I love going home to Maine because there are actually still deals at flea markets!!! Also, very cool things...
Like these paper & glitter houses... I totally want to make some next year!
This set of military flags... (not really a steal though, it was more than $100)
I love how this dealer set up a whole table of green...
Um, the photo is tipped, but cute kitties with rhinestone eyes are always welcome in my book!
Watching It's a Wonderful Life last night reminded me of my childhood obsession with Donna Reed. I watched a lot of Nick at Night back in my earlier days, preferring The Donna Reed Show, I Love Lucy, My Three Sons, and the Dick Van Dyke Show over the typical kid themed entertainment of the times. Oh they were the best!!
Someone asked once what I wanted to be when I grew up once and I quickly answered, in all honesty, "Donna Reed." I wonder if that desire, albeit utterly unattainable, has ever gone away. It seems silly for a modern girl to idealize such an old fashioned, mom-in-the-kitchen role, doesn't it? But last night as I drooled over her frosty glow and perfectly flirty persona in It's a Wonderful Life... not to mention her characters boldness, quiet strength, loyalty, caring, creativity (the cute DIY honeymoon anyone!!) and extreme patience with her seemingly cuckoo hubby George Bailey... I began to remember why I wanted to be her in the first place.
When I was a single digit, I loved her perfectly puffed skirts, high heels, frilly aprons, the plates full of cookies and that she was funny. The fact that she was a total babe didn't hurt of course!
Nowadays, I still love those things! Ain't she beautiful??
I feel I could write a whole dissertation on: fifties era female stereotypes, how after all this hard work other women have done to free me from it, I still want to be one and how that might be messed up, but might also be great...but I won't. Not tonight. It's Christmas and I want to enjoy the presents.
Sometimes I wonder if procrastination is such a bad thing. Here are all the things I've done in the past two days, trying to avoid doing something else:
Since the second grade I've approached dressing thematically. I would wake up and think "today I want to be pretty" and put on my twirliest dress, with a slip, tights, matching hair accoutrement and let's not forget the clicking shoes! (Did anyone else beg Mom for shoes that made the loudest click-clack?) Then the next day would be totally different, perhaps "funky." I would conjure my inner Punky Brewster and bust out the acid wash skit, blue shirt & yellow suspenders. I LOVE that my mom supplied me with such ensembles. I could always tell the 'new outfit' shaped boxes under the Christmas tree and ignored the groans and eye rolls of my family as I absconded to try on outfit number 4. What a lucky, lucky girl I was! Stretch pants, vests, feather hair clips, tights, hot pink spandex, jeans patched with leather... these clothes would make today's hipster swoon, I swear.
Obviously, the outer shell has been a concern my entire life. On numerous occasions, my little eight or nine year old mind even considered making a chart to keep from wearing the same outfit more than once a month. I often wonder if this kind of vanity is a weakness and grapple with whether to admit that or not. It can often take me a really long time to get dressed. It's SO important and what if I just don't know what to wear that day!? I wish I could roll out of bed and put on the first shirt I touch... but I just can't. We're taught that it's the inner beauty that counts, which I get and am cool with, but that's not my problem. I can wear messy clothes with holes that are baggy, unflattering, mis-matching, what have you... I just have to decide to and make a "look" out of it. (I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that there are people, stylists, who do this as a career!) It's not like I'm some high fashion slave who needs the next BIG thing. I know my worth as a human being has nothing to do with what I decide to wear, I just need to feel like myself.
Some days this is easier said than done, depending on how much breakfast I've had ( I'm a terrible dresser when I'm hungry) and what my closet is filled with. If I haven't done laundry... it's gets harder. I start to pull out rarely worn items, and then feel weird all day.
One of my resolutions for this new year is to get rid of clothes that don't fit, don't feel right, or aren't unique enough. Life is too short to wear a boring collar, I think, for me at least. I'm so excited for this one, I can't even wait for 2009 to start! The other day I tossed some undies that were too small, then later, a pair that was too big . From now on, if some article of clothing bugs me... I'm getting rid of it or making it better somehow.
Inspired by my friend Cal's crochet tutorials and mission to wear something handmade everyday, I decided to do my first fix up job. Now, it's just and old JCrew 'normal' sweater I've had it since I moved to NY in 2003. Despite it's being super warm and functional, it's not really that cute. Yet, I still find myself wearing it again and again all winter and it never feels quite right.
