i'm the stinky girl

how was your weekend?  good, i hope!  chris and i had a date night on sunday; we finally went to see dark shadows, had a nice dinner out, and ended the night with... a freakin skunk.  i feel like i could so easily go worse-than-sailor-mouth with this because i'm so mad at kona i could scream, but i'm afraid you might not like me anymore (except caitlin who would probably love me more)!

at midnight, right before i went to bed, i let kona outside to use the bathroom (and left the front door open), went to the kitchen to get something to drink, and started hearing this awful hissing-type noise at the door.  i just knew that kona had cornered some wild snake or critter on the front porch, and that i'd have to go out and try not to get attacked.  but when i went to the door, i noticed kona was making that noise, like he was trying to get something out of his nose and mouth, and he was drooling like you've never seen.  then, it hit me - like i was punched in the face by the incredible hulk - and i thought i'd puke.  the skunk juice, sprayed right by the front porch, was without a doubt the strongest, most disgusting, burning smell i've ever had the misfortune of inhaling.  within seconds each room of the house smelled so bad and so strong, that our throats and noses were burning even without inhaling.  so we hurried as best we could to get together our pillows, blankets, and flojo, and run out to the camper where our respiratory systems could relax for the night.

i was so mad a kona i couldn't even put it into words.  if you didn't know, we adopted him from the animal shelter a year and a half ago.  he didn't have much freedom at his previous house as he was kept in a fenced in yard, so for the first few months he didn't know how to handle all of the space and freedom here on the farm.  he now listens and won't chase after every moving thing he sees as long as chris and i are with him and tell him no, but because he saw a rabbit ONE TIME over a year ago one night when i let him out, he continues to shoot out of the door at night like a freakin bullet in hopes of finding an animal he can chase.  sometimes i get really firm with him before i let him out because his ridiculousness irritates the HELL out of me!  last night i should have known not to even let him out because he knocked me down trying to get to the door.  but i did.  and because he can't just act like he has a brain and leave anything alone, we now smell skunk, which i imagine will hang around for quite some time.

i didn't mean for this post to be so wordy!  so this morning when i went to the grocery store to get the supplies for the de-skunking wash, i kept getting a whiff of skunk.  i was so scared someone else would smell it as one of my big fears is being the stinky girl.  you remember that one kid in class who always smelled bad and was dirty and no one wanted to get too close to?  yeah, that was me.  luckily i didn't personally smell like skunk, but when i opened my purse to get my wallet, i got punched in the face once more by skunk smell.  i'm sure the people around me smelled it, and i just hope they don't remember me, because i do not want to be remembered as the stinky girl.

just in case you ever need to wash the skunk oil from your pet, here's the recipe, and it really works (because i just had to do it in may when my effing idiot of a dog was sprayed the first time):
-1 quart hydrogen peroxide
-1/4 cup baking soda
-1 teaspoon dish soap
-mix together and wash only the affected area.  rinse.  it may take two washes depending on the severity.

unbalanced

do you have days when you just can't seem to walk upright?  i have them more than i'd like to admit.  luckily these shoes aren't clunky or skinny or hard to walk in, otherwise i probably would have ended up on the ground!

blouse: express // skirt: target // belt: vintage, thrifted // bracelet: little tree vintage // shoes: kork-ease via ebay

i was glad chris wasn't home when i got there because i did this weird teetering thing in the driveway where you're sort of in limbo for what feels like forever - will you fall or will you remain standing?  luckily i didn't fall.  i'm just going to blame it on the stuffiness in my head.  i mean, it's got to be affecting my balance, right?  RIGHT?!

what i've been working on...

on monday morning i told myself  "you are not allowed to come out of this room until you have multiple new pieces of jewelry completed and ready to photograph."  sometimes i'm so bossy.  but the good news is, after a lot of work, sore hands and arms, and a hammered finger or two, i finally got some new things made for my shop!

i also have two more necklaces, but wouldn't you know that my camera battery died on me with only about 60 seconds of warning?  so my next goal is to remember to take those pictures (but since i have several paintings to work on, it may be a while)!

i always hate when i go for so long without blogging, but chris was nice enough to infect me with whatever summer cold type thing he had.  i felt awful on friday night, so-so on saturday, pretty good on sunday, and terrible on monday afternoon and tuesday.  it's weird how these things can be bad one day and barely there the next.  but hopefully i've just about kicked it!

so how have you been, and have you been working on anything new lately?

details.

