what to wear?, continued

no, i still haven't found an outfit for my upcoming bachelorette party... but i have continued on the unintended path of finding perfect items completely out of budget. today's heart-breaker is a $195 paul & joe vintage inspired cocktail dress-

so yeah, it's $15 more than the melissa shoes i can't afford so why not add more to the list of can't haves?? i seriously love those sleeves!

it's always burger time!

front door decoration i made for my "super burger time" hamburger party using construction paper. lightning bolts courtesy of my husband.

what to wear?

some truly wonderful friends are throwing me a fancy dress bachelorette party in a few weeks and i am searching high and low for the perfect outfit- on a teeny weeny budget.

but wait a sec! hold the phone! aren't i already married?! yes, i am, happily so for nearly four years. so what's this business?? my wonderful friends, upon learning i never had a bachelorette party decided it was high time for one, belated or not. didn't i tell you these friends were wonderful?? well, it's completely true!

back to outfits... i found my dream outfit- but quelle horreur!- it's much, much too expensive for my saltines budget. why, the shoes alone are $180, more than twice the price of the dress! but see here-

bachelorette party dream outfit by arcader featuring opaque leggings

divine, right?? i am utterly obsessed with melissa shoes right now. sigh! it's, sadly, back to the drawing board for me.

new yelle single

fashion is currently boring me and i find, i am all about music currently. so be it! i'm very excited about the new upcoming yelle album and decided to share her minimix of the first single, 'la musique', out soon. i also have some interior design and beauty inspirations to share and will do so once i have time to do some scans. ciao for now!

weekly inspiration

i could totally explain my long absence and assure you it won't happen again, but who am i kidding? just thought i'd pop in and share what's inspired me this week- condensed into this lovely song and a wacky video from my favorite all-time french man.

&

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x689m5_sebastien-tellier-divine_music

ta for now!

literary outfits: the grapes of wrath

as promised, i am now introducing my new weekly feature, 'literary outfits'. i pick a book and find clothes that come pretty close to replicating the mood. please bear with me while i figure out this polyvore thing... i might even try and crawl out from under this rock of computer ineptitude that i live under to try and figure out how to do this in photoshop like a real person.

so without further ado, i present clothing inspired by a great work by what is very likely my number one favorite author, john steinbeck. you might have heard of it, a little book called 'the grapes of wrath'?

grapes of wrath w.1 by abt_arcade

garden of grace cardigan tank, $37
flowers from shakespeare's garden top, $39
life's a bowl of cherries top, $29
pastel houndstooth cropped mockneck coat, $30
floral lounge jumper romper, $39
let's get together rosy romper in white, $35
wonderfully rosy skirt by Delicia, $39
pedal pusher linen capris, $40
80%20 bonnie wedge sandals in brown, $110
Restricted "Scrabble" Oxfords in tan, $39
Nicole "Open Up" heeled oxford in velvet brown, $75
Restricted "Scrabble" Oxfords in green, $39
grapes of wrath

designer spotlight: bella sisters

i think i mentioned that i volunteered for a local crafts organization's super sale back in early may?? yeah, totally did. anyway, i found a few crafter/artisans in attendance that really blew my socks off. one of which was bella sisters, makers of the most awesomely gorgeous jackets ever!

see?? didn't i tell ya, cute & awesomely awesome?! in person, i was blown away by the exceptional tailoring and quality of each jacket, something i don't see often in re-worked garments.

bella sisters use a minimum of 97% recycled materials in the construction of each jacket, making each piece wholly unique and eco-friendly. and did i mention the quality? a detail i totally loved was the insertion of hood and sleeve extensions, added in using pieces of old sweaters. as someone who is ALWAYS cold, those are features that will always come in handy for me. and honestly, i'm rarely an applique girl but bella sisters does them just right, using sweet organic shapes like birds and flowers in just the right way so they actually embellish instead of distract. not an easy feat, i'm guessing.

i am saving my pennies as we speak to add some bella sisters goodness to my wardrobe. pacific NW peeps, click here for a list of local retailers. everyone else, it may just be worth a trip to portland to snag one of these beauties!

this weeks inspiration: washi tape!

i'm busy, busy, busy as usual but wanted to take a second to share with you what's been inspiring me this week... washi tape!

i used three different tapes, pictured at the right, to package this order

i know, i know- this stuff has been around for a while. a little late to the game, i bought my tapes during last month's crafty wonderland colossal sale from patty of tinted mint. you can see her entire selection by clicking here. well, better late than never!

made from rice paper, washi tape is an eco-friendly tape that is awesome because it is a) adorable! and b) so easy to work with... it sticks and unsticks sort of like a post-it note, leaving no residue, ready to stick again in case you messed up the first time. i chose all red & blue tapes to fit my abt arcade brand but the stuff comes in all colors and widths with quite a few prints too. definitely check it out!

have a great labor day weekend, all! i have some fun posts planned for next week so check back soon!

inspiring inspiration

a few weeks ago i sat down and wrote out a huge, long draft for a post about combatting a lack of inspiration in one's life. i wrote it because i had been dealing with it myself these past five months.

