekend, I would definitely recommend the workshop to budding designers or for people like myself who might want to get back in touch with their artistic side.  Sorcha is a fantastic tutor and all levels of ability are catered for.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

Toodles,

T,x.