by Jenny Ekberg
I love woven chain jewellery. I make it from matte chain, shiny chain, silk thread, embroidery thread, shoe laces, rope, you name it. I make bracelets, I make necklaces. It is super fun and EASY! I have made a tutorial for woven chain jewellery:
My favourite clothing company, Free People, recently produced their first short film, Roshambo. In this beautiful little love story, an insanely cute guy (Christopher Abbott) and a beautiful bohemian girl (Sheila Marquez) meet by chance after having been separated for some time, and then their fate is decided by the game of Roshambo (scissors, paper, rock). The light, colours, atmosphere and suspense in the film are astonishing, not to mention Sheila’s clothes. I think I have watched it ten times.
Free People is now presenting the much anticipated prequel Roshambo Rock, in which Sheila and her best friends travel to the vibrant city of Rio. The city and the scenery are beautiful, but Sheila cannot see it as she is overwhelmed by sadness after losing her boyfriend. When watching the movie, I was initially distracted by the amazing clothing (no wonder), but after a few minutes you, like in the first film, get sucked in by the suspense. You can feel Sheila’s emotions like they were your own. We have all been there; having broken up with someone and not been able to stop thinking about them.
Of course, the outfits are exquisite, bohemian, easy, rich with colour. Below is a sneak peek from the clothing the girls wear in the movie, and you can already shop parts of the collection here.
You can find Roshambo Rock here, and the first movie Roshambo here.
Images are from the Free People blog and the Free People website.
“I’ve been thinking” by Handsome Boys Modeling School featuring Cat Power, from 2004. Still my number one. This song is pure sex.
Xinjiang-Uyghur (East Turkestan, Sinkiang) on my vintage world globe
The other day, I came across this video on an Australian news channel, allegedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party (formerly East Turkestan Islamic Movement), showing pint-sized boys shooting AK47 like soldiers in the Tora Bora mountains, Afghanistan. My first thought was not fear of terrorism, but fear for the Uyghur people of Xinjiang, China. As far as I understand, the Turkistan Islamic Party was indeed founded by some Uyghurs, and one of their main goals is to break free from China. It is a long, long story, and I don’t want to talk about it here. All I want to say is that I worry that the Uyghurs of Xinjiang will cop some crap as a result of this horrible video. Their culture and freedom, their very identity, is already so threatened over there; media reports of second class citizen-treatment are all too frequent. I am concerned for both Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the region, for more clashes, blood, casualties, civilians, innocent people getting arrested, people “disappearing”. We have seen in the last few days what can happen when someone gets wrongly blamed for a horrific crime. That boy ended up dead. And to associate your average Uyghur with terrorism is like associating me as a Swede with the more-than-scary Swedish racist party that has got so much media coverage in the last couple of years.
So today, I don’t want to talk any more about the dark. I want to talk about the light of Xinjiang Uyghur. The honest truth is that if I could teleport myself anywhere in the world right now, it would be to Kashgar, the ancient Silk Road town that has always exerted this strong, unexplainable pull on me, more than any other place in the world. I want to walk down the winding alleys in the clay-coloured old town, now threatened by demolition and earthquakes. I want to go to the Sunday market, which apparantly is on every day; breathe the mountain air, buy some of that magnificent ikat silk. I want to eat plomash, which I cannot for my life find a recipe of anywhere in the ether. I read about this dish in a fantastic book, “FRÅN DIN SYSTER LOVISA” (Swedish) – “From your sister Lovisa” by Maria Gustavsdotter (I am not sure if it is translated to English), a true story about a Swedish missionary woman who ended up in Kashgar, and broke the ultimate tabu of falling in love with and marrying an Uyghur; extremely controversial for them both. But most of all, I want to talk to people. In broken English, in sign language with some Uyghur or Mandarin phrases that I will pronounce horribly. I want to hear their stories.
I hope that I will get there one day, and that the Uyghur culture is still going strong, that they Uyghurs hold their heads high and proud, and in my silly mind I also hope that they have come to some kind of understanding with the Hans, that there is no more discrimination, that they Uyghurs have complete freedom and happiness. I cannot help hoping that I will even find tabu-breakers like Lovisa and her Uyghur husband TochtAchond.
Image credits:
culturalchina.com, farwestchina.com, wikipedia, cornucopia.com, tripadvisorkashgar.com, moreaboutkashgar.com, hittheroad.com, silkroadsuzie.blogspot.com, tripadvisor.com (the last image – a famous hostel in Kashgar)
When I came across these beautiful leather heels from Brazilian quality label Vicenza I just couldn’t resist, although they were sold out in my size. I thought, well I USED to be a 37, when I was a teenager, I can probably still get away with it. So I pulled out four crispy $50 notes and bounced out of the trendy Valley Emporium shop.
I couldn’t get away with it. They sit there in my wardrobe, looking sadly at me, wanting to be taken out for a walk in the crisp early Autumn air.
It is not going to happen. Feet change. Skinny teenage feet in a cold climate are not the same as 35-year old mother-of-twins-feet, swollen from a subtropical climate. It is with sadness that I am bidding them farewell by adding them to my Ebay store.
Sigh.
Today, I am obsessed with these spectacular wood and lace Cascade Flower Cluster Earrings by Twyla Dill. And guess what? Everything else in her shop is beautiful too.
Autumn is slowly making itself known here in Brisbane, Australia. It is very subtle; a new freshness in the morning air, an intensified gardenia scent along the winding streets of Highgate Hill. Autumn means that we can finally wear tights again, and I don’t think I can resist these ombre ones from BZR shop ($40 and lots of colours available).
Yay! We are back on the horse again. New name, new jewellery, fresh winds. We are starting with a sale; 20 % off all necklaces and earrings. Click here if you would like to check our shop out. WELCOME!
So, why Lily of the Valley Designs? Well, I have now lived in Brisbane, Australia for more than 10 years; for many of those I lived on the outskirts of the Valley, the inner hub of artistic inspiration and colourful nightlife in this town. I am such a city person, but I grew up in countryside Sweden, surrounded by forests in which finding a field of true Lilies of the Valley in a gully during spring is a small wonder. To this date, they remain my favourite flowers.
Lily of the Valley image from Review Free Wallpapers.com; Brisbane image from Virtualtourist.com
How beautiful are these crochet Coyote boots by Freebird by Steven? Available in three colours from Free People. I want the stormy blue ones NOW!
How adorable are these little wearable plants from by GemSprouts? They are only approximately $8, and all you need to do to keep them alive is open up the lid every week to give them a few drops of water.
Lily of the Valley Brisbane is a small jewellery business in Brisbane, Australia. This is our blog, where we share our interests in fashion, art, travel and food, and where we write about our city. Welcome!
This blog is not sponsored by any external company. 
