cool helmet

so, i guess putting those words together is not an oxymoron after all. i know it's cool to be safe, but i have gotten so used to NOT wearing a helmet in copenhagen i am cringing at the thought of going back to my gnarly white razory looking thing that makes me feel like i am supposed to be exercising while i ride. i might as well wear spandex. i've been through that and i won't go back. i found this hat on london cycle chic, a really great bike fashion blog by someone who makes killer picks and there is a store attached to it, too where you can purchase that helmet for a pretty reasonable price. these are so cute, they almost made me feel like i might want to have more than one helmet so i can coordinate them with what i am wearing. i feel so, well, Clueless!

makin me wanna sew, i tell ya

ooh. this really makes me want to sew. i wish i had a sewing machine here in copenhagen. not like i have the time right now, but what a beautiful shirt. the fabric is incredible. i am gonna do it! the top is by Isabel Marant and was featured on Impulse Seattle.

if only i could bottle up this sun...

now you can. holy moly this cute glowing orb is all i would need, really, for the whole darn winter. here is the blurb from charles and marie dot com:
"Have it sit in the sun during the day and see it radiate at night. All made possible by modern technology – some LED's, a solar panel and some ingenious thinking."
wow. wow wow. wowowowowow.

christmas already

just sent in a draft of my thesis and i have, in this moment of weightlessness, decided to finally make good on something i have been saying i want to do for years. this year for christmas, i am going to have a small set of dinner coasters made and that's what everyone will get. one idea for the theme is "oops" and all the coasters would have to do with clutzy mistakes like a broken a tea-cup or a banana peel. i was inspired by this piece of art by matthew brannon called "steak dinner".

new oxfords!

i have been drooling over these beige, suede paul smith oxfords on the internet for quite some time but just couldn't bring myself to drop a whole month's rent on a pair of shoes. that is ridiculous. so, after a bit of searching, i have found an even better pair of oxfords that i am soooo excited about. just got a rubber sole put on 'em while i waited patiently so now they are susie-proof. and also, loving long dress-shirt dresses with high waists. it sort of goes with the oxford, too. a little bit business, a lot feminine and extremely comfortable. quality.

alfi

designed by ole palsby in denmark. they are everywhere. caffeination is rarely provided by a cute brown bird. i love it. i think i am going to get one. anyone else want one?

new bag for trip

in a last minute dash, i decided that i needed a new bag to carry around while in Scandinavia. you probably recognize the fabric from the chair. and even the bias cut.
i can't take total credit for the design, though, because I got a lot of my ideas from Nate Lambdin. the two panels were sewn individually, then turned inside out and sewn onto the handle which reaches continuously around the bag (is the base and the strap, one piece).

inside there is a stretch mesh pocket edged with hot pink ribbon that i think came from a Victoria's Secret box. you can see the little pink ribbon poking out of the side of the panel due to the construction style.

simple. it works great, but i would reinforce the strap with interfacing to make it a little stiffer if i got any commissions to make one for someone else(hint, hint).

nuh uh. yea tiger!

some help for designing code.

then and now

for my 4x5 photography class i chose to match a landscape shot from 1909's Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (we are doing a bunch in honor of the anniversary) that looks west from campus over to the Laurelhurst neighborhood. As a relatively poor student in the class, I don't expect much positive feedback because my work is generally mediocre, though I enjoy it. But the shot below is the exception to the rule. Here is the story of how I redeemed myself this quarter. I scouted out the right location, set it all up, had my trusty assistant, Tyler with me. Somehow I got a masterful shot that matches the 1909 shot so well, even my teacher was impressed. And, as a person who enjoys a little praise, I printed a comparison of the shots and hung them on my teacher's door with a presumptuous note about the quality of the match in hopes that he would see things as I did. The response email contained one qualifier which far exceeded my expectations--he wrote that the shot was so "INCREDIBLE," that he thought they were both historic photos!! yes!

and the headline reads: "Mediocre, lazy photo student makes good on landscape shot!"

I couldn't be happier.

sweedee dee

just feeling good about the world today. i am swamped with work, but it just seems like everything is in it's place.

another reason to procrastinate

arggggh! I JUST CAN'T WRITE MY THESIS RIGHT NOW! How much time can I waste tumbling in the surf of the net? wait, that is, i am experiencing a surfeit of surfing. now, there's some writing i could use in my paper.

anyway, is it wrong to post something i made for someone else? i made annie this valentine since she is my new boyfriend. i did cross out the marriage line and the wrote kevin? below it b.c. that seemed appropriate.

if anyone has any great ideas of tiny projects i can do on a regular basis, maybe i will start one of those. everything sounds kind of dumb right now except for watching dvd's and drinking box wine.

happy valentine's day!

book shelf of my own!

I have been meaning to show this off for quite some time now.
Ingredients:
-two cheap shelf holder from IKEA
-two free cardboard tubes from a dumpster at an architecture firm
-two long nails
-one cork (though i need a second)
-about 2 yards of long, skinny ribbon to fasten the tubes to the shelf holders

simple, inexpensive, and i think it is purdy cute.

i heart book people

this blog is dedicated solely to book shelves. why didn't i think of this, you ask? because all i think about is thinking about thinking about writing my thesis and that leaves time only for drinking wine, and drinking wine. i guess i have writer's blog.

check it:

http://booksathome.blogspot.com/

2008!

happy new year!

binding your quilt's corner

my mom is the best sewer i know. and over the last 10 years or so, to my delight and the delight of everyone around her, she has become a nearly fanatic quilter with an amazing eye and a precise hand. when i was making my first quilt i was alternately cheering about my accomplishments and producing sad bags of screwed up squares to my mom to fix. when it came to binding the edge of the quilt, i began to lose some momentum because even though it was turning out beautiful, the proposed recipient of the quilt had recently become my ex-boyfriend. i was quilting out of love, which always brings the best results, but the nature of the love had changed. while i was once sewing the quilt out of love gained, now i was sewing the quilt out of love lost. so, i got to a stopping point, and i produced what i had for my mom. she said, don't give up now because the binding is soooo easy. and luckily she is not one to downplay the difficulty of things so i knew to trust her when she said the last part was easy and she even added, i find it soothing. that sounded like just what i needed to finally sew up what had rapidly turned into a sturdy kleenex. so, binding a quilt is easy, and my mom made me a little fabric model of how to bind the corners (the hardest part) without which i, and many of my friends, would have been lost and frustrated. this morning Becca called me to ask if i could described to her how to bind the corners and doing it in words on the phone was not coming even close, so i made a little diagram to show how it is done. if you are in need, it is here for you.