honored + lots of photos.

first, i have to apologize for the lack of recent posts. i've gotten caught up in schoolwork, like i often do! but i enjoy blogging, so i'm going to try to make an effort to do it more often.


friday night was the awards ceremony for the college of technology at my school. i was awarded with the norma &richard sarns scholarship, which is fantastic. this is my second year being a scholarship recipient, &it feels wonderful to be recognized for all of my hard work. i felt really special after hearing my professors talk so highly of me. my mom snapped a bunch of photos for me.

 

me with my certificate

 

interior design professors &i

 

group shot of honored interior design students &our professors 

 

matt, my awesome boyfriend, &i. <3 

it's hard to believe that the next big events will be the senior gala &then graduation! it's been a long time coming, but now, as the time grows nearer, it doesn't feel real! i'm excited, nervous, &a little sad all at the same time! (but not too sad! haha)

since i didn't do a halloween follow-up post with my costumes, i might as well do it now! i had a great time putting together my costumes this year. i was a corpse bride-inspired zombie for a zombie walk, and an owl on halloween. matt was a zombie surgeon both days. he had an iv pole with a saline iv drip that he colored red with food coloring, but unfortunately that didn't make it into any pictures. i loved doing something different &unexpected this year, since we've dressed up as pirates in most years past.

 

us after the zombie walk. i didn't bring my camera, since most zombies don't take pictures, but we were lucky enough to have our photo taken by another zombie with a camera phone. we used  a fabulous tutorial on how to use liquid latex to make our skin super creepy &zombie-like. i made myself a veil out of some tulle we had laying around, faux flowers i painted black with acrylic paint, &a hair clip. it looked pretty good! i used an old lacy housecoat i got at the thrift store for my dress, &sprayed it with watered-down black acrylic paint, to make it look like i've been crawling around. i bought a bouquet of black roses that i fancied up with some white lace i happened to have. overall, a pretty cool &cheap costume.

 

for my owl costume, i used a black dress i found at a thrift store as the base. i ended up modifying it a little for a better fit, then hot glued a bunch of 'feathers' to the front following this tutorial. i used another tutorial for the owl mask, both of which i shared in my previous post. matt used some surgical scrubs he scored when he worked at a hospital, &we followed the same latex tutorial we used above for the zombie walk. we had a great time! i'm so lucky to have a guy who has fun getting dressed up with me, because i absolutely love it!

 

a close-up of the two of us. matt makes a pretty good zombie! i was channeling the YA RLY owl. =) the mask made me look a little blind in my right eye though!

that's all for now! i promise to post again soon!

design a great halloween costume!

it's no secret that i love halloween. in fact, it's probably my favorite holiday. i'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that fall is the best time of the year (don't you agree?), with leaves changing colors, trips to the cider mill, &pumpkin-spice everything! but aside from all of that, i love spooky things, dressing up in costumes, &of course, candy! one of my favorite things to do around this time every year is to plan out my halloween costume. i prefer homemade costumes over bagged store-bought costumes, any day! my boyfriend &i have gone as pirates on a number of occasions, but sometimes i like to mix things up a bit. this year i'm planning my costume for a zombie walk &a dance party. i won't reveal what my costumes are going to be yet, partly because i'm still planning them out, but also because surprises are way more fun!

here are some of my favorites, tutorials included! (gotta love instructables!)

life-size green army man

 ghostbuster with proton pack!

optimus prime!

kidnapped mermaid

yip-yip costumes, hilarious!

 zombie makeup

lady owl costume (perfect with this diy mask!)

carol from where the wild things are

kid-sized carol from where the wild things are 

pac man &ghosts costumes

kid-sized stormtroopers

wee gnome

toddler-sized sock monkey (i love sock monkeys!)

baby yoshi &baby mario 

toddler-sized flintstone car (amazing!)

thing 1 &thing 2 (perfect for twins! sorry, no tutorial!)

**EDIT**

this one is too good to not add!

roy lichtenstein-inspired comic woman

i hope that was inspiring! feel free to share any creative costume ideas you've seen!

my bucket list.

this isn't exactly design related, but it does have some design-related components! i was inspired by nicole's 30 before thirty list, &finally decided to make a variation of the list for myself. this is a way to visually recognize some goals i have, &to acknowledge myself after having met them. (plus, i just like lists &checking things off of them!) i'll keep updating this list when i come up with more goals &check off the ones i've met. 


without further ado, my bucket list (in no particular order):

- learn to do crazy hula hoop tricks

- take an aerial yoga class

- practice yoga loyally for at least a year straight, perfecting postures such as crane, tortoise, wheel, eight crooked limbs, scorpion, headstand, etc*

- *once completed, consider getting a lotus tattoo on [hopefully more defined] back

- stop eating ground beef, once &for all

- take a pottery class

- take swing dancing lessons with matt

- play djembe a whole lot more

- learn some songs &sing them with matt playing guitar
- learn how to play cello or violin

- finish decorating my walk-in closet!

