Monday's Melodies-The Script

This week I want to bring to your creative mind's attention a band called The Script. I had not heard of them a few months back even though I was familiar with a couple of their songs already. Their music is just so unique and catchy. I have Pandora to thank for bringing this band to my attention. In fact....Pandora is one of the few places where I do learn about new bands....  

I loved their album artwork for No Sound Without Silence (which is the background for the second video posted). The colors against the black make it pop and the fact that the faces are more defined towards the mouth illustrates how a kiss can be...electric. The lines also remind me of the nervous system which again...we have a lot of nerves in our mouth and face. Whoever did this illustration did it beautifully. Sometimes I get excited when one of The Script's songs comes on my Pandora because that means i can look at the cover. Hahaha....ok I admit Im weird. But hey...I just love a good piece to go with some good music!

The Silver Dress

There is so much sewing for me to do. yiiiiikes. but I started tackling my massive pile of projects with a silver dress. Actually....this dress wasn't even on my pile of projects but I was going back and forth of whether or not I wanted to keep it as a dress..... anyways...

This dress was a 3/4 sleeve sweater dress with small shoulder pads. It went down to about my knees and I just did not like how it was making my silhouette look so I decided it would be of better use to me as a shirt and a skirt instead. Sooooooo much better

The first step is to try on the dress and figure out exactly how long I wanted my shirt to be (the skirt...spoilers alert... was actually an added bonus with the leftover materials.) Because the sweater dress actually had some ribbing in the fabric it was easy to cut in a straight line. I folded the material over in a simple hem and sewed it. Easy peasy. I left the shoulder pads pads intact because it really brought a unique shape to neckline of the shirt.

Now for the skirt. Originally I was just going to make the shirt. Lucky for me, this dress was rather long, about to my knee, so there was enough material left for a skirt. The bottom of the original dress has an elastic-y band that I decided would suit the skirt better as the waistband. Of course, this mean that I had to take in the sides a bit to fit the waist better. I measured how much I needed to take in with what I call the pinch method (put it on, pinch how much extra fabric there is and then measure it). After figuring out how much fabric total needs to be gone, I divide that number in half because some needs to come from each side. Then I pinned it and tapered my lines back toward the original seam (Im going over this quickly but if you need more details, I did a similar concept on another skirt on this post.) After simply hemming this puppy up, it was finished.

I am loving this as two pieces. Now I can wear them separately or even together if I really want to. Though if I wanted to wear them together..I would have just left it as a dress. This was a simpler sewing project, definitely nothing like taking in a pair of jeans or a dress with lining. But, I'm just glad I know how to sew. It makes my life stylish for cheaper. ^^

Monday's Melodies

What is one thing that keeps me creative and motivated? MUSIC

More often than not when I am working on a creative project, whether that be design, handicraft, art etc, I am listening to music (when I am not listening to music, I am watching a TV show, like Community). Every Monday I am going to post a song or a band that I find particularly inspirational that week. I like to think I have a wide variety of musical taste but it does tend to be alternative rock, pop or indie rock. I can almost guarantee that you will never see country music on this blog. I despise country music with practically all of my being. You might occasionally see a rap piece but....most likely not. If you do, odds are it will be Iggy Azalea since she can be so darn catchy!

Speaking of catchy, this week I would like to bring to your attention Maroon 5. In particular one of their newest singles, "Maps". Normally, I am not a huge fan of Maroon 5. They do have their moments but they never really caught my full attention. However, this song did. (this song reminds me a little big of a pirate, treasure map adventure but the love life version) At first I did not realize it was Maroon 5 since their sound seems to have changed slightly but changed for the good. The cover art for this song is also a beautiful and rather simple piece. (jungle themed? again...pirate, treasure map adventure!) I absolutely love the pattern because its rather simple but there is enough detail to keep you eyes moving across the cover. The one thing that weirds me out is why there is a faint blur around the letters. It makes them a bit fuzzy. Oh well. The lovely pattern makes ups for the weird letters blur.

