:: inspiration [ week eleven ] ::

Eeeep! I can’t believe Friday is already coming to a close--and I didn’t post my Inspiration Week links yet!! Why, what could have ever prevented Miss Casey from doing this? you ask. Two words:

Rummage sale.

The annual, gargantuan rummage sale that raises funds for the local hospital. A worthy cause, and I get to find some neat stuff! I woke up long before the sun even thought about shining, and planted myself right by the main front door at 7:30 am (knitting in hand...) to wait until 9 when the public is admitted and I could go rummaging. I have to admit, I’ve never been this tired after the rummage sale (this is the fourth year I’ve done this), but I plan that on the dratted Mono. Despite the fatigue, I lugged home quite a few clothes and loads of vintage goodies (including fashion illustrations from the 1860s and 1870s!) that I’m going to share with you over the coming week!! Plus, I found some lovely things to center my Autumn Blog Give-Away around... (stay tuned for that!).

♥ inspiration [ week eleven ] ♥
♥ quick fashion fixes & Gala’s emergency fashion kit!
♥ kate spade’s “I’ve always wanted to...” [ via ]
♥ projects, tips and tricks from alabama chanin [ via ]
♥ how to make yummy almond butter!
♥ teatime is a glorious thing!

Have a lovely Friday evening, and Saturday all!! I shall return on Sunday; rested and hopefully with pictures and a rummage sale report to share!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

p.s. I dare say I’m starting to sound like a broken record. But all the comments you, my dear readers, have been leaving are just warming my heart so much! Thank you bunches! *virtual hugs all ‘round*

:: weekend no-show ::

I fully intended to post yesterday, but L. came by to visit, and being rather desperate for visitors (and admittedly happy to see him!), we sat out on the deck talking for three hours. By the time he left, I was too tired and the light had dimmed so I couldn’t take pictures for my blog post! I know: excuses, excuses! lol.

The weekend turned out to be quite productive... which was a pleasant surprise! Saturday, my first “weekend day off” from business work proved to be good. I got a lot of personal projects done; most importantly I started photographing and writing the tutorial for the Most Secret Project (details coming very soon!). I forgot how much longer making something and working on a tutorial in conjunction takes, but it seems to be the best way for me. Otherwise I tend to forget (like the *coughcough* polar bear pattern and tutorial... which I promise will be coming... sometime!)! I also (drumroll, please) drafted the sleeve sloper! It’s all cut out and awaiting a test run, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Sleeves and I have a torrid history of hating each other.

I also got some sketching done, which was very relaxing! I’ve had lots of ideas for trims and garments, and I’m finding if I don’t take the time each day to jot these down, I tend to not only forget but drawing doesn’t come as easily. I suppose I shall have to make a point of having an official “art time” each day to sketch; if nothing else to stay in practice. It’ll also mean I’ll finally get some of the drawings I’m halfway through finishing/inking done! lol.


I recently purchased and downloaded Ysolda’s pretty “Gretel” beret pattern. I just love all the cables! That is one of the things I really love to knit: cables. It may take me a couple tries if the pattern is more complicated, but I am fascinated by how such a simple variation of stitches, a cable needle and a little patience combine to make such a beautiful motif. Saturday afternoon the yarn I ordered specifically for this project came! I purchased it from an Etsy seller, woolhandcrafts, and I am so delighted with it! Not only is the color exactly what I wanted (sort of an “Azalea pink”), but the yarn is so soft. I think it will be lovely made up in Ysolda’s pattern. Mom kindly picked up the needles I needed this morning, since all the ones I have were larger than what the pattern recommends!

I just wanted to say thank you for all the encouraging comments you’ve left on my entries lately! I really, really appreciate the feedback! One thing that is becoming increasingly annoying with Blogger is that there is no function to directly reply to comments. I’ve thought about switching, but some of the other services aren’t clear about how they handle the whole “reply to comments” situation; anyone have advice?


Lastly, has anyone else been watching the hilarious and informative Etsy “holiday preparation” videos?! I have gotten so many ideas from that (which is what prompted me to make the hang tags pictured in this post!). Even if you don’t have a shop on Etsy, I highly recommend watching them for tips on how to creatively approach the holiday season.

Have a lovely evening!

