Spookily Came The Postman

beautiful package! i love Teri's little card - it's living in my jewelry box

 As you may know, Terri of RAGS Against The MACHINE had a giveaway recently in celebration of her reaching 125 followers. Meg of The Sewing Pixie brought this milestone to Terri's attention, and this, combined with Terri's fabulous and iconic use of  Meg's 'Skelly' cameo, made the choice of giveaway prize clear. (At least to me!)

I'm not much for entering giveaways. I know that they are great tools for driving readership and commenting, and i support this goal. But, as you all know, i'm so frikkin' picky about what i wear. I'd hate to win a prize that would just sit in the closet while someone else would wear it week in and week out. As i put it in my entry comment:

"hee hee, i never enter giveaways because 9 times out of ten, the prize doesn't suit me anyways, so why not let it go to someone it will.


however."

 As luck would have it, i won!  It came at just the right time, too. I'd been feeling horrible for weeks with a sinus infection. Round one of antibiotics didn't do the trick. Round two caused a severe reaction (102F fever, joint pain and swelling). Round three didn't do diddly either since my regular doc was on vacation and the front desk decided i didn't deserve to speak to the doc on call and i got prescribed the same antibiotic that didn't work the first time......on top of all this i have a horrible history of asthma (multiple hospitalizations, etc.) and sinus troubles are notorious for triggering asthma. So i was constantly anticipating worse days ahead. One day it just hit me, how awful i'd felt and how i was making no progress at all - and then two wonderful things happened. First, my amazing prize came in the mail!

Then, my noble camera died in the line of duty (sob). I didn't secure it properly and it fell on it's head and could no longer focus - the neurological damage left if effectively brain dead. We had to pull the plug. This camera came to me from my brother, a retired Air Force man. This little Kodak circled the world not once but twice, documenting the chickens of Diego Garcia and swimming in the Indian Ocean. My point and shoot had led a full life. It was time to let go.

mom feels this bee has had her privacy invaded

As a result, i got a brand new, full of features camera! Wow! It's nowhere near a top of the line DSLR, but i am amazed at what it can do. I took some pictures of my jewelry and it was like using an electron microscope! My favorite feature is the 'dog' and 'cat' face detection feature. That's two different settings - one for dog faces and one for cat faces. You can set your camera for 'cat face' and then program it so that it automatically trips the shutter when a cat face is electronically detected. Wonder if they have cameras with bigfoot detection capabilities?

The necklace is great, and nicely made. The clasp is secure as well as easy to use, and the chain is delicate, interesting, and smooth as silk.  The button earrings are perfect. The oxidized silver wears easily with everything, and the foliage arabesques tie into to all the lines of my wardrobe. Nothing beats a pair of earrings that enhance every look with no thinking necessary! Here's Meg's etsy shop - you know what to do.

I wore this look to go grocery shopping. The butcher who generally helps me seemed to like it, but showed no sign of 'reading' Skelly.  Interestingly, i ran across a comment from Terri of RAGS herself a day or so ago. As i recall, she said she likes wearing subtle items that are a little 'off', partly in order to test people's observation skills.

I've loved to do this myself for years. In fact, i did it last Saturday at ilegirl's Fancy Pants World Tour. ilegirl arrived early  to pick me up for the drive down to Danville. Shortly after getting in the car i noticed my skirt was inside out. Well, putting your clothes on inside out without realising it is supposed to be good luck, plus i wondered if anyone would notice, so i left it. No one noticed, or didn't feel like telling me. Within an hour i was in a dressing room, trying on clothes, so i turned it right side out. And, yes, i was wearing my new Skelly necklace from Meg and Terri....

Wheels within wheels. Just how is our universe arranged, anyways?

Cameo Necklace: Meg's Ragged Edge etsy shop
Dress: Converse One for Target
Jacket: own design
Heels: Clark's Passion
Nude Fishnets: Sock Dreams
Earrings: Tail of the Yak, Berkeley, CA

Summer Wrap Up

Happily, today (Halloween!) has dawned nice and bright, so the little ghoulies and monsters should be able to run, squeal, and hold up the locals without fear of damp or cold.  However, the last couple of weeks have been typical Bay Area winter-type weather - damp, some rain, fog, a bit chilly.  I have a couple of summery outfits i haven't posted yet, so i figured i'd better slap 'em up here before they seem completely out of kilter!

Another grocery-shopping-day look.  Note predominance of pockets and tell-tale bright pink pen.

another view:

I love that skirt so much more since i made the 'coordinating' petti. Even when i wear the skirt all by itself.  It makes no sense, but that hasn't stopped anything before.

God, i just love the way linen crinkles and wrinkles and drapes.  That blouse is a linen/rayon blend and by the end of the day is just has this amazing texture. Not to mention it breathes wonderfully in the heat.  It also lasts like iron, i did you not! If i had to choose one fiber for all i wear, i'd go with linen.

Same pin/chain trick. Next you can see the multiple waist fastenings i like - knotted, belted, & tied.

