New to the Viola Pearl Etsy Store

Anchors Away necklaces featuring vintage fishing lures and Swarovski figurines. Check them out here!

Orange and Blue

I took this photo at the Wildseed Farm outside of Fredericksburg-these colors are great together! Spring in Texas is so colorful.
Happy Friday!

Jackie Kennedy Summer Style

Finding inspiration in these looks for spring and summer. Love the capris, headscarves with sunglasses and stripes.  

My Top Five: Photo Apps

I admit it. I am an Instagram addict. It is by far my most used app, even over Facebook and Twitter. I also have become quite a shameless photo app hoarder. I had to recently edit myself because my space was filling up on my iPhone...I had six folders full of photo apps alone! Here are my top five right now.

Shake It Photo, $1.99 - gives the classic polaroid photo look without buying the vintage camera. This is one of my go-to apps, which I then usually add an Instagram filter to. In this photo I also used Doodle Booth for the cute orange bow. 

Masking Tape, $0.99 - In real life I am getting into the whole fancy masking tape thing. I recently bought green polka dot masking tape and one with music notes. This app allows you to add pretty masking tape to your photos. Pointless yes, but is your photo cuter with masking tape that is red with hearts...YES! In this photo I also used Phonto for the wording and Montage so I would have white space around the photo.

Photo Reflection, Free - Sometimes a photo is so pretty you want two of it! Photo reflection is easy to use and you can customize the photo in many different ways. I also used Juxtuposer and Diptic for this photo. 

Diptic, $0.99 - I probably use this app more than any other. I love combining multiple photos into one shot. I used an Instagram filter on this for the color. 

Squareready, Free - This app is more of a "I am a perfectionist when I post app-edited photos" type of app. You view your photo in Squareready and adjust how you want it to be seen on the Instagram screen, and you can post directly via Squareready. It is perfect for the photo that may not fit all the way in the screen. This is what it looks like when you are editing it for Instagram:

Let me know if you have any questions about the apps! You can find me on Instagram as "amberpresley" or see my feed here.

A Very Mad Men Headboard

Last week I watched every episode of Mad Men (season four) in preparation for the season premier this week. While I was watching, all I could think about was the missing fantastic velvet headboard. Where did it go and why did they get rid of it?! It was SO beautiful and now...it is just a wooden headboard. Like everyone else, the style and decor really draws me in to that show. Although I do love Don's new apartment, I still miss that headboard.

A couple of years ago, when I started watching Mad Men I figured the Draper headboard was pretty pricey and so I started on my adventure to find one somewhat similar. My only "must" was that it had to be velvet and had to be tufted.

Target and Wal-Mart actually had some pretty cute headboards online with tufting in all shapes, sizes and colors. I LOVE this pink!

Then, my mom ran across one from Ballard Designs, called the Camden Tufted Headboard. I have ordered quite a few things from Ballard, so I went with them and narrowed it down to a classic color, chocolate brown, seen below.

The headboards are really nicely made and sturdy, was adjustable in height and fit nicely to my king size bed. But, I must admit that I wish I had gone with a lighter color. I find myself lint brushing this one a little too much. And I miss that wow factor the blue has.

In the next couple of months I think I might try to make one myself in orange or pink velvet. I found a great tutorial online that seems hard, but attainable.

Color of the Week: Turquoise

How amazing is that chandelier?! Ever since I started visiting Santa Fe with my parents when I was young, I developed a real love for turquoise. Of course it was everywhere there. You could spend a lot at Packard's or lean towards the the more affordable and buy from the Native American vendors at the Palace of the Governors.

I have started adding a few turquoise accents in my jewelry as well. It seems a great fit for modern friendship bracelets!

Images from: earrings, sofa, chandelier, pillow, bracelet

DIY: Freezing Seasonal Fruit

As fruit starts to come into season, it is the perfect time of year to visit local farmers. This year, we decided to stock up on strawberries and freeze them, so we can enjoy them throughout the year.

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, we visited Marburger Orchard. Since, this type of fruit doesn't last as long as the store bought-I wouldn't go longer than a couple of days to freeze it. First, we picked up supplies at Wal-Mart. I am sure you can buy these anywhere, but we bought the Ball Canning brand, made specifically to freeze, as well as some sticker labels for the jars. 