Quotes for Days

Hiiiiiii Snorlax

I really want to experiment more with watercolor. The only problem is that the cheap water color I have is a miniature set but I do not want to use my Irodori paints just to practice with. In the past, my lack of patience was the reason I hated watercolors....but now that Im like 10 years older, I have what it takes to tackle them again. Well....I have what it takes except an actual cheap water color set to practice with. Meh. Small detail, right?

One way I have been practicing is by combining it with words. In a previous post, I showed a painting where I painted flowers around a Dr. Suess quote I enjoyed. I decided to do that again but with another quote. I love to travel and try new things so I started browsing travel quotes looking for something to catch my fancy. Found it. "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has courage to lose sight of the shore" -Andre Gide 

I think I got a little excited over the water part...so I had to redo a couple letters. Water and ink do not mix very well..obviously. Otherwise this piece is literally just black pen, watercolor and that banana paper tile. again. Ive got a lot of those... 
I really like how this turned out overall. Of course, having a background in graphic design, I could tweak and adjust the kerning, letter spacing and baseline all day. But you know what, you can only do so well when doing this all by hand and by sight.

This took me maybe an hour and half to complete. Or about 4.5 episodes of Community. I enjoy listening to music or watching a comedy when I work. Preferable something I have already seen before, like Big Bang Theory, Community, Adventure Time, etc. I guess it allows me to remove any logical, left brained overthinking by allowing my brain to think about something else. Let's be honest...a lot of art is just feeling how something should go and doing just that. 

Buuuuut right brain vs left brain in art is a whole different topic. So Ill stop there.

cool cool cool

Missing the Sea

I am sure that I am not the only person to have a really good idea for something but then get to busy or caught up in other things that it takes a long while to actually complete the idea.....right?

I had been sitting on this idea for a piece for about one and half years before I finally finished it. This was an idea that came to me when I was working as an airbrush tattoo artist but right after that job, I went back to school where things got crazy. (senior year and all)

Normally I do not name the pieces I create. I guess I find naming things slightly annoying. This piece however was screaming to be named and that's why its called "Missing the Sea", Quite fitting. It is a skull, pirate skull to be exact, that obviously has been dead for a long while. It is crying tears shaped like anchors because a pirates life is the sea.

As for the style of the piece, I wanted it to be reminiscent of a tattoo style drawing/painting. That is why I chose to include the flowers on the side of the skull to give it that feel. I also used a technical pen to create the outlines and a little bit of water color to give it a pop.

I painted this piece on a square tile that apparently is made of banana paper. Or at least that's what the label says. Honestly, I picked up a couple packs of these tiles at my school for free (its amazing what you can get for free at a university...) and figured I would do something with them eventually. I actually quite like this natural paper look and feel......should have picked up more. Oh well.

I'm happy with how it turned out overall. This however I think will turn out to be one of those ideas that I just keep improving and tweaking over time. I mean....after all for quite some time all I did was create sketches and doodles where I played with different versions of this idea. Maybe it will turn into a mini series with those different versions but for now, I am happy with the tattoo style embodiment of this piece.

Michelle in Wonderland

I recently came back from an adventure in Japan! You heard me. Japan. That was the place I have always wanted to visit since I was a kid. Throughout the next month or so you will get to see some of the pictures I took and some of the places I went. I experienced my first typhoon weather which was quite......the experience (meaning=I almost blew away from the force of the winds).

One of the things I have always wanted to do when I finally got the chance to visit Japan was go to one of the several Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants. I love AiW and after seeing pictures of these different restaurants, I was sold! Unfortunately we were not able to make the one in Tokyo but we had the chance to visit the one in Osaka.

First of all, apparently you need to make reservations for any of the restaurants! You can make them online at their website but it does require your name in Japanese and a multi-digit phone number. If you can do that then good for you. I had no idea what I was doing but thankfully we had the best hostel owner ever and she helped us make the reservation. ^^ (you're the best Ina!)

