Happy Halloween!

[taken today during a quick stop at the OC Great Park]

Quilty as Charged

It's been a long process, but my quilt making is underway!

....what I really mean by that is that I bought most of the fabric this past weekend, and started messing around with design ideas. I wanted gray/tan neutrals as a base, paired with vintage-inspired brighter colored fabrics. I ended up with the gray/tans, coral, light blue, and yellow.

Per my co-worker's suggestion (a fellow quilter), I took pictures of each fabric and played around with the combinations in Illustrator.

I really like the modern feel of a quilt made of lines/strips:

...but I also like a more traditional, folksy approach. Something like this, but with more color variation:

(and obviously the squares would be lined up, but I got impatient and just slapped them in....admittedly not the best mindset for a quilter...)

What do you think? Traditional or modern?

Pendleton

I was stunned that these Pendleton blankets are only $64 - even starting trying to decide which of the many colors available I would get - and then realized that they're baby blankets. Woops.

Kind of makes me wish I had a baby. Ha. I'll probably start with a kitten. ;)

emily's baby shower

When I told my preggo bestie Emily that I was coming to Seattle, she pulled some strings and moved her baby shower a few weeks earlier so I'd for sure be able to make it (what a pal, right?). Her mom and aunt did a really great job making it fun, tasty, and festive:

Other than food, my favorite thing to take pictures of is plants. I think it says a lot about the low maintenance-ness of succulents when someone like me (who hardly has a "green thumb") can manage to keep a whole crew of them alive and well. Here's a little photo update on my growing family of succulents:

I had to bring them all in from the outside kitchen ledge, since it's start to get chilly at night around here. They take up the entire kitchen window, which is heartwarming to me, but also a gentle reminder that I need to wait awhile before adding to their numbers...

OC stormin'

[whipped up this little beauty to double on here and The OC Gazette blog]

It's absolutely pouring today in Orange County. Thunder, lighting, the whole shebang. I LOVE IT.

The weather's been gloomy for a few days now, so I came to work prepared- I even wore my argyle galoshes!

I grew up in Seattle, where autumn is colorful, crisp, and refreshing. October is my least favorite month in So. Cal. It's usually dry, hot, ashy, with multiple forest fire threats.
BUT. I'm LOVING this borderline "real" fall we're having this year!!

Amy, my friend, co-worker, and partner in all things fashionable,

How's the weather in your neck of the woods- er, country?

"Swatch Me Now" banner DIY

Paint swatches. Not just for paint color brainstorming anymore.

I remember Shannon inspired me (read: rocked my world) years ago when she started using paint swatches as note cards. More recently, I've noticed the little beauties popping up in other unconventional ways:

decorated bike spokes,

 

[image source here]

valentine cards,

[image source here]

embroidered (!!),

[image source here]

framed as art,

[image source]

I know. WOWz.

In the spirit of this movement, I've got a DIY craft for you guys today that's so easy, it's almost insulting to post instructions. It's a sewn paint swatch banner! I call it the "Swatch Me Now" Banner.

Step 1: Visit your local Home Depot/Lowe's/paint supplier. Select color swatches of your choice for the banner. Think about the range you might want to cover. For my banner, I made a rainbow. Next time, I think I might choose one color and make a color spectrum within that color, or explore only neutral tones.

Step 2: Go home, lay out your choices in the order you'd like to string them in. Stack them in order and head for the sewing machine! (you can hand sew too, it will just take a little longer- but how cute would a colored yarn be?)

Step 3: Sew through one swatch at a time, making sure to pause and raise the needle between swatches. I left varying amounts of thread between each swatch, but it's up to you how much space to leave.

Step 4: Hang! It's really that easy! Perfect for a party, homecoming, shower, etc etc etc. You could even write letters on the swatches to show a message (i.e., "happy birthday suzie!" or "welcome back chucho!")

Happy crafting!

blonde ambition

 

i made the jump!

not sure how long i'll keep it, but it's certainly fun for now.  

and yes.....i'm having loads more fun already.

stylin' thoughts (re: stella mc & ankle boots)

 ahh, fashion. You beautiful, ever-changing (never boring) monster.

Stella Mc. Let's talk about that. I wasn't a huge fan of Stella McCartney's Fall 2010 or Spring 2011 Ready to Wear lines (tropical explosion), but a few pieces caught my eye in her Spring 2011 Resort collection. Namely, the lace shorts in this sweet ensemble,

and this trench coat that kind of looks like a cape,

I think I just want a cape though. A trench cape. In a pale pinkish tan hue. With shorts.
the collar! the double-breasted front with those button-flap pockets! the shoulder thingies! i should find out what those are actually called...

I've also been daydreaming about welcoming the perfect ankle boot wedges to my shoe family. These puppies by J Campbell are the dream:

but then there's these suede beauties, also by JC:

and, as usual, Steve Madden does a pretty good job keeping up, and has these tempting alternatives:

I discovered that the secret of ankle boots with the wedge heel lies in the front lace up (either that, or cut outs, which I'm not really into)- without any sort of embellishment or lacing, wedge boots can look like hooves. Yuck. The "Sookee" boot by Steve Madden is dangerously toeing the line into hoof territory:

another pair by Trouvé (that I tried on at Nordstom a few weeks ago, and then realized the hoof disaster):

[these are shown at an angle, so they look taller and slimmer here then they really are....they're actually shaped more like the tan steve maddy's above).


to summarize:
lace shorts. trench cape. ankle wedge boots. (worn all at once? does she dare? i do, but my pocketbook does not).

any style thoughts/lustings you kids care to share with me? i'd love to hear 'em!

more Seattle pics

I read in the November issue of Lucky magazine about a contest for fashion bloggers- the prize is an expense paid trip to NYC where you'll be put up in an apartment that's paid for, and given a full time salary of 100K for blogging for them. Needless to say, I seriously considered turning this into a solely fashion blog.

That probably seems like a random thing to say, especially when I've gotten into a habit of not saying much of anything when I post, but it's just amazing to me to see and hear of how much blogs are doing for people lately- book deals, full time jobs, free clothes, paid trips to fashion week, and plenty more. Who would ever have thought blogging would evolve into its own world of career/entrepreneurial opportunities. Not that I'm against that, but I feel like there's a lot of pressure in light of it. My blog has never had a super clear focus, and I've enjoyed using it as a space to collect and share images, thoughts, and pretty things I discover as time passes. I think living in California (with its year-round sunshine, more or less) after growing up in Seattle makes me crave the sense of recognition of time passing that blogging offers.

I'd love for my blog to open career doors for me; in fact, it already has in a lot of ways. I've made contact with writers, photographers, artists, publishers, and other bloggers I never would have otherwise.

I guess all this is to say that I'm still deciding how to focus my blog. While I decide, I'll continue to post about the things I always have: my photography, fashion interests, crafts, and lovely things I want to share with you.

And with that, here are a few more pics from my trip to Seattle last month:

(if you go to Seattle, go to Cupcake Royale. they have multiple locations. do it!)

(also, the sangria at McCormick & Schmick's is great. happy hour is the time to go- i think it starts at 4pm)