The answer to your question is..... "Yes"
I did just cut some new "Lego Bangs."
As for your other question, Yes.
I am aware that my room is one doily away from a the "Granny Chachka Museum" award.
Thanks for noticing. It's been hard work.
The scene at my house yesterday:
Can you find:
Lately, it seems I've been too busy even to eat a semi-proper meal. (Although I did splurge the other night and go here! Probably the best dinner ever!) I've felt too tired to upload photos or construct a thought. Sad.
The thing is, in order to have periods of Inspired Living, one must have times of uninspired living, right? It's not even like my days are that uninspired, they just don't have the extra hour or two here and there to log in and type about it. I'm still making and knitting away getting ready for Christmas time at the Flea and developing a few new patterns for Blue Sky.
What I've mostly been doing though is preparing for a dance performance in LA:
Santa Monica Museum of ArtChoreographer Melinda Ring and dancers Kimberly Hamlin and Sari Nordman
take over Martin Kersels’ sculpture “Rickety”. As one moody individual
portrayed by three people, they navigate the sculpture’s split levels
and awkward spaces with a mysterious group mind to the accompaniment
of a ticking clock and other ambient sounds.
This performance is in conjunction with the exhibition "Martin Kersels:
Heavyweight Champion" on view at the Santa Monica Museum of Art
from September 13 to December 13, 2008.
Santa Monica Museum of Art
Bergamot Station G1
2525 Michigan Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90404
www.smmoa.org
I'll be back at the flea market November 23rd with a table full of new jewelry, trees, craft kits and harfs.
If you know anyone in LA... tell them about my dance!!!
Some might remember this letter tray from an earlier post...
What was originally just a nice display has now developed into a sort of to do list. It's where I put lost buttons in need of re-sewing, charms I mean to do something with or photos I want to remember to admire on a daily basis. Basically I'm thinking I'll put anything small up here, that needs remembering and over time it'll become a little library of "thoughts."
Instead of having to find a suitable mismatched button, I'll know right where I put the matching one! This will also save me the trouble of configuring a back up outfit when I can't think of anything but the skirt in need of mending. Have I ever mentioned that virtually ALL of my mending occurs three minutes before I'm supposed to walk out the door?? Yeah. There I am, sporting half an outfit, frantically sewing on the end of my bed, when I could just throw on pair of jeans and tee shirt like a normal person.
But back to the tray... I'm always really interested in clutter. I certainly don't like messes, but there's something to the little chatchkas we humans collect. Every home seems to have some, whether its refrigerator magnets, tiny toys, rocks & shells, or even "real art." Imagine.
I'm also really interested in people's inability to deal with their clutter. In other words, organization, or lack thereof. In my world, what might look like a simple pile, actually has a lot of rhyme and reason to it. I think this is the difference between a mess and a display, the intention. I love the idea of turning a bad habit, or organizing weakness, into display. My idea for someone who is always throwing clothes on the floor, is to throw them on the wall instead. Install a grid of hooks, or even just long nails, and stuff your clothes up there instead. Sure it'll look like a pot of spaghetti clothes... but you'll have room to walk, you won't have to take the precious time to put them away and over time, it might end up looking kinda cool up there.
So here are all the thoughts so far in my tray:
This stack of British coins looked so beautiful against the dark wood, I just want to regularly admire it. I love the detailed edges... how come our coins aren't as cool?? Also, I might want to design something based off of these patterns.
A squid and my handsome Grandpa in his navy uniform!! I miss you!
A map box I need to find a new chain for and scented green tea oil to liven up my draw papers!
A little lost tree bird checking things out, a broken pin that needs fixing or a new life and green thread that is just pretty.
Two charms that need chains and a "G" typewriter key for the pair of initial cuff links I owe my friend Garth.I've been taking for granted the fact that I pretty much live in a triple pro-Obama town, have quadruple-pro-Obama pals and practically see his face on every surface from fenders to fanny packs. (ok I didn't see a fanny pack, but how cool would that be?)
I love this DIY verson! Use what you've got people!!
Regardless of your political leanings, you have to admit it's pretty phenomenal to have a Presidential candidate inspire such a wide demographic. My fashion designer roommate had an Obama themed show for fashion week while the grandmother of the child I babysit, who also happens to be a retired judge, is leaving town to go campaign at age 70.