Alice in Fantasyland was a short walk for the Osaka Station and relatively easy to find in the DD Dining building. Once I walked inside I almost died from how adorable and awesome the place was. They had a little sitting room in the front and to enter the restaurant part you pushed a life size version of a story book to enter the dining room. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

We were seated fairly quickly and I was surprised how small the place was. Not that it matters...maybe we all just got smaller as we entered "Fantasyland". Their menu looked like a little storybook most of the food items had cute names like The Mad Hatter, Alice's Tears, Cheshire Cat etc.

We went to the restaurant in October so the place was lightly decorated for Halloween. This threw me off for naught but a minute or two (because...there is no Halloween in Wonderland) but I think the overall excitement made me forget about the inconsistency.

While we waited for our food to arrive, the hostess brought us these cute little bottles along with a card that said "Drink Me". So like any good stranger visiting Wonderland.....we did. Every time something cool happened, the waitress/hostess would tell what sounded like a really interesting story but sadly it was all in Japanese (duh) but I appreciated it anyways.

The food was super cute. Too cute to eat in fact. I enjoyed myself and obviously took pictures of everything. I loved how it was not just a restaurant but a dining experience. There was a story or reason for practically everything.

One thing that caught my attention was when the staff came out to a table with a cake. Surprise! Its somebody's birthday! She got a cake, they said...some stuff and then they took a photo of her holding the goodies. Later I saw the hostess give him the picture (a Polaroid) in a nice little holder as a keepsake. d'awwwwwww I'm going to go back there one day for my birthday. Its settled.

As we left the restaurant, the hostess gave us some tea to counteract the powers of the earlier drink that "shrunk" us. Strawberry tea makes us bigger. Ill keep that in mind.

Overall I had a great experience. I would love to visit some of the bigger, more elaborate ones but for now, this one satisfies my craving for wonderful experiences. I completely recommend trying one out or any of the interesting themed dining experiences throughout Japan.

This place certainly has inspired me to create my own Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant someday. It would be the ultimate creative outlet as I would get to design the interior, the food, the graphics and the overall appearance and feel. One day.....one day....

Retail Tryouts?!

I don't know about you but when I hear the word "try outs" I never expected to hear it in a retail environment. Seriously. When I hear that word I think sports and dang its been a long time since I tried out for sports (mostly because I grew to old for the youth league in town....anyways moving on) 

Try outs and retail...hm....at first I have to admit that I imagined employee candidates running around the store in some kind of frenzy, picking out products that best represented the company, how they handled themselves under pressure etc etc. There definitely was no running around the store in a frenzy but the other candidates and I were definitely being analyzed about our composer and how we interacted with other people on a team. Tryouts.

Apparently JCPenney involves something they like to call tryouts in their new hiring process. I tried doing some research on the topic before my tryouts but there was a surprisingly lack on information. on the internet. Whoa. That doesn't happen very often. By the end of the process, I was grinning from ear to ear because I had so much fun (maybe too much fun) with the tryouts and I loved the idea behind it.

At first it looks like a group interview. They sit us around a table with some not-so-mysterious wooden blocks in the center. there were six of us being "tried out" but for different positions in the store not all the same position. Surprise number 1. After some quick introductions, the managers explained our first activity which was building a structure from a reference photo as a team. The catch? Only one person could look at the photo at a time and direct the others what to do. Surprise number 2. This instantly reminded me of my DECA days in high school. Loved it. It also reminded me a bit of Jenga...wobbly wooden structures..about to fall over, that sort of thing. Of course, my creative, hands-on essense loved this assignment. Our group finished the structure in the time limit and was apparently the first of many groups to do so..... TAKE THAT. The second activity they handed each of us a sheet of paper, each for a different department of the store, with two ideas on it. We then had to individually create a pitch for one idea to the team and then as a team choose one pitch we liked the most. Surprise number 3. Fun fun fun! Seriously...I'm that freak who apparently enjoys this.