This last outfit (below) was fine. But i've decided to toss this blouse (after i cannibalize it for buttons, lace, etc.). I got it on sale at April Cornell a few years back. Very nice details - buttons with loops, skinny circle-ruffle on neckline, lace and ruffle on sleeve - but the fit is just atrocious. Constantly 'falling to the back', kind of too long to wear out and loose (plus the front placket always shrank, causing the hem to dip up in the center), yet not long enough to tuck in or knot properly.

Here's a detail of how i got the blouse to kind of (not really) stay in place:

I used a hair elastic to gather up the 'knot', then hid it underneath the belt. It looked fine, but the blouse kept moving around too much for me.

I thought this clock would look so fun with this outfit.  It's a present from my mom - i love old clocks and i love birds, so it was really sweet of her to find this one for me. This clock is perfect as a kitchen clock (hmm, i think it's time to move it over the greenhouse window above the sink again...).  The funniest part is, through some mix-up, the details of which i've forgotten (mom?), mom ended up getting a duplicate and now we have matching kitchen clocks!  Of course this makes it that much more special. I'm having a feeling that i was certain i'd lost it in the move to Tony's when we married, so mom got me a replacement, but then i found the original....

Mom, does this sound right to you or.....?

Happy Halloween everybody!!!

Jacket: Royal Robbins, altered
Top, Petticoat: own design
Skirt: own design, inspired by some girls wander
Shoes: Maine Woods
Pen: Pilot Rolling Ball Extra Fine
Belt: Betsey Johnson

Blouse: Folkwear Patterns Gibson Girl Blouse, made by me
Dress: Converse One at Target
Underskirt: Liberty of London for Target
Belt: Betsey Johnson

Blouse: April Cornell
Skirt, Petticoat: own design
Sandals: Naturalizer

Ka-Wong!

That's the sound effect which went along with the original detail picture for this outfit. (Even Mr. E noticed!) I've 'de-ka-wonged' the photo by snipping it into two (see below), thus removing the, aherm, 'louder' elements of the photo.


Well. I also received my first kinda creepy web comment. I've been uploading my pix to flickr and editing them with the picknik dealybob. (Although i'm in the middle of switching to my hardrive as soon as i download the Gimp software and figure how to work it - any advice would be muchly appreciate!) So, getting back to the subject, i thought it might be funny to pixelate or blur the 'middle' of the photo. I tried my hand at it and came up with a so-so version, which i left up on my photostream for...what? 10-12 minutes? before i decided to go with cropping the photo and deleted the blurred version.

Another ~15 minutes pass and i return to the cropped photo (now sans mammaries) to find someone has commented: "Where did the blurry bit go? I thought my eyes were going funny!!!??? :)"

Flippin' hilarious. The comment is from no one i'm aware of knowing. Who clicks around Flickr monitoring tittie pictures, anyways? (Wait, please don't answer that...) At any rate, looks like i've brightened someone's day. We live to serve.

Outfit-wise, i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've worn anything resembling a jumper since somewhere around fifth grade. Mom, could you help me out on that one? I enjoyed this look more than i thought i would. It is nice not to worry about your bra straps showing (yeah, i'm just obsessed with my breasts today) or putting on a jacket to cover my shoulders against the sun. It's funny how sensitive you can be to little details. The black bandana under the belt was what really made me cool with this look.

I sure am looking forward to cooler weather and more layering opportunities! Even the little bit of cooling off we had a week ago when i wore this made for more options. All you people in colder climes can throw me a raspberry right now.

Dress: Converse at Target
Tee: The Ultimate Tee Merona at Target
Shoes: Dansko Marcelle
Bandana: Target
Belt: vintage Coach
Necklace: gift

Everybody Loves A Parade

This is what i wore on the Fourth of July. No parade for me. But mom watched it earlier in the day, and Mr. E and i did wander about the closed-off main streets of Napa towards evening. There were food vendors, three live music stages, picnics, and people-watching as folks staked out the best firework viewing spots. My outfit kept the sun off and seemed to cheer people up, so i give it thumbs up.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way the double-strap mary janes and black crochet sox read as curvy little ankle boots. I've filed that away in my beaney little noggin for later. And here's a tip for increasing the 'remix' possibilities of your wardrobe. The underskirt is actually a Liberty of London for Target little cotton chemise. Until now, i've just been wearing it as a nightie - here's how Sal of Already Pretty styled it the other day. It's pretty short and has smocking in the back. I turned the straps and cups inside the skirt, then used a couple of safety pins to take in the fullness on the sides until it sat at the length i wanted.

Lemme tell ya, clothes in this house gotta be ready for ANYthing!!

Dress: Converse One for Target
Underskirt: Liberty of London for Target (looks like they're sold out)
Shoes: Clark's Passion
Belt: Betsey Johnson
All Else: gifts or made by me

Navy Grosgrain

Dress from Converse One Star at Target, socks from regular old Target. Dansko Marcelles, truly ancient boater. Skeevy look from unhappy sinuses.