as a creative individual, it's pretty lame and tiring to feel uninspired by anything because the norm, for me at least, is to find awesome inspiration most everywhere, most of the time. sure, you can't be surrounded by fantastically wonderful things 24/7, but to go through a months long slump is something i think most of us have endured and can agree really sucks.

i've decided to forgo my lengthy draft for this truncated version because for me it all boiled down to making time for things. yes, i blame a lot of my issue on how busy i've been lately with obligations i couldn't eschew. the problem is that i spent so much of my scant free time "recuperating" that i was missing out on prime inspiration!

as someone who viscously guards their free time, i instantly regretted signing up to volunteer a few hours at a local craft show recently, but i went and met some really cool people and had a really great time and reconnected with the craft community. it was just the shot in the arm i needed. now i want to volunteer ALL my free time! ok, ha ha, maybe not ALL of it, but i was really inspired by taking a peek at what i've been missing out on by staying home each spare moment i had.

so now that i'm all inspired again and working out new jewelry designs in my head, here are a few things i'm really into now-

HAND FASHION!

i started biting my nails, i don't even remember when! my mom started taking me for manicures around age six to inspire me to stop and take care of my nails but it didn't work. i was in my early twenties when i finally realized, i hate having long nails! and to me, "long" means they're approaching your finger tips. ew! it just feels wrong to me and i start gnawing on them like a wolf gnawing his leg out of a trap. terrible metaphor aside, once i started filing my nails regularly i realized, i didn't want to gnaw on them until my poor fingers were raw and practically bleeding anymore!

now i keep a file on hand and go to town once the urge to bite hits. a few years into having unbitten nails i found that they're actually a bit weak. so i started using sally hanson's hard as nails polish, which works like a charm. it occurred to me late last year however that if i'm going to make the effort to paint them with clear varnish, i might as well have fun with color! i am now OBSESSED with nail varnish. throw in this cute ladybug ring i received for my birthday and the HAND FASHION monster was born!

i'm wearing zoya varnish in 'pippa'

this is the next color i'm trying out

CORK CLUTCHES!

oh did i mention my recent birthday?? it was monday. anyhoozle, my husband's cousin gave me a fantastic gift as seen in the pages of instyle magazine- a sonia kashuk for target cosmetic brush set and- get this!- clutch purse made of CORK! how awesome & unique is that?? i love them!

not all brushes pictured, because i've used a few already

i mean seriously, a CORK clutch!

VOLUNTEERING!

one of the coolest perks of my recent volunteering stint was getting a goodie bag thank you at the end. one of the items inside was this cool badge set from bossa nova baby. as a vintage lover and cell phone hater, these badges just scream me.

thanks for thanking me!

so there you go. get out of the house and find ways to volunteer in fields you find interesting and the rest will just fall into place.

one to watch: grey anne

today i want to share with you, dear readers, the portland treasure that is grey anne. it was my husband's co-worker (also named anne) who threw an easter party and brought in grey anne for dinosaur tarot readings. yup, you read that right- dinosaur tarot! or really, properly known as dino tarot.

yours truly choosing dinosaurs for my reading with grey anne

i have been an amateur tarot reader since i was 13, when a friend of my mom's gifted me a beginner's tarot deck. a few years later my grandmother got into tarot as well and has read for me on occasion. admittedly, my own delvings have been seldom and amateur but i was super impressed with my dino tarot reading! asking about my career prospects, grey anne had some surprisingly insightful meanings assigned to each dinosaur and in the end i felt she addressed all my concerns, leaving me feeling like i had clear directions for the next step in my professional life.

in talking with grey anne about how she found dino tarot, i learned that she invented it herself! now here's a seriously awesome and creative gal, i thought. i didn't even know the half of it! since researching grey anne further, i found that she writes and records achingly lovely psychedelic folk music, performing regularly around town. grey anne also helped kick-start pdx pop now!, a group dedicated to stimulating and expanding participation in portland music AND she worked as a production assistant to the art team on one of my favorite movies, coraline, which was filmed here in portland.

grey anne is definitely on my one to watch list and i am looking forward to catching one of her concerts soon. i highly suggest downloading her album 'facts n figurines' and checking out her blog, which i'm finding very inspiring right now. one recent entry introduced me to the gorgeous and surrealist art and fashion of chromium dumb belle, but really i just find it plain old inspiring to see such a creative and talented woman putting all that goodness to work.

grey anne - photo via grey anne on facebook

because we love animals!

my friend bethany lives in california and is involved with a no cage, no kill six acre animal sanctuary and cat shelter in parlier, CA called The Cat House On The Kings. The Cat House has hit hard times and is in danger of being unable to provide veterinary care for their animals any longer.

to help out, i will donate 10% of all sales from my shop over the next 30 days to The Cat House On The Kings. how's that for a win-win?? score some lovely jewelry and help the animals all at once! awesome.

spring flower shop update

check out my etsy shop for new spring cabbage rose & liberty rose accessories!

cabbage rose hair fascinator with lemon beads

cabbage rose hair fascinator with teal beads

liberty rose with baby blue reclaimed vintage beads - is it a brooch or hair fascinator?? buyer decides!