- spray paint my file cabinet [then, organize it]

- refinish my old nightstand

- make an eames hang-it-all-inspired coat rack

- tidy up my website &make it look a whole lot cooler

- make some abstract paintings

- practice architectural hand drawing &rendering until it looks as good as candice olson’s work (HA!)

- get really good at adobe illustrator &in design

- finally finish my degree!!

- update my portfolio

- become NCIDQ-certified

- get my LEED Green Associate &LEED AP accreditation

- get more involved with CIDR

- intern with a cool residential designer

- visit designers I interned with in high school

- audition for HGTV’s design star

- open a home furnishings store with my uncle that offers design services

- get married &have a sweet diy wedding

- make a hot pink crinoline skirt to wear under my wedding dress

- live in a two-story town home in Lafayette Park in Detroit for at least a year

- live in an old house with a turret

- buy a house &remodel it!!

- make an official craft /sewing /drawing room

- trim cheap-o doors with moulding to make them look super classy

- make a tavern-y/pirate-y ‘man cave’ for matt in the basement of said house

- adopt up to 10 old, ugly, or otherwise ‘unadoptable’ cats to live in a ‘cat room’ /retirement center in my house

- grow a garden with more than tomatoes &cucumbers
- get some goats &maybe some chickens

- make copies of /frame important family photos, such as grandparents’ weddings, portrait of grandma c, portrait of grandpa t, grandma t’s nursing photo, nana &nanu with grandma c &her sisters, mom &dad as babies, dad as a baby with his easter bunny, mom &her brothers &sisters as kids on Christmas, etc.

- put books on bookshelf in ‘rainbow order’
- spin wool roving into yarn with my drop spindle
- learn how to use a spinning wheel to spin yarn

- make a rug out of old t-shirts

- complete the quilt I bought at treasure mart

- make a quilt using anna maria horner /amy butler fabrics

- make a baby quilt using old plaid button-down shirts

- make matt a ‘captain hook’ pirate coat

- make a jacket for myself using a vintage pattern

- make myself a ‘sailor’ dress
- finish my giant technicolor hexagon blanket

- create an art journal

- join a knitting [or another kind of craft] group

- make a couch out of a claw-foot tub

- mosaic a table with beer bottle caps

- make something with reclaimed wood
- refurbish the two bikes i dumpstered

- make some string art

- submit artwork for the dirty show

- make something out of paper mache

- make ‘oilcloth’

- embroider a pillow cover with may’s flowers on it

- make more collage art

- make a purse out of an old record

- make a notebook out of an old book or record cover

- make more knit ‘graffiti’

- take more ‘artsy’ photos with my camera

- get a ‘nifty fifty’ lens for my camera

- go urban exploring &take a ton of photos

- get dreads

- dye my hair pink

- cut my hair off [&into a severe a-line cut] &donate it

- get stocking seam tattoos

- go camping out west

- visit Italy &the rest of Europe

- visit Chicago again!

- visit mies van der rohe’s Farnsworth house in Illinois

- visit bleeding heart bakery in chicago

- visit Portland

- attend theatre bizarre

- attend music festivals other than dunegrass &farmfest

- buy a cool old VW bus [&convert it to biodiesel] or retro camper trailer

- volunteer with habitat for humanity

- blog religiously

- actually use my etsy shop to sell things

- get some good headshots taken of myself

- &maybe some sort of retro (pin-up?) photo shoot

- get a dollhouse (yes, seriously)

- buy a super cool retro one-piece bathing suit

- buy a molded plastic Eames chair

- buy a Barcelona chair [&maybe ottoman]

- buy a vintage retro starburst clock

- &a starburst mirror

- buy a retro chrome &formica dining set

- acquire some Syracuse meadow breeze china

- make fattoush salad from scratch [including dressing]

- have my grandma t teach me a bunch of her recipes

- finish the ‘a song of ice &fire’ book series

- redecorate my mom’s laundry room

- install a tile backsplash with matt in my mom’s kitchen

- come up with a design solution for the recessed wall above the foyer at mom’s house

- make mom a fabric-covered headboard

- recover mom’s green chair &/or matt’s recliner

wow, that's a lot of stuff!! =)

i like chairs. a lot.

just a quick post to report some chairs i want to sit my butt in.. over the weekend i came across a website called 1stdibs. they have lots of gorgeous vintage &antique furniture, &even though i had a very specific kind of chair in mind for a project i'm working on, that didn't stop me from oogling some pretty chairs that i'd like to put in my fantasy mid-century modern home. (you know, right next to the molded plastic eames chairs &the pink vintage sewing machine that i want to covet.) it has also occurred to me that i may be entering the same realm of obsession with chairs as i have with cats, judging by the number of chair-related posts i've made. i'm debating as to whether this is a good thing or not.. nevertheless, it's time to meet these pretty babies!

