Hipstamatic Summer

Oh Summer.
I can't say it was a bad one, just not nearly long enough. I'm still sore over the fact that the Albany camping trip was canceled, but then again there is next year. Someday it will be warm again.
Here are some of my favorite summer shots through the lens of Policecop's Hipstamatic:

New Apartment...



In which the kitchen table is officially the cigarette rolling station. We eat on the floor.





Woodland Adventures.



FLORIDA.





















Cookouts.



BEACH. BEACH. BEACH.









Please come back soon. I'm too old to be excited over snow anymore.

Fireworks and Toy Phones

Last night Policecop, my lovely co-workers and I went out to our friend Laura's Labor Day party. It was nice to see fireworks before the summer comes to a complete close.

All the, erm, excitement left me feeling a little bit hazy today, but I still managed to start a project I've been looking forward to: the leaopardization of my new mini cell phone...

Recently, for whatever reason, I've been longing for the old days, before iPhones and Smartphones, the constant need to be connected up the arse-and-what-have-you...my qwerty keyboard kind of lost its charm and I got all nostalgic over the teeny little candy bar type phones I used to have. So when the battery started going on my Rumor II, I searched out every place I could for remaining old school Virgin Mobile phones. I scored this one at CVS for $8.
Granted it has maybe 1/20th of the neat-o features of my other phone, but it is able to fit so nicely in my smaller purses and weighs maybe as much as a library card. And god knows I sit in front of my computer enough while I'm at home, I really don't have any desire to be a part of this 3G Network hooplah. Not quite yet at least.

Although I've had to switch back to my old phone while the paint dries for a day or so, I'm very much looking forward to using my little leopard masterpiece...although I'm kicking myself for not making the base color less yellow...It's far too late at this point.

It was kind of fun taking a break from figuring out how to build a clutch and simply paint acrylic blobs while blasting my eardrums out on the headphones, in my own little world.
Tonight's poison of choice:
Bat For Lashes...

Fabric Engineering

So the clutch purse is coming along better than expected. This means that visually it matches my initial sketch pretty much to a tee. However, not being a sewing expert by any means I was not surprised to discover that I have most likely made a fatal flaw regarding installation of the lining...oops. I suppose it's no biggie though, I'm hoping to find a way around it. If I take it apart at this point, there is no way I will ever get it to look like this again.
I should have at least studied basic patterns a little bit better. Hrm.

For now it's held together in a few places by safety pins, but I've got till Saturday to figure it out. The count down begins...

Also...entirely too tired after hours of sewing to be bothered with consistent white balance.

Brilliant Things:

Lately I've been blessed in the good finds category....

The perfect Tiffany Blue nail polish. I've never received so many compliments on my nails. Girls eyes are drawn to this color in the same way crows like shiny things. Called "For Audrey" (cute), by China Glaze.

Calvin Klein Collection wooden wedge heels for $9, consignment. In mint condition, until I wore them out one night resulting in the scuffs you see here. My bad. Either way they are like butter and of such a neat shape...your foot is barely in the shoe at all, it's pretty much has 1/4th of the basic upper body of a regular heel. Not painful by any means, but still tough to walk in. If I ever fall in these I'm going DOWN.

So very, very Calvin Klein. Whom I'm not a huge fan of most of the time, but these are a ten for me.

Mini Louis from the 50's, consigned for $48. You don't ever get much luckier than that, really. Found at the same place I scored my gown. I don't really want to tell people about this place anymore, I want it all to myself...

Finally took advantage of the Barnes & Noble gift card I got for my birthday...I knew I was saving it for something good, and here it is. The coolest bag pattern book I've ever seen. EVER.
I'm not following any of the patterns in the book, but got it mostly because I need a quick tutorial on the basics of bag making. After circling the world and the internet twelve times for the perfect clutch for the ball, I've decided I'm just going to have to make my own.

I worked on the basic pattern and interfacing for a few hours tonight, but I'll wait till I have something worth showing before I post. After I'm done with that, and upon obtaining a sewing machine, I'm dying to try the other patterns in this book. So good.

Unicorn Dress

It's not very often that I have a legitimate reason to go out and buy an evening gown. In fact, I've never had a legitimate reason and the only evening gown I've ever bought was in the tenth grade, at a thrift shop for Halloween purposes.

Due to not being able to attend prom (for lack of nobody wanting to bring the fat unpopular girl), I've always felt slightly cheated in a way. Even though 90% of the people I've talked to say that prom was a disaster/not worth it/food was terrible, etc....But God damn it, I wanted to get gussied up so badly. And now I have a miraculous second chance:

The Military Police Ball, September 11th.
The hunt started last Friday at my now favorite consignment shop in the world, upon the discovery of this dress:
100% silk, hand embroidered vintage strapless...pale grey MIRACLE. This dress is the fabric equivalent of a god damn unicorn to me.

The way it falls at the bottom makes my heart skip beats. I dddiieed. Although it's undeniably on the small side, I figure this one to be worth skimping on the chocolate for a while. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice...the color somehow reminds me of a perfectly done sea foam green...without being that, it comes across the same way, if that makes any sense at all.

And then there is the problem of shoes. After spending an obscene amount of time visiting 16 or more stores, and countless more hours on the internet trying to find the perfect pair of heels, the only ones that do it justice were these Wild Rose ones, found on lovemyshoes.com. I'm infatuated with the heel mostly. The rhinestone detail, the metallic spike...goodness all around. My mother also picked up a pair from the consignment shop downtown; vintage satin with rhinestone details. Unfortunately they don't work as well, but they were only $2 so no huge loss. I'm sure I will find a use for them elsewhere.

And now we are faced with the task of finding the perfect clutch. I hate everything about clutches aside from the way they look...incredibly elegant, and yet only practical if you only plan on carrying a credit card, three cigarettes and one tampon if you are lucky. Not so great if you want to tote your dslr around. And there is no way I'm leaving my camera at home for this one. Hm.....

Happy Independence, Jamaica.

Yesterday I attended a Jamaican Independence day celebration, where I found a new want/need for a grayhound in my life. Unfortunately there isn't much running space in this bitty one bedroom palace, wouldn't be very fair for the poor thing. The rest of my weekend has been taken up with spurts of mad productivity through cleaning and re-decorating/re-organizing. In between these spurts, I do nothing but read celebrity news. It's important to strike a balance.

Chrome-itized vintage cigarette rack is now the spice shelf.

Avocado One is thriving.

DIY artwork for the home.

The beach bag to end all beach bags. Nothing to do with productivity, but notice the fresh vacuum lines in the carpet. Why does vacuum need two u's?

Re-worked bathroom artwork. I have an abnormal amount of tissue paper sitting in the closet all wadded up...

Just so happens that the silver makes one neat-o background for photos.

Also woke up this morning with the urge to break out some of the fall clothes...it's not that I'm ready for summer to end...it's always a sad day when flip flops become utterly impractical, and I'm not done with the beach just yet. But suddenly I'm wanting for heavy knits, scarves, halloween and that awesome smell that hits the air when the leaves start to turn and people start using their fireplaces again. Mmmm.