When the clouds touch the earth.

So, story behind my new banner -- other than I was procrastinating in a BIG way.

It is a picture I took on my 48-hour train ride from Xian to Tibet. Was it crazy long? Yup. Worth it? YES! And not only because it acclimates you slowly to the altitude, and therefore reduces altitude sickness (though one fellow traveller still got hit bad. poor chica!).

What really made it worth it was seeing the Plateau.

I love mountains anyway, (particularly snow-capped peaks and glaciers in the middle of summer!). But I've never been on one to see what they really mean. I've always just admired them from afar, not being the climbing sort.

Look a that blue!

 That pictures like this were the first impression I got of Tibet is a godsend. I can't describe how amazing the sky is so high. It's so much bluer, and every cloud is in sharp relief, not just blurs of slight shadow.

I mean, this is the highest lake in the world.
I would have missed it on a plane

And that amazement never went away. On the hills outside of Lhasa, I could see the shadows of the clouds and go "this one's a dog, and this one an umbrella, and this one an octopus on crack."


Tibet in and of itself is an inspiring place. It's ancient and mystical and beautiful in its rough edges. But seeing the clouds touch the earth is perhaps the most inspiring part of all.






Be sure to check out freetibet.org. It's terribly sad, how the Chinese occupation is slowly sapping the beautiful culture from this place. I don't want to get all dramatic and sappy, or preachy, but when you can see the Chinese military armed and ready a rooftop away from your restaurant window, something is wrong. And I've studied Native American history enough to see the parallels, and can guess where this is going.

Gold Star to all the little kids who dreamed of touching the clouds. And six to the Dalai Lama.

She crazy

Indeed I am. Because here comes the first big snow of the season, and I choose to frolic in it in shorts.

I was going to get rid of this pair before spotting this tutorial on the Colleterie, and decided I'd try it. Now I love them -- enough to be crazy. One tip -- when she says carefully snip, really be careful. I had to resew around half my scallops because I got scissors-happy.

Pretty snow face :)

Oh my goodness!

It looks like I'm not wearing pants under my coat. Scandalous!

Aaaaand now my camera decides the background needs to be REALLY white. Silly technology. But I kind of like this look, and some of these are quite good, and it's my blog and I'll post what I want to :)

A nice kick to show off my boots. 

And whatever this nonsense is to show off my shorts.

I love snuggling with my pashmina!

It looks like I'm backwards embracing the tree...

Kisses on a happy holidays!

God, I'm a narcissist. 

Outfit deets:

Sweater and Coat -- Old Navy

Shorts -- Formerly Wal-Mart. I think.

Tights -- Target

Boots -- Icing 

Pashmina and White Tee -- my world travels

Gold Star to the closet narcissists. (That's how narcissistic I am, I just passive-aggressively gave myself a gold star)

The Sweater Project

I'm into big, overarching projects. However, the ones that actually work are the inadvertent ones. I didn't even realize \ I had a ton of recon'ed sweaters until I just started pulling them out of my closet! If you want any advice or how-to's for any of these, leave a holla in the comments :)

Tied duster-style cardigan a la Grosgrain Fabulous. If you want to recreate, her tutorial is great, but I recommend stay-taping the edges before sewing any trim on. While mine stretched out to form a lovely soft collar, that was pure luck. 

detail of the edging.

A copped cardigan from a crew neck sweater! Keep checking for info on how I used the rest of the sweater ;)

Yes indeed, it's polka dots. And my first attempt at adding on a peter pan collar (which needs to be ironed). 

Make a sweatshirt into a cardigan! It's super cozy.

And missing a few buttons -- when I dig them up, I'll add them. But I rather like the little "v" formed without them...

Large sweater = sweater tunic dress. I took it in, and replaced some weird rainbow stuff in the channels with cream ribbon

And bows :)

Embellished blazer (I love cream and black!)

I found this puffball piping. And love it. I made the brooch out of leftover lace and button. 

Pocket detail.

Cardigan A

Cardigan B

I love Target's cardigans, but they usually need something like grosgrain ribbon to reinforce the fabric behind the buttons or they pull. Fine by me if that means I get a bit of color. 

All sweaters were thrifted, except the sweatshirt (Wal-Mart) and two cardigans at the end (Target)

Gold Star to those who love realizing they've been far more productive than they thought.

Snowporn!

