challenge continuation- days 14 thru 17

Day 14- Your newest purchase.



I got this leopard circle scarf from ASOS.com about 2 weeks ago- I'm not crazy about it, but it was only $6.90 so I decided not to send it back. It feels really weird and, as you can see, doesn't really ever lay just right but I'll figure something out.

Day 15- You and someone wearing matching clothes.



This one was pretty hard to think of- I had to search WAYYYY back through my tagged facebook pictures to find this dime. My best friend and I were supposed to go to the same college, so she bought us these matching shirts that christmas. She ended up not going to that school, but we still sported the shirts for a random night trip to the playground towards the end of high school. (I'm the hazy one on the right)

Day 16- An outfit you wish you had.



[The challenge for this "Day" was supposed to be "a piece of clothing you made or altered", but I couldn't think of anything other than the sweatshirt I've been talking about and didn't want to be a bore, so I'm doing this instead since I accidentally skipped it before.]
I'm not sure who this dress is by, but I'm sure I can't afford it. It sure is lovely though, huh? I've pretty much always liked lace sleeves, but the royal wedding dress has left that interest very much heightened. I also adore the vibrancy of the red and the combination of the fabrics.

Day 17- A piece of jewelry you made.



Is this cheating? I didn't make the ring, obviously, but I did attach a suede(?) string around it to make it into a necklace. I think it counts. The ring was my dad's high school ring; my grandma let me have it when she was doing some downsizing.

2nd on the list isn't 2nd best

Alright- I'm gonna keep rolling on with my Top 10 girl crushes list!

Next up is someone who could also definitely fit in all three of the categories, but I'm gonna pin her particularly for just being wonderful at what she does & seeming to be very genuine and intelligent in an industry where it's easy to forget about those things. Who am I referring to?

Emma Watson!



I love how seamlessly she's grown up in front of the public eye- and she took her time doing so, she didn't rush into being an adult in her appearance before she was an appropriate age to do so. I think she's also a rare example of someone actually being a proper feminist, which is also really refreshing because so many people throw that label around without really realizing what one is. Yeah, basically I just love her- I think she can do no wrong!

trial & error

So I finally got around to going to Goodwill and Hobby Lobby (craft store) yesterday in an effort to get my heart sweater project started. After rummaging through racks for almost 3 hours, I finally found a grey henley sweater that I thought could possibly work and came home to wash it. I spent the next few hours sewing on a few hundred sequins and a bead outline by hand and these are the conclusions I've reached so far:

Problem #1) Henley style sweaters just won't do, especially whilst sewing by hand. It's not impossible, but it's really hard to work with because sometimes it will catch weird, resulting in little snags (see the detail picture below) and 3 broken needles.



^ Shirt from hell! ^

Solution) I'm going to be ordering one of these plain terry pullovers from Forever21. I can't decide if I should stick with the heather grey - same as the Topshop sweater - or get the purple (purple would require getting different colored beads/sequins since that's what I have now)...



Problem #2) My hands kind of hurt.

Solution) given I'll be using an easier fabric next time and doing WAY less sequins per heart, I think it would still be stupid to do it by hand (and as you can see, my sewing by hand is shoddy at best) so I'll definitely be using my cousin's sewing machine.



Problem #3) Heart stencil, sequin shape/size, beads

Solution) I made the executive decision to use a different heart shape than what Topshop used because I just generally like a rounder shaped heart, rather than elongated. Well, that really doesn't seem to be best for this project... price of being power hungry!!! BLAST! But that's an easy fix. I also need to get different sequins &/or beads, less 3D sequins and shorter beads- although I do love the beads, I'll probably get little dot ones and use them interchangeably.





So, yeah! That's where I'm at one that project as of now! I'm surprisingly not deflated by the failed first attempt, perhaps even more excited for the new/finished project, because I think the changes will work out swimmingly! I also haven't really lost anything because I can use these materials for other things and I've only spent $12 so far!


Let me know if you have any suggestions for my next try that I haven't thought of yet. :)

i've got a crush on you.

I've decided to compile a list of my highest ranking celebrity girl crushes, which i'm going to start posting in between other posts. some of them i mostly like because of their style, some i tend to "follow" because i have massive respect for their career/lifestyle choices, and some i just genuinely drool over and ponder endlessly over how one person could be so genetically blessed.

and then there's some that, in my mind, fit the bill for all three of those categories, such as my first entry in this list- Victoria's Secret Angel, Miranda Kerr.