Here's a candidate who is more than just the lesser of two evils, he's someone I'd really like to see become president! So what am I doing now to ensure I can throw some fancy State of The Union Address parties over the next four years? Well, with all the supporters doing work around me, I've sort of forgotten how important it is to represent, but now it's time to get in the game!!!
My suggestion, this necklace from Brookadelphia:
And if you prefer to stay neutral in your advertising... at least choose this sentiment:
I'm a big fan of Brookadelphia. We made a nice trade last Christmas at the Bust craft fair, when I got these rad antler earrings:
This year, at Renegade, I got this awesome "Post Post Modern necklace." It's always is quite a conversation starter.
This jewelry kind of doesn't fit with my usually, pretty old fashioned, girly girl look (is that what it is???) but that's why I love it. This will be my next purchase I think:
Oh, I almost forgot. $10 of the "08ama" necklace goes to his campaign! Go team!!!
My lovely and stylish pal Martha, who also happens to be an awesome stylist, took two of my necklaces for some test shots recently. The finished photos make me so happy and proud... I just love how they look! Thanks Martha for working your magic!
And please do check out more of her work at her website!
Walt Whitman
I heard a poem of his the other day while watching the PBS documentary about New York City and it peaked my interest in the guy. The documentary uses much of his work, as he was an early American-lover of NY -ahead of his time kind of writer. His poem, Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry, just captures the exact feeling of this city, even now. In a time before the Brooklyn Bridge, before Man had even envisioned building UP instead of OUT, Whitman seemed to comprehend this constant for all New Yorkers. Despite the changes to come for his New York and ours, this poem just gets it:
1.
Flood-tide below ! I watch you face to face;
Clouds of the west! sun there half an hour high! I see you also face to face.Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes! how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose;
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
(I skip some here)
3.
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence;
I project myself- also I return- I am with you, and know how it is.Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt;
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd;
Just as you refresh'd by the gladness of the river and bright flow, I was refresh'd;
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood, yet was hurried;
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships, and the thick-stem'd pipes of steamboats, I look'd.
NYC, Brooklyn and the Bridge.
Like Alexander Hamilton
Bringing it back to the current century, this band called Bon Iver is really rocking my world. Check out their myspace page to listen! The song "The Wolves" has the best yet most subtle use of that voice changing effect thing (that Cher made popular) ever. See if you can hear it and agree with me!
The last time I was at the Brooklyn Flea I scored this printers tray (plus another one) for $10!!!!! Thats right folks $5 each! I was shocked. I saw them in a booth nearby and wandered over at the beginning of the day to see how much they were (she had 4). My hope was to keep my eye on them from afar and cross my fingers sell enough to bring one home with me. When I found out the price I wanted to buy them all! If I had had a way to cart them all home, I would have done it!
My mom spotted a similar tray at home in Maine recently for $60, which still a pretty a good deal if you ask me. I think I really lucked out and couldn't be more jazzed about my new little collecting place!
First off, let me express my deep respect and awe for stylists. They are the ultimate merchandisers. They take products to new levels of desirability by placing them in dreamy lifestyle scenarios. Despite being completely fake and two dimensional, we covet these ideal lives and in turn, rush out to buy, buy, buy! Or so is the hope of companies like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Ikea.
All of the aforementioned companies make great stuff. Stuff that in the past I have really, really wanted, needed even. Stuff I was willing to stand in line for when my plate of Swedish Meatballs had all but won off. Seriously, it's not the stuff that bothers me. I love my Crate and Barrel Popsicle maker! The Pottery Barn shower curtain liner, that I got by ordering one too many for my friend's wedding, was the longest lasting liner I have ever owned. And dear Ikea, your cheese grater slays me! I wish I had cause to buy more, but alas, one is all you need.
In my opinion, this is how it should be. A girl or boy picking his or her favorite items based on need, desire and taste. The catalog images provide inspiration for the daily use of said items and maybe help you see things that you might not have noticed otherwise. Way to go stylists! For a while there you almost made me want to buy some giant wicker balls and cover all my books with white paper!
I feel a need to apologize for my first post in ages turning so negative. I don't want to be known as someone who tears things down, but after receiving the latest Crate and Barrel catalog, well, let's just say I'm offended and leave it at that.
Which came first, the carpet, the chair or the lime green books?