So, we didn't get a white Christmas, but we got a white two-days-after! My mom woke me up this morning with "if you want to go take artsy pictures of snowy trees, now is it."

And lo and behold, big, fluffy white flakes were lazily drifting over the branches of our woods. I do like that snow livens up the place and makes all the leafless trees look something other than dead and spooky.

So, without further ado,

(all by me)

Gold Star to all the aspiring photographers whose cars routinely photobomb their shots.

Wearing my projects

So, I make all this stuff, get creative, sew and all that. Well here it is, released into the wilds.

Along with my brand new, very favorite Christmas boots :).

Tee -- Old Navy a la this

Skirt -- homemade

Cardigan -- Wet Seal

The infamous clock necklace -- F21

Leggings -- no idea. 

BOOTS -- Modcloth (even though they are blocked...)

So, what do you think? I've hesitated to post outfit photos on here, seeing as I don't really want this to be a style blog -- however, I do consider my style a big part of my creativity. I want it to be a working creatively and playing creatively type blog (especially if I'm inventing this type -- but the Internet is such a large place, I'm sure I'm not the first). However, I love reading style blogs, and I love looking at my closet and taking treasured pieces and making complements to them. And to me, style is so much about creativity, my overarching theme. Especially since I'm dealing with free time, I'm finding a lot more enjoyment in selecting outfits and putting together looks. 

But would that make this blog too schizophrenic --ie. in too many directions?  Feel free to give input! Heaven forbid I put too many hens in one basket. I know that metaphor is slightly off. Forgive me, it's late. 

I would, of course, take better pictures than these. 

So what do you think? Feel free to include any discussion or advice.

Gold Star to the holly hobbies out there (the good kind, not the derisively-alluded Tim Gunn-ism). 

Quick Tip Tuesday

Don't try to have a real life at the holidays.

that is all.

Gold stars to the recovering holiday-holics.

Oh, Holy night!

I've started using this as an exclamation, it's nearly as satisfying as Jesus Christ on a Bicycle (apologies for the blasphemy).

a lovely picture from a lovely lady!

In addition to having pretty pictures (and a wonderful, soft style), she's a style-type blogger who I love to read. I feel like we'd be friends in real life, if that's not too presumptuous.

Golds stars to lovers of bows and twinkles.

Got treasured family recipe? (cheap gift idea, with a gift for you!)

Make last-minute gifts! I even did most of the work for you. I came up with this idea the ump-teenth time someone asked me for my mom's banana bread recipe -- a make-your own kit!  Since people are bound to have the wet ingredients -- eggs, oil, and an old banana -- it makes this work pretty well. I just went by the recipe, split the dry ingredients into two steps and packaged them -- with instructions labels.

Then, I tucked the baking instructions into these cute little casserole pans, (available at Michael's for under 2 dollars each!) . . . 

tucked the recipe in back, . . . 

and wrapped with cellophane, cute ribbon, and matching gift tags.

And, since I made all these little templates, I'm willing to share! I haven't figured out how to attach a download (and since a PDF wouldn't let you put in your own recipes -- or name -- into the gift tags. I'd love the credit but it wouldn't help you all much), so leave your email in the comments and I'll send the files, if you so wish :) This could be done with breads, cakes (using mini-cake pans), cookies (using little cookie sheets? or just a cute basket), or even things like warm casseroles. And all it costs you is the container it's in, some ingredients, and whatever ribbons and bits you want to use to accessorize. It'll last longer than the actual baked good, be usable upon craving, and probably be cuter. I make delicious stuff sometimes, but it's rarely pretty. I'm working on that.

By the way, here's the most efficient method I've found for cutting out a million little circles:

Cut the bottom curves.

Loop around the end and cut the top curves. 

Then cut away the little remaining bits. 

Gold Star to anyone who may have found out what they're getting for Christmas from this post :)

The much-belated advent of the Christmas crafts

If you'll excuse the wordy title....I got a little carried away. But this post is about a very belated advent -- an advent calendar! I made this little treat full of parental appreciation to celebrate December. And I promise, the post is much more belated than the actual project. And even though it's a little late to do this project for this year (bad blogger!), I think there are some other applications that will still make it relevant. Plus I love to share!