That is what retail tryouts are my friend. I personally think its rather brilliant and gives us a little bit of sight into the company as a whole. JCPenney obviously cares about who it hires. They want to make sure that the people they hire can function on a team, directs others efficiently, follows directions to the best of their abilities as well as thinks critically in a marketing/business environment. Companies who want to hire "higher quality" employees should start using similar tactics or even a smaller scale idea during the one-on-one interview.

I'm not sure whether or not I got the job yet (apparently people don't work on weekends...whaaaat?) but after going through this try out process, I have so much more respect for JCPenney as a company. Bravo.

The Stick

In case you haven’t gathered this by now, I have a tendency to hold onto random objects that I deem useful for long periods of time before the perfect idea hits me. Same with this stick. I had been holding on to this stick for a little while but I knew I wanted to do a concept where something was hanging down from the stick as a wall hanging type piece. It wasn't until I found these little heart decos (already with the screws in them. Sweet.) in the boxes of junk in my garage that I knew this stick would finally be put to use.

For this piece, I wanted a more indie/boho vibe so I chose to paint geometric patterns and lines on the stick. Lines, squiggly lines and dots ought to do it. With the hearts, I painted them a solid color first. Then I took some white gesso and did a splotted, almost frosty look. With a few of the colors I also did a little bit of splatter painting because let's face it....splatter painting is fun! Around the sides of each heart is a word, relating to the Fruits of the Spirit. I originally wanted to just write them on with a pen but the pen didn't work. Great. So I hand painted the words on with a fine point brush. This tested not only my patience but also my ability to hold a brush steady.

After the painting comes the assembling! Huzzah! This means the project is almost finished and I personally like to go get a snack at this point in time (everybody works differently...mine usually involves food breaks).  So, I dug through my embroidery flosses to find the right color to match the overall feel I was going for. In this case, I wanted to emulate twine (but waaaaaay less hassle than twine) so I used a tan color. Luckily for me the hearts already had eye hooks in them so stringing them onto the wood was a cinch. I set out everything on the floor so that I could gauge how long I wanted the strings to be. Setting everything on the floor makes much more sense to me than trying to do everything on the wall or while holding it up.

I probably should mention that before I strung all the little hearts onto the wood, I found the most natural balance for the stick. Meaning, how the wood naturally wanted to go. This made hanging up the piece incredibly easy because then I was able to hammer two ordinary nails into the wall and the stick would balance perfectly on those two nails.

I want to do a project like this again because I really like how it turned out. Nice and snazzy. Maybe next time I will do it with paper airplanes…..yea. paper airplanes sounds cool.

The Man with a Plan

I love Captain America. I love superheros (....except Superman....) like a lot of people in this day and age. It really is the age of superheros right now considering we had Batman, Spiderman, Superman not to mention most of the Avengers crew.

I have this thing where if I see a rejected piece of wood or a board, I take it. I picked this particular board up at my old school at the end of the semester when people are throwing everything from a to z out (seriously...I have picked up some sweet stuff for freeeee). This particular board was screaming out to me to put something superhero related on it. Then it hit me. Why not Captain America's shield!? Simple enough yet totally cool.

This project surprised me though because it took up way more string that I thought it would. I guess circles are slightly deceiving.

Because this was a random piece of wood I found in a parking lot, I needed to figure out the best way to hang this beast considering its rather larger (30inx20in). I decided the best way to hang it was like any other piece of art, eye screws and wire. It worked out pretty well and I cant wait to hang in someplace. Now I really want to do another piece but with the Batman logo or a silhouette of Iron Man's mask.

Keepin' Busy

Man, these past few months have flown by faster than I expected! I feel like Im running out of creative projects to do.....but thats a lie. I always have more projects to work on.

Lately I have been getting back into the painting mood. After going to school...well...lets just say its hard to keep up painting at a university. BUT I dont need to worry about that any longer so PAINT AWAY!

