into the wild....

✿ ⁂ COLLAB POST FEATURING  ⁂ ✿

PHOTOGRAPHY/JEWELRY/STYLING: ALLISON B. COOLING

MODELS: KARLEE DEWAN & FLÁVIO AGUIRRE

CLOTHING: GENERATION BLISS BOUTIQUE


....take a walk on the wild side.... An almost-barren landscape of ghostly trees, weathered prairie grass and spots of speckled snow paint the picture of a mid January landscape. Winter {specifically post - Christmas} in Chicago can get a little dreary at times. Cold without the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the short days can wear 'ya down. I mean, I like {love} the darkness, but not at 3 in the afternoon. It makes it exhaustingly difficult to shoot - lookbooks or otherwise :(

However, that's no excuse for dressing drearily as well - my flower child Karlee shows us warm weather whimsy can be brought to the winter months. Yes, it was a bit chilly for her runnin' around in shorts and a crochet tee, but it has to be fully sleeting with a windchill of negative 40 for northerners to get cold.

In Coachella spirit, my mala necklaces paired with a charm choker, bohemian top and boyfriend jeans spells everyday chic. Add a knit sweater for practicality.

Why is she carrying an ice cream cone filled with flowers? Because I said so. ✌️✿

Ok, so the boho theme takes a little darker turn (you didn't expect that with me, did you? Jk) with the addition of spike jewelry and an edgier wardrobe.

My men's mala necklaces and stacking bracelets pair perfectly with a casual tee, jeans and combat boots, via Fláv. Add a beanie - they are always necessary.

For the ladies, yes, you can wear rompers in winter - pair tights underneath and add booties and a floppy hat. Finish with more - malas, of course. I'll definitely post a tut soon on how to make these. If you haven't guessed, malas are kind of my favorites.

CINDERELLAHHHH STORY

Our last look may be the most practical for winter - lace and fur - for a modern Cinderella vibe. Ice blues and dove grey combine for that true cold-weather color combo. My featured necklace below mixes pearls, chain, crystals and pave beads (single post with directions coming soon on this) - definitely offsets the sugary sweet pastel coat and feminine florals of the dress. The earrings I simply made by attaching Swarovski (what else?) disc drops to a metal laser cut connector.

For the dudes, I love layering stone necklaces in varying lengths over any top. He's also got that semi-denim on denim look (hello 90s) which is definitely monochromatically chic. I made his necklaces from agate, obsidian and tourmaline beads, plus Tibetan pendants. One of my fav sites for awesome Tibetan and metal pendants/amulets is Happy Mango Beads. They have great pieces you can't find elsewhere - plus - Boulder Opal. I am legit OBSESSED with this stone - if I could buy all the pendants I would, but they're $50+ each. I got one off this site a while back when they were on an amazing sale, I paid less than $10. If you love gemstones, check out Boulder Opal. Super unique.

A special thanks to my bebes Kar and Fláv, who weathered (besides the ACTUAL weather) frozen fingers/toes, creepy people in cars spying and lack of yummy snacks/drinks to shoot my lookbook for a good 3 hours.

At the very bottom, I've got a dope intro film made by Fláv - check it out!

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COPYRIGHT

Content within this post is copyright Allison Beth Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.
If you'd like permission to use a photo, email me at allison@quietlioncreations.com

crystal skully

Skulls and bones and the deep mahogany tones of this necklace - complete with fire opal sparkles courtesy Swarovski - mean this might be one of my favorite pieces yet.

The inspiration started with this shimmering tiger's eye skully pendant. Tiger's eye is one of my most favorite stones, as each stone transforms, depending on the angle of light.

To compliment the caramel colors in the pendant, satin pearls and 14k gold plated beads were knotted into a long mala. Adding a feather drop for a bit of whimsy finished off the piece.



To recreate the look yourself, start with a large gemstone skull pendant. You can find similar small 20mm stone skull charms here, or can get larger ones on eEbay for pretty cheap.

