Rag Curls: Made Cuter

The other day Sabrina told me that my rag curl tutorial inspired her to create this absolutely darling watercolor. How cool is that? Of course I adored it, and she even sent me the original painting! What a sweetheart. I can't wait to get it in a pink frame and hang it over my vanity where I do my hair. Just in case I need a little direction ;)

If you love her work (and how can you not?) visit her shop!

Just in case you were wondering I'm working on the hat posts (gradually) which I expect to post in mid October. If anyone has any expertise or fun little facts email me, I'd love to have your input!

I'll bring the popcorn.

If you have a moment would you recommend some old (1960s or older) films? Or even movies set in the past.

I especially like:

Mysteries

Comedies

Musicals

Or anything with amazing costumes, some hats would be nice too!

I've hardly seen anything, a few classics here and there but otherwise I need help!

Thanks so much!

Miss Marple

Most girls my age look up to tv characters on Gossip Girl, or American Idol (?). Ew.

But I was sooooooo excited when Miss Marple started up again last night on PBS. I love her every little hat, carpet bags, 30s sweaters, and not to mention the whole solving mysteries thing. I would raid her closet in a heartbeat. The stories are in two parts, every Saturday night, and last year I ALWAYS saw the first part, and missed the conclusion. Last nights episode I had seen last summer, but I WILL see next weeks episode so I will actually know how it ends. My Saturday nights are reserved for Miss Marple.

Drapes.

I watched Cry Baby tonight, and am reminded of why I love the 50s. It has both the full skirt and the wiggle dress, and Wanda makes a too tight skirt about as stylish as can be. Plus she has my ideal hairstyle, smooth pin-up bangs, and crazy fluffy curls. If only I could keep my hair blond.

1940s blue suit.

I was so excited to find this suit last year at Magpie, not only because it's gorgeous, but also it is very similar to Amy Adams late 30s dress in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It's the first time I've had a chance to wear it, since it's more of a spring suit, but I just love the color and drape of the wool. If only I had a matching hat, but I think the black one I have is quite similar, dont you? If you haven't seen the movie yet, I recommend it, the costumes are fabulous, and I just adore Amy Adams. I think I'm stalking her film wardrobes, since I also did a photoshoot last summer in the spirit of Enchanted.


1940s suit-Magpie.

1940s hat-NikieFrye

Spider brooch-The Urban Eccentric

Shoes-Nordstrom rack.

Purse-Discovery thrift shop.

Confessions of a shopaholic.

This movie is adorable. It has bright colors. And a cute boy. And shoes.

There. Thats all the convincing you need to see it.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is Sam's birthday, and for his gift I painted a couple of portraits of us. Hehe. Happy Birthday!

Confusing I know.

I'm at Sam's families house just as much as my own. Sometimes he's home, sometimes he's at work, but either way his family is always so fun and inviting there's never a dull moment. Tonight his mother Lisa pulled me aside for some assistance with a 1940s style photo shoot she has tomorrow. The big effect to get down was lighting, and we looked at old Hollywood portraits with dramatic contrast to achieve just the right effect. So I sat there in Sam's Led Zeppelin t-shirt, with my unstyled hair and makeup worn off and click-click went the camera. She worked on the above one in in photoshop and I must say worked wonders. Too bad I don't look like that every night.



Here is one from one of my first photo shoots with her with the same dramatic lighting effect.


One of my favorites is of Veronica Lake. Seriously.

Elizabeth Bennet.

I'm a huge Jane Austen fan. I still haven't read all of her books (I'm a terribly slow reader) but my favorite book in the world is "Pride and Prejudice". I won the book in 9th grade from a school library contest, and while It was a challenging read, I enjoyed it and re read it again and again until I could fully appreciate it. Of course I've seen the BBC version, and watch it every now and then, as well as the most recent film with Keira Knightley. I also have the British Bollywood version "Bride and Prejudice" which is pretty funny, and oh so colorful. And seen a clip of the 1940s (?) version, but the wrong costume era bothered me, I'm just picky like that. But back to Keira Knightley. She wears dresses in the film that are very simple and sweet, made of wonderful cottons and linens. I really wanted a dress like that, something unfussy and earthy, something that would wear well and be flattering without cinching in my waist and bunching at my hips. Such a dress I would make myself. When I worked at a fabric store I came across a costume pattern, based off of the dresses in the most recent film, and decided that I could use this as a base and alter it to better flatter me and be a higher quality.

