It only took me 3 months to sit down and miticulously strategize over the best way to spend my precious $100 gift certificate. I finally decided on this sweet great lightweight charcoal sweatshirt from Two String Jane and a gangsta wooden sign to go over our fireplace from the lovely William Dohman over at ohdeirliving.  I’m super stoked! Both are custom, so I’ll have to wait a few weeks. But I think they are well worth the wait. Thanks to my brother in laws for knowing me well enough to know that it is thee best gift ever, and that I would never drop $100 on myself any old day.

Happy Monday y’all!

-OR-

It’s not always profitable to DIY everything

It’s not always worth it to DIY everything. DIY can be taken too far. I’ll be the first to tell you that. I don’t DIY undergarments, but I love making infiniti scarves.  But here is a situation where you can either purchase a $36 white t-shirt with a graphic on…-or-…you can make an even cuter animal graphic for much less money (thanks to Handmade Charlotte’s blog). Luckily I already have this black fabric paint and paint brush. So all it would cost is a plain kids white tee. $12.

Now, do I always feel like doing a DIY instead of just purchasing something? No, not even. There are a lot of times where I love to just roam around Target or peruse the e-commerce sites for cute mass produced stuff. It’s eye candy–even if it isn’t the purest most organic type of eye candy. And as much as I am a huge fan of thrifting, I am not always in the mood to go through 40 racks of clothes to find a few things I like–or worse, to walk out of there with nothing.

What do you think? Would you rather buy or DIY? What sorts of things do you thrift, buy, or DIY?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Cheerio, darlings!

Ash

Oh, Peg and Awl! You guyyyyyyzzzzz! Books!

For years, I collected football and baseball cards. I’m not sure why or how it started. I played Little League for two years and softball for another two seasons, but soccer was my real jam. I know why I didn’t collect soccer cards–they weren’t really worth much.

People don’t believe this about me, but when I explain to them that I had a Ken Giffrey Jr. rookie card and Michael Jordan’s card from when he played outfield for the Chicago White Sox, their ears begin to perk up. Or when I mention that my all-time favorite set of cards was the Player’s Wives series that Upper Deck made, because I thought it was cool that they game some of the lime-light to the women who supported these superstars.

One year I scored the best find, well besides that Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. It was 5th grade and a classmate brought in a case of Upper Deck baseball cards to hand out to our class. I got a pack and my friend Tiera gave me her pack. As I walked home I tore them open, and found that one has a limited edition signed Rolly fingers card. I sprinted back to school to show my teacher. She thought I signed it with a blue Sharpie marker myself. Oh the horror in my voice, when she not only lacked the faintest semblance of appreciation for what I had just scored, but she took another chink out of my armor by accusing me of lying about it.

When I made it back home, I flipped through the Beckett as fast as I could. I knew this was a big deal. The card was worth $65. Holy heavens! My mom, being an amazingly organized human robot, had books and books of clear sheets where my brother and I could save our best cards.

To this day I am in love with the uniforms that the players wear and the classic baseball sleeves.

Then…I stumble across the amazingness of the one woman shop of Amelie Mancini! The cards are letterpress. And she even has a few baseball sleeves to! Remember Darryl Strawberry? So does she.

Check out her website

Heather and Jay Stringer

The Immaculate Conception and the not-so-immaculate conception.

(painting credit: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Annunciation/photo credit: Joshua Longbrake, starring Kirby O’Longbrake) — with Jay Elmer Stringer.

Heather was my roommate in grad school. You know the type…the one that wears those silk shirts in colors like magenta and teal. The ones that Blanche from Golden Girls might wear. The ones that never sell at the thrift store. The worst part…she actually looks totally hawt in that stuff. When I saw her birth announcement, I was no less impressed. High fives for the creative direction.

There are those days. You know them. When you come across something that speaks to you so deeply that it feels like it’s pulling something out of you as you look at it. That is how I felt when I came across this collection by Paul & Paula. It is the pure jumbled mess of the nostalgia of what I wore in my childhood (Osh Kosh B’Gosh) mixed with the admiration for what my mother wore in high school, and a touch of Punky Brewster ENFP-ness that is me.  And that folks, is how you get people! You touch something so deeply familiarly (speaking to their past), but so forwardly stylish (speaking to their future) at the same time. Ack! Maybe that’s just how you marketers get me.  In any case…she has me by the balls. If I could be had by the balls. I must pull out my wallet.

Maybe it’s my obsession with all things striped, red, black and gray. Or the fact that I think babies should look stylish, but still be comfy. Or maybe it’s the baseball raglan tee look, or the converse, or the patches on the tush that remind me of old ivy league professors with their sports coats. Or maybe it is the simple, yet clever screen prints she does. Or maybe it is just the fact that Kersten is doing all of this in Melbourne (a virtual mecca for hand-crafted awesome-sauce). In any case this line just dazzles me to death. Speaking of childhood hauntings, it’s a bit like being tickled so hard that you begin to cry. It hurts so good that I am just seething with a subtle tinge of anger that I didn’t think of it first.

