Windows and Light

Windows and Light

uyguguygu   07.00   Comment  

I collect old windows. White ones, with wobbly, old glass that's become unsteady over the years. I have far too many and they have all been found in dumpsters from the frequent rebuilds a lot of the old houses have had around here. Denver is a city that is very much "out with the old, in with the new," particularly when it comes to architecture. It's very frequent to see an old house being torn down or gutted completely down to the supporting frame to put in a new house or rebuild the old one to the point where you have no idea when it was really built. I've been known to salvage little architectural details like windows from the dumpsters instead of letting them get tossed. 

I keep the windows gathered all in one spot up against a wall. Behind it I have Christmas lights I shoved behind them (this was the backdrop to our tree this year, and I liked the lights in back too much to take them out) and they illuminate our house warmly in the evenings. The windows give one of our enormous, blank walls some texture, and leave the wall open for me to photograph against because they are easily moved. Today I decided to use them as the backdrop they usually are, and add more textures in front of them - wool socks, a faux fur stole, and a white dress woven with pattern and trimmed with lace. 

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There's a whole lotta vintage going on in this picture - the stole, dress, and belt are all vintage. The shoes were purchased from Anthropologie several years ago, and the socks are smartwool and keep my feet toasty warm! 

Summer Sweetness - Part Two

Summer Sweetness - Part Two

uyguguygu   12.47   Comment  

Summer is drawing to a close - I finished my internship yesterday and on Monday I start training for the new district. Oh my goodness! This summer has absolutely flown by and has been so jam packed and busy. We hit the ground running by flying to Alaska the day after I finished up with my school year, I started my internship the day after I got back, and I start school three and half days after my internship. 

Despite this, there has been so much time to play! When I think of all the amazing things that I have done this summer the thing that comes to mind is gratitude - simple gratitude for all that has been given to me, for all the happiness I have. 

What are you grateful for this summer? 

 

It goes without saying that all of these pictures were done by Jessica Triggs. 

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The Hair and Makeup was done by me. 

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The shirt is vintage, repaired quickly before the shoot after sitting under my bed for almost three years. The scarf and shoes are vintage, too. The shorts are by the talented Anna Allen.

Summer Sweetness - Part I

Summer Sweetness - Part I

uyguguygu   11.23   Comment  

Things take practice - that's what I've learned this summer. I recently started horseback riding because I really just wanted to be a beginner at something, to remember what it was like to have absolutely zero knowledge of something and yet be expected to do things while muddling your way through them to the goal. 

I like tackling new things in community with others, too. I like the process of meeting people and figuring out where they are coming from, what you can teach them and what they have to teach you. Horseback riding is like that - not only do you meet a horse, get to know it, earn it's trust, learn it's commands, and figure out how to partner with it, you learn how to listen to your trainer as she's asking you to do things you've never thought you could do, working through your mistakes, and more importantly, your fears. 

Thanks to Jessica blogging has been collaborative this summer, too. It's become a bigger process, and welcoming someone into a happy project I've been working on for a very long time has been a joyful experience. Jessica takes gorgeous pictures and I am so proud of her work and of her dedication to the art of photography, but beyond that she's an excellent teacher, a fantastic brainstormer, and is always willing to answer questions about how to up the ante on my pictures, especially since I feel like I've plateaued in the last year or so with the quality of my own pictures. 

Working with someone else inspires me to get out there and work on what I love, to dig out things I haven't worn in a long time, and to try something again, to look at it in a new light. I think everything I'm wearing has been blogged before but never like this.

Honestly, I used to be terrified of collaboration. I was always the girl in school that would take on the entirety of the group project, terrified I would get something less than an A. Over the years, tI've learned to let collaboration be about learning and making mistakes. I've come to grips with letting others teach me. I've slowly opened up by trying to be less shy or more welcoming. In real life I feel that I come off a little standoffish...mostly because I'm somewhat nervous about things because I'm so afraid what I'm doing will fail if I don't make it go just so or people get too close. I've worked hard on that but I still have a long way to go! 

This summer I have learned and am learning so much - new writing styles, horsemanship, how too cook, photography basics. Out of curiosity, have you learned or are learning? Who is teaching it to you? 

It goes without saying that all of these pictures were done by Jessica Triggs. 

