lucked out

Today I went out with my friend Elyssa to this tiny little town nearby that has the most amazing cafe with the best homemade fries I've ever eaten in my life. So good. We also went to some antique shops around the area and I totally lucked out. Picked up an original 1850s tintype of two gorgeous women. And the price tag: $8. Yeah, only eight buckos. I sure swiped that one. This never happens to me. Like ever. So you can imagine how happy I am. It's just an all around amazing image. Take a look...



And here's my outfit that I wore, because I like to take pictures of my outfits. hehe. I really love the 1930s and after getting my hair chopped, I've been really kickin' the '30s look these days. Need to try putting my hair in pin-curls one of these days to see what I'd look like in a true '30s do. Oh what a dork I am.



and my friend Elyssa (who recently went and got herself engaged)


Another find I made the other day was at Goodwill. I decided to peruse the dress section quickly before heading out the door when I happened upon this apron. And to top it off? It happened to be tagged with green and green was on sale for .88 cents that day. So yeah, I pretty much ran out with that one too. I think I'm a hopelessly old fashioned. But what can I say? There was so much beauty in times past. I think we've lost a lot of it in our modern plastic world we live in.



On the "This is..." front. I'm going to have to play catch-up, 'cause I'm really getting behind here... ack.

another sunday afternoon

I've been told I look 16, 18 and "a lot younger" than my age quite often in the last few weeks. Every time I order an alcoholic beverage the person who is serving me makes some outrageous comment about how much younger I look. This happens every single time. And it's not that I mind they ask for my ID. It's just that nasty little comment about how I look so much younger that kind of gets on my nerves. Most of the time it's a girl who can't believe I'm over 21, asks for my ID and then exclaims that I'm older than she is! Then in an attempt to make me feel better, they tell me I'll be happy when I'm older. I'm not yet convinced I'll still look young when I hit an old age. Oh, well. It's not the worst thing in the world. Perhaps one day I will look over 21...maybe.



Today is Margaret's birthday. She turned 8 years old. Awhile back her dad came up to me to see if I'd be interested in making her a dress after he had heard I sew for a living. Apparently it's hard to find longer dresses for little girls. He said his daughter is very picky when it comes to clothing and that she loves longer dresses. He was telling me it's fine that she likes them long, but boy it is hard to find a dress that she approves of that is the right length. So I agreed to take on the project, although it's not something I do very often (making little girl's dresses). For the pattern, I was able to borrow Margaret's favorite dress and trace a pattern from it. I asked her what color she wanted it made in and she said pink. (Of course every little girl wants a pink dress.) She's so adorable and I really did enjoy making her a new dress. When I dropped it off her mom told me she usually wears hand-me-downs, so she'll be happy to have one specially made for her. Today she came up to me and thanked me for her new dress. What a sweetheart! These are the times I appreciate my job the most.



Another day for wardrobe re-mix. I don't post pictures on there too often. Mostly because I am not always happy with my outfit. Even when I do post, I'm not always happy. But it is kinda fun putting together an outfit, even if I do change it about a dozen times. Here's what I came up with today...







Here's my new design wire. I was inspired by port2port's pictures on flickr. I love this idea. Most of the pictures are from Anthropologie magazines, but I also added a few random pictures in the bunch.





Last, but not least, here are the quilted coasters I made for my grandma for Christmas. I also gave her a set of four green glass juice cups. You can find the pattern (not that you really need one, but it helps) from the Japanese Craft book, "Machine Made Patchworks 02." I really love this book. It's probably my favorite so far, though there are so so so many Japanese craft/sewing books out there. I could probably spend a fortune on these books. I want them all! On that topic, has anyone ever seen their knitting and crochet books? I'd like to get my hands on a few of those, even if it's impossible for me to read the patterns. I'm sure it's worth it just for the beautiful and inspiring images.