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Archive for the ‘My portfolio’ Category

My Other Blog!

Posted in Environmental Consciousness, Good Eats, Locavore Resources, My portfolio, New Hampshire, Our personal history, Social Consciousness, tagged , , , on March 9, 2013 | 2 Comments »

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Have you been wondering where I’ve been?

Truth is – and I hate to admit this – that I’ve been cheating on you, blog. That’s right…I’ve been blogging elsewhere. Actually, this fall (right when I stopped posting here) I started building a new blog from scratch. The timing was serendipitous for me as I was starting to feel a little stagnant in this venue, and a rebirth was necessary, but I didn’t know where to go. Then fortune smiled upon me and gave me a job that I love. Four years after graduating college with a degree I didn’t really care for, and spending a lot of money to get it, I have finally found something that feels like it’s right for me. I was hired as the Media Specialist for a very small, independent health food store here in my home region.

Not only is it wonderful to be doing something that I love for a living (blogging, social media, design), but I am also doing it for a company that I truly believe in. As you probably know, Ryan and I have been vegetarians for many years, tested out a locavore diet on two different occasions, and we really work hard to spend our dollar votes wisely. This job encourages and engages all of my many interests, from upcycling to reading to eating – no easy task. So my disappearance from this corner of the internet didn’t mean I was disappearing entirely; instead, I’ve been dreaming up, designing, and building this website during my working hours (and also a little in my off time – shhh, don’t tell the boss!). They say that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. It’s my sincere hope that you all have or find this happiness, too.

I would love for you to follow me there, even if you live out of state. We will be sharing all sorts of eco-friendly tidbits and healthy recipes. I’m going to be doing most of the blogging, but there are several other ladies involved right now and we are working on expanding our blogging team even further. Oh, yes, and I’m still writing for Goodwill International, too!

Anyway, I don’t want to call this goodbye, but it might be goodbye. There’s a chance I’ll come back, completely redo this blog and take off in a different direction, but for now I want it to just stay the way it is while I work on other things. Thanks for all of your support and encouragement over the many years that I’ve been writing here. I do hope we can stay in touch!

xx.

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NaNoWriMo Essentials

Posted in My portfolio, New Hampshire, Our personal history, Things I Love, Writing, tagged , , , on October 31, 2012 | 7 Comments »

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Tomorrow is the big day!

November 1st – let the noveling begin! Every year I look forward to National Novel Writing Month with such eagerness. The fairytales and characters that climb around inside my head throughout the whole year are appreciated, even encouraged, during November when I, along with thousands of other writers across the globe, type ’til my fingers bleed with the intention of writing 50,000 words in just 30 days. A novel in a month. It is quite the undertaking, but with the assistance of coffee, a comfy chair, and a little inspiration, it’s entirely possible. 2012 will be my fifth year participating and hopefully my fourth year of reaching that lofty goal. Keep up with my progress, or add me as a writing buddy here.

Won’t you join me in this crazy affair?

xx.

P.s. Here and here you can find out a little about the novel I wrote last year!

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Suzy Bishop – a costume from scratch.

Posted in Crafting, My portfolio, New Hampshire, Our personal history, Sewing, Style, The Holidays, What We Wore, tagged , on October 28, 2012 | 15 Comments »

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I’ve never made a dress from scratch before.

I’ve done a lot of alterations, hemming, taking things in, changing necklines, straps, or sleeves, but this dress is the first one that I’ve ever made entirely myself. It was somewhat intimidating at first, but I managed it and I’m really excited.

The first second I set eyes upon Suzy Bishop’s darling dress, I knew I had to make it for myself. Knowing that I work best with deadlines, I decided to be Suzy for Halloween. I ordered the fabric, zipper, and a similar dress pattern a couple of weeks ago, and got to work on the dress this week. The pattern had to be altered a bit and added to, so, as is usual for me, I was right down to the wire. My Moonrise Kingdom costume was finished around noon on Saturday, right before I went in for work.

We had two parties last night to attend, and both were fantastic. The first was a big bonfire party hosted by Ryan’s and my boss. It was wonderful! Such a fun group of people with great costumes and fabulously fresh air. The second was our usual Halloween party  at Rob + Pam’s. We stayed for the night and today did a bevy of fun fall things like piling up leaves and burying ourselves. I love the smell of crisp and dying leaves.

Happy Sunday,

xx.

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Thrifty Halloween Ideas!

Posted in Home Decor, My portfolio, The Holidays, Vintage + Thrift, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2012 | 11 Comments »

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Halloween is approaching fast!

