All that Jazz

I have been on the hunt to find or make a neon sign that says "jazz" but have not yet found what I have in mind. So in the meantime I have decorated a shirt to suffice. I found this cropped navy sweatshirt at the local thrift store. It originally had large white bell sleeves sewn under the sleeve ruffle. It was a cute design, but it looked absolutely dorky on me, and wouldn't be practical for working or dancing anyway, so I cut them out. I knew this navy was going to be the perfect background to have text stand out on, so I just needed to find some embellishment materials in the form of ribbon. In my stash I dug out some vintage poppy red lace bias and gold rickrack, both in their original packages. First I trimmed the sleeves with the lace, mainly to keep the raw edges of the knit from rolling, and to give the ruffle a highlight of the poppy red. Then I wrote with ribbon and sewed it on and voilà! As improvised and vibrant as the music itself. Off to spend the weekend dancing to vintage jazz!

Minxy Vintage

I found this book (or it found me), rather appropriately, at the local thrift store along with some clothes to repurpose. I highly recommend! It was exciting for me because there were so many moments of "Wow, this lady crawled inside my brain!" in terms of fashion philosophy and winging it to produce some sartorial statements. Here's a particularly well-expressed tidbit of fashion philosophy I have to share: "I can attest to the importance of finding clothes you can integrate into your existing style. I'm not about stridently holding up the ideals of other eras--the modern world is grand. It's precisely the mix of old and new that I love...And who wants to be, or slavishly replicate, a woman in the pre-feminist 1940s? Certainly not me...Long live our love for cherry-picking the best bits from the past, and making them new again: reinvention, rather than nostalgia. Whatever you do, just make sure you own it. Individuality is a quality to be admired."--Kelly Doust, intriguing point.

Botanical Beauty

I ordered this canvas print for the store for its strikingly unique retro and floral imagery. When it arrived I couldn't stop staring at it...so it ended up coming home with me! I had to resign myself to the amusement of actually finding art from a manufacturer that I couldn't resist buying. Since I normally create or thrift all my art it seemed superfluous to straight up buy it new, but on pondering the idea of painting or collaging this concept myself I knew if I did I would look at it and just keep dreaming of the perfection of this piece. It is sublime. I applaud you, anonymous contemporary artist, for bringing beautiful art into the mass produced market! Well done, you are using your talents wisely, and I am thrilled to buy your work.

To Mother With Love

I'm celebrating with flowers and photography and tea and my favourite female today!

Forsythia Façade

With these May flowers slow to unfurl I am particularly glad about the sweet yellow cheer of this faux-sythia! At long last, the real deal has just burst into bloom, but in the meantime this house knew how to improvise with its reliable curb appeal of seasonal joy. 

May Bulletin 2019

Strong ladies, treasures, and ornamentalism