I'm sure it seems too easy to name a model as one of my girl crushes, but physical beauty aside I would love her anyway. She seems to be a rare brand of model- less about ego, more about roots and having fun with a career that has a short shelf life and shouldn't be taken so seriously. She also now seems to be a devoted mother/wife, in addition to maintaining her modeling career (did you see how fast she bounced back from the pregnancy? dumbfounding.) and building her organic skincare business, Kora. I can't wait to see her back in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year- it just WASN'T the same without her in it last year :(



Oh, and what can I even begin to say about her fashion style? I guess it's kinda hard to look bad when clothes are basically designed with your body in mind, but I definitely think her personal closet is one that I would raid in a heartbeat given the opportunity.





(All photos courtesy of respective users of Tumblr.com)

Craft Time!

As I was doing my daily search through the Topshop website yesterday, I came across this gem! Despite the fact that it's more than 100 degrees here everyday right now, and will be shorts weather for another 2 or 3 months, I'm already mentally building my ideal autumn/winter wardrobe. I instantly thought I needed this sweatshirt, and then I saw the pricetag! $90!! FOR A SWEATSHIRT WITH LIGHT BEADING/SEQUINS! ARE THEY MENTAL?



Then I got to thinking, that would probably actually be a pretty easy project! I also think it'd be better on a different color pullover, but as of now they only have grey. I think tomorrow I'll go look for a suitable sweatshirt and my sequins and beads! Chances are I can find a good option at a thrift/charity shop, or even something new from Forever21 would still come out WAYYY cheaper than what Topshop wants! Of course, I'll take pictures as I work on it and post how it comes out! I'm not the most artsy person so FINGERS CROSSED! The detail of the hearts is below- if anyone else wants to give it a go, too!

Days 8 thru 13

Day 8- Most expensive article of clothing.

Love this conductor style trench! It's a little bit big on me, but it was on mega-clearance (so technically not my most expensive article- whatever) so we got it! Definitely looking forward to breaking it in this fall!



Day 9- A cute dress (or skirt).

Something else I haven't gotten to wear yet! My grandma insisted on getting this one for me, said this was how they used to dress everyday when she was my age. It's kind of hard to see all the details in the picture, but I love the flowy but still structured pleats! Hopefully someone will get married soon and I can wear it with a fascinator (really want one of those!)



Day 10- An outfit you wore on a special day.

Special day, yes... special outfit, not so much! Wore this to a show/after party that I'll never forget- got to hang out with people I've crushed on for years and met some people that are now some of my closes friends!





Day 11- A piece of jewelry that a grandparent gave you.

My grandma started gold charm bracelets for all of us granddaughters when we were in elementary school- mine didn't quite buildup like everyone else's did. I think actually destroyed one of these before she got me this one :( The only charms I have are: a dog, a sweet-water basket, a dolphin (not pictured), sand-dollar, and a horseshoe.



Day 12- A piece of jewelry that everyone compliments you on.

A friend that I've had since I was 4 got me this necklace when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade-a LONG time ago- when she was on vacation in the Tennessee mountains! They're little leather moccasins with a beaded flower design chain.



Day 13- Cute socks.

Knee high heart patterned socks from Forever 21. ... not too much to say about these, but I think they fit the bill.

Challenge- Days 4 thru 7

Day 4- A shirt that you haven't worn yet.

Just a mustard colored blouse from Macy's. Not quite sure why I even own this, I probably thought at the time that it was a more breathable fabric than it actually is- feels pretty stuffy once you have it on. Maybe it will get used for a job interview or something of that sort.


Day 5- Your favorite pair of jeans.
Black super skinny jeans from Pacsun. I used to work there so I just wore some variation of these everyday. These ones are also slightly destroyed/frayed, including the knees which have gotten a bit *too* destroyed :-/


Day 6- A pair of pants that aren't jeans.
These also haven't been worn yet. They're white with pinstripes by Ralph Lauren. I think we got them for around $50 whereas they were originally $179- can't pass up a bargain!


Day 7- A cute outfit of yours.
Half sleeve knit lightweight sweater from Ann Taylor Loft in either light blue or light pink, front pleat soft grey/ivory pattern skirt from Forever 21, short wedge open toe shoes by Calvin Klein.