Getting in front of the Lens – What I wore #3

I have deemed the month of May my “conquering fears” month. So I am stepping out and doing things that I am not necessarily comfortable with and I plan on sharing them all with you here on the blog. There are a lot of things I am working on, little by little. This is the perfect space to share my journey and progress.

One of the goals I want to work on is getting comfortable in front of a camera again. And what better way is there to work on that than an outfit post? AH!

It really isn’t so bad, especially when you’ve got a cute boy to smile at on the other side of the lens. This is my out to lunch outfit. Teehee. I met James downtown and we had a little bite to eat at a deli across from his work on his lunch break. It was sweet and lovely to get out of the house despite the dreary gray weather.

Normally I wear this outfit a little bit more casually with a sweater instead of a coat, but I thrifted this coat back in April and it was too cold to wear it until this week and it will get too hot to wear it soon enough. At first James and I thought it was a riding jacket, but after wearing it out to dinner with James’ aunt for my birthday she told me that it looks like a lady’s kilt jacket. I am a super sucker for velvet and so I just had to grab it from Value village. Plus it was only $7.99 and I had a 15% off coupon. Score! I really did well that day and came home with lots of really neat items. Actually thrifted my skirt on the same trip as well. It is one of the softest cotton skirts ever with a bright purple print and pockets which I love.

The shirt is one of my new favorites that I found at the swap and blogger meet up while I was away in Peterborough weekend before last. I love the jersey, the color, the cut, everything about it. And lookey here, two new pieces for the shop. Though I do want to add a few feathers to the tassel necklace, before it is finished. I think both pieces compliment each other. I am going to create a third shorter piece to finish it off a wearable set of three.

Aren’t turkey feathers amazing? They are pretty much the most inspiring feather in my stash right now and I have so many different feathers from so many birds. I just recently received more turkey feathers though so to me they are still kind of new as I had used up all my others back in December at a craft fair.

A few months back I posted on Kijiji that I was looking for naturally molted and salvaged feathers from a variety of birds and I got a reply about turkey feathers. A sweet lady had saved the feathers in her cedar chest after the turkey had accidentally been hit by a car in her area. I am so glad to be able to breathe new life into these feathers and let them flaunt their natural beauty. They are definitely my favorite.

I love the sweet brass button details on the coat. So stately, yet almost dainty in a way, and very pretty. I also love my ring. It took time to get used to wearing something that big, but I truly love the design and it is also an antique so it’s that much more meaningful and special to me.

Off on the walk that is life.

Do you have any goals you are working on? What are some of the methods you use for keeping yourself motivated?

Wish me luck as I conquer another fear and make my first ever customer call for my new job today! Eeek!

Hillery

DIY Dream Catcher Necklace

Supplies: ||old bangles ||embroidery floss or crochet thread || scissors || chain ||

Step 1: Wrap the bangle. How tight or how loose is your preference.

Step 2: Begin wrapping around the bangle with large gaps of space between wraps creating your first round of the web. I always pulled my thread back up through the wrap so it would hold in place well.

Step 3: Continue wrapping till you get to the center, and tie in feathers, braids beads. Connect your chain the length you like with a jump ring and rock it!

I found these little plastic bangles in the grab bag that my amazing brass walnut came in. They were pretty uncomfortable and just kind of messy looking so I took a few and turned them into tiny dream catchers. This is a pretty quick project you can put together in about 30 minutes or so. These also make adorable wall art when grouped together and are the perfect size to mail as gifts as they fit inside an envelope well.

[Let me know if you’d like more details on the wrapping. My advice is just give it a go and find your method and do what you like best. Remember that your first round of wrapping will affect the shape of your finished project. I know the steps show me starting with five, but for the dream catcher pictured in the finished project I actually only used four wraps for my starting round. Those photos didn’t turn out as good as the second set with my second dream catcher.]

Please feel free to tweet, facebook share, or pin this tutorial! The more the merrier ’round here!

Happy Crafty Tuesday!

Hillery

Repurpose Round up – Bicycle Inner Tube Creations

Keeping with this week’s theme – an ode to the bicycle, today’s Repurpose Round highlights some etsy sellers who make good use out of busted tires. That’s right everything you are about to see below is made from the inner tubes of bicycle tires. If you ask me, these folks are geniuses.

Nothing fancy about today’s post as I am still struggling to feed myself and it’s nearly 8 pm!

I spent the majority of my day hanging out at the laundromat. With things being so tight back in March and only having the capacity to wash the  essentials laundry really began to pile up around here. So much so that I it’s been keeping me up at night…sorry folks, I let my OCD slip. Whoops! Needless to say I was actually absolutely elated to spend the day washing and folding and lugging the little buggie down the street. In fact I am sitting here congratulating myself.