Once you clean the fruit and let most of the water drain (about 10 minutes) cut off the stems and any areas that look too bruised or bad to you. Then either cut the strawberries in half or in quarters. We ended up cutting the medium-sized in half and left the smaller strawberries whole. 

Next, you need to decide how you want to freeze your fruit. We choose to sugar (or Splenda) freeze this batch for sweeter flavor (this also helps to preserve the fruit), but you can also "dry freeze" your fruit. To sugar freeze, add 1/2 cup of sugar per quart of fruit and mix gently until all the sugar is dissolved and the fruit is coated. It almost seemed to turn a bit syrupy because of the water, which is fine. Then put the strawberries in jars and place in freezer. 

To dry freeze, place fruit individually on a tray in the freezer until frozen, then remove and quickly put in freezer bags and return them to the freezer. We plan to do this with our blackberries we pick in May.

The strawberries will be perfect to use to make strawberry crepes, pie, smoothies and I hear they are great semi-frozen. Make sure to use them within the year!

Strawberry Season

I am lucky to live in a town that has farms surrounding it, some are less than ten minutes away. Not only can we get fresh produce regularly, but when in season, we can go pick our own peaches or berries. The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately and on Friday, so my dad and I went early to Marburger Orchard to pick strawberries. 

When you arrive, you get a quick overview of the right way to pick strawberries. Basically, never pull on the plant to get the strawberry, you pinch it off, which results in green fingers and fingernails. So, remember that the manicure should come after this! You also want the berry fully red, except for the tip opposite the stem, which can be a little green. You are allowed one sample or "taster"during the overview, but are not supposed to eat while you are picking. We ended up picking two boxes worth at about $2.75 per pound. 

In May and June, the blackberry bushes will be ready to pick from. We plan to reserve an 8 a.m. spot for the first pick before anyone else has a chance. I am also really looking forward to the peach crop, our mild winter has set us up for a great peach season. The colors of the peach trees blooms and other flowers were so beautiful!

Today we are cleaning and preparing the strawberries to freeze them so we can enjoy them year round. I will be putting together a quick DIY on that for tomorrow!

From Where I Stand

It was a great day today...I picked strawberries at a local orchard (more about this on the blog tomorrow), had lunch at an herb farm and worked on my flip flop tan line.

A pretty good Friday-happy weekend to all!

Love Everything

Sure, Valentine's Day is way over, but I am totally in love with love. I bought my love pillows a couple of years ago at Red and my love for love pretty much stopped there.

Well, that love has sparked again. I recently ran across a love ring on Etsy, which is made of wire, and all over the site. I JUST got mine in the mail today after a weeks long wait. It is incredibly cute on. But I thought I would spare you the image of my non-manicured hands, so this shot is from the Etsy Website. Best part...it is under $15!

Some other things I love: I am Love, the movie. Tilda Swinton is great showing me a completely different side. She is so pretty, so elegant, so stylish. I also love the font used in the movie posters.

Love artwork. Seems to brighten any room I have seen on Apartment Therapy. Makes me think I need to try screen printing it on totes.

Last but not least, love graffiti. This popular photo spot is from Jo's Coffee in Austin.

ring / movie / poster / graffiti

Pretty Tech, New and Old

I remember the first time I recognized what a Mac was and I wanted one: Legally Blonde character Elle Woods sits down in class and pulls out a perfect orange iBook. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. At the time, computers weren't accessories but right then, that changed for me. I never got one...but I still want one.

And lately I have been obsessed with typewriter keys (I have an "A" necklace) which has transferred to an obsession for typewriters. But not just any typewriter, it would have to be pink.

Images from: typewriter, iBook

Color of the Week: Neon Pink

This color is everywhere right now. I am loving it for Spring and Summer and I have even screen printed some totes with the color.

Images from: room, pillow, flip flops, art, chair, tote bag

Viola Pearl on Etsy

My Etsy store is now open featuring handmade jewelry and screen printed totes, as well as vintage jewelry and housewares! Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ViolaPearlShop

Sent from my iPhone

A Little Leopard

This is my favorite iPad 2 case so far...from Dodocase in a partnership with J Crew. Soon to be gone since the iPad 3 has arrived.