over the river and through the woods

this past weekend i drove up to visit my grandparents. it was a weekend i will never forget. from the second i walked in the door, i felt at home. homemade everything: pies, chicken-n-noodles, angel food cake, buttermilk pancakes, and even the pancake syrup. how does my grandmother do it??

after settling in, she and i decided to look through her boxes of fabric. and by boxes, i mean, BOXES! 22 of them. fabrics that were each bought for a project or a person in mind. each held a story that went deeper than the pattern, material, and color. it was fascinating. grandma allowed me to choose my favorites fabrics to sew with. the one i cannot wait to use is entitled, "freckles." it was one that my mom picked out when she was 13. mother like daughter. :)

apart from the sewing, i couldn't help but feel like i had taken a trip back in time, listening to my grandparents' stories of the farm, meeting each other and their courtship, and their prayer lives over their 60 years plus of marriage together. my grandmother read from old journals and letters, dating back to my great-grandfather raymond. it was almost like certain pieces of my life that somehow felt askew started to make sense and they aligned as i sat there.

i can't wait to tell more....and with that being said...i'll be sure to write and share more about my trip home this week.

floating magnolias - part 1

this past weekend it rained. constantly. so i ventured into an antique store fully anticipating to find inspiration from something old and beautiful. well. after walking up and down numerous rows of antique booths, i chose to walk away empty handed. i couldn't find exactly what i was looking for...or more specifically i couldn't find what fell into a reasonable price range....but i did walk away with a few ideas.

idea #1 - stripped lamp shade.



it's a pretty self explanatory shabby-chic project, but this is what happened:

step 1 - find a lamp you love that has a detailed lamp base.

step 2 - find a lamp shade that you think has an interesting shape that would coordinate with the base. trial and error may be required. i wanted mine to be slightly too heavy or large for the lamp i had at home, and i wanted the trumpeted shape. after 3 or 4 stores, i found this chosen "one" at target for $16. pre-deconstruction it was made with a very pretty ivory linen fabric.

step 3 - delicately destroy the lamp shade with a seam ripper and scissors. starting at the inside seam along one of the wires i began to rip it apart. i then cut along the top and bottom wires to leave a fabric trim for accenting the shape of the shade. be sure to use a pair of good, sewing scissors.

i think it is important to choose a slightly larger shade than what would normally fit your lamp because you'll then be creating a lot of empty space, and your eye needs a good frame of height and width. this helps to create balance since there is not any fabric covering the actual upper portion of the lamp. the end result: the lamp base becomes more of the focal point, which is what i really wanted to achieve, and your light bulb has a delicate shabby-chic frame.

ps - be sure to choose a pretty light bulb!

part 2 and idea #2 of floating magnolias will be later this week....and the mystery of the floating magnolias will be answered!

stay tuned.

swimsuits and such

so. it's saturday, 2 may 2009. i live in nashville, tn. i drive a honda. i go to church on sunday nights. i like coffee. i love my family, which includes a lot of friends. life is good. i volunteer as a music teacher to inner city kids, and it's the highlight of life.

i am a pescaterian. i want to be more eco-conscious. oh, and i like to walk. i wish nashville had more sidewalks.

i want to write children's books and share with them the arts of our world.

i'm going to visit geneva and earl in two weeks. geneva and i are going to sew.

i'm thrilled it's spring. i want to seek out the sun and the beach.

anthropologie has some gorgeous, expensive swimsuits. shall we?? yes. www.anthropologie.com. my two favorites are the deckwork suit for the one piece and the heartbeats suit for the two piece.



i hope everyone had a great day! :)

fix the bleed

so my sweet nephew, that is 1 year old, likes to climb things. for example, his go-to favorites are boxes, chairs, ottomans, stairs, etc. last week he found a new obstacle to overcome in his sister's bedroom: her chest that she keeps her dress-up princess clothes in (every 3 year old girl is a princess). so i do believe he made it to the top of the chest, and quickly tumbled off, and on his way down he knicked his temple on her bed post. bless her heart, his sister, karsen, was in the room, and quickly called for her mom, screaming, "fix the bleed, mom. fix the bleed." their mom, tara, asked karsen to run into the bathroom to retrieve some toilet paper to put on his open wound. karsen, being mommy's helper, quickly ran into the bathroom and proceeded to find an entire roll of paper (what a resourceful one), that she then THREW at her mom, while still belting her battle cry, FIX THE BLEED, MOM!

i love the faith of a child in their parents to take care of emergencies. in many ways, i echo her plea to my heavenly Father. fix the bleed! fix the bleed! and He does. sometimes i don't depend so much on the Father, but my own strength...and although sometimes the bleeding stops, the wounds are never completely healed without the Father and obeying His commands.

so this story doesn't have much to do with fashion, but whatever. i bought some vintage boots in austin, tx that i love. there you go. shop vintage!

oh, so caden is fine. he did receive his first little badge of courage in the form of four stitches. i asked if caden had learned his lesson to stop climbing, and of course his daddy said "no!". you can't keep a determined boy down.

fall 09 trends

lil' some-somethin' to think about!

world style




vintage florals



plaid shirts



boys club





slouchy pants



moto jackets



boyfriend jean


outdoor chic





long vest

elizabeth + james

change comes to washington

what a day!  20 january 2009 marks a pivotal point in history.  the inauguration of the 44th president of the united states.  president elect barack obama will be sworn into office, and will assume the office as the united states' commander in chief.  president obama.   millions of people have gathered in washington dc to add this day to their own memoirs, and millions around the world are gathering around tv's and computers to witness this transition of power.  

here is a picture from a friend of where he and another friend will be watching the inauguration today.   i know.  i'm jealous too.  

and here is a picture of people gathered in the mall.  it's amazing to be apart of such a generation.  a generation that has triumphed generalizations, and is united for change and hope.  

god bless america.  god bless the bush family and the obama family, and all the men and women who have made today what it is.  

xoxo.

geneva and bernina

have you ever had the phone ring, and your gut tells you it's bad news? well. that happened to me today. my cell rang, i looked down to see a flashing picture of a magnolia on the screen (saved for my mom's # on my caller id). my stomach literally turned upside down before i even said hello. it's my grandmother. geneva was admitted into a hospital today. she's had a series of mini-strokes. i won't go into too much detail b/c i don't have too much detail to offer. all i know is that they're keeping her there for more observation. i'm worried sick...which is what happens to me in situations beyond my scope of vision or control. over christmas this happened with my grandfather (geneva's husband) and i ended up cutting my hair. my hairdresser said i'm an emotional cutter (of hair). well my bangs are so short i wont be doing that again today, so i guess i'll just be occupying the silence of the wait with activities.

activity 1: i'm going to a sewing session tonight for my new sewing machine: bernina 220.

geneva (grandma) would want me there.

xoxo.

2009 - a year of NOW

happy new year. by this time, we've all become somewhat settled as to what the year 2009 means for each of us. my theme for 2009 is NOW.

i've either stumbled across some encouraging phrases for this new year or have been encouraged by others' voices, and would love to share them with you!

1 - in dreams begin responsibilities.
2 - engage your world.
3 - execute 9 of the 10 ideas you have. no matter if they're silly, random, or whimsical.
4 - to be free, means to be free to fail.
5 - take an account for your adventures.

2009 is a year of being taught and being a teacher. taking leaps of faith. taking road trips with a best friend. donating your bone marrow to a stranger. traveling halfway across the world to make a movie. having dance parties by yourself. going to yoga at noon. making your bed every morning. falling on your hands and knees.

i'm excited for this new year.
xoXo.