It actually wasn’t a bad time. I took some trial mix, a big bottle of lemon water, my notebook, and my camera. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was feeling happy. I spent the time between washes feeling inspired by the lovely spring day. I even got some quality shots of some of my thrifty finds for the weekend.

Here are some rather interesting bicycle accessories from some amazing Etsy sellers as promised.

Please excuse me while I go remove my lentil loaf from the oven and get ready to chow down! Recipe tomorrow! I hope you have a lovely night tonight!

1. Scuola Recycled Inner Tube Case by Reddot Cycling $20

2. Inner Tube flower Bow by Upcyclery $12

3. Recycled Bike Inner Tube Journal by PalePink $39

4. Feather Earring from recycled Inner Tube by True Partners in Craft  $25

5. Eco Inner Tube Messenger Fringe Bag by Reclaimed Wreckage $264.99

6. recycled Inner tube cut out globe cuff by Beatrice Holiday $28

Easter Tutorial round up

A few pretty Easter egg tutorials from around the web

You can click on the image or the link below it to be taken to the tutorial.

//Decor 8 Painted Easter Eggs//

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//Silk Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs Our Best Bites//

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///Wohnide Wunderwieb Painted Paper Napkin Appliqué Easter Eggs///

^this site is in German.S

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//Embroidered East Eggs Design Sponge//

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//Spoon and Fork Water Color Easter Eggs//

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Love and light! Happy Easter Everyone!

Bohemian Caravan Inspiration

Wanting to live better and be more comfortable in our tiny apartment, I am constantly hoarding ideas and inspiration to organize and decorate our space. One of my main sources for inspiration is the Gypsy Caravan or Roulettes. Bright, colorful, and compact these dwellings make good use of every inch of space.

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James and I’s bedroom, with it’s dormers and funny closet, is a little lacking in functioning space as it currently stands. Our dream is so really utilise every nook and cranny. To not only make room for long term storage, but also active storage – book shelves, day to day clothing storage, and also as odd as it sounds – long term food storage with a light controlled place to store our home canned goods. We want the bedroom to be a place we escape to, find cozy, comforting, and romantic. And a space that also functions well, with adequate storage, and is an easy place to get ready for the day.

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We’d like to achieve this by lofting our bed for built in storage underneath, and at it’s foot, working with the slope of the roof. We’d also like to add a reading area in the window dormer with functioning storage underneath and and space beside with a mirror and a little storage to function as a vanity so we both aren’t squeezing into the little bathroom in the mornings.

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We have similar hopes for our spare room which is almost exactly like our bed room. We’d like it to function as an office as well as have a space for two guests to enjoy themselves. We also want it to be a space that can easily transition when we have our first child (another 5 to 7 years down the road).

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We are in this apartment for the long term and we are excited to find the best ways to organize the space, find the furniture that works, build what we can, and get rid of what we don’t need.

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For more information on these images or on roulettes/caravans check out Jeanne Bayol or her blog. Her work is amazing!

Inspiration and sharing…

I want to share a few things that I have found inspiring so far this week:

1. This video is incredible. 100 years of Style in 100 seconds.

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2. I watched ‘My week with Marilyn’ Monday night and I was mesmerized. Michelle WIlliam’s performance was breath taking and I found myself falling in love with Marilyn and her complexities.  It’s a beautifully filmed and luscious narrative about coming to terms with who you are and learning how to be oneself. The cast is wonderful, the costumes stunning, and the acting superb. Needless to say I enjoyed the film immensely and recommend it to everyone.

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3. I have listened to this song every free moment I have. My kid brother is having a pretty rough time. My Dad mentioned this song to me, we’ve always been Neil Young fans and this song really touches my heart right now and reminds me how beautiful my brother is. I miss him very much.

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4. Was Mad Men beautiful this week or what? It’s been a long awaited premier and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen this season. The wardrobe in this episode, oh my! Loved getting acquainted with everyone and seeing were they all are after 8 months of time has passed. Oh and where’s Betty? I was surprised not to see her, just wanted to catch a glimpse, but she’s barely even mentioned.  Matthew Wiener is keeping us on our toes – so glad SDCP is being pushed into the Civil Rights Movement. What a beautiful being to an exciting season!

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Some images that have stopped me in my tracks:

1. Breath taking photograph of tulip fields below Mt. Hood. Entitled: Tulips Below the Volcano.  Photograph by Robert Crum on Etsy

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2. The stunning and colourful terraced riced fields in Yunnan, China. Image via: National Geographic.

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3. In love with this gorgeous Moth and Butterfly  collection. I find them absolutely fascinating. Image via: Whonever Tumblr. Though I hope to find another source for this image.