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

p.s. Susan of Sulu Design is having an earring give-away all week!! Be sure to drop on over to her blog and enter for your chance to win one of her lovely designs!

:: inspiration [ week ten ] ::

[ from a 1930s clothing catalog I found at a thrift store of all places! ]

Its Friday again (already!), which means its time for my weekly post of inspiration I’ve stumbled on during the preceding week. Have fun pursuing these and I’ll be back this afternoon with a lengthier post!

♥ inspiration [ week ten ] ♥
♥ the beautiful portfolio of maria grossman [ via ]
♥ burda style’s “alice” themed design contest!
♥ gillian’s beautiful blog
♥ manon gignoux’s deconstructed art [ via ]
♥ sweet and unusual cupcake recipes
♥ suburban queen’s excessively thoughtful fashion blog
♥ johanna’s amazing blog devoted to 18th century fashion and culture [ be sure to see her flickr set of costumes she’s made! ]

What has been inspiring you this week?

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

:: speechless ::

Wow. My blog hits have been off the charts the last two days, and I finally got to the bottom of it! Tricia Royal (of my absolutely favoritest fashion blog ever; Bits and Bobbins) featured me in her weekly roundup of Wardrobe Remix favorites! Thank you, Tricia!! If you haven’t ever visited Wardrobe Remix, you really should... I am constantly amazed and inspired by the creativity people put into their outfits. Lots of great ideas for incorporating your style and personality into your daily look. I just love that so many people are thinking outside the trend box when it comes to fashion, and Wardrobe Remix is a great gathering place for this!

[ As a side note: if you've stumbled on my blog from Tricia's site: welcome!! Feel free to just jump right in a comment away! ]


Eek! All my brown acorn badges have sold out and there is only one Squirrels in Scarves pin left!! I totally did not foresee this happening! After much thought, I decied that due to the demand I’m going to continue offering the acorns and squirrels for a short time longer. So if you missed the first run of the pins, there is still a chance to get one (or two!!); they’ll most likely be added over the new few days to my Shoppe. Thank you all so much for giving the first batches good homes!

Lastly, I just was reminded that I still haven’t announced the winner of the gift tag give-away! I’m so sorry; between flying out to California and coming home sick, it totally slipped my mind! The winner of the tags is...
Philo

Congratulations!! I’ll be contacting you shortly for all the pertinent mailing information and such. I hope you’ll enjoy them! And, I am in the midst of cooking up ideas for a autumn give-away, so stay tuned...


Last week was an awesome mail-week for me! I not only got both the Toast catalogs I ordered (ohmygosh!! so much inspiration!!), but the auction catalog for the Tasha Tudor Heritage Collection. Talk about drop-dead-gorgeous. Its not cheap, but I am so glad Mom and I decided to pitch in and buy it because it is just that yummy! Loads of 1800-1830’s garments (women and men), with a few 18th century to later 19th century pieces. But my favorite part of the catalog has to be the end papers (pictured above). I just adore early 19th century printed cottons. Gorgeous!

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend and I’ll be back tomorrow with the Vintage Monday feature!!

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

:: inspiration [ week nine ] ::

[ Title page from an 1880s edition of Andersen’s fairytales. Its in rather shabby condition, but someone needed to give it a home (and for $3, could I pass it up?!). ]

Happy Friday, everyone!! Lately so much has been inspiring me; it was hard to whittle this link list down to a manageable number! Be sure to click through; there are some really gorgeous images that are sure to spark some ideas. I’ll be back later today with another, “crafty-related” post, so ttfn!

♥ inspiration [ week eight ] ♥
♥ adorably beautiful children’s clothes [ via ]
♥ this girl has the most adorable style!
♥ meow! how-to add the perfect retro dash to your makeup
♥ a lovely, inspiring blog by a seamstress in the UK
♥ noelle lusano’s breathtaking photography [ via ]
♥ a clothing line that embodies “daydream” [ via ]
♥ 19th century poster inspiration!