Kerstin is a featured seller over at the Etsy blog. You can read her story here.

Nature does not hurry, and yet everything is accomplished.

-Lao Tzu

Should I really be giving friends a bucket full of new onesies from Carters or Target or some other mass-produced kid’s line?

Baby shower season is still in full-swing in my circles. Since it’s been on my mind I have thought a lot about what constitutes a thoughtful gift. I considered diapers, but the practicality killed me. I considered a packet of wash cloths and white onesies but that seemed like the equivalent of gifting a dude with bags of peas after getting a vascectomy. I then asked myself what made a gift special for me was the time and intention in picking out a gift.

So, I have a new resolution. I want to give “only” vintage (cleaned of course) or handmade items.  I have to search far and wide at thrift stores and such to find the perfect vintage item, and handmade means I spend a metric ton of time on it. Both work for me.

What really sealed the deal for me was when I read this Slate article about how there are so many clothes donated to Salvation Army that are made of such shit, that they can’t even use them. I can’t get that article out of my head. If all of the world was in need of clothes there would not be enough people to take these clothes off SA’s hands. That is when I realized that enough is enough. People don’t need another set of mass-produced Carter’s onesies. Or maybe they do. But I won’t be the one giving them.

For me handmade stuff comes from my heart. It’s part of being a creative. And it’s the nice stuff I want to create. I sew, I should just do it.  I wanna make the stuff you want to pass down to others–the stuff that lasts long enough to pass down to others. So I got to sewing. I made an Ikea-ish looking Snuggler– one with geometric shapes. Now I am making a denim one with boyscout patches all over it.  I can’t wait to show you guys! I am getting giddy already.

You can find Lotta’s pattern for free on craft’s website if you’re interested in making one. It is super practical and can be used everyday. I felt like it was a worthy project to put my 5 hours into. I’m so glad I did it. Then I got super into it and took three trips to the anti

How do you guys feel about the quality of kids clothes in general? What process have you gone through when considering what to get a person for a baby shower? Am I the only one making this a big deal? What is the best thing you ever got at a baby shower?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

xoxo,

Ash

The Undertaking–to design and sew my own swimsuit

The next “Stitch and Bitch” is a little over a month away. That gives me just enough time to do some serious research on what suit would fit my body best and to learn the tricks to working with spandex. There is no doubt that I am nervous to cut into the new fabric I got at Mill End, but will this stop me?!? Of course not! Especially at $4 a yard.

Body Shape

If I am going to sew my ideal swim suit, the first question I have to answer for myself is “What style would flatter my body shape?” This was going to be the hardest part, I could already see as my stomach started to turn. This is not a pretty subject for me. What you don’t know about me is that I am 30 (yes, it happened a few weeks ago…and no I don’t feel any different), and I have never given much thought to bathing suits. A bathing suit was a necessity, not an accessory. Growing up I was always a bit jealous of my friends who had long legs and straight hips. I idealized their bodies. If you were to analyze my internal teenage dialogue you would have noticed that I had a cluster of adjectives that I used to describe their bodies–feminine, sexy, skinny, tan, long-legged. I gave my own body the left over “kinda-sorta-compliments-but-not-really-a-compliment-at-all-adjectives”–athletic, stalky, strong, hourglass, and gymnast-esque. I was proud of my tiny waist and toned stomach muscles, but I explained away their good as I focused on the bad–how my thighs rubbed together or how short my legs were.

I also had dark hair and fair skin and far too many more interesting pursuits than to spend the whole summer laying out, just so that I could land a guy. And to be completely transparent, I had seen too many women in my family with eating disorders who flaunted their bodies as a way of getting attention from the male members of the family. The idea of catching a man that way, was absolutely despicable to me.

And to give you a picture–when I did wear a suit, I ended up looking far whiter than my SoCal counterparts and had a mean farmer’s tan from playing soccer outdoors year round. That’s my childhood baggage. And in my friend Danielle’s words, I am trying to unlearn all of it.

As I approach 30, I often find myself thinking, “If only I had that same body I despised in high school.” Is that really what I want? No, not really. What I truly long for is much deeper than that. I want to feel grounded and in touch with reality and with my body. I want to play in the water with my kids of think of nothing but the feeling of water on my skin and the gratitude in my heart that I get to spend time with my family. I want to be grateful for the life I have lived and for the things that this beautiful body has allowed me to do. This body got me into an Ivy League school (psssh… and you thought I actually had the SAT scores to get in on my own). This body has survived emotional and physical trauma. This body has suffered and persevered through debilitating anxiety and depression. This body has been loved deeply by a good man and made love to him in response. This body has nurtured children that I did not give birth to. It has brought deep joy as I settle down in my house after hours of grueling yard work. It has put up with my lack of care and feeding as I have spent the first 4 years of my marriage getting fat and happy. The thing is, I am convinced now more than ever that it is possible to see myself and my body through a new lens. My dear friend Denise Shenahan’s words remind me, “That’s an old tape. That program isn’t needed any longer”.