I rediscovered a cheap canvas I bought from the 99c store. I had originally painted gesso over it to cover most of what was printed on it. I have been letting it sit all lonely in the corner until I could think about what I wanted to do with it. A few days ago it hit me! (an idea hit me...not the canvas ;] ) I decided to draw a quote in the center and then paint some watercolor flowers around the edges to frame it. The quote I chose was one by Dr. Suess "Sometimes you will never know the value of something until it becomes a memory." That quote just struck a chord with me at the time so I knew I had to paint it.

I had soooo much fun doing this! I had forgotten how much I loved to paint and how much I just love letting the creative juices flow. It has been far too long. Art really is like a drug...once you start you cant seem to have enough of it. I always seem to get a ton of ideas of other projects I was to try when I am right in the MIDDLE of painting or drawing. Its like the doors of my creative mind are opened and who knows what comes out. It really is a great way to creative problem solve....just start doing something creative!

While I was working on this project, I figured out what I want to do for some of my friends Christmas presents this year. eeeeeeeeee  Im excited for them to see it even though its only September. Crap. Im turning into one of those Ive-had-your-Christmas-gift-since-forever-ago people.

Whatever Ill deal. I have no control over when a good ideas come and when good ideas come....you take them.

______________________________________________________________________________


Recently I photographed my friend's wedding! It was a tiny bit stressful but that was because I wanted to do the best job that I could. Luckily for me, the photographs turned out beautifully and she really seemed to love them! ^^ Some of those shots are definite portfolio material. (yes..I have my favorites)

Maaaaaaaaaaaaan.

What did my phone camera do to my arms? o.O

Because of this wedding, I bought myself a flash gun for my camera. Its not a name brand or anything super expensive but its a nice started one to get used to the feel. Definitely blinded a few cats when I was first messing around with it. Its a Bower flash that I got off of Amazon for about 30 dollars? maybe. I forgot already.

The All-Mighty Newspaper

Aside from the obvious function of newspapers (getting information, duh) it has many uses. I discovered one of my new favorite uses is for wrapping things! Like gift wrapping. While abroad, one of the little stores I went into used newspaper to create bags for the customer's purchases. Brilliant!

Wrapping with newspaper turns out especially well when there is a large photo. A large photo in general looks really good and classy, in a newspapery kind of way. I found a beautiful one from the Travel section of my paper. Mmmmmmm, lookin' good.

   

Of course, there are only so many travel sections in the newspaper so thats where the comics come in handy. What if an object is to big for me to wrap? le gasp. Ill guess cross that bridge when I get there.

Hello, George Washington

I also have started sewing again. I took a break for a little while because I had been doing so much of it and I still have so many projects to finish (my never ending project box..is over flowing). One recent sewing project I did was a plaid, Converse dress. It was such a long dress that it looked really awkward on me considering Im so short. 

(my phone decided to take the worst looking possible photos on this particular day. BAD PHONE.)

I thought that this dress might look better on me as just an ordinary plaid shirt. Maybe a longer, over-another-shirt, kind of plaid. Like imitation flannel. So, I figured out how much I wanted to cut off, cut it and then sewed a hem. It was a simple and easy project. I like those (saving the challenges for later).

It looks so much better on me now. Before I just felt like George Washington or some other patriot fighting during the Revolutionary War (part of that I think came from the ruffles on the front side of the dress-now-shirt). 

I still might cut the ruffles off to remove that  feeling of 1776 but I think I will "test run" the shirt before making that decision. Who knows, maybe the patriot look will be the next hottest fashion trend.

Hopefully not.

Redeemed

re·deem

riˈdēm

1. 1.

   compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something).
2. 2.

   gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment

This was my latest string art project that I mentioned in my last post. I finished it last week but it just took me that long to get photos of it. Sometimes I am too lazy to go take photos of my finished work but that is the crucial last step! As I mentioned before, I chose to do the word "redeemed" which is important to me as through my faith I have been redeemed, saved, chosen. Plus, I just really wanted to try out this concept. 

