Dresses - loving it right now

There's something about fall. Skirts and dresses are just perfect this time of year. Maybe because soon, it will be too cold to even think about going outside with just a thin layer of tights on my legs! January, northern Indiana, snow up to your armpits.... well, I think I've said enough!

I was looking through sketches from Ivanka Trump's new clothing line, and this one caught my eye. I love it!

Crayon painting

So, back here I talked about a few projects that I wanted to try. My friend Allie and I got together and tried the crayon art project over the past weekend. Here's how it went:

First, we peeled the paper off some Crayolas. Soak them in hot water to make the paper fall right off!

A little neurotic, color arranging activity followed. Maybe not necessary, but made me happy.

Allie picked her colors, used a hot glue gun to stick them in place, and turned on the hair dryer.

.

It doesn't take long before the color rivers start to flow!

We discovered later that doing this project with just a little bit of cover for the carpet - yeah, not a great idea.

And here's the final product, ready to hang on the wall. 

Here's the color palate I decided to go with. I also broke my crayons in half - I thought I would try to melt the crayons away completely. I didn't want the crayons showing at the end.

And here's what I got. I decided it should hang vertically, even though  I didn't have that in mind when I started.  Heck, this didn't turn out at all how I thought it would, but I think I like it. I think I'm going even going to try another one. This is kinda fun! 

Maize maze - Indiana Friday Fun

One of the things you can do in the mid-west in autumn is go to a corn maze. Or, as the one we found likes to say, a "corn maize". Isn't that delightfully, repetitively redundant??

So, step one was to get a pair of everything-proof boots. Something to stomp through mud in.

{picked up some boots at TJ Maxx}

It was crazy windy and a bit chilly, with temps in the 50's, so fall coats or scarves were a help.

{My friend Allie and I, already deep into corn and not sure how to get out}

Despite what this post seems to be saying, I'm really a city girl. Not a big city girl, but concrete and buildings are my thing. Martinis, too. Really, the outdoors makes me itch. But anyway...
There's nothing like looking up from the middle of a field of corn... What a view!

After the sun started dropping, we picked up the pace, realizing that we may be lost forever out there. Eventually, we found our way out, and found something to warm up with. I hope your weekend made the best of whatever situation you're in!!

Cause a House needs Style too!

I've been feeling a creative bug lately. Now, I do make jewelry and sell on Etsy... but sometimes I just feel like trying something new and different. I've never been a crafty person, and have very few skills of the crafty variety. But, I've found some cool ideas and think that maybe...just MAYBE... I could pull some of these off. Here's some that I may be trying soon:

{photo from flickr.com/photos/becksjb}

This is made with crayons. CRAYONS. And a hair dryer. I'm on it!!!

{photo from firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com}

Fabric flowers. Cute buttons. Maybe some hot glue, 'cause my sewing skills are non-existent.

{photo from http://indigenousdialogues.tumblr.com}

I love wine. Wine deserves it's own special space in a house. We have this antique piece of furniture that I think, maybe, could be turned into something *much smaller* like this. The question is - to paint it, or to leave it as unpainted wood.

You know those days when you just stare into your closet??

Some days I wake up, open the closet door, and stare blankly at my wardrobe. For like, 7 minutes. On really bad days I might sit down while staring.

Those are the days when I need some help. My brain is still asleep and creating an outfit seems as hard as advanced calculus.  So, I've come up with a bit of an {inspiration board}. Because if I'm going to stare at the wall, at least I can stare at something that might speak back to me!

This cork board leans up against one wall of my closet, tucked behind the hangers of shirts. When I see an outfit that is put together well, or utilizes an accessory in a way that I want to remember, or a color combo that I love, I tear it out and save it. Most of my pictures come from In Style magazine or favorite catalouges. {Anthropologie, anyone???}

This can sometimes be enough to break me out of my rut when getting dressed for work each day. As long as it gets me off the floor, I'm satisfied.

Fabulous waste of time!

Have you been to this website called Pinterest? I joined recently, downloaded the app, and have been having so much fun with it. Here's a random screen cap as I was browsing:

And then you can collect images from around the web and pin them to your board. Maybe you see a fabulous pair of shoes, or a neat DIY idea, or something that makes you laugh. Here's a screen cap of some stuff I pinned on my first day:

I think of it as a cross between twitter and craftgawker. Oh, and crack.