I also decided I would do every stitch my hand. Which is why it has taken me over a year to finish the bodice alone. For the skirt I'll be just doing something gathered, maybe with pockets, and make it shorter than an original dress from the era. But I am taking every stitch very carefully, and if I don't like it I take it out, and put it away for a time when I have more patience. Hopefully by spring I can finish it and have a pretty new dress I made myself :)
Which Goose has a poll going to see who likes what Mr. Darcy better, which is what reminded me of my project.

Dr. Who

No real post tonight, Sam and I are watching Dr. Who. He rolls his eyes when I giggle every time David Tennant comes on the screen, but a girl cant help it. Have a good night everyone ;)

As it should be.

In July I did a photo shoot for Lisa, she had this amazing wedding dress that looked like the one Amy Adams wore in "Enchanted" so we made it princess inspired. Set in the Portland Rose Gardens, when all the beautiful and fragrant flowers were in bloom (not to mention all the tourists around, we got some looks). I was so lucky to get my makeup and hair done by Kristin Leonard, as you can see, her work is pretty amazing. Nothing like some perfect makeup and a frilly dress to make you feel like a princess.

John Rawlings photos.

The other day Rhiannon posted a link on twitter of these fabulous photos and I had to share, I'm sure I'll use them a lot for inspiration. These are just a few of my favorites, but there are many more to gaze at here.

A few of my favorite things: Pink car, leopard coat, compact, and a barn. Love the barn.


This one looks like Dita.


Love the full netting on the face, its so difficult to find a hat with perfect netting now.


A matching leopard coat and hat. Thats the dream.

Spirit.

I've always liked superhero films. I don't know why, I didn't grow up with them or read comic books, but I really like that this generation has a lot of superhero movies in it. I suppose its a combination of having either the femme fatal, or damsel in distress aspect, and many have taken a loop back to their original time period costume-wise. The other night I saw "The Spirit, and was very impressed. From the beginning it feels like you are watching a comic book in motion, and of course, I love the red and black based color scheme.

Scarlet Johanson played the villain sidekick "Silken floss" and had the best outfits. Rhinestone boots, cat eye glasses, two piece kimono, she was a knockout. Eva Mendez was the real femme fatal though, always after anything that sparkled, and went through husbands like I go through stockings. The costumes were a combination of late 1930s early 40s, with a little modern twist. The Spirit actually wore high top converse with his classic ensemble. Makes perfect sense for building hopping.

Engagement pictures (The real ones).

Here are our engagement photos, taken by my Mother in law to be . I'm really glad we chose to go with black and white outfits, this dress is a vintage one my aunt wore when she and her now husband went on their first date. It's so cute, I always seem to pull it out for pictures. Sam decided to go with all black, topped off with a vintage fedora. What a fella.

Warmunky.

Here is an exclusive interview with graphic designer Warmunky. Greeting cards with a vintage flare.


Where did the name "HandmadebyWarmunky" come from?

A few years back, while partaking of Hot Toddies and watching the annual James Bond marathon on TV (Sean Connery preferred, of course), snow bound on a farm in a small town in Idaho, the Warmunky was born. My one year old niece, who couldn't yet say "uncle", could only say "unky". The blue eyed angel spent the whole day prior napping on my warm self. As I was discussing this with my sister-in-law, her husband and my wife were giving us quizical stares. Convinced we were speaking a foreign language, they finally had to ask what a War Monkey was. Laughter erupted as we explained, not "War Monkey" but, "Warm Unky"... Thinking this a good name, I've stuck with it.

In your Etsy shop profile you mention collecting pretty much anything with a graphic appeal. What is the most interesting item(s) you have right now, and why did it catch your eye?

There are a couple of items. The first is a produce box full to the brim with matchbooks collected by my father between the late 1930's and late 1940's. The illustrations and typography are fantastic. It's too bad most of the locations they are from are long gone. I'm planning on visiting some of the local spots and photographing them and then posting the picture along with a picture of the matchbook. Sort of a "then and now" story.