good morning!  i wouldn't normally do more than one outfit post in the same week with the same dress, but when i showed you this dress on monday, i didn't get to show you the best part of it - the details!  it was hot like an armpit when i wore it sans sweater, which means the best part wasn't covered up...

 dress: c/o oasap // belt: old navy // necklace: vintage, thrifted // shoes: payless

i love that there are buttons up the back, but my favorite things about this dress is that there are pockets (why don't more dresses have pockets?), and that the top half and over the shoulders is sheer; so pretty.

moving on, i have good news, at least for me!  my toes are no longer broken, and my leg is healed up (running injury) which means I'M ABLE TO RUN AGAIN!!!  i'm so excited about it that i want to run every single day!  it's hard to tell myself to take it slow and not run too often because that runner's high is addictive, but i'm going to be smart about it...i think.

a pretty storage DIY

if you're like me, you leave things laying around on about every surface rather than finding them a home and keeping them there.  it's terrible, but i've always been like this.  luckily, there are lots of pretty options in the way of bowls, trays, baskets, etc. to catch all of the things that never get put away!  one of my favorites to make is fabric bowls or baskets because they're easy, cheap, and pretty!

what you'll need for this project: clothesline or cotton cord (i use nylon clothesline because it comes in about 100' packages for just a few dollars), fabric, thread, scissors, sewing machine (or you can do it by hand but it will take a  lot longer).

first, cut your fabric into strips about an inch wide or a little more.  the number of strips you'll need for your bowl or basket depends on the size you want and on the length of your strips, so start of with fewer than you know you'll need, that way you don't waste fabric!

to start your bowl or basket, fold one end of your fabric over the end of your clothesline.  keep that pinched and start wrapping your strip around the clothesline at an angle.

once you've gotten a few inches of your fabric wrapped around the clothesline, pin it in place because you're almost ready to sew!  fold your fabric-wrapped clothesline so that you make a coil.  start sewing at the end, in a circular pattern, so that your line of stitched radiates out from the end.  use a zigzag stitch and be sure you're getting both sides of the clothesline.  continue wrapping your fabric and sewing.  once you get to the end of a piece of fabric, just wrap a new piece over that end and keep on sewing!

once you've gotten the base as large as you want, it's time to make the sides.  to make sides, simply fold your bottom up (with the foot still down and the needle still through your clothesline).  to get walls that are straight up, fold your base so that it is perpendicular to the table.  if you want tapered sides like i did, fold your base up at about a 45 degree angle.  then keep sewing round and round just like before!  (sorry, i got a little ahead of myself before i thought to take the picture).

continue sewing until you've gotten the walls of your bowl or basket as high as you want them.  now it's time to decide if this will be a bowl or a basket.  for a bowl, you don't need to do anything.  for a basket, it's time to make little handles.  all you do is pull up a part of your fabric-wrapped clothesline and don't sew that to the body.  backstitch what you've sewn, then move onto the other side of the handle and start sewing again.  repeat that step for a handle on the opposite side.

take a break if you need.  when i make large bowl or baskets like this one, there's no way i can do it all in one sitting.  so i get a glass of tea and flojo and i enjoy craft talk over a few whole wheat noodles.

now you're ready to finish off your bowl or basket!  just cut your clothesline a little shorter than your fabric and wrap so that the end of your clothesline is hidden in the fabric.  then just keep sewing like you have been until the end is sewn down.

and now you have a pretty and handmade place to keep little bits and pieces, and no one has to know that this isn't where they really belong!  if you decide to try this out, i'd love to see your final product, or hear what you thought!

rain or shine?

we were so lucky last week.  it rained (a lot) AND temperatures were only in the 80's!  i was so excited to be able to wear sleeves again that i didn't even know how to act.  the only problem: which sleeved items do i love and miss wearing the most?  easy.  this yellow sweater...

sweater: thrifted // dress: c/o oasap.com // sandals: kork ease via ebay // necklace: vintage, thrifted

do you ever wear an outfit that you never want to take off because you just love everything about it so much?  this is that outfit for me.  i can't say enough about that dress from oasap.  the color is perfect and matches with everything, the fabric is so soft you almost can't feel you're wearing it, and the back has the prettiest sheer and button detail (which i'll show you later this week).  also, i'm a kork ease lover for life.  i've heard people talk about how comfortable the sandals are, but now i'm a believer.  so i have a feeling you'll be seeing A LOT more of those shoes!  and the necklace i think is gaudy in the best way.  it's so bold and gaudy that i think it's the perfect necklace for plain clothes.  all in all, i plan to wear this outfit a lot.  a whole lot.

so how was your weekend?  and what did you do?