I think it turned out rather well even if it was not how I pictured in my head. It is one of those things where it looks cool up close but you can read the word better from afar. It did not take me that long to string the whole thing, maybe an hour at max (I was watching tv while stringing so I was not completely focused). Plus, I was not following a distinct pattern or anything so I could just wrap and twist to my hearts content. I think most of the time consumed was from pounding nails. And yes. I did hit my thumb a couple of times. I used 3 different kinds of string for this project: thin, green; fatter, lighter green and a maroon that changed shades (think ombre). I planned on doing it all green but it definitely needed some kind of POP to pull it together.      Mission accomplished. 

What a great use of a random piece of wood that I found, dontcha think?! I already have ideas for other random pieces of wood that I own. I am getting excited for this one piece that I have in my head but I do not have the right colors to use for it (red, white and blue ;} ). Soooooo maybe I will work on one of my smaller ideas first. Who knows.

I have nothing but time right now.

Bored.

I have been so bored these past few days. I know there are lots of things I can do...they just dont peak my fancy. Whenever I get bored I feel like Sherlock.

Ok, maybe not as bad as him shooting the wall but when I am bored I definitely do some staring at the wall and watching ridiculous amounts of tv (binge watch Parks and Rec? yup.). I try not to do too much of that however so I picked up a string art project that I had started the previous month. Instead of doing an animal or a scene, I chose to do a word this time. The word I chose was "Redeemed".  So far it is turning out rather well.

The piece of wood I am using I picked up randomly from some place at school. My friends were just starting to get used to me having random pieces of wood in my apartment before the summer started. Now they can all see what I do with those random pieces of wood (see...Im not crazy!). This particular piece though had some unforgiving knots that made it difficult to hammer the nails straight in some parts. Luckily it works for this piece as it is not a piece that needs to be absolutely perfect or pristeen. I plan on putting nails around the perimeter and doing a reverse string art kind of effect. Ill post the results when I am done, of course.

Also to kill my boredom, I have been working on a commission for a friend of mine. Its supposed to be some sort of steampunk cityscape. So far so good..Im just in the sketching phases as of now. I prefer to sketch in as many details as possible that way when I bring it into Illustrator most of my work is finished. ^^

I almost forgot how much I love to draw and to sketch. I really should start doing more of it. And reading. I should do more reading.

Sain baina uu!

Photo Cred: Kiki

Well I am back! Not that you knew I was gone..
I took a trip to Mongolia for 6ish weeks where I taught around 30 teenagers English. It was the experience of a lifetime and I enjoyed every second of it. My group taught at a summer camp type place where I was one with nature for a solid 4 weeks. Seriously. I even washed my clothes in the nearby river. I rode a very slow horse, participated in the national holiday Naadam and swatted at moths and flys until I reached ninja status. I miss my students and the beautiful country I grew to love. I hope that one day I will be able to make it back. After all, I never got the chance to shoot a bow and arrow or sleep in a ger!

Photo Cred: Isaac

To be completely honest, I forgot I had even started this blog when I left. Obviously other things (arguably more important things) were on my mind. But.....now that I am back....Ill start blogging again? Maybe even start a video blog one day. Who knows. (Fun Fact: I have said I would start a video blog 4 or 5 times in my life and never actually did)

I am still recovering from some jet lag and lack of motivation but as soon as I do recover, I am sure I will have lots of projects or whatever to talk about. Until then, later alligator.

Taking In: Skirt Edition

Alright so one of the things I have discovered that I love to do is alter clothing. Ill buy it at yard sales, swap meets, wherever I can get it for really cheap (like 2$ or less cheap!). I found this lovely long skirt at a yard sale but the waist was far too big for me but that didn't stop me from buying it!