 

1950's hans wegner cigar chair

pair of 1950's french armchairs

 

 1940's lina bo bardi armchair

(check out that original vinyl!! crazy cool!!)

 pair of 1960's norwegian teak armchairs

sooo mid-century mod &sooo lovely!! they're super funky but still a little classy. well, maybe except for the lina bo bardi chair.. she's all sass &funk, that one!! =) they're welcome at my house any time!

i realized there is vintage jewelry on the website, too, so i may have to take a look-see!

cats, cats, cats!!!!!

to most people who have met me at least once &know that i am a cat lady at heart, this shouldn't be surprising..

i was watching a youtube video on how to tie an ascot (i know, but that's a story for another time!), i spotted some sort of cat pop-art on the wall behind the said ascot-tier. so, naturally, i did what any other sane person would do, &paused-backed-up-paused-backed-up the video trying to find out more about this mysterious art piece.

(credit: expert village)

buuuut, that wasn't quite good enough. no, i had to figure out exactly what was going on with the rest of the canvas, so i skimmed through a couple more videos by the same 'fashion reporter' until, BINGO BANGO! i found it!!

(credit: expert village)

super cute, if i may say so myself. i'm inspired to make some cat pop-art for my wall!*

*for those of you less cat-inclined, you could substitute the cat face for your kid's face, or if you don't have a kid, your dog /neighbor /favorite food. whatever! it's not just the subject matter that counts (not that your kid isn't important!), but rather the repetition of shapes &color that really make a bold, graphic statement. think andy worhol. i wonder if he liked cats..

anyway, i promise i'll take a break from cat-blogging now, since this isn't a cat blog, although i can see how it could easily turn into one! =)

todd oldham's take on eames.

 

(credit:  living edge blog)

this is old news (new to me!), but i just had to share this amazing chair! it is todd oldham's take on the classic eames molded plywood lounge chair. the chair was for an art auction sponsored by herman miller, where 11 designers revamped this popular chair, in order to raise money for charity. todd's chair, above, received the highest bid.

 

eames lounge chair &ottoman tattoo.

(credit: StumbleUpon)

stinkin' amazing. that is all.

some cool spaces.

 (credit: sorry, can't remember!)

check out this neat lego room! it has the green lego bases attached to the wall, so you can create anything your imagination desires. perfect for kids &adults who are big kids.. my brother would have loved this when he was litttle!

 

 (credit: things i like)

this is the perfect cat lady house! complete with catwalk so kitties fulfill all of their running, jumping, &climbing desires in a small space. hilarious &so cool. i especially love the tunnel!

 
(credit: commonhumans)

sweet 'x-ray' desk! this is what the creator has to say about it:  This is my home made x-ray light desk. My Dad and I made it from an old wall hanging x-ray back light that I found at a university surplus store. All we had to do was buy some wall brackets and mount it perpendicular to the wall and now I use it as a light table rather than an x-ray viewer! The light table really helps when I need to do tracing for graphic or interior design, every designer/illustrator should have one. I recently painted the wall to make my desk pop and now my work station is clean and complete! If you are wondering where store all of my stuff, I have a one drawer filing cabinet and a few storage boxes in my closet, most of my work is on the computer to reduce clutter. This shows the lights off. I uploaded another image showing the desk with its lights on.

enjoy!

emily henderson, design star.

those of you who aren't avid HGTV-watchers may not have heard about emily henderson winning design star, (&maybe don't give a hoot about the show) but i haaave to share how much i love this girl's design style. she has such a wonderful ability to put things together in an elegant, yet completely understated manner. emily was my favorite design star contestant from the beginning, probably because i was able to relate to her eclectic style. she mixes pieces that most people would most likely not think of putting together, yet she makes them work, &they look like a million bucks. she doesn't try to make things look perfect; instead, she appreciates a quirky, kind of off-kilter style that reflects her personality.

 

(clockwise from top:  ian &emily on the first episode

of secrets of a stylist; a beautifully-styled collection of

objects; a bright &sunny office; emily's living room.)

some of emily's secrets (of a stylist, ha) that i thought were especially great dealt with the relationship between colors &patterns, &with the use of accent items. she tries to keep patterns from being overly-masculine or feminine by sticking to a complementary palette. in the first episode of her show, she illustrated this by using wallpaper in a feminine pattern with a masculine color for ian's guestroom. a gender-neutral feel is created by maintaining the masculine-feminine balance. emily also suggests combining antique &organic objects with new accent pieces, in order to create a lived-in atmosphere, &avoid the dreaded &impersonal 'catalog syndrome.'

through her designs, she has rekindled my love for linen, &may have contributed with my new slight obsession with the lovely blue color that seems to be her signature. i must admit, i really want to curl up on her gorgeous blue sofa!

(emily's workspace /dining room, with inspiration board)

emily's show is called secrets of a stylist &her blog is called
the brass petal.

(images from hgtv.com)