Handy

There are many days when there isn't time for a full outfit shoot, but some element of garb makes me smile, so I take a picture of that detail. Today I thought I'd feature some favorite arm and hand wear!(Hence the dreadful pun)

What is your favorite piece of jewelry? 

Home Sewn

 I made a dress! I've made a few skirts and smaller items, but this is the most ambitious thing so far. There are a few things I'd do differently, like measure instead of guessing size. Initially it was a bit big, and altering the sides may have changed the shape some. Overall though, I'm happy and excited!

The fabric came from a rummage sale, in a huge box with other vintage fabrics for $3! Up close it has a lovely sheen and texture, and is the perfect old fashioned shade of warm pink.

I think that next time I will combine the skirt portion with the bodice from another pattern. Any advice for an amateur seamstress?

My boots are JCPenny! They are also on sale at the moment...

The Old and The New

I'm sorting my bead collection, so that I can make some new pieces for a farmers market! There are beads here I have had for more than a decade and forgotten about. Something about the beautiful colors, the feel of the beads and the act of bringing order to all this loveliness is very relaxing. 

There are pieces of former favorite necklaces, homemade beads, beads salvaged from terrible thrift store necklaces (some of the best). My mind is buzzing with ideas! When I am in a creative rut, sorting things this way seems to help dislodge me. New combinations suggest themselves, and even new beads to create.

I've also been whipping up a few of these daisy chain necklaces for entertainment. I'd love to make a handful that coordinate, to wear at once for a big impact or separately to be more subtle. 

These vintage beauties were my Great Grandmothers, and I've been meaning to re string them for years. A few pearls seem like they would make a nice addition. A few old projects I may have to revisit were even mixed into the chaos!

Hope you have a marvelous day!

P.S. What do you like to do when you are stuck creatively? 

In Color

So until I looked at the photos, I was not aware that my dress and this wall were the same color! This mural in Aberdeen, Washington is one I've passed many times, and decided today to check out in detail. It is definitely the first I've seen to include both flappers and Ninja Turtles.

It is not, by a great distance, the oddest piece of art in the area. There are actually a great number of murals in town, which is something I love!

 It was early enough on a weekday that not too many people were passing through, which is lucky as this still makes me a bit self conscious.

Especially if I had know I had bright pink bra strap popping out all over. Sigh. This dress is a fairly simple one, but with an interesting back. I like this because it makes a nice canvas for interesting jewelry, and will be impervious to trends

Because I'm long past growing (more sighs) I am trying to focus on things I love enough to keep forever, and of nice enough quality to last so long. 

This part of town is one I will certainly have to explore further! 

Although I am hoping there are not too many more of these unwholesome looking clowns. (Are there wholesome looking ones?)

Sounds- Defiance, Ohio!

Some songs stick with you for a long time after you've heard them. Oh, Susquehanna by Defiance, Ohio is one of them for me. I had the great pleasure of hearing them play once, at a library of all places! That concert, with the librarians, colorful grungy and studded people, and kids dressed as ballerinas all at once sitting cross legged on the floor is one of my all time favorites. All of the bands playing had been touring together for months and were soon to finish, and it lent them a camaraderie and a chemistry that was cool to see. People were subbing from one band to the next for fun, because they knew each others songs so well. And string instruments being used like this get me every time. Not to mention the player could perform it while joining in the riotous dancing that eventually ensued. 

Patched Knees

I am really, really hard on my knees. I enjoy longboarding, and am spectacularly klutzy even without wheels. Every picture of me as a kid (and okay not as a kid) includes skinned knees. And paint I missed somewhere, but that is another story.

So it is a very good thing I enjoy sewing, because patching things creatively can be even more fun than getting them in the first place! This doily has been floating around waiting for the perfect project for years, and finally I failed to notice a curb at Safeway. That sentence may not occur very often...

The doily was just stitched around the outside on my machine, though the inner parts could be stitched down in pretty thread for a cool design element. 

With a few thrifted items added I had a good outfit for a lazy Sunday in the sun. Oddly I think that pants with a giant doily on the front will probably match my entire wardrobe.

Its fun to imagine where this necklace came from originally. Maybe from a bustling, spice scented bazaar somewhere...

I hope you have a wonderful day, and retain all the skin on your knees! 

Secret Gardens

Sometimes its nice to disappear. More accurately perhaps, to make all else disappear. Responsibilities, communication, the myriad human noises aimed at us and occurring around us. On nice days my boyfriend and I like to set off exploring on foot. We have found many beautiful trails and abandoned places this way!

When we moved recently I was sad to say goodbye to our old haunts, abandoned mills and empty yacht husks snaked with blackberries, beaches where you could climb over jungle gyms of driftwood to gaze at blue ocean waves. They aren't so far I can never go, but are no longer close enough to wander to.

Since coming to this new location, which is surrounded by more businesses than homes, we've found new retreats. My favorite is actually reached by cutting through the drive thrus of several fast food places in the busiest part of town! Past the abandoned floors (painted red!) of an old house mostly covered by flowers this time of year, is a little opening under the trees with the remains of a tree fort. To its side lays a narrow trail twisting steeply upward. It goes up and up and up with the view growing ever lovelier, and peaks with a view of the harbor and great spanning bridge.

That is not however the best part. Farther past this wide logging roads begin, and even more trails branch out from them. Here you can hear no cars, no human noise at all! The forests are flickering lights and shadows, softly creaking trees. And in the golden sunlit clearings acres of foxgloves grow in shades from white and yellow to violet and hot pink, deep amethyst. They sway gently waist high, tangled some places with other wildflowers in every color.

We have the most wonderful conversations out here. They are much like what our feet are doing, wandering easily to new and beautiful places. Many years before dating we were friends, and these conversations are a large part of how i fell in love with Chris! 

I'm so excited to have someplace like this, which we don't even need a car to reach! I hope we find many more lovely places in our time here.

For those living in Grays Harbor County, all this loveliness is past the bluff.