Punch of color

I just discovered these pants - too bad they missed the boat for my neon brights post!


American Apparel pic

Not sure if wearing these would provide a fun punch of color...or a punch in the face, but they're definitely interesting!

Morning Ritual

credit

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is to sit in front of my computer and browse news, blogs and whatever else while I drink a cup of coffee.
Or three.

Lately, I have been perusing fashion and street style blogs to glean inspiration for my outfit each day. I wanted to share a few images that I collected this week for one reason or another:



photo from Elle's Street Chic blog
I just love the confident look on this girl's face, not awkward at all even though a stranger is taking her picture in the middle of the street. Would I wear those boots? No, but she looks great.





photo from Elle's Street Chic blog
I don't know that I would have thought to mix the texture of this dress with a jacket the way that she did. I think it works really well.




photo from Style Scout, a London street style blog
I have been wanting a navy jacket with gold buttons forev, I love it over this breton striped shirt.




photo from Elle's Street Chic blog
This is the perfect outfit for a Saturday, to me.




photo from Elle's Street Chic blog
I was just telling my friend Candance that I can't get into the chunky shoe trend. This picture may have singlehandedly turned it around for me, I love the ease of the pants and the shirt, kinda loose, and this would not have worked with any other type of heel.




At the recommendation of my friend Ashley I've just recently started checking out Polyvore... it's looking to be a potential gold mine of outfit ideas!

eye spy

* Eye Spy is a new feature where a panel of friends (sometimes the same, sometimes maybe not!) each find an item they like from an assigned theme. This time we chose neon brights for summer. Enjoy!






Dani: psychedelic furs t-shirt, ModCloth, $14.99

Tedder: bright green & turquoise dangle earrings, Lakeshore Creations on Etsy, $12

Katie: neon clutch, featured on the blog Best Thing Today (the link for the clutch led nowhere, so alas, I'm not certain who makes it.)

Kristen: Demille pump, Joan & David on Endless.com, $130

Art project: Mother's Day card

(I meant to post this last month...whoops.)

One of the things I try to convey on this blog is that inspiration can be found everywhere. Art, fashion, design... they're all connected.
Some people may wonder how these inspirations can be applied to their life...

Enter: a homemade Mother's Day card. Generally my personal style of "art" is limited to stick figures. Seriously. But I remembered a painting that I saw on a blog that looked kinda simple and decided to try and recreate it, sort of, on a blank white card to use for Mother's Day this year.


Here's the original:


And here's my interpretation:



It's not a masterpiece, but the recipient loved it and I can say I made it myself! Inspiring, right?


The blog where I originally saw the painting is Little Green Notebook.

What is Etsy?

Not too long ago, I mentioned one of my favorite sites to someone and received the question in reply, "What is Etsy?" The thought that some readers of this blog may not know what Etsy is had never crossed my mind, since I reference it so frequently, and I decided the topic warranted a blog post.

Etsy is an online marketplace, within the marketplace individuals set up their own little shop and sell homemade items; these vary from the literal, like homemade baked goods, to vintage clothes that have been altered to add their own personal flair. There are crafty things, like knitted scarves, blankets and baby items to pottery to paper goods to clothing to paintings and photographs and the list goes on and on. It's awesome.

The coolest thing about the site to me is the number of ways available to search for an item, you can shop by what type of item, what color, things made locally, and my favorite way - Pounce. With Pounce you can choose to either see shops that just made a sale (what I do) or shops that have never had a sale (unfound treasures!). Naturally there are some bizarre things on there too, like doll clothes and stuff, but as my boyfriend always says - there's a pot for every lid.

Here's the handmade Valentine's card I bought for the boyfriend for Valentines Day, which is now framed to hang in our bedroom - it's an original piece of art!



Photo from the Etsy shop of Mint and Honey Papergoods, located right here in Texarkana!


All of the items in the graphic above are things I've either purchased or had purchased for me as gifts. It's a great place to buy presents for people, especially baby shower gifts, in my opinion. Get on there and check it out!

Items in top picture from these stores:
Becoming Jewelry
Wayside Violet
Baffin Bags
Bitty Chou Chou
White Owl
Juja Crafts
Fox & Clover

Love the store, love the site

If you've never heard of Madewell, then boy are you in for a treat! Up until last week they had a website where you could check out looks, but in order to get your hands on anything you had to go the a store, the closest one for me personally being at Northpark in Dallas. Well now you can shop online, hurrah!

The store is a little sister to J Crew, so the fashions are not too wild, more classic yet eclectic I would say. (Also, not cheap! But if you're like me you will cyber-stalk your fave items till they go on sale.)



Here are a few of my favorite pieces available right now:



1. rail straight jeans - $89.50
I love dark denim

2. romantic ruffle dress - $88
To me, this is super adorable and would look cute in winter with a long-sleeved shirt underneath and tights and/or boots.

3. pointillist cardigan - $98
I'm crazy for cardigans, so I would wear this belted over a dress or just with jeans over a mismatched graphic tee.

4. jewels & chains necklace - $58
I've been looking for a cheaper version of the Fenton/Fallon for J Crew jewelry line. If you aren't familiar, check it here

5. canyon messenger - $128
I know I'm going to get flak for this, but I'm really shopping for a cross-body style purse right now! Totally bringing back my fifth grade self, but I saw a girl with one that looked really chic. I don't want to spend this much - not even half this much! - but I will snag one soon.

6. lace illusion tee - $42
I really love this, it's a little bit sheer. The black and white one is equally cool, if not more lace-like.

All clothing images from www.madewell.com. Image at the top taken by me, in the Dallas store, just seconds before I was told pictures are not allowed.