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paint like a child

I did try painting again this week after over a year away from the easel, and... it did not go very well. I think I'm feeling so insecure that it's preventing me from making progress (or I just totally lost my knack for painting -- we'll see!) I'm reminded of a quote that's attributed to Picasso (but it's one of those all-over-the-internet quotes with no credible attribution, so who knows): "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." It's just so hard to regain that careless abandon you have when you're little, where you freely put crayon to paper without worrying quite as much about the final product or what people will think or will anybody want to own it. I'd love to get back in that mindset and just paint recklessly again.

Anyway, here I am being bowled over by amazing sleeves once again:

dress - charlotte russe | lace top - nasty gal | shoes - bait footwear

wishlist wednesday

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paint the town pink

This week I moved my supply stock into the garage and made a little order-packing station out there. It's amazing, all I did was move a few drawer units out of my studio but it had a domino effect of re-organization all over the room. I must have spent two whole days just shifting things around and rearranging until everything seemed perfect again. I'm so excited to have more room to stretch out with creative projects now though! My sewing machine has a dedicated spot on my table instead of getting stashed away in between projects, and all of my pens and pencils are situated at my drawing desk rather than being stored on the other side of the room.

I've been making more of an effort to MAKE things this year. Last June I hired my brother to tackle all of the business-y parts of running my shop so that I could concentrate on the creative side more, but it took a long time for us to really work out who does what and which tasks qualify as creative or business. We've finally seemed to reach a happy medium where I get to put more time into content creation (hence the frequency of my blog posts now!) new products, DIY projects, and painting. It's been SO long since I painted, and even though I always feel a little nervous stepping back behind the easel after a significant absence, I'm really excited to pick up the brushes again! I have some ideas for a new painting series and I really want to make it a goal to get original artwork in my shop again, not just accessories and prints :)

dress - asos | shoes - bait footwear | cardigan - forever 21

brooch - vintage | white shirt - asos

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lace and bows

Remember this time last week when I said I might want to dye my hair pink again? lol! I feel so much like me again. The color didn't totally take on the back of my head for some reason, but you know what? I can't see the back of my head so who cares! ;D

How cute does this dress look with the giant bow?? The bow is actually a new DIY project that I finished this week. I get SO obsessed with vintage dresses that have large bows on the front, so I thought it was about time I figured out how to do that to my own dresses, rather than sorrowfully lust after all the XXS 60's ones I find on etsy.

The bow is detachable so I can stick it on any of my dresses. (Here's an old outfit post showing what the dress looks like without the bow.) I honestly want to make one in every color now. I did a DIY post about it on my website here!

dress - asos | shoes - kling | bow - diy | glasses - bonlook

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daisies

I think this is my first outfit post in three months, yikes. It really felt like it, too, I must have taken 75 pictures and I wasn't really happy with any of them. I'm still getting used to the pixie cut and color (I'm seriously thinking about going pink again. I've been googling "pink pixie" and photoshopping photos of my head almost every day) and I gained a little weight again so this all felt very "UGHHHH!" The whole reason I had started taking outfit pictures back in 2010 was to try to boost my self confidence, though, so hopefully it will do the trick again.

Anyway. I have a cute story that goes with the brooch I'm wearing in this outfit:



I designed these brooches, and my shipment came in the mail while my Grandmom was at our house having coffee a couple weeks ago. Daisies are her favorite flower, so as soon as I opened the package I excitedly offered her one. Not only has she been wearing it to work at Rite Aid EVERY SINGLE DAY since, but she actually sold two of them to her customers! That's more than I've sold myself online, lol. I should have my Grandmom be my official publicist! ;D

dress - asos | cardigan - h&m | brooch - my shop | shoes - bait footwear

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DIY vintage inspired hanging parrot

I recently installed a curtain divider to separate my bedroom from my workspace. I have it pulled open most of the time, but there's one section behind my dresser that I'm keeping closed, almost like a makeshift half-wall. I wanted some kind of artwork to go on the new "wall" (I would die without clutter, guys!) so I decided to DIY a vintage-inspired piece to hang from my ceiling above the dresser.



Here's what you'll need if you want to make your own:

Resin hanging parrot sculpture
Garden hanging hooks
Cup hooks
Paint (I used Basics light portrait pink for the base)
Paintbrushes
Gold spray paint (I used Rust-Oleum Metallic pure gold)
Pliers
Painter's tape
Newspaper



I started off by painting over the parrot with my pink paint. It took two coats to fully cover the bird. Technically it seems like it would be easier to spray paint the whole thing gold, let it dry, and then paint the bird pink but the texture of the dried spray paint is kind of slippery and the paint doesn't adhere as well as it does if you do the pink coat first. That being said, it's almost impossible to tape off the little feet so you'll still have to paint those pink after you've spray painted the branch gold. It just takes like 3-4 coats of pink instead of 2.

After the bird is painted pink, use the newspaper and tape to cover up the bird, leaving the branch and metal ring uncovered. Measure how long you want your sculpture to hang from the ceiling and choose a corresponding garden hook. I hung mine using the 18" hook in the set. Take your garden hook and your parrot and hang them in a well ventilated area (I hung mine from a tree branch in my backyard) and spray them with the gold spray paint. Let dry for a few hours.

At this point you can embellish your parrot and paint in any details that were covered up by the spray paint. I added a darker pink to the beak and feathers, and painted in the feet which were left uncovered when I spray painted. I had originally thought of making it more colorful but I was really happy with the pink and gold combination and left it at that.

Remove the chain from the parrot, leaving only the one hook at the top. Screw your cup hook into the ceiling, and then use your painted garden hook to hang the parrot. The reason I went with garden hooks instead of hanging it directly from the chain that came with the parrot is that this way it will always hang straight. With the chain alone it was twisting around a lot (and often hanging backwards) but the hooks solve that issue. If you're hanging this in area where it doesn't necessarily need to face one direction, you can just use the chain.



I finished up with a coat of glossy lacquer to give it a glassy look, and that was it! If you're hanging it outside you definitely need a coat of sealant, but you can skip it if it'll be inside. I just thought it would look a little more vintage-y if it was really glossy instead of matte.

I'm so happy with how it came out! It was just what I needed to break up the curtains and add some kitschy interest to that section of my wall. And who would have ever thought it started out in life as a rainbow parrot on a black metal ring?! It's amazing what a little paint and patience can do :)