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The Hair and Makeup was done by me. I used MAC pigments on my eyes and MAC's Russian Red on my lips. (This is, in my opinion, the best shade of red for redheads!) 

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The shirt is vintage, repaired quickly before the shoot after sitting under my bed for almost three years. The scarf and shoes are vintage, too. The shorts are by the talented Anna Allen. 

Denver Debutant

Denver Debutant

uyguguygu   19.05   Comment  

While I was in Kansas City this summer my lovely friend took me to this fantastic vintage store. When I tried on this particular over the top gown I felt a bit like a debutant. Which, of course, in my book is a good feeling because in my brain one should always feel like a debutant. 

I still have no idea where I'm actually going to wear this dress but it's been added to my collection of largely impractical dresses. I have dreams of a spring season ballet or a trip to the symphony with other friends who still enjoy playing dress up.

Luckily my amazing friend Jessica offered to take pictures of this dress and gave me a reason to wear this dress, do up my hair, and twirl around Denver for an afternoon. Jessica takes pictures with the Heartflip Collective. You can check out her other work here. 

All pictures in this post by Jessica Triggs. She's amazing!

You Should Know: How to Avoid Getting Sick - 5 Tips From a Teacher

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You Should Know: How to Avoid Getting Sick - 5 Tips From a Teacher

uyguguygu   10.21   Comment  

(My breakfast - designed to help me avoid getting sick - a smoothie with veggie based protein powder, mixed greens, almond milk, and frozen berries)

My lovely husband is sick today - sneezing, sniffling, dripping everywhere. I’m working really hard to avoid getting sick from him. Also, cold and flu season is just around the corner. I’m a teacher and I’m around sick kids a lot. I really try hard to stay healthy through diet and lifestyle but sometimes you have to go a bit further, especially when parents send their kids to school sick or someone is sick around you. Here are the top five things I’ve found that help!  

1. Avoid sick people. Yup. Avoid them. This one sounds harsh but it’s totally the number one thing you can do to keep yourself from getting sick. Try to stay away from the air they are breathing, the things they are touching. Don’t sleep next to them. I always kick my husband onto the couch when I’m sick and when he’s sick I go for an air mattress. When a student is sick I try to help them from a distance, without putting my face to near to their hands or face. This is still totally effective teaching and helps keep me from having to get a sub a few days later…which is generally not effective teaching.  

2. Don’t touch your face, nose, or mouth! This advice was given to me by a doctor when I was really sick during student teaching. There’s only a few ways for germs to enter your body and your hand connecting with one of them is a sure fire way to get sick. If my eyes itch I’ll scratch them while holding a tissue or use part of my sleeve in a pinch. I wash my hands before food prep and try to use utensils instead of my fingers to eat. When I put my moisturizer on my face I make sure that my hands are clean both to avoid bacteria in my pores and also to avoid germs that could make me sick!

3. Wash your hands! This was alluded to in the previous point, but washing your hands and washing them frequently is such an important thing! Hopefully I’m preaching to the choir with this one but it’s important to get rid of those germs. You can really make handwashing as fun or as boring as you want to. At work it’s whatever soap they provide but at home I go for the Method soaps in the fun containers and of course minty smelling soap! I generally do liquid over bar soap because it makes my sink less messy! Wash all the time, especially before food prep and eating and…do I even need to say it…after you use the restroom!

4. Rest and hydrate! If you find yourself feeling like you’re coming down with something…rest! I try to get as much off my schedule, I stop training cold turkey for a day or two, and I just hydrate and rest. I try to nap, and give my body the space to use the energy I’d generally be putting in at the gym to repair the damage before it gets too intense.