I think it's pretty common for lovers of green, especially when it comes to the pickle varieties, to always be drawn to items of that color. If I had an unlimited income, I might fall into this category myself, so maybe there is some truth to this styling technique. Still, I think it's pretty basic to stick to one pretty bold color. If you're going to go that way, really go that way and fill the room with even more green. If I were given these exact same props to use, I would have made the wall white or an almost yellow green to allow for another accent color. Then I would have added a few more props that weren't green. Maybe something pale yellow or blue. Then I would have tried putting all the green books on one shelf, because that seams like something a normal person might try.
Maybe people dream of color coded rooms, where book bindings match the carpet and the pen you leave angled just so. I dream of spaces that leave breathing room for all colors and the parade of items I'm sure to drag home from the flea market. I never want to be limited to jusst one color extreme. Yikes. What else can you put in this room?
It would have to be bright orange, green, or turquoise, right? Is my problem that I'm just not into bright, solid colors? I think the quilt is nice, but the room just reminds me of a transitional summer patio collection or something.
This room tells a similar story only at a different temperature.
Even a flower arrangement would look out of place up there. And flowers look good anywhere!
This carpet would be GREAT if it were the only colored thing in the room.
And this last room is just the hugest pet peeve ever! I can't really name it or put my finger on it, but I know it has a lot to with the shaker posed on the little shelf.
I never thought I would praise the Pottery Barn catalog, but at least their rooms are more neutral and inspiring [to me]. Ikea has the corner on inventive/inexpensive/stylish design and at least they send out fewer catalogs. The trees and I are very thankful for that.
Yesterday I got a bunch of containers at Fishs Eddie to use for trees. I don't know why I never thought to go there before. I guess Because it's a bit more expensive than the flower supply store and I wasn't really thinking about the containers all that much. But as I've talked to people at the flea and taken special orders using a variety of vessels, it's open my eyes to a whole new world of tree making. Now people will get an equally cute and interesting container as well as their little knit tree! I can't wait to get started on these!!
Even in the heat today's busy flea market, I could hardly stop drooling over these nearby chocolatiers, I mean, chocolates! Some may know that I am not the hugest chocolate fan, but it was love at first site with Mast Brothers Chocolate. One look at the beautifully patterned papers used to perfectly wrap each bar and I was smitten. I finally ran over to their booth when I saw them packing up early and was lucky to snag a couple of bars that were left.
Please take a moment to view their website, which expertly exhibits their old fashioned aesthetic. Boys, your style, it pleases me greatly. Thank you!
In honor of you.... I old this photo!
My pals Isabelle & Nick are just amazing folk. They have converted a garage into this amazing home & studio for their growing business: Piano Nobile. Check out Isabelle's lovely bags in their Etsy store!
Kj and I had a lovely time chillin in the front "yard"with Bauhaus the puppy, some wine and some olives. We later went out for conveyor belt sushi and came back for strawberry rhubarb pie and a movie projected on the wall. Um, can you say best day ever?
Tonight I'm doing something I haven't since the start of the Brooklyn flea market six weeks ago: going to bed early! I'm headed out of town for a vacation, what? That's right. So with the 'making things' pressure off, I've been pacing around the house wondering what to do. Now, it's not like I don't have things to do... it's just, there's nothing that really justifies staying up past eleven. I can do it tomorrow, or on the plane, or my favorite, when I get back! Or maybe it doesn't even need to be done in the first place, like drooling over lofts/condos/co-op listings I can't afford on the internet. So rather than pace around, or stare at the computer one more hour, I decided to go to bed. Also, my apartment is freezing right now and I think my bed is really the only warm place! The cats are here (Dinah says hello btw) and we are cozied in for the night.
One last thing before I say adios to el web... my favorites thus far from the paper themed Poppytalk Handmade Market:
| Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade Keepitmovingdesign.etsy.com |
Last week, at the flea, I had a special request. A commission if you will. Well, actually three, no, make it four! Gosh. It really was so cool. People just started asking if I would do a tree in a container that they brought me and I thought, sure, why not? I mean, that's what this whole shopping local thing is all about, right? PLUS they're giving me great artistic license and trust, which is a makers dream! So... three containers came to me that very day, found in another vendors space and the fourth I'll put together at a later date. Here's the first:
A mini tree in a vintage metal JELLO mold.
When I saw this container I immediately thought of a blossoming cherry tree. Perhaps inspired by a recent trip to the Botanical Garden. I usually steer clear of foliage, but just had to add blossoms on this!!
