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.