I knew I could take in the waist because the side seams were a single stitch and appeared to be easy to manage. I always check the seams of something before I think about altering because then I know what kind of sewing project I will be getting myself into (double stitch side seams are the bane of my existence..). So, in this post I am going to show you how I take in the waist of a skirt.

The first thing you need to do is try the skirt on to figure out how much  you actually need to take in around the waist. I do this by pinching the extra fabric behind my back and measure how much I pinched. You can measure any way you like as long as the numbers are accurate. (it is always better to take in less then more because its easier to keep taking in then let any out!)

 

I measured a total of 4" that needed to be taken in. That means 2" on each side seam (because if you try take all of this on one seam, the fabric will be pulled and poportions will be incorrect so balance is best!).

Now for the next step you can rip out the seams for a clean sew or you can leave the current seams in and just sew on top. The more material you are taking in, the easier it is to just leave the original seams because your new seam will be far enough away from the old seams. This is your judgement call and either is fine. (if you choose to rip the seams, rip them 12" down to give yourself enough room to taper later on)

Now for the fun part! (not) Turn the skirt inside out and take out your best pins. Since I have to take in my seam 2" on each side, I will measure in 1" then pin that point. Make sure that both sides of the waistband are lined up so that you do not get any mismatched heights later. I then taper my pins down into the original seam to make a smooth curve (just remember NOT to taper the waistband). 

No awkward seam angles here!

Now pull out your sewing machine to finish off the job. Sew along the pin line making sure it tapers nicely. (If you finish the stitch and realize the taper looks funky, then you probably can go back over the stitches and taper them more cleanly. But wait until you try the skirt on first.) 

Now try the skirt on once you have sewn both sides. This is to double check that you sewed correctly and did not take to much in. THIS STEP IS CRUCIAL. There have been many times where I took in too much only to realize this sad fact after I had already cut all the extra fabric....those are sad and disappointing days (specially if you were planning to wear it the next day). :{

If the skirt fits the way you like it, then you can cut off the excess fabric leaving about a half inch remainder. In this remainder, you use a zig-zag stitch (or something similar) to finish off the seam which prevents it from fraying later on.

You can now try on the skirt again to double check everything turned out in the way you wanted it. And look at that, you now have a fabulously altered skirt!

This is a pretty simple fix as the skirt was easy to work with. Im still deciding if I like doing the tutorial method better or if I should just show before and afters of my sewing alterations. Maybe in the future Ill do all the basics tutorials first then once you know how I work, upload before and afters...who knows. Ill figure it out as I go. mwaha

Yard Sale Haul

I am an avid yard sale (and thrifting) fan. I think they can be great fun and have some interesting things. Of course it is a hit and miss process as some people really just sell junk, not the whole "one man's trash is another mans treasure" kind of thing...

There is nothing like finding a bunch of great and even useful things for a cheap price. In fact, the cheaper the better for gently used items. This past Saturday I went to a community yard sale. That means everbody in the community had the chance to dump everything out on their driveway and try to make a buck (this one guy literally had 5 things on his driveway). Luckily I had some great finds that I am proud of!

Messenger Bag 3$

Wedges 3$

Clock 1$

Victoria Secret Smelly Things 2$

Weight set 5$

I also picked up a plastic grocery bag full of large clothing for only a 1$ ^.^ That means several new pieces to add to my very large (and still growing) sewing pile...oh well. Totally worth it.

A Library of Gardens

I really enjoy photography but for some reason I have this weird addiction to taking pictures of flowers. No idea why, but I guess I just like the intricate details of a single flower. Plus they usually have such vibrant colors! There is a place near Pasadena called The Huntington Library which has some great gardens to poke around in. Of course, every time I go there I end up taking quite a few photos of flowers, landscapes and other random objects. It never gets old. I have been there so many times by now that I spend little time looking at the actual paintings. I'm really lovin' the new Chinese garden they are in progress of adding in! Cant wait to see it finished...WOO.