Wimping out in the big city

I was in Chicago yesterday for a workshop. It was windy, chilly, and rained on me just a couple of times. I was walking to lunch with a few other workshoppers and enjoying people-watching along the way. People watching is one of my favorite things to do, so big city streets are like candy to me!  I saw all kinds of fashion that I don't get to see everyday - the 3 piece suit, skinny pants and sneakers, 5 inch stilettos with leggings, mini-skirts that made me blush, briefcases, and slicked back Wall Street hair.

I wanted to snap a few pics of some of the styles that were typical of the big city. Here you go:

{shot a little high on this one}

{crossing a bridge and turned to the side a bit}

{people walking quite far away from me}

{quickly dropping phone down to my side}

So what I learned today...

I can't be cool. At all.

I think people know exactly what I'm up to.

I'm scared to piss off a stranger.

Ok, I may have been paranoid...

So, last week I posted that I thought someone from In Style magazine might be spying on me from a tree in my backyard. You can see why right here.  Turns out, I may have been just a *bit* off. I was waiting in line at the grocery store when I saw the magazine, sitting right there. Since the person in front of me was clearly buying enough to fill a walk-in freezer, I had some reading time on my hands. So I'm flipping away and I see this...

(photo credit is me, looking like a loony in the check-out line)

It's that same ad!! I guess if they don't know your name at Zappos, they just call you "dollface". OK... 

So, the fact that they got my hair right (and my rockin' bod, of course) is a total coincidence. But I'm still going to keep closing my blinds when I change clothes. You can never be too safe.

Who Needs Black???

Seriously, when there are so many gorgeous shades on the color wheel, who needs basic black? I would much rather be stunning in red than slimmer in boring black any day!

photo from Anthropologie

The hardest thing is, for me, living in a *somewhat* small town... finding stylish pieces can be tough. If you want to see sad, you should see the crap they fill our department stores with!! Big city folk would never be given such garbage. But, I digress...

The question I would ask is; would you do it? Wear this much red???

Count me in! Now if I could just find some color in the stores around here...

Bold is way better than wimpy

I'm a huge fan of color. Big, rich, bright or loud. Sometimes I may take it too far. But, I'm totally psyched to see that "fashion" is agreeing with me this autumn.

My fashion sense is, do what you want and wait for others to agree that you're fabulous!

This picture from In Style magazine this month is a great example. I want those wine-colored pants!!!

The Best Fashion Intentions

Personal style versus professional dress. It's something that I go back and forth on. How much of my personal style to I let into my work wardrobe??? Or do I go with basics and keep it professional?

As a lover of style, I can't help but let my personal style be out there! My brain says A nice skirt and pumps would really look professional, but my hands grab the wide leg trousers and flowy cardigan every time!

I love you, cardigans!

It'll take how long???

I wonder sometimes if I'm the only person who does some of the things I do. My husband would be the first person to tell you that I have no patience. None. I jump into doing things unprepared all the time. And waiting for others...it's a slow, simmering rage.

Drying my hair, all the way, KILLS me. Many days, I'll just go out with wet or half-wet hair. I've started washing my hair at night and living with the sleepy hair bumps, rather than blow it dry.

A few years back, you could find me with the dryer, siting on the closed toilet seat, with a book in my lap. Now, technology makes my multi-tasking even easier! So now, I read blogs. If I'm stupid enough to be stuck with wet hair before dinner...

My magazine is spying on me

I was flipping through my In Style magazine the other day, when I ran across this ad.

Ok, seriously, how well can a magazine know a girl??? They know my name AND that I love to go shopping!?! Hell, they even got my hair color right.


Impressive. In Style, get out of my backyard and stop peeking through my window!

Little bits of happy

A cubicle can be a pretty sad place. I try to find little ways to brighten it up. A tissue box. It's not much. But a little color can go a long way in a drab nook.

Home Sick

I stayed home sick from work today.


The sad thing is that I'm feeling crappy enough to not really be able to get anything done. 


I wish I could just have a "well" day every once in a while. Then, I would actually enjoy the day off and have have some fun! Well, maybe at least be a little productive. 


Custom orders are still lined up here at the studio. I have time, but not energy.  


And tomorrow I'll probably force myself to go to work, cause 2 days in a row just can't happen!