On the Bright Side of Stripes and Dots #OOTD

New Style Mint Tee. Happiness prevails. Soft, comfortable, FITS (I got a size 5).

Exposure! #OOTD

Yikes! I'm parading my 37" waist around in a tight dress! And I'm telling you my waist size! ¡Aiyiyiyiyie!
Ruth Dealy is my muse today.

A Sunny Memorial Day #OOTD

In honor of all the veterans, I wore my red, white, and blue huipil.
Visible with the Visibles over at Patti's place...

Quick Draw: Lucky FABB

This week's LA Weekly's cover article, Invasion of the Beauty Bloggers is Gendy Alimurung's take on the Lucky FABB West conference that happened last month. Her experience was very different from mine, probably because she is a journalist and I'm a fashion blogger (not "beauty blogger" as Gendy termed all of us). The article was a bit snarky, and painted us all as narcissistic nitwits. Eh, whatevs, as the kids say. I know I'm not a ninny and being interested in fashion does not suddenly turn me into a shallow materialistic zombie.

I've held back the sketches that I did during the conference and I'm not sure why. I had some sort of reluctance to scan and post them. I shot Instagrams as I was drawing, and those got transmitted immediately. Here, finally, are cleaner scans of sketches of lots of talking heads, surrounded by my notes. Yes, Gendy, I too am one of the "girls in the audience [who] scribble copious notes into cute little notebooks". I'm not ashamed. My notebook is Pantone Tangerine Tango.

Zac Posen, Brandon Holley

Panel 1

The Honest Company: Christopher Gavigan, Jessica Alba

Panel 2

Kiernan Shipka

Janie Bryant, costume designer for Mad Men

Panel 3

The loafer of Jeff Rudes, Elizabeth Banks

Randi Zuckerberg: "Never treat people as a +1"

I shot a bunch of candid photos during the three days of events as well.
SOMETIME, they'll get posted on FB and Flickr.

Remove Captcha in Blogger for New Interface (2012)

I helped a friend start her blog a while back and one of the first things I had her do was turn off Captcha.
I DESPISE Captcha. What is it?
This:

I wrote a post on this last year (my most popular!) but Blogger has updated their interface, so the visuals on that post are obsolete (updates - the bane of the digital instructor).

Here's how you do it now...

1) Go to your Blogger Dashboard
(upper right of this page, or hit Design when on your own page, then go to Step 2)

2) From menu on the left, choose Settings

3) Choose Posts and Comments

4) In Show word verification, Choose No

While you're there, make any other adjustments that seem worth it.

5) Be sure to hit Save Settings, on upper right!

My eyes thank you in advance...

What's Black and White and Red?

[Original Beso compilation with links came up blank, so I removed it]

Erin, of Design for Mankind,is hosting another fabulous giveaway: a $500 shopping spree courtesy of Beso. My dream collection includes fur-lined Frye clogs, a great thing for summer, not -- what can I say? I furtively put this together at work and the previews were tiny. I could edit them to something else, but I like them. They're for my imaginary cold stormy summer nights in the north. So there.
To help my giveaway mojo, I'm illustrating SpyGirl in some of the pieces.

That gingham shirt is singing me a sweet siren's song...
Enter the giveaway here
¡Besos!

Just Not Sure - #OOTD

I have mixed feelings about this dress. Maybe it needs to be shorter? It sort of gives me a choir robe vibe. Just not sure...

To the Max - #OOTD

Comfortable and bright. Scrounged the maxi cotton/spandex knit tank dress from the sample box at work. I am SO lucky! I'm road testing it at work to see if I trip on the stairs in it. So far, I'm safe from self harm.

The Pose App

I got the above in the inbox this morning, so I figured it was time to release all my "Pose Paranoia" posts that I've kept in draft form. Pose is not as evil as I was beginning to think back in April. I was concerned by the amount of tweens/teens that were suddenly "following" me and the slightly sexual content that they were posting. I thought it would be very easy for creepy trolls to hide behind an alternative identity and stalk these girls. Still possible, but none fell for my secret SpyGirl bait. If you are a mom, and your girl has a smartphone, check over her apps and see what she's up to. I was invincible when I was a teen. I did stuff that was not so smart. Much worse can occur now, the world being what it is.