And it has certainly been on my mind. This year, as much as I dislike certain aspects of our apartment, I really love its location. We’re just outside the tiny center of town – only about a minute’s walk from everything – so I’m really crossing my fingers that we’ll have a little trick-or-treat traffic. I’ve got my candy display all ready to go, and I came up with some ideas for turning thrifted finds into candy-carriers on the big night. Now all I need is my costume! I have some ideas, but really better get crackin’. I have been planning on sewing my dress myself – we’ll see how that goes!

What will you be for Halloween?

xx.

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How To Wear : The Scout Tie

Posted in My portfolio, Style, tagged , , , , , , , on September 29, 2012 | 4 Comments »

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I love these little ties for ladies.

They’re such an easy accessory and they can really be the cherry on top of an already adorable outfit. I decided to share with you a few of the ways that I’ve worn mine because I have so much fun with them! Girls can wear ties, too, ya know!

Look one is a girl scout inspired look! I went to Girl Scout camp when I was little and had the time of my life every single summer. The sisterhood, learning about nature, and spending hours every day crafting (not to mention having a campfire every night!) made my time at Camps Whispering Pines, Farnsworth, and Chenoa some of the best times of my life. Now that I’m all grown up I still channel my inner scout on days when I feel like I need a little girl power – that’s not weird, is it?

Look two you’ve seen before! Still, I wanted to make sure that I included it seeing as it’s one of my favourite outfits ever. I think the easiest and cutest way to wear a continental tie is to tuck it under another collar, and my vintage dresses look fantastic with a little somethin’ extra poking out of the neckline! Don’t you think?

Look three is a bit more casual. I like to feel comfortable, but still fancy so this is the perfect style for me. By the way, if you know me you know that I wear this mustard cardigan seriously almost every day. Comfort is my jam and this does it.

If you like the look of these ties, hop on over to my Etsy shop and pick out your favourite one! I love to mix patterns, but match colors, so I’d suggest choosing a color you know you have in your closet. But really, no rules apply! Try your new collar out with lots of tops and see what works best!

Which of these looks is your favourite?

xx.

P.s. You could win something from my shop by entering this contest on Kitty + Buck! Good luck!

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On Kitty + Buck!

Posted in My portfolio, Style, Vintage + Thrift, What We Wore, tagged , , , , , on September 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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This week I was so honored to write up a guest post for Kitty + Buck!

I love Shell’s blog so much! She marries bright color, beautiful photography, and a crisp eye for style to make her beautiful blog. A lot of blogs are alike out there, but Shell has a fun and unique way of approaching her daily life that comes through in her blog posts. Plus, she’s a member of the Turtle Love Co.‘s Vintage Style Council with me! For her it’s almost springtime in Australia, but I did my guest post on our approaching autumn. It was the best excuse I could think of to wear my newly thrifted wool skirt! That’s reason enough, right?

Have a great Thursday!

xx.

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DIY How To | Make your own coasters

Posted in Crafting, Home Decor, My portfolio, Tuesday How-Tos, tagged , , , , , on August 30, 2012 | 5 Comments »

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I’ve been meaning to try this out for awhile now!

Ryan and I love to collect vintage and antique furniture, but part of the problem with that is it needs to be carefully cared for, ie. get coasters. Rather than buying some I wasn’t really all that in love with, though, I thought I might as well just put some fabric scraps to use and make my own. I’m always getting pretty fabric from Goodwill to use in my Etsy shop, and I hate to throw out the tiny pieces that are left after I’m done, so this was the perfect solution. Here’s how I made my coasters…

For supplies you’ll need: Cork board, Mod Podge, a paintbrush, a pencil, scissors, something circular to trace like a cup, fabric scraps, and about fifteen minutes!

First step | Make sure that the cup you chose is wide enough so it will cover the entire bottom of the cups, mugs, or steins that you will be setting on them. I turned this teacup over and used the mouth of it to trace since that’s bigger. Trace as many circles as you want coasters onto your fabric scraps with your marking tool.Second step | Carefully cut out the circles of fabric that you just traced.Third step | Trace and cut the same number of circles into your cork board.Fourth step | One at a time, cover one side of the coaster with a generous amount of Mod Podge. You’ll want it to seep up through the fabric a little, so don’t be shy about your application! Diluted Elmer’s glue might do the trick, too!Fifth step | Place the fabric circles one at a time over the Mod Podge and press firmly so the glue comes through. Make sure you press over every part of the coaster, including the edges so they don’t come up after the rest of it has dried.For some fabrics this may be all the Mod Podge you need (my stripes were fine with just this amount!), but with others you may need to apply another layer of glue on top of the fabric after this first application has dried – such was the case with my floral fabric. So, wait for it to dry just from pressing and test the fabric to see how well it is stuck to the cork board before assessing whether you’ll need to add more.
Sixth step | Let dry! My striped coasters were dry after only a few hours, but the floral ones needed a little longer to dry. Every type of fabric will absorb the glue and dry differently, so just pay attention to yours to see what it needs.