I used Swarovski flatback crystals in 3mm, 4mm and 5mm (plus the focal Flame stone in Fire Opal) to create the headdress. You can find Swarovski clear crystal flame flatbacks here, and Swarovski mixed color flatbacks here. I used Gem-Tac glue to adhere the crystals.




After decorating the skull with your desired crystals, knot a mala necklace using 8mm pearls, crystal accents, and golden bead caps. It's super important to use nylon cording here for a strong mala, but make sure the beads you have can go through this cord. I used 1mm nylon cord (similar here) in brown.

I actually slid on the pendant first, then knotted each side around it. For me, it was easier to gauge how long I wanted it (ended up about 28" long).

Make sure to have even amounts of beads on each side of the skull - close the necklace either with clasps or a sliding knot closure.

Finally, add a bronze or gold feather charm with a 10mm or 6mm jumpring to the nylon cord between the pendant and bead next to it.

For fun, glue some Swarovskis onto it for extra sparkle. You can't go wrong with extra sparkle.


These would be amazing in an array of colors and themes - try different stones and use the stones as the color inspiration. Aquamarine would be gorgeous with silver beads and milky white crystals. Try a black obsidian skull with deep garnet crystals and black pearls. Mix and match, it's up to you!

COPYRIGHT

Content within this post is copyright Allison Beth Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.
If you'd like permission to use a photo, email me at allison@quietlioncreations.com

DIY crystal phone cases

Text in style with these DIY crystal phone cases - mixing sparkly gems, chains and charm dangles creates killer tech accessories that are totally customizable.



Use any phone case that you currently have - the crystals definitely spruce up the look. Or, if you're like me, create a wardrobe of phone cases that you can switch out depending on your mood.



You can find some really cool phone cases on Amazon, and they're pretty cheap too. They have a lot of henna and bohemian cases here and here. Also, they have some laser cut designs (here and here), and here's a pineapple one similar to mine.



Gem-Tac works really well here at holding the stones. I made a crystal phone case a while back (featured in my China post), and it lasted me all the way till about a month ago, when the crystals started to come off. I was expecting it to last a month maybe, but it definitely surprised me. On a design like this (where the crystals are placed in a more singular style) you might get a little less life out of it - pack the crystals tightly together to make it last longer, it's got more strength.



I'm not a huge fan of yellow - but I love the mix of this pale yellow with aurora borealis crystals. I added chunkier gems on this case, because the more glitz, the better.



Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are phone cases, mixed flatback crystals (mine from Swarovski),  Gem-Tac, silver or gold chain, 6mm and 10mm jump rings (silver or gold) and an assortment of crystal pendants or charms for the bottom dangle. Pliers will be needed to add the chain dangle.



A toothpick definitely helps for gluing the crystals - place dots of glue on the phone case where you want the flatbacks.

        

Gently but firmly place the flatbacks on the glue - if it spreads a bit, it's ok, Gem-Tac dries clear.



Add more glue dots to anywhere else you'd like sparkles!



Use a mix of crystal sizes to get a more detailed look. Let the glue fully dry - a good way to tell when it's (mostly) dry is to check and make sure the glue turned clear.



Gather the 6mm and 10mm jump rings, chain and pendants/charms.



Cut the chain in various lengths (1"-3") and add the charms at bottom with 6mm jump rings. Use flatnose pliers (mine by Cousin) to open and close the rings. Use wirecutters to cut the wire (my pliers above have wire cutters built in).

 

Add all chains to a 6mm jump ring, and close the ring. Add 10mm jump rings at top (2 for strength) and connect to the bottom of the phone case.



For a more glitzy look, use Swarovski rivolis (buy them at Michaels stores!) and glue to the case. It works well if the case has cutouts so you can set the rival in the cutout notch.



Add chain dangles - use silver for a modern look!

 

Connect to the bottom of the phone case with 10mm silver jump rings.



Tropical colors definitely fit the pineapple theme.

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It would also be pretty amazing to cover the case in a crystal mosaic - maybe even create a large pattern (I can see an evil eye, hamsa, or yin yang) design on a plain phone case.

COPYRIGHT

Content within this post is copyright Allison Beth Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.
If you'd like permission to use a photo, email me at allison@quietlioncreations.com