5. Eat Right. I hope that this is one thing that you already do! Eating lots of great living foods, healthy grains, lower amounts of sugars…I believe that would be called eating clean…is the best thing you can do! Having good food will give you a good immune system and having enough vitamins and minerals help with that, too. I personally take a high quality multivitamin purchased through my natropath with a healthy dose of Vitamin C to help with absorption. I also strive for 9 servings of fruits and veggies a day and try to stay away from refined sugars. Eating healthy is a little less easy to do when you are on your way to getting sick because your energy is drained but it’s the number one thing you can do to help keep yourself healthy. When I’m getting sick I get Zicam (I’ve found it’s the best of the cold remedies out there for my physiology) and take a few zinc supplements on top of it. I completely cut all sugars (including fruit sugars) out of my diet because I know bacteria loves sugar and uses sugars to multiply, and really, really go crazy with the veggies and hot soups. I make a huge kettle of Veggie Soup and just eat that for a few days as needed and the heat and liquid helps you stay hydrated and clear out those sinuses. I put Cayenne pepper in it, tons of garlic, organic veggie broth, rosemary, and any veggie that looks appealing into it. I snack on carrots and bell peppers and Kale chips. 

Itty Bitty Baby Clothes - Simplicity 2300

Itty Bitty Baby Clothes - Simplicity 2300

uyguguygu   20.22   Comment  

This is the summer of Showers. Not just the (unusual) amount of rain showers here in Colorado, but baby showers, wedding showers, bridal showers.

For the most part I purchase gifts off of registries for said showers, but I have a wonderful friend who is expecting a little baby boy and I knew she would appreciate something handmade. She also loves vintage clothes so I looked through my vintage pattern stash and interpreted (seriously, this was a tough pattern for me to figure out!) a late 1940's child's playsuit. 

I've recently become enamored with the idea of "Slow Sewing," which is where you slow it down and really, really make it look as good as you possibly can both inside and out. No more whipping out a garment in a single day - every seam is finished and hopefully it looks as great turned inside out as it does right side out. This was my first "Slow Sewed" garment and it really only took me about a third longer than sewing normally does once I figured out how to finish the seams. 

Finally, the coat has the first Welt Pockets I've ever attempted. I found a great tutorial here, and that helped me out a lot! Also, you can find a picture of the original pattern cover on the Vintage Pattern Wiki here.

 

A Sturdy Cotton Housedress

A Sturdy Cotton Housedress

uyguguygu   17.17   Comment  

I whipped this dress up two days ago from a pattern given to me by my Aunt. The pattern had originally belonged to my Great Auntie Flossie, who I believe was Auntie Flossie through marriage. I'm honestly a little unclear about how exactly she was related to me - she was present at every family event, though, so she was family anyways! 

Whenever I sew one of her patterns I become extremely thankful for her and that she saved these patterns for so many years! Even though some of them are marked smaller sizes than I am I haven't had to majorly alter anything from her pattern stash yet! I also am thankful that my Aunt thought of letting me pick through Auntie Flossie's sewing room - many of the convenience tools come from her, and were things that, at the time I was given them, I wouldn't have been able to purchase. I would probably still be making do without electric scissors, an array of slopers, three different sizes of eyelet setters, a thimble with the top cut off (indispensable!), and other little treasures. I still use many of her vintage trims and buttons whenever I sew, although some of the cuter things like buttons in their original cards or Milwaukee Advertising needle cards remain unused and waiting for display in my someday sewing room.

In hair news, this is the third set I've tried so far, and it's worked a little more enthusiastically than I've expected! I used sponge rollers everywhere this time, and of course setting lotion as usual. I've had a hard time keeping the curls brushed in place in a wave as they keep wanting to form individual curls all by their lonesome until my hair looks like it's going out in all directions! I used a 1950's setting pattern with a distinct part but I feel like it almost looks a little more 1930's to me. I think it might just be the length of the hair that's giving it this 20's/30's vibe more than the setting pattern at this point. I feel like a character out of I Capture the Castle or something! I love Cassandra Mortmain so this look doesn't worry me all that much.

Dress: Simplicity 1819

Shoes: Vintage

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July!

uyguguygu   21.19   Comment  

Yesterday night I watched IT with Clara Bow, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the movie itself I really enjoyed the costuming and the hair. This morning, after my ride, I set my hair in a vaguely 1920's look inspired by the movie. 

I like to wear white on the 4th - most years I make a brand new outfit to wear but this year I didn't because I was on the road. This cotton dress was from my Fall/Winter collection but it's actually, in hindsight, a better fit for summer. I hadn't worn it yet so it seemed like the right day to put it on.

While we were out taking these photographs we had a little visitor - one of the friendly neighborhood cats stopped by to say hello!

Dress: Self Made

Necklace: Vintage

Shoes: Vintage