I see women all of the time who are many sizes larger than I am, who look fabulous. They look confident and happy and proud of their bodies. My goal with this project is to make a bathing suit that I think is cute, sexy, and makes me feel good. One that makes me want to go the river, not hide in the house all summer. Now that I’m ready to be okay in my body, while wearing a bathing suit (that is little more than a 1/2 yard of fabric), I need to know my body shape. So what shape is my body?

Shape Shifters

Pro tip: Don’t Ever Tell A Girl She is Pear Shaped

It wasn’t until Eric was working at MyShape that I actually took serious measurements of my body. I’m talking 15 different measurements. What I found was somewhat disturbing to me initially. I always thought that my body was “curvy.” What I found out when I put my measurements into the MyShape algorithm was that I was an “A” shape. That basically means that I am “pear-shaped.” Telling a woman she is pear-shaped is like telling her she is “high-maintenance.” When was there ever a time in a woman’s life where she was told she was “high maintenance” and her disposition got a litter brighter? Never. Ever. The. So don’t say it. The end.
So, fine, I am pear-shaped. What next? I need to find out what type of suit looks best on a sexy pear-shaped woman?

I did my research and these are the keys to a good fit.

Style

As you have probably noticed, I have a certain style. If you are still reading my blog, then it must not bother you. And for those of you who put up with all of my round-ups that include florals, navy, red, polka dots, and plaids, you are a saint.  I will keep telling myself you’re here for the writing (kind of like how guys read Maxim for the articles, right?!?!) So, I am a huge fan of sweets vintage florals and polka dots and anything red, black and white. Last week when I was at Mill End fabrics I came across a black and white polka dot material that will be perfect for a swimsuit. Hale-friggin-lujah! The truth of the matter is that as much as a I appreciate the vintage suits and I think they look awesome on pin-up girls, a suit really has to have one foot in the modern world to be comfortable. So as much as I like all the different the pics, I think that the pic below is going to be the style I try to mimic. I might make the leg a little higher cut to give my legs more length. I might also make the straps much thinner too!

What About You?

Are you ready to own your own body? To feel comfortable in your own skin, even if this means in a bathing suit? To stop comparing yourself to other women and to appreciate your own beauty? Maybe you’re willing to join me in trying? If so, then I say, “Welcome.”

xoxo,

Ashley

I adore modern takes on classic looks. When I stumbled across The Golden Age by photographer Suzanne Jongmand, I was smitten. In a millisecond I was at her site looking for a price on one of these moody masterpieces.  She has worked since 2007 on the series of ‘foam sculptures’: caps and collars, inspired by 16th and 17th century paintings, made ​​from material that currently is used for packaging and insulation. It’s the materials that she uses that brings these photos into the 21st. century.  I couldn’t figure out why I loved them so much. Then I realized that it is the sense of familiarity that they bring up in me that makes me feel enthralled with their nature.

Immediately I realized that they remind me of the prints that we have in our living room. They are a pair of stipple plate etchings by Francesco Bartolozzi after the portraits by Hans Holbein, published in London by Chamberlaine, 1798. This famous self-portrait of the great sixteenth century Flemish artist, Hans Holbein, and the accompanying portrait of his wife formed part of the collection at Kensington Palace. Holbein first came to England in 1526 and fell in with Sir Thomas More and his influential circle who were quick to commission his talents. He returned to Basel for a while but soon found that he was required to go back to London where, from 1532 onwards, he enjoyed the support and patronage of Henry VIII and his court.

Francesco Bartolozzi was born in Florence in 1728 and died in Lisbon in 1815. He began his working life by reproducing the works of Italian painters but came to England in 1764 where he was commissioned to reproduce Guercino’s drawings in the Royal Collection. By the time these prints were commissioned he had been officially appointed Historical Engraver to George III. (credit: Isaac Candede)

Long story short, those etchings have some huge historical significance for us and I love knowing the story behind them.  I also love that Suzanne uses discarded materials to recreate similar scenes and poses to the ones in the prints. She raises the bar on loveliness. Brilliant, if you ask me. Historically accurate, moody, and mother effin’ sustainable. What more could we ask for?

Enjoy the weekend, lovelies! A little shout-out to Vanessa Vancour who had her little muffin, Melody this past week.  Congrats!

Love,ash