Pretty easy, right? You may also need to trim up the edges of the fabric with scissors if it hangs over the edge a bit. Make sure you wait until it’s completely dry and all of your layers of glue have been added before you do this! Have fun with it!Thanks for stopping by! I hope your scrap pile got a little smaller and I would love to hear your small project ideas for fabric pieces. Even after making these coasters I still have two clementine boxes full of them just waiting to be given life. Think you’ll give this project a try? I’d love to see how yours turn out!

Oh, yes, and these would make great housewarming gifts!

xx.

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How to : Tie a bow tie (video tutorial)

Posted in How We Wore It, My portfolio, Shop Talk, Style, Vintage + Thrift, tagged , , , , on August 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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When I made Ryan his first bow tie, I knew I’d have to find him a tutorial.

I found one online to show him, and together we both learned from that. Now he’s gotten pretty good at it since I keep making him new ties. And even I can do it without looking, thanks to testing out each one that I put up in  my Etsy shop! So we thought we’d make a video tutorial of our own! I had lots of fun working with video editing again {I haven’t done it in years!} and finding my way around iMovie 09 which I had never actually played with. I hope this helps any of you out there who have been wondering how it’s done!

Happy bow tying!

xx.

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Peter Pan Collar feature on Lazy Explorers!

Posted in How We Wore It, My portfolio, Style, tagged , , , , , , on August 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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I’m so honored to have my first blogger product review!

Chloe of Lazy Explorers tried out my Peter Pan Collar recently with a very cute polka dot dress she owns and made the sweetest little outfit of it! I’d love for you all to have a peek at her blog {I just know you’ll love it!} and see how she styled my detachable collar. Plus, while you’re there you can tell her how you’d wear the peter pan collar if you added it to your wardrobe. Or, if this classic collar style isn’t right for you, I’ve got a few other options, too, including the lady tie – so much fun. Have a peek at my shop if you’re interested!

Enjoy your night!

xx.

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Update a thrifted lamp shade – DIY

Posted in Crafting, Home Decor, My portfolio, Vintage + Thrift, tagged , , , , , on August 20, 2012 | 8 Comments »

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Hey, thrifty ladies {and gents}!

Last night craft-fever hit me hard! While Ryan relaxed and settled down for the night I found myself getting all in a tizzy over recreating a thrifted lampshade. We bought this lamp and shade separately from Goodwill months ago, but it’s never looked exactly the way I wanted it to until now that I’ve added my own vintage fabric to it. Here’s how you can update an old lamp, too:

You’ll need a lamp {duh!}, scissors, fabric, hem tape or double sided tape, measuring tape, and a marking tool. You could also add some cute rick-rack or stitches to it depending on how much time you want to spend and how detailed you want the shade to be! I first thought I might do some stitching, but didn’t want to get holed up in my studio for too long on a night off, so I sprung for the tape.

First step: Strip the lampshade. When we bought ours it had ribbon hot glued to it from the previous owner. We took this off immediately, but the glue itself has been there ever since. Depending on your shade, you may choose also to take the fabric off entirely and have just the wire frame, but since our shade was white we knew it wouldn’t make a difference to the look at the end of the project, so we left it on.To make sure that you cut the right amount of fabric, measure the height of your lampshade as well as the diameter and write down both of your measurements. Then, add one inch to the height and one inch to the diameter so you’ll have space to fold over the edges.

Mark this new measurement on the wrong side {the side that won’t be showing when the project is finished} of your fabric, then snip, snip, snip!

Add the hem tape to the top and bottom edges of your fabric keeping in mind that you added an inch of fabric {a 1/2 inch for the top + a 1/2 inch for the bottom} for these adjustments. Folding the raw edge in will make the project look nice + neat.

Next you’ll fold both edges in a half inch and press down on the tape to stick them in place. Your fabric should now measure from top to bottom the same as the lampshade does. Almost there!

Add a strip of tape up the lampshade to hold on one of the sides of the fabric.

Add tape to the bottom and top edge of the shade, then, making sure your fabric is smooth, turn the lamp and attach as you go.

When you get to the end, remember that you added an inch in the measurement for overlap, so you can fold the fabric under as you stick it in place with the double-sided tape. Et voila!

I’d love to see how yours come out if you decide to give this project a try! It’s a simple way to spruce up your home and to dig into that gorgeous fabric stash I know you have hiding away.

Have a wonderful night!

xx.

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