Will I be using Pose any more? I doubt it. The feed turned into a nightmare of clutter. Not enough privacy/editing possibilities. I DID find some cool "friends" who thankfully are using Instagram, so I can follow them there.

If you want to follow just the Pose thread, click here.
(It will include part of my 365 Photo project posts, since I was originally using Pose for it)

Adios, Pose.

The Art Print Tunic, Yet Again - #OOTD

How I wore it yesterday for presenting my summer class
at the OTIS Cont Ed Open House:
slightly swashbuckling, with a scarf-as-belt

I've worn this tunic a lot during the past month and I have a good reason...
I've got art to match!

Here I am day before, when I hosted a tea party at my gallery on the last day of my exhibition.
Hence the hat. With print on scarf too.

I even used this print yesterday morning on some "class project samples" that I realized I needed by noon (at seven am).

This is a combo of Corel Painter used on this image
(sorry Pinterest link is vague, did not have time to refine URL search)
and Photoshop for the addition of the print and enhanced shading
Note: not great knockout of background -- time restraints!

I'll be doing another post of this with a Spy sketch... sometime...

Meanwhile, it's another visible Monday -- Go get your visible on!

SpyGirl on IFB's Links à la Mode

I am thrilled to be a part of this post!

Art At The Heart

For many of this week's submissions, art was the center theme. From DIY projects to festivals, museum exhibits and dramatic runway sets - there are so many ways that art manifests itself in the world of fashion, not just in the clothes we wear. We create it, it moves us, it changes our mood and makes our world a more beautiful and magical place. I loved reading posts about the Costume Institute's new exhibit, Chanel's crystal runway set - and even how to make a glitzy pair of Mui Mui-inspired sunnies.
Edited by Taylor Davies

LINKS À LA MODE: THE IFB WEEKLY ROUND UP: MAY 17TH

• A Casa da Va: 10 Ways to Achieve Bohemian Bliss


• Beauty x Pose: Colorblock Your Shoes


• Bleu06: Sh*t Guys Should Know About Fashion #7


• Bugwear: Royal Mail issues Great British Fashion stamps collection


• Crystal Eyes: White Out


• Dress Code: High Fashion:


• Fashionista's Diary: Crazy for Crystals


• Finely Made: DIY Glitter Mui Mui Catwalk Noir Sunglasses


• Fly Songbird: Orange Lips Love


• Get Fierce Style: The Freedom In Loving Your Body


• Meredith & Gwyneth, the new yorkie: DIY No Sew Feather Dress


• Pink Pineapple: Internship Essentials


• Pret-a-Porter Palm Beach: festival fashions


• Real Girl Glam: How To Wear A Denim Jacket


• Spy Girl: Blog Essentials: Designing a Memorable Business Card


• The Curatorial: Duchamp, Pop Art & The Rodnik Band - Art As Fashion


• This is a Yes: Frieze Art Fair New York


• Toronto Shopaholic Blog: 3 Fun Uses For A Multi-Tasking Barette


• Tse Parfait: Anthropologie Summer '12 Fashion Show


• Votre Garcon: Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations

SPONSOR:
Skirt Sale at Shopbop: DKNY, A.Wang Skirts, Helmut Lang, Minis, Jean skirts, Splendid, Jenni Kayne, AG Skirts, Tibi, Cacharel, ALC, Pencil & Hervé Skirts

PLEASE READ IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE
If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE.

Retro Mayan - #OOTD

Isn't this skirt great? I got it 2nd hand, but I don't remember where...

It called for a twirl!

Cool Comfort - #OOTD

Wearing zig zags while I work on zig zag patterns.
Linen top and knit skirt both snagged at Savers in Austin in March.
Entire outfit (shirt, skirt, scarf, sandals) cost less than $25!