The other item, probably because the holidays are foremost in my mind right now, is a quirky booklet of holiday crafts, recipes and activities. I picked it up at the Portland Expo Antique and Collectible Show. It's called the Golden Circle of Holiday Ideas and was put out by Oster in 1963. It's just crazy. The cover is avocado green as are many of the pages inside. Many of the crafts use hot pink and orange color stories with gold and cyan. The foods are hard to describe. Lots of chopping, molding and saucing. Lots and lots of garnishes too. Most everything is pureed or blended. Of course it is, it's from Oster! The thing which caught my eye however was the cover. Not so much the spool of ribbon cutting out and gluing on her own cheek but rather the Santa cutting out his own head from plywood with an electric jigsaw. Another Oster product I assume?


I get asked a lot what my favorite era is for fashion. What time period do you most admire for graphic design?

That's a tough one... I equate it to ordering a favorite dish at a certain restaurant. For example, I only order Pad Kee Mao at a certain Thai restaurant, a particular hamburger at another and only the French Onion Soup at another. It's like that for me with design. I may admire the colors from one period, the typography from another and the illustration from another. If I have to be pinned down though, I would say I am currently very fond of the design from children's books of the 1950's and 1960's. They were so whimsical and fun. They just make me smile.

What can we look forward to in the future for your shop?

Cards, cards and more cards. More pillows, some "art" and more cards. Thank You cards and New Year cards. Also, some cards based on my "SIT A SPELL" pillow (currently on Etsy) and probably some... well, you'll just have to check back on my shop and see.

2nd Anniversary

Sam and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary (Of dating) yesterday, and got all dressed up, me in a vintage black strapless wiggle dress and leopard coat, and him in his wonderful gray suit.

Of course I forgot my camera.

But we had fun and saw the new James Bond film, where a couple of people said I looked like a Bond girl, I think it may have looked as though we had dressed up for the movie :)

Next time I'll remember my camera....

Light and Shadow Photography

Pushing Daisies

When I tuned in to watch "Pushing Daisies" tonight and got "Dancing with the Stars: Live" instead. I was not happy.

Not happy at all.

Infact, I was most unhappy. For I have one show, ONE SHOW on television that I tune into ever week, and that is Pushing Daisies.

Why?

"Why?" You ask.

Well I'll tell you. And you will listen.

Becuase it is the best. Among all the dark crime shows and countless medical dramas, there is sunny, comical, interesting, magical tv show that shows us the meaning of good entertainment.

The set is spectacular, based in a pie shop (In the shape of a pie) and scenes where everything from the wallpaper, to the carpet, to the pajamas, to the bedspread match, it never disappoints.

And my favorite: The costumes are vintage. Really. Bright colors, petticoats, and hats, I get inspired by every episode. I want to raid the wardrobe department, and I'm sure you do too.

So after much panicking and sulking, and holding back tears, and cursing ABC and Dancing with the Stars, I find that it will resume in two weeks.

*Exhale*

And I'll remind you, becuase I know you'll want to know.

Did I mention there was pie and petticoats?

Workspace.

Some photos from a few months ago, but I still love the colors. In the first photo of my vanity, there is the little green jewelry box from the last post. As much as I clean it it seems to accumulate stuff. Then there is a Japanese doll my grandmother gave me years ago, stationary from Venice my costume teacher brought back for me, a photo of Sam and I when I was blond, and some little trinkets that I cant get rid of.

This little fairy helper holds my pins.

I covered my vintage sewing table ($4 at a garage sale) with vintage fashion photos and art. There are some really pretty ones under my machine, but I never get to see them :)

Judy's Boat Trip.

I havent done any box covering lately, so while watching Dr. Who I thought I'd cover this little jewelry box with pages from a 1939 childrens book. In the past I have put things in Urban Eccentric to sell, but I may try Etsy this time, its a very little box, so shipping wont be too much.

The base.

Old record sleeves.

My brother gave me these old record sleeves, from the early to mid 20th century. These have very beautiful artwork, and some are pretty entertaing, like the one with step by step instructions to dancing the hokey pokey.