Burden of Tomorrow

This summer my amigo Dylan visited me in beautiful breezy Canada.

I'm so lucky to have a gal like this in my life--someone who just chucks her shoes off, wears her hair messy, and agrees to do little video postcards, like the one below, with me.

I hope this transforms you back, if only for 3 minuets, to the simplicity and splendor that is sweet sweet summertime :]

Song: Burden of Tomorrow

By: The Tallest Man on Earth

Also the video is here on Vimeo for better quality?

Skunk Illustration

A little skunk walking around in the woods... 8 1/2 x 11 in.

Detail

& another detail...

Squirrel

A new little squirrel friend I drew in the park a few nights back...

I've drawn so many illustrations this summer that are all collecting dust on my desktop...I'll be sure to post the rest soon!

Henna

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm constantly drawing henna on myself, and pretty much anyone who will let me get within 5 ft of them with my henna kit.

Its so relaxing to just draw endless patterns, and I love the feeling of peeling off the hardened paste and seeing how the design turned out (its kind of like the excitement of opening a present).

Here are a couple of resent self tats :)

Beach Day

Last sunday I drove out to Far Rockaway with a group of friends from all different walks of life. I put my shells on, ate cherries, splashed in the water, and reinvented fun in the sun. It was a good day.

This was at the crowded entrance of the beach which we quickly moved far away from; however, for some reason I'm particularly proud of this photo. New York beaches are a crazy scene!

Until next time Far Rockaway!

Painted House and Garden

I don't think I need to write much this post.

I was just walking down the street in the middle of Philly when I saw this house/veggie garden.

Fun fact: Philadelphia has more public art than any other city in the US, and someone told me its 2nd in the world behind Venice, but I might need to check some statistics on that one...

...regardless this garden is so magical...imagine it in the fall when all the vegetables are ripe!

Home Office Update

Another Week at the Anthropologie home offices is coming to a close....summer is going TOO fast. Every day this job & this city fills me with such joy. I'm so grateful for kind people, rooftops, breezy summer days, and just being 20 years old. Honestly what a gift it is to be this young and doing what I love in a city I don't know. So thanks for that universe.

My sister, Sophia, visited for a day and I made her snap a couple of phone pics on this couch (something I've wanted a picture on since I interviewed back during the year :)

& a couple a phone pic outfit details....

Hope everyone out there is having an amazing summer :)

Strawberry Pie & an Anthro Birthday Party

Last Sunday was baking day. I went to the store/farmers market and got all my strawberry summer pie ingredients.

It was one of my mentors birthdays on Monday so I basically ate one whole pie myself while watching the bachelorette and brought the other to work for a classic Anthropologie birthday party.

My 4th favorite thing about work behind getting paid to collage/draw prints/be creative, pet dogs (cause everyone brings their dogs to work),  and work in a fairy world, are the parties.

Every day it seems like some group of people is having a party with amazing food and even more amazing decor. Last week I was put on tassel/spinach & artichoke dip duty and cooked and made tassels for most of the morning, aka I love where I work.

Party mid set up

My mentor loves fancy drinks so everyone was told to bring a different beverage as a gift.

And of course I tasseled everything :)

Doe and Fox

Meet my friends Doe and Fox...

....just two kids sharin' a popsicle :)

I've been drawing so many animals in clothes recently...I'm thinking of making a series out of it, but we'll see :)

Outfit Details

First of all, this isn't a personal style blog...I mean that would be pretty fun if it was, but I don't have a super gifted photography boyfriend who follows me around as I gaze into the distance looking distraught/mysterious/surprised while pouting my lips (this seems like this is every girl with a decent personal style blogs life lol).

Yeah i've blogged outfits before, but that involves me setting a timer on my camera, running across the room, posing like a fool, and hoping no one walks in while I'm having a photo shoot with me, myself, and I. Also, since I'm not looking through the lens controlling the picture the result is always just a lucky accident if it turns out at all.

This all being said ever since I started working at the Anthropologie home offices in Philly I've really enjoyed getting dressed...I mean I always have, but Anthro/Free People is so my style, so I feel excited each morning to just be bohemian vintage girly me.

Here are a couple little snapshots from monday and tuesday this week as I attempted to document my outfit. Taking photos of yourself sucks. I need a photography friend to be silly and vain with (DYLAN WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!).

Monday. It was a bit chilly so I layered my mint sweater and oversized crocheted vest.

Also...handmade Native American leather pouch and deer vertebrae necklace I found in the woods.

Found a robin's egg shell that matched my sweater perfectly :)

Tuesday. Trying to take selfies but my camera wouldn't focus (but I liked the pictures anyway)...chartreuse skirt.

Moms old belt front the 80s/90s and my turquoise Buddhist box necklace.

Thats all for now....

Quilted Hot Air Balloon Conceptional Design

The assignment was to create a capsule conceptional design collection, which was interesting because prior to this project I had never considered myself a conceptional designer in the slightest...but after a little thought I realized how many ideas I had within the category.

My professor told us to be really creative with the assignment and not think as the clothes as 'clothes'--to think of them more as art, which really helped me not limit myself. I went a little crazy...but it seems like the times I just go for it are the times I create my best work.

I first did a lot of library research on basket making, macrame knotting, and many forms of weaving. My goal was to create human-esq/fashion-forward/sculptural-art hot air balloons.

I looked at the structure of large baskets and thought about how those techniques would react to a human form.

These two photos, that I found in an old 1970s macrame knotting book, were on my mood board (along with a bunch of quilting pics...but for some reason I never scanned that board).

A couple different techniques that I would use if I were creating the designs in real life.

Balloon #1

I was going for a body cast/weaved basket look.

In my presentation I said how hypothetically these wouldn't be on a runway because they don't allow movement, but simply would be sculptural fashion art hanging from the ceiling in a gallery. The weaving material would be a really sturdy cord, and would hold a human shape, with obviously no one inside.

Balloon #2.

If you can't tell theres a lot of detail in each of the body baskets...during my class presentation everyone was sitting too far away and couldn't see any of the weaving stitches which I tirelessly drew for hours, I guess this is the one exception of something looking better on a screen oppose to a mounted board.

Balloon #3.

Balloon #4

Balloon #5.

#6.

All the balloons and stitching I drew by hand/on a tablet computer, and all the fabrics in the balloons I scanned from vintage fabric books. I also photographed Sea Zeda, my lovely model. Thank you Sea for doing backbends for me :)