A pennant pocket advent calendar! I loved making this (a great usage of my mom's quilting scraps) and coming up with sweet notes to put in it. And it does have some applications I've dreamed up beyond Christmas decor. For one, it could be a way to store little craft bits (like buttons and fasteners and whatnots). For another, it could be a month-long goal banner! It's rather ambitious, to plan little goals for each day of the month, but I'm thinking it could be a good tool. 

Anyway, on with the tutorial!

Holiday pretties

from (here) -- It's actually part of a tutorial :)

Perfectly reflective of my particularly crafty holiday mood. 

Gold Star to the Christmas crafters. 

A writerly affair.....

Will return after the holidays. Too busy crafting and baking myself into a corner.

Gold Star to all the holiday baked goods, and their lovely bakers.

eBay

So, since buying my camera (okay, since I started stalking around for cheap shoes) I've been rather more fond of eBay. But one thing befuddles me. I am not quite sure I like the "buy it now" feature. Granted, that's how I got my camera, but still...

It takes away all the excitement of eBay. If we want a bland, comfortable shopping experience we go to amazon or store websites. There's plenty online to keep us well entertained. I also feel like it robs me of the chance to work for a lower price. Because I'm willing to work for cheap shoes. I will glue myself to the monitor for the last hour of bidding to get them at ridiculous bargains. And honestly, buy-it-nows aren't often that bargain-y. The best are like  40 percent off. Most are like 20 dollars off (of 140 dollar shoes -- a whole 10 percent-ish off -- whoo) But when you're broke, 40 percent off name brand shoes is still too expensive. If I wanted a sale, I'd go to the store where I could try the shoes on and make sure I was at least getting a good fit and comfort level.

eBay, I go to you for ridiculous bargains. What ones you have are now buried under piles of these silly buy-it-nows. I understand wading through ugly shoes and stripper heels to find my gems, I do not understand finding cute shoes that I have been denied the opportunity to earn for cheap.This makes me unhappy.

Also, y'all need to check the superlatives on your site. What does "highest heel" mean? And why would it be on eBay looking like a normal stripper heel, not something in a couture museum, made eternally famous for breaking a famous model's ankle?

And is there some cultural thing I'm not aware of, or do people -- selling shoes, mind you -- really not know the difference between an oxford and a loafer? btdubs, Tom's slip-ons are neither. Them being philanthropic does not excuse ignorance.

And this post ended up being about shoes -- oh well. A discussion under a friend's "see the top people in your friends list, here's their role in your Christmas" facebook deal concluded I would either be creeping Santa out with the "Santa baby" song or going through his bag for shoes.

Gold Star to everyone getting shoes from Santa. Wait, I mean, what shoes? I totally don't know anything about what I'm getting for Christmas ;)

Oh, Beauty

If you just looked at the pictures, you'd think this is a really vain title. But the beauty is the pictures! I'm so in love with my new camera, and I don't yet know a third of what it can do. If I know that.

 In fact, it's so wonderful, I was a little intimidated to take pictures of myself -- with that kind of resolution, surely it would pick up my obnoxious band-aids, slightly stubbly legs, and bumpy, dry skin (an allergic reaction to winter, no doubt). But the pictures are lovely.

Of course, I needed a retro do and accessories to complement. 

It even captures my special faces! 

But I'll spare you the odes and sonnets and talk about the subject -- the blue dress. Entirely out-of-season here in Michigan, but unfortunately inspiration doesn't necessarily follow the calendar. I've actually had it done for a while (it only took me about two days of concentrated effort), but I needed to reset the zipper -- never a task I rush to do.

from (the McCall's site)

It is made from McCall's pattern M6331 but with a skirt I drafted myself -- meaning I traced a skirt with the silhouette I wanted and the proper waist measurement. What makes this pattern nice (in addition to being adorable) is that you can tailor it to your cup size. So it sews up with a pretty good fit before fittings.

I like the skirt included, but a.) I wanted something more akin to a wiggle dress, and b.) I didn't have near enough fabric to do a full skirt. Old poor college student habit -- I buy the minimum fabric I can get away with. Or I buy a bit off the end of a bolt for the discount and try to apply it to a fabric-intensive project...

But nonetheless, I like the result, especially belted. Don't tell anyone, but there was a teensy rumple in the waist seam hidden under there -- some intensive ironing and a few hand stitches will take care of that.

And yes, my sweater clips are actually pokemon. I'll get some real ones someday.

Gold star to those who happen to have pokemon accessories...