I'm Inside the Box - #OOTD

I'm all in favor of garments made from rectangles. They are very, um, ROOMY! Easy to sew too.
This one is from Mexico so it's called a huipil. I wore it today because the forecast said 86º weather. I was also quite pleased to find another garment that "goes" with my brown/mustard/teal striped scarf.

I'm working on tribal themed prints at work, so I tried shooting a closeup of the pattern on the chest.

Even with the "flip view" feature on my new iPhone, it was really difficult to get a good shot. OK for the blog, not good enough for pattern pirating. I'll have to bring it in tomorrow and scan it.

It's still Monday and you know what that means... The Visibles!
Go look!

Love Letter To My Mom

I was your first

The experiment

You let me choose my own glasses

And let me dress the way I wanted

You waited patiently for me to get married

And to graduate

You wisely remained mute when I made rash decisions

And gave calm support during difficult challenges

We've gone on fun adventures

And I look forward to the many more to come

I love you Mom!

Threads and Surfaces Sketchbook - The Video

starring:
Anne the SpyGirl

Heather of The Style Confessions

Laura of Wrinkle in Time Vintage

Kiah of From the "REZ" to the "CITY"

Diya of In Her Stilettos

Rocquelle of Consider Me Lovely

La Dama of Vintage Passiones Just Like Mine

Erin of Design For Mankind


This sketchbook lives at the Brooklyn Art Library
go check it out!

The Simplicity Project

This caught my attention.

Cynthia, from Go Chic or Go Home, posted about it on the GCOGH blog.
I followed the thread and it made a lot of sense to me.

I type from here

I'd like to get this space in better working order. A desk/computer/chair combo that doesn't cause me pain. Heaps sorted and put away neatly (not just thrown into another box and moved into another room). That is my starting point. I will then hopefully sort through other parts of the house. In the end, maybe I WILL get the studio space in the garage I so deeply crave...

I quote Kristen from As Luck Would Have It:
"Do you want to join me in taking a look at all the extra things in our lives and then setting them aside so all of the great stuff that adds real value to our lives can have some room to breathe? (If you're scratching your head and have no idea what I'm talking about, read this post first. Then head back here.)  For me, this will definitely mean getting rid of some "stuff" - clothes, jewelry, old text books, projects from my freshman year of college (eep! sad, but true), and other clutter but it will also mean looking at my schedule, my expenses, and all of the other things I tell myself that I "have" to do that in the end, aren't really doing me any good at all. For you it might mean creating a great, simple workspace where you have room to breathe and create, or it might mean getting rid of clothes you haven't worn in ten years, or organizing your bookshelves, or ANYTHING you can think of simplifying that will make your world a better place to be. Anything that's meaningful to you counts and I guarantee it will inspire someone else."


If this sounds like something you'd like to join in on, click the circle up top and embark!

Jacaranda OOTD

PURCHASED/

I had so much fun dressing in my 365 photo items, I thought I'd try it again today.

My outfit was initiated by the purple scarf

Look! I match the little purple weed flowers in the back yard!
(this is not jacaranda, which is a tree)

macro shot

No jacaranda in these photos, though they're just beginning to bloom. One of my favorites!

I've been thinking (for years) that it'd be fun to dress in the color of various flowers and do outfit shots with them. I sort of did it with the poppies last year. I'll keep it in mind...

Photo-a-day Objects become an OOTD

the outfit

the details

the Instagram Photo-a-day photo for today
the "everything" bangle wouldn't fit over my knuckles...
boo!

I'm still at the Photo-a-day project and I am one month from the half-way point and still have lots of jewelry to shoot. (It helps that I used to make jewelry. And doesn't hurt that I collected a lot of ethnic stuff in the 80s). I spotted the fish top in one of my heaps and thought the bracelets coordinated nicely. Later I tried on the top to see if it still fit - YES! Added other burgundy-toned items and I was ready for work and ready to join the Visible Monday gals.
Go check the Visibles out!  They are a lively bunch and will perk up your day!