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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,

This month is an extra special giveaway with my old friend Ben!

His shop is so much fun to poke around. He’s got lots of basic tees with appliques of States, geometric shapes, or anatomy – so neat. Each image has a hidden pocket in it and he just started offering his tees fitted for ladies. I know you’ll love them.

I must admit that I feel a bit guilty. I convinced him to make a Maine shaped tee a few years ago when I was living there and still haven’t bought one for myself – doh. Perhaps he’ll come up with a New Hampshire one now that I live here again? Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.

The very generous sir has offered one lucky winner a $25 voucher for his shop ! That means you can pick out whichever teeshirt you like the best and have it entirely for free. Super exciting stuff. All you have to do to enter is visit his shop then comment on this post to let me know which one you’d pick if you won. You’ve got until Wednesday night {September 26th} to make your choice! Make sure you do come back sometime next week to see if you’ve won, though. Last month my winner didn’t check in and she missed out on her prize – no fun.

Good luck to everyone who participates! May the random number generator Gods be in your favor! Oh, yes, while you’re over at Ben’s make sure you tell him I say “hi!”

Are you feelin’ lucky?

P.s. This giveaway is now closed! Check back in sometime next week to find out who won!

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!

There is nothing more exciting than getting a package in the mail!

When I see one of those little yellow slips in my post office box, I flip! My post master must think I’m rather silly. But, when this package arrived I was even more excited than usual. I knew just what it was! My friends Jessa and Judd of Pearl + Earl’s Good-Time Vintage Blog sent me a dress straight from their Etsy shop ! Yesterday was the best day I’ve had in a long time, partly because I got to wear my new dress.

Ryan and I were lucky enough to have the day off together, something that doesn’t happen a whole lot anymore, and fortunately it was on a day when our new favourite coffee shop is open! So, we drove to the cutest little town in the area, grabbed some lattes, and started snapping pictures of my new vintage dress. It was such a wonderful way to spend our time!

They sure do know my taste! Doesn’t this look like something I would have picked out for myself? I paired it with one of my scout style ties , a big ol’ belt, and moccasins on this day, but can’t wait to style it for cooler months! This dress is perfect for September weather. The sun has been out, but there’s definitely a chill in the air. And, -gasp- some colour coming into the leaves! I’m so happy that I can enjoy my new dress now, but it will transition well into the winter since it’s thicker material and it’ll go so nicely with tights and boots! Transition pieces are the best when you live in New England and have to think about layering a lot.

In exchange for this gorgeous dress, I sent Jessa + Judd their own ties from my Etsy shop which they styled and blogged about the other day. Make sure to check out the post if you have a moment – they’re both so much fun! I just know you’ll be charmed by their blog and style. It’s always neat to see how other people style my pieces, and makes me feel all warm + fuzzy to see my creations find new homes.

Thanks, Jessa + Judd for sending me such a lovely dress! I’m so happy to be able to share your shop and blog with my readers, I just know they’ll all love what you have to say and show. This dress is obviously darling with it’s dramatic collar and adorable shape, but there are so many other fantastic pieces in their curated vintage shop , so head on over and pick something out for yourself!

Have a wonderful day!

P.s. The giveaway is now closed and I’ll be announcing the winner in the next couple of days – stay tuned!

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!

There’s one good thing about my family cleaning out our Camp…

I get to find new homes for {in other words; take home} some of the things deemed too obsolete. Of course, if I’d had my druthers, the whole place wouldn’t change a bit from the way my Grandparents intended it to be when they built it, but our family has grown remarkably since those days, and there’s concern that there isn’t enough space for everyone with all of the old artifacts in place. So, I give you, my family’s vintage bathing suit collection {part of it, anyway} :

I remember my Grandmother wearing the brown suit with the ric-rac well into the ’90s. But the one all the way to the right that I’ve been wearing occasionally {fits me like a glove!} was part of a matching set for her and my Grandfather much earlier than that. There was another that I loved so much. It was a high-waisted plaid bikini with big scalloped edges on the top and bottom, and heart appliques on the bum – so cute. A few summers ago for our lake’s 4th of July boat parade the theme was something like vintage-Americana, so my cousin Tracy wore that cute little two-piece, my sister wore the floral one, and I wore the suit on the right. My Mum said the bikini was too moth bitten and old from sitting in the closet all these years, so I’m pledging to take great care of these babies from here on out!

Happy early 4th of July!

P.s. I did a guest post for We Heart Vintage where I modeled two of these {and Ryan modeled one!} , take a peek !

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