One other request was for two fiddle heads and a toadstool. I'm waiting for the container to arrive, but in the meantime I thought I'd make fern/mushroom combinations for sale as well. I'm not sure I'll be able to part with this one though, or my favorite dome cover thingy.
More forest floors...
You know those times when your roommate invites you to see the friend of the guy downstairs play bass for the first time with this other guy... those times? Well we all know its a gamble don't we? And yet we go, time and time again to show support for our brethren, the struggling artists, because a night out with the rooms typically bodes well for you. So you hop on the G train to Williamsburg's Pete's Candy Store and order yourself a shot of whiskey. You thoughtfully nurse that whiskey until his set is done, when, in all honesty, you thank the 'guy' for playing.
And just when you begin debating whether or not to get another drink, it happens. The second act, King Wilkie saves your life. Not only redeeming this and all other nights you've gambled on in the past, but becoming an instant favorite band. Inspiring desires in you to create matching tie tacks and cuff links for each member and learn millinery so you can outfit them in matching derby's or something. They have a nerdy cool presence on stage and the beautiful bass & mandolin combo is heavenly. I really took to them, can you tell?
New mini business cards from moo.com. You can upload straight from your flickr page and get twenty different photos if you want. They come in a hot little box too, that I'm totally going to re-use a million times. I feel a little guilty knowing they came all the way from the UK, however. Forgive me Earth. Next time I'll at least buy more!
Fiddle heads
And a willow tree named Xavier:
I'm officially the proudest babysitter. I love 'my' kids so much... and their parents too of course. They make me feel so loved and valued! I am one lucky ducky.
So the deal is that I had a birthday a few days my birthday and when I picked up the kids from school it was their teacher who wished me a happy birthday first. "They've been talking about it all day, " she said. Proud moment # 1. Well, I guess it's not so much proud as feeling loved. I was just astonished that they would be talking about me at school and had to squeeze them enthusiastically as a result.
Then, it became apparent that something else was up. I had been told not to make dinner and then Luke said, "Kimmie, I gotta tell you something." He always starts sentences that way. I love it. He's just gotta tell me something. "Today, Mom is going to pick me up and then we're all going to my house and then I can't tell you anymore because it's a secret." Ok kiddo. The jig was up. I kind of suspected a little event when I was told not to make dinner, but then of course in their excitement to keep a secret, the kiddos pretty much told me the secret straight off the bat. How precious are they? There was much crying and arguing in the car every time someone got a bit too close to the secret. I played along and pretended not to know.
At the end of the day I was surprised with a lovely meal with both families made by Luke's Mom Elizabeth who also made the most scrumptious cake of life! A three layer lemon cake with mixed berries inside and lemon frosting. It was great! Ummm, yeah, I totally I had some for breakfast the next day, in case you were wondering.
The best part though was the two beaming children handing me their homemade cards. So proud... and having completed them all by themselves!
Luke's envelope portrays the game that he and Eleanor had been playing earlier in which one person got trapped in a string. In the foreground is another guy, cut/pasted from a separate piece of paper, who's coming to let the trapped person out.
As I've sat with this... I feel like it may just be a big clue into his view of the world, or at least drawing/art. I feel like the supplies (paper, crayons, paints) maybe very real and tangible to him, more so than I tend to think of them. When I sit down to draw I know I'm making a representation or just something beautiful. For him the building was real enough to flip over and imagine a back yard there. His envelope drawing (above) was very real too, like a diagram of the exact event that had happened earlier. What does this mean???? Whatever it is, he's super cool and I'm going to spy on him more to see if I can figure it out!
I was also impressed that Luke had just learned to spell my name. He made this neat little drawing and folded it into his envelope. He said it was him and me.
Then we have Miss Eleanor's card... starting with one GIANT googley eye...
and on the inside her sweet note that nearly made me cry...
The thing that gets me is that she knew what she wanted to say and just wrote it down. She's been reading and writing on her own for a bit now, just sounding things out. Her interest and nonchalance is so awesome. What broke my heart is this awakening ability to communicate in a whole new way. She has a thought and transforms it into words in her mind and then turns it into marks on paper that mean something to all of us. It's just so cool.
Both of my gifts from the kids are really all about them growing and developing and becoming thinkers and makers...my two favorite things. I just stress how awesome it is to witness and be a part of. I love you guys!!!