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

:: inspiration [ week eight ] ::

[ The buttons from the sweet Marjorie came yesterday! Take a look at her gorgeous business card and “thank you” postcard! ]

♥ inspiration [ week eight ] ♥
♥ the lovely, colorful portfolio of cig harvey [ via ]
♥ vintage paper moon portraits [ via ]
♥ awesome interview with artist lisa condgon!
♥ loving some “new” bands: Beirut + iron & wine
♥ scrapbook of dialy impressions and images
♥ orla kiely autumn collection loveliness!
♥ inspiration and ideas galore...

I had intended to spend my afternoon working on that blouse muslin, but I realized that there was no way I could work in my room in the state it was in! (Because I got so ill, I haven’t even finished unpacking from my California trip yet! Eek!) So I’m in the process of cleaning it out instead. lol. Hopefully they’ll be some progress photos in the next few days though; I’m eager to get to my machine and start stitching away!

Oh, and before I forget, thank you for the response to my question about sharing a page of vintage inspiration a week! I think there is enough interest to do it. I’ll probably post that Monday... stay tuned!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend; the weather is so glorious today--I’m quite enjoying the sunshine and cooler temperatures.

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

p.s. I happened to be stalking Etsy all yesterday evening, waiting for a chance to get a Treasury when it came back online, and as luck would have it--I got a spot! Check out my Treasury: through sepia-colored glasses: romance of the old fashioned!!

:: inspiration [ week five ] ::

a day late... ooops!

♥ inspiration [ week five ] ♥
♥ beautiful pillow made from scraps
♥ pricing your crafts
♥ a great use for odd-shaped lace scraps!
♥ overcoming creativity-block
♥ make your own bubble mailers!
♥ wonderfully decadent garments & accessories
♥ sewn button loops tutorial

My first two classes of the semester have been so inspiring and yet so overwhelming! The first was printmaking on Wednesday, and I’m so excited about it! Just the variety of effects and styles you can explore with printing is what is appealing to me. We need to have a study/sketch by next week to transfer onto a zinc plate, so I’m wracking my brain to come up with some (brilliant?!) idea. I’m thinking of possibly doing a study of an antique corset in my collection; if nothing else the lines and seams lend themselves very well to some interesting design.

The class I’m honestly the most overwhelmed and yet bouncing off the walls about is my photography 101 class! The teacher is really awesome; he’s a professional photographer and is basically telling us to just get the technical aspects of photography down and the artistry will follow. My kind of learning! The class is entirely film photography and only black and white. Oooh--I’m quite eager to work with the black and white film techniques since I love photography that is devoid of color; it almost forces the viewer to pay more attention to emotion, value and structure. I have lots of ideas floating through my head of subject matter to focus on shooting throughout the semester; I think I’m going to try and focus mostly on the concept of decay and death (mostly through artifacts and buildings). This should be fun since Autumn is right around the corner!

I just ordered this book that caught my eye on the Not Martha blog. It seems like just the thing since I’ve opened the shoppe and am in dire need of pointers on how to run a successful craft-based business in the modern marketplace (a.k.a. the internet). Hopefully it’ll get here before I fly out to California and keep me company on the long flight! I promise a review after I finish it; I’m a bit of an amateur expert on craft business books; I’ve read just about every one I can get my hands on since I was 10. lol.

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

p.s. I’m off for a very, very short weekend with the boy, so I will return around Tuesday with new posts! Have a lovely weekend, all!

:: inspiration [ week four ] ::

Sometimes I feel like a little hamster on one of those round, runner-things that you put in cages for them to run off excess energy on! Only, I don’t have tons of excess energy (or brain power, for that matter! lol) at the moment! So much to do and accomplish, so little time! So in an effort to make my life a teeny-tiny bit more streamlined, I’m going to be doing the inspiration posts once-a-week again, instead of trying (and not always doing) to include a list in every post. This is only a sampling of what is catching my eye during the week--my del.icio.us has lots more!

♥ inspiration [ week four ] ♥
♥ kimono-inspired hoodie!
♥ make stickers from just about anything
♥ free bookmaking manual
♥ miss gala’s tips on how to start a blog
♥ one-in-ten auction starting tomorrow!
♥ beautiful knits from the uk
♥ indiepublic: a cool new networking site! (and visit me here!!)

cheers & creativity,
    ♥ casey [ email me ]

p.s. I’m headed off to Califorinia in a couple weeks with the boy, and I’m looking for cheap, fun things to do in and around San Diego. I was out there last summer, but we did a lot more driving, and this time the boy and I will either have to rent a car or take public transportation to get around. So, suggestions about what to do (besides hang out on the beach and surf, which we’ll be doing a lot of!) are welcome!!