feeling manly

sleep eluded me last night, which means this morning i feel like a zombie.  so i have a feeling this post will be riddled with mistakes (because no, i do not proofread my posts before i publish them) that i won't find until later when i'm so embarrassed that anyone saw.  having said that, good morning!  i decided to wear shorts the other day, and although i'm over those years of refusing to wear them no matter how hot it is, i still feel funny in them...

silk blouse: vintage, thrifted // shorts: i've had them for so long i can't remember // shoes: payless // ring: c/o oasap

i've never liked my thighs.  side note:  someone chris knows once cooked for his grandma and labeled each container saying what the food in it was.  one container was labeled "CHICKEN THIGS" and ever since then, we've been saying thig instead of thigh.  it makes things funnier, and it also makes it hard to type thigh then i'm thinking thig!  anyway, i've always wanted skinny thighs, but genetics says otherwise, so although i no longer refuse to wear shorts, i still feel funny about my THIGS.  wouldn't it be nice if we all loved and accepted all the parts of our body?

i don't usually wear tailored or masculine clothes as i'm a dress girl through and through, but i just felt like wearing something different.  it probably won't happen often  because i felt sort of masculine, but at least i didn't have to think about sitting ladylike.

what i've been working on...

i feel like as time goes on i need longer and longer breaks from jewelry.  i know i'll always love raw stones and metal, but i just don't have the motivation i once did.  but what i am motivated to do is draw!  draw, draw, draw all day, draw in my sleep, draw in my head until i can draw on paper, draw all the time.  since the end of last week, in addition to drawing a few new things, i've been working on making some hand-pulled prints for my shop...

i've also got two more drawings ready to be printed, and one that was inspired by my pal beca, because i'm her number one stalker fan.  so what have you been working on lately?

a little jackson pollock

i've been thinking for a few months now that to sort of do something a little different with outfit posts, maybe i'd try to wear outfits that were inspired by certain works of art.  i have yet to put together a collection of inspiration pictures, but just so you know, that's what i've been thinking!  although this outfit wasn't inspired by an artist or an artist's work, the only thing i can think when i look at this skirt is, "jackson pollock."

shirt: h&m // skirt: vintage via trade with your friendly grocery // shoes: aldo // necklace: vintage, thrifted // bracelets: vintage and SF street vendor // kona: humane society of amherst county

so how was your weekend?  fun and relaxing, i hope!  mine was great.  i worked on some new art that i'll share later this week, i got to experience rain again (finally), and i made a quiche.  i actually hate quiche, although this one wasn't so awfully bad, but chris loves it, and that's what i call love.

stars, stripes, sales

i just wanted to do a quick post to let you know about two pretty exciting things.  the first - most exciting of all - is the fact that WE HAVE POWER!!!  chris and i had fun living in the camper and eating sandwiches and grapes (and we even talked about how we wish we could do that on a more long term basis and live like gypsies), but it's nice to have running water and air conditioning again.

second, i haven't given too much thought to what i'd blog about once the power was back on, but one thing i wanted to share was a little sale i'm having for the rest of the week in my art shop...

from now through sunday night (because let's face it, monday really begins a new week) get 10% off your order - whether it's one item or twenty - by using the coupon code STARSSTRIPESSALE in my art shop Girl + Parrot!  and yes, the discount even applies to the custom watercolor family portraits!

so happy independence day american friends, and happy hump day everyone else!

we match

when i decided to wear this outfit the other day, i didn't really intend to imitate flojo, but once i took the pictures with her, i realized we were wearing the same colors!  i guess i really do think about her all the time, and now that's just filtering down to my outfit choices...

crop top: thrifted // skirt: target // shoes: aldo // parrot bracelet: vintage, little tree vintage

i have to tell you, i am so happy to be blogging now, you can't even imagine.  virginia was hit hard with a freak weather phenomenon called a derecho on friday.  one minute things we fine, and the next, trees were falling, lightning was striking, and just about everything was being damaged by wind gusts of almost 90 miles per hour.  we're without power and probably will be for another week, according to the latest predictions.  we're lucky enough to have a small camper and a generator we can hook to it and run for a few hours at a time, but there's nothing like home (which, luckily is all in one piece with no trees through the roof or walls), and having this small piece of normalcy - blogging - is such a treat right now!

i'm not sure if there was damage to a phone tower, or if there are just so many people on their cell phones, but signal is spotty at best, so i'll cross my fingers and hope that i'm able to blog some more this week and read your posts as well!  but i'd actually just prefer to have electricity and get back to real life...