Maverick Style: Inspired by the West

Get Ready for Summer with Smith and Western

Smith and Western always has an extensive selection of Johnny Was apparel and accessories featured on their website, and this season is no exception. They have recently added several new Johnny Was tops and accessories that will be perfect for late Spring and Summer!

Not only does Smith and Western offer a wonderful selection of Johnny Was clothing, they also give you some great ideas for how to style the clothing! The Johnny Was Stripe McKenna Shirt (left, $200) is a soft cotton and spandex seersucker blouse featuring lots of pintucks and beautiful embroidery. It looks great paired with jeans and a red tank top, as shown here. The Johnny Was Jessica Peasant Top (center, $202) is a fresh, pretty look for the Summer. This sheer white peasant top features embroidered flowers and a drawstring neck. Dolores Smith has paired it with the Johnny Was Euro Macro Obi Belt, accented with floral and bird embroidery, and the colorful Aja scarf, also by Johnny Was. The Johnny Was Felicia Short Sleeve Top (right, $125) is a cotton tee accented with lovely floral embroidery. The tee is shown with a hand woven turquoise serape vest and colorful jewelry - all available at Smith and Western.

Visit smithandwesternonline.com to see and purchase these fabulous Johnny Was pieces and many more. You will love the Summer in Johnny Was!

Wearable Art from Cowgirl Kim

Dan Dodson is another one of my favorite jewelry designers. I first discovered him on eBay when I ran across some of his beautiful jewelry. He is a Santa Fe based artisan, and he features heart and cross motifs in many of his pieces. I collect heart and cross jewelry, so that is probably why I became an instant fan of his work!

I was excited when Kim Moncure told me that she had purchased some Dan Dodson jewelry for her online store called Cowgirl Kim. Most of the jewelry she purchased features hearts and crosses. So, if you like those design motifs as much as I do, you are going to be in jewelry heaven!

The Carved Turquoise Heart Necklace (left, $699) is gorgeous! The pendant features a large carved turquoise heart with a rope edging, concho buttons, and a large tooled bail. It hangs from a multi-strand necklace of turquoise beads and antique look bench beads. You can wear each piece together or separately. The Onyx Cross Necklace is also one of my favorite pieces (center, $499). The pendant is a "cross path" type cross in polished onyx, accented with small sterling silver concho buttons. The necklace is comprised of five strands of onyx and sterling silver bench beads. It is simple, classic and sexy! The Spiny Oyster and Turquoise Heart Necklace (right, $399) features a large spiny oyster heart surrounded by bezel set blue green turquoise stones. The necklace has larger sterling silver bench beads interspersed with dark blue green turquoise rondels. This colorful necklace is perfect for the Spring and Summer months. It will look stunning with a white top!

Visit the Cowgirl Kim website to see and purchase these Dan Dodson necklaces, in addition to several other Dan Dodson pieces.

Handcrafted Leather Home Decor

Stargazer Mercantile is another fabulous find from the world of Pinterest! I am not quite sure how Anita Lequoia and I first noticed each other's pins. However, once we did, we quickly realized that we both had an affinity for Western inspired fashion and home decor. In reviewing Anita's boards on Pinterest, I noticed that they were under the name of Stargazer Mercantile, which is the name of her home decor business. Since I am always looking for new Western inspired products, I decided to check out her website. There I found some of the most spectacular hand crafted leather pillows that I have ever seen!

Anita Lequoia spent many years as a fine artist, painting in various styles and mediums. Recently she decided to focus her creativity on producing leather home decor in the historic styles of the American West and of the Native American tribes. Anita creates decorative pillows and other home decor items using authentic, traditional materials such as such as deerskin, cowhide, lizard and snakeskin. She also uses traditional techniques such as tooling, hitching horsehair, painting with earth pigments, buck stitching, lacing, and braiding.

Stargazer Mercantile features a variety of beautiful decorative pillows. The Tan Tooled Leather Hair-on Calf Hide and Turquoise Pillow (left, $275) is one of my favorites in the current collection. It is a variation on the Western Boot "Toe Cap" design with a yoke added for Western authenticity. The pillow is made from full grain floral embossed leather and palomino colored hair-on Brazilian calf hide. The Amber Filigree Panel Pillow with Ivory Caps (center, $325) is another one of my favorite Stargazer Mercantile pillows. It is a variation of the Western Boot "Top Cap" design and the "Filigree Overlay" design. It is made from full grain ivory suede cowhide and tan embossed cowhide. The contrast between the ivory suede and tan embossed cowhide results in a very striking pillow. The third pillow design, called Ute: The Magic Bag (right, $225) is digitally printed on to butter soft full grain leather. The 8" sheepskin fringe, which runs along all four sides of the pillow, has been hand cut and twisted, for a perfect finishing touch.

Visit the Stargazer Mercantile website to see these distinctive leather pillows, along with several other designs. Soon they will be adding bedding, tabletop, and more!

Southwestern Beaded Cuff Bracelets

Kathleen Brannon of Desert Sage Bead Art is another talented artist who I met through Pinterest. I noticed a couple of her distinctive beaded cuff bracelets on Pinterest, and immediately headed over to her website to see more of her work. I was excited to discover a large selection of beaded cuff bracelets featuring several different Navajo inspired designs in a variety of color combinations.

Kathleen Brannon is a trained acrylic artist who has worked primarily as a colorist in ancient motifs, designed and painted on wood. Kathleen admired and then began to study the work of Navajo bead artists, and her own work evolved from there. As a non-native, Kathleen feels fortunate to have learned the techniques of bead work from extraordinary Navajo artists who generously shared their knowledge with her. Kathleen works to maintain the integrity of color and symbolism used by the ancients on rugs and pottery, transforming the designs into contemporary bead art cuff bracelets. The results are impressive, and I am delighted to share her work with you.

I will definitely need more than one Desert Sage Bead Art cuff bracelet in my jewelry collection, because the are so many different designs and colors to choose from! However, if I was forced to select only one bracelet, the Navajo Rug Design Cuff in Silver, Turquoise, and Black (left, $350) would be my first choice. I love the bold pattern, and the colors are extremely versatile. You can wear this cuff with jeans or a black cocktail dress. If you prefer neutral colors, the Life Steps/Cross Cuff in Silver, Black, and Grey would be an excellent choice (center, $175). It is a smaller cuff (1 1/4" X 6") with a sophisticated look. The combination of turquoise and shades of brown is a favorite of mine, so I am also drawn to the Indian Blanket Cuff in Turquoise and Amber (right, $350). This distinctive larger cuff (2" X 6") features a vibrant Indian Blanket design. A Desert Sage Bead Art cuff bracelet would be a excellent statement piece to add to your jewelry collection! Which one is your favorite?

Visit the Desert Sage Art website to see and purchase these beaded cuff bracelets and many more!