.03.17.07.

My apologies for lack of any updates whatsoever over the past month!! Life has been completely topsy-turvey for me in so many ways that I got a little off balance and managed to abandon my blog for too long. I have so much to photograph and tell you all; thrifting has scored really well lately (all kinds exciting vintage stuff--much to the amusement of my boyfriend and jealousy of my girl friends! lol). I’ve also been working away on some spring/summer garments (now if only the weather would cooperate...). But for today, to get back into the swing of things, this is just going to be an inspiration post... because there have been so many things inspiring me lately online that I want to share!!

+ the delightful and whimsical fifi lapin who has excellent taste in designer wear
+ color never looked so tempting...
+ adoring the mix of odds and ends, textiles and papers to create this whimsical accessories
+ such a cute variation on the standard corkboard
+ making plans to try my hand at this colorful and funky dorset buttons to add to my vintage clothes
+ newest issue of the indie online 'zine n.e.e.t.
+ two "new" blogs by extremely inspiring and creative individuals
+ I just love that this spring/summer collection was inspired by silent films...
+ loving this unique jewelry fashioned from vintage elements

"hey remember that time?"

I posted a few days ago about Lisa of A Bird in Hand organizing a fundraiser in benefit of the late James Kim's family. I contacted her and will be donating two tote bags for the auction! This is the first time I've ever offered any of my work for sale, even though its for a fundraiser auction, so I'm a little nervous. :) But I'm very glad to be able to contribute to such a worthy cause and help this family out in my own small way. I'm in the process of making two bag designs; a cardinal bag (I changed the dimenions and design a bit from the one I showed you the other day) and a squirrel design. Both are just awaiting lining and handles and they'll be done. I had a lot of fun making these; I forgot how much I enjoy embroidery and applique.

...I'm also working on a ladybird bag for myself. :) A little sneak peek at that:



I'll be sure to keep you all posted as more details are relased about the Kim Fundraiser; Lisa should be letting us know in the next few days. Lots of work to do in the next week: these bags and finals all coincide!!

I've been listening to a lot of Regina Spektor's music lately. My music-junkie friend A. (he's so chock full of information about music and bands and even played in a band for awhile...) was talking to me about her music a few weeks ago, and I remembered having listened to some of it over the summer after I saw an ad for her newest cd in Nylon. But it didn't register then. ;) I'm loving what I'm hearing now; its definately not like anything I usually listen to, but I love how she sings about either everyday things or nonsensical ones. Its so quaint and yet not. :) I'll leave you to a link to the music video for "Fidelity", which I think is one of the most beautifully stylized videos I've ever seen (not to mention I want her clothes in this...). Enjoy. :)

baby, its cold outside!

Brrrr! It got so cold yesterday afternoon and has continued to be! I bundled up for my class yesterday evening, but the wind was so fierce... my poor fingers (though gloved) were quite purple with cold when I got inside the classroom. :p Its still frightfully, delightfully cold this morning; but somehow I’m really enjoying the more seasonal weather today. And being able to lounge around in my pjs, sipping warm tea, reading blogs and listening to my Björk station on pandora.com. *grin*

I’ve been busy-busy with creating things the last few days! I’m working on getting the Christmas cards ready for handing out to friends. I really like how the paper insert turned out; minimalist like the outside design. I’ve lately been a little discouraged that so many of my designs tend to be minimalist and “clean”; its not that I can’t do more complicated things, its that they don’t feel in tune with my ideas of semetry and visual organization (something I’ve become somewhat obsessive about in the last few months). Even my typography teacher commented on my “clean” designs I’ve handed in all semester. I just hate doing things that look like Illustrator (or whatever) threw up all over the page. That being said, some of my favorite artists and designers have just that aesthetic. lol. The contradiction of life, I suppose! Anyway, enough of that; here are the Christmas cards:

I need to make a few more just so I have enough to go ‘round. I really had wanted to offer to send cards to my online friends this year, but alas, I just won’t be able to make enough to do so. :p Maybe next year... *is hopeful*