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4. This incredible skirt made of Barbies. Talk about repurpose. From a really amazing flickr album by MarieHochhaus. Her photographs are just so beautiful.

Working on some more spring cleaning, really trying to get this apartment into tip-top shape. It is so tiny, just taking the time to organize and give everything a home makes it feel lighter, more open, and airy around here. So happy to have James home in the evenings as well. We had dinner with his Aunt and a friend at Darbar last night. We we didn’t go out to eat this much in all of 2011 as we have this March. There has been a lot to celebrate and our families have been very generous and kind to us. We have such wonderful families. In other good news I get to pick up my bike from the shop tomorrow! Yippie! Can’t wait to take her for a spin.

Super excited and having a great week so far!
Hillery

Repurpose Round up March 14, 2012

This weeks Etsy Repurpose Round up is a group of gifts for that studious man in your life. Click on the photo to open the Etsy listing in another window. I hope you enjoy!

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A handsome laptop messenger bag made from repurposed men’s coats. From SewMuchStyle.

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The perfect reusable sandwich bag made from organic cotton and recycled hemp for an on the go student. From TheHighFiberCo.

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A gorgeous journal for keeping up with tests and for musing on a sunny day in the quad. From NaturesCubbyHole.

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Every guy needs a little floppy disk note pad for jotting down to do lists and oh…phone numbers. From FishStikks.

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Needs a schnazzy place to keep his money? How about a recycled Superman comicbook wallet. From bagswithhistory.

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Aren’t these uber cool pencils? They are made completely from recycled paper. The best part…the color changes as you sharpen them. From writewithmoxy.

Weekend Project – DIY Showcase

This is an incredible project that was just posted by Meg Allen Cole on Craftzine this afternoon. This is a perfect weekend project and I think it would make a fantastic group projects as well.

A long time fan of Meg’s blog and her youtube decor videos, I was especially impressed by the finished piece in this video, seen in the photo above. This geometric sculpture is made entirely our of paper and is simple and straight forward. Meg gives great instructions and all you need is some card stock, scissors, a glue stick, and Meg provides the template. The finished product is a visually stunning, masterpiece to hang on any wall. I am totally thinking this might just be THE project for that daunting, giant space above our stairs entry way. The real beauty of this project is you can choose any color scheme you like pastels, gray tones, warm and exotic. As well you can make this piece as large or as small as your heart desires.

This week is actually a super exciting time for Meg as she is finally getting to live one of her dreams, meeting Martha Stewart. And better than that she’s actually going to be on the Martha Show next week on the Hallmark channel. If you love Martha, you are going to love Meg.

Watch the video below and be sure to check out her channel on youtube: Meg Allen Cole Crafts. She will blow you away with her awesomeness.

Sources for this post: 1|2

On an important side note.

Sorry for the hiatus. I had to do some soul searching and take a little time. I will be spending this weekend without my blog as I plan to focus on the hubs, celebrating our one year wedding anniversary, and getting more than a little Etsy work done. I’ll be back on Tuesday with aN Etsy Repurpose Round up and don’t forget to stop by a little later in the week for the next installment of my ‘Eating Alone’ mini series and hopefully a little surprise.

Until then have a beautiful, beautiful weekend.

Hillery

What are your thoughts on love?

I know, I know, enough with the cheese already. Valentine’s is over with, February is finished. But oh well, I love and appreciate my man and that makes me happy. Therefore I am going to subjugate you to more ooey, gooey, cheesy, lovey, dovey goodness for the next two weeks.

Here are two great quotes from some of the worlds most favorite people, all about love. Feel free to share these schnazzy “quote graphics” by simply right clicking and or using pinterest, twitter, the facebook, or whatever you like. Just link back to my blog if you don’t mind.

I will share some more quotes and photos with you throughout the week.

An ode to my favorite go to outfit

So with my camera lost I am trying to be creative about what I am posting without posting the same sort of posts. This week I will mostly be posting borrowed photos and/or some little graphics I have been doing up. Busy putting final touches on my new Boho series for my Etsy shop and can’t wait to share it with you mid March!

Here is a little photo montage based off of my favorite outfit. Once my camera shows up again I will take an actual photo of my stunning self in this excellent curation of style and elegance.

all photos are linked back to their original source.

 

On top, a vintage patterned button up, my actual favorite shirt is navy and covered in ducks, a colorful vintage wool paisley scarf, with a chunky ivory cardy. On bottom, a suede leather skirt over muted gray tights and slouchy fringe boots. Accessorized with gold bangles, a knitted cuff, and various pieces of homemade jewelry and ribbon. Everything but my boots are thrifted, and I don’t actually have those goregeous boots from Minnetonka, my boots are from Target around 2008.

Random fashion quirk: I love to mix shades of brown in the same outfit.