I also came up with the idea of doing an embellished children’s “library” tote bag the other evening and started stitching it up while watching episodes of Top Chef (yes, I’m addicted, simply because now that Project Runway is over, I have nothing to watch...). The inspiration was an oversized bag I made years ago when Mom was teaching me how to use the sewing machine. It was huge; I liked to call it the bottomless bag because I could literally fill it up and still have room! We were voracious library-users in those days; making weekly visits to the local branch where I always stocked up on stacks of crafty books. That bag I made myself served me well as a means of transporting my large stash of books. Of course, a tote this big (roughly 15”x16” plus 3” depth/width along the sides and bottom) is great for kids to throw all manners of things in: stuffed toys, dress up clothes, the cat who happens to be unlucky enough to be around for transporting... *grin* I still need to construct it, but I wanted to find a fun cotton lining first. Who knows what I shall do with this, as I have no children in my aquatance right now... :p But that isn’t the point, is it? ;) lol!!



Oh, and a few updates that you all might be interested in. Firstly, I updated my massive blog links list over at my other blog; lots and lots of new stuff here! I also updated the website with some 1920s images (I plan on scanning and uploading more during winter break) and some new website links. Enjoy!!

{ click on images for larger views!! }

lending a hand

If you're active in the creative blog world outside of Live Journal, you may have run across the tragic story of the Kim family over the past week. Though I did not know this family, many people whose blogs I read on a regular basis did, and I also understand that Kati Kim is a very active supporter of indie craftspeople, which is something close to my heart. I have been praying for the past two days for Kati Kim and her two young daughters now fatherless, husbandless. Lisa Codingon over at her blog A Bird in Hand is going to try to be setting up some sort of fundraiser to help the family defray costs at this time. At this time of year I always try to pick out one charity to contribute something to in an effort to help those with less than myself. I think it is especially true to reaching out to the widow and fatherless. If you'd be interested in possibly helping, be sure to stay tuned to Lisa' blog. I know I will.

let the holiday season begin!

This extended weekend has been so laid back for me. I managed to do just about no homework over the break, which I suspect I shall be regretting about this time tomorrow. ;) lol. I do need to get working on a speech that I've got to give on Wednesday, but at least its already outlined!

Anyway, onto more pleasant things... As I hinted at in my previous post, I changed my Christmas card designs quite a bit. The stenciling just wasn't working, I was having enormously frustrating quality consistancy issues. So, rather than attempt to make it work, I just scrapped it and moved on. And spent about two hours trying to come up with some idea that wouldn't require new materials, take forever to do, and I wouldn't be embarrassed to send out. In the end, simplicity was the catch-phrase, as my final cards are very much inspired by the wall hangings I made recently.



Each piece of cream stock is punched with an awl, following the design and then I use perl cotton to "stitch" the design. Easy, simple and not too amateurish (...I hope?). :) The red stitching will all go on the gold stock and the green stitching on the red stock. I just need to finish these stitched pieces, affix them to the folded cardstock and work on designing the interior message/sentiment! Whew. I really like this project because its so much more transportation-friendly; I'm able to take a little stack of cards with me from room to room and work on while I watch a movie some evenings.

In a similar vein, I can up with this idea for cards the other day as well:



They're essentially just the front designs right now; I need to get color-coordinated cards to mount them on. Just a series of punched dots (actually, I just used some paint chip samples, like you can pick up at the hardware store!) glued to cardstock in geometric shapes and patterns. I'm thinking of experimenting with this idea using randomly patterned/colored papers, like those cut from magazines, mailings and found papers. Could be a fun form of functional, "grown-up" mosaics! ;) One thing I do know: I need to get a new hole punch! This one is ancient and a not terrible good at punching "clean" dots... :p Now what to do with all these cards I'm making... sell some maybe? (haha! Wishful thinking! lol! ;)

I'm currently hatching a plan for another holiday related project... hopefully it'll work out and I'll be able to share some pictures with you in the coming days. I'm really excited about this one, but don't want to spill the beans just yet. ;) There has been some amazing holiday preperations taking place all over blogland. Be sure to take a few moments to check them out and be inspired!

P.S. And a big thank you to those who have been dropping by to check out my blog and leaving such sweet comments!!